Disclaimer: See Intro Page
Chapter One
Gendo Ikari, the commander of the organization called Nerv, was sitting behind his desk not really believing what he was seeing. If only this could have happened before the failed Third Impact, he probably wouldn't have had to endure the event, and neither would the pilots. Evangelion Unit 04 had been found.
The United States branch of Nerv had dug it up from a pile of rubble at their base and had alerted the pilot, the Sixth Child, of its discovery. Apparently they were both on their way to Tokyo-03 now. The next thing to do was tell the pilots who were already here.
Somewhere On The Pacific Ocean . . .
Tyler, Tai for short, Acheson looked out the window at the ship that was carrying the monstrous creation that he had been trained to pilot. He hadn't needed much training, much to everyone's surprise at Nerv, but he had done it with an ease that they had been impressed by. Thanks to other training he had been able to pull it off though, but he wasn't about to tell them that.
Another thing that he had been accustomed to was secrecy. His parents knew about him along with his younger sisters for piloting Eva Unit 04, but there were things that even they didn't know. Following some of the most troublesome things in the orders that he had been given was easy, yet they were troubling in a way. In his hometown he had to keep everything a secret, but in Tokyo-03, where he'd be living from now on, everyone would know about him being a pilot.
After Third Impact, he had been depressed because he had not been able to stop it from occurring. When Unit 0 was uncovered though, his spirits were renewed and he was ordered to Tokyo-03 to train with the other pilots.
Apparently, according to the reports that he had received on his laptop computer, only three Evas were there. Unit 01 had destroyed unit 04 after Angel infect it. The pilot of Unit 01 had not wanted to attack it because of it still housing a pilot, but due to the 'dummy plug' system, of which he hated, the task was done.
Now sitting back in the chair with the laptop on the small table before him, he closed his eyes for a moment. In the past two years he had completely sacrificed his time to Eva, but he had also sacrificed it to something else as well. This was something that he had brought along with him because he wasn't about to leave it behind, and it was the only thing that no one knew about besides him and a few other people. Those people, however, were either dead or could no longer remember it, or him for that fact.
It would be a few more hours before he could get the dormant Eva to stand on its feet for the first time in over three months. For now, all he could do was relax.
"Tai," came a small voice.
Opening his eyes again, he looked over to the side to find a small child there in the shadows of the night. The darkened room couldn't keep him from identifying who it was though. "Jen, what are you doing up?"
"I was scared," she said. "I had another dream about those monsters again. Could you scare them away with Unit 04?"
He chuckled at his youngest sister's request. She had been a pain in the rear for most of the time that she had been near him in the last few years, but now she was just a comic relief for him. "No, Unit 04 already scared them away," he said, smiling. "Even though she is dormant right now physically, she is still protecting you."
"Thanks," she said. "Will you tell her I said so?"
"Yes," he said, ruffling her hair a little. "Now, go back to bed."
"Can I stay here with you?"
He looked around the room to discover a closet that was market 'blankets.' "Only if you can find a blanket in the closet over there."
The young child smiled at that and then she headed over to get it. Before long, she had curled up in the booth with him and fallen asleep.
"Now that she's asleep I can get my work done," he said as he accessed the laptop. He killed windows on his screen and activated a secondary Operating System that he soon found himself last in. Report after report scrolled by on the screen and he read through it for over an hour. Now he knew everything he needed to know about Tokyo-03, and the other Eva pilots.
"Why does he have to come here?" whined Asuka Langley Soryu as she sat down at the table to await supper.
"Because Nerv needs another pilot here," Shinji Ikari answered, as he continued to prepare the meal.
"BAKA! I wasn't asking you!" Asuka yelled at him, then slammed her elbows down on the table muttering a few choice curses in German.
Shinji looked around the room to find that they were the only two people in the apartment, and then shrugged as he declared in his mind that the red head was in another temper tantrum. He had been through a lot during the events of Third Impact, but he had changed his personality a lot as well. No longer was he trying to shut the world out completely and he was trying to get Asuka to notice him as more than a friend, but she was so angry all the time that it never worked. Nervousness, as all males have, about asking a girl out on a date was present in his mind all the time around her.
"He will arrive this evening, I think," Shinji said, as he placed the meal on the table in front of her. It was a simple meal this afternoon, but it was enough to silence the German girl's tantrum for at least an hour.
"Oh no, not another guy."
"What's wrong with that?" he asked, taking a clump of rice from his bowl with a pair of chopsticks.
"You, that stooge Toji, and now another baka from the States? Why me?"
Shinji grinned an evil grin and folded his hands in front of his face. "Because I say so." Asuka looked up at him and shivered noticeably because it made her think of only one man, Shinji's father Gendo. Shinji laughed.
"That was not funny," she said as she shook the image from her mind. "We're going to be late if we don't hurry up to get to headquarters."
The boy across from her unfolded his hands and resumed the eating of his meal. "My father issued orders that the synchronization tests will be suspended until the new pilot arrives."
Asuka sighed as she finished off her rice and then she got up form the table to walk into the living room. "Fine then, baka-Shinji. Until we have to leave I will be watching TV, and I don't want to be interrupted!"
"Of course," Shinji mumbled.
"Wark! Wark!" came the sound of PenPen as he walked out of his freezer. He looked at Shinji and then walked over to the table where he stood there, waiting.
"You want a beer, don't you?" Shinji asked.
"Wark!" the warm-water penguin said in agreement.
After getting the beer for PenPen, he walked back down to his room, ignoring the program that Asuka had decided to watch, and found his S-DAT. Once the soft classical music was playing, effectively drowning out the TV, he closed his eyes to have a nap before he had to go to Rei's.
Rei Ayanami emerged from the shower in her apartment; the last time that she would ever be here would be tonight. Her things were all packed to be moved to Misato's apartment and they would be moved when Shinji came by to help her in an hour. They had become good friends, even though he now knew how she had come into existence. She resented the fact that she was a clone, although she never said it or showed it to anyone. It irritated her, but she had learned to live with it in hopes that her live could be turned around now that she was fully human. Her Angel side had died with the failure of Third Impact, and now she was going to finally be with others on a 24-hour basis.
She had just finished putting her clothes on when the doorbell rang. Opening the door, she discovered that Shinji was there waiting.
"Hi," he said, greeting her. "I thought I'd come by early. Mount Asuka blew when PenPen interrupted her show."
"Pilot Soryu is unhappy?" she asked, a neutral tone to her voice.
"Yes," he said, stepping inside and closing the door behind him as she walked back into her apartment. "Thankfully, I'm not the target of her anger this afternoon."
"I have been told that Pilot Acheson will arrive this evening," she said. "Do you know him?"
"No," Shinji said, sitting down on Rei's bed beside her. "There isn't much known about him other than the fact that he has two sisters and both his sisters coming here with him."
"They will be staying in Tokyo-03 as well?"
"No, the file says that they are just with him for the trip."
Rei looked out the window for a moment as she processed the information. "That will be difficult for him."
He looked around the room to see the very few boxes that had been placed against the wall and he sighed inwardly. Rei was a very anti-social young woman, much like himself in that way, but he at least talked to people. He considered her his sister because she looked so much like his mother and the information that his father had given the two of them confirmed that fact. Clone or not, she was still a human being to him.
"I wonder what he will be like," Rei though out loud.
Shinji blinked as he recalled what Kensuke had said Tai's file had contained. "He's not a very sociable person in public, but he is very outgoing and considerate of others. He has a college degree in psychology and is a computer technician."
Rei turned back to him, a puzzled look plastered across her face. "How do you know this, Ikari-kun?"
He smiled. "I have my ways," he said, and then focused his attention on the boxes again. "Why don't we get you moved out of here early, since I'm already here, and then we can get something to eat before we have to report to headquarters."
"A logical conclusion, Shinji-kun."
Misato Katsuragi walked into Commander Ikari's office after he had summoned her there. She was not in a good mood, and that had nothing to do with anything that had been happening prior to her being summoned here. It was the fact that she had been summoned that made her mood foul.
"Major," Ikari greeted as she walked into the room. "We have things to discuss."
The room was dark and she was reminded of the old days where she would be in here with him being interrogated for information by the old fool. "What is it that you wish to discuss?" she asked, politely.
"I wish to ask you if there is any way in which you could take in another child?"
The Major just about fell out of her chair. "Another child? Commander, I am already housing three children in my apartment," she protested. "How am I supposed to accommodate yet another?"
"Arrangements have been made so that you will no longer be paying the rent there at your apartment," Gendo stated. "The building has been purchased by Nerv and the apartment beside yours will now become an extension of your own."
This surprised her for a moment. Commander Ikari was being generous and he was even using Nerv to help him in this endeavour. "Thank you, Commander," she said, not letting her surprise show. "When will this take place?"
"The renovation team will complete their work before you arrive home this evening," he answered her, a rare smile forming on his face. "It's all under the supervision of Fuyutsuki."
Kouzou Fuyutsuki groaned as he heard his name and new mission mentioned. Katsuragi had wondered if he was in the room or not, and this confirmed it.
"Also, Asuka and Shinji are to meet the Sixth Child when he arrives."
"Yes, sir," she answered.
"Dismissed."
"What? Alright, but Asuka is not going to like it."
Rei watched as Shinji hung up the phone and she had a curious look on her face. Placing the last box down in his room, where she would be staying for the time being, she came back out into the hallway. "Who was that, Ikari-kun?"
"Please, now that you're going to be living here, its just Shinji, sis," he said. That earned him a smile and a nod. "Asuka and I have to go and meet the new pilot."
"WHAT!" Asuka screamed from the couch. "I'm not going to meet that baka! Do you hear me, baka-Shinji!"
"Yes, Asuka," he said, sarcastically. "Then you can deal with Commander Ikari after he figures out that you have disobeyed his orders, again."
There was a bit of silence for a moment before the cursing in German began. Rei giggled and Shinji rolled his eyes. "Fine!" Asuka yelled. She turned off the TV and then they heard the sound of her door opening and slamming shut as she entered it.
"I can see why you said that you wanted out of here," Rei said as she sat down with Shinji at the table. "When do we leave?"
"In about a half-hour," he said. "I think we'll have a few problems with Asuka on the way."
The old oil tanker began to slow as the landmass in front of them began to take on clearer characteristics. The buildings that they could see were mostly underwater, and the captain of the ship was trying to order them through it. It was hopeless to get much farther and they would soon have to abandon it so that they could get to shore.
Tai now stood above the main tank where Unit 04 was being housed. It lay dormant in there, kneeled as he had left it when he walked it onto the ship. He had repainted the red and black unit a week ago and he knew that his new commanding officer would need to see it in action soon.
He watched as the entry plug was lowered into the Eva's back and then he turned around to head off the catwalk toward his quarters. Once there he would be able to find his plug suit and put it on so that he could get his Eva off the ship. The waters here were deep enough to only slow him down a little and, thanks to his Eva's S2 engine, he would be able to run without the need of a power cable. This gave him a lot more freedom than the prototype unit, test unit, and the only surviving production unit that were already stationed in Tokyo-03.
Once he had put his plug suit on, he moved back out into the corridor, throwing a duffle bag over his shoulder with his belongings in it. This he gave to a Lieutenant who had been assigned to assist him and his family during the trip over. "See that that gets in the pack," he said.
"Yes, sir," the Lieutenant said, saluting and then running down the corridor toward where the 'raft' was being prepared.
The raft was something that they had had to think of quickly when he refused to let his Eva be flown overseas. On it would be his family and his belongings and he would be underwater piloting his Eva until they reached shore. Once there, he would simply hoist it over his Eva's shoulder and then carry it the rest of the way.
"You ready for this?" Jodi asked, surprising him only a little.
"Ready as I'll ever be, sis," he said, calmly enough to irritate his sister.
"You know that Jen wants to go with you?"
"Yes, I do," he said, sighing. "If I can get her to make sure that she's quiet I can allow it."
"Won't Nerv be angry?"
"I have read over the Commander's profile in Nerv's database," he answered, laughing evilly low enough not to make it audible to anyone but her. "I can't wait to punch some holes in his attitude."
"Keep it up, you pest, and you're going to wind up arrested," she said, laughing at his comment. "Yet, you always seem to succeed anyway."
"Sir!" came a yell from down the corridor. Tai turned to see the Lieutenant coming back up the corridor toward them. "We have just received word that Eva Units 00, 01, and 02 will meet you at the designated landing coordinates."
Shaking his head and looking at the deck he sighed. "Great, the welcoming committee." He turned to the Lieutenant. "Have my Eva prepared for combat, and have plans changed so that a helicopter will take them to the city."
"Sir?"
"Just do it."
"Aye, sir."
As the Lieutenant again ran down the corridor, Jodi turned to her brother with a confused expression. "What are you planning?"
"I plan to get my 'show-and-tell' session over with before I have to go through the tests this evening," he said. "If they're coming out with three Evas to meet me outside the city lines, then I'm going to make it worth their while."
"You are a sadistic pest, you know that?"
"That's why they call me the best pest back home."
"Good luck," she said and then left him in the corridor.
"Where is he?" Asuka asked as she scanned the area. "I thought he was supposed to be here by now."
"Patience Asuka," said Shinji as a video screen, showing his face, appeared in her line of vision. "He will get here when he gets here."
A helicopter flew overheard and then something could be seen moving out of the water. The unmistakeable head of an Eva was beginning to emerge form the ocean and they all looked on as it ascended from the depths.
A new video window popped up and she could see Rei this time. "There is something wrong here."
"Shut up, Wondergirl!" she yelled.
No sooner had she said that, an energy blast erupted out of the water and slammed into Unit 01. Shinji had barely had enough time to put up his AT field before it could do any damage. "Asuka! What the heck is going on!"
"Baka! Can't you see that he fired on us?" she yelled as she gave him a fierce look over the video comm link. "Use your progressive knives, his Eva may have gone berserk."
This was the new Asuka talking, still in command of everything that she could take command in, but thinking clearly before acting. Her Eva reached back to where the knife was stored and removed it before activating it. All three Evas stood there, knives in a defensive position, waiting for the next move.
It came too soon. The Eva in the water suddenly vanished from site as it ducked down under the water. Nothing moved in the area that they were watching now, and there was nothing that they could do but wait.
"Where did it go?"
"Asuka, what's going on out there?" came Misato's voice over the comm link. There was a video window now displaying her face.
"The Eva fired on baka-Shinji," she said. "It's disappeared now."
"Return to the city, now!" the Major yelled. "You need weapons to fight this!"
Before anyone could react, the red and black Eva burst from the ground behind them and began attacking them with its arms and legs in martial arts manoeuvres. The comm link with Nerv HQ was severed when it hit Unit 02 with a well-placed spin kick to the head.
Asuka was now extremely angry and she lashed out with her knife at the target, but it was too quick for her and back flipped out of the way. Looking down at the video window that displayed Shinji's face, the second and third child nodded and began a synchronized attack.
With everything that they had, they jumped into the air and prepared to come down on their attacker with their feet. The Eva turned from its position and then kneeled down as if to take the attack. Asuka smiled and prepared to pummel the berserker to a pulp, but that smile was soon wiped off her face.
Unit 04 reached up and grabbed the ankles of Units 01 and 02 to then swing them with their own speed and slam them into the ground. Rei watched from her position as the dust rose into the air and then she took action. Grabbing the discarded energy rifle that Unit 04 had dropped, she aimed at its head and squeezed off a round. That was when its own AT field became apparent.
Asuka was down, along with Shinji and they were both trying to get their Evas to respond to their commands, but Unit 04 was holding them down. This is when Asuka finally realized that this thing had no power cable and it must be running with an S2 engine.
Yet another video window popped up on her screen and it showed something that she wasn't ready to see. It showed the inside of an entry plug and a young face, an extremely young face.
"How do you like being beaten by a seven year old? Nah!" the little girl on the screen said, sticking out her tongue.
"Why you little! Asuka screamed, and then the girl was removed from the screen to show a young man around their age in a plug suit that matched that of the little girl and the attacking Eva.
"I apologize for her comments everyone," the young man addressed the three pilots. "I'm Tai Acheson, pilot of Evangelion Unit 04." There was a short pause, as he must have glanced at Asuka's face, as it turned crimson with anger. "I must say that you all can put up one heck of a fight."
Asuka reached up with her Eva's arm and dug its fingers into the side of Unit 04 in utter rage, but that only served in killing the comm link after her getting satisfaction out of hearing him gasp in pain. No one insulted the great Asuka Langley Soryu and got away with it without a scratch. First his Eva, and then she would go after him personally.
Back at Nerv HQ, Tai powered down his Eva and then ejected his entry plug. Looking at the sleeping form of his youngest sister he decided that he would need to be extra careful to exit the entry plug so that he would not wake her. It was a habit of hers to fall asleep no matter what she was doing with him around, and on the walk back to the city she had done just that.
"Figures," he said as he opened the hatch. "You would make me carry you out now wouldn't you?"
Stepping out of the entry plug he placed his feet onto the catwalk and proceeded toward where he saw a door opening. In the doorway stood a young woman about his age that he had seen when he was battling the other Evas, and he recognized her as the Second Child, a German girl named Asuka. By the look that was plastered across her face, she was not happy.
Waking Jen he looked down at his sister as lowers her to the floor. "Find a shady spot, this may turn ugly." As soon as she had ran back to where he got out of the entry plug, he turned back to face the woman in the red plug suit.
"You! How could you attack me like that!" Asuka yelled. "I ought to rip you apart with my bare hands!"
He waited until she was right up in his face and then he looked at her as calmly as possible. "Try."
The German girl hauled back her fist and threw one good punch straight at his forehead, which rewarded her only with the rapid moving of his head backwards under the blow. Other than that, he still stood there unfazed by her attack.
"Asuka!" came the voice of Shinji Ikari, the Third Child, as he entered the cage. "Don't to it!"
"Shut up, baka-Shinji!" Asuka yelled and then turned back to face her opponent. "A duel, now."
"Very well," Tai said, and then assumed a fighting stance that Asuka thought she saw a way through and attempted it. She was rewarded with him grabbing her leg and spinning her around so that she fell face first into the steel catwalk.
"Had enough?" he asked, releasing her and leaning against Unit 04's chest armor. "I don't want to hurt you."
"Asuka!" Shinji tried again.
"I told you to shut up!" she yelled, getting back onto her feet. "You'll pay for that."
Throwing a series of punches and kicks she managed to break down the new pilot's defences and was working on going for the final blow. Before she could though, he suddenly knelt down very quickly and spun his leg out under her feet so that she again landed hard on the steel catwalk. Fortunately, she saw that he was not getting up and she took this as his defeat.
Standing, Asuka leaned over the fallen form of the new pilot and was about to stomp on him when he reached up, grabbed her ankle, and threw her over the rail onto his Eva. She landed hard on the armor and the hand moved, without a pilot inside, to catch her.
"Next time, we duel in a more appropriate setting," Tai said, offering his hand to her so that he could help her climb back up. Instead, she jumped and pulled herself up, determined to do it on her own. "Fine, be that way. Come along Jen, I have a meeting with the Commander." His sister came out from behind the Eva and ran to catch up with him as he passed Shinji. "Good luck," Tai muttered to him and then left the room.
"Thanks," Shinji said, and then turned back to see Asuka storming toward him.
"What were you doing back here! You should have helped me!" she yelled, pouting a bit.
"You told me to shut up," he said, with a smile on his face. "I was back here following orders."
She didn't like that and pushed him aside in response to then walk out of the room and leave him standing there. One of these days, he thought as he followed farther behind her, she's going to find herself in a fight she can't survive if she keeps attacking people.
Rei entered the briefing room and saw that she was not the first to arrive. Commander Ikari, Commander Katsuragi, and Doctor Akagi were present along with the new pilot who was still in his plug suit. She had changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but since he had not changed here at headquarters she could understand why he was still in his plug suit.
Asuka came barging in a moment later, followed by Shinji and they both sat down beside her and the newcomer. Asuka didn't seem pleased to be seated beside Tai, but she would have to hold her temper in the room with Commander Ikari there.
"Now that everyone is here, we can begin," Commander Ikari said from behind his usual pose, hands clasped in front of his face so that all you could see of him was his glinting glasses and the top of his head. "First of all, that was an impressive show of talents out there, Mr. Acheson."
"Thank you commander," Tai said as he took in his surroundings.
"Disobey orders like that again and I will have you arrested," Ikari said, coldly. "Your first sync test will be immediately following this meeting, then you will proceed with Major Katsuragi," he indicated the Major with a show of his hand, "to her home where you will be staying from here on in."
The Major, Tai noted, was an older woman but was still very attractive. He pushed those thoughts aside though and focused on the meeting. "I am still hoping that the offer to fly my family back home is still open."
"Of course," Ikari said. "They will be taking my private jet back to the States." Tai and Ikari heard an audible gasp from everyone around the room, but Rei was the only other not to utter it. "Onto business, I assume you have your originally sync test results and the results from there till yesterday."
"Yes, sir," he said. "They should be entered into your database as soon as my doctor knows that I have arrived."
"I was already talking with him," Doctor Akagi spoke up for the first time. "I will be your doctor from now on. I'm Doctor Ritsuko Akagi."
"Nice to meet you Doc," Tai said, acknowledging her with a nod of his head. "You will also be looking after Unit 04 from now on I assume?"
"Yes," she said. "And, don't worry, it's in good hands."
"I'm sure it is."
The rest of the meeting consisted of mindless techno-babble about what was happening here in the last few weeks and Tai was not interested in it. There were times when he could have listened and enjoyed hearing about it just to find out what was going on, but he had conducted enough of such briefings in the past that it had become boring.
One thing that he did pay attention to was the fact that they were changing their sensor systems to detect high-powered weapons. This captured his attention until the topic was put aside. If he were caught with something as powerful as he had, he would not be able to stay around for very long. Being able to sneak it in to the beach was one thing, getting it back was another.
Deciding to head out once he was settled in and everyone was asleep he settled down a bit and was back into a state of boredom. Thinking about his family going back to the States was something that was on his mind a lot in the past few weeks, and here it weighed heavily on him. They would only be here a few more hours and here he was, sitting in a briefing room listening to stuff that was completely useless to him.
Feeling someone looking at him, he looked to his right to find the Second Child glaring at him. Her red hair was flowing around her face, amplifying the stare that she was giving him with her blue eyes. Those eyes he would have sworn were burrowing into his very soul if he didn't know any better. This German girl was as normal as the other two pilots in the room.
Getting annoyed he flashed his Iris displays on-line for an instant before returning them to their stand-by mode. This got a reaction of her jumping in her seat and then looking away to whisper to Shinji. He chuckled to himself and then focused back on his thoughts.
The meeting had been over for about an hour when he finally got to see his family since he had left the ship. His mother was about ready to break down and his father was standing there very proud of him and what he was doing. Even though they would leave shortly after this, he was confident that he would be able to get along here without them.
"Do you know where you're staying yet?" his mother asked.
"With Major Katsuragi, one of the command staff personnel," he replied. "And the other pilots."
"The other pilots eh?" Jodi said. "I hear there's a red head there who's very attractive."
Tai caught the hint of what his sister was implying and he scowled at her. "I don't think that she likes me very much," he told her, flatly. "All the kicks and punches that girl threw at me never left a scratch."
His mother gasped. "You didn't hit her, did you?"
"No mom," he said. "Protocol won't allow me to punch her outright. But I did block and she face planted herself into a steel catwalk."
"You should have saw him!" Jen said, a big smile on his face. "Tai beat her without striking out even once!"
Tai looked down at his youngest sister and smiled evilly. "Want to fight me some day eh? You should know that I won't use the same techniques twice."
That's when a he was kicked from behind in the back, sending him flying toward the door he was standing near. His head impacted on the wall and he turned around as he slid down to sit on the floor. When his vision cleared enough, he saw his two sisters fighting to control their laughter and Asuka standing there with her arms akimbo.
"Baka," Asuka hissed, and then walked away toward where the sync tests would be conducted.
"That's gotta hurt," Jodi said, holding back a laugh.
Getting back up off the floor, Tai gave her a harsh look. "Hardy har har," he said, sarcastically. "I guess this means I have to get going. There's a private jet waiting for you on the runway. Section Two will be taking you there when you report to the surface."
"I'll take them, sir."
"Thanks, Lieutenant," Tai said, shaking his hand. "Good luck to all of you, I'll see you when I can."
"Take care of yourself, son," his father said and then the group walked off toward the elevators that would take them to the surface level of Nerv headquarters.
As he watched them walk off and out of his immediate life he wondered what life would be like without them just a room away from him. There were always times when he thought that he didn't need them, but the Eva project was going to take a lot out of him, along with whatever else happened here. He was also sensing something, something he couldn't quite put his finger on but knew that his counselling degree had something to do with it.
In college, he had been ridiculed for being so young, but when the other students saw what he was capable of they had backed off. Never having any friends there he had kept to himself, but one professor had befriended him and she would later become one of his most trusted friends there.
Looking down at the deck he found the duffle bag that his mother had brought with her for him. It contained his clothes and his laptop computer along with whatever else he needed for one night. The rest would be delivered to him tomorrow once he had gotten his arrangements made. Slinging it over his shoulder he made his way to the pilot locker room and from there he would go to the test area. The night was young, and it was sure to be one heck of a ride.
Sitting down on a bench in the locker room, Shinji began to get changed. First, he unseals his plug suit and removes it. Once that was done it didn't take him long to put it into his locker and put his normal clothes back on.
"Baka-Shinji! You slowpoke! Get out here!" came the voice of Asuka thorough the door.
"Does she always call you that?" Tai asked, as he came inside trying to compensate for minor hearing loss due to being right beside her when she yelled.
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Then I'll have to get some ear plugs while I'm living with you people," he said, laughing.
"I heard that!" Asuka yelled. "You're going to get one heck of a pounding when we get back tonight, Sixth!"
"Whatever Asuka! Whatever!" Tai taunted.
They could hear Asuka fuming from outside and then storming down the hallway. "You shouldn't have done that," Shinji said. "She'll be on your case for as long as you live if you keep that act up."
"Who's acting?" Tai asked, putting a smile on his face that looked mischievous. "Everyone called me Typest when I was back home, this is just my nature."
"A nature that will get you killed," Shinji said, walking out.
"A fight?" Rei asked, greeting him at the door. "Should I sell tickets?"
"Rei!" Shinji exclaimed. "Please don't scare me like that!"
Without another word, Tai got changed and then went to the elevators to go to his new home. Major Katsuragi was nice to allow him to stay in her home, but he felt bad about imposing.
Asuka, Rei, and Shinji were all staring as Tai got out of the front seat of Misato's car. They had all been expecting that he would wobble like a drunk out of the car, but instead he was standing firm on his feet in the parking lot. It was weird, Misato had drove like a maniac the entire way here, just like she did all the time, and they had all been worried about him loosing his lunch over it. Instead, he had ate a sandwich the entire way there and had a cup of coffee without ever losing a single drop!
"What?" he asked, looking back at the three of them in the back seat. "Are you guys okay?"
Everyone then snapped out of their stupor and got out of the car. "Finally, someone who doesn't complain about my driving," Misato said, leading them into the apartment building. "You three should lighten up."
Looking around, taking in his surroundings, Tai decided that this place really wasn't so bad. The only thing that he was worried about was being able to get away from here long enough to call upon his vehicle. There would be no chance in the world that he would be able to get a signal out from here without it being detected. Even the subspace bands had been detected by Nerv back home.
Sighing, he realized that he was just never in a position where he could be free from the government, of any country. As long as he existed and his technology existed along side him, he would be pursued every time that he tried to use it.
"Is there something wrong Sixth?" Asuka asked, glaring at him because he hadn't heard a word she had said. She was, again, up in his face.
A smirk was displayed on his face then. "If you wanted a kiss, you could have asked."
Shinji broke out in laughter, along with the other two occupants of the apartment they had just walked into. Asuka, again, turned crimson red in the face with both anger and embarrassment. She then grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the living room that Nerv personnel had reconstructed after gutting the place. It was a lot bigger and she had seen the plans for it. Knowing it would be big enough for a fight she threw him into the center of it.
"Re-mach, now!" she bellowed.
Rei, Shinji, and Misato all stood along the back wall to watch Asuka kick the crud out of Tai. Nervous, he got into a defensive stance and prepared for the onslaught that he knew this young woman was capable of. "Why do you want to do this again? I already beat you once today." He really didn't want to fight, he wanted some sleep and before he could get that he would have to get his car out of the ocean.
"You beat me only because you were cheating!" she proclaimed. "Now, you will fight me as an equal."
"Alright, you asked for it."
With a quick movement, he jumped into the air and landed a kick to Asuka's stomach, sending her to the ground and into the far wall beside Rei. Rei never flinched and Asuka stood back up as soon as she caught her breath. "What was that?" she asked, frustrated.
"That was one of my least powerful attacks," Tai answered. "Please don't make me fight anymore."
"You will fight!"
Lashing out with a series of punches that she had used earlier she landed only one, to his shoulder. He stood there, unaffected by the blow and then she kicked at his legs, only to have it blocked when he brought his own leg up and she impacted dead center between his ankle and knee. There was an audible 'crack' and both pilots were then back in a fighting stance.
Dropping to his knee, Tai slashed at her with a Russian leg sweep and took her off her feet. He then held her down with his leg across her stomach and looked into her eyes. Not seeing fear, he decided that there was no point in continuing.
"Shinji, get us both a glass of water please," he said, trying to get his breath. As Shinji walked off, he released Asuka only a little bit. "You will not try attacking again. You're a good fighter, but there is no point in continuing this. We are needed here and if we are injured we will be unable to pilot our Evas." Shinji was then back with the water and he gave one to Tai who drank it down quickly. "Understand?"
"Yes," Asuka grumbled, clearly unhappy. Tai let her up and then he walked off with Misato toward his room. "I'll get you back for this humiliation."
Unpacking what little he had with him at this time, Tai took about five minutes to put his clothing in the drawers of the dresser. Setting up his laptop on the floor next to the futon he began to call up the system schematics for his Eva and study it more clearly before more tests tomorrow.
School here would be a little rough for anyone coming from the states who didn't know how to speak Japanese or read the writing. Tai thanked his technology for being able to translate it for him and he knew that without it he would be just as confused as his parents were without the UT units he'd given them. The Universal Translators had been programmed to translate any language on the planet, until a new one was discovered or created that is.
Signing as he pulled up the schematics he then rolled over onto the futon and put his ear to the wooden floor on the other side. He couldn't hear anything, save for the noise that the TV was making and he decided that it would be best if he just caught an hour or two of sleep before slipping out.
Rolling back onto his other side he called up some music on his laptop, some soft Japanese music that he had downloaded months ago, and closed his eyes after setting an alarm.
Misato sat in the kitchen as she heard the two children bickering in the other room and Rei came out of the bathroom to join her. The First Child was silent, nothing really prompted her to say anything while she was around people unless they asked her a question or were speaking directly with her. Even then, she didn't speak much.
Chugging back her third beer of the evening, Misato decided it was time to go to bed and slipped down to her room after saying good night to Rei. The apartment had changed a lot and she was happy that her room was now a lot bigger, and was sure that the children would like it as well.
Rei sat in one of the kitchen chairs and stared out the window at the full moon outside. I wonder what it is about him that makes him capture my eye like that, she wondered, looking down the hallway at the only door that had someone behind it other than Misato's room. I hope I can figure this out. With that, she got up and joined her fellow pilots, now her fellow roommates, and watched the movie they had put on with them.
The apartment was dark, save for the light that the TV still bathed the room in. Tai stepped down the hallway as quietly as he could so as not to wake the three sleeping forms on the living room floor. They looked peaceful, but if they were to wake up and find him sneaking out he would not be able to complete his mission.
Getting to the kitchen, he saw that PenPen's fridge was wide open and he stayed against the wall in a cloaking field to wait to see what was happening. After a few seconds the warm water penguin appeared out of the bathroom and waddled over to the fridge that was his room.
Once the small creature was inside the fridge and out of the way, Tai proceeded to the door and realized that he had left his key card on his dresser. He smacked himself mentally for his stupidity and then just activated another few systems that the technology in his body allowed him to use. Without another incident, he walked up to the door and then disappeared through its steal structure.
"Wark?" PenPen asked, confused as he opened his fridge. The small penguin had sensed someone in the kitchen, but he shrugged it off and grabbed a beer from the fridge to then retreat back to his own fridge for the night.