Tokyo-3

The following morning Misato led a group of NERV staffers and returnees into the old command center, the cavernous central hub of NERV's Evangelion operations during the wars of years before. Since NERV's decommissioning the center had not been used at all but was simply mothballed, sealed up and left alone in darkened silence. That was until today.

As the double doors opened, a hiss of air was heard and a cloud of dust travelled towards the group, resulting in a flood of coughs. Undaunted Misato walked forward and found the power controls just to the inside right of the opening. With a flick of a few switches giant LED lights went on all over the center, revealing the full interior of the room in green and grey painted steel. The massive forward screen started to run though a opening sequence while other lights appeared all around as the control center warmed up out of its years-long slumber.

Following Misato were both of the Hyugas along with Aoi Mogami and a group of technicians whose job it was to get the control room ready for action. The three senior officers took a long look at the room that had been their home base for many battles in the past.

"Looks mostly like it did before," said Major Hyuga.

"How long do you think it'll take us to get it ready?" Misato asked the Major.

"Could take all day, we're still short-staffed." As they spoke Maya wobbled over to the controllers station, sitting at the station that was once her own. She blew off dust from the surface of the controller, with a thick layer indicating just how long the station had been abandoned. Maya started to go through several diagnostics as Aoi sat at the center station and worked on her own checklists.

"At least the MAGI are still fully operational," said Maya. "We can utilize the base control programs and eliminate the need for a lot of the operations terminals, that allows us to function with a skeleton crew." With some effort she was able to get the central holographic display to turn on, and as it went through it's startup sequence Maya swiveled around the chair and faced the others. "There!" she said, "Just like before."

As the technicians opened up panels and compartments to perform repairs or add in new components, the senior staff was joined by Commander Burke, who walked into the command room and then rode the mobile platform down to the operator's deck, joined by both Kaji and Satsuki. While Kaji and the commander spoke with Misato and the Hyugas, Satsuki walked to the open controller station and sat down, starting her own setup.

"Good morning, people," Burke greeted the others. "Are we getting ready for the big game?"

"You still think JA will come here?" said Makoto.

"Considering who stopped it last time I'd think revenge wouldn't be far from it's mind, even if it's a computer mind," said Burke. "Doctor Hyuga, how is progress with the EVAs?"

"Sir, as you know we only have one operational unit we can use, and I've got Kodama supervising pilot synchronization with Unit 09 now. We did activate the Virtual EVA as well, and its pilot is getting acquainted with the system. For right now unless we get Unit 01's pilot back we can't do much more."

"Where's your nanny?" Kaji asked Misato. He was referring to the government's new liaison, Wantanabe.

"She was on the phone all day yesterday, and still on the phone when I walked by her office this morning on the way here," Misato told him. "Whatever she's doing she's pretty busy doing it. Any updates for JA?"

"JAF reported seeing JA on the western shore around Niigata around two hours ago headed North," reported Kaji. "JA shot down another drone with one of it's lasers and then evaded detection. Alliance fleet has lent us a couple of their submarines to try and find it if it's the ocean or close by."

"So at least it's going in the opposite direction," said Misato. "Hopefully that gives us enough time to get our act together."


Shin-Kagoshima City

Before every one of Shinji's concerts he and Asuka had a ritual that they performed for good luck. His sponsors in New Kagoshima had kindly provided him with a luxury hotel room complete with a very spacious King-sized bed which both him and Asuka now took full advantage of in pursuit of this.

Both of them quietly lay there in bed naked, holding hands and covered by the comforter, the only sound being that of the in-wall fireplace of the hotel room. It was a nice, peaceful moment and for Shini it was the calm before the storm of the performance.

"I can't believe you actually volunteered to pilot?" said Asuka. "I thought you were done with this?"

Shinji turned his head to see her. He loved seeing Asuka like this, with her red hair spilled all around the bed and her lying nudged next to him. She is just so beautiful naked, he thought.

"What else could I do?" he answered. "Rei's not around, so who else is going to do it?"

"They've got other pilots still," countered Asuka. "It's not like you have to go back. Do you miss it that much?"

"No, I don't," said Shinji. "But…I thought if they could use me then…"

"I doubt they can use you at a six-percent sync ratio. You'd probably just get in the way trying to be a hero again."

"Well, Misato said no and that was that. So here I am."

"Umm hmm," purred Asuka, nudging closer and gently running her fingers down Shinji's chest. "And here you are. You're just a spectator now." Shinji closed his eyes and took a deep breath as she toyed with his nipples.

"Would you have gone?" he asked her. Asuka sighed a little as she continued to run her fingers down Shinji's naked body. "I told myself a long time ago I wasn't gonna look back anymore," she said softly. "I mean, at first I only wanted live for piloting EVA. Then I wanted to die piloting. Then I wanted to live again for piloting. And then finally I gave up all about piloting. And that's that."

Shinji turned around and gently drew her close to him, running his own hands down the side of Asuka's body while she continued to slowly touch him. "But don't you wish you could do it again? I mean, after you got back from SEELE-2 you never went in your EVA again, ever. Don't you think about her?"

"I do but, I think she's done too," said Asuka. "It's over for us, and I'm okay with that now."

"But you don't ever think about it, do you?"

Asuka did give it some thought as she put her leg around Shinji and ran her fingers through his hair. "I got what I wanted out of it and I'm still alive at the end. Didn't really think that would happen. EVA just took so much from me that I don't want to look back. Is that wrong?"

"No."

"And you're not happy with what you're doing now?"

"You mean right at this moment?" Asuka smiled at him. "Yeah, right at this moment. You're not happy with this?"

"Oh," said Shinji, "I'm very happy with this part of it." Gently he moved above her. "Didn't really think that this would happen either."

"Then keep your mind on your business," she told him gently, caressing his cheek. "Cause you've got more important work to do now and you're not finished yet."

Shinji smiled at her and feeling ready, put both of his hands on the bed on either side of Asuka's head and leaned in to kiss her, making a slow, lingering and deep kiss as she put her arms around him.

"Then I'd better get to work," he said quietly. Just before making his entry, he asked her "Just once I'd like to skip the concert and keep doing this instead."

Asuka looked straight into his eyes as she again made ready to be one with him. "Sukebe."


The concert went rather well, taking place in a smaller yet well adorned assembly hall in New Kagoshima City that was right on the city's waterfront. Shinji played along with the local orchestra and despite there only being a rehearsal the day before the whole set came together without a glitch. He played two pieces on cello, one being Saint-Saiens "The Swan" which was a favorite of his, and other being one of Mendellsons's cello sonatas which was not as sweet but more technically difficult, and something that provided him a chance to show his developing skill with the instrument.

Unlike prior efforts Asuka didn't join in as part of the orchestra along with her own violin but instead remained backstage, observing the concert from the sidelines. As she watched the concert, Asuka observed that the assembly crowd was less than half-full, which she attributed to the increasing public fear of Jet Alone roaming around Japan. Would that stupid robot come here? she wondered. Not like we could just stop it with music, could we?

In all the concert lasted about an hour and Shinji was again introduced to the audience to take bows. Despite doing this for a few concerts already, Asuka was always taken aback by Shinji's embarrassment at the accolades from the audience. I'll never understand that about the boy. You completely own that cello yet you act like you're still in middle school when everyone praises you for it.

After it all Shinji walked backstage to a waiting Asuka, who promptly gave him an embrace and then whispered in his ear "let's get the hell out of here."

"I can't," he told her. "They invited us to a reception."

"So!?"

"So, I can't back out of it. I mean they paid for the trip and everything."

"If they brought you a tissue would you sneeze in it?"

"Asuka..."

"Never mind, don't answer that."

"Excuse me," the two of them turned around and saw a tall Japanese man about six feet four standing behind them. "Mister Kaji? Would you care to join us? We'd appreciate it you could come to our little event, it's just next door."

"Um, of course!" Shinji said, nudging to Asuka that they needed to come. Asuka blew her hair up in frustration and walked off towards the direction the man was leading towards. "At least I hope the food is good," she said as she turned her back to Shinji. Resigned and by now quite used to Asuka's antics, Shinji simply followed along.

Following ten feet behind the couple were two larger men in tuxedos, both German and both agents of the Alliance responsible for Shinji and Asuka's personal security. They trailed along as the couple followed their host towards a ballroom within the same concert hall that was perhaps a five minute walk from the stage.

Like his host and the two security men, Shinji wore a relatively simple black tuxedo, his now long hair tied in back in a single ponytail. Asuka wore an elegant sequined black dress that was off-shoulder, with a slit on the skirt leading up to the higher area of her thigh and black high heels. Her hair was worn long and curled out, unusually "poofy" for her style but still eye-catching as always.

"Please, Mister Kaji," said the tall host as they came to the reception. As they entered the ballroom, they glanced around and saw perhaps fifty or so men, mostly older Japanese along with their wives or mistresses, all of them dressed in formal attire. There were several others, mostly attendees serving drinks or food, and classical music played on speakers from above.

"Boring," Asuka whispered to Shinji as they entered. But Shinji just rolled his eyes and pushed down his feelings. He didn't want to be rude to his hosts, and besides he was quite hungry.

As their two security guards tried to enter the ballroom, the tall host was joined by another two men, also very tall and large. One of the Alliance team reached into his coat pocket to show his ID, but was still stopped by the host bouncers. "You're not invited!" said the bouncer in English.

"Um, they're with us!" said Shinji as he turned back. "They go wherever we go."

"I'm so sorry, Mister Kaji," said the first tall host. "Unfortunately we've recently had some others who have tried to use fake identification to gain entry to events in the city," he explained. "Our security team has very strict instructions to screen carefully. Give me a few minutes and we'll attend to this."

Shinji looked at his own security man who he had gotten to know well within the last year. The large German agent simply glanced back and nodded, allowing Shinji to not worry about him for the moment. Shinji then looked for Asuka but she had already gone well deep into the reception crowd, already attracting attention from some of the others guests. Unsure of what he should exactly do, Shinji preferred to wait for both of the bodyguards to be cleared to enter until another person, this time an older man of medium height wearing a sparkly-trimmed tuxedo approached him.

"Ah, Mister Kaji!" said the man. "So glad you could make it!"

"Uh….yeah. Thanks for inviting me."

"It was our honor, my young man. The concert was exquisite, you play extraordinarily well!"

"Well, thank you, I…"

"Come, let me introduce you to some of the others here."

"But what about the rest of my party? They're still trying to get in."

"No worries, I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding. I'll see to it personally that it's taken care of. Now if you'll join me right this way please!" Reluctantly Shinji followed, glancing back at his two friends to make sure they were alright. The agent looked at Shinji and briefly touched his nose.

Trouble.

Shinji nodded and then went with the hosts, leaving the men there.

As the agent argued with the two bouncers, his companion very quickly reached for his watch and hit a single button that sent out a signal, a signal that was received several hundred kilometers away.


Kaji felt a buzz on his own mobile phone and quickly picked it up. He was standing inside of NERV's command center, just a few feet from Misato as she barked orders for the operations staff to get ready for action. A code flashed on his text message app, a code that meant danger. Without telling the others, Kaji immediately texted another number, send a single coded message, and then put the phone back in his pocket.


For a few minutes Shinji found again the center of attention, as many of the reception's attendees shook his hand and expressed gratitude for his performance. Asuka was still busy with other guests, some of who had recognized her, and was dealing with others who wanted to meet her. Beginning to feel bewildered and stressed from the attention, Shinji waited for the right moment and then excused himself from the crowd to go to the restroom.

He didn't actually intend to go to the bathroom, but instead went for the far wall of the ballroom. Searching the room with his back to the wall, he saw neither of his bodyguards were present and now he became worried. Trouble, one of them had signaled. With Rei recently abducted, Shinji now worried for Asuka and himself.

Shinji heard a gurgling from his stomach. I've been so busy here I've forgotten to eat. He looked around to see what there was and saw a section of the room had been draped off, but there were people going in and out and some of them carried plates of food. He then walked briskly towards the section.

After passing through the drapes Shinji saw how the food was presented and immediately understood why it was draped off. Instead of regular buffet tables there was sushi and sashimi served on very unique platforms: the bodies of naked women.

Oh my God. I've only heard about stuff like this but what kind of host does this?

There were six women all laying stationary, with stacks of sushi artistically assembled all around their bodies, with apparently no other type of clothing. The other guests apparently paid this no mind, happily using chopsticks to select and pick off bits of seafood and rice from their servers, sometimes using their utensils to also take ginger or another condiment just like it was another buffet. It was then when Shinji noticed something about the guests.

It's all older generation people here. If SEELE still had friends in Japan, it would be cranky old Japanese guys with this sort of appetite.

Should I leave? Because I'm really starving.

Shinji looked around again for anyone he knew to bail him out, including Asuka, but no one was in sight. He glanced down at the naked woman transformed into a table next to him and then shot his glaze right back up. Oh, God. She really is naked. If I was still a virgin I'd probably have a nosebleed by now….

"Try the tuna," a cheerful voice said to him.

Shinji heard the voice and looked around. Who was that?

"Or try the yellowtail. They're most delish!"

I know that voice.

"The sea urchin's good too, you know." Shinji looked down at the woman. She was slender and slightly taller than most Japanese girls, and looked about her late teens with nearly pearl white skin. All along her body was a spread of various types of sushi and sashimi, most of which was placed very strategically along her abdomen and her breasts. Her long brown hair was spread all around but uniquely she had crystal blue eyes.

Blue eyes? Oh, no it can't be! Not here!

"Come on, Puppy-kun. Take one. I won't bite."

"Lusty-chan!" Shinji whispered without looking down at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Working," she said.

"This is your job?" he said. "I'm so sorry you ended up at a job like this, I thought you were doing alright."

"Oh, it's not like that," she replied. "You look famished, at least eat something. Otherwise I might get in trouble here."

"But…but…but…"

"Don't be shy. Look for the sweet shrimp, they're quite good."

Shinji didn't want to look down at her for anything, especially if Asuka were to suddenly come barging into the serving area. That would be beyond catastrophic considering Asuka's notoriously easily-triggered jealousy.

"They're right between my legs, on top of that seaweed leaf. Just help yourself."

Finding a pair of chopsticks next to her Shinji gently took the pair and tried to grab the sushi without actually looking down, an effort that proved impossible. He glanced again, searching for the sweet shrimp and finding it on top of a broad green leaf that was placed right on top of Mari's crotch. Shinji quickly looked upwards again.

Shit…

Not wanting to disappoint anyone, he blindly grabbed for the sushi and got it, then plopped it down on a small plate.

"Terrific," Mari said. "Now don't forget the wasabi."

"Where's that?"

"Swirled around my breast. Go on, have a go."

I do not believe I am actually doing this. Shinji very, very carefully took the tip of the chopsticks and lifted just the barest amount of wasabi without looking down. Dabbing on his plate, he felt his heart racing and it was when he got the nudge on his shoulder.

"Baka!" said Asuka. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"

Shinji jumped in panic, nearly dropping his plate. "Asuka!"

"What a sick bastard this guy is. Eating sushi off of naked girls, really? Such a pig, whoever he is."

"Asuka, have you seen our escorts?" Shinji asked her, suddenly remembering why he was so concerned.

"No, I've been busy. Even here it seems I have fans."

"Something's wrong about all of this. Can we just go?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah, duh!" Relieved to finally put the whole embarrassing experience behind him, Shinji reflexively reached down to eat the single piece of sushi on his plate. Asuka beat him too it, grabbing the piece with her hand and plopping it down in her mouth. After taking a bite, she said "hmm, tastes funny. Anyway, let's go." She then grabbed Shinji's hand and started to half-drag him in haste out of the ballroom. The two of them made it perhaps six feet away from the sushi table when the lights suddenly went out. As the ballroom had no windows to the outside, the interior was completely pitch black. A klaxon sounded loudly, followed by the sound of water.

"Fire alarm!" said Shinji, feeling the ceiling sprinklers suddenly downpour rain on them.

"Let's get the hell out of there," replied Asuka as she grabbed his hand. But in the darkness something overcame both of them. Asuka suddenly let go and Shinji felt a hard thud behind his shoulder blades and immediately went limp, drifting out of consciousness soon afterwards.


Tokyo-3

After a second day of training in the Virtual EVA system, Erin was exhausted but at least pleased with herself enough to be getting the hang of working with the full body controllers. She had spent four hours in the virtual reality room doing flips, pounces, and leaps in conjunction with simulated attacks, combining her physical talents with her mental ones as she worked out tactics on how to use the Virtual EVA. It was however very physically taxing and even with several breaks she was drained from constant activity, a reminder that college life hadn't kept her body in the best shape even with her ballet training. Tired after a long day, she made her way back to the pilot's quarters in the GeoFront and entered to noisy acrimony.

The large suite was now crowded with the collection of children, younger and older, that had found themselves at NERV as they or their parents were called on. Nozomi, Hikari's younger sister, had parked herself in front of the wide-screen monitor, engaged in in a never-ending series of mecha combat games along with Hayato as the two of them sat cross-legged on the floor on a cushion and continually grappled with their wireless controllers in front of the screen.

Watching them from a distance was Sakura Suzahara, who was keeping careful eye on an eighteen month-old girl in a set-up playpen not far from the others. Inside was Akemi, Makoto and Maya Hyuga's baby daughter, who was captivated by the action on the giant video monitor, and was standing up against the bars of the wooden crib watching the others play while making noises and gurgles of her own.

Also under Sakura's watchful care was Akira, Misato's young son, who did what he nearly always did while his parents were away: play with his pint-sized penguin playmate PenPen. The two of them, each wearing a matching denim set of overalls, tumbled around the room while screaming and hitting each other with various toys as Sakura occasionally intervened.

Hikari was busy in the kitchenette part of the suite working on dinner for the crew, as well as Toji who was assisting her. It was Hikari who had greeted Erin when she had entered. "Hi, Erin-chan," she said cheerfully. "How was your training?"

"I'm wiped out!" said Erin, "I spent all day in that thing."

"I'm working on dinner, so just hang on please." Erin found a seat across from the kitchenette where she could relax and watch the video game action. As she sat down her glance turned to Toji, who was helping Hikari by chopping up carrots on the countertop. Erin's eyes met his and he gave her a small smile that she answered with one of her own. Their small moment of intimacy the day before was now just another memory between them. She pushed it out of her mind as she took a sip from a water bottle, and pushed her mind to come back to the here and now.

The phone rang and Hikari quickly juggled frying pan and cooking spatula with phone handset, not missing a beat. "Hello? Yes, it's she." Hikari listened as the other party explained their situation. "Oh, well we're crowded here but I'm sure we can squeeze him in. I'll put him in with Hayato, his room has an extra bed. Will he be okay with Japanese food?" The other party confirmed this and then finished the arrangements. "Great, I'll be happy to meet him. Thanks, bye!" Hikari then hung up the phone.

"How long are we gonna be here?" asked Nozomi as she played her game. "This place is always so boring."

"What we're all doing is important," Hikari replied. "Hopefully it'll all be over soon, but until then just be ready."

Coming from the bathroom, PenPen waddled into the open suite. Erin smiled on seeing him, and quickly picked him up. "Hey, buddy!" she told the little bird. "Haven't seen you in a while!" She patted his stomach and the penguin cooed a little. "You've certainly gotten a lot more fat since I saw you last."

"Misato-san just spoils him," Hikari said. "I don't know much about penguins but I don't think they're supposed to be eating people food all the time. Or drinking alcohol every day."

"I'm sure she's just glad to still have him around. Besides, they live for about twenty or thirty years, right?"

Akira walked over to Erin and pointed his finger at the bird. "PenPen!" he called out.

"You wanna play with him?" Akira nodded excitedly and Erin put down the penguin and watched as the two of them held hand with wing and walked around the room.

Sakura, now holding baby Akemi in her arms, walked up to Erin. "Have you heard anything about Rei-chan?"

"No," Erin told her. "Bro texted me not long ago, he's still tracking down who might have taken her. It didn't sound like he was making progress."

"That's worrisome," replied Sakura. "I wish she were here."

"We all do."


In the command center after most of the day the core staff decided to take turns at the stations along with relief crew. Misato and the senior officers left to rest and regroup as Sasuki and Aoi sat at two of the controller's stations and monitored everything. There was only a skeleton staff now within the cavernous control room, and without the full staff inside the spacious area had a deathly quiet about it.

"Never thought I'd be back here again," Satsuki told Aoi as she again checked dispatch messages from local authorities around the Fuji area.

"I never thought we'd ever use the room again, " quipped Aoi. "I don't think I've even been inside here since that last battle years ago. Hey," she asked Satsuki. "Have you heard anything from Kaede lately?"

"Don't you know?" Satsuki said. "She's on her second kid already. Gave birth to another boy last month."

"Wow! She turned out to be fertile."

"Not just her. Seems like everyone I know is getting hooked up and having kids, lots of them. Speaking of which," Satsuki pried. "How's your dating situation going?"

"Oh, don't put it like that. I've got enough dealing with this place."
"Well, I've heard that's not quite true. You do have someone you're seeing, right?" Satsuki smiled at winked at her. "Someone who has a very extreme manga habit."

Aoi's face immediately blushed bright red. "Um…I'm really not comfortable talking about this…"

"Oh, girl. Don't forget I'm with Alliance Intelligence now. And we know everything, including whether or not you and Commander Burke are…"

Aoi practically leapt from her station over to Satsuki's chair. "Shhh!"

Satsuki smiled slyly at her co-worker. "So it is true."

"It's not like I'm sort of social climber or anything," Aoi whispered as she looked around, hoping all of the few others in the command center hadn't listened in on her conversation. "I mean, who was I to know he was such a comic book nerd? But we have a common interest and one thing led to another and…"

"Umm hmm," Sasuki purred. "Sure it did."

Aoi stood up and pulled her uniform tunic down straight. "I am not going to talk about this right now. Its not like you don't have a handsome boss either."

"Oh, it's not even like that with the director," said Satsuki. "Besides, he is definitely not my type. Definitely." Before the two ladies could continue the Satsuki's console beeped and she swiveled around in her chair to check it as Aoi also studied what just happened.

"Hmm, reports of power outages nearby."

"Where?"

"Oyama," said Satsuki. "And now another report from….Ashigara."

"That's just north of here," observed Aoi. The two women looked at each other and made a common realization.

"Call the colonel," ordered Satsuki, and Aoi rushed to her own console to pick up the phone. Satsuki then changed the monitor aspect to reflect the real-time cameras from both NERV and the Alliance's geostationary satellite above Japan. Placing the views on the larger screens in front of them, the video showed a large blacked-out area miles around Tokyo-3 and the GeoFront, with more areas being blacked out by the second.

"Colonel Katsuragi? It's Mogami in command center, get up here quick! Something's happening."

"Gotemba just reported a sudden city-wide blackout."

"What is it?" Aoi asked.

"Whatever it is it's moving closer to us."

It didn't take long for Misato and Hyuga to rush into the command center and onto the operations deck, followed by Kodama and a struggling Maya. "What's happening?" demanded Misato.

"Something bad…" was Aoi's singing reply. Kodama sat herself down at the right-handed console, Maya's old station, as the other two officers worked to localize the threat.

"There's a channel of power outages leading right up to Tokyo-3," Satsuki reported.

Misato feared the worst. "Can we get visual on it?"

"Trying drone cameras…now."

Another screen showed an infra-red image of a giant bipedal humanoid appearing object that was walking fast towards the GeoFront with its arms swinging wide as it paced. The head was compacted into its bulbously large body, and giant rods stuck out of its backside. There was only one robot in the world as ugly at this particular one.

"It's Jet Alone!" shouted Makoto Hyuga. "It's come!"


I hope that was entertaining. The after-concert banquet scene was something that I had sketched out years go and was just waiting for a good chance to drop it into one of the stories.

The action is now getting rolling, so expect a lot more. Can't wait to get going on the next couple of chapters, will try to crank them out as soon as I can.