Chapter 13: Titan's Initiation

An Anti-AT Field is a surprisingly simple construct. It is quite simply the result of an AT-Field being dismantled, usually by a living being's death or more specific circumstances. Most times, natural death creates so miniscule of an Anti-AT Field that there is no physical change.

There are, however, ways to make it so an AT Field is produced and destroyed, creating an Anti-AT Field. The Human Instrumentality Project is an example of such production on a large scale, but smaller-scale recreations have been successfully replicated due to advances made possible by the discoveries made at Arqa, that have been synthesized into the proper tools for the process that will be covered in the next section of this report.

- Confidential Report on the Theory and Application of Long-term AT-Field Manipulation, Section 2, "Manipulation of the AT-Field"

Tokyo-3 Evangelion Port, Late August 2016

Daniel stood somewhat superfluously in the locker room of the port and toyed somewhat with the bracelet that now sat on his wrist, the first of a new, improved line of Plugsuits. It took full advantage of what was being dubbed 'Frametech' by Ritsuko, as he tapped the black metal oval situated in its center.

As he did, two rings of light sprang into existence on the back of his hand. Two smaller rings were positioned within them, slightly above the plane that the larger rings hovered over. Daniel raised his arm and pressed the smaller rings with his index finger and thumb.

The rings gave a familiar click as a dark, almost diaphanous substance spread across his body and over his clothing, seeming to wave gently in an unseen wind. Then, with an even more familiar hiss, the fabric formed to his body, portions of it sitting over a now skintight layer and hardening into armored plates.

Daniel checked himself out in the mirror, looking around himself and noting the 'FT-00' on his sternum. 'Why waste a good designation?' Daniel mused as he flexed and jumped slightly.

'Not bad.' Daniel said with no small amount of satisfaction. 'Ritsuko's proven her word when it comes to flexibility and breathability. Well, considering she and Maya test-fitted the Plugsuits themselves.'

Daniel smirked. 'The fun they must have had with that…' he shook his head as he cleared it and chuckled softly, walking out of the locker room and into the hallway towards the helipad.

As he walked into an open elevator, he turned to see Asuka jogging up to his side, completely comfortable in her own crimson Plugsuit as she inspected Daniel's suit.

"I gotta say," she began with a nod and a slight smile, "you almost look like one of us now. All you need to do is get rid of some of the armor, shave the beard, and you could be the Seventh Child."

Her smile became a smirk as she prodded at Daniel's stomach. "You could also stand to lose the gut, too."

Daniel looked back at Asuka in mock indignation as the doors opened and they began to walk to the exit. "Excuse me. This," he said, tapping one of his armor plates on his chest, "is an armor plate that would put most any other personal protection that currently exists in this world to shame. And this," he continued as he put a hand on his similarly armored stomach, "is collision cushioning."

"Collision cushioning." Asuka replied, faux derision dripping from her voice as she rolled her eyes. "Don't know what kind of collisions you'll be preventing, seeing as you'll be kept in your seat by some tractor beam whatevers."

"Maybe." Daniel said with a shrug. "But it never hurts to have an extra layer of protection. You know that all too well from a little jaunt into a volcano."

"And hey," Daniel continued as a sly grin grew on his face, "at least I don't have to worry about turning into a cranberry."

Indignation flashed across Asuka's face for a moment, then a grin of her own settled in under a gleam in her eyes. "Alright, then! You say this armor's better than anything around? Let's test it right here!"

She turned and began sidestepping, throwing punches at Daniel's armored shoulder as he began chuckling. The chuckling soon turned into laughter, an infectious laugh that threatened to break Asuka's zealous facade.

As they emerged into the open air, Asuka threw one last solid punch, earning a playful "ow" from Daniel as they looked towards the two helicopters waiting for them. One was the transport for the Frame Plug, a big, boxy tilt-engine reminiscent of the strike craft that NERV had used against the Angels.

The other was a personnel carrier, and Daniel and Asuka both waved at Misato, Ritsuko, Maya, Eleanor, Kensuke, and the rest of the Children who waved back at them.

As they all boarded the aircraft, donning headsets, Misato looked over at Daniel with a smirk. "Well, you fill out the suit quite nicely."

Daniel chuckled. "Thank you. I've been told I'll need to get rid of the beard if I want to fit in with the rest of the band, but…" he cupped his chin in an over-exaggerated display of thoughtfulness. "I think the group needs the variety."

A chuckle rippled through the cabin as they settled for the trip to Matsushiro.

. . .

Matsushiro Testing Grounds

The reinforced test bunker was abuzz with activity as cameras situated around the area where the test would begin showed the clear, open air of the rolling hills, and in the center of the cameras, the Frame Plug hovering suspended 70 meters in the air.

Ritsuko looked intently at the monitors displaying one of the camera feeds, alongside a feed of Daniel sitting comfortably in the cockpit. "We'll be beginning the test soon." she said, all business. "How are things on your end?"

"Looking nominal, and feeling quite comfortable, actually." Daniel replied, looking around at a few of the display windows that were invisible to the camera's eye. "All the current mechanical things are running smoothly on this side, and it's ready to start forming the Titan mode whenever you're ready."

Ritsuko nodded, then turned to look at Misato. "Permission to begin the test?"

Misato nodded in turn, her expression serious. "Permission granted. Let's get this show on the road."

Ritsuko turned back to regard Daniel. "You heard the commander. Begin initialization."

Daniel began to tap at some of the screens in his vision, narrating the start-up process as he went. "Pneumaic booster relays coming online and spooling up. Mental-Haptic-Pneumaic feedback system initializing, showing full connection to pilot brain and soul. Handshake pulses transmitted and accepted. Pilot Frame connection fully formed, and Pilot-to-Titan synchronization rising. LCL containment chambers opening, pumps to full. Beginning Titan formation."

As Daniel finished speaking, Frames began to sprout from the Frame Plug with a prismatic glow, an AT Field-like tree taking the form of a massive humanoid outline. Then, almost invisible to the cameras, black strips opened up on all sides of the long trapezoid, orange transparent LCL gleaming in the sunlight as it flowed impossibly from within the Plug, following the outlines of the Frames as it congealed, soon covering the Plug entirely as it made up the form of the Frame Titan.

Then, the orange liquid glowed, as if an oil slick had appeared over top of it, and bone and muscle and skin and armor began to form, the armor covering the Titan's flesh completely as it became the opaque, iridescent form of Plasm.

As the body of the Titan finished forming, two pylons of pure energized Metos sprang to life on the Titan's shoulders and the outsides of its forearms, framing a head that bore a striking resemblance to Unit-03 and 04's.

Daniel couldn't keep the smile off his face, or the satisfaction out of his voice as he spoke next. "Process is complete. FT Unit-00 is ready to go. And it even shaved a few seconds off the predicted formation time, too."

"Good." Ritsuko said, no small amount of satisfaction in her own voice. "How does it feel?"

Daniel looked around the view of the outside world that could be seen around the edges of the display he sat in on the monitor. "Not much different from when I piloted Unit-04. But…" he narrowed his eyes as he hummed, tapping at an unseen screen. "Synchronization is showing at 145%. Somewhat overtuned, so…" he shook his head with a rueful smile. "I'm really going to be feeling the part of the test where Asuka comes in."

"Oh, no." Asuka said sardonically, a screen showing her, and Unit-02, waiting a fair way across the valley. "I was almost afraid you wouldn't be able to feel what's coming."

"Well, when we get there, Asuka," Misato said, "try not to rough him up too much. He doesn't have any LCL in there to cushion the blow, after all."

Asuka sniffed as Ritsuko shook her head slightly. "Alright, anyways. Let's begin the general mobility portion of the test. Daniel, go ahead and walk to the designated area."

Daniel suppressed a quiet, patient sigh. 'And so, the video game tutorial begins.' he thought, as the Titan took its first step forward.

. . .

As the test progressed, Shinji looked on at the sight of FT Unit-00 being put through its paces, and his mind wandered. As it did, his focus wandered to a slightly warm presence in his pocket. His father.

After a moment's deliberation, he connected his soul to Gendo Ikari.

"Oh. Hello, Shinji." Gendo said in surprise. "Why do you connect to my soul?"

Shinji said nothing, simply feeding the view he saw of the Frame Titan to his father's soul.

"Oh, my." Gendo said after a moment's consideration. "A new Evangelion unit being tested?"

"No." Shinji finally replied. "Something new entirely. Something that will replace the Evangelions."

Shinji paused as he let the implications of such a project sink in. "I see." Gendo said, a quiet tone to his words. "Then we can begin the process of freeing the Evangelion's resident souls from their cores soon. You can see your mother again."

Shinji could almost feel the envy hidden behind his father's words. To be in such a state as to likely never see his wife again, continue to at least try at mending relations with everyone else as he was doing before his death…

"Yes. I'm looking forward to it. More than I think I've ever looked forward to anything." Shinji said after a moment. "And… you can look forward to it, too."

Shock rippled through Gendo Ikari's soul. "You mean…" he said, a quiet hope lacing his words.

"Yes, father. You'll receive a body alongside mother." Shinji replied. "I've made my choice."

"Shinji…" Gendo said, trailing off at a loss for words. "Thank you." he said simply.

"You're welcome, father." Shinji replied, equally simply.

. . .

Soon enough, the movement of the Titan Unit had been tested to its fullest. Now came the fun part.

FT Unit-00 stood across from Unit-02, the crimson Unit hoisting a Pallet Rifle as alarms sounded throughout the valley.

"So, I get to shoot at Daniel to see if he can put up an AT Field, then we get to have a little spar. Sounds fun." Asuka summarized to Ritsuko, trying and failing to hide the hungry look in her eyes.

"Yes, Asuka." Ritsuko said with no small amount of exasperation. "Please, try not to damage FT Unit-00. We're still somewhat unsure of whether the connection between pilot and Titan allows for regenerative abilities."

"Yeah, yeah." Asuka replied as Unit-02 shouldered the Pallet Rifle. "Alright, Daniel. Ready whenever you are."

"Rasing AT Field." Daniel replied simply, as FT Unit-00 stretched out its arms towards Unit-02, and a hum filled the air as the Titan's AT Field unfurled.

"AT Field is up. Let me have it." Daniel said with a sure smile.

Asuka's reply came in a stream of 330-millimeter rounds as they rocketed towards FT Unit-00. As they shot towards him, the telltale prismatic octagons sprang into sight, sending the shots plummeting into the ground as they made plumes of dirt shoot up into the air, the tips of the geysers reaching FT Unit-00's calves.

Asuka kept her finger on the trigger until the Pallet Rifle clicked empty, the new ammo counter display in Unit-02's Entry Plug showing '00/35'. She unshouldered the Rifle with a nod of approval. "Good. I'd hate to have made too many holes in you."

"And at least you helped dig up the ground for whatever Ritsuko and the rest of the Science Division would want to put into it." Daniel replied with a smile as his AT Field disappeared from sight. "Look at you being terribly helpful."

Asuka rolled her eyes as she walked over to a transport container and set the Rifle inside. "Yeah, I'm sure I am. Now..."

Unit-02 rubbed its hands, a low rumbling sound not unlike an earthquake, as its pilot's eyes gleamed. "Let's see how well the student has learned from the master."

Daniel settled FT Unit-00 into a relaxed ready stance, legs grounded shoulder-width apart as he presented an angled body and low, somewhat outstretched fists to Asuka. "I can only hope I've taught you well enough. Otherwise, this might be a rather boring spar."

"Oh please, Daniel." Asuka replied as Unit-02 settled into an aggressive stance, one leg forward as she presented the Unit's front to Daniel, arms raised as its eyes looked out from under its angled fingers. "This'll be anything but boring."

Misato stepped forward, a slight smile on her face. "Alright, contestants, I want a nice, clean fight. First one to the floor loses, and it's best two out of three. Everyone ready?"

"Yes, ma'am." both contestants said, taking a step towards each other.

"Begin." Ritsuko said calmly.

. . .

Asuka groaned, only somewhat in pain, as Daniel got her in an armlock, stretching her arm behind her back as he stopped her fall to the ground, then setting her down gently.

"Alright, I yield." she grumbled, and FT Unit-00 released Unit-02 from the lock as Asuka rubbed her shoulder from the sympathetic pain.

It had been a surprisingly even match, each finding some way to surprise the other as the ground rumbled under their feet from their attacks. Daniel had gained his two wins by surprising Asuka with techniques that would have been (would have been) nearly physically impossible anywhere else.

Asuka, however, gained two wins of her own by sheer tenacity, bulldozing through Daniel's sometimes intricate defenses to bowl him over.

And as Unit-02 began to stand, Asuka considered the Unit seemingly composed of frosted glass that walked away and turned to face her. As much as her Unit-02 was a comfortable, familiar sight, one that she had looked forward to getting back into (for a variety of reasons), she couldn't help but be a little envious of the new model.

"Oh, I see, liebling." one of the reasons she loved being in the Entry Plug here said. "You've grown tired of spending time with your dear old Mutter, and want to go off somewhere else and only visit on occasion." she heard a sigh from Kyoko Zeppelin-Soryu. "They grow up so fast, I suppose."

Asuka rolled her eyes. "Very funny, Mama." she replied sardonically. "But… I'll be able to see you in the flesh again. Get that hug that we promised each other."

"Yes." Kyoko replied quietly. "Like we promised."

"Alright, Asuka. Tiebreaker round." Misato said, unknowingly interrupting their conversation. "Ready to go, Asuka?"

After a moment's deliberation, Asuka shrugged her shoulders. "Well, unless Doctor Akagi really needs the data, I'm ready to be done. I've been sitting here all day, and as much as I've enjoyed the time with Mama, I'm hungry. Besides, if we really want to settle this, we can do it digitally, keep from tearing up the ground any more than we already have."

Misato looked over to a Ritsuko that was off-camera, then nodded as she looked back at Asuka. "Well, Ritsuko says we're all good to end the test. Good work, both of you. Go ahead and come home."

Asuka nodded and turned Unit-02 towards one of the waiting gantries as FT Unit-00 became LCL again, slowly shrinking as the liquid was drawn back into the Frame Plug's reservoirs.

Asuka felt a familiar presence as she docked with the gantry and slowly began descending. "Walking away from a fight, Jünger? Kyoko must be giving you some sort of grief about it." Daniel said with a playful tone.

"I ought to. All that fire, just to walk away? You really have changed, liebling." Kyoko said, her tone obvious in its sarcasm.

"Har, har." Asuka replied as she rolled her eyes. "I'm sure the others will agree with me. And besides, I am getting hungry, having sat here and watched you walk around and stretch for most of the day like you were going through a video game tutorial."

She could almost feel it as Daniel rolled his eyes. "Oh, good. I'm not the only one who got that impression." he paused, as a muted excitement became distinguishable. "And now that the tutorial is done, and we've proven this works… we can get Kyoko out again. And I can properly meet your mother."

Asuka nodded as a slight smile crossed her face. "Yeah. That'll be great."

As the sun set, and the aircraft that ran through the air across its face became shadows crossing through, Misato took a deep breath as she steeled herself for what was to come next.

"Misato?" Shinji said, causing her to jump slightly. "Is there something wrong?"

All eyes turned to her, and their growing concern told Misato that she couldn't keep the resignation from her own expression,

"It can't be the test, can it?" Asuka asked. "I mean, it went off without a hitch. We'll be replacing the Evas in no time." she rolled her eyes. "Of course, we still need to be ready to get in the Evas for whenever Marlowe shows up."

"And… that's the thing." Misato finally said quietly.

"Misato…" Daniel said slowly. "What don't we know?"

Misato took another deep breath. "The UN issued an order a month ago, stating that the Evangelions are UN property, and revoking your status as pilots. We're to fix them up, then have them sent to America in working order by the end of the year. They were also very clear about what would happen if you were to set foot into the Evangelions again." she shook her head. "It was a small miracle you were even allowed to pilot Unit-02 for the test, Asuka."

It was silent as the Children stared at her with disbelieving eyes. Misato sighed again. "I'm sorry I kept that from you. You didn't need the added stress of this order looming over you. I wanted to make sure that we had something ready for when we let the Evas go before I hit you with that."

It was silent again, then the Children all slowly started to nod their heads. "Alright, Misato." Asuka said levelly. "Please, keep us in the loop next time. It's a real slippery path you're on."

"And don't I know it." Misato replied ruefully. "I just… I just wanted to make sure you all were happy."

There was silence for a moment as Daniel dipped his head. "Say," he finally said, drawing the other's attention to him, "how explicit is it that the Children are not to pilot the Evangelions?"

Misato blinked. "Extremely so. Why do you ask?"

"Because we may have a loophole." Shinji said softly, drawing surprised looks to him as he nodded slowly.

He looked over at Ritsuko. "Are the Frame Titans considered Evangelions?"

A dawning realization grew in Ritsuko's eyes as she shook her head. "No, not technically. The classifications that we have for considering an Evangelion an Evangelion don't apply to the Frame Titan."

"Then what happens if we become Titan pilots instead of Eva pilots?" Shinji said with a slight smile.

"You don't technically fall under the order." Misato said with a mischievous grin.

Asuka lightly punched Shinji in the arm as a smile grew on her face. "Look at that. You got all your dad's deviousness, and the sense to actually put it to good use."

"That means we'll have to get started on production quickly if we want to have enough Titan Units." Ritsuko said, her serious tone dispelling the small smiles that had spread among the rest of the passengers.

"And how quickly can we assemble a new Frame Plug?" Misato asked.

"If we start now and go as quickly as we can…" Ritsuko trailed off for a moment as she did the mental math. "About one and a half to 2 weeks. But that's pushing it, and it will likely have the same synch overturning problem that FT Unit-00 experienced."

"We can worry about that when we get the Units up and running." Misato replied. "As long as it doesn't overly impact combat performance, then having them there will be what matters."

She looked over at Daniel with a questioning glance. "Do you think the overtuning will get in the way of anyone else piloting?"

Daniel shook his head. "It shouldn't be too much of an issue, as long as we're careful about how we take hits." he reached for a tender spot on his shoulder, a bruise beginning to peek out from the t-shirt that he wore that came from a particularly solid punch from Unit-02.

"And what kind of 'working order' do the Evangelions need to be in?" Hikari piped up, concern evident in her expression. "Do they need to be able to activate them? Be able to put other pilots in them?"

"I don't know." Misato said frankly as she shrugged. "But I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted that."

"We're not sending our moms back to them, Ms. Misato. Period." Toji growled.

"And we have no intention of it. However, we can't afford to extract them now, especially with the Mass-Production Evas and Marlowe hanging over our heads." Ritsuko replied.

A somber expression rippled through the cabin at the mention of their absentee enemies, and the wild cards that might come back calling with them.

"So," Ritsuko continued after a moment, "the next Frame Titans will likely go to Rei or Kaworu, depending on who wants it."

"I will take it." Kaworu said calmly. "After all, I am perhaps the one with the most experience fighting against Mariah. My presence on the battlefield will be a balancing factor, perhaps a key one if there truly are multiple Children as Mrs. Akagi has surmised there might be."

Misato and Ritsuko looked over at each other and nodded after a moment as the transport aircraft touched down on the tarmac and began to spin down its engines. "Alright then. I'll get in touch with the Engineering Division, get them on that immediately." Ritsuko said as she looked back at Kaworu.

"Don't worry about it." Daniel interjected. "Eleanor and I will take care of it."

Misato nodded as she took off her headset and opened the door to the aircraft. "Alright then." she said as she stepped out of the door, the rest of the occupants following suit. "Let's get to work then."

As they walked into the building, the others chatting quietly about simulator time and what kind of training they needed to be doing, Misato appeared deep in thought for a moment before she turned to look at Daniel. "Did the delegations arrive in ships, like you did?" she asked quietly.

"Of course." Daniel replied. "For delegations like these, a Seabreaker is the only sure way to travel. It probably helps that they're at least somewhat well-armed."

"Good to know." Misato said levelly, then paused for a moment. "Will you get in touch with Izalith? I'll get in touch with Mr. Rastaff." Misato said with a nod and a determined, thoughtful look. "I have some things to ask them tonight."

. . .

Commander's Office, NERV-HQ, 5 Hours Later

Izalith and Rastaff sat calmly in the now somewhat cluttered office as wireframes of their two ships spun slowly on the desk that Misato sat behind, the two guests far closer than the previous commander ever would have allowed.

The League ship, a display showing that it was the Victory-class ISV Cataphract, was a long, grey, spindly thing, a bulb on the front end and three sweeping wings at the rear of the ship, two angled down and one pointing up, the ends forming a broad triangle, in the center of which nestled the bridge of the ship.

The Tellan ship, its display calling it the TSNV Sonne, was a sleek, almost fishlike vessel, rounded on its top and flat on the bottom, sporting four small fins, two in the middle and two in the back.

Misato regarded the two vessels silently for a moment before looking at their masters. "So you'll be able to track them?" Misato asked.

"Yes." Izalith replied simply. "Most all Seabreakers, even those that are retrofitted to be able to enter and exit the Worldsea, contain the necessary Pneumaic sensors to track the movements of life native to the Worldsea. These sensors should be able to track your Mass-Production Evangelions without issue."

"Good." Misato said simply. "I know I'm asking a lot, calling on you to help us fight our battles. But we need a solid advance warning system. And most of the sensors we have aren't able to keep an eye on them until they're right on top of us. Especially if they're using some sort of AT Field trickery to hide themselves."

"If it contributes to the safety of this planet and its people," Rastaff replied, "no effort is too great. Already, the souls of this world have suffered much. To be able to ensure that they need not suffer more at the hands of those who do not have their best interests in mind is a blessing and an obligation Valen would expect of us who follow him."

Misato nodded. "Thank you, both of you for this. And for all that you are doing to help this world." She chuckled softly. "Heaven knows, this world has needed some help getting back on its feet."

"Of course." Izalith replied with a patient smile. "In fact, my daughters are getting… excitable, as they sometimes do." she said the last words with a soft, rumbling chuckle. "They understand that this is a fortress-city, that a great emphasis is placed on its defenses. And they've asked me to offer their services in improving them."

"I'll accept that, too." Misato said with a small smile. "Again, thank you for your daughter's assistance in pulling the Frame Plug together."

Izalith gave a deep chuckle. "Of course. Quelaag and Quelana have relished the chance to put their engineering skills to the test, just as they will relish the challenge of upgrading the city's defenses."

Misato nodded. "Good. I'm glad they're up to it." Misato's smile slowly disappeared. "Because I can't help but feel like we're getting close to something. Something big." she paused for a moment. "The Numberless Children are coming. And soon."

"Prophetic insight is a familiar concept to my people, Commander Katsuragi." Rastaff said after a moment of tense silence. "It can sometimes be particularly cruel. Often, we find, it comes upon those who will either be ignored… or those who see it coming too late to fully stop it."

. . .

Uluru Blacksite, Australian Outback, 9 Days Later

Mariah jostled her leg as she furrowed her brow, focusing intently on the video game that she played, the sound effects filtering through a headphone in one ear, and buzzing out of the one that dangled free. She, along with Mana and Mayumi, waited in the conference room for Major Howard.

Mana, as always, sat straight and looked at one of the walls, an inscrutable look on her face. Mayumi, on the other hand, seemed to shrink down in her chair, fidgeting only slightly as she flipped through an ebook on her tablet.

Even with their different methods of waiting, there was a relaxed feeling between the three of them. The simulators had done wonders in breaking down the divides between the three of them, and, Mariah noted with no small amount of pride, Mana finally called by her first name, once, 6 days ago. It was a small victory, she had to admit, but it was a victory nonetheless.

The door to the conference room swished open, and one by one, all of the Numberless Children stood to attention as Major Howard walked in with a tablet in his hand and a surprisingly grim look on his face.

All the Children saluted, sitting down as he saluted back and sat at the head of the table.

"Well, ladies…" he said. "This is it. The Mass-Production Evas at the Indian site are preparing to transfer over to us. They'll be here in 2 days. Once they arrive, we'll load you and the Mass-Production Evas onto the transport uniwings, and begin the mission."

He paused for a moment. "Do any of you have any questions? Comments? Concerns?"

Mana shook her head. "I have none, Major."

Mayumi nodded. "Neither do I, sir."

Mariah shrugged. "Nope. Not a one that hasn't been thoroughly squashed by the simulations."

She looked at the other pilots. "I think we're ready to go, sir."

Major Howard nodded. "Good. A few last words before you get ready. Use your AT Fields to cover yourselves from the sensors going into Tokyo-3. Your most important task is to escort the Mass-Production Evas to the target. They all need to make it there. The Human Instrumentality Committee has made it very clear that they all need to survive this mission. Then, Protocol Megiddo will kick in, and you won't have to worry about anything else."

After a moment, Major Howard shook his head and sighed. "Stay safe. Once this mission is done… we'll meet back up. Have a little party." he said with a small smile.

Mariah nodded. "Well, yeah. That's the only real way to celebrate anything after all."

Major Howard nodded in turn. "That it is. Dismissed."

As the girls filed out of the room, Mariah and Mayumi chatting idly as Mana interjected once before the doors closed, Terrence Howard sighed quietly. 'And whatever happens… please, truly, stay safe. After all this, after Instrumentality has fixed the world… I'll try and find you three again. I promise.'