"…And that is the extent of our report on the attack of the Sixteenth Angel."

With a flick of his fingers over the holographic screen, Kozo Fuyutsuki waved away the helping materials he had utilised for his explanation and put both hands behind his back, awaiting the feedback of the Committee. He stood next to the chair usually occupied by the Commander of NERV, which now remained empty.

"It is good to see that NERV was able to handle this crisis, extend our congratulations to your team," the French representative of the Committee praised, before nodding his head to the empty seat. "However, I would also like to voice the concern that no doubt has been in the minds of all present since the start of this conference: why are you the one currently reporting to us, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki? Where is Ikari?"

"I apologise on his behalf," Fuyutsuki replied with a bow. "Commander Ikari is currently exceedingly busy handling the aftermath of the attack and directed me to report on his behalf. Had this meeting been scheduled in a day's time, he would have likely been able to be present himself."

"Nonsense," the American scoffed from the other end of the table. "Commander Ikari should already be aware that his priorities always lie with us."

"He knows that by heart, believe me. However, the last attack left the Headquarters drained and morale at an all-time low. Commander Ikari simply believed that personally touring the complex and ensuring the full commitment of the crew towards their duties was the best way to serve his purpose at this time."

"...Of course," China interjected. "We will accept this farce on this occasion, but it will not be a repeated occurrence."

"Certainly. If that will be all?"

"That will be all, indeed," Keel Lorenz spoke with finality, waving Fuyutsuki away with his hand. "Dismissed."

With a nod and one last formal bow, Fuyutsuki ended his connection to the conference and his avatar vanished from sight. A few seconds passed to ensure the man's departure before one by one, the remaining members of SEELE formally joined the meeting, foregoing their secretive black monoliths in favour of showing their faces to each other. It had been an unspoken agreement to do so since the death of the Sixteenth, the need for absolute secrecy and anonymity appearing less and less important in light of the quickly approaching culmination of their plans.

It was the fate of these men to spend eternity ruling together. It would not do to go into it without even knowing each other's faces.

"Ikari grows bolder with each passing day. Or do you think he was wary of showing his face before us after what he did?" SEELE-04 seethed. "In any case, how long are we to allow his insubordination?"

"It's already been far too long, in my opinion," SEELE-07 concurred. "Even if I'm loathe to admit it, though, managing to achieve the indefinite delay of two of our S2 engines was a masterful stroke on his part. Perhaps we underestimated Ikari's talents for subterfuge."

"Masterful or not, it changes nothing," SEELE-05 replied, with an expression that revealed his own thoughts on the matter. "The ceremony can still be initiated with only seven of our units."

"The situation leaves us with no room for further complications, however," 07 continued. "Therefore, I propose that we should move to hasten our initial timetable as much as possible."

"Is that a wise thing to do?" SEELE-11 questioned from the side.

"Would you rather give Ikari another opportunity to ruin everything we have achieved?"

"Of course not! But we cannot afford all our work to be undone by rash decision-making, either. Our schedules were made as they are for a reason."

A hum from one of the ends of the table brought the short discussion to a stop, all present turning to find SEELE-06, the Russian representative, deep in thought. He appeared to have been deep in his own contemplation since the very beginning of the meeting, completely oblivious to what was being discussed.

"Is there something on your mind?" the member right next to him prodded, bringing SEELE-06 back to reality.

"Mm? Oh, sorry if I was rude, it wasn't my intention." The man shook his head when he noticed all the attention on him. "I was just thinking about the... incident with the S2 engines and the link that our esteemed colleague quickly established with Ikari."

"Do you believe my assessment to be wrong?" SEELE-07 posed. 06, on the other hand, took a few seconds to reorganise his thoughts.

"…I'll admit, Ikari was the first culprit that came to my mind, as well, but this doesn´t feel like his usual MO. Ikari has never been one to openly strike at us, much less so in such an obvious manner."

"I agree, the finer details of this sabotage operation are completely unlike Ikari." SEELE-03 affirmed, then rebutted. "But couldn't it be that he just feels threatened by our position of power? That he's desperately lashing out with no regards for subtlety anymore because he fears his own plans are about to be undone?"

"The amount of heavy-duty weaponry our informants reported as being covertly smuggled into NERV further points to his guilt, I would say," SEELE-12 coincided. "What purpose could those arms serve other than as resistance to our inevitable coming? I bet those 'morale-boosting tours' he side-lined us for are mere recruitment drives for his own scenario, as well."

"...I don't know, that certainly could be the case. And I don't mean to completely dismiss your initial claims, since I have no proof I could use to point fingers at any other guilty party, but..." SEELE-06 trailed off, his eyes narrowing at an invisible point before him. "...Something stinks here, and I don't like it."

"All the more reason to move our plans forward at a brisk pace, I say." SEELE-07 concluded, requesting a show of hands from the other members. "Who else is with me?"

Slowly, hand after hand rose within the confines of the conference room, until the number of members in favour of the proposal won out with a comfortable eight to four ratio.

"Very well, then," Keel accepted, both his hands clasped together on top of his desk. "Send word to Tabris. He leaves for Tokyo-3 at the earliest opportunity."

-O]|[O-

Piano music filled a lonely room, away from prying eyes and ears, the composer lost to the world as he devised a warm melody. His phone buzzed with the signs of an incoming message, but the pianist didn't allow the unwelcome interruption to break his focus, shifting his eyes for a mere second in acknowledgement but never stopping the movement of his deft fingers. It wasn't until minutes later, when the final notes of his song had fully vanished from the room, that the young man finally stood up and inspected the text.

It was a short message, a simple directive, rather. One that, while anticipated, still managed to bring a wry smirk to his face.

"They didn't even bother with a front this time. No fake ID, no convenient story, just 'go to Tokyo-3 and fulfil your purpose'." The young man pocketed the phone and moved to a comfortable seat that afforded him a view of the night sky outside his room. "Well, it's not like I get a choice, so who am I to argue?"

This would be one of his final nights in this world, he mused as he watched the relaxing twinkling of the stars, even if the thought didn't bother him, contrary to what could have been expected. Death had been a constant companion for as long as he could remember, so the summons to Tokyo-3 didn't fill young Kaworu Nagisa with dread, but rather joy at the opportunity that the yoke of his purpose always brought with it.

Kaworu quickly found his favourite star, the one that shone brightest and the second faithful companion of his existence, forever there to both greet him and bid him farewell. This time it would be no different, the young man accepted with a contented smile.

"I look forward to meeting you again, Ikari-kun."


A/N: The Big Break was longer than I expected. Sorry for being silent for an entire year, but my schedule got even rougher than I could have foreseen at the turn of the year and writing time has been virtually non-existant. The good news is that a new, large update is going to be following this short interlude (that I just realised I never posted), and that I have more time on my hands over the coming months. It's not all going to be used for writing, since there are some other things I want to get done, as well, but the next chapter after the one coming this weekend shouldn't be one year away. Fingers crossed, anyway.

Thanks in advance to all the readers who decide to stick around after such a long pause. I'll see you again in a few days.