Kyushu, on a rail line fifty kilometers from Kumamoto City.

The EVA 500 bullet train blazed by the mountains in the early light of the dawn, it had taken a high-speed journey from Hakone through all of western Honshu, then crossed the Kanmon Straights to Kyushu and continued to the city of Hakata. There the train was switched into another set of rails and then made its way south, finally approaching Kumamoto.

At the helm was Takayo, who had been piloting all the evening and was now extremely sleepy from the all-nighter affair. Fortunately the bullet train faced little obstacles and late at night simply appeared as another bullet train out of many in Japan's high-speed rail network. Now close to their target, Takayo would maneuver the EVA 500 to a set of side rails that would get them off the main rail line to Kumamoto and allow the train to park in place.

"Are we there yet?" asked commander Burke over the speakers in the train's command cabin.

"We,'re…" Takayo then let out a big yawn. "So sleepy, sir. We'll be there in a minute, just need to re-route."

"Right," the brigadier's voice said and he waited until Takayo slowed down the train to allow it to take the side rails. He keyed in a set of digital commands into his console that signaled the rail line ahead to switch the rails and allow his train to glide from the main line to the side line. Takayo was if anything, a testudootaku (train fan) and practically knew every side stop and every diversion on every major rail system in Japan just from being on trains so often as a younger child. To him this new job of pilot for the EVA 500 was all too easy.

Slowing down further, Takayo applied the magnetic brakes along the length of the train and it came to a gentle stop along the side rails. He then powered down the magnetic drive to ten percent and applied parking breaks. Finally he lit the warning lights outside the cabin in case another train decided they needed the side rail and didn't check first to see what was already there.

"Okay," Takayo said cheerfully. "We're here, General."

"Brigadier."

"Oh, sorry sir! But I've parked the train here and there isn't another run by the regular Hakata train for another hour."

"Contact JR Rail Central," Burke ordered, "let them know we're stationary and not to allow any trains to use our side system until we're cleared out."

"I will," said Hayato, "but how long will we be here for?"

"We're not sure yet, so tell them 24 hours."

"24 Hours? Do I have to stay awake all that time?"

"No, son," said Burke. "You can get some sleep now. Your part's done in this."

"Thank you, sir!" said Hayato as he keyed a message to JR indicating they were stationary, adding that they didn't need assistance but were on "internal maintenance." Takayo knew the rail system enough that in doing so JR would leave them alone, which was fine with him. With that he leaned back in his seat, removed his headset, and then dozed off within seconds.

Two cars to the rear of the engine, Burke was now getting into action. NERV had attached a mobile command post train car to the EVA 500 and the commander along with Satsuki and a half-dozen other controllers started work on what they hoped would be the first successful employment of EVA outside of Tokyo in over two years.

"Are we online?" Burke asked Satsuki.

Sitting nearby the commander, the intelligence officer checked her console and then reported to him. "All systems go," she said. "I launched the recon and comms relay drones as soon as the train parked."

"Good. Let's check in with home please. Patch me into NERV." On the brigadier's display screen was a camera feed on the operations deck of the NERV command center, now cleaned up after the last battle. Standing in the middle was Major Hyuga, with Hikari, Kodama, and Aoi at the controller stations.

"Good morning, sir!" Hyuga reported in.

"How's your wife?" Burke asked.

"In labor now, but going okay," said Hyuga nervously. "At least It's not her first one this time."

"Well I appreciate you taking command at NERV despite this," said Burke. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"I spoke to her a few minutes ago and she was in good spirits. We can only hope for the best but she's very strong, she'll be more than fine."

Burke gave a small smile. "I'm sure she will. Now to current matters. I've parked the mobile command center outside of Kumamoto. Current status on our units?"

"Unit 09 is ready here in the GeoFront, pilot on standby," said Hyuga. "Unit 01 is making its way to Shin-Shin-Yokosuka now, along with JA01," JA01 was NERV's own designation for it's new adopted mobile combat robot.

"Tell them to get in the water before the sun comes up, I don't want these units to be spotted," Burke ordered. "Once we have a firm location on the enemy we'll bring them out and strike. Is our liaison up and awake yet?"

"In her office this morning already," Hyuga said. "And completely unaware."

"Good, put your plan into motion Major. I don't want any interruptions."

"Yes, sir."

"Once Unit 01 and JA01 arrive in waters outside Kyushu we'll signal when they can surface. That will depend on how well Mr. Kaji's agents can get us a solid fix on the target."

"Yes, sir. We'll keep in contact."

"Roger, command out." Burke then switched off the communications link.

NERV, Tokyo-3

On the operations deck, Hyuga turned to Aoi. "Alright, go and get Watanabe just like we planned it." Aoi stood up at attention from her controller station, saluting the major with a slight smile on her face. "Yes, sir!"

Back in the train command car Burke made another call. "Good morning, Mister and Missus Kaji!" Both Misato and Kaji were in aircraft seats in a Thunderbolt V/STOL, and both were wearing helmets and olive-drab flight suits. "Good morning, Brigadier," Kaji replied.

"Is everything moving in good order?"

Misato now spoke up. "Unit 01 is progressing to the swim point, JA01 is moving right along as well," she reported. "I estimate that moving at full speed we'll be able to get both units to waters off of Kyushu in about five or six hours."

"Be careful not to be spotted, this doesn't work if we get exposed early," Burke warned.

"We know it," replied Misato. "Trust me, we'll have it under control."

Burke nodded, satisfied with Misato's reply and he turned to Kaji. "Any word from our agents?"

"Koji is reconnoitering the Mount Aso area now searching for signs of a base," Kaji said. "Still waiting on PUZZLE if he was able to locate his target."

"Alright. I've got Task Force Athena prepped offshore to go in on our command, so we'll have military support beyond our own units," Burke informed them. "Once we get a firm location we go right in. If you see anything, take the initiative! We'll back you up."

"Roger," said Kaji.

"Allright, let's rock and roll!" Burke finished and then signed off the communicator.

Shin-Shin-Yokohama

In the still near-darkness of the early morning, two giants slowly trundled their way towards the water's edge. Leading the way was the tall and lanky Evangelion Unit 01, piloted by Shinji. Because of the lower sync rate he now had, the EVA's movements were slower and less reactive than before and the EVA couldn't just burst into a spring and dive into the ocean in front of it. Shinji considered it somewhat of a blessing that he could move the EVA in any good order at all, but he concentrated the best that he could and trusted that his own experience with the EVA would give him the extra strength he needed. It was certainly a strange feeling being back in the entry plug however. Even his plug suit no longer fit him and Shinji instead wore a hastily purchased commercial dive suit inside the plug. But within minutes of activating Unit 01 he found it easy to slip back into piloting like it was old hat. Strangely, he missed the experience.

He checked his wraparound plug display to see the current position of NERVs other unit for this mission. A few hundred meters behind Unit 01 walked JA-01, NERV's countermanded mobile robot. Shinji keyed the communicator switch and got the pilots of JA-01 on his audio channel. "Are you guys doing okay back there?"

"Oh, we're fine!" said Erin in reply. "Just moving along here." Indeed Jet Alone was walking at a fairly brisk pace, as after Zummy had spent most of the previous day in practice with the unit and was now getting along with maneuvering on manual controls quite well.

"Don't worry about us, just lead the way," said the other boy. "We're right behind you."

"Good. We're approaching the shoreline soon, so I'm going to go into the water there. Just follow me."

"Uh, roger," said Zummy and Shinji cut the audio channel.

New kid's doing pretty well so far, he thought to himself as he approached the edge of the water in Unit 01. Must be a dream come true for him doing this.

Inside of Jet Alone, Zummy stood at the control station while Erin was just a few feet away at the systems station. As JA was not intended to be piloted by humans, neither station had a proper chair installed so both had to stand up while operating the unit. Additionally, because of the high radiation of JA's cabin being so close to the nuclear reactor in the next bulkhead, both pilots had radiation suits on, with clear glass face visors to see through. It was not a very comfortable experience for either pilot.

"You hangin' in there okay, Zummy?" Erin asked from her station.

"I'm nervous like hell!" he shot back. "I can still barely operate this thing. I could do without this stupid suit, too!"

"I'm not crazy about the radiation suit either but we don't really have a choice," replied Erin. "Once we're in the ocean at least piloting should be easier."

"Easier? I just hope this thing actually swims and doesn't just sink to the bottom."

At the edge of the shore Shinji reported to Misato, who was flying not far away in the Thunderbolt. "Unit 01 here, I've reached the shoreline."

"Go ahead and go in. You've got the coordinates, you should be able to swim all the way to Kagoshima from here without anything in the way."

"Roger. Here I go."

Shinji just walked Unit 01 straight into the waves and within a few seconds he was waist deep in ocean water, as the coastal waters around Shin-Shin-Yokahama were fairly deep. Within a few more seconds Unit 01 was up to her shoulders in the ocean and Shinji saw the ocean floor was dropping more steeply below. At this point he pushed off and put EVA-01 into a swimming mode and soon he was being propelled through the water.

"I've got it!" He exclaimed. "Swimming mode engaged, I'm on the way."

"Great, JA-01 will be right behind you," said Misato, who then switched the audio channel. "JA-01, do you copy?"

"JA-01 here," answered Erin.

"EVA-01 is in the water already. Just go in and follow closely. We'll be right above monitoring you."

"Roger, here we go." Erin then turned to Zummy. "Okay, let's put it in the water."

Zummy took a big breath, like he was going to jump into the ocean himself, "Here goes nothing." He pushed the control sticks forward and Jet Alone promptly jumped from the shoreline and into the ocean below. A huge splash was heard all around them.

"JA-01," called out Misato. "Try to keep this stealthy! You could hear that dive for kilometers all around!"

"Sorry, Misato," Erin apologized as Zummy worked to get the unit's controls set for swimming. The boy pushed his control sticks further forward to try and lean the unit and then reached for the alternative propulsion switches.

"Do we have full power?" he asked Erin.

"Reactor steady…power to drives. We're good!"

"All right, let's try this." Zummy pushed six buttons in two rows to activate several engines that were mounted on JA's fuselage. Outside the main structure of the robot six separate sets of doors opened in front and back, revealing a set of jet engines that could function underwater. On Zummy's dashboard, each of the engines' ready light lit green when it was fully deployed.

"Okay, water jets are go!" he said as he pushed the throttle forward. All six jets lit up and then the robot lurched forward violently.

"Woah!" Zummy shouted as he was thrown back and off his feet. Erin was also startled, and fell on top of him. JA however was shooting through the water like a shark on adrenaline.

"JA, are you alright?" called out Misato over the audio. Zummy struggled to his feet and grabbed the controls again, quickly easing off the throttle and reducing the speed of the robot to a more manageable velocity. "Um, under control. Yeah we got it!"

"Good," said Misato. "Get behind Unit 01 and let him lead the way. Don't get ahead of him and keep your movements silent as possible. We don't want to tip off the bad guys that we're coming."

"Roger that," said David as he continued to grip the controls and maneuver JA to follow the swimming Unit 01 ahead of them. There was a large LED monitor in front of the pilots' station that showed the exterior view and Zummy and Erin both could see the giant Unit 01 swimming like it was an ordinary person out for a moonlight dive.

"Okay, course…locked in." Zummy then let go of the control sticks, as he set the robot's piloting function to follow the unit in front. Then he took a huge sigh of relief. "How long do we have to get there?"

"Five hours," said Erin from here station. "Well," she said to him as she smiled, "I guess we know why they call this thing Jet Alone, don't we?"

"Yeah," said Zummy. "Didn't realize that they had actual jets in this thing. Didn't know it could swim, either."

"How else could it get all around Japan without anyone seeing it," replied Erin. "At least this way we should keep out of trouble for a while."

"Do you really think we can beat the other JA, or Jet Twin, once we find it?"

Erin chuckled. "With Unit 01 around? I think Jet Twin is gonna last about thirty seconds. Unless they got something else up their sleeves."

"Such as?"

"I don't know but I spent enough time with SEELE to know they're super sneaky and creative in all the wrong ways. Which is why they're sending us, I guess. Are you scared?"

Zummy stood up straight at attention. "Um, yes. Yes, I can firmly admit here and now that I am scared out of my mind."

Laughing at his remark, Erin smiled at Zummy, "You and me both."

"You're scared?" he asked.

"I'm terrified," she said, "but I'm not nearly as cute if I act like it." Zummy laughed at her joke out loud.

"Is that the secret? To make fun of all of this, so you're not so afraid of everything."

"Yeah, pretty much. That and a whole lotta training."

"When was your first time in combat?" he asked her.

"Stealing the EVA from NERV."

"Woah, I did I miss that? You stole your own unit?"

"I kind of have a messed up story," Erin confessed. "That first time was, well, pretty forgettable. The second time was better though. I knew why I was piloting and that made all the difference."

"Wild," said Zummy. "I bet you have some really crazy stories."

"Oh, yeah."

"What are they like, anyway?"

"Who?"

"The other pilots. I mean, this looks like a tough job. I could imagine that they've all been through a lot."

Erin leaned against the back wall as she settled in for the swim ahead of them. "Patrick and I lived with the others in Japan for about a year. We were in the guest house at Misato's place so we got to know everyone pretty well. Truthfully, mostly everyone is mostly normal."

Zummy didn't reply, but just leaned against the same wall as Erin and listened, as he was very curious about what she had to say.

"Shinji's really a nice guy. Sorta quiet, friendly, not really outgoing. Plays cello really well. You met Toji, he's a real sweetie."

"Yeah, he seemed like a great guy, Not what I expected."

"He sort of takes it all in stride, I think. He'd rather be playing basketball than anything else. Hikari is pretty decent too. She's sort of a mom-type of a figure for the group, loves to cook, always after you to keep clean, stuff like that."

"What about Asuka? I met her and she seemed pretty nice actually."

Erin chuckled. "I'm sure she did. She is NOT like that in real life," she declared. "I wouldn't say she's stuck up per se, but she definitely has superiority issues. Patrick says she's a lot more mellowed out than when he first met her."

"Is she really a model?"

"She was, I don't know what she does now. She goes to music school with Shinji so I think that's her thing this year. Next year it'll probably be something else. And then there's Mari."

"Who's Mari?"

"Mari Illustrious Makinami. I don't think you've met her yet. Insanely crazy and a whole lot of fun."

"What about your brother? What's his thing?"
"Patrick? He's the great outdoorsman! I mean, he lived in a cabin the mountains for most of his life, so camping, fishing, hunting, all of that, he's into it. We used to spend all of our time in Maine out in the woods when we lived there and he knew everything about them. I think he hated school so much because he'd rather be out there."

"And then what about you?" Zummy asked. "Was piloting something that you really wanted to do?"

Erin sighed and fidgeted a little. "I never really had a choice of doing this," she told him. "I was just told when I was six years old that I was going to pilot and that was that. No, my life's ambition was getting a gold medal in gymnastics. That was pretty much everything to me growing up."

"How did that work out?"

"There's nothing more frustrating than getting probably the best coaching in the world only to find out that my dad was never, ever going to let me compete. To him gymnastics was just a way to train me for EVA and I suppose it worked out that way. But it was a big disappointment. Once things changed and I found a new home and all, I still managed to work things out. And I did get my medal, although it wasn't so grand as the Olympics or anything."

"And now you're a coder," said Zummy.

"Yup, and a damn good one I think. It's still gymnastics, I just do it with my brain and my fingers." She playfully keyed an invisible keyboard with her fingers in the air and Zummy laughed. "What about you?" Erin asked him. "Was robots always your thing?"

"I just think they're cool!" said Zummy. "I don't know, it's like I'm growing up in this small town and I find this old stash of my dad's old videos of anime and somehow that started this."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Erin said, "You're into this because you watched an anime?"

"Well, Pat Labor was different than your typical mecha anime," said Zummy. "I mean Pat Labors were kind of real. No beam swords or space fights or dudes with masks and weird helmets. Anyway I guess that got things started and pretty soon robots was all that I could care about. Started building kits and stuff when I was younger and moved up to real engineering later on. Then EVA came."

"And you thought EVA was about robots?"

"Yes, I did at first, and so everything was super cool about it. Then once I started digging into EVA more I realized what the difference was. I always wondered could you actually build an EVA-like robot and all, and I guess that became something of an ambition. Now it's like 'holy shit, I'm piloting the actual Jet Alone!'"

"So what's it feel like doing that?"

"Scary at first but you know," Zummy said, "you get used to this really fast. I could do this."

"What's your family like?"

"It's just mom and me," said David. "Dad left us when I was really young and disappeared. We never saw him again. But I guess we did okay, nothing really dramatic to report."

"how old were you when you dad left?"

"Six."

"For me it was four,"

Zummy was surprised "Four? What happened?"

"My mom, well…" Erin said, taking a deep breath and letting it out before continuing. "Let's just say it came without any warning."

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Yeah. It's been a while but still I miss her. I miss her a lot."

"I know that feeling," said Zummy. He smiled softly at her and she smiled back and for a few moments all they did was look at each other through the visors of their radiation suits.

Tokyo-3

Aoi quietly approached the office that NERV had lent to Watanabe. Carefully tiptoeing to avoid being heard too soon, it wasn't hard to tell if Watanabe was distracted, as she was shouting non-stop into her phone without pausing.

How can one person talk so much? Aoi wondered. She slinked into just a few feet from the door way and then straightened up, fixing her uniform and checking her watch. Right on time, she knew. Adjusting her eyeglasses, Aoi then hit the room intercom/buzzer button on the right side of the doorway and the door slid open for her.

Standing in the middle of the room was Watanabe, again dressed in a dark pantsuit and this time surrounded by three adult men that all looked vaguely alike in identical black business suits. The men silently stood around Watanabe as she continued her diatribe into the phone speaker.

"The department needs to know that NERV is excluding me from all of their non-routine communication," the woman continued. "In twenty years of government service I have never been treated so obtusely or given such a cold shoulder. Oh, yes, I request information and they give me what they say are answers but it's always covered up in such technical language that it's patently obvious that they're using their privileged position to lock out anyone who's not in the know of their secret little game. Apparently they were taking the captured Jet Alone for rides yesterday in the GeoFront. How many regulations is that violating, huh? When is the department…"

Aoi cleared her voice as the three junior assistances just stared at her. "Excuse me, Watanabe-san?"

"…going to get JNRC in here to secure that runaway nuclear reactor? The last thing you want to do is leave in these people's hands, otherwise they'll be blowing up cities with it. And another thing…"

Aoi tried again, this time just a bit louder. "Watanabe-san?" The three men continued to stare at her silently while Watanabe just continued on with her tirade, not even aware that she was outside the doorway.

"WATANABE-SAN?!" Aoi finally shouted. Finally she turned her head and broke away from her phone call. "What the hell do you want?"

"Um, I need to tell you," Aoi said nervously. "NERV's up to something."

"Yes, I can see that. Anyone can see that!"

"I mean they're up to something right now!" Aoi went on. "I was supposed to keep this a secret but it seems like a pretty big deal."

Aoi now had Watanabe's full attention. "Well, what is it?"

"Um," Aoi continued, "Um…they've taken two units outside of the GeoFront. I think they're going to go fight something."

"I knew it," said Watanabe with fierce determination. "I told you that they would ultimately go rogue," she declared to no one in particular. Returning to her phone call, she told the listener "NERV has gotten loose, I'm going to investigate. I suggest you mobilize the entire armed forces for this. I'll be in contact." With that Watanabe moved to hang up the call, but the recipient had already terminated the line. She shook her head and immediately moved to the doorway.

"I need you to take me to Commander Burke. Today will be his last day on this job," Watanabe told Aoi.

"Okay then, I'll lead you to him."

"No need, just tell me which direction and we'll find his office."

"Well, except that there's been repairs and construction since the last Jet Alone attack," Aoi explained. "I need to show you the detour route."

"Detour route?! Why wasn't I told before?"

"I'm sorry, we're still short-handed here. I'm sure someone meant to inform you of the changed route. Follow me please." Aoi then hurried down the hallway as Watanabe followed at a very quick pace along with her three assistants.

Aoi briskly walked on for about ten minutes as she went through a series of interconnected corridors, not all of which were well lit. Watanabe tried to keep pace but Aoi was moving as fast as she could in an attempt to put as much distance between her and the group. They reached a central hallway that was taped off with vivid yellow-colored "DANGER – HAZARDOUS AREA" warning messages in English and Japanese. As Aoi turned another corridor she looked over her shoulder and saw that Watanabe continued at a fast walk followed by her three assistants, but they had not broken their pace past a walk. Knowing the new route, Aoi knew the trap had been set.

She rushed down a narrow corridor with green and red painted steel walls on both sides, and Watanabe and the others continued to try and keep up. As she stepped on the steel floor and her footsteps clanged on the metal, Aoi lifted her head and looked directly into the security camera at the back end of the hallway. She didn't wave at the camera but instead just smiled and continued to rush to the other side. A second after she did so a red alarm light went on inside the room.

Once Aoi heard the footsteps of Watanabe and her three followers on the steel floor she burst into a quick dash to reach the other side. A second after she began to speed up Watanabe shouted "Where are you going so fast?"

Aoi didn't look back at her but shouted "There's been a malfunction! Quickly, you've got to move now!" and sprinted to the other side. By this point Watanabe and her assistants were in the direct middle of the steel corridor while Aoi was almost to the other side. She burst through the threshold at the end and didn't look back as alarm klaxons sounded.

Watanabe and her entourage tried to run to the other side but then in front of them several steel tubes now popped out from the floor, the halls, and the roof. Each of then spat out a rushing flow of red-colored chemicals with a slushy viscosity. Realizing she was blocked, Watanabe immediately reversed direction and tried to rush to the entryway they had come from, but there too another set of steel tubes spewed forth the red sludge from their pipes. The group of them at first hesitated, trying to decide if there was another way out, then with Watanabe in the lead attempted to again rush to the opening at the end where Aoi was running just outside of the corridor.

The bakelite however was flowing into the room at hundreds of gallons per second and before they could make it to the end Watanabe and her three minions found themselves chest-deep in the red mire. It took the woman another second to realize just what the chemical was that had flooded into the room, while the doorway on the other end slid shut. They turned their heads in unison and saw that the entry doorway was now also slid shut while the chemicals continued to flow in. Watanabe attempted to pull out her mobile phone but then found that the red bakelite wasn't just shoulder deep in the hallway but it was quickly hardening as well. Within another couple of seconds she nor any of her staff were unable to physically move, as their hands and feet were all completely encapsulated into the now concrete-like LCL-reinforced bakelite.

The woman struggled mightily to at least key her phone but it was to no use, as she was completely physically paralyzed in the cement. The doors at either end opened again and Aoi was standing on the far end.

"Watanabe-san? Are you alright?"

"Get me out of this!" she shouted. "I'm completely stuck."

"I'm so sorry," Aoi apologized, "But there was a system malfunction from the battle damage and the bakelite just flowed in here by accident. I'll go call engineering to have them get you out!"

"But I can't move!" Watanabe said angrily. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Just hang in there," Aoi told her. "I'm sure the engineers can have you cut free in a few hours."

"A few hours?! I need to get out of here now!"

"Sorry!" Aoi again shouted as she turned around and sprinted away from the flooded corridor.

Once out of earshot Aoi pulled out her communicator and contacted Major Hyuga. "Operation is a success," she reported.

"Thank you, Mogami-san," said the Major. "That will help us buy time for today. I think you could get a career in acting if you wanted it."

Aoi giggled. "Thank you, sir. That was kind of fun, actually." With that she terminated the call and rushed back to the control room.

Kumamoto

The sound of rain on the chapel's roof woke Patrick up. He was sprawled out on the same pew he fell asleep on, his coat draped over his chest and his shoes taken off and neatly placed on the floor below. Groggily he shook his head and tried to wake up. Seeing the daylight out of the church windows, Patrick wondered just how long he had passed out so he checked his watch. The Omega digital coronagraph showed 08:03 in LED along with the traditional clock face and Patrick was so shocked that he stumbled out of the pew and tumbled to the floor.

OH SHIT, I'VE BEEN ASLEEP FOR NINE HOURS! OH MY GOD HOW MUCH LONG DO I HAVE?

Still sitting on the floor, he pushed a button on the watch and got his countdown clock. It was just passing under three hours. Three hours to go for Rei's stabilizer to fail.

FUCK I SCREWED UP! I SHOULD HAVE BEEN OUT SEARCHING AND I JUST END UP FALLING ASLEEP IN HERE LIKE SOME LAZY BOZO. SHE'S GONNA DIE AND I'M….

Patrick saw a folded piece of paper taped to his shirt and quickly ripped it off. Unfurling the paper, he read the note, handwritten in English.

Dear Mister Forrestal,

I'm sorry to intrude, but I read your name from your badge wallet. You were quite tired, so I simply let you sleep while I researched your problem and I believe I now have the answer you seek.

The little mouse you are looking for is in the warehouse district.

4077-6 Minami-Ku, Ujiguchi-Cho.

There are several warehouses in that block however, you may have to search a little before you find her.

I sincerely hope that you find all that you are looking for. Godspeed.

Regards,

Father Nicolai

Patrick read the letter over again twice just to make sure he knew the location, which was by Kumamoto's city waterfront and probably a good thirty minutes or more by cycle in the morning traffic. After he located the map address, Patrick looked to his phone messages and noted that there were many of them, twenty, all unanswered. Rather than read them all, he quickly texted a new message to Kaji.

HAVE A POSSIBLE 10-20 ON POI

WILL CONFIRM IN 60 MINUTES

REGARD AS RELIABLE

Not waiting for an answer, Patrick packed his phone away, put on his shoes and got them tied on, then picked up his backpack and put his coat on. Reaching into his shoulder holster, he grabbed his SIG-Sauer and popped out the clip, counting the rounds as he pushed them out with his thumb and then reloaded right there in the church. It was part of his training, because he had fallen asleep it would have been easy for someone to take his weapon and either empty or load blanks into the magazine. So re-loading the gun was a way to keep peace of mind while he thought through his next moves.

Satisfied that the pistol and ammo were okay, Patrick then re-holstered the gun and walked towards the exit. Half-way down the aisle he stopped and turned around, looking once more at the large stained glass window at the end of the church. He thought for a moment and noticed that the wind coming from outside had blown out the candles at the altar. Patrick walked back up the aisle and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a matchbox with the logo letters of "DYB" printed on the top. That was their place, the little Korean restaurant in Cambridge that Patrick and Rei had made their own, for private moments, of meals and lives shared as they held hands under the table. He had not been back to DYB since their fight last fall before he had dropped out of school and gone to Camp X. But the meaning of the place was still strong with him. I want to go back there with her again. Together.

Patrick pulled out a match and struck it on the altar table, and then carefully lit all the candles on the altar until they were flaming brightly. He then dropped the spent match to the floor and stepped on it to extinguish it and turned around, rushing out of the church and into the rainstorm outside.

Wearing a rain poncho over his suit through the pouring torrent, Patrick darted between lanes in the narrow streets of Kumamoto City. Lugini-kun's motorcycle, which Patrick was still renting for ten thousand yen a day, provide to be a great way to maneuver through the crowded roads as he moved to the older parts of the city by the docks.

Unfortunately the weather outside was becoming worse by the minute, as pouring rain mixed with strong winds and caused turmoil in the streets. Not a few times did Patrick have to divert his course to avoid a just-happened road accident or gridlock on city streets, and even found himself driving through alleyways to keep pushing south and west.

After nearly an hour of pushing against road and nature Patrick made it to the docks. He found another small alleyway to park the bike and carefully pushed it out of sight, and locked his helmet on the seat lock. Then he made his way to the warehouses.

The port area of Kumamoto was filled with rusty corrugated steel warehouses, many of which looked like they had been there for decades. Paint peeled off the front signs written mostly in Japanese characters, and there was a corrosive smell that seemed to Patrick like a cross between dead fish and cleaning chemicals. Most buildings weren't all clearly marked, something that was all too often done in Japan Patrick knew, so finding the correct warehouse would be challenging.

The most important clue to Patrick about this location would be that Kaori would want to hide somewhere she felt confident she wouldn't be discovered, and that probably meant a warehouse that was not in use and that was probably not near a lot of pedestrian or vehicle traffic. So Patrick moved from the warehouses facing the main street to the docks, and looked for older, possibly abandoned buildings that were in bad repair.

It took about twenty more minutes but he ran across one steel building with signs in front in Japanese that read "Fish Express Co Ltd of Kumamoto," paired with a badly fraying sign next to it in English that read SAKANA EXXPRESS. He noted the two Xs and wondered if that was an inside joke or simply language barrier issues. The front of the warehouse had the remainder of a giant cartoon fish that piloted his own fishing boat, although the image was barely visible after being faded from weather and time.

With broken windows that were left out of repair, lots of graffiti in multiple languages, and padlocks on several steel doors, Patrick figured this warehouse was likely not in use and seemed like a good hiding place for someone who really wanted not to be noticed. He pulled his lockpick tools out of his backpack and started work on the padlock that was fastened on the front office door of the building.

The lock didn't take long, and within a few minutes Patrick was inside of the warehouse. The building was damp and dark, and the roof made a non-stop rattling sound from the torrent of rain outside. A window or opening somewhere in the building audibly slammed open and shut from the wind. The building looked like an abandoned packing plant, with long lines of tables and water tanks that were now empty, and further in the back there was a private office and some other rooms.

If someone lives here they'd be close to the bathrooms and perhaps where the kitchen or breakroom was. Patrick slowly moved to the back. His gun wasn't out and neither was his flashlight, but he knew he was likely being watched if someone was inside. He needed to present himself as non-threating as he could, so he tread carefully, looking for signs of life but ready for anything that came.

In a few steps he reached the offices. There looked like an managers office that was empty except for an old wooden desk and a single chair, an other office that was empty but cluttered with old steel filing cabinets, and what appeared to be a bathroom. The space in front was open, and looked as though it was a gathering area. There was nothing around except worn-out furnishings such as chairs and tables, although there was a huge pile of debris neatly stacked in the middle of the room about a meter or more high.

The debris pile interested him, and Patrick moved closer to study it more carefully. Notably, the debris itself looked more recent. The tall pile of boxes and trash bags wasn't soaked wet or moldy like most of the other interior of the warehouse. Much of the pile was food packaging, and some of it looked more recently purchased.

Missing piece

Patrick stepped away from the pile of junk, and said simply. "Kaori?"

There wasn't an answer, the warehouse was still silent except for the wind and rain banging on the roof. Patrick spoke again, in a softer voice. "Kaori-chan?"

"Come on, Nezumi-chan," Patrick told her. "Aren't you tired of running?"

The pile of trash came to life and spilled all around as the occupant inside slowly crawled out. Crouched on the floor was a teenaged girl wearing a filthy set of athletic sweats and shoes. Her brownish hair was strewn all around, and looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks. Her face was dirty and swollen, and overall she appeared gaunt and frail. Her eyes had the look of fatigue, of someone who was exhausted but yet still fearful. Her shoulders shook as she stood upright to face Patrick.

Kaori was silent for a moment then asked Patrick. "Who are you?"

"Someone who could be a friend," he told her. "Father Nicolai send me."

Upon hearing the name of the priest who had once sheltered her, Kaori relaxed her pose just a little. "What…what do you want?"

Patrick didn't move closer, but instead took off his backpack and gently set it down on the ground. He reached into it and pulled out a bottle of iced green tea. "I know why you're running away," Patrick told her. "And who you're running away from." He then offered her the bottle. Kaori's eyes went wide at the drink and she snatched it quickly from his hands, practically tearing off the cap and downing half the bottle's contents in a single gulp.

"I can help," he told her as she licked her lips of the tea. "But I need help too."

"What can I do?" she asked

"I think you might know already," Patrick replied. "The people you used to hang out with, you and your brother, they're up to no good."

"I know."

"And it's not safe to go to the police, is it?"

"No. It's not."

"Well, I'm not the police," said Patrick. "Me and my side, we've got…resources. We can keep you safe, no BS."

Kaori was skeptical. "You don't know them. You don't know what they're like."

"Actually," said Patrick. "I do. I know who they are. Who they really are. The God of the Seven Eyes?" Just to make the point clear, Patrick pulled out his phone and found an image of SEELE's older logo, the one with the Mask of Jehovah with seven eyes arranged on front, along with the snake of Eden. He showed it to her. "You've seen this, haven't you?"

The girl saw the image and recognition flared in her eyes. "Yes."

"Why did you leave them?" asked Patrick. "What made you want to run away?"

Kaori took another lengthy gulp of the tea, finishing the bottle and then letting it drop from her hands onto the pile of garbage below. "My brother," she told him. "I came to them not because of who they were, I didn't really believe it," she said. "But he did."

"We were abandoned," she started to explain. "When we were young our parents left us. I think things were pretty bad then. There was no food, no place to live. So they just left us. My brother he would…work bad jobs, do things, and I stayed with him. I had no place left to go."

"For most of you things got better. All of this with whatever Impact there was and then the weather got better and everyone was happy. But not everyone. We were still dirt poor."

"One day he saw an image on the Internet, it was a picture of that Angel. The giant one that appeared over Tokyo-3, and that changed him. He told me…he said 'I've got to find that Angel. She can save us.' And that's when we found the others."

"He changed," she told him. "He was so caught up in this. I told him to leave, that I didn't like the others. But he kept with them. He was going to find this Angel and somehow the world would be better for us."

"Then he went off to America," said Patrick.

"They said she was living there. He left to go find her and bring her back. I…I didn't want him to go, but he did. And then when he left there was no one else to protect me so I ran away."

"I see."

"Do you know what happened to him?" she asked him.

"Yes," said Patrick in a quiet tone. "I do. He died."

Kaori gasped, and swallowed hard. She took a few deep breaths as she tried to maintain her composure. "I…I…I knew something would happen," said Kaori as she fought tears. "I knew it would be bad, that I'd never see him again!"

"Nezumi-chan," said Patrick in a soft voice. "I'm sorry for what happened to your brother. I do need your help though. That 'angel' that the cult was looking for, she's actually not much different than you or me. They've got her, and she's in a lot of trouble. I need to find her."

"I don't know where she is."

"But you know where they are, don't you? That's why you're hiding, because they know that you know too much already."

"I…I…I don't' know," she said fearfully.

"Yes, you do," said Patrick. "Hey, when you were in the chapel, I heard that you lit the candles at night. Was that right?"

"Y-yes."

"Why did you do that? You needed hope, didn't you? I knew that somewhere, somehow, something out there could help you if you just had faith in it. Am I right?"

"I…I guess so,"

"I lit those candles myself before I came over here," said Patrick, "And I know that feeling of hope against hopelessness, better than a lot of other people. So I'm here to tell you, I can help you. I can protect you. But you've got to help me too."

Kaori didn't reply, but looked up at Patrick. Her body was shaking in the cold, and tears were coming down her cheeks. Scared and tired, she trembled in the cold air of the morning. Patrick threw off his rain poncho, took off his suit coat and then approached her, quickly putting the coat around her before she could resist and get away.

"You're cold, aren't you?" Kaori didn't reply but just nodded.

"I'm sorry if I startled you there. Please, Kaori. Too many people have been lost to this already."

She sniffled a bit more, then she grabbed the coat and pulled it around her tightly to keep warm. After another deep breath she started speaking again. Inside of his pants pocket, Patrick keyed the RECORD button on his mobile phone app to record whatever Kaori would say.

"Do you know Aso-sama?"

"The big volcano on Kyushu? Yeah."

"There's an old shrine at the top. It fell down during Second Impact. Not there, but if you start there and go due north there's a set of abandoned Shinto Torii, seven in all alongside of a road. That road goes to a bamboo forest and then dead-ends on a small hill. But it's not a dead-end. It's an opening to another cave. They're in there."

"Tell me about the cave," Patrick asked,

"It's big and it's old," she said in between sniffles. "There's a very old temple there inside of the cave, what I think used to be a volcano dome. It's open at the top. Anyway the temple is old and long, and there's a large wooden Buddha at the end of it. They're all in there, with machines and other things. Big things."

"Big robots?"

"Yes."

This all seems right but I need to make sure. Patrick then asked a qualifying question, one that Kaji had asked him to verify if anyone had been to that actual temple, based on their recent interrogation of Tokiwa. "Anything unusual about that Buddha?"

"Yes," she told him. "It had these large, glowing red eyes,"

That's it!

"Thank you," he told her. "Now, I need to explain what happens next. My friends are coming, they are not the police. They're not even all Japanese. They will come and take you from here to a very safe place where the cult cannot find you or hurt you. Do you understand?" Kaori nodded.

"Can you trust me?" Kaori nodded again. "Thanks," said Patrick and then gently brushed her hair. "I'm sorry things are so messed up for you, but I'm good at my word. I will set this right for you." She nodded again and then Patrick motioned for her to sit down on a nearby chair while he pulled out his phone. He called Kaji directly and was transferred to the comm link of the aircraft he was currently piloting.

"Forrestal," he answered immediately. "Please tell us you have good news."

"Yes, sir," Patrick said and he played the recording of what Kaori told him of the base's location. After playing the recording over the phone he asked Kaji. "From that can you find out where they are?"

Kaji had studied the Mount Aso region extensively since the suspicion arose that the cult was located in the vicinity and knew the area well in his mind. "Yes, I believe I know exactly where that is. Is your guest still with you?"

"Yes, sir. She is"

"Remain on site and we'll send someone to come get her. Good work."

"Sir," Patrick replied, "I don't want to just wait this out. I need to go find Rei, we're out of time!"

"Everything is in motion," said Kaji. "Just hang tight. Ciao," Before Patrick could say anything else, Kaji had cut off the line.

Damnit, I don't want to just sit here and wait, Patrick thought. He looked at Kaori, who was now huddling in a corner and still wearing Patrick's suit jacket. But I can't just leave her here either, especially if the cult is still trying to hunt her down. Patrick looked at his watch. 1:17 to go.

Fuck it, maybe I just take her with me. "Kaori?" he asked the girl. Her head poked up.

"Come on, let's go." He motioned with his hand for her to come, and she did so.

The rain and wind pushed on the steel roof harder and booms could be heard from the waves of pressure. Patrick grabbed his backpack and poncho from the floor and then grabbed Kaori's wrist and hurriedly pulled her towards the doorway, not wanting to waste another minute. There was a large howling noise just outside that violently shook the walls of the warehouse.

He steeled himself for the weather and the journey in front of him. With the weather getting worse it would be a fight just to get the cycle up the mountain, Patrick knew, and with a passenger along for the ride that wouldn't make things easier. Better just not to think about it, but just get moving. He kicked open the doorway to the warehouse and it went swinging wide into the rain, and then he ran out with Kaori in tow, expecting to get drenched.

Landed in front of the warehouse however was a tilt-rotor aircraft, it's blades still pointed upwards and spinning, and blowing the wind and rain all around it. Out of the back door of the tilt-rotor came a single figure dressed in camouflage, who spotted Patrick and Kaori and ran towards them.

The figure pulled down her hood, revealing neck-length black hair and an ornate tribal tattoo around her chin. "G'Day, Pats!"

"Wellington!" Patrick greeted Moria Wellington. "What are you doing here?"

"NERV called for 'all hands on deck' and that included me. Chief says you've got an important package here," she nodded towards Kaori.

"Yes, most important. She knows the enemy location."

"Don't worry, I'll get her safe. How did you get down here?"

"I've got a motorcycle, a Kawasaki parked a few buildings down towards the road."

"Give me the keys," Moria asked and Patrick promptly dug in his pants pocket for them, handling the set to her. "Take care of the bike," he told her. "it's borrowed."

"Right, then." Wellington then faced the girl, speaking very nearly perfect Japanese. "Miss, it's nice to meet you, I'm Moria Wellington, I'm a good friend of Pats here. I'm going to be taking care of you." Kaori looked up at Patrick with a frightened expression but Patrick took her hand and gently squeezed it, and smiled at her.

"Don't worry, you're good with her," he told Kaori. "You'll be safe."
"Come along, then," Wellington told the girl. "Let's get out and try to get you someplace safe and dry." She then motioned to the tilt rotor. "That's your ride," she told Patrick. "You've got a deadline, don't you?"

"Um, yeah!"

Another figure popped her head out of the open door of the tilt-rotor, this one with flaming red hair. "Come on, you idiot!" Asuka shouted over the rain. She was dressed in a black tactical suit, but her hair was flying all over with the wind and the rotor wash. "Stop wasting time!"

Kaji thinks of everything. That's why he's the director. "Thanks,": he told Wellington. "I gotta go,"

"Good hunting for your Angel," she replied, "and if you run into Lusty, tell her she owes me a Big One. She'll know what means."

"I'm sure." Patrick faced Kaori once more, looking at her. "You'll be alright, you will," he tried to reassure her. "And I'll check on you once everything's done." Kaori couldn't manage much out of her voice except "Thank you" and Patrick promptly bolted towards the tilt-rotor.

Within a few bounds Patrick leaped into the cramped back seat of the aircraft with his backpack, Auska was seated in the next seat. "About freaking time," she growled as Patrick grabbed and shut the cabin door. "Let's go!' she said to the pilot. Toji looked back at the both of them.

"All secure?" Both of them fastened their harnesses. "We're good!" Patrick told him. "They got you piloting this?"

"If Ayanami-chan's in trouble you don't need to ask me for help, I volunteered!" said Toji. "Now hang on, this is going to be a really bumpy ride." He then moved the control collective and lifted the tilt-rotor off the ground and off into the stormy sky, and towards Mount Aso. Patrick didn't say anything else, but noticed the body armor sitting on the tilt-rotor floor and immediately grabbed it. "Where's Shin-chan?" he asked Asuka.

"Unit 01's on her way down," she told him. She then handed him a set of clips for his MP-5. "We're the advance party."

"Then let's get this party started!"

Mount Aso

In her chambers, Rei sat silently as a group of servants worked to prepare her for what was coming. She knelt on the bamboo tatami floor as a white silk kimono was slid over her by two girls, while her hair was brushed out by a third girl. Another girl applied makeup to her face. Except for the girl doing makeup none of them dared look directly at Rei, all of them working in hushed compliance as if they were serving an empress, or a goddess.

The process of preparing her took over an hour and Rei sat compliantly as they worked on her, not knowing what else she should do or what was expected of her. She had received no further news of the fate of Shinji or Asuka, or anyone else, and she had assumed that all was as it was stated to her before by her captors. To ensure their safety she would need to obey. But in her hands was the ribbon, taken from the girl who had appeared earlier. Who was she? She wondered. Was it herself, or another clone, or someone else? Whoever the girl was she was not an image, but someone who had sought her out to give her a message. Rei knew she needed to heed that message, regardless of how hopeless the current situation appeared.

Not knowing the time, Rei could only guess that the end was somehow near. She felt weak, her body felt slightly warmer than it normally did, and she knew from the only other time this had happened that the effects of her LCL stabilizer were already starting to wear off. Whatever happens needs to happen soon.

The servants finished and then all of them got up off the floor in unison, bowing slowly to Rei and then turning around to leave the chambers. Passing them by as they left was the older priest, who then stepped in front of Rei. Unlike the others, he had no fear of her at all.

"I see that you are prepared," he said to her. "Have you considered what I have said?"

"I have," Rei said to him.

"What is your answer?"

"I will not evade you," she told him, "but I will not cooperate either."

"Even now? When your unmaking is at hand?"

"Especially now," she said, as she looked directly at him.

"I didn't ever think you for a fool," the man said with a smirk, "but perhaps I misjudged you after all. Come then. One way or another this will all be corrected." He turned and started towards the doorway, and Rei followed him from a distance. If she was uncertain to where her path lay now, she didn't show it.

The priest led her out of the chambers and into the dead volcano's hollow interior, where the rest of the cult's operation was set up. There were hundreds of followers, most of them now wearing white robes, that all watched as he led Rei from one end of the chamber to the old wooden temple set up at the other end. None of them dared look at Rei directly. The priest said nothing but led the procession as he was followed by Rei, and then at a distance by the crowd. Rei thought to herself how terrible a situation she had managed to get herself in.

Forri-kun, I'm so sorry.

She then proceeded into the temple followed by the throng of members who crowded in. Two guards, armed with modern automatic weapons and dressed in camouflage, flanked the doorway and were about to shut the doors when one last remaining cult member came rushing in, her auburn hair trailing behind white robes as she flew through the doorway. The doors were then slammed shut behind her.

The table is now set and we will move onto the finale. Been so busy with work and family but will hope to have two more chapters out within the next month. Hang on and keep those reviews coming!