Chapter 13 - Enlistment
Thomas Shigen gave his two dark coats wearing bodyguard a sign to stay behind while he entered
the building where two of the children lived with their parents. Only Deiko Tamakura stayed by
his side.
He wore a long dust-grey coat above his white UN-parade-uniform without insignias of rank, while
his companion wore a darkblue uniform with the insignias of a ship´s captain under her coat.
"And you truely want to do this?" she asked when they entered the stairs.
"I have no other choice. I owe this to the children after what Midori did to them."
She sighed.
"Your code of honor keeps surprising me. And what if the parents - or children - oppose your
plan?"
"Then it will be this way... then will we have to control the clones remotely."
"We both know that this won´t work. And Diane´s not completly efficient, we should just forget
the DummyPlug system."
"Right. And that´s the reason for me doing anything within my power to convince them."
"Thomas, you can barely walk straightly... No, don´t try to deny it, I can see it. For fifteen
years you are growing weaker day by day."
"You are right." he just said and continued climbing the stairs. "I am becoming human... But
fighting the Matriel at the pole damaged my ability to adapt, my ability to regenerate won´t be
able to keep up with the decay much longer. That´s irony, isn´t it? But at least my sister
succeeded at this task... I´m just glad that the clones don´t have the same problem I have."
"The clones... if Takanawa would have more time she might be able to devellop another weapon
against the Angelois´ AT-field."
"Yes... and maybe she could even find a cure for me... Deiko, I do not have this time, in a
way it doesn´t matter much if we are able to prevent an invasion or not, at least not for me."
"Sarcasm?"
"Grim humour", he whispered. "I´d just like to know what the activation-impulse did..."
"You think that some Angeloi-constructs still exist on earth?"
"We... They once ruled this world, enslaving the first humans. The Geosectors and the Deep Cities
are prove enough. The POLARIS-satellites keep scanning for blue patterns, but I fear they won´t
be able to detect constructs of an early stage."
"It´s your field of expertise."
"Yes... Here we are - that´s Shinji Ikari´s place."
"The boy... I remember."
"Yes... ten years ago my powers were enough... Wait here, yes?"
"Okay, Elder Brother."
He smiled.
"You haven´t called me this for a long time, Little Sister."
He reached for the bell-button.
"Good luck."
The door was opened.
"Yes?" Yui Ikari asked.
Thomas showed her his ID-card.
"Thomas Shigen, I´m in the service of the United Nations. Doctor Yui Ikari?"
Yui looked at him questionly.
"Yes, that´s me. How can I help you?"
"It´s about your son... May we talk inside?"
"I... Yes, please enter."
She lead her guest into the kitchen.
"May I offer you something? Tea, maybe?"
"No, thanks."
"As you wish. But sit down. It´s about my son, you said? How do you mean this?"
"Doctor Ikari..."
He sat down, folded his hands.
"I do belong to an organisation ordered by the UN to defend earth against... certain enemies.
Your son has abilities that might us fulfilling our mission."
"Shinji? What are you talking about?"
Thomas sighed.
"It´s difficult..."
Slowly he raised the hand to the leather-patch covered eye, moved the patch aside.
Behind it was just an empty socket with bones partly uncovered. Within the socket´s depth a feint
red glow pulses.
"Look", he whispered...
And Yui saw...
***
Earth seemed to have fallen prey to a giant uncontrolled growing mold, once blue oceans with white
clouds had turned into a chaos of brow, black and purple, while the continents were just grey
spots within, covered by deepblack clouds.
At different places the planet itself had been ripped open, and from within these never healing
wounds magma flooded to the surface...
***
Thomas moved the patch back to its place.
"What... what did you do?"
Yui Ikari had to support herself at the table to prevent falling from her chair.
"I showed you the future... or better a possible future, something my organisation is going to
prevent from happening."
"No... I mean... how did you..."
"I showed you what I can see..."
"Who... who are you?"
"Well, you should know best since you are analysing my DNA for eight years now."
He placed both hands on the table.
"The finger..."
Automatically she counted, counted five fingers at each hand.
"How... yes, of course, the regenerative potential...?!"
"Yes, good guess. Doctor Ikari, mine is the ability of precognition, I am able to forsee certain
things. And what I just showed you is torturing me for nearly twenty years now every night."
"That..."
She shook her head.
"Go! I can´t believe this!"
"Shall I return bringing your husband with me? He already knows."
"Gendo knows?"
"He had to vow to keep it a secret, like I have to ask you to keep it a secret. If it is known,
that earth´s doom´s at hand... chaos would reign."
"You told me you are trying to prevent it - how?"
"With the aid of your son and several others."
"What could my son do, he´s just a fourteen year old boy...!"
"With quite a potential."
Yui looked at him.
"I know you..."
A memory appeared before her mind´s eye - a man with blackened face, handing over her son to her
he had just rescued from within a burning house...
"Kyoto..."
"Yes. There we met for the first time."
"Why? I... I do not understand anything..."
"Humanity is endangered by beings called the Angeloi by themselves. Did you husband tell you
about the expedition to the south-pole in 2000 he participated in?"
"Yes..."
"But I guess he didn´t tell you what we found there."
"He... sometimes he´s talking in his sleep... about a giant spider..."
Thomas drew a heavy breath.
"But you thought it nightmares."
"Until now..."
"We met a single scout, the first of a by far larger invasion force. One halve of the expedition´s
member were killed or injured during the fight before we managed to kill it. In a few weeks more
Angeloi warriors will come through a gateway located at the south pole, we´ve made preparations
to stop them but among other things we need your son´s help."
"I can only repeat myself: What do you want him to do?"
"For quite a long time we´ve searched for potential pilots... your son´s one of the few able to
pilot an EVANGELION."
"What´s that? - Ah... Akagi told me about that VR-game..."
"Our testing center, yes. There he got our attention."
"You want to put my son into a giant robot and send his fighting aliens? Are you mad?"
"No, just desperate... It´s the only option... the enemy is using force fields only an EVANGELION
is able to neutralize. And your son´s the best pilot we were able to find."
"Pilot? You´re talking about a little boy! Why don´t you go and get some professional pilots?"
"Because neither of them has the necessary reflexes... and because of certain other problems."
"I won´t allow it...!"
"Mother, please, calm down." Shinji´s voice came from the corridor. He stepped into the kitchen,
looked at the one-eyed.
"You are working for NERV, aren´t you? - Or better, you are the leader of the organisation."
Thomas blinked.
"You know about us?"
"Yes, my father´s working for you, isn´t he?"
The man nodded.
"What´s going to happen if nobody will pilot the EVAs to fight the... Angeloi?"
"They will run us down. We may be able to hinder them for a while, but in the end we couldn´t
prevent the invasion."
"And then?"
"Humanity won´t go down without a fight... In the end the Angeloi will rule a dead world."
"I see..."
"Shinji..." his mother whispered. At this moment the boy seemed to be far older than fourteen.
"Would you force me to pilot an EVA?"
"No, what would be the sense of you doing it forced?"
"May I come with my mother to the Geofront?"
"You even know about this?"
"Shinji didn´t answer that he´d only guessed, but just nodded.
"Convince my mother to let me go and I´ll be a member of your team..."
***
When the elevator descended into the Geosector Yui Ikari was unable to suppress a panting.
"What´s this?"
"A Geosector, a stable subterrain cavern. There are others like this all over the world. We
discovered this one eight years ago and built our local headquarters here - there, down below."
Thomas pointed at the pyramid at the shaft´s bottom.
"That´s... fantastic..."
Shinji´s gaze was fixed to the two giants that stood inside of cagelike constructions at the
beach of the large river.
"EVA-01..."
"Yes. You already know it and unit zero from the simulation."
The boy hurried to make an agreeing face. His eyes wandered farther across the large Geofront,
found a small spot of green, recognizing it for what it was.
Kaji´s garden... so he´s alive in this world...or maybe he isn´t, maybe there´s just a person
growing melons... the Geosector itself has changed... no building hanging from the ceiling...
no shelters... there, that might be storage buildings... and that, this looks like barracks...
And then he saw another difference - the large pyramid still wore the NERV symbol of a halved
fig leave on one side, but there weren´t the familiar letters but another sentence instead:
For Humanity...
"Why are your headquarters here if the enemy will attack at the south-pole?" Yui asked, trying
hard to keep calm.
"That´s our training-center, the place where we are assembling our forces. When I will depart in
a few days for the Antarctic, the command staff will come with me."
"So that´s not the headquarter?"
"Yes and no."
"The Commander´s trying to tell you that headquarters are whereever the command staff is." Deiko
said.
"Ah, yes... And my son shall pilot one of these robots down there?"
Her voice was full of doubt.
"Yes. The purple-green on, unit one. There, can you see it?"
"It´s difficult to believe."
"That´s the reason I´m showing it to you."
"If you really have this power... why don´t you just take what you need?"
"Why? Consider the results - unhappyness, rebellion, failture... No, we not that desperate, yet...
If Shinji doesn´t want to join us, we will have to look for other potential candidates - and have
to hope to find them... and to be able to train them in time..."
"How many EVAs are you building?" Shinji asked.
"In the beginning we planned to build thirteen, but because of delays in the schedule we will
only have about six of them ready when the invasion begins... maybe eight if we are lucky."
"Six... And the pilots? Did you already enlist them?"
"No. You are the first one I´ve visited, because of your great talent."
"So the others are..."
His voice betrayed no emotions when he told the names.
"Touji, Kensuke, Hikari, Asuka and Rei..."
"Yes. Suzuhara, Aida, Horaki, Soryu and Akagi."
"Those too?" Yui asked.
The elevator reached its destiny, the pyramid. When the doors opened they were met by Gendo
Ikari, wearing his uniform with the insignias of a colonel. His face carried a sad expression.
"Gendo?" Yui whispered. "You are working for them?"
"Yes, Yui. For eight years now. I´m the commander of the tactical staff."
"And... Shinji? Did you...?"
"Please, believe me, I never wanted this to happen. But the Commander´s right, we don´t have
any real alternatives."
"Come, we should talk at one of the briefing rooms", the one-eyed interupted them.
***
The evening of the same day Thomas and Deiko found themselves at a staircase similiar to the
one of the Ikari´s apartment building, but it was in a building at the side of this part of
Tokio.
"It has surprised me that doctor Ikari finally agreed", Deiko mumbled.
"Well, I was rather surprised by the boy´s reaction. Like he knew what I was going to ask him."
"Maybe he´s also a procog?"
"I don´t think so... he doesn´t seem to be unable to sleep... on the other hand not all gifted
need to suffer nightmares..."
"Ah, don´t start with this again. Say, why don´t we use the elevator?"
"It´s just two floors, Little Sister."
"And that´s saying Mr. "I´m going to die soon". You seem to feel better."
"Just for a short time. Takanawa´s started a new treatment with adrenaline. I guess I will have
won a few days before my body adapts to it. When the ship takes to see, I fear that I won´t be
of much use."
"Thomas, Takanawa´s the best at what she does. And with Ikari and Soryu helping her, it should be
possible to..."
He smiled faintly.
"I´ve lost hope a long time ago. It´s our mission that keeps me alive and walking..."
"Thomas..."
"It´s okay."
"Yes... I thought Yui Ikari would just kill the colonel... if you hadn´t told her about his vow
of silence..."
"So she´s just angry at me... and I can life with this."
"Well, but that she agreed... even considering her stipulations..."
"Okay, most of it is no problem - the colonel will watch the children, we will find a tutor
for them and doctor Ikari will be informed about everything... and in return she will cooperate
with Takanawa."
"And you did give your word of honor that her son won´t come to harm... How are you going to
keep this promise?"
"I don´t know... with my blood if necessary... And if I fail... well, Yui Ikari will be the
least of my problems in this case."
"I would go mad if I had to carry that much responsibility... maybe that´s the reason for Midori´s
breakdown."
"Maybe... Deiko, I was trained to carry this burden... or better, I was born to..."
"Yes... Warlord... why couldn´t the Angeloi make some more of your kind? They would already have
destroyed themselves."
"Ha!"
"Shall I wait outside?"
"I guess it would be better. Doctor Soryu was quite shocked when we stood in front of her door."
"Well, no wonder, we are disturbing her marriage dispute."
"Yes, the marriage seems to be quite troubled. I didn´t have to give much details..."
"So we already have recruited two pilots, just four still to go."
"Right. But the boy... ´It´s my responsibility´... I´d like to know what he was talking about
when he agreed to pilot unit one."
"Thomas, they are teenagers. When I was their age I was talking a lot of strange stuff, too."
"Really? I always thought that you were already running across the roofs that time."
She laughed. Then she sighed.
"I guess we are there."
"Yes..."
He pushed the bell-button.
A moment later the door was opened by a girl with blue hair and red eyes.
"Yes...?"
Thomas looked at Rei, thought to notice something he couldn´t sort in.
We are alike...
Deiko was more interested in the girl´s red eyes. Then she casted a side-glance at Thomas to
made sure to see the faint mirror-effect of his contact-lense.
"Good evening, we´d like to talk to your mother."
Rei looked at the uniforms under the open coats.
"Yes."
Her face took on a sad expression when she turned her head and shouted:
"Mom, here are two officers."
"Officers?" Ritsuko Akagi repeated and come out of the livingroom. "Rei, are you sure?`"
She come to the door, opened it wide and looked at her visitors, stared at Thomas, with eyes
trippling their size.
"You..." she whispered...
*************************************************************************************************
Next: Rei´s origin. ´nuff said!
Thomas Shigen gave his two dark coats wearing bodyguard a sign to stay behind while he entered
the building where two of the children lived with their parents. Only Deiko Tamakura stayed by
his side.
He wore a long dust-grey coat above his white UN-parade-uniform without insignias of rank, while
his companion wore a darkblue uniform with the insignias of a ship´s captain under her coat.
"And you truely want to do this?" she asked when they entered the stairs.
"I have no other choice. I owe this to the children after what Midori did to them."
She sighed.
"Your code of honor keeps surprising me. And what if the parents - or children - oppose your
plan?"
"Then it will be this way... then will we have to control the clones remotely."
"We both know that this won´t work. And Diane´s not completly efficient, we should just forget
the DummyPlug system."
"Right. And that´s the reason for me doing anything within my power to convince them."
"Thomas, you can barely walk straightly... No, don´t try to deny it, I can see it. For fifteen
years you are growing weaker day by day."
"You are right." he just said and continued climbing the stairs. "I am becoming human... But
fighting the Matriel at the pole damaged my ability to adapt, my ability to regenerate won´t be
able to keep up with the decay much longer. That´s irony, isn´t it? But at least my sister
succeeded at this task... I´m just glad that the clones don´t have the same problem I have."
"The clones... if Takanawa would have more time she might be able to devellop another weapon
against the Angelois´ AT-field."
"Yes... and maybe she could even find a cure for me... Deiko, I do not have this time, in a
way it doesn´t matter much if we are able to prevent an invasion or not, at least not for me."
"Sarcasm?"
"Grim humour", he whispered. "I´d just like to know what the activation-impulse did..."
"You think that some Angeloi-constructs still exist on earth?"
"We... They once ruled this world, enslaving the first humans. The Geosectors and the Deep Cities
are prove enough. The POLARIS-satellites keep scanning for blue patterns, but I fear they won´t
be able to detect constructs of an early stage."
"It´s your field of expertise."
"Yes... Here we are - that´s Shinji Ikari´s place."
"The boy... I remember."
"Yes... ten years ago my powers were enough... Wait here, yes?"
"Okay, Elder Brother."
He smiled.
"You haven´t called me this for a long time, Little Sister."
He reached for the bell-button.
"Good luck."
The door was opened.
"Yes?" Yui Ikari asked.
Thomas showed her his ID-card.
"Thomas Shigen, I´m in the service of the United Nations. Doctor Yui Ikari?"
Yui looked at him questionly.
"Yes, that´s me. How can I help you?"
"It´s about your son... May we talk inside?"
"I... Yes, please enter."
She lead her guest into the kitchen.
"May I offer you something? Tea, maybe?"
"No, thanks."
"As you wish. But sit down. It´s about my son, you said? How do you mean this?"
"Doctor Ikari..."
He sat down, folded his hands.
"I do belong to an organisation ordered by the UN to defend earth against... certain enemies.
Your son has abilities that might us fulfilling our mission."
"Shinji? What are you talking about?"
Thomas sighed.
"It´s difficult..."
Slowly he raised the hand to the leather-patch covered eye, moved the patch aside.
Behind it was just an empty socket with bones partly uncovered. Within the socket´s depth a feint
red glow pulses.
"Look", he whispered...
And Yui saw...
***
Earth seemed to have fallen prey to a giant uncontrolled growing mold, once blue oceans with white
clouds had turned into a chaos of brow, black and purple, while the continents were just grey
spots within, covered by deepblack clouds.
At different places the planet itself had been ripped open, and from within these never healing
wounds magma flooded to the surface...
***
Thomas moved the patch back to its place.
"What... what did you do?"
Yui Ikari had to support herself at the table to prevent falling from her chair.
"I showed you the future... or better a possible future, something my organisation is going to
prevent from happening."
"No... I mean... how did you..."
"I showed you what I can see..."
"Who... who are you?"
"Well, you should know best since you are analysing my DNA for eight years now."
He placed both hands on the table.
"The finger..."
Automatically she counted, counted five fingers at each hand.
"How... yes, of course, the regenerative potential...?!"
"Yes, good guess. Doctor Ikari, mine is the ability of precognition, I am able to forsee certain
things. And what I just showed you is torturing me for nearly twenty years now every night."
"That..."
She shook her head.
"Go! I can´t believe this!"
"Shall I return bringing your husband with me? He already knows."
"Gendo knows?"
"He had to vow to keep it a secret, like I have to ask you to keep it a secret. If it is known,
that earth´s doom´s at hand... chaos would reign."
"You told me you are trying to prevent it - how?"
"With the aid of your son and several others."
"What could my son do, he´s just a fourteen year old boy...!"
"With quite a potential."
Yui looked at him.
"I know you..."
A memory appeared before her mind´s eye - a man with blackened face, handing over her son to her
he had just rescued from within a burning house...
"Kyoto..."
"Yes. There we met for the first time."
"Why? I... I do not understand anything..."
"Humanity is endangered by beings called the Angeloi by themselves. Did you husband tell you
about the expedition to the south-pole in 2000 he participated in?"
"Yes..."
"But I guess he didn´t tell you what we found there."
"He... sometimes he´s talking in his sleep... about a giant spider..."
Thomas drew a heavy breath.
"But you thought it nightmares."
"Until now..."
"We met a single scout, the first of a by far larger invasion force. One halve of the expedition´s
member were killed or injured during the fight before we managed to kill it. In a few weeks more
Angeloi warriors will come through a gateway located at the south pole, we´ve made preparations
to stop them but among other things we need your son´s help."
"I can only repeat myself: What do you want him to do?"
"For quite a long time we´ve searched for potential pilots... your son´s one of the few able to
pilot an EVANGELION."
"What´s that? - Ah... Akagi told me about that VR-game..."
"Our testing center, yes. There he got our attention."
"You want to put my son into a giant robot and send his fighting aliens? Are you mad?"
"No, just desperate... It´s the only option... the enemy is using force fields only an EVANGELION
is able to neutralize. And your son´s the best pilot we were able to find."
"Pilot? You´re talking about a little boy! Why don´t you go and get some professional pilots?"
"Because neither of them has the necessary reflexes... and because of certain other problems."
"I won´t allow it...!"
"Mother, please, calm down." Shinji´s voice came from the corridor. He stepped into the kitchen,
looked at the one-eyed.
"You are working for NERV, aren´t you? - Or better, you are the leader of the organisation."
Thomas blinked.
"You know about us?"
"Yes, my father´s working for you, isn´t he?"
The man nodded.
"What´s going to happen if nobody will pilot the EVAs to fight the... Angeloi?"
"They will run us down. We may be able to hinder them for a while, but in the end we couldn´t
prevent the invasion."
"And then?"
"Humanity won´t go down without a fight... In the end the Angeloi will rule a dead world."
"I see..."
"Shinji..." his mother whispered. At this moment the boy seemed to be far older than fourteen.
"Would you force me to pilot an EVA?"
"No, what would be the sense of you doing it forced?"
"May I come with my mother to the Geofront?"
"You even know about this?"
"Shinji didn´t answer that he´d only guessed, but just nodded.
"Convince my mother to let me go and I´ll be a member of your team..."
***
When the elevator descended into the Geosector Yui Ikari was unable to suppress a panting.
"What´s this?"
"A Geosector, a stable subterrain cavern. There are others like this all over the world. We
discovered this one eight years ago and built our local headquarters here - there, down below."
Thomas pointed at the pyramid at the shaft´s bottom.
"That´s... fantastic..."
Shinji´s gaze was fixed to the two giants that stood inside of cagelike constructions at the
beach of the large river.
"EVA-01..."
"Yes. You already know it and unit zero from the simulation."
The boy hurried to make an agreeing face. His eyes wandered farther across the large Geofront,
found a small spot of green, recognizing it for what it was.
Kaji´s garden... so he´s alive in this world...or maybe he isn´t, maybe there´s just a person
growing melons... the Geosector itself has changed... no building hanging from the ceiling...
no shelters... there, that might be storage buildings... and that, this looks like barracks...
And then he saw another difference - the large pyramid still wore the NERV symbol of a halved
fig leave on one side, but there weren´t the familiar letters but another sentence instead:
For Humanity...
"Why are your headquarters here if the enemy will attack at the south-pole?" Yui asked, trying
hard to keep calm.
"That´s our training-center, the place where we are assembling our forces. When I will depart in
a few days for the Antarctic, the command staff will come with me."
"So that´s not the headquarter?"
"Yes and no."
"The Commander´s trying to tell you that headquarters are whereever the command staff is." Deiko
said.
"Ah, yes... And my son shall pilot one of these robots down there?"
Her voice was full of doubt.
"Yes. The purple-green on, unit one. There, can you see it?"
"It´s difficult to believe."
"That´s the reason I´m showing it to you."
"If you really have this power... why don´t you just take what you need?"
"Why? Consider the results - unhappyness, rebellion, failture... No, we not that desperate, yet...
If Shinji doesn´t want to join us, we will have to look for other potential candidates - and have
to hope to find them... and to be able to train them in time..."
"How many EVAs are you building?" Shinji asked.
"In the beginning we planned to build thirteen, but because of delays in the schedule we will
only have about six of them ready when the invasion begins... maybe eight if we are lucky."
"Six... And the pilots? Did you already enlist them?"
"No. You are the first one I´ve visited, because of your great talent."
"So the others are..."
His voice betrayed no emotions when he told the names.
"Touji, Kensuke, Hikari, Asuka and Rei..."
"Yes. Suzuhara, Aida, Horaki, Soryu and Akagi."
"Those too?" Yui asked.
The elevator reached its destiny, the pyramid. When the doors opened they were met by Gendo
Ikari, wearing his uniform with the insignias of a colonel. His face carried a sad expression.
"Gendo?" Yui whispered. "You are working for them?"
"Yes, Yui. For eight years now. I´m the commander of the tactical staff."
"And... Shinji? Did you...?"
"Please, believe me, I never wanted this to happen. But the Commander´s right, we don´t have
any real alternatives."
"Come, we should talk at one of the briefing rooms", the one-eyed interupted them.
***
The evening of the same day Thomas and Deiko found themselves at a staircase similiar to the
one of the Ikari´s apartment building, but it was in a building at the side of this part of
Tokio.
"It has surprised me that doctor Ikari finally agreed", Deiko mumbled.
"Well, I was rather surprised by the boy´s reaction. Like he knew what I was going to ask him."
"Maybe he´s also a procog?"
"I don´t think so... he doesn´t seem to be unable to sleep... on the other hand not all gifted
need to suffer nightmares..."
"Ah, don´t start with this again. Say, why don´t we use the elevator?"
"It´s just two floors, Little Sister."
"And that´s saying Mr. "I´m going to die soon". You seem to feel better."
"Just for a short time. Takanawa´s started a new treatment with adrenaline. I guess I will have
won a few days before my body adapts to it. When the ship takes to see, I fear that I won´t be
of much use."
"Thomas, Takanawa´s the best at what she does. And with Ikari and Soryu helping her, it should be
possible to..."
He smiled faintly.
"I´ve lost hope a long time ago. It´s our mission that keeps me alive and walking..."
"Thomas..."
"It´s okay."
"Yes... I thought Yui Ikari would just kill the colonel... if you hadn´t told her about his vow
of silence..."
"So she´s just angry at me... and I can life with this."
"Well, but that she agreed... even considering her stipulations..."
"Okay, most of it is no problem - the colonel will watch the children, we will find a tutor
for them and doctor Ikari will be informed about everything... and in return she will cooperate
with Takanawa."
"And you did give your word of honor that her son won´t come to harm... How are you going to
keep this promise?"
"I don´t know... with my blood if necessary... And if I fail... well, Yui Ikari will be the
least of my problems in this case."
"I would go mad if I had to carry that much responsibility... maybe that´s the reason for Midori´s
breakdown."
"Maybe... Deiko, I was trained to carry this burden... or better, I was born to..."
"Yes... Warlord... why couldn´t the Angeloi make some more of your kind? They would already have
destroyed themselves."
"Ha!"
"Shall I wait outside?"
"I guess it would be better. Doctor Soryu was quite shocked when we stood in front of her door."
"Well, no wonder, we are disturbing her marriage dispute."
"Yes, the marriage seems to be quite troubled. I didn´t have to give much details..."
"So we already have recruited two pilots, just four still to go."
"Right. But the boy... ´It´s my responsibility´... I´d like to know what he was talking about
when he agreed to pilot unit one."
"Thomas, they are teenagers. When I was their age I was talking a lot of strange stuff, too."
"Really? I always thought that you were already running across the roofs that time."
She laughed. Then she sighed.
"I guess we are there."
"Yes..."
He pushed the bell-button.
A moment later the door was opened by a girl with blue hair and red eyes.
"Yes...?"
Thomas looked at Rei, thought to notice something he couldn´t sort in.
We are alike...
Deiko was more interested in the girl´s red eyes. Then she casted a side-glance at Thomas to
made sure to see the faint mirror-effect of his contact-lense.
"Good evening, we´d like to talk to your mother."
Rei looked at the uniforms under the open coats.
"Yes."
Her face took on a sad expression when she turned her head and shouted:
"Mom, here are two officers."
"Officers?" Ritsuko Akagi repeated and come out of the livingroom. "Rei, are you sure?`"
She come to the door, opened it wide and looked at her visitors, stared at Thomas, with eyes
trippling their size.
"You..." she whispered...
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Next: Rei´s origin. ´nuff said!