When Erin woke she found herself in a small bed surrounded by medical equipment within a small, dimly lit room. She was only attached to a pulse oximeter on her fingertip however and apart from the faint "beep-beep" of the sensor there was no other noise in the room.

She squinted her eyes and shook her head to clear herself. Her body felt cramped and she had a headache that felt like massive pressure onto the back of her head. But she looked around and found no bandages on herself including her head, and she was still dressed in the same leotard she wore when she was in the Virtual EVA with a single white sheet and a blanket covering her.

Did I just knock out? Erin wondered, trying to remember exactly what had happened. The lights of the room became brighter and Sakura Suzahara entered the room, wearing a white blouse and skirt.

"Good morning, Erin-chan!" she greeted as she wore a smile. "Good morning," Erin groggily said in return, still rubbing her head.

Sakura held a tray that contained a glass of water and some pills. "Now that you're up I figured you'd need some water, so I brought some here along with aspirin." Sakura set the tray down on a table next to Erin's bed, and Erin promptly downed the aspirin along with all the water.

"What happened?" Erin asked Sakura, "I can't remember anything."

Dr Foch then entered the room. "You fell down and suffered a mild concussion, my dear."

"Uncle Bernard! You're here!"

"Yes, I flew in yesterday," said Foch. "NERV put out a request for all experienced personnel and given that Miss Ayanami has not re-appeared in the USA I figured it was wise to come here. How do you feel?"

"Splitting headache but otherwise I guess I'm fine." Erin slid out of the covers and sat on the bed, not wanting to lie down any further. "So we won yesterday?"

"Yup!" Sakura nodded. "Between you and Nozomi-chan we really showed that robot who was boss. "

"I barely did anything, except dance around and distract it a while," Erin said. "How long have I been out?"

"Oh, I'd say about twelve hours," Foch told her. "Not to worry. You had a rush of neural feedback when Jet Alone commenced its electrical impulse attack, and that probably blacked you out. But we did a scan on you and nothing's damaged. You're free to get up and go once you're ready."

"I feel ready now," Erin told them. "I need a shower pretty badly." She stood up from the bed and took off the pulse oximeter from her finger. "Anyone heard from my brother?"

"He tried calling this morning," Sakura said, reaching into her skirt pocket and pulling out Erin's phone. "I told him you were still sleeping and he asked you to please call once you were up."

Erin smiled at her. "Have you been watching over me this whole time?"

"Yup!" Sakura said with a smile. Doctor Foch patted Sakura on the shoulder with approval. "She's quite the nurse, even at her tender young age. Follows doctor's orders to the letter, knows her way around a medical center quite well."

"Well, thanks for the treatment!" Erin told her. "Also tell Toji thanks for getting me back here."

"Oh," said Sakura in surprise. "Oni-chan didn't bring you back."

"He didn't?"

"No. Some other boy did." Sakura looked up at Doctor Foch. "Can I discharge her now?"

"Yes, she's an outpatient. Self-ambulatory," the doctor replied and Sakura promptly picked up the medical chart hanging from Erin's bed and marked it. Erin promptly thanked both again and rushed out of the medical room.

Fortunately the sick bay at NERV wasn't far from the pilot suite and she rushed to get back to her own room. Feeling sticky from all the sweat that was now dried on her, Erin peeled off her outfit and jumped in the shower, and then after another fifteen minutes was refreshed enough to contact Patrick. After wrapping a towel around her she picked up her mobile phone and dialed.

It took two rings to reach Patrick, and the background noise of the call was filled with the loud noise of a buzzing motorcycle engine. "Hello?"

"Bro!"

"Sis! Are you OK?"

"I'm just fine. Just got the wind knocked out of me, that's all. Where are you?"

"I'm riding a bike back to Kumamoto."

"You're what?"

"I had to make a detour to Shin-Kagoshima. Didn't they tell you what happened?"

"No, I woke up maybe an hour ago."

"Shinji and Auska got kidnapped by the same cult that's got Rei," shouted Patrick over the cycle engine noise. "It's all linked together with Jet Alone. Anyway Kaji told me to go and get them and then Mari finally showed up at the same time. So we broke them out and then I'm on the way back to Kumamoto to follow up a lead."

"You mean about the ramen?"

"Yes! We found out who took it, it's the sister of the guy we fought in Boston."

"But why are you on a motorcycle? You can't just fly back?"

Patrick continued. "The guy I got the lead from lent me his cycle so I could get to Shin-Kagoshima in a hurry. I'm going to give him his bike back and then he'll hopefully help me out a bit more."

"Bro, are you gonna find that in time to reach Rei? How much time do we have left?"

Patrick didn't check his watch. He already knew the time left over. "We got about a day left, I know. Believe me I'm going full speed on this. Just tell the others at NERV to get ready in case we run into more trouble."

"I will. Hopefully we can break the seal on Unit 04 and clean this up the best way we know how."

"Whatever happens I know you'll be there. Just hang on. Bye!" Patrick then abruptly hung up the phone. Erin didn't try to call him back, she knew that taking a phone call on a speeding motorcycle was probably difficult enough and who knew what else Patrick was running into on his way back. I just hope he's alright.

Erin got changed into a bra top and cotton leggings, and then threw a nylon skirt and a school-branded sweatshirt over it and then some runners. She wanted to feel loose and comfortable for what she thought might be another long and traumatic day ahead of her. After doing the rest of her self-maintenance, Erin left the bedroom and entered the suite.

Standing within the kitchenette was Hikari, again cooking as Erin walked in. "Good morning," she greeted in Japanese.

"Good morning, Erin-chan!" Hikari said with a smile and no hint of unpleasantness. "I got you breakfast already, it's on the table over there."

"Thanks. How'd it go with Nozomi-chan?"

HIkari motioned to the big-screen monitor at the end of the suite, where Nozomi and Hayato were yet again engaged in an intensive video game battle as they bantered with each other. "She was scared all throughout the night, then woke up and went right back to her saved game like yesterday never happened," said Hikari.

"I suppose it's easier for younger kids to deal with this," Erin commented.

"She's lucky," Hikari replied. "She's got all the rest of us behind her. Are you feeling okay? They said you fell down and were knocked out."

"Just a really mild head bonk, that's all," said Erin. "Hey, can I ask a favor?"

"Anything!"

"Um, just tell Toji…just tell him thanks, will you?"

"Sure, but what for?"

"He got me to Virtual EVA really fast yesterday and that really helped things."

"I'll let him know. He's giving a tour to the new boy right now, so he should be back any minute."

Erin's eyebrows raised up in surprise. "New boy? Do we have another pilot?"

"Hey!" Erin turned towards the front door and saw Toji enter, dressed in his customary black windsuit. Alongside of him and dressed in a grey sweat suit with TNI logos was David Zumwalt.

"Oh, hi! Zummy!" said Erin. "You're here!?"

"Hi, Erin," Zummy said as he fumbled with his security badge hung around his neck. "Yeah, I got here yesterday."

"Yesterday? After the battle?

"During," Zummy clarified.

"Yeah, I was just showing him around here now that things have quieted down again," said Toji. "He came in pretty handy yesterday."

"What do you mean?" asked Erin.

Toji explained it further. "Well, I had to go help Hikari go and get Nozomi-chan out of Unit 09, so Zummy-kun here went along with one of the controllers and got you out of the Virtual EVA room and brought you to sick bay. How's the head?"

"I'm fine, thanks! So you…" Erin looked at David. "You brought me to sick bay?"

"Yeah," said Zummy in an embarrassed tone. "Sorry, I just got here and everyone was running around and someone just told me to go and get you so I did after I found out where you were. What was that room you were in?"

"Virtual EVA, I'll tell you about it later." Erin looked at the table where her food was waiting for her, and decided she very definitely needed to catch up. "Breakfast?"

Inside of a small conference room, Kaji, Misato, Makoto Hyuga, Dr. Foch, and Commander Burke all sat around a small table and listened in as Kaji's agent Koji relayed back more information over an audio speaker.

"So Illustrious joined up with her new cult buddies and got inside of an old moving truck, and that truck went driving all over Kyushu most of last night."

"Do you have her current position?" Kaji asked.

"I lost her when they approached Mount Aso," the agent explained. "And that was after four hours of being on the road. The driver went on an evasive course and finally they caught on that I was tailing them so I had to pull over and hide. When I went to re-acquire the truck was gone."

Kaji and Misato were both concerned. "Did she have her tracker on?" asked Kaji.

"We lost that too, I found it tossed to the side of the mountain highway not long after I lost her. The cult is very careful to check their members for anything that could give away their position, like mobile phones, portable games, and other electronics. I'm pretty sure she ditched it when some baddies started to search her and her friends." Toji continued. "We have a protocol that when Mari loses her communications ability she tries to at least acquire someone else's and let me know her position. She's done it twice already, so I might just have to wait on her to get a signal out."

"If she's in the main compound there might not be much chance of her doing that," Kaji told him. "Anything else?"

"Yes, after we discussed that JA and the cult might be linked, I inquired about if anyone in Japan had purchased a large amount of dosimetry badges that detect radiation. Figured it made sense if you've got a secret base with a nuclear-powered robot hiding inside. Well, after some inquiries I got an answer back this morning and there was a large, unusual purchase from a European supplier from a company in Kumamoto city. And Kumamoto's less than two hours by car from here. Wherever they are, it's close by."

"Good," Kaji declared. "Forward the information on the radiation detectors to Forrestal, he can follow it up along with his other lead on who was supplying their agents. Then start searching the Mount Aso area and see if you can find anything."

"Will do," replied Koji over the audio. "Did Tokia give up anything to the interrogators?"

"Only that the main base includes an old Buddhist temple. The cult was apparently quite careful in not revealing their actual location to Mr. Tokia."

"An old Buddhist temple? That really narrows it down," Misato said cynically. "There's probably about five to ten thousand of those all over Japan."

"Not with a buddha with red eyes, however," Kaji told her. "Keep searching and keep us informed," he instructed Koji. "Don't let them find you, we need the element of surprise in this to be successful."

"Yes, boss. I'm on it. Bye for now." Koji then signed off.

Commander Burke leaned back on his chair, contemplating after what he heard. "Whatever's happening is happening in Kyushu" he declared. "We need to get down there. Anything from the Japanese government?" he asked the others.

"Tokyo-2 reported that Jet Alone, that is the other Jet Alone unit, attacked the central air defense control base next to Nagano early this morning, " Hyuga reported. "Total destruction as before, and this time the Air Force and Army made a bigger stand but JA broke right through. And," Hyuga also reported "this attack involved lasers mounted on JA, so it's not the same type of unit as the one that ended up here."

"Two Jet Alones," said Burke. "I guess Jet Alone isn't 'alone' after all then."

"It means that former commander Ikari's observations that the original project was supported by SEELE likely means they built their own improved robot unit based on experiences with the first Jet Alone," concluded Kaji.

"For the sake of keeping things straight let's call this new one Jet Twin," Misato declared. "When was Jet Twin last sighted?"

"Moving out of the Japanese Alps," Hyuga reported. "Headed southwest and towards the coastline."

"Back to Kyushu," Burke warned, then he turned to Dr Foch. "What's the time on Miss Rei's stabilizer?"

"Approximately twenty-seven hours," the old scientist said.

"Then whatever's happening is going down tomorrow," the commander concluded. "We need a plan to get mobile and get our units down there to take them out once we lock down their final position. Colonel, do you have any ideas on that?"

Misato smiled slightly. "I know what I'd like to do. I'd like to break the seal on Unit 04 and then take it and Unit 01 down to Kyushu and go hunting for Jet Twin."

"That would mean you'd leave Unit 09 here defending the GeoFront?" asked Burke.

Misato nodded. "Yes. While Nozomi-chan did well yesterday, she doesn't have the maturity for an offensive operation like this. But we have two pilots for those two EVAs and despite their low sync rates it's the best option we have."

"We might have another," Hyuga spoke up. "Maya's been working on a control program for JA, now that we've captured it. If she can finish it, the program would give us internal control over Jet Alone."

"Meaning that we could actually use it?" Burke asked.

"Yes, sir. I mean," Huyga went on, "we don't have the technical support for extended operations with JA but if we could get it moving and maybe give it a quick weapons capability from some of the leftover EVA equipment it could take the place of having an EVA unit."

"You're serious?" Misato asked the major, but he nodded in approval. "I was thinking about this last night. A low sync rate with the EVA means the units won't respond as quickly as they would need to in a combat situation, and we don't really know what other surprises they've got with Jet Twin or anything else they're hiding. Also, Jet Alone has something EVA doesn't and that's its EMP ability. That could really come in handy."

Burke considered what was being said. "Would Doctor Hyuga have the program ready in time for a deployment down there tomorrow?"

Hyuga nodded. "She's putting the final touches on it now. It would require a couple of people to crew the unit inside and pilot it on manual control, they'd have to be in radiation suits but yes it could work."

"Any other thoughts on this?" Burked asked the room. Kaji leaned back in his chair and spoke to the others. "Not breaking the seal on Unit 04 saves us a political headache with the Japanese government later. I think the idea has merit, and I even think I know who might be the one to pilot JA."

"Then that sounds like a plan. Colonel," Burke spoke to Misato directly. "Put an offensive strategy together and round everyone up. I want to have this ball in motion within the hour."

"Yes, sir," said Misato. "One last thing: what do we do about Wanatabe? She's going to be a pain in the ass no matter what we do with either EVA or JA."

Makoto Hyuga smiled. "I've got an idea for that too. Let me take care of it."

Erin spent the next half an hour talking to Zummy as he related what had happened to him at the Alliance's Intelligence HQ in Tokyo-3.

"So they asked you questions about EVA-Chan?"

"Oh yeah, lots of them. And then a lot of personal history about me and my family and whatever else, and then whatever happened at TNI. Did they find Reiko…I mean Rei yet?"

"No, Bro's still working a lead in Kyushu. He had a pretty busy day yesterday too."

"She'll be okay, right?"

"I don't know," Erin said with a worried voice. "If anyone can figure out where she's being held it's Patrick. Just hope she's alright." She sighed and then tried to push herself to be positive, no matter what it took. "But then Alliance didn't send you home, they sent you here?"

"Yeah, I was really surprised at that. I talked with some guy with an eyepatch, seemed super nice. Anyway he asked me if I wanted anything and I asked if I could visit NERV. I was just thinking they'd show me the outside of it, I didn't know they'd actually take me inside here. Holy crap this place is amazing!"

"How much have you seen?" asked Erin.

"They took me through several places on the way here. I saw the GeoFront interior although it's kind of a burned-up mess from yesterday. I actually made friends with the Fourth Child and he introduced me to Shinji and Miss Langley, which was kinda neat. And I saw Unit 09! Along with Jet Alone! They're still standing inside of the GeoFront. That was completely cool!"

"Jet Alone's still there?"

"Well, yeah. They deactivated it yesterday, According to what that Toji was telling me they were able to hack inside its computer and get control over it. Apparently it's still fully intact."

"Interesting," Erin mused. "Hey, I wasn't too much of a mess yesterday when you got me from Virtual EVA, was I?"

"No, no," Zummy said again, still blushing. "You weren't too heavy to carry."

"Oh, thanks!" she said in mock protest. "I suppose you'll have lots of stories to tell once they let you out of there."

"Or maybe not," Zummy told her. "Now that I've actually seen all this…I realize a bit more about just what you all were doing. It's really important, isn't it?"

Erin gave him a small smile. "Yes, yes, it is. I mean for you EVA's a hobby, but not for us. Even for someone like me who isn't doing much piloting anymore, what we do here protects everyone else."

"I realize that now," Zummy said. "So no, I'm not going to go back to EVA-Chan, if they resurrect it."

"You're not?"

"No. In fact, after coming here and seeing everything, do you think NERV would hire me after school?"

"Well, we don't really do robots," Erin told him. "But I'm sure we could help out if you wanted to actually work here. NERV doesn't just take anyone though, you have to be pretty sharp to get in here."

"I am sharp," declared Zummy, "at least at what I'm good at. Maybe I'm not so great with people but…"

"Oh, you're just fine with us," said Erin. "And you were a friend to Rei when she needed one. So please don't ever think that. If anyone has a hard time getting along with people it's probably me."

"Really? That's not true at all," said Zummy. "I think. You seem like the about the sweetest girl I've ever met."

Erin was about to say something but stopped before she could get a word out. No one had ever quite complimented her like that before. "If I come off that way," Erin finally told him, "It's probably fake. I'm not really like that."

"Yes you are," Zummy told her, and for a moment Erin realized that she might have underestimated the boy, as there was more to him than just being an awkward geeky mecha fan. The conversation was interrupted by Hikari, who had just put down the phone mounted next to the kitchen.

"Everyone, get ready for a meeting with Misato and the others," she declared. "Something's happening!"

With a crowd too large for the conference room and the main control deck still being repaired from damage in the last battle, the NERV staffers, pilots, and others used the operations center to gather everyone inside. Present were the senior commanders: Commodore Burke, Misato, and Makoto Hyuga, as well as Doctor Foch and Kaji. The current controller team of Satsuki, Aoi, and Kodama were also there, and the three women marshaled everyone else inside the room, making sure everyone had a place to sit or stand. Doctor Maya Hyuga was already seated at one corner, her laptop resting on her large belly as she furiously typed in programming.

The pilots all came in next, as Hikari, Nozomi and Toji entered as a group and found seats inside. Asuka and Shinji appeared right after them and didn't take seats but instead leaned against a wall as others filed in.

Waiting outside the room was Erin, who was together with both Zummy and Hayato. Because neither of the two boys were "official" NERV staff Erin asked them to wait until the meeting was finished.

"You don't mind waiting, do you?" she asked both boys.

"Sure, no problem," said Hayato. "We'll just stay here until you're done."

"I'm fine," said Zummy. "Good luck!"

Erin was interrupted by Misato, who popped out of the doorway. "Erin-chan, can you bring both of them inside please?" she requested. "Thanks!" She then popped right back inside.

"Was that…Katsuragi?" a surprise Zummy asked.

"Um," a surprised Erin told the other two, "Yeah. I guess let's all find seats!"

When everyone was finally gathered and settled, Aoi raced out the doorway to make sure they had the privacy they needed as there was one person who was not invited.

"Do you see her?" Misato asked her.

"No, Colonel," replied Aoi. "Wanatabe-san isn't anywhere outside."

"Then get in here and lock the doors," Misato ordered and Aoi rushed back in, closing and locking the door behind her.

"Now that we're all here," said Misato as she started the meeting, "Let's first brief all of you on what's happened. Kaji?" she motioned to Kaji who then stood up.

"We've established that whoever stole Jet Alone was also behind taking the First Child," Kaji told everyone, "and also attempting to take both Shinji and Asuka. We believe that a remnant group from SEELE is behind all of this, and that in addition they've also built another Jet Alone unit which we're now calling Jet Twin. All of these actions are tied together, in somehow giving SEELE another capability to use against the Evangelions and against the world."

"What do they want The First for?" immediately asked Asuka.

"We're not exactly sure, but perhaps SEELE wants a way to somehow link Rei's abilities with Jet Alone."

"That sounds scary," said Shinji.

"It is," answered Kaji. "According to Foch-sensei we have a little more than 24 hours before Rei's LCL stabilizer stops working. Whatever the goal is centers around her inability to keep solid form once her LCL bloodstream completely destabilizes so we need to find and retrieve her as soon as we can, and we have our own top agents working on finding her precise location as we speak."

"Fine then, so let's get our EVAs and go kick their ass!" Toji said in his best swagger.

"Do we have any idea on where they are?" asked Kodama.

"All information we've obtained leads to Kyushu, and probably within a couple of hundred kilometers of Kumamoto city," Kaji answered. "Exactly where is still unknown, but I'm optimistic we'll know by tomorrow. Hopefully before it's too late."

Commander Burke now stood up. "Because our enemy's likely location is in Kyushu, I'm ordering NERV to send an expedition there immediately. I've asked for and we will receive assistance from Alliance military command in support, but we will deploy to the south of Japan as soon as able. Once we know the precise location of where SEELE is keeping pilot Ayanami, and also where they've been hiding Jet Twin, we'll move to strike. Mister Hayato?" The commander looked at the boy, who was startled as his name came up.

"Um, Yeah! Me? What is it?"

"Prepare the EVA Type 500 train for departure. NERV will attach a mobile command base car to the train today and we'll run it down to Kyushu tonight to work as a forward command post. I'll be on the train myself, so be sure you're running at your best performance please as this is not a training exercise."

"Got it, yes sir!" Hayato, still panicked by his sudden role in the operation stood up at attention and saluted. "But are you telling my parents?"

"No," Burke said. "We're not telling anyone about it, so keep your mouth shut."

"Wait," said Kodama, "we're not getting permission from the government for this operation?"

"Absolutely not," Burke confirmed. "NERV was attacked by these guys. No matter what our agreement with the Japanese government is, we have a right and a duty to respond to eliminate the threat and that is what we are going to do."

"So keep this operation secret," said Misato. "From anyone not in this room. That goes double for the government liaisons."

"Colonel," Burke said to Misato, "please lay out our operation plan for the others." Misato then started a video presentation and spoke along as the graphics outlined her action plan.

"Unit 09 will be responsible for defending the GeoFront and Tokyo 3 area," Misato started. "Pilot Horaki, Nozomi-chan that is, will be the unit pilot for 09."

"Awww," Nozomi protested. "I wanted to go on this mission!"

"We need you here I'm afraid," Misato told her. "As Unit 09 still works with a power umbilical cable we don't have much choice anyway and it's possible that Jet Twin might try to attack us here."

"We'll be here too, right?" Hikari spoke of her and older sister Kodama.

"Yes, I'll expect you to work as controllers in the event of an attack here. Major Hyuga will be command." Makoto nodded as his name came up.

"For the expedition south, we will take Unit 01, with Pilot Ikari who's volunteered for the mission." Shinji nodded silently at the mention of his name. "But given that his sync rate with EVA-01 is below 10% we will need another advantage over Jet Twin. Yesterday showed that even with a fully-functional AT Field the JA series won't make it easy for EVA and we can expect that Jet Twin might have other capabilities we aren't yet prepared for. Thanks to Hyuga-sensei, we now have a new unit at our disposal."

Maya finished typing on her laptop and promptly slammed it shut. "Done, and none too soon," she declared. "Because I think I need to go to the hospital."

Makoto's face went white with surprise. "Now!? You're not due for another two weeks!"

"I think with all of the excitement it's coming out early," she said. "But the control program is set up completely. There's no way they can get back control over JA again."

"So it's fully under our own control, then?" asked Aoi.

"Yes, but not under AI control. I couldn't risk that they put in a recessed command that would allow them to gain back control over the unit, so everything is under manual operation. You'll need pilots to control JA but you'll get full functionality."

"Anyone know any robot pilots?" Toji said aloud jokingly to the laughter of a few.

"We actually have one," Misato replied, looking at Zummy as she spoke to the room. "That is, if he's willing."

For a few seconds David Zumwalt sat there on his chair and said nothing, looking around at the now silent room and suddenly noticing that everyone was now looking at him. "Who, me?"

"From what I recall of our conversation earlier," Kaji spoke up, "you did state that you were the high school robotics champion of Wisconsin last year."

"Yeah, but…but that was an engineering competition," Zummy protested. "My high school team built its own functional robot as a research project. It wasn't anything even close to something like Jet Alone!"

"But you did pilot it, yes?" Kaji prompted him.

"Yes, I guess so. I mean, our model was about eight feet tall and yes it walked and picked up stuff but that's pretty much all it did," said Zummy. "We didn't take it into combat!"

"Jet Alone may be large," said Maya, "but on a practical level it functions like any other bipedal robot. The controls inside are designed to be basic, but it's enough to move the unit and control it. Actually it would take two to really run it in combat, there'll need to be a second pilot to help fight with it."

"I volunteer!" Zummy looked next to him and saw Erin shoot her hand up in the air. "I mean," she explained, "Unit 04 is under seal anyway, so at least I can get into the action this way."

"See," said Misato, "you've already got a co-pilot. So how about it?" David looked at Erin, who smiled at him. From that he felt encouraged.

"Well," Zummy said reluctantly, "can I at least practice driving it before we go?"

The day had worn on for Patrick as he had pursued Kaori Umamoto's whereabouts. After returning the motorbike to Luchini-kun and questioning him further, he had looked into some places where the young girl had stayed or people she had hung out with. As he went all throughout Kumamoto City and nearby suburbs everyone he came into contact with made efforts to be helpful but often couldn't provide more information than just when they last came into contact with the girl, and it was usually someplace she was no longer at. To Patrick, Kaori's behavior seemed evasive: she took jobs that only paid in cash, she had no mobile phone of her own, and she slept in places that were usually someone else's house or sometimes just a space inside of a shop. Also, she moved around often, maybe changing her location within the city every four or five weeks or so. To Patrick this indicated a desire to evade detection which provided to him a very important clue: if Kaori was ever cooperating with the Lilith Cult, she was no longer doing so and was very likely on the run from them. That meant he had to find her before they did.

As the hours wore on Patrick was only able to trace where the girl had been, and not where she was now and he was starting to become very worried. As the countdown to the end of Rei's stabilizer moved in into the teens, the pressure of not finding her was wearing down on him heavily. Additionally, he needed to spend some of the day to work on a "side quest" prompted by Alliance intelligence about some company buying a large number of radiometers. It didn't take him long to determine that a shell company had made the purchases and found an old abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Kumamoto as the last posted address on their records.

By nine that evening Patrick was worn out from a day's worth of searching on foot. As Kaji and others were still wary that local police and officials might be connected to Lilith Cult in some way, he could not ask for help from the police and that meant a lot more work for him interviewing people or investigating clues. So that evening he was worn to the end of his energy and found himself dragging his body along to what he hoped would be the final location of Kaori Umamoto.

Patrick arrived at the gates of Saint John of the Revelations, an Eastern Orthodox church that was close to the older parts of Kumamoto. It was an older building that looked like it had been there for a century, stone walls with a "turnip" looking copper dome on top that was green from age. The church itself had an open courtyard that appeared as a not well-kept garden with trees and shrubs strewn about, and the gate itself was old and rusted. However the sign in front was posted with the current date and blessings in three languages, so Patrick knew it was still inhabited and functioning. It was here to this church that his last interview said Kaori had fled to when she had nowhere else to go.

He opened up the wooden double doors to the sanctuary and stepped inside. Compared to the outside noises of the bustling city, the inside of the church was nearly completely silent. It wasn't particularly large, mostly a dozen rows of pews on either side of an aisle, and an altar at the far end with a collection of candles presented in front of it. There were rows of icons hung up on either side of the church with images of the saints or historical figures, all done in the Byzantine "flat" style with the noticeable golden halo behind the heads of each figure. At the very far end of the church was a large stained glass window with a larger icon centered inside of it. A portrait of who Patrick figured was Saint John was there, the person being older and balding and with a writing quill and scroll in his hands, and above him was Jesus himself. Both figures had a halo behind their heads like the other icons. To Patrick though the most noticeable thing about the stained glass window was a collection of images of what seemed like unusual creatures with multiple eyes, wings, and appendages. There were a dozen of these of all shapes and colors surrounding the icon of Jesus and St John. Patrick was so fascinated by the image that he walked right up the aisle to the alter to get a better look.

"May I help you?" A voice came from behind Patrick, speaking in English. He suddenly turned around to see an older man dressed in the black robes of an orthodox priest. He was about in his sixties, with a large graying beard and steel blue eyes, and definitely of European descent. A large ornamental cross hung from a necklace he was wearing.

"Um, yeah!" said Patrick, somewhat startled as he didn't even notice the man's presence behind him and that was something he had been trained for weeks to definitely notice. "I was just looking at the window here. Can I ask a question?"

"Of course," the priest said.

"What are those things that are on the outside edge of the glass? I get who's inside but just what are those?"

"Those," said the priest, "are Angels in their true form."

"True form?"

"Yes. Well, certainly nowadays what constitutes an 'angel' has a new meaning, doesn't it?"

"It does," Patrick agreed. "No more little kids with wings attached and flying around."

"Oh, no. The truth has been revealed now to all."

"So this window was made recently then?" asked Patrick.

"Not at all. Our stained glass window was constructed in 1934, and this was based on a larger version that used to be in a church in St. Petersburg that was demolished by the Soviet Union some time ago. That was itself a copy of another stained glass window that was in another church said to be in Constantinople at the time of the Empire, another church also with the same name as this one."

"So this image is actually very old then?"

"Yes, it is. This was first conceived at least a thousand years ago, probably longer." The priest stepped closer to Patrick, standing right next to him as he admired the window.

"So someone knew then?" Patrick surmised. "Someone back then knew what an Angel might actually look like?"

"Well, this is from the Revelation of Saint John," the priest explained. "And beyond that there have been other saints with further visions and revelations. It's safe to say that even those saints probably couldn't comprehend what they had seen, only that it was from divine revelation and that they needed to show it as it was presented to them. Prophecies are often like that," he continued. "Not made for the generation who first heard them and instead made for those yet to come. But now we see revelations fulfilled in our presence."

"Angels didn't turn out to be particularly nice, did they?" said Patrick.

"What is an Angel?" asked the priest. "It is but a messenger from God. Why did these Angels come here? Were they truly here to destroy? Or perhaps they were here to send a message? To instruct and to reveal, and in doing so these Angels revealed to mankind the final reality of who we were, how great and how terrible humans are. And despite all the calamity and destruction that came about, even despite the horrible events we've all had to endure, in the end there was still hope. Hope that came in the hands of children, and that surely is the work of God."

Patrick thought about this for a moment. "Oh. Wow. Didn't quite think of it that way before."

The priest smiled slightly, tilting his head. "Young man, you're not just here for our window are you?"

"Um, no. Oh, no, I'm working a case actually." Patrick stumbled for his wallet and quickly flashed his badge and ID to the priest. "Alliance security. I'm searching for a person of interest. Have you seen this girl?" Patrick showed the priest an image from his phone of Kaori.

The priest's eyebrows raised immediately. "Ah, yes. That's Miss Mouse!"

"Miss Mouse?"

"Nezumi-chan, we called her. She didn't disclose her real name to the others out of fear. From the look of her I suspected that she had much to be fearful of."

"So you knew her then?"

"Oh, Yes," the priest continued, "She was with us and lived in the attic above us along with others. Sometimes we find ourselves a sanctuary of last resort and these children come to us. I think that Miss Mouse was here for about three months. She often lit the candles on our altar in the nighttime."

"Is she still here?"

"I'm afraid not, she left us less than a month ago," said the priest. "I don't know where she is now, but she left quite suddenly."

Patrick closed his eyes and gritted his teeth in frustration, yet another dead end or roadblock, he thought to himself. He tried hard to control his anger and sat down in one of the pews, taking a deep breath and letting it out. Grabbing his head with both hands, he shook it with emotion.

"I'm sorry," he told the man. "It's just really important that I find that girl, and I've been searching for days."

"Perhaps I can help in some other way," the priest offered.

"Could you?" Patrick asked. "I wish to hell someone could."

Quietly the priest came and sat down next to Patrick in the pew. The church was quiet again, with only the gentle sound of wind heard through the sanctuary as Patrick sat in silence, trying to collect his thoughts. I'm just getting sick of running into hurdle after hurdle. He looked at his watch and saw the timer: a little more than thirteen hours to go before Rei's stabilizer wore off.

I'm not going to find her in time, am I?

He wanted to just bolt out of the church and go running out in the street, but he didn't know where he would go. The pursuit just ran into a dead end and here he was with an incomplete puzzle in front of him, and final pieces that just couldn't be found.

Patrick looked up and the priest was still there quietly sitting next to him. What did I really need to say now? "Can I ask you a stupid question," he finally asked.

"I find in my experience that there's no such thing as a 'stupid' question," the man replied.

"Why…why would God give you something so beautiful yet just suddenly take it away?" Patrick finally asked. It was the question that was gnawing at his heart during his entire pursuit of Rei, even before she was actually missing. "I mean, if we're God's children and all what's the freaking point of giving you a gift then suddenly ripping it from your hands? Is God, if He's even there at all I mean, just cruel like that?"

"I think you mean, why give you something for you to love and then take that very thing away, leaving you with the pain of loss. Am I correct?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"Have you experienced loss before, my son?"

"Yes. A whole shit-ton of it."

"And how did you survive until now?"

"I don't know! I mean, somehow I managed. I fought, I struggled, I pushed aside doubt, I pushed aside fear. Sometimes something good happened in the middle of all of that. Sometimes it was horrible." Patrick rubbed his face unconsciously as he spoke. "And then I got something so incredible, so beautiful in my hands that I couldn't believe my luck. I know the Bible a little, monsignor. I know what the Pearl of Great Price is."

"I'm not western rite, or what you would call Roman Catholic, so I'm not a monsignor," said the priest. "But I also know of what you speak."

"Yeah, I mean. What's the story? Some guy finds such a beautiful object that he sells everything he has and buys it and keeps it for himself. Well, that's me. I did that. I had my pearl, but now she's been taken away. An I'm….I really don't know what I'll do if I can get her back."

The priest leaned back into the seat of the pew and closed his eyes for a moment. The church inside was deathly still as candles in the front flickered in the breeze. One of them suddenly blew out in a flash but the rest remained bright in the silence.

He opened his eyes and started speaking to Patrick. "When I was a boy, I grew up on Sakhalin Island. You know where that is, don't you?"

"Just north of Hokkaido. Was part of Japan once, wasn't it?"

"It was part of China once as well. Anyway my father was a fisherman and I lived there with the rest of my family. When I was a boy I once knew a young girl that was from the island. Her father was Russian, her mother was said to be Ainu, the original inhabitants of the Japan islands. She was, however, beautiful beyond words. Crystal blue eyes, porcelain skin, long black hair, and above all such a sweet way about her as if she floated above everyone in her buoyancy and happiness."

Patrick didn't reply but instead nodded along and let the priest continue. "I fell in love with her at first sight. She was in my class and when I first met her I decided that I would make her mine. I was thirteen at the time and she twelve."

"But something terrible happened," said the priest with resignation. "Not long after I confessed my heart to her, she died."

"Died? How?"

"A freak accident. A military truck tipped over and landed right on top of her as she was walking home from school."

"That must have felt terrible."

"It was heart-wrenching. 'Why, God, why?' I asked. 'How could you cause a death of something so beautiful? How could you take her away?' I admit that losing her drained me of any belief that life could be good, and within a few years I volunteered for the Army."

The older man went on. "I went to Afghanistan and came back a killer. But my soul was still restless, and the darkness wrestled with what spirit was still within me. Then one day I returned home and I went to that street where my cherished girl had died, and I noticed a single, small, solitary cherry blossom tree at the place where it happened. Just one tree but it was blooming and vibrant, just like she was. Next to the street lived an old widow and I asked her who put the tree there and she told me that no one did, it had grown on its own. But she had remembered the girl who had died and when the tree appeared she had helped take care of it."

"That the tree had suddenly appeared where my girl had perished challenged me. I had believed up until that time that life was a downward spiraling chaotic mess of disappointments, and that there was no hope except for self-indulgence. Yet I had survived the worst in combat and came back to this, that nature had not forgotten what was once here and that beauty has still sustained and survived despite death. That was an eye-opener for me. Now I faced the fact that my assumptions about life and death weren't quite right, and it left me wondering about what was right. I didn't have the answers but I knew I wasn't going to get them on the battlefield. So instead I got this job." He motioned with his hands to his priestly robes.

"And for the last few decades that's what I've done. I've pursued truth, unblemished, uncovered, hard truth, and to find the beauty in truth, and sometimes to find truth within beauty. In these years I've tried to be a safe harbor for others who also are seeking this, to provide shelter and to provide what hope that I can."

"Did you find it?"

"Well, I went back to that street not long ago after my father died, and I went to that spot with the cherry blossom tree. And now that street is lined with cherry blossom trees, so many that they actually call it 'blossom' street. So she lives on, by the impact she made on me and on so many others."

The priest looked at Patrick with kind eyes. "I realize that's a bittersweet story. You certainly don't want to lose your beautiful someone, do you?"

"No," Patrick said, "No, I don't."

He looked up to the stained-glass window, staring at it as if he could perceive something that was there but not quite visible. "Our God is a very jealous god," the priest told him. "He values beauty and grace. These are characteristics that most reflect Him. And I've know Him more often than not to take those things that he values more just a bit earlier than the rest of us. Yet we're left with the memories and effects of knowing them, and these last within us for a lifetime. It's that knowledge of pure beauty and pure grace that give us hope that life is better beyond these shadowlands that we live in."

"So what I can leave with you is this: the beauty you know will never die, as long as it lives within your heart. You will never lose that girl, just as I have never lost my blossom. She lives here," the priest tapped his chest. "Where she's safe forever. And it was a such a privilege to know every moment of her life."

"Honestly I'd rather just get her back alive," said Patrick.

"Of course you would. Perhaps there is something that I can do to help, now that I think of it," he told him. "Pardon me, but would you like some tea?"

"Tea?"

"Yes. I have a samovar in my office with my own blend. Would you like to try it? It's very relaxing."

"Um, sure."

"Just give me a moment." The priest went into a small room and within a minute came back with a single cup, which he offered to Patrick. The sanctuary was cold and still and Patrick could feel a slight breeze and without thinking much about it he took the cup and immediately drained it. The tea was warm without being hot and quite smooth, quenching his thirst nearly immediately."

"How was that?"

"Rather good, actually. Maybe just what I needed."

"I'm glad. Please wait here and I'll see if I can provide you the assistance you require."

Patrick leaned back in the pew and slumped his shoulders against the corner. He took a long look around the sanctuary and felt an unusual peace about the place. Churches really didn't interest him much, Patrick figured, but this little place was quite different. He took a deep breath and caught the faintest scent of incense from the altar, and then found his eyes drooping downward. Tried as he might, he couldn't get them back open and within another minute he drifted off to sleep slumped down in the wooden pew.

Inside the confines of what had become her prison, Rei leaned silently against a wall of the shower completely naked. For the last couple of days the cult's servants had enjoined her to eat the food presented by them but she had refused, instead drinking only tea. She spoke to no one and no one had dared speak to her, and aside from their attempts to get her to eat Rei had no contact with the cult except once.

In that meeting, the leader had presented to Rei more recent photographs of Shinji and Asuka. They were bound by hands and feet in a chair, dressed it appeared for something formal. Neither of them appeared conscious in the image. The man assured her that neither of them had come to any harm while in their custody, but that would change if Rei presented any type of resistance. Again, Rei was not expected to do anything in particular except cooperate, but if she did not the leader said he would be satisfied enough to wait until her LCL stabilizer failed and her body lost its shape. Either way he would get what he required.

There was no further contact with the leader after that meeting, and Rei only contemplated what would be next for her if anything. She did what she felt comfortable doing, which was to bathe herself in warm water extensively and then afterwards remained in the shower chamber. Her eyes looked in front of her but saw nothing but the wall. She was ultimately where she always feared she would be: all alone.

Of course Rei knew they would be looking for her, Patrick, Misato, and the rest. That would especially be true if Shinji and Asuka were also missing. There were no exterior signs of a rescue attempt where she was being kept however. The place was silent, her guards outside were ever present, and nothing had broken the cult's routine since she had been captured. Her hope of a rescue by others grew fainter by the hour.

Should she just break out? Rei wondered. If she employed her AT Field nothing could stop her from leaving this place except perhaps another Evangelion. But the leader made it very clear that he wouldn't hesitate to act on his threats. Even if she rescued herself and left, someone close to her would most likely die as a result.

Was there another course of action? Should she just give up and let the cult have what she believed it wanted? In such circumstances Rei would be simply a figurehead for the leader, regardless of whatever divine status they bestowed upon her. It would be a betrayal also to everyone she had come to regards as family and friends, for her to suddenly switch sides for the enemy even if it meant the lives of others could be saved. She had foolishly thought this before, that the Lilith Cult regarded her as divine and so would therefore listen to what she had to say. It was that reasoning that had motivated her to avoid telling any of the others when the cult issued her their invitation via Erin's former boyfriend's letter. But it hadn't worked out that way, and in that respect where true power was held was made painfully clear to her.

There was only one remaining option: to do nothing, and to eventually cease to be. Probably by the daytime she knew her stabilizer would eventually run out and her cells would start to be disrupted. She would literally start melting little by little until as the last time it happened, when Tokyo-3 was attacked by the Mass Production Evangelions, her body would start losing larger pieces of itself until there was nothing left of her form. The only thing left would be her soul, tiny and encased, and ready to transplant into something new. Either that or she could somehow unmake her soul at the final point of death, by employing the rest of her life force into another AT Field projection. Such an event could be more than explosive, she knew, as she truly didn't know her full strength. Would she simply just disappear into the void? Or would she take the whole Earth down with her? It was impossible to say until the event happened.

Ultimately there was no clear option for her except to wait, and not much time left to wait. So she patiently leaned against the shower walls and stared into what was in front of her without regard.

She thought of the others in her life, those she had drawn connections to. Shinji, Asuka, Misato, Misato's son Akira, and her classmates and pilotmates all came to mind. A blur came through her mind of all of the times she spent with others, times she had been learning how to reach out, and how to embrace what the others called living.

So many memories came to mind, and not just of piloting EVA. Memories spent in the company of Shinji, her Onii-chan. She had suddenly come to that title for him and didn't quite know why, as Shinji's link to her was unique. Rei wasn't his mother, although she was a copy of her. Ultimately what other role did she play in his life and he in hers? The connection between them, of big brother and little sister, ultimately was her own choice. She had chosen the title and Shinij had wholeheartedly embraced it, so much that after over two years Rei could see Shinji in no other way. As such she would do anything for his benefit, and over time Shinji had asked for nothing except companionship. Rei closed her eyes and through of him, and imagined her hand slipped in Shinji's. That was always where she wanted to be with him, close together, and for so long it had actually happened when they lived together as family and happiness had followed.

But there was more beyond a family that was made real for her. Patrick was the surprise to her that kept on surprising. Rei had always felt that she had little to offer him: she was awkward in communication, in the beginning had no appreciable skills beyond piloting EVA, and was not even human physiologically. But Patrick had paid none of that mind, and raised her to the pedestal of his own life, and in fact had given so much of his own life in her stead. Reaching out to him had proven difficult at first, but ultimately she could connect with him. "Forri-kun" brought so much warmth to her darkness, it felt good for her simply to be in his company. Rei thought of all of the times she was in his arms. First she had felt scared, then nervous, but then comfortable, and then finally she could think of nothing else but how good she felt when he held her.

Forri-kun, I'm sorry I couldn't give you want you also wanted from me. To be truthful, I wanted that too. I wanted you inside of me. I wanted to know it, how it was to be loved body, mind, and soul together. But I didn't just want that for myself, I wanted a child too.

I wanted a child, she thought to herself. That's what got me here. I wanted a child. But why? Why did I? I would be the same if I had one or not. I would still be Rei Ayanami. Yet this is not true. I would not be Rei Ayanami, mother. The connection was different between what I had with Onii-chan, and what I had with Forri-Kun, the connection would be all my own.

She remembered the children she helped take care of at the day care center at the New Institute. She remembered Akira-chan, Misato's own child and how she watched as he was born, and how Misato would allow Rei to help take care of him while she lived at the house. She remembered that feeling of having a child clinging to you, depending on you, and loving you for it, and Rei wanted that feeling for herself.

Yet this body of mine defeats all attempts to place it in the everyday world. I tried everything but I could not change it. Simply put I am not part of this world, nor was I ever meant for it except as a doll to pilot EVA.

So what real choice do I have except to end? I cannot be human, I cannot go back to being that doll I was. There is nothing else.

Rei sensed something and looked up. Standing in front of her was herself. She wasn't naked, but instead wore an unfamiliar school uniform with white blouse, yellow vest and grey skirt. Rei examined the figure of herself, trying to determine what she was actually seeing.

"Are you me?" she asked the other girl. "One of the parts of me?"

"I am from you," the girl replied with the same whisper-like voice as Rei, "but I am not you."

Rei became very curious. "Then who are you?"

"Someone with a message."

Rei stood up and faced the figure of herself. Was this an image, she wondered, from her own mind? Or a projection of some sort. The girl appeared solid and not shadow however, even casting a small shadow of her own where she stood.

"Why are you here?"

"I do not have much time," the other Rei replied, "but I need to tell you now. Whatever you do, do not give up hope."

Rei remained silent as the other girl continued. "Help is coming. Do not give up hope."

"I do not know who you are," Rei replied, still unsure she could trust the messenger.

"I have told you all I can," the other Rei said, "but as long as there's breath in your body there's hope." Shocked by that phrase, Rei reached out and tried to touch the other Rei. She grabbed just a piece of her school uniform bow and managed to pull it off before the girl vanished.

Still standing in the room outside the shower, the blouse bow ribbon in her hand, Rei looked where the girl stood just second before. The way she said that seemed unusual somehow as if it were a coded message, Rei analyzed. But how did she come here?

What is really going on?

Interesting twist there at the end, huh?

This was a more expanded, heavy-on-exposition chapter that now brings us into the climax. All forces are converging on Southern Japan and it's going to rumble, so stay tuned and I'll try to have a new chapter out within a couple of weeks. Reviews welcome as always, thanks!