Disclaimer
The series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, from which this work of fiction is based, is owned by GAINAX. Characters presented in this document that come directly from the series are also owned by GAINAX. "Lady Pheaura" owns Madison Timlitt. I own all other original characters.

Evangelion: Primum Revelation
Chapter 14: Grinding Fever
Written by T.S. a.k.a. "Kain Tempest"
German Translations by "Steve Vader"

Tristan flinched at the light knocking at the door of his office. Lifting his head from his desk, he glanced around the room and to the floor piled with papers from his tantrum. With a sigh, he got up out of his office chair and went to the door and pulled the latch open, letting a crack of light come into the darkened room.

"Yeah?" Tristan murmurred.

"It's Madison. C-can I come in?" The captain was about to ask why her voice was filled with some much trepidation, but he quickly remembered his outburst in the hallway. No wonder she was scared. Looking back to the mess around the desk, he wasn't too sure if she was going to not feel threatened. "I- I'd like to talk to you." Having taken to long to respond, Madison was prompted to give a reason for her presence. With a sigh, Tristan opened the door and allowed the girl to enter.
Madison blinked in the darkness. Tristan's office didn't have the luxury of a window, and he had gone and kept the lights off. The only illumination came from the ambient blue glow of the computer monitor, which was enough to reveal the remains of Tristan's physical attack on his surroundings. She heard the door shut behind her and Tristan brushed past to sit down on the corner of the desk.

"So what's this about, Madison?"

"Well, my work is done and I was... Worried about you." Tristan grunted.

"Worried? About what?"

"As soon as you left the operations room, you weren't yourself."

"Are you sure about that?" Madison blinked, her eyes having now adjusted to the darkness. Tristan's face was pointed towards the floor, not meeting her gaze. She looked away and didn't answer the question. "Sorry." She looked up and saw that he was still transfixed on the floor.

"For what?" Tristan's gaze turned to something else.

"Yelling at you. It was inexcusable, you were probably doing something meaningful."

"I was just talking to Asuka, about what was going on."

"Then it was definately wrong of me. I apologize."

"There's no need. I should have been getting to work."

"No... No. I... I humiliated you."

"It's okay. Really." Madison looked down at the mess on the floor and stooped down to pick some of the fallen dossiers up.

"Leave it." Madison stopped and stood up. "I'll clean it up later." A silence lingered for several moments between the two of them.

"I've missed talking to you, Tristan." Madison murmured. Finally, Tristan lifted his head up to look at her. "We used to talk to each other so much, and now it seems as though you don't have time for me. It feels as though you are avoiding me at every turn." His head dropped.

"Things… Things are getting complicated now. From maintaining these three Evangelions, training our pilots, and the war, it has gotten to the point where I almost have no time for anything."

"But it seems you have time for Shinji and Asuka." Tristan let out a sigh.

"I don't want to make it sound like you are not important, but dealing with the pilots of Unit-06 and 07 is of top priority." Madison looked away. "There are a lot of responsibilities in keeping things together."

"There are also a lot of responsibilities to maintaining a friendship."

"You sound so selfish when you say that. I know you are lonely, but I can't just be the only one to keep you company. Everyone relies on what I do and I cannot simply be there are your beck and call. You've been distancing yourself from people and expect me to fill all the gaps."

"Why are you reprimanding me? It's not easy to make friends as you may think. We're all different form other people. There is a stigma around all members of NERV and you expect me to find others when I have just lost everything. My home, friends, and family, are all gone and you expect me to just turn around and forget about them?"

"I'm not saying that you have to turn your back on them. But I can't be the only one you can rely upon for attention. Surely you've been trying to meet other people." Madison closed her eyes and took a deep breath, calming herself after being on the verge of shouting at the captain. She knew he wasn't trying to insult her, but what with the way things were, she was starting to become upset.

"Well…" The girl started slowly and methodically. "I've tried making friends with Asuka, but I can easily tell that she simply doesn't like me. I don't know why it is, but she just has a problem with me. I don't want to jump to conclusions as to why, but…" She trailed off, recalling how she and the Second Child's first encounters were rather cold. At first Madison believed it was because the German girl was insulted with her tardiness at the meeting of the captain's staff. But after giving sufficient time for things to blow over, however, Madison knew that Asuka's reactions were not out of spite but something else.

The fact that Asuka disliked her could have been something that had to do with Tristan. Perhaps she felt threatened when she realized that Madison was friends with her superior commanding, therefore making her think if Asuka threw her prestigious weight around, Madison would get Tristan to set things straight. But Madison wouldn't be the one to exploit such a relationship.

"Continue." Tristan prodded. Madison took to a deep breath.

"I think she feels her career is in danger. She will not be able to pilot again if she fails."

"And what does that have to do with you?"

"She's strong and from what you told me, arrogantly prideful. I think she doesn't want
to have a relationship with someone who can allow her to get back in good graces. She doesn't want to cheat herself."

"'Cheat herself'?"

"She wants to earn her place using her merit, not by having connections with someone else. Knowing myself, if we were friends I would be hard pressed not to help her get some sort of recognition from command." Tristan grunted. "Hypothetically speaking, I wouldn't want to undermine you."

"So you think she doesn't like you because you would help her?" Madison nodded. Tristan thought about that for a moment. "What about Shinji?"

"I-I thought we were here to talk about each other and not the pilots."

"You brought them up." Tristan then heard the sound of his cell phone. Sliding off the desk he began digging through the documents at Madison's feet. Pulling the device from the mess he brought it to his ear. A curt conversation passed between Tristan and the person on the other end. The captain then looked to her. "The synch tests are starting now, I have to go." He brushed past her for the door.

"Wait." Tristan felt a tug at his arm and he stopped, looking back to the girl. "Could you… Could you at least try to take time to chat with me from now on?" Tristan paused for a few seconds, studying the features of Madison's face, limited only back the darkness.

"We'll see." The captain whispered. He pulled his arm free and left the office, leaving Madison alone. In darkness Madison stared down at her shoes, she was angry, frustrated, and confused. She was jealous of Asuka and Shinji, because they were getting so much attention and here she was losing the only person she had ever gotten close to. Even worse, not only was she losing him, but he was getting more and more cold.

"This was the Commander's decision, not mine."

"A likely story. What's your angle?"

"With this new development, the Commander has decided that this is the most prudent course of action."

"A likely story. You're just trying to screw me out."

"Unit-08 will be completed in a few short weeks, we have to be prepared."

"It smacks of something when you are the one to get the fully optimized unit."

"Probably because I won't mess it up as quickly as you would."

"What was that you bastard?"

"You heard me!"

"If this thing had arms attached, I would-" Shinji sighed in exasperation, hearing Tristan and Asuka raise holy Hell on the comm frequency. The technicians couldn't even get a word in through the fervent storm the two were causing. No doubt they were not focusing on their sync ratios, and all that noise was easily distracting Shinji.

Less than two days had passed since the battle at the beach. At least, that was what the news called it. Shinji knew it had been a massacre, while Tristan would have probably called it a disgrace. At least that was what he could tell from the captain's attitude. Already sync tests were starting up again, but this time the enigmatic commander of Tower Four had decided that Tristan should now be taking regular sync tests for preparation of Unit-08's completion and the possibility of pilot fatalities. Asuka was already livid when she saw Tristan heading to the cages in a plug suit.

Asuka's leg had yet to heal fully, and Tristan said that it would take a few more weeks. However, Tristan had changed his plans about leaving Asuka at bed rest until she was fully healed. One reason was because of this new situation and getting everyone up to snuff as best as possible. Second was the apparent stroke of luck that they had after the battle. It had turned out that 'Bull Dog' was not only getting involved in the fight, but was also transporting several former NERV personnel who they collected from the Norwegian shores. Although everyone was happy about the news, Tristan and Shinji both were a little skeptical, it was almost too convenient. Shinji wasn't sure why he was so paranoid, but then the crash course he receive concerning the dark truths of NERV caused his outlook to change.

The majority of the personnel that came from Norway were programmers, the ones who were responsible for managing the function of the MAGI computers. There was no mention as to where they were originally from, but Shinji had to assume they were from the North American branch, because none of their names were ones that Shinji recognized. For that matter, there wouldn't be any he would recognized, he barely even knew Shigeru until they had met so long ago after Third Impact. He let out a sigh, part of him missed those days, where he would be able to avoid this situation, but the other half of him realized this was the closest thing to normalcy. Shinji just wished Shigeru was here, after all, he still felt as if Shigeru's disappearance was his fault.

As for the MAGI computer programmers, Tristan said that they were able to reconfigure how the MAGI and Unit-05 would communicate. They called it the 'splint' system and was designed for the EVA to compensate for injuries that the pilots could acquire. Asuka would be the test subject of the new program. Shinji at first thought it was crazy for there to be such a program beyond just helping Asuka because all the damage that a pilot suffers was completely nervous, and not severe enough to warrant such measures. Yesterday during dinner, however, Tristan alluded to target practice with pistols, but Shinji was certain that he didn't mean with the revolvers designed for the Evangelions. Shinji glanced down at the network of straps on his right thigh and left hip, designed to carry a sidearm and ammunition. The NEC was pulling all the stops to keep their pilots safe. Shinji wasn't sure it was as clever as they had first imagined. When Shinji was swallowed up into that sea of nothingness where he almost died, he would have given anything to have a gun so that he could end it all then there. But would a gun even fire in LCL? The liquid was designed to be a source of oxygen and a shock absorber, so unless properly designed, a mechanical device could probably not be used. Shinji decided to ask Tristan later after the test.

When Shinji had finally resolved everything in his head and relaxed, he heard the head technician finally lay down the law and get the two German pilots to behave themselves. Their roaring match dwindling down the a few off hand murmurs, Tristan and Asuka fell into step with Shinji, focusing on their synchronization.

Slow breathing, closed eyes, the only sound being the rhythmic motion of LCL through the lungs, sounding like the ocean in their inner eyes. Their conciousness slipped away from their bodies and into that of their second skin. Flowing up the thick neck, down the broad shoulders and arms, through tiny midsection and into the thighs. Smooth and cool, their minds spread out to every corner of the simulated body. Their beings become one with their machines until there was little difference between what was Shinji, Asuka, and Tristan, and what was Unit-05, 06, and 08.

Shinji felt the LCL tighten around him as the plug went deeper into the liquid surrounding it, the simulation resisting further intrusion. Much like how Unit-06 reacted, the simulation body didn't want this entity that was control it like a puppet to go deeper and tap even more of it's nerves. Much like an animal, the simulation resisted this thing that threatened its freedom. Shinji felt as though he should feel sympathy for the Evangelions, these almost living entities, but he knew that humanity required them to fight the Angels. Now however, the enemy was humanity itself. It felt wrong to use these creations, however, considering the fact that UNIT had an Evangelion and a fleet of Tridents, the NEC had no choice but to use this kind of deadly force. He felt confused, he wasn't sure what really motivated him to continue, why he fought, but the more he questioned it, the more the simulation resisted him. His focus diminishing again and so he had to continue to impose his will, enforcing his slavery over the machine. So poetic of phrase and yet…

"Pilot Sohryu, your sync ratio is too sporadic. Please focus." The technician murmured.

"I am." Asuka growled. There was a long pause. At first Shinji thought that Asuka had gotten it straight and the technicians had nothing to complain about.

"We are terminating your test, Pilot Sohryu." The statement caused both Shinji and Tristan to break their concentration.

"What? Why?"

"We are getting thought noise from the plug." Shinji took a sharp intake of breath, realizing what they were referring to. "It's probably echoes do to a manufacturing error in the plug." Shinji tried to relax himself after the scare. Tristan made an irritated grunt as he tried to settle back.

Shinji looked away also, focusing back on his sychronization. There was no way that they would find out the truth. Would they? Anxiety crept into the back of Shinji's mind. He tightened his grip on the plugs controls, trying his best to get the worst case scenario from causing him to panic.

"Pilot Ikari, you need to focus." The technician barked. Shinji gritted his teeth, trying to do as the technician asked, but it wasn't possible. It was always a difficult chore trying to concentrate, even more so when Shinji had more than one thing to worry himself. Whenever the stresses of his personal life surfaced, his sync ratio always suffered. At one time he was able to put those aside, but after Touji's injury, he just couldn't keep things thing long enough to get an effective sync ratio. He had gotten better, but it was never reflected after that day. What had been the point? His father could have just ordered the machine to act as it had, a merciless killer. Now however, the NEC didn't have that option, the dummy plugs were destroyed.

Flashes of the 'tour' Ritsuko gave of the depths of NERV. The chamber where the numerous Rei clones were. It was so overwhelming that Shinji barely even understood what the doctor was trying to tell him and Misato. Perhaps it was mean for her and not him… But why was he supposed to know all that? It was a shock to find out the truth about Rei, but why then, why him?

"What the Hell is the matter, Shinji?" Tristan growled. Shinji blinked away the memories.

"Uh. Nothing is wrong. I just…"

"Well don't excuse it. Just fix it."

"Alright. I'll try." Shinji closed his eyes and took another deep breath, forcing everything out of his mind and trying to find some point of peace. Anything to get his mind off of everything. Off of Asuka's proposed rape and pregnancy, Third Impact, and this new war between the NEC and UNIT. But it was no use. Shinji gave a defeated sigh. "It's no use."

"Are you quitting, Shinji?"

"I just can't seem to concentrate. There is no way around that fact." There was a silence.

"Cancel the test." Tristan ordered.

"No, no. You don't have to-"

"What good is getting reading on your progress if you can't concentrate. Just make sure you can sync when it counts."

"I don't you to be easy on me."

"I'm not going to be easy on you. Now eject the plugs."

"What do you mean?" Shinji felt a jolt as the plugs began to rise out of the test chamber.

"You'll find out." Came the cryptic reply. Shinji swallowed hard, as if worrying about Asuka was stressful enough, now he got Tristan angry at him.

With only a single hand, Tristan threw Shinji down into the mat, pressing his palm down on the boys chest until it began to burn from the pressure. When the captain let up, Shinji immediately grabbed at his chest and grunted.

"C'mon. Get up. I only want to hit you one the ground if I have to." Shinji rolled over onto his stomach and then to his feet. Tristan was always ready to spar and he was more than willing to mete out his aggression on his two pilots. Getting his butt whooped by the captain was apparently the punishment Shinji was to receive for forcing the test to be cancelled. "Come at me… I'd feel like a jerk if I kept knocking you down without getting to throw a punch." Shinji didn't move. "You may not like it, but it's practice, if you know how to fight in close quarters, you'll catch that UNIT Evangelion off guard for sure."

"You really don't seem to care about the person inside that EVA." Shinji murmured before raising his hands and preparing himself.

"Why do you think that? Of course I care about them." The boy moved towards Tristan and attempted a quick punch. It was caught and Shinji was thrown past the captain. A follow up kick only met air as Shinji stumbled farther away than anticipated. "I mean, to have UNIT convince them to kill other human beings… It's sickening."

"No I meant that it sounds like you want me…" Shinji paused, however, his search for a word was interrupted as Tristan charged at him. The boy sidestepped the assault and backed tracked away from the following kick. Returning to a defensive stance, Shinji regained his composure.

"You mean kill him?" Tristan asked as he once again did a reversal on one of Shinji's strikes, pushing him away. "Don't just throw weak punches. You're getting predictable."

"Sorry. But, yes, I guess that's what I mean." Shinji hesitated and tried for a kick. Tristan just knocked it away. Shinji immediately made a low sweep with his foot, but the captain remained solid. Immovable. "I never signed on to kill anyone."

"You signed on to serve the NEC." He responded before dropping his heel down onto Shinji's shoulder. The strike connected with the mat as a more agile Shinji rolled out of the way and rose back up to his feet to throw two punches. Tristan knocked away the first and ducked under the second one. From his low position he shoved Shinji backwards.

"So that means I have to kill him?"

"He's probably forced to do the same thing Shinji. We can only do what we can based on the circumstances. No doubt UNIT has pigeon-holed him to fight us. To the media he'll simply be a patriot." Tristan through a direct punch that Shinji stepped around to get behind the captain. Using the momentum of the strike however, he rolled forward and out of reach of a counter attack.

"Is the NEC media calling me a patriot?" Tristan was suprised by the question, not enough though to be caught by Shinji's tackle. Twisting away, he allowed the boy to pass by him again and face each other once more. The fight was turning into something like a bull fight rather than a sparring match.

"Actually, we have yet to even mention you as the pilot of Unit-06."

"So who are you saying is piloting it?"

"No one... That is, we have never specified a particular person. Unlike the North American branch, E-NERV respected the privacy of the pilots and didn't want their intentions or NERV's to be blown out of proportion."

"So they have told everything they could to the media."

"Yes and no. NERV Intelligence won't let everything to be spilt, but A-NERV would use what they could to declare their self impotance. Westerners were never been ones for subtlety." As if to make that point, Tristan lunged at his sparring partner with what could have been seen as a wide hook. Shinji moved out of the fist's direction, but with a twist of his body, the captain brought his arm across the boy's chest in a lariat. Shinji was slammed down hard on the mat. Shinji rolled away and back onto his feet, Tristan in the meanwhile was holding his side. "I over extended on that one."

"You don't really like North Americans do you?" Composing himself, Tristan simply shrugged.

"It isn't really personal, but their history hasn't impressed me. I mean, they think that they were masters of the Earth just because they had garnered so much wealth in ways that have damned many nations to poverty. Even after Second Impact, they weren't much better. How can you respect someone who simply counts his money while hundreds start due to his inaction. I swear the only reason that they were involved in NERV was to make themselves not look so bad, when they spend billions on weapons. Even worse when they simply turn it into a facade to conquer the world after the Angels were gone."

"The Tridents?" Tristan nodded. Shinji frowned. "That's a pretty extreme way of looking at things."

"The Angels are gone Shinji. They've mass produced Tridents, we've been competing with them with collecting the data from abandoned bases, and now they have declared war and began with a surprise attack. Why? Because we are their biggest threat. One of the 'grievances' they put on the declaration was our 'hoarding' and 'accumlation of weapons'. They were just frightened that three Evangelions were going to put a wrinkle in their plans. They never use the MAGI, they think they are geniuses on their own. No wonder the nations of the continent buckled. They were so self-absorbed and believe that they were right that they refused help from the 'old world'."

"I've never heard that much about North America to tell the truth."

"It became a spot on the immaculate history of the Second Impact generation. No one wanted to acknowledge their failure."

"But wasn't A-NERV comissioned to create some of the Evangelions?"

"A-NERV was only made out of pity and the fact that NERV assumed that they needed money... We're the saviours of the world and yet we are still needed to consider money. How short sighted people are. Thank God, no fools have spoke up yet in the NEC. They are just happy that someone is giving them food. A-NERV was nothing but a pit to lose money in. The budget suffered because of them and all they did was use the money to produced Tridents. They held back the optimization phase of the Evangelions."

"UNIT is trying to take over the world..." Shinji looked down at the mat. The very thought of it left a sour taste in Shinji's mouth, and he wasn't quite sure if Tristan was telling the truth. The young man seemed pretty biased in his views and probably hated North America from day one. Or perhpas there was something more. It had to be the captain's imagination. There was no way anyone was stupid enough to be wasting time with a war after the end of the world. After Second Impact, everyone learned the value of cooperation and the need to fight the Angels. Was it that without a common enemy, this was the fate of humanity? To kill themselves. Shinji felt abnormally tired, depression and frustration pulling his body down. He sighed.

"I guess I said too much. I guess we-" Tristan was interrupted by the chime of his cell phone. Retrieving the device from one of the benches against the wall, he gave a quick exchange then snapped it shut. "The session is over. I'll see at home."

"Where are you going?"

"The hospital." A cold shiver ran down Shinji's spine.

"W-what happened?" Tristan gave the boy a hard look.

"Go home Shinji." Quickly stuffing the rest of his uniform into a dufflebag, the captain left the room at a hustle. Shinji stood there in a daze, he felt dizzy, he felt scared. Who was in the hospital? Who had gotten hurt? The greatest possibility was Asuka again. She had been very unstable before Third Impact, could it be coming back? Or perhaps there was something wrong with her pregnancy. Her child…

Of course Shinji knew that it wasn't his child, but the amount of times Asuka had blamed it, it seemed much closer to fact every day. But it wasn't his responsibility. Why was he taking the fall? Why? The boy sank down to the mat and looked up at the ceiling.

"You're pathetic." Shinji said more to himself than the white plane above him. Those were the words that Asuka would have used. He had missed having her talk to him, even if it was just fling insults in his direction. At least that was an indication he existed… That he existed before Second Impact and wasn't just a product of Third Impact. That he wasn't this blob of existential angst. He was pathetic, always worried always moping, always suffering. It was unnerving but also reassuring when others would not play the same game he played on himself.

Asuka and Misato would always ignore the façade and shake Shinji into the real world, get him out the fog he was always in. Most people avoided him or played along. It helped to avoid getting hurt, but when his two roommates got involved in ending the game, it was 'fun'. There was a challenge. A game, that was Shinji's world. What a pathetic way to live.

Spread out upon the mat, Shinji took a deep breath and sighed. He hated it when all he had was to analyze himself. At least with his S-DAT, he could lose himself in the music and wouldn't have to deal with this. But for all he knew it was gone. Everything was gone except these few tattered fragments of humanity. Humanity was not going to recover after two apocalypses in a span of fifteen years. All he could do now was ride it out to the end. How sad, how pathetic.

"You okay?" The siloheutte of a person hung over him. He blinked.

"Uh… Yes." He mumbled.

"Are you sure?" Shinji sat up and turned to look at the visitor. Madison. He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Tristan nodded and thanked the man. The physician turned and walked down the corridor. Tristan sighed and looked down at the report. Save for the doctor's signature, everyone was typed out, thankfully this would make reading and explaining everything. He turned to the door and pulled the latch. He stepped in. Asuka was quiet but the look on her face should that she was surprised at his appearance.

"What are you doing here?" She rasped. Tristan stepped to the middle of the examination room and leaned against the wall, scanning the folder. "This has nothing to do with you."

"Considering I am your superior officer and you are one of my pilots, it has everything to do with me." Asuka scowled. "I apologize." There was an echoing silence for a moment and the girl narrowed her eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"Not believing you."

"About my rape?" Tristan glanced up at her.

"No. Your pregnancy. However, that is a complicated matter to explain."

"What?" The captain took a deep breath and looked up at Asuka.

"You weren't raped."

"What? You think I consented to it?"

"I didn't say that either."

"I- I don't follow."

"You are still… 'Serene'."

"So what? Am I the Virgin Marie now or something?" Tristan shook his head.

"You were experiencing pseudocyesis."

"Pseudo- what?"

"False pregnancy." All the blood drained from Asuka's face.

"You're lying." She breathed. Tristan shook his head. He handed her the report.

"It's all hear in black and white." The girl took the report and quickly scanned it, shaking her head in disbelief.

"This can't be right."

"You have all the hormones, but no embryo. You've fooled your body… And therefore youself."

"I can't believe this." She hung her head and closed her eyes.

"Well, that rules out you and the plug causing the echoes." She raised her head. Tristan was looking at the door, as if finding some feature of interest on it, his back still to the wall.

"Is that all you can think about?" He didn't respond. "I've been accusing Shinji of raping me… I've been faced with so many problem with having a child. For God's sake I was practically dying. And all you can think of are those fucking EVAs?"

"This isn't about EVAs. This is about a war. The Evangelions are the only thing that keeps UNITs…" Tristan's lip curled in disgust. "Those bloodthirsty mongrels from getting our civilians. From getting at the NEC, from the people I want to protect, to keep them from you." Asuka snorted, incredulous.

"That is the stupidest… What's your angle?"

"What angle?"

"Why you said you'd protect me."

"The doctor said that it will only take a hormone injection or two and it'll be fixed… An extended cramping session. But after that it will be all over."

"Don't change the subject!" She cried. Tristan turned to look at her.

"You should just take it easy. This is a lot to take in… Besides, it'll take some time to figure out where the plug echo was actually originating."

"Why did you tell me that? Why did you say you were protecting me?" Tristan took a deep breath.

"I'll go get the doctor so you can speak with him." Tristan turned and left the room.

"You bastard!" Asuka cried after him. But it fell on deaf ears. The door shut behind him. She hung her head. What a dickhead.

Outside, Tristan leaned against the wall and took another deep breath. He had said too much. What a fool he was. Why was he sounding like he wanted to get back with the bitch? Who would want the little iron soldier. The captain flinched. He was getting too emotional again. He was being stupid. He shook his violently, trying to get the nonsense out. Then taking a deep breath, the operations director returned to his senses and went to summon the doctor back to the examination room to finish speaking to Asuka. What a sap he was.

To Be Continued…

Author's Notes
I became self aware of the angst in this chapter and couldn't help but laugh at how heavy I had laid it down. Even though angst is a major part of the serious, I should probably ease up on it a bit if I'm starting to get a reaction out of it.
A lot of people who've commented on this fic have been speculating about what behind Asuka's pregnancy. Many will think this was a cop out, but the truth is, in the original frame of the series, I could not see a practical opportunity for Asuka to become pregnant. One review suggested it could have happened during her disappearance before going catatonic, I felt this was too dangerous of a wild card. Personally, this is a chain jerker like I think Hideaki Anno would 'pull'. Speculators fear not, there is still plenty of fallout to clean up before Asuka's troubles will be resolved. Until then…
Happy April 1st!