"-and while the damage to the city's defensive armaments is quite substantial, the Evangelions themselves suffered no damage during the fight." Gendo stared at the committee as they absorbed the report. While all of them, save Chairman Lorenz, took the guise of featureless monoliths, he understood them enough to be able to intuit their reactions and expressions, even devoid of sound.

"This is excellent news, this is the perfect opportunity to reduce the conventional defense budget now that the JSSDF have seen how useless normal weapons are against the Angels." SEELE-11 stated, surprisingly quickly from what Gendo knew of him. SEELE-11 was always the budgetary backbone of the old men, always circumventing Gendo's attempts to divert more resources to NERV and Tokyo-3. Now he sounded… panicked? Disturbed? Unnerved? Curious, the old men shouldn't have noticed Adam was missing yet, and his sources didn't mention anything out of the ordinary.

"I would advise not to reduce it too much." Gendo added quickly. "The defenses, no matter how useless, keep the population happy, a happy population is a content population, content means they are less likely to ask unnecessary questions, less unnecessary questions lead to fewer problems to the scenario."

"….Ikari has a point, keeping the population unaware is cheaper and less time intensive than hiring 'cleaners' to deal with people who ask about things they shouldn't." SEELE-6 came to his side after mulling his reasoning over.

"…..Reduce it, but leave enough to fool anyone looking close enough." Lorenz spoke, and the decision was made. "We need to deal with the more important issue at hand, Ikari, what of the Ishim?" Ah, that was the real problem for them.

"Their help in defeating the Fifth was invaluable, without them the Evas would have undoubtedly received heavy damage, and they distracted the Angel enough to allow for the killing blow to be dealt." He was genuinely thankful to them, as there is no telling what damage Unit-01, Yui, would have taken if they sent her out against the Angel. Oh, and Shinji.

"We have some concerns regarding that." The Chairman intoned grimly. "Does it seem a touch convenient that they deployed the decoy balloon-"

"Still can't believe that there's a 1:1 scale decoy balloon." SEELE-10 muttered.

"-right before the Eva would have been deployed? Almost like they knew it would happen."

"Are you suggesting the Ishim possess foreknowledge of events to come?"

"Are you saying you haven't considered the possibility of such Ikari?" He has in fact considered it, and he has come to the conclusion that no amount of foreknowledge would be a threat to him. He had counters prepared in case of any wayward time travelers, no matter who they were. Well, except for Aoba. That man was a wildcard, but too useful to get rid of.

"I have considered it, and I have found it to be irrelevant." The old men grew silent at that, eying him suspiciously.

"Care to explain your reasoning for that Ikari?" SEELE-6 broke the silence, just as Gendo expected.

"My reasoning is that no matter what foreknowledge they possess, it pales in comparison to our foreknowledge. We possess the Dead Sea Scrolls, which have detailed to us the method by which Complementation will be achieved. Not to mention we have connections, money-" Hmm, they grew nervous when he said that. Investigate later. "-and contingencies decades in the making. Whatever they can do, we can do better." There, reassuring their near blind faith in the Scrolls, stroke their egos regarding their power, and make them believe he's not holding a knife ready to stab them in the back. Now to direct their attention away from the Ishim, his current revised plans would be hard to accomplish with the old men's eyes on Tokyo-3 more than they already were.

"For instance, the C-Type equipment we developed to ensure the upcoming fight with the Sixth would be successful. Proof of our foreknowledge and time to use it." There, that should be sufficient for-

"I thought it was the B-Type that was made for underwater combat?" SEELE-3 questioned.

"…..No, the C-Type is the equipment specifically developed for underwater combat." Gendo did not have a good feeling all of a sudden.

"Oh. Well. That's a problem." One could hear SEELE-3 audibly sweating.

"How is it a problem?" Chairman Lorenz's tone had a dangerous edge that promised many things that were not conducive to continued health.

"Unit-02 was sent out to sea without underwater fighting gear. To be ambushed by the Sixth, the Lord of the Sea, Gaghiel." The entire room was silent, everyone staring at SEELE-3 with a disbelieving glare.

"Ikari." Lorenz turned to look at him. "Fix this." Suddenly the committee's projections disappeared, leaving him alone with Fuyutsuki.

"I wonder how they will react when they read the rest of the report and find that the Fifth Angel's likeness was purchased from under our noses by an entertainment company and is being used as a virtual idol on a streaming platform." Fuyutsuki mused aloud. Gendo merely counted down in his head until-

"Ikari! What the hell is this!?" The old men reappeared and Lorenz angrily held out a page with 'Crystal Laser Idol Ramy L.' emblazoned on it. Along with the image of the octahedral form of the Fifth wearing a frilly dress.

"I'm sorry gentlemen-" Gendo smirked underneath his bridged hands. "-But I have to deal with the Unit-02 situation as you ordered. Anything regarding the Idol situation is fully outlined in the report. Good day." He cut the connection as he left the meeting room. They would try to make him pay for that later, but he was following urgent orders to ensure their success against the Sixth, and as long as he succeeded, they would hold their tongues for a while. And it was worth it, just for the look on Lorenz's face.

The men of SEELE were not happy. This wasn't because of Gendo or his actions, not entirely at least, but because of the fact that this situation happened to begin with. Due to a sudden lack of Gendo to direct their anger against, they settled for the individual who made the mess to begin with.

"What the hell Three!?" SEELE-5 roared. "You oversee logistics, how could you screw this up?!"

"How the hell am I supposed to differentiate between all the Eva equipment's purposes?! They're literally just labeled with letters, letters that don't correlate to what the equipment does!"

"Enough!" Keel had enough, this bickering only served to waste his time. "We can deal with the issue regarding the equipment and the fifth's idolification-" Keel couldn't believe that was something he had to seriously say.

"How could an octahedron look so good in a dress?" Someone muttered and he chose to not acknowledge the words were even spoken.

"-and instead address the issue of one of our bank accounts being suddenly and inexplicably drained. Seven?"

"Whoever they are, they're good. No trace, multiple proxies, and dozens of false positives. I'll continue looking but we may as well count that money lost for good." That was not the news Keel, or any of them wanted to hear.

"Hmph, Eleven? How does this affect our plans?"

"Quite a bit. We'll have to consolidate the construction of the Eva series. We can say goodbye to having twelve fully functional Mass Production Evangelion by the new year. At most, we'll have nine if we're smart about budgeting."

"Not great, but nine should be plenty as long as the S2 engines and the Dummy Plugs work as intended. As for the issue of the Ishim, and no Nine, we are not assassinating the Second Child." SEELE-9 bit back the words forming in his throat before they could be vocalized. "….For once I believe Ikari, the Ishim are no threat to the Scenario even with foreknowledge of events to come. As we surpass them in that, and even more. But that does not mean we should be lax."

"What do you mean Chairman?" SEELE-12 inquired.

"While they are no threat, we shouldn't be complacent in regards to the Ishim. I do not doubt that Ikari is developing his own countermeasures for them, and we should do the same. Contact our agents and have them begin work on collecting…. samples for study. Discreetly so as not to arouse Ikari's suspicions." A chorus of affirmations rang out and Keel let a smirk grow on his face. The scenario will not be impeded.

"Excuse me, are you Shinji Ikari?" Shinji blinked as he turned around to see who addressed him. A girl in glasses with long brown hair stared at him, a slightly manic look in her eyes.

"Yes, I am. How can I help you?" Shinji realized he's seen this girl around before, she was the one who he caught looking at him. She'd always bolt off before he could ask why she was staring at him. He hoped he wasn't making her uncomfortable when he looked at her while she stared at him.

"Hello, my name is Mayumi Yamagishi, Class 2-B." She bowed slightly. "I'm sorry if this is a bit forward, but do the small redheaded girls you've tamed propagate their kind by transmorphing other girls into them?" A retort about how he didn't tame them died in his throat as the rest of the sentence caught up with him. He blinked as he tried to comprehend the question being asked of him. A quick glance at Leader and Shiki on the floor nearby showed they were just as confused as he was, perhaps even more so.

"I….. don't understand?" That was evidently not the answer she was looking for.

"Look, I don't want to be a redhead! Being eight inches tall is fine, but having red hair will bring too much attention! What if my classmates start asking me for fashion advice?! What if they try to induct me into their girl talk cult! What if Nene starts hanging out with me and tries to get me to talk with the ghost inside her teddy bear!?"

"Wait what was that last-"

"I just want a quiet, peaceful life, Mister Ikari! And I can't have that if I have to understand fashion trends and listen to boy bands!" What the heck was she talking about? Was this some kind of girl code? Leader and Shiki were at a similar loss for words, so it was up to him to deal with this.

"Y-you'll be fine Miss Yamagishi! You won't turn into a Minisuka." Her eyes seemed to focus on him, desperation pouring from her every movement.

"Really? You aren't lying?"

"N-no?" He really hoped he wasn't at least.

"Oh! Great!" Her attitude did a complete one-eighty, the maddened aura that seemed to possess her evaporating like steam. "Sorry to have bothered you Mister Ikari, have a nice day." She bowed and walked off as if nothing happened.

"Well." He spoke as his brain was trying to catch up to what had happened. "That was a, uhhhhhhh….." He offered a hand to Leader and Shiki, which they used to climb back onto his shoulders. "An interesting reason to get ambushed outside the bathroom for?" He stared at the wall for a moment longer before he decided to get back to lunch before it ended.

"Anta Baka?" Shiki questioned, while Leader was pointedly looking away.

"I don't know, but I'm sure she was just worried about something." He paused for a moment. "She…. isn't going to turn into a Minisuka, right?" They both stared at him with a look that screamed 'are you serious?' "Of course not, I was just checking."

Things have been quiet since the fight with the Fifth, and things promised to stay quiet for a while longer. In a week or two, they would be meeting the Second Child onboard the flotilla carrying Unit-02, and Misato assured him that she would break the silence through sheer presence alone, and to look forward to that. Speaking of Misato, she was apparently going with Doctor Akagi to see a demonstration for an Evangelion competitor called the Red Alone or something. Hopefully, nothing would go wrong with that-

Shinji's musings were broken by his NERV phone ringing, telling him he was needed in his capacity as a pilot. He groaned silently and started jogging towards the school gate, where Section Two would undoubtedly be waiting for him. One day Shinji would learn not to tempt fate, but that was not today.

Earlier that day.

Misato hated a lot of things right now. She hated having to go to this stupid demonstration. She hated how all these corporate bigwigs were treating Ritsuko and her like pariahs for trying to save the world. But most of all, she hated how the bar here had cut her off after four drinks. If she was going to suffer through this farce she wanted to at least be buzzed.

"Look at all of them, Misato. Vultures, the lot of them. They're just after our UN grant money. They don't care about anything else. I'd be surprised if this 'Jet Alone' could even register as a threat to an Angel." Honestly, Ritsuko was taking it better than she thought. Still, her friend looked like she was ready to strangle someone. Perhaps it was good that the three of them were seated alone at their own table, as she didn't want to hold back her friend when she went to assault someone.

"Anta Baka." Oh, right. She almost forgot their surprise guest. Apparently, a Minisuka stowed away in her pocket when she wasn't looking. But she wasn't complaining, misery loves company after all. Also, she found the tiny lab coat this Professor Minisuka wore to be just adorable.

"Ugh, don't get me started. I mean, what are they even going to do about the AT field? Honestly, a single one of you little gremlins is more a threat to an Angel than the Jet Alone will ever be." Misato was surprised nobody questioned the presence of an eight-inch tall redhead, but again that probably has to do with everyone else treating them like lepers and staying away from the NERV table. Maybe she should have brought Shinji along? That way they could've been ignorant of all the scientific mumbo jumbo together.

"Oh, they're starting, finally. Let's get this farce over with." Misato grumbled, eager to leave and return to her beloved Yebisu beer and forget this stupid event ever happened.

A man in a suit walks up into the stage, to call his grin smug would be an understatement. "Hello, ladies and gentlemen, I am Shiro Tokita. Thank you for coming to the unveiling of Japan Heavy Chemical Industries' Jet Alone Project, the next step in the defense of humanity!" As if prompted, everyone other than those at the NERV table began clapping. "As you know, the Jet Alone Project seeks to produce a reliable defense against the alien menace without needing to rely on a shadowy international organization that uses hormonal teenagers to pilot skyscraper-sized death machines." Tokita shoots a condescending grin at the NERV table while everyone else laughs at the 'joke'. Then his face contorts into a pained grimace as he suddenly grasps his knee. "Ah, my knee!" Misato blinks as she hears a nearly silent 'thwip' coming from her table. She looks to Professor, who is grasping her lance as if she just caught it, a single drop of blood dripping from its points.

"Baka." Professor huffs out, glancing at Misato. Misato makes a zipping motion across her mouth, indicating she wouldn't tell. Ritsuko wasn't even paying attention, instead, she was attempting to develop the ability to spontaneously combust people with her thoughts alone. Unfortunately, it looks like she has yet to succeed.

"Apologies, bury without further delay, let's get started with the demonstration of the Jet Alone Kai!" The screen behind Tokita flashed alive with the image of a large orange mech wielding a very large hammer.

"Kai?" Misato muttered in confusion.

"Kai?" Ritsuko matched her befuddlement.

"Baka?" Professor seemed more surprised and concerned than confused. The three of them weren't alone, all around the room Misato could hear confusion from the rest of the peanut gallery.

"That's right!" Tokita continued on with the predatory demeanor of a loan shark. "Due to recent technological breakthroughs and multiple threats from OSHA, we at JHCI decided to retrofit the original Jet Alone project into something better. I will now open the floor to questions." Tokita scanned the room before he found an outstretched hand. "Yes, Doctor Akagi?"

"Yes, I have a few questions. Some of which I believe are shared by everyone in the room. For example, could you elaborate on how this Kai variant differs from the original Jet Alone?"

"An excellent question! The Kai not only possesses a greatly improved structure, but we've also replaced its nuclear reactor with a much more efficient and safer N2 reactor!" Huh, guess they aren't complete idiots if they decided to get rid of the nuclear reactor. However, the fact they had a nuclear reactor in the first place was beyond stupid. "In addition, we also equipped the Kai with a prototype self-learning intelligent algorithm, controllable from an easy to transport case such as this." What is presumably an unpaid intern wheeled out a large computer console with a size comparable to a minivan's dashboard and put it next to Tokita. If that's considered 'easy to transport' Misato would hate to see what they thought was 'somewhat cumbersome'.

"An AI? Interesting. But how are you dealing with the most important issue, the AT field?" Ah Ritsuko, going for the killing blow as usual.

"Ah yes, the 'AT field'. The supposed soul magic barrier the aliens possess that the Eva's can also use. You may have fooled the UN with that nonsense, but I will not be!" What.

"Nonsense? There is literally proof of the AT field! Conventional weaponry has been proven to be ineffective!"

"If your supposed 'AT field' really does exist then it's only a matter of time before an artificial AT field is created." Tokita chuckles. "This is the beginning of your downfall NERV-" All of a sudden the console next to him lights up.

"ORDERS ACKNOWLEDGED. INITIATING ANNIHILATION OF NERV DOWN TO EVERY LAST MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD. NO SURVIVORS, NO MERCY."

The entire room was dead silent, their eyes glued to the console.

"….W-what?" Tokita managed to stammer out. His response was the sudden shaking of the room as the Jet Alone Kai began to move, taking a small chunk of it's dock with it. As the Jet Alone Kai began walking off in the direction of Tokyo-3 Tokita felt the eyes of everyone in the room on him. He had only one thing to say in this situation. "Oh shit, OSHA's going to kill me."

And we're back with Act 2. As we can see the normal Jet Alone situation has been changed, and the Jet Alone Kai has taken the stage with it's hammer. The Jet Alone Kai originates from the game Neon Genesis Evangelion 2, in which if you save the original Jet Alone from exploding the Jet Alone Kai appears in the MPE battle and just beats the Eva-series with a hammer. Also, Mayumi mentioned a Nene, who is another extracanonical character from Neon Genesis Evangelion Gaiden, where she is a redhead with a teddy bear that she proclaims is possessed by a spirit named Sandy. That's it, that's her character, or at least that's all I could find of her character. Anyway, we'll get into the meat of the Jet Alone Kai fight, next time. Until then, I hope you all enjoy, leave a review if you want, and have a pleasant day.