In her heart, she knew—had known before—that the Second was right. But she had hoped desperately that something else would work and that they wouldn't have to come to this—their last hope—because if it failed…
Namika slid a thick leather-bound book out of its place on her bookshelf of medical encyclopedias and opened it, flipping relentlessly through the pages until she found what she was looking for.
All the basic "match" stuff about bone marrow transplants was common knowledge in these ages, even if the full mechanics remained a mystery except for those in the medical field. Everyone knew that a matched donor gave the patient the best hope for life and that a close relative—preferably a brother or sister—was most likely to have the same HLA antigens on their white blood cells. Which, of course, put Misato at a disadvantage.
She remembered once, many years ago, when the conversation at their table had switched around to their families. Ritsuko had shut up almost immediately. Misato said nothing either. Everyone knew who she was and who her father had been. Namika had not thought it appropriate then to question about her mother. She had not expected it to become a necessity in the future.
She glanced out of the window and opened it to give herself a full view. Christmas had gone and passed, as had New Year's. Misato had recovered decently from her sudden collapse, and the doctor had even chosen to let her go home for two days—forty-eight hours, and no more. It made her smile, remembering how Misato's eyes had lit up like a child on Christmas morning when she heard the news. Kaji drove her home, all dressed up in Asuka's gown, and Ritsuko drove Shinji and Asuka, though both adults scattered soon afterwards—after all, they didn't live in the Katsuragi residence.
"I want you to call me immediately—and I mean IMMEDIATELY—if you feel any discomfort," she had instructed Misato, "and you two—" gesturing to Shinji and Asuka: "make sure she does so."
"You used the plant for a Christmas tree?"
Misato couldn't help from giggling. Whatever feelings of despair that had plagued her a few weeks ago were long gone, replaced with bubbles of giddiness as Asuka and Shinji related all the tales of the days they had spent together, leaving out the loneliness and suspense.
"And then Asuka burned three pancakes in a row—"
"You stepped on Pen-pen's flipper in the night—"
"—Asuka had just tripped over her German dictionary—"
"—at least I wasn't peeping while you were showering!"
"I DID NOT!"
"DID TOO!"
"DID NOT! I didn't know you were in there!" Shinji protested, his face beet red.
The temporarily silence, consisting of Shinji and Asuka glaring daggers at each other, was temporarily broken by Misato clapping her hands and laughing.
"Oh, that's beautiful, just beautiful…"
Asuka and Shinji glared at each other and decided to reconcile their differences later.
Misato looked lovely despite the weight she had lost; the red tone of the dress went nicely with her dark eyes and hair. She wore Shinji's necklace around her neck, and it swung back and forth from time to time as she leaned forward. Asuka saw it, smiled, and instinctively reached up to touch her own. Burned pancakes or not, she appreciated the boy more than she cared to admit.
"And school?" Misato asked.
"It's decent," Asuka proclaimed. "I eat lunch with Hikari every day in the hallway since it's so cold outside nowadays. And I have a 98 in Japanese literature now! I've been working on my kanji."
Misato reached across the table and gave Asuka a hug. The Second Child was touched, but couldn't help feeling a tinge of sadness at how weak her arms were now.
"I wish I could go outside for a little while," Misato mused. "I'm so sick of being inside."
"It's kind of cold outside though," Shinji pointed out.
Asuka stood up. "Why should that matter if we bundle her up properly? Here, put on some pants under your dress, and take my boots—Shinji, get her winter jacket, the one with the hood—"
"You know Dr. Ishiyama would never allow this," he whispered, as Asuka ducked into the closet for the winter boots.
"It's time she had some freedom," Asuka insisted. Her voice came out muffled as she searched behind the rack of clothes. "At the first sign of anything, we'll call NERV."
Shinji hesitated. "Ten minutes only."
"Ten minutes," she agreed.
They bundled Misato up as warmly as they could get. Asuka removed a pair of leather gloves from the jacket's pockets and insisted that she wear them, as well as an old, ragged blue scarf ("Well, it's the only one I can find.")
She loved being able to walk on her own and having Shinji and Asuka on either side. Being waited on constantly had initially been interesting, but it soon grew old when the only reason the nurses did so was because she couldn't do it herself.
They entered the elevator and Misato pushed the button for L1.
"It's hot," she complained, as the elevator slowly lowered itself down to the first floor.
"You won't think that when you get outside."
She had to agree with them when the time came. The cold air bit her skin and stung her nose and ears. Nevertheless, she followed Asuka and Shinji eagerly, like little children, into the parking lot where her old, broken down car lay unused.
"Hey, it's you," she laughed, touching the trunk affectionately to make two handprints in the snow.
"HEY!"
Shinji rubbed the back of his head, having just been attacked by a perfectly aimed snowball from Asuka. In an instant he was off chasing her for revenge, crumpling snow into as tight a ball as he could manage while he ran.
Misato dipped her fingers into the powdery snow and sprinkled them over Asuka's red hair as she passed.
"That's not fair!" Asuka whined, but the short moment she paused gave Shinji the opportunity to launch another snowball at her face.
"Sorry."
"Don't apologize, Third Child." Asuka seized a handful of snow and rubbed it in his face. "Or you're going to regret it."
"Hey, hey, HEY!"
While Asuka busied herself keeping Shinji on the ground as she rubbed snow onto his face, ignoring his howls, Misato slowly bent her knees, wincing as she heard them crack. She gathered a small handful of snow and packed it into a tiny, compact sphere, then slowly added more to it. Shinji's shrieks were growing higher pitched now, and Asuka did not relent.
Misato stared at the snowball in her hand, then suddenly pulled her arm back and let it fly. It smashed into tiny pieces on Asuka's shoulder.
"HEY!" the girl shouted, whirling around. In that one moment Shinji recovered and leapt to his feet, but this time didn't attack in retaliation.
"That was a pretty good shot," he commented, with real admiration in his voice. "I saw that coming."
"Why didn't you warn me!"
"Er…was I supposed to?"
"Baka." Asuka pushed him over again.
"You look happy today."
"You look pretty today," Misato commented, as the doctor flipped a page on the newly added calendar that hung above her television. "What? You do."
"Thanks. Anyway." She took a seat on the nearest chair and began without preamble. "I've just been looking over your latest test results, and I've come to the conclusion that your best option is to do a bone marrow transplant."
Silence.
"Misato?"
"I'm just thinking," she said quietly. "Doesn't that require one of my relatives…or something?"
Namika leaned forward slightly. "Are there any that might be willing?"
"I have none alive," Misato stated flatly. "My mother died some ten years ago."
"Oh," Namika said softly, returning to her normal sitting stance. "Well, we can try for a non-related donor then."
"That's pretty unlikely though, isn't it?"
Namika thought back to a time before Second Impact, before she had decided to become a doctor, when the word had been spreading about the need for bone marrow donors and people had signed up by the thousands. Time and energy had been diverted toward much more pressing needs after the year 2000.
"We'll try," she promised.
"I really don't have any other options, do I?"
"Not really." Namika was forced to concede. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Major shift.
"All right then. Let's go for it."
"Why's Sorhyu getting out of Sensei's lectures early?" Touji grumbled. His stomach growled, and he recalled with annoyance that he had forgotten to pack his lunch. He glanced jealously at Hikari Horaki, who always had the best lunches. Perhaps he'd be able to convince her to share a bit with him.
"Because I am divine, stooge," she muttered, slinging her bag over her shoulder and disappearing out the door. "See you, Hikari."
"Well, it must not be NERV related," Shinji commented quietly. "I haven't been called… and neither has Ayanami…"
Asuka, too, had no idea what she was being called to NERV for, but she didn't let this show in front of her classmates. She had a reputation to maintain, after all, but once she boarded the nearly-empty train, her fingers twisted into knots and she crossed her legs, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.
Her sync ratios had been stable in the last few weeks.
The angel alarms had not gone off.
Misato—
Asuka pushed that thought out of her mind.
They'd call Shinji and Wondergirl if anything had happened.
"I'm here, Dr. Akagi," she called out upon entering the Geofront. "What do you need me for?"
"You're not needed here, you're needed at the hospital," Ritsuko informed her, watching her beadily over the rim of her spectacles.
After she had disappeared, Maya asked softly, "Sempai, why?"
Ritsuko shrugged without response and turned back to the report clamped to her clipboard, absentmindedly tracing the bolded Unit 03 splashed across the top of page.
"I need a compass," Asuka growled. When she was piloting her Eva she had free reign of Tokyo-3—no need to follow roads or paths—but a few twists and turns within the many hallways of the NERV building soon had her perplexed. It was relief that she finally found the hospital and entered, this time making her way directly to the head doctor's office.
She knocked twice.
"Come in." Namika laid down her clipboard. "Good afternoon, Pilot Sorhyu."
"Good afternoon."
"Are you still willing to be tested to see if you're a match for Major Katsuragi?" she asked, rising to her feet and pushing in her chair.
Asuka's eyes widened. Quickly she regained her composure, and there was no doubt in her voice when she spoke.
"Yes."
"Follow me."
They led her into a tiny, windowless room with blinding white walls and a white bed, upon which she was made to sit while the doctor organized supplies.
"Hold out your arm."
She did so, and Namika sterilized it with a dab of alcohol.
The needle went into her arm without warning. Asuka watched disinterestedly while the small tube filled with her blood. The doctor slid the needle out deftly, wiped the puncture with a sterile piece of gauze, and taped a colorful bandage over it.
"You're free to go."
"When'll we know the results?" she queried.
"In a few days," the doctor promised. "Anything else?"
"No."
Asuka tore off the bandage and threw it in the trash on her way out.
"What's wrong with your arm, Asuka?"
"It hurts," she grumbled. Getting blood drawn was not supposed to be a big deal—she had had the procedure done many times before—but somehow this time it was bruising severely, as if someone had punched her in the crook of her elbow.
Shinji looked concerned. "Do you want some ice for it? Or a heating pad?"
"N—" Asuka started to say, then changed her mind. "That would be quite nice, actually."
Shinji smiled and disappeared to the kitchen.
Asuka nursed her arm with the other hand and stared down at Pen-pen, who was fast asleep on his back after having finished his meal. Suspense is worse than knowing, she thought worriedly. She wished she had asked the doctor for a more specific date. A "few" days could mean anywhere from two to five.
"Here you go," Shinji handed her the heating pad. His eyes widened at the sight of her bruised arm. "What happened to you?"
"I had some blood drawn... nothing too serious." Asuka was reluctant to tell him the truth, wanting instead to avoid the subject.
"Oh…" Shinji suddenly felt rather guilty. "You're not supposed to put heat on bruises… I'll go make you an ice pack instead."
"Don't, Third," Asuka called. "It's cold enough in this place. I'll freeze if I have to place ice on my arm." He hesitated, and she patted the chair next to him. "Come sit here and talk to me for awhile."
Shinji obeyed.
"So what were you doing, skulking around the house when I came in?"
"I was looking for a calculator," Shinji replied smoothly, "…so I could finish the problems Sensei left us in class." He shifted uneasily. "I'm kind of worried about tomorrow's exam…"
Asuka laughed. "What I like, you hate. What you hate, I like." Seeing Shinji's baffled expression, she elaborated, "Algebra doesn't require nearly as much knowledge of kanji as any of the other things we do in school. Besides, I've done all of this before in college, so it's easy for me."
"You're lucky."
She shrugged. "Well, I have to redo several years of high school after graduating college, in a language I'm not too familiar with. That's not really something you'd want to do."
"I guess…"
When it became apparently that he wasn't going to say anything else, she took the initiative.
"Come on, Third Child… get your books, and I'll explain DeMoivre's Theorem to you."
"Are you sure?" Shinji hesitated. "I-I don't want to bother you or anything, I mean…"
"Just do it."
He copied while she talked, and then she forced him to reiterate her words in a way that convinced her he had understood.
"Three root two."
"Three? I thought negative three." Asuka frowned at the paper and pointed to the mistake. "You dropped a negative sign there, Shinji."
"Sorry," he mumbled and fumbled with his eraser. A moment later he noticed that not only had Asuka not insulted him, she had called him Shinji. The girl wore a sad and faraway expression, as if she were in a world of her own. He finished the problem, took a deep breath, and went out on a limb.
"Do you want me to teach you some kanji?"
She perked up again at this and seemed to consider. "If you don't mind."
Shinji fetched the book, and Asuka curled up her legs and put her head on his shoulder, maintaining the ice pack on her elbow with the other hand. Shinji blushed crimson, quickly chose a page, cleared his throat, and began to read.
"Tired?"
"Stop rubbing it in," Namika grumbled, rubbing her eyes. However, all that served was to fog them up, and she muttered darkly as she removed her glasses and wiped them on the hem of her shirt.
"You know I'm not trying to," Ritsuko countered, taking a seat and sliding the phone book over to her. "Are you really calling them up one by one, trying to find Misato a relative?"
"Somebody's gotta be alive," Namika muttered cryptically. "Damn people won't admit it."
Ritsuko glanced at the massive microfuge, spinning along merrily and making its faint whirring sound without pause before suddenly coming to a stop.
"Can you put those on ice and shove it in the freezer?"
Ritsuko obeyed. "How are the results coming?" she asked, although she already knew the answers.
"The Second's not a match."
"She's German," Ritsuko said, as if that settled the situation.
"Well, I couldn't help but hope. Yours came back negative too. So did mine. As did that of your bespectacled technician."
"Makoto was here?"
"Yeah, at like five in the morning…"
Ritsuko groaned. It was going to kill Makoto to find out that he wouldn't be able to protect the woman he cared so deeply for, even if he had never voiced his feelings. "Who else showed up?"
"The Commander."
"What?"
"Yeah, he came down here at lunch and didn't say anything. It took me about ten minutes to notice he was standing in the doorway, and when I finally got around to addressing him, all he did was stick out his arm."
"Interesting…"
Namika snorted. "Believe it or not, he's got the closest match to Misato so far. If all else fails we're going to have to use him."
She pulled the phone book back over and picked up the telephone. Ritsuko snatched it away from her.
"I'll call for a few hours," she said, silently wondering how many Katsuragis there could possibly be in the phone book. "You go onto sleep."
"It's going to be a long healing process."
"She's only a primary student. How difficult for her."
"Has that boy come today?"
"Yes, he's still coming twice a week. Such good brothers are hard to find nowadays.
"Excuse me," Shinji muttered dully. The nurses immediately stopped chatting and wheeled the cart aside so that they could pass. Asuka glanced at it briefly. The girl lying upon it was perhaps six or seven years old. Her face was turned away from them.
"I didn't know they treated regular kids in here," she remarked, as the doors slid open and allowed them to leave.
"Maybe she's somebody's daughter?" Shinji wondered.
"I don't know anybody at NERV with a daughter that age."
"One of the workers that we haven't met, maybe."
Asuka thought it over and conceded. "Maybe."
The elevator door shut behind them. Asuka punched the appropriate button, and the car immediately began to sink.
"I hope Touji and Hikari aren't there already."
Asuka remembered with a jolt that the two were coming over to collaborate on a school project, but didn't let on that she had forgotten. "I don't understand why we're doing a group project. It's so much easier to work on one's own—you're in charge of what you're doing, and nobody argues with you."
"Sensei thinks it'll be better if we learn from each other," reminded Shinji, recalling that each group would prepare a presentation for the class.
"I can learn on my own," Asuka muttered. "Though I don't understand why I got paired with that stooge and you with Hikari. It would be much better if it was the other way around."
"You would rather work with me?"
"Obviously, since—HEY! I meant that it would be wonderful for Hikari and the stooge to have a chance together, not that—that I'd enjoy working with you!"
Shinji didn't say anything.
Hikari brought pastries with a variety of fruit fillings to share. Touji was already munching away, but Hikari's cheeks were pink with pride, and she did not hurry to lecture him.
"My dad gave me this book last night when I mentioned that we were studying nuclear chemistry," she explained, holding it up so that Shinji could see the large illustration of the Bohr model splashed across the cover.
"That's great…" Shinji eyed the thick volume with apprehension. "Do you want to sit down? We can work on the table."
"Then where are we going to work?" Asuka demanded.
"You can have the other side of the table," Hikari offered, graciously moving her platter of pastries. "Would you like one, Ikari-kun?"
"Thank you…"
Asuka growled under her breath, still unhappy with the situation. "All right, stooge, you sit there, and I'm going to go get my books. And don't…"
The sound of mechanical laughter made her turn. Her partner had settled himself comfortably on the couch with his feet resting on the coffee table, and was lazily flipping through the channels.
Oblivious to Asuka and Touji, Shinji hoisted a large sheet of posterboard onto the table, while Hikari flipped through her book.
"I think we ought to have an image of Rutherford's experiment with the gold foil," she suggested. "There's a nice picture of it here, we could just draw that."
"I'll write out his conclusions," Shinji agreed. "Green or red words?"
"Umm… red. Do you mind if the electrons are blue?"
"That's fine."
Asuka stomped over to her uncooperative partner. "What do you think you're doing?"
Touji pressed the "Channel up" button.
She tried to wrestle the remote control from his hand, with no luck.
"I don't know about you, but I want to do well on this project!" she shouted. "And like it or not, you're going to help me!"
Touji changed his mind and pressed the "Channel down" button.
Asuka sighed and decided that she would rather work alone than lower herself to trying to drag him off of the couch. Shinji's voice followed her around the corner as she stalked off to her room to find paper.
"What else do we want to add?"
"Millikan's oil experiment was pretty significant, the one where he determined the charge of an electron. Why don't you draw that one, and I'll write the facts this time?"
"All right."
Touji sighed and shut off the TV. He walked rigidly over to the door, put on his shoes, and muttered, "Sorry," before letting himself out.
Shinji broke the silence.
"Asuka will not be happy."
"I think something's really wrong with Suzuhara," Hikari whispered, a dark cloud settling over her eyes as she wrote. "He hasn't been himself lately at all. I wonder why?"
They silenced quickly as Asuka returned with a pad of paper and a fistful of colored markers, only to see that her partner had disappeared. Shinji braced himself mentally, hoping that Hikari would help to ease the disturbance that was soon to occur.
"Wow, this one?"
"We had no other choice," Ritsuko informed her glumly, recounting her earlier conversation with The Commander, who had originally wanted to use the dummy plug, then insisted that Fourth's core be prepared immediately upon learning that the dummy plug was still producing errors.
Misato contemplated this as she played with a fold of her hospital gown. Ritsuko had just broken the news to her, and she was not at all sure what to think of it.
"Asuka's proud to be an Evangelion pilot. Rei, well, she doesn't have any problems with our work. But Shinji…he's been hurt enough as it is. I can't see Shinji being very happy about this; he's not super thrilled about piloting Eva in the first place and he wouldn't want anyone else to go through it. Asuka won't be happy either," she predicted. "She won't understand why someone of his caliber was selected."
"The decision was beyond our hands," Ritsuko reminded quietly.
"I know that."
"Will you tell him?"
"Why just him? What about Asuka and Rei?"
"Asuka, unfortunately, found out by accident this morning, through interrupting Kaji at work. Rei, I believe, has already been informed by The Commander." There was a strong stigma of annoyance in her tone.
"And Shinji has been left in the dark. It doesn't seem quite fair, does it?"
Ritsuko didn't know how to reply and chose to ignore the comment. "His only request was that his younger sister be placed in NERV's hospital."
"Maybe he'll tell Shinji himself."
"I doubt it. He didn't look happy at all when he found out. He'll be doing his first actual test in a few days, so we'll have the TV monitor hooked up again."
"Looking forward to it," Misato commented dryly.
The conversation ended there.
"Now I understand why you said your arm hurt," Shinji remarked, lifting his free hand up again to look at his left elbow. The bruise had developed a two inch-long diameter and was quickly spreading. He was getting stares from nearby passengers on the train. Next to him, Asuka tapped her foot impatiently as if she had some important information that she could not quite conceal. She masked it by maintaining a firm hold on the topic at hand.
"I still don't understand why they wanted you to do it immediately. They already knew you'd agreed to it, so what was the rush?"
"Because Father wants me to do some sort of testing the day after tomorrow," Shinji mumbled miserably, hanging his head. Asuka looked up at him, surprised that he didn't know, then quickly composed her face and spoke in a calm voice.
"Oh yeah—damn, my memory's getting short nowadays."
When Shinji still didn't respond, she placed an arm briefly around his shoulder. "It's all worth it if you turn out to be the one who can save Misato, right?"
"Of course. I'm not a wimp… I don't mind the pain."
There may be more coming than you can handle, Asuka thought grimly.
Rei heard voices as she walked up the stairs, but didn't let it disturb her. Many nights her neighbors held raucous parties that lasted into the early hours of the day, and she had learned from a young age to live in whichever place NERV chose to delegate her. However, by the time she reached the fourth floor, she was quite certain that the voices were coming from her room.
"…changed a lot…"
"What?"
"You, Shinji. When you first came, I thought you were a jerk. You didn't seem like the kind of person who would do something for the sake of other people. I guess it's just that you're so quiet."
Suzuhara-kun, Rei thought, hesitating outside her room. Her gaze fell on the many envelopes that occupied the slender opening in her door designed for mail, but the sight did not penetrate her mind. The Fourth Child.
She hesitated for a moment, trying to decide what to do. It would not be polite to intrude on their conversation, nor would it be feasible to simply stand outside her own room and eavesdrop. Rei settled on the first choice.
Both boys turned to look at her as she came inside and shut the door behind her without the faintest trace of surprise flickering across her face.
Suzuhara-kun bowed to her and gestured toward her bed, on which lay a large stack of papers. "Excuse us. These are your printouts from class."
Rei was silent, pondering what to do next. A sound from her left roused her, and she turned to see Ikari picking up wadded bandages from the floor.
For a moment, Rei was angry… she had come home after a grueling day at NERV, accentuated by the fact that Dr. Akagi had told her she wasn't needed as far as finding Misato a match was concerned; they could use a clone at any time. That line alone would have come as a slap in the face from anybody, but at this moment Rei could only see the blonde doctor's face, glowering at her over the rim of her glasses. She had wanted only a warm shower… she did not care to have Ikari touching her things.
"Sorry, I was cleaning up," Shinji explained, a hint of a smile on his boyish face. "I didn't touch anything except the trash."
He was only trying to help…
Rei felt the heat of embarrassment creeping into her face.
For some time, she did not know what to say…but when she finally responded, neither boy found her reply as strange as she herself did.
"Thank you."
Some time after the boys had left her room, Rei heard their voice outside her window and watched them as they made their way up the road.
"Well, I guess all Eva pilots are strange," Suzuhara commented.
She remembered her initial encounter with Pilot Sorhyu, in which the Second had also informed her that she was strange.
Well, Rei had had enough strangeness for one day. She closed the window and walked to the bathroom, her socks making almost no sound on the carpet-less floor. Her own red eyes gazed back at her from her reflection in the mirror.
Ikari does not know, she recalled. He will be the last to find out.
She did not know why this thought bothered her as she stepped into the shower and twisted the faucet, allowing the icy cold droplets to sprinkle over her skin while she waited for it to warm.
I have not been told to inform Ikari of the Fourth Child's identity… that is for Misato to decide.
Rei held her eyes open under the showerhead, hardly noticing the water in her eyes.
Ikari went to the trouble of doing something for me… not because he was ordered to; he simply did it for me. It is not fair for him not to know… perhaps I ought to…
No, it is not my place.
Rei shut off the faucet. She removed a white towel from an overhead shelf and draped it over herself before disappearing back into her main room.
"Presentations for your group projects will begin tomorrow, as previously decided. I trust that you all will be very prepared to teach us an informative lesson."
Hikari looked to Shinji and gave him a thumbs-up sign. Shinji smiled back, remembering that their poster was stored safely at school, in the teacher's closet. Behind him, Asuka growled menacingly at Touji, who appeared to pay no attention.
"I'll help you when we get home," Shinji whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
"I'll do it myself," Asuka grumbled, "I don't need your help."
"Sorry."
Shinji ducked his head over his paper again, wondering miserably what he had done this time. It was disappointing, he thought, that Asuka's good moods so rarely lasted.
Two rows ahead of him, Hikari looked back at the class but focused in particular on the boy she liked. There was no doubt that something was wrong; he had either not been in school or had been spacing out during class. And come to think of it, he hadn't been eating lunch either—and Hikari knew very well just how much Touji Suzuhara liked food.
Maybe I should prepare lunch for him tomorrow, Hikari thought. I've always got things left over from cooking for Nozomi and Kodama… no, maybe that would be too obvious. But it is my duty to look after my classmates—and if one of them is having problems, I should help, right?
"Miss Horaki."
"Yes!" Hikari snapped out of her daze. The teacher barely blinked as he extended a ceramic mug toward her. Not quite understanding what she was supposed to do, Hikari placed her hand into the cup and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
7.
"What did you get?" she hissed to Asuka.
"ONE!" Asuka shouted. "And obviously we won't be ready to present first, since HE isn't doing anything!"
The entire class turned as one to look at Touji, who had no reaction.
Hikari gulped, waiting for Asuka to continue her tirade, but none followed. Instead the intercom came on, and they all listened intently.
"Suzuhara Touji, of class 2A, please come to the principal's office immediately."
"Huh?"
"Suzuhara, you are excused," the teacher pronounced, extending his mug to the next pairing. Touji dragged his feet to the door and disappeared around the corner just as the student cried out, "Oh no! Ayami, we have to present second!"
Hikari kept her eyes firmly glued to the paper she held in her hand and away from the door, finally giving in to glance at her friends. Shinji looked plainly confused, while Asuka was frowning with her eyes closed and her arms crossed.
I'll stop by the market on the way home and buy some fresh tomatoes…
"He still doesn't know?"
Misato sighed. "I just can't find a chance to tell him. I can't figure out what he's thinking. I don't know. I'm getting worried."
"You're the one who wanted to be his guardian," Ritsuko reminded.
"I know… so the testing will be done at Matsushiro tomorrow?"
"Yes, speaking of which – have you discussed with Miki what you're going to do?"
"I'm definitely going," Misato said firmly. When Ritsuko's mouth opened, she quickly added, "with accommodations."
"What does Miki have to say about that?"
Misato chuckled mirthlessly. "Well, she's not happy about it, not that I'm really giving her any chance. Don't worry about me." Her face clouded over as her thoughts returned to Shinji. "Maybe the pilot will tell him about it himself."
"That won't happen. He wasn't happy enough to brag about it. The only thing he was concerned about was having his younger sister transferred to the medical unit."
"I should go see her sometime."
Silence.
"You don't have any more news on a match for me, do you?" Misato whispered, only a faint wisp of hope in her voice.
"I don't," Ritsuko apologized. "Maya's results haven't come out yet though, and neither have Shinji's. Miki is busy working on reinstating a program for donors."
"Shinji, huh?"
"Well, it's worth a try…"
"I guess." She lay back down and focused on the pattern of the ceiling. "I wonder how many of those little dots there are? I've been trying to count for several days now but I keep losing count."
Ritsuko privately reminded herself to procure permission from Namika to allow Misato to go out more often.
"Take care of yourself," she insisted. "I'll be seeing you tomorrow."
She had just shut the door to Misato's room when somebody came running up behind her, breathing heavily. Ritsuko turned to see Miki, waving her clipboard as usual. A faint glimmer of hope found its way into Ritsuko's mind—Miki looked happy, for the first time in weeks—but she hardly dared hope—
"Into my office," were Namika's first words, and Ritsuko followed the doctor into her room and closed the door behind her.
"We have a match!"
"Maya?"
"No, the Third Child—Shinji Ikari!"
"What…?"
Ritsuko could scarcely believe it; Shinji a match…
"Look." Namika reached over to her desk and pulled over a large stack of documents, apparently brimming with excitement. "Look at the HLAs…this one's Misato's, this one's Shinji's…" She spoke so quickly that Ritsuko had hardly a moment to look at the page before she had moved on to another diagram. "Her antigen pattern and his share—"
"Spare me the medical lecture; chances are I won't understand half of it anyway," Ritsuko begged. Namika pulled the stack back over to her, looking concerned at Ritsuko's grim face. "Just tell me, how likely do you think this will give Misato another chance at life?"
"I can't be one-hundred percent sure, obviously, but it's pretty darn likely." Namika breathed again at seeing Ritsuko's tension dissipate. "Now, do you want to inform Shinji, or should I do it?"
"I'll tell Shinji. You can tell Misato."
"All right."
Ritsuko pulled her old college friend into a hug as she stood up; Miki, who was not used to such casualness from Dr. Akagi, was taken aback at first, then warmly returned the gesture before hurrying out of the room.
We always refer to the Evangelion as a miracle, Ritsuko thought, but the biggest miracles are those that happen in the medical field…
She had a fleeting moment in which she wished she had become a medical doctor instead of one that worked with giant biomechanical monsters. Ritsuko reached for the phone, then decided she would rather inform the Third face-to-face. She picked up her purse and strode out of the office, her heels clanking on the polished floor.
For the first time that winter, snow was something beautiful to be enjoyed, and Ritsuko took her time getting to her car through the thick snowdrifts. In that moment she knew nothing of NERV or Evangelions; her mind was filled only with Misato's life, that she was going to be all right, that everything would be fine…
"Unit 3 activation Test: T minus 30 minutes."
"Refrigeration systems in all sections functioning at standard levels."
"Pressure lock on left arm secured in place."
"Misato-san?"
Misato's haggard face broke into a smile upon seeing him upon the screen in front of her. Shinji was already in Unit 01, awaiting further directions. As for Misato, she was seated inside a cozy piece of shelter, surrounded by various TV screens, showing her what was going on in various areas around the testing site.
"I'm so happy, Misato-san," Shinji broke out breathlessly. "I was so glad when Ritsuko told me last night…"
She let him talk. He was rarely this happy, and she was determined to let it last as long as it could. Her thoughts wandered back to the Fourth and her smile waned.
"Misato-san?"
"I'm really happy too," she told him. "Shinji, I—"
"The Fourth Child has arrived. Squad 2, begin entry preparations immediately."
Misato frowned. "I'll talk to you later," she promised Shinji, and a moment later his worried face disappeared from view.
"Did you tell him?" Ritsuko asked as she entered.
"I'll tell him after this test," she answered decisively before stretching her arms out as far as they would reach above her head. "Exclusive possession of four EVAs… if we wanted to, we could destroy the world."
"You don't sound too happy. This unit will be under your direct command, you know."
"Entry plug secured," the operator's voice announced, and both ladies quickly turned their attention back to the panels. "Begin Phase One connection. Transmitting pulses… graph displace within norms. List clear through 1-3-5-0."
"Transfer the operation to Phase Two," Ritsuko responded.
"Full nerve link established. List clear through 2-5-5-0. Harmonics all reading standard."
"Approaching absolute threshold."
"There's a huge power surge coming from inside the unit," Ritsuko groaned, worry etching itself into lines across her face. "Abort the test! Cut the circuits!"
"He hasn't come yet, Asuka."
"Maybe he won't come today," Asuka muttered. She was seated at her desk, her head propped up with one fist, while Hikari lingered near the door with a neatly wrapped bento in hand.
Asuka was furious. Touji had been "unreachable" during the previous night, and she had stayed up until four finishing the project on her own. Now Hikari was busy fawning over the boy, and all she wanted to do was to lie down and sleep—yet her cell phone chose just that moment to go off.
Asuka jumped to her feet and ran for the door, along with the rest of the students who were attempting to get into a shelter.
"There's been an accident involving an explosion at Matsushiro!"
"What about Misato-san?" Shinji yelled, but his voice was drowned out by the technicians':
"Unidentified moving object detected as the site."
"Pattern orange, can't be confirmed as an angel."
A tiny panel popped up on the side of Shinji's screen. Rei appeared in it, looking calm and composed as always, as she informed him, "They can't establish contact yet."
"Oh no… what should I do?"
A second panel appeared, this time featuring an angry Asuka who had been hurried into Unit 02. "What are you whining about? We can't do anything but worry now!
Rei's panel disappeared as Shigeru announced, "The target is approaching… All units, stand by for ground battle. We've got a visual on the main screen."
In most situations, Asuka liked to think that nothing could rattle her, but her jaw dropped and her eyes widened upon seeing this image. She heard Shinji's mechanically modified voice protesting, "No way… an Angel? That's the angel? That's an EVA, isn't it?"
"I can't believe it," she whispered to no one in particular. "Was it taken over by an angel?"
"Is it piloted by a kid, like the other units? A child my age?"
He doesn't know, Asuka thought. Her heart thudded in her chest. He's going to kill him… but for a few minutes she did not know which boy was 'he' and which boy was 'him', and she did not like to think of the consequences that would follow either situation.
I have to tell him… I have to stop this…
"Don't you know yet? Evangelion Unit 03 is—"
Her screen blacked out and she screamed in fury. Someone had knowingly cut off her connection in an attempt to keep her from informing Shinji of the pilot's identity.Shinji wasted precious time shouting her name, while The Commander announced smoothly, "From this time, Evangelion Unit 03 is abandoned, and the target is identified as the 13th angel."
Rei had heard everything, yet remained silent. Still, she flinched visibly as she was forced to watch Asuka's Eva being crushed by Unit 03.
The Angel, she corrected herself mentally.
"Pilot has ejected. Salvage crew is on the way."
"The target is moving toward you, Rei—avoid close combat, and stop the target. I'll send Unit 01 soon."
Rei braced herself, readying the gun. Yet she hesitated just a fraction of a second too long.
The amount of time it took to think "He's in there."
Two Evas out in less than five minutes, Shinji thought desperately. As Unit 03 neared him, he caught a glimpse of the entry plug.
There's somebody inside!
Amidst all the shouting about Rei's injuries, Shinji heard his father announcing, "The target is approaching. You will contact it within twenty… take care of it."
His fingers tightened on the controls.
"Misato?"
With effort, Misato willed herself back to consciousness. Somebody was tugging on her hand, and she squeezed back lightly. The next thing she knew, somebody was helping her to sit up and she leaned against him.
"Kaji," she muttered.
"You're bleeding." He examined the wound, then took off his shirt and pressed it against her head to staunch the bleeding. Misato turned away, but he held the wadded material tightly in place.
"Damn you," she cursed. "Where are we?"
Her feet were numb from the January cold; apparently they were no longer inside the warm little room she recalled. She opened her eyes with a creditable effort to see a large crater in front of them. Her fingers scrabbled across the ground. She felt dried leaves. A few inches further, and they touched concrete.
Kaji sighed. "Well, we're somewhere in the middle of the forest around the ex-testing site." Misato tried to sit up further, but he held her in place, saying, "We can't go anywhere, Katsuragi, they're still battling it out."
"Battle what out?" she muttered angrily. Misato felt as if she were trying to put together a puzzle in which the pieces kept disappearing just as she nearly had her fingers locked around it. A thundering crash shook the ground and she cried out from the pain. Kaji tightened his arms around her.
"Unit 01 has been ordered to regard Unit 03 as the thirteenth angel," he explained somberly.
"What about Asuka? Rei?"
He glanced toward their left, and Misato followed his gaze to see Evangelion Unit 00's large severed arm resting by their side. But the scene that awaited her in the distance was far worse: Evangelion Unit 03, hovering over 01 as the former attempted to strangle the latter, pounding it mercilessly into the mountain.
"Shinji-kun!"
She struggled to get up, but Kaji held her down.
"I haven't told him," she whispered. "He doesn't know…"
"He must know something; he's not fighting back," Kaji muttered. He increased the force on his wadded shirt and frowned at the scene.
"Well, if it goes on like this, he'll die! Cut the synchronization to sixty percent!"
"Katsuragi… this is out of your hands now."
She hated it, not being at the head of the operation. For now, Major Misato Katsuragi was an outsider to the world of NERV; she had no control, she was not even privy to what information was being exchanged between NERV headquarters and the Eva. For the first time, she could only watch as a horrified civilian.
Her head throbbed; she put up a hand to her temple and pulled it away, sticky with blood.
"Kaji…"
"Something's changed." His voice was tense, drawing her back to the ongoing battle. "Look, Katsuragi… he's fighting back."
Shinji wouldn't fight back, Misato thought desperately, he wouldn't hurt a fly… yet then the memories of the Fourth angel came back to haunt her. Shinji will do what it takes to kill an angel… if he doesn't know…
She winced instinctively as Unit 01 threw its opponent to the ground and began ripping furiously at the back. Part of her hoped desperately that Shinji would win the battle and defeat the angel, but her other half reminded her that it was not quite fair to hope for the Fourth's death either. Once again Misato felt her hopelessness amplify, and she wanted to scream with frustration.
Kaji muttered something incomprehensible as Unit 01 towered over the broken 03, clutching it's entry plug in its massive hand.
Misato could have sworn she heard Shinji's scream, but under her current conditions she attributed it to hallucinations. Nevertheless, the crunch that came with the scream was most certainly audible, and it lingered in her head for several moments afterwards.
"He doesn't know… " Misato whispered, as if it made all the difference in the world. She cried silently instead, tears mingling with the blood. She knew now that the duty of informing Shinji of the Fourth's identity would also involve informing him of his subsequent death.
How cruel life is…
She let herself fade into oblivion as Kaji watched on helplessly.
NERV's hospital was being swarmed. Namika was kept on her toes, running from room to room, prepping for surgery and taking x-rays. Twenty minutes earlier she had seen the Major into the hospital and begun transferring fluids to her dehydrated body, but for now three of her top assistants were handling the Major alone, and she was needed elsewhere.
"You've got a comminuted fracture," she told the worker grimly as she fiddled with the X-ray machine. "Hold still now… done."
The man swore intensely as he tried to move his hand.
Things had quickly gone from bad to worse. The explosion that had nearly killed Misato and Ritsuko, along with several hundred others, would have been enough on its own to warrant an emergency, but three of out of NERV's four viable pilots were now physically injured, and the fourth… Namika knew that emotional injuries were much harder and took longer to heal. Misato herself was a prime example of that.
The Second Child, Sorhyu Asuka Langley, had fortunately been extricated from her entry plug before suffering any serious injuries—a broken arm and a grade-3 concussion.
The First Child, Ayanami Rei, had not been so fortunate. She had been nearly unconscious by the time rescuers reached her entry plug and for the time being, remained comatose but stable.
The Fourth Child… Namika shivered. She had heard of him previously from Misato and Ritsuko, yet the first time she met him he was near death and had to be told that he was going to have an arm and a leg amputated. He was asleep now, and for that Namika was grateful; she was not looking forward to telling him that his dreams of being a star basketball player were now galaxies away.
She returned to Misato's room.
"We're almost finished, Dr. Ishiyama," one of her assistants informed her breathlessly from behind her blue mask.
"Let me see." Namika crossed the room and tipped Misato's head gently. "It looks pretty good. Put a sterilized bandage over it, and keep me updated."
"Yes, Dr. Ishiyama."
It took Asuka longer than she would have liked to recover—almost three weeks before the neck stiffness, headache, and confusion went away. She spent most of the twenty-one days in bed, but during the few hours that she felt well enough to stand on both feet, she visited Misato or Rei. The latter had been much harder, seeing as Asuka usually had little to say to the First Child, but she felt somehow that this fight had tied them all together.
She cried upon hearing that Touji was alive, and cried again when she learned that he had lost two limbs in the fight. The redhead no longer knew why she cried; she wasn't sure if it was out of relief, sadness, or guilt that she had treated him so over a stupid chemistry project. Now, three weeks after the incident, she still could not find the courage to enter his hospital room. Shinji had done it several times, and things had apparently not gone well.
Shinji. Asuka sighed as she wandered down the hallway. He was a completely different story; he had been hospitalized briefly as a result of the battle, then escaped from his room (Section II agents later discovered him in one of the obscure back hallways of NERV, curled up against the wall and sobbing). They had not wanted to send him back to the Katsuragi apartment, seeing as nobody occupied it now. Ritsuko had offered to take him in once she herself was discharged from the hospital, but that day had not yet come to pass, and everybody was privately against sending him to live with his father, who appeared (once again) to be completely indifferent to the feelings of his only son.
So they kept him at NERV. And nobody dared mention the transplant.
The entire situation was a considerable, unexpected setback.
Misato took the blame for the incident onto her shoulders, despite the fact that Ritsuko continually assured her that it would not have made any difference whether or not Shinji had known that Touji was the one inside the entry plug. Shinji himself had said so, in one of his calmer moods. The Major's wounds had healed well, but she paid little attention to her health these days—there were more pressing issues on the horizon.
Asuka passed Shinji's room and knocked lightly on his door with her good hand. No response. She inched it open and saw that it was empty.
Maybe he went to the bathroom.
But when he still hadn't shown up four hours later, Misato began to worry, and the Section II agents were dispatched once again. Asuka watched them leave through her hospital window.
Hikari preferred to shop in the mornings, but today was so cold that she had held off until the afternoon. She frowned upon reaching the market. Suzuhara-kun had not come to school for a few weeks now, and she had instead been forced to distribute his lunch out to other classmates.
She examined the variously sized bags of rice, picked the largest that she could possibly carry, and enlisted the help of the clerk in loading it into her cart. Hikari jerked a plastic bag from the roll hanging over her head and placed three ripe cucumbers into it. The bag of rice began to worry her – what if she could not get it all the way home? The roads were wet and slushy, and she did not wish to be completely soaked. She plucked a bag of pre-packaged carrots from the stack and wheeled her cart toward the cashier.
"Are you sure you can handle it, miss?"
"I certainly hope so," Hikari replied, trying to keep the strain out of her voice. The bag was so large that she could barely see over the top when it was safely nestled in her arms, the other vegetables hanging in a bag from her wrist.
Just as she made her way out onto the sidewalk, a car splashed through a puddle and drenched her in muddy water. Hikari sighed helplessly and kept walking, forced to determine her location by looking out at either side instead of in front of her. Fortunately, she did not have to worry about bumping into others since few people were out due to the cold.
For that reason, she noticed someone coming in her direction on the opposite side of the road. He was tall and lanky, wearing only thin clothes, and Hikari felt a twinge of pity as she watched him make his way down the road slowly, against the wind. The pity, however, soon turned to fright as he tripped and fell facefirst into the snow, where he lay immobile.
Hikari dropped her groceries and ran across the street. She dropped to her knees next to him and shook his shoulder vigorously, while shouting, "Are you all right, sir?"
"done… terrible…"
Hikari could not make out his words, but his voice was vaguely familiar. She paused, scarcely daring to believe it. "Ikari?"
"…terrible… things…"
Where is this NERV security that Asuka always talks about? Hikari mused angrily. She tugged at Shinji's arm, but he made no effort to get up.
"Please, Shinji!" she found herself shouting. A car drove past them, the driver taking no notice of the children in the snow. "Please get up!"
His eyes fluttered open briefly. "Class Rep?"
"Yes, it's me." Hikari breathed a sigh of relief. So he's not completely delirious or frozen, but he will be soon if he stays like this! "Please get up… you can come to my house and get warm! Just don't stay in the snow like this!"
After what seemed like an eternity and much straining of Hikari's muscles, the boy got slowly to his feet. The Class Representative led him cautiously across the road over to her fallen groceries, which she picked up before continuing the journey home.
Shinji leaned on her for support. Hikari began to tell him not to do that, as she was covered in mud and would ruin his clothes, but one glance at him reminded her that he, too, was soaked. He didn't speak all the way home, and she said nothing either. The weight of the rice was forgotten.
Nozomi opened the door for them. Her eyes widened and she shouted, "I knew it! I knew it! Hikari's got a boyfriend!"
"Shut up," Hikari hissed. Shinji, however, didn't react at all, so Hikari took the opportunity to throw her groceries into her younger sister's arms and lead her classmate into the house.
"Hik—"
"Look," Hikari whispered fiercely, "I don't know what's wrong with him, but it's pretty darn obvious he needs some help. Now go put the rice away."
Nozomi, surprised at this attitude, nodded and began lugging the rice toward the kitchen. Shinji's shoes were caked with snow and his fingers were much too stiff to untie them, so Hikari got them off for him and with effort, managed to coax him up the stairs.
I'll sweep away the snow we tracked in later, she thought, but where am I going to put Shinji? Nozomi and Kodama won't think of having him in their beds—and Dad will go crazy if he finds a guy in my bed—I guess he can stay in Dad's bed for the time being, and I'll get new sheets and blankets on there tonight—
But no sooner had Hikari entered the room than she realized she had another problem on her hands, one that was much worse than deciding where he would rest. She could not allow Shinji to sleep in his wet clothes, and she—well, she was not about to redress him. Hikari compromised by finding some of her father's old clothes, handing them to him, and excusing herself out of the room.
"Who is he?" Nozomi pressed as her older sister appeared in the kitchen doorway. "And before you ask, yes I put the rice in the pantry, and yes I put the cucumbers and carrots in the refrigerator."
"He's a classmate." Hikari set some water on to boil and removed a small vial of tealeaves from an overhead cabinet. She waited for the water to heat, then steeped the tea in a ceramic cup. "Where's Kodama?"
"She went out shopping with her friends."
Typical, Hikari thought. She opened the refrigerator and wished that she had some muffins to heat up, but she hadn't thought to make any that morning. Well, she could start that now. Hikari poured out some cornmeal, broke in an egg, and carried the bowl upstairs with her, mixing as she climbed the stairs.
"Shinji?"
No answer.
Well, changing shouldn't have taken him more than ten minutes. Or maybe he's still standing there in wet clothes.
At any rate, if he started putting on dry clothes, he should be done now, so I won't have to see him… naked…
"I'm coming in, Shinji."
Hikari took a deep breath and pushed open the door.
Shinji was wearing the dry clothes, all right, but his wet clothes had been awkwardly wadded into a pile as if he had not known what to do with him. He himself was huddled on the ground, against the wall, with his knees to his chest. He was muttering unintelligibly again.
After much tugging and pleading, Shinji got to his feet and Hikari helped him into the bed.
"I've done… terrible things," he muttered thickly.
"Shh, it will be all right," she promised, pulling the covers up to his chin. He did not speak again, and she left him as he was, trusting that he would stay.
Downstairs, Nozomi asked compassionately, "How is he?"
"Confused," Hikari murmured vaguely. She set the bowl on the table and preheated the oven—I should have done that earlier, she thought, mentally chastising herself. Well, if Shinji falls asleep, there'll be plenty of time.
She made her way to the phone and dialed Asuka's number from memory.
Two rings…
Three…
Hikari's heart sank. Perhaps they were out looking for him?
Five…
She wished she knew Asuka's cell phone number, but she had never needed to contact Asuka so urgently.
Nine…
Hikari hung up. Nozomi watched her from the kitchen table, where she had finished her snack of cookies and was already pouring the batter into the pan. Her eyes followed her older sister as she searched through Shinji's soaked jacket in narrow hopes of finding his cell phone.
Nothing.
Well, I guess I'll have to wait until Asuka comes home.
"Thank you, Nozomi," she said quietly, slipping the tray into the oven. Now there was nothing to do besides wait.
Shinji awoke in the dark, still shaking from the dream that robbed him nightly of tranquil sleep. He was screaming… Touji was screaming… His father was ordering him to kill his friend… Misato was crying…
He shook his head to clear out the voices and focused instead on his current situation. He was in a warm bed, one which he did not deserve, and wearing dry clothes that he did not particularly deserve either. He could not remember why he was here, but he remembered leaving NERV. Out of anger, despair, or guilt, he did not know which. Perhaps a mixture of the three.
Shinji put both feet on the carpeted floor and slowly got to his feet. The clothes were several sizes too large for him, but kept him sufficiently warm as he opened the door to his room. There was no light in the hallway either, so he felt his way down the stairs. The railing was smooth and cool in his warm hand.
Hikari was sitting at the table reading, a steaming cup of tea in front of her. Without meaning to, Shinji sneezed, and Hikari jumped up.
"S-sorry…"
"Don't be," Hikari assured him, hastening to pour him a cup of tea. She popped two corn muffins into the microwave and leaned against the counter while she waited for them to warm. "Shinji… you look awfully red…have you got a fever?"
"I don't th-th-think—" Shinji's sentence was interrupted by a sneeze.
Hikari found a quilt to drape around his shoulders while he drank the tea and found a thermometer, instructing him to hold it under his arm for ten minutes.
"Thanks," he muttered thickly as Hikari took a seat opposite him.
"You don't need to be thanking me, Shinji," Hikari insisted. She warmed her hands around her cup. "By the way, I've called … and Asuka wasn't home. Do you know her cell phone number?"
Shinji's hand slowly began to quaver. The mug fell from his hand and sank to the table, where it continued to roll until its handle brought it to a stop, spilling its contents all over the wooden table. Hikari grabbed a towel and began wiping it up
"I've… I've done something…" he whispered, not bothering to hide his tears as they streamed unchecked down his cheeks.
"Why don't you tell me about it?" Hikari urged gently. "You'll feel better once you get it out."
"I've… I've…"
The door burst open behind them and Hikari, albeit usually calm in any situation, let out a shriek. Several men in black entered the house, followed by a weary-looking Mr. Horaki.
"Hikari…"
The agents came to Shinji's side and handcuffed him, then led him out of the house. As he was being brought through the doorway, the Third Child looked to the Class Representative with deeply troubled eyes and murmured, "Touji…"
Hikari could only mumble, "What?"
Mr. Horaki closed the door behind him and focused on his middle child. "Hikari… what's going on?"
She could only reply, "I don't know."
Author's Notes: Either three shorter chapters or two long ones left to go (I haven't quite decided yet). I'm sorry this one ended up dragging a bit – I might split the next chapter into two shorter parts to avoid having that happen again.
I fiddled a lot with this Angel attack, much more than the last one – several scenes have been rearranged and no longer occur when they do in the series, and I've completely changed others to fit the scheme of this story. I decided to cut out everything relating to the mystery behind the Marduk Institute, etc. because as important as it is in the series, it doesn't quite relate to this story. Oh, and the chemistry project—I really have no good reason for putting that in here besides the fact that I was working on some chem before I turned to this chapter (same with DeMoivre's Theorem).
Again, my apologies for any biological inaccuracies.
