A/N: Potential pre-readers, e-mail me and I'll send you my chapters one day before publication. My email can be found in my account page. Not much action this chapter – but lots of plot development and dropped hints. If you pay attention throughout the course of the story, you should be able to figure out by yourself much of the stuff I've kept hidden in the plot. And remember: The number of reviews I receive is directly proportional to my updating speed.

As virtuous men pass mildly away, and whisper to their souls to go, whilst some of their sad friends do say, the breath goes now, and some say no. -John Donne

"At 24:01 Standard Time, the MAGI neurorecievers lost the nerve-link signal from Evangelion Unit 01. Camera datarecords that of time show Unit 01's successful completion of his assigned mission, and subsequent activation of Thermoptic camouflage. At this point, we were no longer able to track Agent Ikari."

Ritsuko brushed a strand of artificial blond hair behind her ear, and made to continue. In the darkness of the presentation room, the old-fashioned slide projector cast a feeble light upon her lab coat. It was from this illumination that Fuyutsuki picked out Ritsuko's slender arm pointing to the spot where, at exactly 24:01:31, the Third Child had disappeared.

Fuyutsuki a-hemed. "Now, Dr. Akagi, we don't need to hear about the rest of the night. Could you please skip over to the time when we detected this neuroreciever deficit?"

Akagi nodded. "Strangely enough, the MAGI did not report the signal loss for six hours and thirteen minutes. We have suspicions of external tampering or hacking, but nothing has been confirmed as of yet. Furthermore, the on-duty MAGI administrator at the time, Maya Ibuki, reported that the signal loss was only evident through live feeds and that the records never indicated such a discrepancy."

Fuyutsuki sighed and glanced at the time.

3:45 already? He rubbed his eyes. It's true what they say about getting older – time really does pass faster.

"We alerted Major Katsuragi at 7:13, after receiving verification from all three MAGI of the signal loss. This was done by means of telephone, the agreed medium. Major Katsuragi immediately set out to search for the Third, taking with her the second. It should be noted that Katsuragi's subsequent excursion through town caused two major accidents and the cancellation of the Spring Day parade. The Major ceased her activity on top of the Takeshimoto building, where 01 was last spotted. There, she encountered Special Agent Kaji Ryouji, whom we had officially deployed to search for the now-missing 01. It should be noted that the on-duty MAGI administrator at the time, Shigeru Aoba, voiced the opinion that Evangelion Unit 01 had defected. The perpetrator was immediately disciplined for his brash and tactless behavior."

Fuyutsuki cocked a feathery white eyebrow. "Now comes the interesting part," he murmured to the man at his side.

The slide projector clicked in the huddled darkness, and a grotesque scene panned out in front of the assembly's tired eyes.

"Evangelion Unit 01 was eventually discovered unconscious at 8:32 AM, in a ruined convenience store. The store owner, Takemachi Shintari, was understandably furious at the damage inflicted to his property. Mr. Shintari had recently undergone extensive surgery and was virtually bankrupt, relying on his convenience store's cashflow to meet day-to-day expenses. NERV agreed to compensate him the sum of 750,000 Yen in immediate damage repairs with an additional 50,000 Yen a month for three months for health and medicinal costs. "

"Agent Ikari was discovered with an incredible level of physical trauma leveled upon his body and unprecedented damages to his core structure entailing the loss of one cybernetic arm, a set of broken ribs, two broken wrists, a sprained ankle, a shattered shin and thigh, two broken fingers (2A and 2E) and a mild concussion. Minor grazes and cuts were evident in most of the exposed areas in his plug. He was holding a greyish spherical object, which we have determined to be-"

A steady, insistent knocking at the door. Three beats, perfectly spaced, with no more force than a light tap. Fuyustuki groaned. He knew that knock.

"Come in, Rei."

The door swung open to reveal one Rei Ayanami, a carefully folded piece of paper grasped in one hand and a grim expression upon her face.

"Comrade Fuyutsuki. We need to talk…"

A discordant, tortured screech emerged from the surgical machine as it slowly prised Shinji's arm – from socket to fingertip – off. He leaned idly against the counter as the cybernetic appendage was tossed into a disposal bin, a fresh limb procured from a compartment across the room.

"You never told me, baka, what this thing you fought exactly was."

Shinji rubbed his forehead against the cool plastic of the countertop, scowling. "That's because I honestly don't know, Asuka. It was sort of metallic, but surrounded by this gel. The thing exploded after I pulled its processor out, and I never got a good look at it because it was trying to kill me for an hour and thirty-two minutes. I wonder who sent it…if it was sent at all, that is."

Asuka shrugged as she folded her arms. "Well, whatever it was, it must have been tough to damage you that heavily. Oh wait – what am I thinking? This is you we're talking about, after all." She sighed dramatically and threw her hands up in a gesture of hopelessness, as if signing what can you do? Then, she seemed to remember something urgent, as she reeled on him, bristling.

"HEY! How come you get to have all the fights, anyways? First you go off on some 'secret mission' that even I don't know about, then you encounter this death machine – which seems to be a very worthy opponent to me – and get all down about it! Arrgh, at this rate, I'll never repay you for pulling me out of that boiler!"

Her tirade was cut short, however, by the sudden appearance of Misato and the man she loathed.

"Martial spat?" Kaji jokingly enquired. Misato looked torn between two of her favorite pastimes: teasing Shinji and Asuka, and hating Kaji. Eventually hatred proved to be the stronger motivator, as she turned around and promptly slapped Kaji with her mechanically-enhanced strength.

"Just what are you implying about the conditions at my apartment, Kaji?" She spat.

"Oof! Jeez, Katsuragi, you still like to play rough! Hey, don't take your jealously as the third wheel in your household out on me!"

"Why, you..."

This following section has been censored by NERV Public Relations division, Section 11. Comments, Questions, Complaints? Call 011-81-3-459-5657.

2501 hummed steadily along information pathways, navigating the treacherous defenses of the MAGI barrier maze – designed by child prodigy Rei Ayanami herself – with almost laughable ease. He didn't know why he bothered with these little excursions – he had more relevant and updated information in his personal data files – but it was always amusing to see what the inimitable Special Section 09 filed away.

The facility with which he had executed his last hack-job into the supposedly "unhackable" MAGI spurned him on, as he accessed the glowing files folder demarcated as "Top Secret."

Seraphim clearance recognized. Enter Search terms?

-Ayanami, Rei

-Sohryu, Asuka Langely

-Ikari, Shinji

So, the Children. I wonder if the legendary "trump cards" of NERV will be able to pass my examination?