Chapter 2

Ryuji Sako frowned heavily at the monitor screen, which was refusing to download his evidence file for his latest case onto the hard drive for the ninth time that evening. He cursed under his breath and exited the program and rebooted the computer. The computer mainframe for Precinct 22 had always been operating below average, but in the past few weeks employees had been reporting more problems than usual. And now, almost two weeks later, the guys from the information technology office still hadn't sent word of any progress. At this point, Ryuji had serious doubts that an information technology branch even existed. An exasperated grunt escaped his lips as he leaned back in his chair, his eyes wandering over to the picture of his family that sat in the back of his cubicle, barely visible over the piles of papers and pictures and profiles that were scattered in disorganized stacks all over his desk. It was taken just after his son's first communion in front of the church, his wife Kika smiling back at him in a beautiful white summer dress as she clung to her son Takeshi's shoulders, who held a vocation card of Saint Francis Xavier proudly in the air. Ryuji's heart sank into his stomach as he realized that night marked his third month on the detective night shift, which was the worst shift that anyone who had a family could get. Afternoon picnics after school and family dinners were now but a distant memory with no end in sight. He sighed and leaned forward in his seat as the computer started to boot up, and then there was a knock on the side of his cubicle.

"It's open."

Ryuji's boss, Lieutenant Nobuo Tanaka, poked his head into the cubicle. He was taller than usual for a Japanese with broad shoulders and an unshaven chin. Like most bosses who oversaw the night watch, he was more of a friend than a superior. "Hey, Sako. Are you busy?" Ryuji shook his head, still facing the computer. "I would be if the damn computers worked like they were supposed to. I've been trying to download the evidence file for the Hidetada case for the past hour."

Tanaka frowned, cocking his head sideways as he entered the cubicle and leaned over Ryuji's shoulder. "Have you tried rebooting the computer?"

Ryuji nodded. "This was the tenth time."

"Then call the Info Techs. They should know what to do."

"The Info Techs get paid to sit on their asses and play video games, Nobuo. Everyone knows that."

Tanaka shrugged. "I don't know what else to tell you, Ryuji."

"You could tell me I'm off of the night shift effective immediately."

Tanaka laughed. "Yeah, and then I'll tell you that you've been promoted to Chief of Police."

"No, just tell me that I'm off of night duty and I'll be fine."

"Look, Detective," said Tanaka, resting his hand on his friend's shoulder. He always started a sentence off with 'Detective' whenever he was about to say something inspirational. Or try to, at least. "I know night duty sucks, but you've got to hang in there with me. Think about how I feel. I've been doing this for going on two years."

"You don't have a wife and son, Nobuo." Ryuji grunted, turning his head.

"Touche." Tanaka smiled, and patted Ryuji's shoulder before plopping a manila folder on his desk. "You're off the Hidetada case."

"What?" Ryuji whirled around in his chair, staring daggers at the lieutenant. "I've been working that case for going on a month, Nobuo!"

"Oromi's got it now."

Ryuji's mouth hung open. "The new kid!"

"The new kid."

"What for?"

"Because you're the only Catholic Christian in Japan, that's why." Tanaka said, smiling. He liked to poke fun at Ryuji's religion.

"There's over ten thousand of us, thank you very much," Ryuji countered, picking up the file. "Mind telling me what this is?"

"Your new case."

"Gee," Ryuji muttered. "Screw you very much."

"You're welcome."

Ryuji opened the envelope to see a large picture of a stony faced man attached to a profile. He was wearing orange-shaded glasses. "Who's this?"

"That-" Tanaka explained, leaning forward to tap the photo on the folder. "is Gendo Ikari."

Ryuji paused for a moment. "Wait. That name rings a bell."

"It should." Tanaka smiled. "He's the Commander of NERV."

Ryuji's brows furrowed. "You mean the organization that manages those giant robots to fight the giant aliens?"

"If you mean the organization that manages Evangelion to fight the Angels, then yes."

Ryuji turned back to the file, and began flipping through the pages. "What's the case?"

"Just a missing person's report for the time being."

"How long since he's been missing?"

"It was called in about three and a half hours ago. The woman I spoke to, Dr. Akagi I think, said that he had been missing for about thirty minutes prior to her calling."

"Only thirty minutes?"

"She said that he adheres to a rigid schedule."

"I'll bet."

"Her number is in the folder. I had Aya put together all we had on the guy, which isn't much. All the contacts for NERV are in there, though."

Ryuji nodded, closing the folder and turning back to Tanaka. "I guess my next question is, why hasn't this been picked up by the Feds, or at least the provincial authorities? Handling cases for government officials isn't usually passed down to us, unless-"

"They don't want this information to get up that high," Tanaka finished.

Ryuji shook his head. "What the hell for?"

Tanaka shrugged. "Beats me. All I know is that Dr. Akagi and the staff over at NERV is in our direct chain of command, so I didn't ask too many questions."

"I don't know about this, Tanaka," Ryuji said. "I mean, what do we tell Province on Thursday when they ask for our weekly case reports?"

"They're hoping it won't take that long."

"You mean NERV?"

"Yes."

Ryuji sighed, pinching his temples with his fingers. "So I guess I'm working overtime?"

"If you crack this one, I'll recommend you get switched to the day shift." Tanaka said, leaning against the feeble frame of the cubicle.

"Famous last words, huh?" Ryuji snorted.

"Not if you think positively."

"I'll keep that in mind, Mister Rogers," Ryuji said, turning back to his desk.

"Keep me posted if you find anything," Tanaka said. "By the way, how's Kika?"

Ryuji turned, a small smile forming on his face. "She's fine. Takeshi got his report card the other day. Straight A's."

"You must be proud."

"Very."

"That's great," Tanaka said, turning to leave. "Say hello for me."

"I will." Ryuji said.

When Tanaka left, Ryuji picked up the phone, which connected automatically to the station's switchboard. He flipped open the folder and scanned the numbers page for NERV's main office. The voice of a young female piped up on the line. "Good morning, Detective. What can I do for you?"

"Hi, Ayane." Ryuji said, his eyed glued to the file. "I was wondering if you could connect me at this number…"