Good news people! I've decided to give those who review my fic a more active role in the story. If your luck is enough, you might find yourself having a special mention in the chapters that will follow!

-Chapter 12-

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Misato had a weird expression on he face now that Shinji had finished re-telling yesterday's events.

"And she just punched you?" Misato asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Shinji replied. "I honestly don't know what's going on."

"Something must have happened, Shinji." Misato said thoughtfully. "Maybe you screwed up."

"Maybe." Shinji said, but then fell in to silence as he thought hard for a moment. 'It couldn't be that could it?' He wondered. 'How could she find out anyway?'

Misato observed Shinji as his brow furrowed, she wasn't sure what, but something had happened that had caused this.

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Most people in NERV had no idea about the investigation of the crashed pod that was going on behind their back, and thus, found their job very boring. Those who worked at the bridge were no exceptions.

Makoto yawned. "Man, I almost wish an angel would attack."

Shigero didn't reply. It looked as though he was completely absorbed in his air guitar.

"Misato's got it so well." He said wistfully. "She only really needs to be here in case of an emergency. Kinda boring without her too."

Again, Aoba didn't reply.

"Hey, are you even listening to me?" Makoto raised his voice as he turned to face his companion.

Shigero snapped out of his trance and looked around, grinning sheepishly. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

Hyuga just shook his head. "Never mind, you know, if you-" He stopped himself as he heard the elevator behind them begin to move, and he turned to see Gendo Ikari approach them.

"Anything new to report?" He demanded.

Both techs stood to attention, and replied: "No sir!"

"At ease." The commander told them, and they both sat down again.

"All systems are nominal, and the Magi are operating at their optimum efficiency." Shigero told him.

"Very well." Gendo replied. "Inform me of any new developments." He turned and began to walk towards the elevator, but before he stepped on, the Alert siren went off.

"What's going on?!" He demanded with a loud voice.

"Sir!" Shigero exclaimed. "Someone's trying to hack in to the Magi!"

"Initiate the security procedures!" He ordered.

"Negative!" Makoto said in alarm. "This guy has the board mapped out! We're not slowing him down!"

They both stared in horror as a message appeared on the holographic display before them.

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'Not long now.' - ChinnaBoy08

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"He's cocky too." Aoba murmured to himself.

"Activate the newly installed Firewall!" Gendo yelled at the two techs.

"Yes Sir!" They both scurried as fast as they could and began to type commands in to their terminals.

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'You can't stop m-'

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"Connection has been severed!" Makoto announced. "The attack has ceased."

Commander Fuyutsuki had arrived, unnoticed by all the commotion.

"Do you think that they suspect something?" He asked the supreme commander.

"It would be the only explanation behind these attacks." Gendo answered. "It would be foolish to think that no one detected the approach of the pod other then us."

"I see," the old Sensei sad thoughtfully. "They hope to get their answers from the Magi?"

"Of course." Gendo replied with a grin. "That is why I had doctor Akagi re-enforce their defence."

"You have to hand it to them though." Fuyutsuki chuckled. "These hackers come up with the funniest of names."

---

Hikari stumbled out of bed as she heard knocking on her front door. She prayed that none of her classmates would ever see her like this. Waking up early took its toll on any person.

When she opened the door, she saw Asuka standing on the other side.

"Asuka!" she exclaimed blushing. "What a surprise, I didn't know you were coming over."

"Hikari, can I talk to you?" Her voice was very weak for the characteristically loud red head.

"Um, sure, come in." Hikari moved aside and let her in.

"Where are you sisters?" Asuka asked, not really wanting to impose on her friend.

"Oh, don't worry." Hikari smiled. "My older sister is out of town, and Nozomi's at a slumber party."

"Oh, okay." A small smile escaped Asuka's lips.

"Oh, by the way." Hikari turned to look at her. "Could you wait for me in the living room? I need to get washed up."

Asuka went in to the living room and sat down on the large sofa. She had a good look around, and noticed that the house was generally very clean, a mark of Hikari's handiwork. It was also nicely decorated, sticking to a more wooden theme. Over all, it was much nicer then Misato's place.

She was quite caught up in her analysis, and didn't notice as Hikari returned and sat besides her.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

The startled Evangelion pilot turned to face her friend, and then spoke.

"Shinji." She said simply.

"Well, I don't know Shinji all that well," Hikari began, "so I don't know why you came to talk to me about him, you are his girlfriend after a-" She stopped when she saw the eternally sad look on Asuka's face.

"Asuka, what's wrong?" She asked. "What happened?"

"S-Shinji." The red head was actually crying now. Hikari, in all the time of knowing her had not seen her cry openly in front of anyone.

"Asuka?"

"H-He" The girl hiccupped. "He cheated on me!" She managed to get out, in a rather forceful yell.

"HE WHAT?!" Hikari was sure she heard wrong.

---

Back in HQ, Makoto and Shigero were deep in discussion about the recent attack on the Magi.

"I ran a background check on the hacker." Makoto said proudly.

"Oh yeah?"

"Well, this 'ChinnaBoy08' is apparently one of the most wanted hackers in the world." He said.

"Obviously, he'd have to be really good to even link up to the Magi in the first place." Shigero said half-heartedly.

"Well, he couldn't get passed Akagi's firewall, that's for sure." Both men fell silent at this, confidant that the genius doctor had provided them with an adequate defence.

---

Back in Misato's apartment, Shinji and his older roommate were eating the breakfast that he had made. The strange thing was that the usually happy morning atmosphere wasn't there. Both of the ate in silence, but the ringing of the bell interrupted them. Shinji stood up and was about to go and check who it was, but Misato told him to stay.

"Eat your breakfast Shinji, I'll go get it."

"Okay." He replied as he sat back down.

Misato went over to the front door, and when she opened it, she saw Kensuke and Touji standing on the other side.

"Hey guys. It's a bit early isn't it?"

They didn't answer for a moment, instead, chose to gaze at Misato's skimpy attire.

"Um, we wanted to talk to Shinji." Touji finally said.

"Oh?" Misato looked at them both for a second. "Well, come in then." As they walked in to the apartment she said: "You guys really picked a lousy time."

"Why is that?" The both asked.

"Something happened between Asuka and him." Misato told them. "He's not really very talkative at the moment."

The major missed the guilty looks on both boys' faces.

"I'm sure he'd want to hear what we have to say." Kensuke told her.

Misato gave them both a suspicious look before she led them in to the kitchen. There they saw Shinji quietly eating his breakfast with a somewhat dejected look on his face. Not to mention the black eye and swollen lip.

-To be Continued-

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Nothing much to say at the end of this chapter. 'ChinnaBoy08' is the first person who got a mention in the story. Who goes up next depends on who writes the nicest review. (yep, that's cheap.)

Till Later!