Disclaimer: Don't own Evangelion, don't own El Hazard if I'm ticking you off with writing this story, drop me a line and ill send it to cyber oblivion.
Sounds etc. (Authors comments) "Talking" 'thinking/internal monologue'
(An) Okay since I've only just started this story and since I've nearly finished the latest chapter to my other fic I've decided to update this one first and with haste. Now a few questions answered I believe someone asked whatever happened to Kalia's keystaff, well in the second OVA after she was awoken she saw no further reason for having it with her (probably since she uses her opponents energy against them) so she simply gave it to Jinnai, what he did with it after that I'm not sure. Also ill note this chapter is considerably longer than the first, since I guess ive decided to run with this one too... Anyway, times a wasting so on we go...
Demons and Angels
Chapter 2 : Chargin' Chagrin
Shinji reached out and grasped Kalia's left arm in an attempt to ease her away from the exposed service hatch, speaking in her ear as he did so "It means don't touch unless you want to be burned to a crisp by about five hundred thousand volts of electricity"
Kalia was still frozen on the spot as she continued to eye the exposed industrial strength cables, "Electricity... What is it exactly?" she enquired yet never taking her eyes away.
Shinji blinked in confusion, sub-consciously pulling back his restraining hand to scratch his head at the question, "You know... electricity" Kalia passed him a blank look, causing him to roll his eyes, "the stuff that lights the lights and powers everything; electrical energy"
The girl's confused look suddenly switched to a mask of happy realisation, "Oh yes, I see"
Shinji cocked an eyebrow, "What? Did you call it something different wherever you were from?"
"Hmm, not really. To me it would be more accurate to say that; in whatever form; through whatever medium... energy..." Kalia explained as she stalked a few steps forward, "...Is energy" she breathed.
"W-what are you-"
"Let me make you a little recommendation..." Kalia interrupted with her back still turned, "...Stand back" She said with slightly wide eyes as she strode one step forward and flipped her right hand up and grasped firmly onto one the groups of exposed cables.
"Don't!" Shinji shouted pointlessly as, in an instant, he was thrust back by an almost explosive invisible force accompanying a blinding flash as the massive electrical current was suddenly interrupted...
It took a few seconds for the fazed Shinji to compose himself and open his eyes but he stayed flat on his backside in shock when he saw what was happening in front of him.
"Kalia?" He breathed in shock as he stared on; her hand was clamped firmly around one of the cables with bolts of blue electrical energy crackling around her lower arm, the gem on the gauntlet on her right hand was now glowing brightly while the others over her small slender form also glowed to a lesser degree as they converted the energy flow being flooded into them; the veins up her right arm and across half her back being illuminated brilliant white by the energy now pulsing through her. Her teeth glared as her muscles bulged slightly as her physical power began to push upwards sharply.
Shinji glanced upwards as the lights up and down the corridor began to wane on and off as they struggled to stay lit.
"What the HELL is going on!" Came Sub-Commander Fuyutski's demand as he looked left and right about the bridge; its alarms blazing as the lights were flickering and humming on and off along with numerous displays and monitor screens.
"We don't know!" Aoba shouted over the noise, glancing up at the lights as they strained to stay on, "We suddenly started registering some kind of massive energy drain coming from somewhere inside NERV Central!"
"Well then! Isolate it!" he shot back loudly.
"We cant!" Maya suddenly shouted desperately, "Our monitoring and security systems across half of headquarters have gone offline; we cant directly pinpoint the source!"
"It's not just in headquarters! All of Tokyo-3 and the surrounding region is going down!" Makoto announced as he read off his screen.
"It must be from one of the main cables then..." Aoba commented in thought.
"My god! Even the main power transfer cables shouldn't be able to transmit power at this rate; the current's flowing faster than we can track; its as if something's sucking the power right out of the system!" Makoto spoke up as he tried his best to track down the source.
"We've got no choice then; try you're best to estimate the source of the drain and sever all energy links to that section; once it's segregated the downed sections should automatically switch to backups" the sub-commander shouted quickly.
---
Kalia, who's face now bore a wide smile as the irises of her usually grey eyes sparkled almost like crystals. When suddenly and abruptly the entire surroundings fell dark and silent.
Slumping forwards and gasping as if she had just came down from being in the thralls of ecstasy Kalia rubbed the sweat off her brow and swung around, the last few traces of energy crackling off her hand and up her arm. " Phew! Well I wouldn't call it the best. This 'electrical energy' tasted really watered down; but there sure was a lot of it, I'm hardly satisfied, but at least its a start" she explained.
Curious, she released the cable and stepped back a few steps to look round herself, "Hmm, gotten dark all of a sudden, is it night?"
Shinji who was now dead silent merely had himself standing pinned back against the opposite wall with his jaw hanging open, "Wha-?"
Smiling cutely she walked slowly up to the frozen teen, tracing a finger up his neck and under his chin, she closed his open mouth with her fingertip and pushed herself onto her tiptoes to stare deeply into his eyes almost analytically before quickly moving her head forwards and slowly and carefully brushed her own lips across his own with her usual playful glint in her eyes.
This, predictably, causing Shinji's his eyes to go instantly as wide as saucers as she ran a finger down his cheek slowly, leaving a small trail of blue static bolts in its wake causing him to involuntarily shiver.
Giggling at his uptight reaction she took a wide step back giving him a tad more breathing room. He was now however blushing heavily from her half-seductive actions yet terrified out his wit at the same time. Smiling slyly still, she half turned sideways down the corridor, "Thank you for the lovely meal Shinji; can't say I'm even remotely full yet, but at least I'm not... starving" with that she walked on once Shinji had cautiously pulled himself away from the wall and fell into step beside her.
Several minutes of silence passed as they walked slowly on towards their destination.
"So..." Shinji said finally gathering the courage to speak, staring down at the floor nervously as he walked, "...You can... What? Absorb energy?" he offered in a baffled tone.
"Uh huh... Seems when my body was recreated by this EVA thing it left me with my energy supply practically at nil, I had to get a boost from somewhere"
"So... You were fresh out of the factory; tank on empty" Shinji muttered to himself.
"Huh? What was that?"
"N-nothing... S-so how full are you?"
"Not very... But I'm not running empty any more at least"
"You do have a bit more of a spring in your step than you did before" Shinji observed; in comparison, her movements before were somewhat cold and reserved, like she was moving with as little extra effort as was needed. He also couldn't help but notice the slight but still noticeable increase in her overall muscular capacity. Although not exactly anything intimidating; her previous appearance in comparison Shinji thought, was borderline anorexic.
Kalia smirked back at him, "Been watching me have you?"
Shinji merely stammered but then frowned, glancing off to the side in frustration of her attitude.
"Aww, did I ruffle your feathers?" She asked, messing with his hair with a grin.
Shinji jerked his head away from her hand, "Whatever, lets just get out of here before they figure out what just happened to the lights and everything, I've got a feeling what you just did didn't go entirely unnoticed"
"'kay, lead the way"
Shinji nodded, still in a surreal state of mind over what had just transpired. Pausing as with a hum the lights all around came back on, "Power's back on... Who knows, maybe they didn't notice..."
"Well?" Came Gendo Ikari's one word demand for a report as he walked onto the bridge; things were at such a critical stage in his scenario that something a trifle as a small power loss had better be justified as something that could distract his attention.
"Sir the MAGI calculate we lost almost 5.5 terawatts of power during the drain, a few power relays were fused and some of the main power cable links have burned out and those are already being replaced. No other considerable damage or disruption has been reported" Aoba read off his screen.
"5.5 terawatts... In such a short amount of time, how can it be possible" Fuyutski spoke in a disbelieving tone.
"What was the source of the drain?" Gendo questioned in a no-nonsense tone, not one to be showing surprise like his subordinate.
"We still haven't found out sir; the instant the drain began it knocked out monitoring in nearly half of headquarters we can only place a general estimate that isolates the source within a two hundred metre circumference"
"That amount of power doesn't just float out the window because of a minor technical fault so find out!" The now aggravated sub-commander ordered to any subordinate within ear's range.
"Sir!" came a chorus of replies from around him. Rubbing his brow he turned round to face his only superior officer, blinking in surprise as he noticed he had already departed from the bridge...
---
Fifteen minutes later Shinji was sitting in the NERV cafeteria trying to act as nonchalant as possible as his new 'friend' sat across from him cross-legged on her chair with a childishly curious look on her face as she stared at everything he was eating.
Shinji raised his eyes to the girl, "Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?" the Third asked with a raised eyebrow.
Kalia simply shook her head, "Nope, I told you; I'm not hungry anymore" she said simply as she sipped her drink.
"So what are you going to do then?" Shinji asked suddenly.
"What do you mean?" Kalia asked, gulping her orange juice suddenly to answer.
"Well... I mean; where will you live; will you go to school?"
"Don't know about that second thing; but the first one's simple; I'll live with you" she said simply; smiling with a shrug.
Shinji nearly choked on the egg roll he was in the process of chewing as he practically inhaled it when he gasped at her answer.
"What?" She asked baffled at his reaction.
"L-live with me!" he choked out
Kalia's smile faded, "Well yeah. Where else would I go?"
Shinji went silent as his head processed this question then sighed in reluctant acceptance, "I guess you're right. Misato is gonna freak though; I'm not quite sure you quite hit it off with her" Shinji said as an understatement.
"What? Was it something I said?" She enquired innocently.
'Is this girl schizophrenic or something!' "I think the whole 'old lady' quip kind of struck a chord with her"
Kalia hummed in thought as she glanced off to the side, "Ahh well I'll guess I'll just have to apologize or something"
Shinji frowned slightly, "I get the feeling you wont be entirely sincere though"
"Hey, I'm a bio-mechanical-combat-designed-android-girl fallen on hard times; I get leeway for being a bit cranky"
Shinji rolled his eyes and sighed; as far as he could tell; the girl was impossible to reason with considering she seemed to have the ability to pull out a nonchalant answer to pretty much any criticism he voiced.
And it wasn't until then that he noticed the dangerously cold silence that had enveloped the entire NERV cafeteria. I mean we're not talking just people we're talking the birds and insects outside and the very air itself. Shinji felt a sudden chill run down his spine as he noticed even Kalia now sitting dead silent staring beyond him. Staring around and down he suddenly noticed a dark shadow looming directly over him.
"Shinji..." Kalia said in her usual tone, still looking up and behind him.
"What?" Shinji almost whispered.
"You'll never guess what..."
"What?" he hissed sharply
"There's a really tall ugly version of you standing right behind you" she said with an extremely amused look, pointing a finger for emphasis.
Shinji's eyes widened as he traced the outline of that shadow in his mind and came up with only one possible owner. Sucking it up he stood up and turned around as for an instant two pairs of eyes met...
"Hello father..."
Gendo merely passed a millisecond-long side glance to his son as the only sign he had registered his presence, else the elder Ikari's eyes were trained downward on the girl sitting cross-legged below him at the table.
Kalia's eyes narrowed at the Supreme Commander analytically for a second before passing back to Shinji, then to the commander and back again, "Father?" she echoed, glancing back and forth once more. She enquired back to Shinji, "Were you adopted?"
Shinji's eyes widened in shock at the question. Nervous that his estranged father hadn't budged an inch or made a sound since arrival though he could've sworn his eyebrows raised just a fraction of a millimetre at that question, "O-of course not!" Shinji stammered in an almost desperate tone.
"Ahh..." Kalia said sagely, "I'm guessing you inherited your mother's looks then, 'cause besides the whole facial shape thing I can't see much of a resemblance between you and the living gargoyle here" Kalia commented, nodding her head forwards in the direction of the commander of whom was now sharply frowning down at her; being talked about as if he weren't there was not something he was accustomed to.
"So... You are the organism excreted from Unit-01's core at the same time the Third Child was salvaged are you not?" The commander stated more than enquired.
Needless to say; neither his tone nor choice of words boded well with either of the two aforementioned (That's a long word!) people.
Kalia, merely held her face frozen. After about fifteen seconds of silence as they stared eye-locked at one another, Kalia blinked once, "What?"
"I believe you heard me; now answer the question"
"Oh I heard you..." Kalia begun; smiling, yet Shinji noticed her eyes now had a malicious glint to them, "...I was giving you the opportunity to change your words before I gave in to my sudden urge to tear out your intestinal tract and garrotte you with it"
"Kalia!" Shinji gasped, not really in anger but more out of worry for her personal safety. "You shouldn't-"
"-It doesn't matter; Dr Akagi has already informed me of it's tendency for outbursts"
"IT'S?" Kalia snapped, flipping to her feet with blinding speed, slamming the flats of her hands down so hard on the tabletop the plywood surface shattered under the sudden shock as she glared up enraged at the Supreme Commander.
"With all due respect; you're digging your own grave father" Shinji said with a hint of desperation; sure he didn't particularly like his father but he was sure he wouldn't take pleasure from watching him being beaten to an inch of his life right in front of him (Well... Not much anyway) and he was seriously wary that the girl was capable of carrying out her previous threat.
"Shinji... You may leave now" Gendo said suddenly, still staring down at the girl who was now squaring up to him.
"But father-"
"Dismissed pilot" The commander sharply interrupted.
Shinji averted his eyes in frustration, "Yes, sir" and with that he turned and headed off.
"Wait up!" Kalia said, nimbly jumping over the table fragments and round the commander, seemingly not getting the hint that the commander's order did not refer to her.
"You will stay" Gendo ordered sharply turning his head round towards her.
Kalia merely paused to give the commander a sidelong profile of her face which now wore a small smirk, "You bore me, and there's only one Ikari in this room I've opted to take anything that even remotely resembles an order from and... Newsflash; You're not him"
The commander's eyes narrowed behind his tinted glasses, "The 'Ikari' you refer to is my subordinate; he takes his orders from me"
"You're point?" the girl enquired with raised eyebrows and a patronising smile on her face.
Now you could probably count the number of times Shinji had stood up to his father on one hand, and although on this occasion it was brisker and held less impact, for some reason; he found it held far more meaning.
"Shinji; you will command it to stay"
Shinji noticed the way Kalia's muscles tense up in anger as he glanced over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed for an instant before turning back forward and starting to walk off again.
"No" came his simple reply as Kalia turned away with a wide grin and headed off, catching up.
"What?"
"I believe you heard me" Shinji paraphrased without even looking back.
"So now you defy me? I wouldn't advise it Shinji or else-"
"-Or else... What?" Shinji asked, his voice in a trembling whisper, yet audible enough to hear.
Kalia at this point was standing ahead of Shinji; her almost hawk-like vision having both father and son in focus. The look on Gendo's face was slightly more difficult for her to read than the son, the elder man bore a look of non-amused and contained frustration mixed in with what could be construed as a hint of shock.
The son however; was far easier to read, he was a mask of tensed up rage. Now what sparked such a reaction she couldn't know, but it was the subtle look of insecure sadness in his eyes that she could tell was underneath it, at the heart of that burning rage which she was the most curious about. But there was one thing she was sure of and that was; whatever problem had caused this much pain, she would solve; in her own special way... After all, although she had lost her memories of her past, although she didn't know why, there was one thing she did know... Revenge seemed a very appealing avenue to take...
It was then, as she stared into his unfocused eyes, that realisation struck her like a metaphorical lightning bolt as she suddenly realised what it was; what had drawn her to him in the first place; whereas she had found herself lost for a time, and, thanks to a stranger who didn't even know her, who felt no loyalty nor command to assist, she had been found. But Shinji was different; he was lost... And still was. He was so like her, in that he felt no genuine reason to do what he does, yet he would ensure her own happiness though he knew it was going to be impossible to ensure his own.
One being locked into a cycle of self-induced infinite loneliness. Though she didn't know how to ultimately solve either her own or her counterpart's problem, she did know one thing; as lonely as he was; she could always be lonely with him.
"So be it..." Came the commander's voice from behind, causing Shinji to halt once more but again not even bothering to turn around.
"What?" he enquired impatiently, having never spoken to his father like this before with the exception of when he was in his office after the fight with the 13th Angel.
"You may remain also" Gendo said, his tone holding a note of reluctance.
Gendo said nothing as he found himself staring at his son's back as the child fell silent as he contemplated whether or not to even bother accepting the offer. After a moment, Shinji's head quirked around just enough for his father to get a side profile of his face, "Alright..."
Shinji turned around completely and approached his father; Kalia stopping at his side, Shinji bearing a strange look of determination on his face; Kalia's look being similar with the exception of the small predatorial grin and slight unfocused glint in her eyes as she continued to clock just how many ways she could wipe the supreme commander out of existence from the spot she was standing in (Up to 58 and counting).
"Well?" Shinji enquired in an almost monotone voice.
"First; am I right then in my assumption?"
Kalia raised her eyebrows, "Why yes, though I wont repeat what you called me, but that's me I guess"
"Then I am also right in assuming that you are responsible for the recent power drain"
Kalia glanced off to the side slightly baring one of her 'innocent' smiles, "What's a drain?"
Gendo's frown deepened as Shinji rolled his eyes, "Careful; the patience I'm exercising with you is out of nothing more than cautiousness, but I assure you; I am reaching my limit"
Shinji rolled his eyes and sighed "Just answer him Kalia"
"Well?" Gendo enquired bluntly.
"It was necessary in order to accomplish my purpose" Kalia replied simply.
"I see; and what is this purpose you speak of?"
"I thought you were already 'informed' about me"
Gendo stepped forward and began almost half-circling her slightly as he spoke, "I was; but I'm afraid Dr Akagi's explanation was more of her own personal interpretation; I would like to hear it from you"
"Would you? And what was the doctors 'interpretation'?" Kalia enquired, her eyes following the commander as he paced in front of her.
"As I see from what she said is that your basic intention is apparently to be subject to the Third Child's whim, for what reason I don't know"
"His WHIM?" Kalia echoed loudly and incredulously, "Either your doctors deaf or you're just dumb, but I thought I was clear when I said I would be here to ensure his wellbeing, nothing more; to fight and help him win... That's it"
Gendo stopped, raising his eyebrows intriguingly at her response, "I see; and what would define the 'insurance of his wellbeing' as you put it?"
Kalia suddenly gave the commander a wistful smile; an extremely disconcerting one, "To be honest... I class physical and emotional pain as one and the same, being personally very talented in the inducing of the former than the latter I might add, so why don't I start with you; You haven't done anything to Shinji in the past that I may need to... look you up for... Have you?" Although the Commander was considerably taller than the small demon girl, the soft yet cold smile, combined with the glint in her eyes was making Gendo feel much smaller than he actually was. This obvious considering she had practically backed him up against the edge of the chair she had recently been sitting at.
"Well?" she calmly whispered; her piercing grey eyes burrowing into the commander's.
"I'm sure my father has nothing he needs to get of his chest, and I'm sure everything's just fine and you and I can go on about our business... Right father?" Shinji suddenly stated more than asked.
She was so small; so fragile-looking; yet her eyes told a whole different story. Something about her just seemed wrong to the Commander. He was no fool; and he knew when to let a sleeping dog lie; this was just such an occasion, "Yes... I don't see how this bares any further upon the current situation. Assuming that is; you're quite finished sapping our power supplies miss... Kalia I believe it was"
"That's my name, and don't worry; I've found the perfect donors to help me restore myself to full strength. Shinji said you're fighting giant monsters. Giant monsters equals giant amounts of energy. That is unless, you've got any objection to me draining them for every last ounce of power they have"
Gendo's face froze as he contemplated this; if she were telling the truth she could be an asset and if she weren't capable of getting her power off the angels she would simply be destroyed in the attempt; either way it would be a problem solved, "I have no objection, so long as until such time you keep a 'low profile'; I would like the truth of you're origins and capabilities to remain strictly... Confidential. That includes the Second Child and any other NERV personnel who aren't currently aware of the truth of your existence"
Before Kalia could say anything Shinji had inclined his head slightly, "Understood father"
"Very well... Has she been assigned living quarters yet?" Gendo enquired as the situation returned to a more formal state.
"Not yet father, she wants to stay with me and I've got no problem with it... I guess. But it still needs to be approved officially"
Gendo turned and began to leave the cafeteria, speaking no-nonsensically as he did so, "Consider it approved; she may take up residence in your domicile; Major Katsuragi will be informed of the arrangement" And with that, the Supreme Commander disappeared from sight. Swiftly a strangely relieved silence descended upon the two for a moment.
"Well..." Shinji said in a moderately surprised tone, inclining his head slightly, "...I'd say that turned out well"
"Hmm..." Kalia hummed acceptingly yet suspiciously as she stared off in the direction the commander left.
---
Surprisingly, at almost the exact same instant, at another place deep in NERV headquarters, someone else uttered Shinji's exact same words, in a notably more smug tone however.
"Well, I'd say that turned out well" Kaji commented with his arms folded and his eyes lightly closed; his features being illuminated from the darkness only by the glow from the holographic emitter built into the floor of the darkened room. And looking surprisingly relaxed considering the company he was in.
"It did NOT, as you say, turn out well!" Snapped the mechanically enhanced echoing voice of the Seele-01 monolith or, as better known to his drinking buddies; Kiel Lorenz.
"Well at least the pilot of Unit-01 was recovered successfully-"
"We are aware of the Third's convenient recovery from Unit-01" Seele-12 interrupted harshly.
"Convenient? Are you implying that-" Kaji began curiously with a frown.
"You were informed about asking questions mister Kaji!" Seele-2 interrupted just as briskly.
"Yeah, yeah, well I guess the damage done by the fourteenth Angel was heavy; two EVAs down, one out of action, the Geo-front open, Central Dogma exposed and that's not even mentioning the ground structural losses and loss of life" Kaji began listing in a nonchalant tone more to himself than those around him.
"You need not dictate; we are aware of those losses, they are inconsequential in the long run" Seele-3 commented.
"Ahh; I take it then you're, how shall I say, disdain, is more referring to Unit-01's rather ungraceful acquisition of an S2 engine then"
"Yes... The incident has made things take a somewhat disturbingly sharp turn" Seele-2 spoke.
Kaji chuckled softly, "Somewhat Disturbing, phew! You weren't there... I swear... All I can say is I'm never eating sushi again!"
"I'm so GLAD this situation amuses you so!" Kiel snapped suddenly bringing the situation back to a more serious note.
"We are as yet unsure as of if Ikari has begun to take steps to betraying us, his actions as of late have been... Shall we say; erratic, namely in the area of his loyalty to us. He has however proven in the past to be loyal to our cause and his actions may not be beyond redemption, depending on how well he follows our orders of course."
"And you want me to make sure he's being a good little soldier and not doing anything naughty behind your big grey square backs"
Seele-01 humphed, "That, I suppose, would be the general idea"
"Alright, and what of the newcomer?" Kaji enquired as an afterthought.
Kaji's eyes actually opened fully in concealed surprise at Kiel's next tone; it wasn't shock or anything extreme but, for the first time since he had met the council, one of the old men's voices actually held a tone of genuine curiosity, a real tone that said 'this is something I don't know', something Kaji found fascinating to no end to be found in a Seele member's voice, "What?"
"Oh? You don't know?" Kaji enquired, unfolding his arms and dropping them down at his sides as his face took on a serious look.
"Would I ask if I knew! What 'newcomer' do you speak of?" Kiel shouted, sounding genuinely angry. As far as he was concerned he practically ran the entire world and being questioned by some mere turncoat who he already showed ample patience to as it is was beyond insulting in his eyes (well, visor).
"Okay, I'll enlighten you; as it turns out, when Shin- ah, the Third Child, was returned from EVA Unit-01, he may have come back alive and well but he did not come alone"
Kaji's response to this news was an explosion of murmurs and demands between monoliths as they expressed their shock to one another and to Kaji in an indiscriminate blur of words.
"ENOUGH!" Kiel roared over the din, the sound of what was clearly his hand slamming off a desk through the audio link echoed bringing his council to silence and leaving Kaji with slightly ringing ears. Suddenly all twelve monoliths with the exception of Kiel's disappeared as he exercised his power as the Seele chat-room administrator and remotely dismissed them. Kaji glanced left and right at the now mostly darkened room before turning back to the remaining monolith, "Elaborate Mister Kaji" Kiel demanded in a cool and calmer voice.
"Well as far as I can see the EVA simply released another Child along with Shinji, she was about his age and height only with white hair, she's been hospital bound since and was recently released with the Third Child" Kaji explained, conveniently forgetting to include the information on the recent power outage.
"And this... newcomer... have you made a threat assessment?"
"As far as I can tell she's totally harmless, I heard she reacted like a scared cornered animal when she first awoke, she's odd, but I doubt even Ikari could've foreseen this one coming she is, as the head of our section 1 reported, simply an anomaly"
Silence descended between the man and the holographic monolith for a painful moment as it was clear Kiel was in deep thought.
Hating the silence Kaji spoke up, "So... I take it you will be wanting me to continue with the invitation of the Sub-Commander to your little congregation then?"
Silence continued again for about five or six more seconds before Kiel spoke up suddenly, "No..."
"No?" Kaji echoed curiously.
"I want you to investigate this 'anomaly' for a time and see if it will have any baring upon our future plans, and as for the sub-commander, you may consider his 'invitation' revoked... Until the situation becomes more clarified at least... That will be all" And with that the grey monolith disappeared into nothingness leaving the agent alone.
As he stared into the darkness, his thoughts racing through his head, he couldn't help but allow a marginally relieved look to grace his features. This was an unexpected change of plans but at least, he was sure; this way he may live just a little bit longer and hopefully with the added time, may get just one small step closer to the truth than he would have before...
Allowing himself a small smile he flipped a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, and walked through the nearby concealed door and back into the light...
---
"So... I'm going to be living with you and that purple haired lady with the short temper then..."
"Her name is Misato, Kalia" Shinji said with a hint of annoyance as suddenly his eyes widened in horror as something struck him like a punch to the gut; a fact he hadn't considered up until now; that being it wasn't just Misato and Shinji Kalia would have to live with... There was still one more, and Shinji had a stomach churning feeling... That they probably wouldn't end up getting on like a house on fire, they may end up setting the house on fire, but... Well... To put it simply, as far as Shinji could tell; the most difficult step was yet to come...
The silence in the elevator went on, with Shinji baring his usual mask of indifference staring blankly ahead with Kalia standing with her arms folded and a clearly impatient expression on her face. That was until the silence was broken by a resounding 'ding'. Kalia's eyes watched curiously as Shinji instinctively moved to the side of the elevator carriage in anticipation of whomever might board.
Kalia, from her perspective was somewhat confused as to why Shinji was now standing between her and the door, totally obscuring her view of what was happening in front of her.
Shinji blinked in surprise at the familiar face that boarded the elevator, hit the same ground level button he had and turned around...
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the erstwhile Third Child..." the newcomer said with his usual happy insightful tone.
"H-hey Kaji. I'm glad to see You're alright."
"Oh? And why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, after all the damage the last angel did and how my EVA went berserk I was worried something may have happened to you; you being out on geo-front at the time and all"
Kaji smiled widely as he cocked his head, "Well that's a nice sentiment Shinji but as you can see; I'm all fine and dandy... Thanks to you"
"No... It was mostly the EVA, I barely did anything" Shinji corrected in his usual meek tone.
"No, it was your fight, from your own decision, you re-entered the EVA, you engaged that angel, it was you Shinji who came through for not just me, but for Misato, Asuka, Rei, your friend who was hurt in the fight with the 13th... Everyone... You came back, you saved us all, and all I can personally say is thank you" Kaji said, smiling softly at the pilot.
"W-well I doubt I could've done it without you Kaji; you helped me realise what I could still do"
"Ahh well, I do what I can and try to ask little in return..." Kaji said, still smiling, before cocking his head and saying as if on an afterthought, "...Though there is one thing I might ask"
"Y-yeah? What?" Shinji asked, looking up.
"Well it's just... Though I don't mean to sound rude... Are you making a somewhat bad attempt to hide a girl behind your back?" Kaji enquired rhetorically, now grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"W-wha?" Shinji gaped quirking his head around to glance backwards suddenly as he realised he had in fact sub-consciously moved himself in front of the white haired girl. Quickly he took a sidestep out of the way to the opposite side of the elevator.
"Hmm..." Kaji hummed analytically as he eyed the girl up and down, "... My, my Shinji, sneaking a girl into headquarters eh? How bold of you, though I could recommend a few better places to bring your dates, I know some great... hotels"
"D-don't be ridiculous Kaji!" frowned the Third in as level a tone as he could muster.
Kalia in the meanwhile was merely staring at Kaji with cold eyes as she attempted to see what she could make of him. Unfortunately; very little at pure face value with the exception of one...
"You need a shave" Kalia said suddenly and abruptly, causing Shinji and Kaji to halt in their conversation and stare at her in silence.
"So every girlfriend I've had since I was twenty tells me" Kaji replied, his smile reappearing.
"And how many decades ago was that?" Kalia enquired smiling cutely, predictably causing Kaji's smile to melt again as he felt part of his positive self-image spontaneously shatter.
"Kalia! I'm sorry Kaji she's ahh..." Glancing around quickly he threw out the first word that came to mind,"...French"
Kaji's face went blank for a moment in sheer bafflement before giving a small chuckle under his breath, "Explains the feistiness, she is a cute one Shinji" Kaji said inclining his head as he shook off the insult to his young manliness.
"I'm what?" Kalia enquired to Shinji in a bewildered tone.
"I-it's not important, anyway she's going to be living with me from now on"
"Oh? Is that so, well I'm sure you're all going to get along just fine. So... If you're not here on a date, why are you here miss Kalia?"
Smiling, she closed her eyes and leaned against the wall in a relaxed poise, "He can tell you" she said simply inclining her head towards the pilot; exerting effort making up lies to suit situations she didn't really care about seemed a pointless menial task, and she had Shinji to take care of those now"
'gee thanks' Shinji grumbled in thought, "Ahh, she's just here... Because she was away when her parents were killed in Second Branch's loss, She's... An orphan, assigned to be with NERV I'm... Ahh... guessing she's a pilot candidate or something and I was just showing her out and having no where else to go she's being sent to live with us" Shinji said, picking up the pace as he made it up as he went along.
Kaji did a double take as he raised his eyebrows, "Oh, I see... I'm sorry about your loss Kalia, but I'm sure Shinji here will do his best to make you feel right at home" he said lightly, his tone coming from the pleasant surprise as to how well Shinji spun such a decent lie on the spot; using second branch as a ruse with it being gone there would be no sure or easy way to check up on her past.
"Why thank you sir!" Kalia said with her usual mask of innocence.
Shinji rolled his eyes at her quick change as the elevator came to a halt and all three left, Kaji stopping just outside them at a crossroads in the corridor, "Well you'll have to excuse me, I still have work to do"
"Okay, I'll see you later Kaji" Shinji said smiling slightly.
"Later Shinji, and it was nice meeting you too miss Kalia"
"You too" she said back brightly.
"And give Asuka my regards; she's been a bit depressed ever since the last battle, you saw how badly that last angel beat her, her pride took a big hit, so try and cheer her up okay?"
"How do I do that?"
"Well... I'm guessing she's started to take to doubt her own skills and may go down the self-blame route, so try and shift the blame of her loss away from her, anywhere, thats all I can think of"
"O-okay, ill try my best"
"I'm sure you will Shinji" he said supportively as he turned around and headed off. This avenue of intelligence gathering had yielded little in the way of results besides that of her somewhat unstable personality, so now it was on to the usual route of surveillance footage, medical and other records from which he would have to draw his own conclusions...
---
"So..." Kalia began, as they walked out onto the brightly sunlit streets of Tokyo-3, "Who's this 'Asuka' then?"
"She's... Your other housemate"
"Another one? How many are there?"
"Just Misato, Asuka and me. Unless you include Misato's pet Pen-Pen"
"I'll stick with counting the humans. And this Asuka, is she as much 'damaged goods' as that Kaji said"
"To be perfectly honest you remind me of her sometimes; the quick personality switching and violent tendencies that is, though she doesn't really go so far as the whole grievous bodily harm and mutilation like you do"
"Hmph, you make me sound like a monster"
Shinji sighed, "No, monsters would probably run from you, I'm just saying Asuka's a little bit... Unstable, so please, please will you at least try and get along with her and I'm saying no cracks about age, her looks, strength or weakness just... don't. If you need a verbal punching bag that much for god's sake just use me, lord knows I'm used to it"
"She sounds pretty screwed up to me and stop making me sound so evil, I promise, ill be good." she said in a tone so sweet you could lose a foot to diabetes.
"Even if she insults you?" Shinji enquired critically
"I can take a few low blows" she replied simply.
"Even if she swings for you?" he pushed
"Unless she uses one of those EVA things you told me about I doubt that'll pose much of a problem" she said just as simply again.
"Alright... I'll trust you Kalia"
"Hey, you're saying that like it's a hard thing to do; I said I can be good, so I will be good, I'll even think of a way to cheer her up if her pride's been bruised that badly"
"You will?" Shinji asked disbelievingly.
"Well I am able to calculate probabilities and analyze combat situations to find the best outcomes in less than a split second; so why don't you tell me how she lost, what the enemy was capable of and the general situation and I'll think something up" She explained surely.
Shinji stopped to look at her for a second, "...Okay" he said, smiling slightly at her as he turned back forwards and headed onward recounting all the details he could remember and what he had been told had happened during the assault of the 14th Angel...
---
"Then she's a moron" Kalia concluded as they approached Shinji's apartment complex
"Hey! I thought-"
"I meant she's a moron for getting knotted up and blaming herself, the outcome couldn't have been any different in my opinion based on what you tell me about the enemy and its main attack methods.
"Tell that to her" Shinji grumbled.
"Don't worry; I will"
And with that they entered the apartment building...
---
"Well... Here we are" Shinji said as he walked in and dropped his bag at his side.
"Hmm... Not bad, certainly better than that last dump we were at"
"I take it you're talking about NERV central, but anyways, just make yourself at home"
"Okay..." She said cautiously as she stepped over the threshold, glancing around herself, flinching slightly as the door suddenly slid shut behind her.
Shinji laughed softly, "You know for someone with the whole tough girl attitude, you're pretty jumpy"
Kalia's eyes suddenly stopped glancing around as she quickly stepped ahead of Shinji and swung around to face him, inadvertently causing him to bash face first into her cleavage.
Shinji shook his senses back online to notice Kalia staring angrily down at him, "Look, in case you've forgotten, I don't know where I am, where I came from and have long term memories that can be measured back in hours... And that's not the worst part" She said, suddenly looking solemn and averting her eyes.
"W-what? What is it Kalia?"
"I've lost something... Something big"
"What? You mean your memories?"
"Not just that... There was something else, something's missing; a part of myself is gone... Every time I get angry, every time I want to destroy something... It feels as if it was burning from there; a huge gaping empty hole in my soul... My old purpose; that hole was where my previous programming was; something I was meant to do above all else, but now its gone, my reason was gone, leaving just me"
"You've... Told me this before... Haven't you?" Shinji said slowly as he stared at the girl.
"You remember now, don't you?"
Shinji nodded once in reply, "And You're saying the only thing you could find to fill that hole was-"
"-You... Yes" Silence fell, as suddenly the quiet was broken as Shinji suddenly started laughing to himself, louder and louder, Kalia looked back at Shinji disbelievingly, "WHAT!"
"I-I'm sorry, but I was just thinking... I must make one lousy friekin' substitute! No wonder there's still a big gap!" Shinji said between laughs as Kalia suddenly started chuckling also.
Slowly her laugh died down leaving only a small smile in its place," I think... You're better than nothing though"
Shinji suddenly blinked as he stared at the android girl for a moment stunned at what he could swear was the first genuine smile she had given since they had met, before smiling back in kind, "Better than nothing... Its sad... But I think that that's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me"
Her smile suddenly became a smirk as she reached up and jerked him forward slightly into her arms, pressing herself right up against him, she slowly raised a hand to his cheek as he raised his eyes to meet hers, breathing a small sigh as she ran her finger up the side of his face as she brought her own face close to his own, resting her cheek against his, she breathed softly in his ear, causing him to shudder in her arms as she whispered slowly so only he could hear, "You know what I think... I think... I'd like to make you mine" Unfortunately however, as she pulled back, still smirking mischievously at the now wide eyed awe struck pilot, another person thought apt to make a rather untimely entrance.
"What the HELL?"
---
Kalia turned her head around to the form standing behind her curiously, "Ahh, you must be Asuka!" she said cheerily, swinging around, however not choosing to release her iron vice-like grip on what she considered her new favourite possession, effectively swinging him around with her.
Shinji attempted to ease himself free in vain, so did the next best thing and slowly wriggled around 180 degrees in her grip so he was facing forwards... And gulped.
"Oh... Hi Asuka! It's... Ahh, been a while" he said with a distinctly red face as Asuka's mouth opened and closed as she fought to find words to say.
"I..Ahh... Who the hell are you?" she snapped, finally settling on anger as her usual fallback.
"My names Kalia, a pleasure to meet you!"
"And what, pray tell, are you doing here?" the redhead enquired through gritted teeth.
"She's... Our new housemate" Shinji said meekly, averting his eyes, predicting an obviously bad reaction.
His prediction, was correct, "SHE'S WHAT!" came her demanding roar which caused even the android girl to wince, "Since WHEN!"
"Since the commander ordered it" Came Misato's voice from behind as she stood over the three having silently entered seconds earlier.
"B-but why?" Asuka gasped glancing from the girl to the major and back again.
"The official explanation is that her parents were killed in the loss of the Second Branch, she was apparently on the outskirts at the time and because of the blast wave she suffered significant memory loss. Being the only survivor she was recently transferred to NERV Central's infirmary for further tests... She was just released. Having no one else to take care of her the commander saw us as the only safe and remotely stable environment to put her in" She explained, her tone purveying a lack of amusement yet still had an accepting sound to it.
Asuka's eyes narrowed at the girl as she stared her up and down, "Amnesiac huh? Great, so now we're taking in brain damaged strays, what next?"
Shinji felt Kalia's grip tighten on him somewhat, else she kept her cool and her smile in place, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience" She said lightly, bowing slightly her grip inadvertently forcing Shinji to do the same.
"And you've known each other, how long?" Asuka offered, a steel smile on her face.
Kalia cocked her head, her smile never faltering, "About a day I guess"
"you're awfully... Clingy, considering you've only known each other a day" She said through her teeth, her smile having clearly lost it's emotion.
Kalia giggled, "Ahh well I guess I just took a liking to him, why? Jealous?" she enquired rhetorically, her smile becoming a slight smirk Shinji couldn't see.
"WHAT! ME? Jealous of you for what? You can keep the dork for all I care!" She shouted angrily, folding her arms and turning away sharply.
"An orphan..." Shinji lamented quietly, "That sounds just like-"
"-Shinji..." Misato suddenly said calmly, stopping him in mid sentence, "...I'd like to talk to you outside for a moment alone" She commanded more than requested, inclining her head towards the front door.
"Okay.." He replied, attempting to turn away also, but found himself still stuck, he managed to turn his head round just enough to look at the girl holding him, "Kalia... As nice a combined back warmer and posture corrector as you make; I really need you to let me go for a moment"
Kalia hummed and glanced off to the side as if in thought before nodding once and opening her arms allowing Shinji free to follow his commanding officer outside, leaving probably the two most volatile people on the planet in a locked room together...
---
"I was going to say, what you said sounds just like what I made up when Kaji asked me about her" Shinji said as they stopped a few metres away from the door.
"And apparently Kaji told the commander what you had said and he took a liking to the excuse and had it sent out as the new truth, you can guess what other details about her have now been classified top secret"
"I like the amnesia touch he threw in, makes the lie even easier "Shinji said in a begrudging tone, "And I'm sorry; its kind of my fault she's staying here now, I was the one who told my father where she wanted to stay; with me namely and how it didn't have approval-"
Misato interrupted, "-and he approved it on the spot eh? Yeah, I guessed it went something like that, don't worry I don't have that much of a problem with it. God knows where she's gonna sleep though; Asuka took the only spare room when she moved in" It was at that that Misato saw Shinji's face suddenly pale quickly, "What?"
"Nothing, I just had a bad premonition of how our new guest might suggest we solve the sleeping arrangements"
Misato laughed quietly at her charge's reaction as her look suddenly became serious, "Shinji..."
"Y-yes?"
"I understand you two have become close, and I'm not just talking your little hugging display, she may have confided in you and you may have begun to place your trust in her, but Shinji... You've got to remember; we still don't know what she is, beyond that she was originally designed to be some kind of weapon and then we don't know what she was going to be used to do..."
"...Whatever it was" Shinji suddenly interrupted, "...It wasn't very nice, I think she was originally meant to do something terrible, something so horrible even without her memories she can still feel the rage from before"
Misato was now looking seriously at her young charge, "...Shinji, if you know that then you have to-" she was however interrupted again.
"Its just intuition Misato. But I think, whatever inclination she had to do something that terrible... Was removed, and I think, it was EVA which removed it"
"W-what do you mean?"
"Like I said, its just intuition, but I think, when she came to be in the EVA from wherever it was she came from, the EVA must've detected and removed it from her, like some sort of defensive mechanism"
"you cant be sure..." Misato said, yet still lulling over what Shinji had said.
"No, but id like to be right. She's... A little coarse, but I'd like to think we could be friends at least"
Misato couldn't help but smile warmly at the Third's sentiment, "I hope so too, if she can learn to mind her mouth at least"
"Ahh, yeah, about the whole 'old lady' thing, she didn't really know it was a touchy subject here and I'm sure she's sorry about it"
"Well, if anyone can teach someone some manners I'm sure it's you Shinji"
"I'll try..."
"We'd better head back inside; leaving her and Asuka alone together for too long cant be a good idea" Misato said as she turned and started back for the door, "Is it true you told Kaji she was French?" She asked suddenly grinning
"I've no idea; It was the first thing that came to mind"
"French?"
"like I said; no idea..."
---
While the conversation outside was occurring...
Kalia had went back to rocking on the balls of her heels with her hands clasped in front of her as Asuka attempted to build the urge to turn away with mock disinterest and storm off back to her room where she had been wallowing almost non stop over the past month when she wasn't in getting tested or her occasional visits to Unit-01. Having questions about the strangers bizarre fashion statements at the front of her mind she had one more pressing question, "Just what the hell is up with you and the Third Child!"
"Nothing... Yet, I just kinda like him"
"Oh of course Shinji's just so loveable! Shinji's just so special! Oh and if they bother to ask you to pilot an EVA; don't bother 'cause our invincible Shinji will simply sweep down riding in on a white horse and save the day like usual!"
"Pfft! Are you still bummed about losing that last fight, yeesh! Its not like there was anything you could've done"
"And just WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN!" Asuka indignantly shouted as she marched up to the girl.
"Jeez red, take a chill, what I meant was tactically speaking you were simply placed directly into a no-win situation, you did good just to get out alive"
"Oh a 'no-win situation', such things don't stop our almighty Shinji from winning though does it!"
"Since when did I say the enemy was indestructible... I'll explain further shall I? I meant you were placed into a no-win situation. This angel thing was clearly in preference for devastating long and medium range attack patterns, you were placed directly into its preferential line of fire where it knew you could do no damage, the only reason Shinji won was because at the last second he managed to get in at extreme close range behind any of its attacks. Your loss was nothing more than a sheer misjudgement on the part of your superiors, had your 'invincible Shinji' been there at the same time there was just as easy a chance the same would've happened to him"
Asuka tried to come up with a furious retort but could only avert her eyes, "So what are you trying to say then?" she asked quietly.
"I'm saying Red, that you have dumb superiors; shit happens; and get over it!"
"Great, now I'm getting pity from complete strangers..."
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not sympathising, I'm just correcting"
"Yeah... Well I guess I could do to question Misato's and the Commander's orders a bit more; then we'll see just how good Shinji is when he's not just running on a streak of luck caused by me being used as cannon fodder"
"Hmm" Kalia hummed acceptingly, reasonably sure she had accomplished the task she had set out to do...
---
Later that evening once everyone had settled down, Misato, Asuka and Shinji for dinner and Kalia in front of the television giving a simple excuse to Asuka that she had already eaten substantially.
It was slightly later that Asuka endeavoured to clean up the self made destruction she had inflicted on her room over the last month in a fit of depressed rage, for some reason feeling somewhat silly about it now as Misato settled into her nightly paperwork as a certain question was finally raised by Asuka as if on an afterthought as she carried out another bag full of garbage out of her room to the trash, "So... Where is she going to sleep?"
Kalia spoke up first before the others could get a word in, "Well that's easy I'm sleeping with-"
"-Misato!" Shinji suddenly spoke up to his guardian, silencing Kalia before she could say something he would surely regret, "Could you give me a hand getting one of the futons out of the storage closet; Kalia can have my bed; I'll be sleeping on the floor in my room"
"O-okay" Misato said unsurely as she pulled herself from round the kitchen table to help the pilot as Asuka suddenly spoke up.
"W-wait a minute! That means you'll be together... In the same room!" she elaborated with a stunned shout.
Shinji just groaned painfully "Trust me Asuka; this is me compromising here; Kalia doesn't even like being more than a few feet from me, so this is me finding the only way I can to not have her joined at my hip 24-7"
"Pfft fine! It's still perverted though!" Asuka protested as she swung back around and headed out to dump her garbage.
"Now I'm trusting you Shinji" Misato said as she rolled out the futon on the floor of his room, Shinji following in with a couple of pillows.
"To what!" Shinji gaped.
"Ooh I think you can guess" The major teased with a mischievous smirk.
"You should be telling that to her" Shinji muttered as he flattened out his new sleeping area stabbing a finger over his shoulder.
"Yes Kalia, now no jumping Shinji in the middle of the night you hear"
"Ooh I'll try to resist it" she said as she rocked back and forth on her knees on Shinji's bed testing it's support before flopping onto her back.
"Umm... Don't you want to get changed for bed?" Misato asked as she stopped at the door on her way out of the room.
Kalia blinked, "Changed? Into what?"
Misato hummed in thought for a second, "Good point, you'll just have to sleep as you are, I'll measure you up tomorrow and go and buy you a few things, cant have you wearing the same thing every day and night can we?"
"'kay" Kalia chimed as Shinji left to get changed for bed.
---
It was an hour and a half later after, long after Shinji had fallen asleep with surprising ease that night along with his redheaded co-worker, that Kalia, who was still wide awake, finally gave up at attempts at going to sleep and quietly proceeded to slide off the bed she was laying on top of and creep around the third child and out of his door.
The only other conscious resident of the household of whom had been sitting at the kitchen table with her laptop open catching up on her late night paperwork and, having sat in silence for over an hour hence had her senses particularly sharp at the time, heard the subtle shuffling sound of Shinji's door opening then closing a second later.
Misato silently slid from around the table and creep to the edge of the kitchen and peeked into the corridor just in time to catch sight of their newest resident opening the front door and silently walking out. Quickly Misato sleeked up to the door and watched through the eyehole as the figure walked off to the opposite side of their floor and, after a moment of hesitation, followed the upward stairwell.
Giving her a few seconds to get clear, the Major swiped up her jacket and slid on her trainers before quietly following on behind her.
Creeping up the stairs the Major quickly saw the sight of the security door to the roof widely ajar, moonlight poring in from outside. Resting her back against the wall Misato slowly slid up the stairs against it, just enough so she could peek round and out of the open door at the top.
The major's eyes narrowed in mild shock at the sight which befell her, the rooftop itself was empty, but on the far corner post of the chain link fence which surrounded it, standing in perfect balance stood Kalia; bathed under the blue moonlight giving an eerie ethereal look about her as she stared blankly out over the horizon.
'What is she doing?'
"It's bad manners to stare Misato..." Kalia suddenly lamented, not even turning to look at her.
Misato flinched back in shock with the old 'hand in the cookie jar' feeling, tempted to flee back to her apartment but, seeing little point in it she sighed and turned round out the door and strode calmly across the roof, stopping a few metres away from the girl and resting her hands in her pockets, "Let me guess... Couldn't sleep?"
"Can you blame me?"
"I guess not, but I would have picked a slightly better spot to meditate on the fact"
"That's not why I'm here..."
"Oh?"
"I can't sleep... Because of the noise"
Misato blinked and glanced around, straining to hear something but only being greeted with dense silence, "Noise? What are you talking about?"
"I take it you know about my special ability"
Misato frowned slightly, "Yeah, I heard about your little charge up back at NERV, so I'm guessing you just have some ability to drain and store electrici-"
"-energy Misato... I can drain, convert, stock and use any form of energy, electricity is only one of them"
"I... see... So what's this got to do with this noise you're talking about?"
"The gems, on my gauntlets and shoulders are what are key to attracting and storing that energy and when I'm inert, or resting, my senses become extremely heightened; its a defence mechanism; also makes me one hell of a light sleeper... Anyway; in the air here... There's energy; little threads; thousands of them... Voices... White noise... When I'm resting; the gems read the energy ARGH! Its so loud! This world is so damn loud! I can't block them out!" the demon girl said desperately, grasping her head and shaking it from side to side.
Misato reached up, but held her hand back, "Wa-wait, just calm down... Wait; threads of energy... Voices in the air... Do you mean... Transmissions? You can intercept and decode transmissions in the air?"
"Only when I'm in a rested state, it's involuntary" Kalia said with a sneer.
"Well, why don't you just take them off?"
"What?" she enquired turning to the Major.
"You know, if those red gem things are what are causing the trouble why don't you just take them off at night?"
Kalia glanced off to the side, "I told you; I have nothing else to wear; and this outfit doesn't come with matching underwear you know... Don't worry; I can manage for one night, if you find me some alternative to wear tomorrow then there wont be a problem"
"And tonight?" Misato asked, surprised at how easily concerned she found herself.
"Don't worry; tonight... I'll be fine"
"Okay..." Misato said nodding her head, "Come back inside, if you stay out too long you'll catch a cold... If that's possible for you"
"It's not... But don't worry, go on; I'll follow behind in a little while"
Misato turned to walk away, "okay, I'll leave the door unlocked when you feel like coming in" and with that she headed off.
Kalia watched until the Major disappeared from the rooftop as an idea suddenly struck her; this evident with the smirk the quickly spread across her face.
Hopping off the fence she walked out to the dead centre of the roof and stopped. Slowly she raised her hands in front of her with her fingertips touching together as suddenly her gauntlet's gems began to glow slightly as a small crackling transparent sphere of energy formed in the gap between her hands. She stared down as the ball spun round slowly as, abruptly, she pulled her hands apart and outward like a wingspan the ball silently exploded outwards with a silent transparent wave; passing through her and across the rooftops around her and extending almost invisibly to the edges of Tokyo-3.
The girl dropped her hands back to her sides and glanced around; closing her eyes and breathing deeply she smiled satisfactorily and headed off the roof back to her apartment...
Her gems still glowed slightly though it was so dim it was almost impossible to discern from normal as they worked to maintain the wave she had created...
---
Quietly the white haired girl stalked back into her room and flopped softly onto her bed and closed her eyes; smiling contentedly as she basked in the silence that now surrounded her for a few seconds before surrendering herself to sleep.
To those In the Katsuragi household this would be wordlessly remembered as one of the most tranquil nights of rest any of them had or would ever have.
To the rest of the world, well... For them, it would simply be remembered as one of the most mysterious and unexplained 8-hour communications blackouts in the history of Tokyo-3...
---
(AN) And that as they say, is that, for this chapter anyways. Anyhoo I hope it didn't disappoint too much, though I guess that's what reviews are for...
Anyway, coming up in the next chapter, with Kalia's hospital visit leaving her in a bad way the untimely attack of the 15th angel forces her to take some drastic action as the true depths of her malicious nature are revealed...
C U then!