Geofront, AEL Headquarters
October 15, 2041
1526 hours

Sleep is a curious thing. Even after a century of research, even the best scientists barely know anything about the process – especially how and why it alters one's perception of time. As soon as one falls asleep, it's as if a switch is flipped to stop the brain from recording what it perceives afterwards. Prevailing opinion is that the brain reorganizes memories and clears out junk data during this time, meaning that what the sleeper doesn't remember is not worth remembering.

Or rather, the brain considers it not worth remembering. In any case, the sudden transition from one moment in time to another one hours away tends to leave the mind confused and cloudy for a short while.

That wasn't any different in Kaworu's case either. When his eyes slowly cracked open, it took him nearly five minutes until he was aware of his surroundings.

In his case however, sleeping wasn't the only reason why he felt groggy. His head pulsed with inner pain that spiked white-hot the instant his body twitched, causing him to let out an involuntary groan.

"Hey, hey..." – Shephard appeared in his field of vision. – "Take it easy, kid. How are you feeling?"

Kaworu moved his dry lips but his throat failed to comply on the first try. Only on the second did he croak – "...head hurts..."

"I know it does, hang in there. Got some water; thirsty?"

He nodded as much as he could and more felt than saw the straw slipping between his lips. Even swallowing was a great effort; he only managed to do it twice before sleep claimed him again.

Shephard set the glass of water down onto the bedside counter and quietly made his way out of the infirmary. The door barely closed behind him before he saw the approaching figure with a white labcoat.

"Kid woke up a while ago." – Shephard said, pointing a thumb at the door.

The doctor, a glasses-wearing man with heavily graying hair, nodded. – "Was he lucid? Did he say anything?"

"Complained about headache. Drank a bit then went back under, so I left him to sleep."

"I see. Thank you."

Shephard looked around and lowered his voice. – "Off the record. How is he?"

The doctor sighed. – "Well, the swelling finally went down. His intracranial pressure is still high, though, so he should rest for now. Frankly, it's a miracle he even survived a cerebral hemorrhage of that magnitude at this age."

What neither men knew was that while they talked outside, Kaworu's mind was not completely at rest. In the dreamless void his consciousness floated through, what looked like a blue ball of flame materialized before him.

"You have many questions, I know."

"I wonder what made you think that?" – Kaworu forced out. Even thinking was difficult for him at the moment.

"Now is not the time to be cheeky. Save your strength, for you will need it."

"For what?"

"This isn't over yet. Many battles await you in the future, so you cannot die now. You may call me Tabris. I am an Angel of the Eternal."

"Meaning?"

"I am not allowed to tell you more. All you need to know is that the entities you and your female comrade fought against are also Angels, but they are the enemy. Mine, as well as yours."

"Says who?"

Tabris scoffed. – "It's useless to dispute the fact. Your resistance has already made your world into a target. If you will not fight, you will die by their hands."

The flame then vanished, leaving him alone in the void.


Unknown location

"I hope you won't forget you owe me one, 'cause I sure won't."

"How dare you humiliate me like that?!"

"Leliel wasn't the one who was about to soil herself in terror at the prospect of dying like some dirty coward."

"No one asked you, Sahaquiel!"

"Enough of this." – a single voice rose above the others, all falling silent when the form behind the voice emerged from the shadows. – "One's cowardice is measured to another's by actions, not words. If you think you are different, prove it."

"As if YOU are any different, Zeruel!"

The presence rose from its place and towered over the speaker, who shrunk back ever so slightly. – "If you think you are a match for me, I am here. We can settle this like warriors, matching your strength to mine. Are you prepared?"

"Unfortunately for you, Lord Sammael has other tasks for me at this time." – Sahaquiel shot back with a mocking, yet audibly nervous, tone before leaving.

"Calling others a coward, yet shirking back from an open challenge... he is a coward himself." – Zeruel mused before turning to the only remaining other presence. – "And you... I expected better from you, sister."

Shamshel's battered form huddled up tighter, pieces of charred and carbonized flesh flaking off with every movement. – "I know, damnation... I know... when I'll get my hands on that little worm, I'll–"

"Do not shift the blame. Underestimate others at your own peril. To be outsmarted like this is no one's fault but your own."

"...understood."

"But I hope this has served as a lesson for Sammael as well. Those who lack the stomach for death do not belong on the battlefield; if he knowingly endangers your life after this, I will kill him."

"You know the consequences of defying him."

"I'm already living in dishonor because of him. If I have to die in service of my kin to cleanse that, I will be satisfied."

"And you think you can cleanse your honor by betraying your second master in a row? Not even the Eternal would trust you after that."


Geofront, AEL Headquarters
1546 hours

"Doc, the kid woke up. Thought you'd want to know."

"I see." – Yui replied without turning her chair away from the window framing her desk from behind. – "Did Sanada say anything about his state?"

"Who?"

"Doctor Sanada, the chief medical officer."

"Oh, that guy. Not really, just that the kid needs to sleep." – Shephard said as he sat down.

"I see."

"How come you guys have your own medical doctor, anyway?"

"We are a biotechnology company. If we have, say, a containment breach in the virology section, the doctor treating those affected needs to know what he's dealing with and we would prefer to handle it without having to release company secrets to a third party. Doctor Sanada is contractually bound to confidentiality, has access to most of our research material and sometimes also serves a consultant for medical research projects." – she explained.

"Riiight..." – Shephard said slowly, nodding in understanding. – "So that's why you have such a well-equipped infirmary."

"Indeed. Accidents happen, after all. However, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't show up at my office unannounced on a constant basis."

"Sorry about that."

Yui then turned to face him with a hard look. – "I would also appreciate it if you would explain your insubordination three days ago."

"It was a stressful situation and something had to be done." – the man said with a sigh.

"You yourself admitted that you were exceeding your authority."

"Those kids were in danger! I couldn't just sit there with my thumbs up my ass, now could I?!"

"I see your point but you still could've done it without publicly humiliating me in front of my employees!"

"For cryin' out loud, doc! Nagisa almost ended up six feet under and you're concerned about your reputation?!"

Yui only kept herself from raising her volume any further and yelling at him by gripping the armrests of her chair. – "Colonel, I'm a patient woman but do not insult me in front of my employees ever again. Understood?"

Shephard rolled his eyes in annoyance. – "Doc, I'm not a tourist. I'm not here to smile and enjoy the scenery."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why do you think the brass sent me in particular?"

"I don't know."

"Because they wanted to get rid of me." – Shephard folded his arms over his chest. – "I told you I have urban combat training, right? Well, that's not all: I was a Marine back in the nineties, seen actual combat during and after Second Impact! Considering most guys with formal military training came out of Second Impact with a bad case of being dead, I was practically dragged to the recruitment office, with promises that I'd be a drill instructor or something! Instead, the REMFs shifted me around from shit posting to shit posting with the occasional promotion to keep me quiet, finally saddling me with a desk job! Doesn't that sound the least bit suspicious to you?"

"There must be a reason-"

"A reason, you say?" – he interrupted. – "Oh, I don't know... maybe it has something to do with how they repeatedly refused my transfer requests to black ops, saying that I was 'personally biased' just because I wanted to find the fucker who shot my wife dead in front of her daughter?"

Yui instantly went several shades paler. – "Oh, my god..."

"And I'm not telling you this because I want you to hear my sob story. I just want you to know that I have nothing against you in particular; it's just that I have trouble trusting my superiors if they don't trust me either." – He sighed. – "The force is chock-full of people who lost someone during the Occupation; most of 'em signed up for revenge and the brass don't have problems with that – but they instantly take exception to one guy whose wife was killed by anti-unification terrorists instead of aliens, Terminator-wannabes or slugfuckers? I call shenanigans. The brass didn't send me because I'm qualified for this; they sent me because I'm on their shitlist and they know I know."

The man then leaned back and let out another sigh. – "So, there you go. Ask the brass to replace me, if you want; I don't really care."

"If you don't trust the military, why haven't you quit?" – Yui pointed out.

"It's not that easy, doc. A lifetime of military is not something you can just leave behind without a second thought. I enlisted right out of high school; playing soldier is the only thing I know how to do. Besides... the instant I quit, the commissariat are going to be all over my ass for the rest of my life. My girl wants to sign up when she comes of age and I don't want to kill her career before it even began by being a suspected subversive."

"I see..."

He shrugged. – "Besides, what I said about me not being qualified for this? I don't think you're any more qualified than I am. I mean, fighting monsters the size of an office building? None of us is qualified for that; not even the actual military, from what we've seen so far. The only thing we can do at this point is to improvise the best we can. And that's why I'm asking you this: when another combat situation comes up, put me into the chain of command. I know I'm officially here as an observer, but I can help you with more than that."

"What about your superiors?" – Yui asked.

Shephard's response was short and to the point. – "Fuck 'em."

"Language, colonel."

"Sorry. But I meant what I said: I'd rather not involve them. God knows which general could try and muscle into this for personal gain and I don't want that any more than you do."

"I understand. Exactly how much authority are we talking about?"

"Second to yours, covering only combat situations. You don't even need to pay me, if that's what you're worried about.

"...I'll think about it." – Yui said finally.

Shephard nodded at that, unfolding his arms to lean back. – "So, what do you think about our current situation? Off the record, of course."

"We're yet to figure out what exactly are these entities attacking us. It would be much easier if we had an actual tissue sample."

"Well, the military does have the corpse of the first one." – he pointed out. – "Should I make a call?"

"No need; I already asked President Keel about it. Apparently, the cadaver gradually dissolved into carbon dust a few hours after death occurred. There's nothing left to analyze."

Shephard sighed. – "Well, that sucks. What about this one?"

"We haven't found any remains; whatever Unit-01 did, it seems to have completely vaporized the entity."

"You mean what that spear did. What is that thing, anyway?"

"Something that should've been left buried and forgotten." – she replied quietly.

He leaned closer. – "Wait a second. You actually know what it is?"

Yui turned her chair around and gazed out the window. – "Colonel, have you ever heard about Aperture Science?"

The man shrugged. – "Doesn't ring any bells. Is it a company or something?"

"It was. Aperture Science was Black Mesa's largest corporate rival before Second Impact and were independently developing displacement technology on their own. Before the Impact, they were quite notorious for their... questionable methods."

"Let me guess: they made that spear?"

"No. Does the name Borealis sound familiar?"

Shephard raised an index finger in an "Eureka" moment. – "Waaaait... I heard about that one. That was the ship Freeman nuked at the end of the Occupation, right?"

"Indeed it was. Before Second Impact, the ship was owned by Aperture."

"I get it, but... where does that spear come into this?"

"On its last voyage before the Seven Hour War, the ship was dispatched to Israel to load something they excavated from below the Dead Sea and ferry it back to the US for study. Shortly after arriving back to home port however, the ship and drydock mysteriously vanished, only to turn up near the end of the Occupation... northeast of Arkhangelsk, a few dozen kilometers inland from the nearest body of water."

"You're pulling my leg, right?"

"I assure you that I am not. The Resistance had no idea what they were dealing with, but the Combine were interested in acquiring it. As a soldier, I'm sure you are familiar with the tactic of destroying a strategic asset for the sole purpose of denying it to the enemy."

He nodded. – "Scorched earth. Yeah."

"Well, the detonation destroyed the ship, as planned... but the cargo has survived without any damage whatsoever. It is the very spear Unit-01 used three days ago."

Shephard stayed silent for several seconds. – "You mean to tell me that there exists something that can survive a point-blank nuclear detonation without a scratch?"

"From what I've been told, the weapon is literally indestructible. It ruined over three dozen diamond saws, shrugged off shaped charges and plasma cutters, completely ignored every single acid and solvent it was subjected to and not even industrial-strength lasers could heat it even a millionth degree above ambient room temperature."

The man whistled. – "I'll be damned. What in the world is that thing made of?"

"We never figured out its material composition but it's clearly of artificial origin, forged by unknown metallurgical methods. Both of its edges are close to monomolecular sharpness and cut all test materials with zero effort, its tensile strength is immeasurably high and its melting point is far higher than any alloy or element known to man. Based on the last battle's observations, it is also a directed energy weapon of immense destructive power, it can deploy some sort of energy shield, it can alter its own shape without any visible means to do so and can apparently teleport itself if certain conditions are met. Simply put, that object is definitely not of this world."

"Then... where the hell did it come from?"

"The sediment layer Aperture excavated it from was dated to have formed around the time of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction event 250 million years ago – and ground-penetrating radar indicates it wasn't lodged into the layer. The layer itself formed around the spear, indicating that it has been resting there undisturbed far before humanity first walked the world."

"So... guess that means we're not alone out there. In this dimension, I mean." – He suddenly perked up. – "Waitwaitwaitwait a second... could it be possible that these things that are attacking us made the spear? Is that what they're coming here for?"

Yui hummed in thought. – "That's a good theory, colonel."

"In fact, I think I might be right." – he said after a moment, standing up and walking around the desk. – "Do you have footage from the battle three days ago?"

"I do." – she replied as she called up her terminal's screen.

"Look at it again. Fast-forward to the section where the spear shows up and pay attention to the alien."

They looked at the footage before Shephard pointed at the screen. – "I knew something wasn't right! That thing was trying to keep Nagisa away from the spear, did you see it?"

Yui rewound the file and watched it again before replying. – "Indeed. You have good eyes."


An hour later, the door of Yui's office opened again and a labcoated man walked in. – "I got your message, doctor Ikari."

"Thank you for coming. Is the report you sent accurate?"

Sanada nodded, setting down into the chair Shephard occupied an hour ago. – "Yes. Frankly, I have absolutely no idea how he survived several dozen blood vessels simultaneously bursting in his brain. I looked up all medical archives I could and nothing like this has ever happened during recorded history. Patients have died from much less."

"Do you have any idea what caused it?" – Yui asked.

"I'm not sure. From what I can see, the intact blood vessels have no signs of weakened structural integrity. That still leaves several options, but I have a hunch it could've been a spike in blood pressure."

"What makes you say that?"

"Plugsuit telemetry. He was under extreme physical stress at the time. I also ran over the data logs for the neural interface and it recorded an anomalous torrent of data going through in both directions."

"Seizure from sensory overload?"

Sanada shrugged. – "I'm not a neuroscientist but that's my best guess. The hemorrhage started in his visual cortex and spread like wildfire from there."

A short pause ensued before Yui quietly asked – "You realize who he is, don't you?"

Sanada nodded. – "Of course. Even if the brand wasn't a dead giveaway, I was there fourteen years ago. It was impossible not to notice when he came in. When did you find out?"

"Last month. The MAGI noticed his DNA didn't match up."

"I expected that. I suppose it's a miracle he never underwent any comprehensive DNA testing before or the government would be all over us by now."

Yui let out a sigh of frustration. – "You have no idea how much of a shock it was. I can't figure out how I didn't notice it earlier; hair color, eye color, even his name matches. After all these years..."

"You still regret what happened." – Sanada said in a tone that wasn't a question.

"How couldn't I? I was too angry at Gendo to realize what I was doing myself."

"What happened isn't your fault."

Yui shook her head. – "I'm the one who gave the order."

"And I'm the one who made the diagnosis." – Sanada pointed out. – "I'm just as responsible as you are. Are you going to tell him?"

"I think it's best if he doesn't know for now." – Yui replied after a while. – "No telling how he's going to react."

"He's going to be even more pissed that you hid this from him, you know."

"I know, but I just can't tell him. He might not even believe me anyway."

"Does Rei know?"

"She noticed something wasn't right about him the very day he showed up in her class. Says he 'feels different'. And there's something else." – She leaned closer. – "Two times now, Nagisa was recorded by plug telemetry to be talking to an unknown third party. At the same time, both Lilith and Adam recorded anomalous activity in his lower cerebral functions."

Sanada raised an eyebrow. – "Schizophrenia?"

"That's what I thought at first – but Lilith recorded the same activity in Rei's brain as well. Coupled with Rei's unease around him..." – she trailed off.

"You think he might have some kind of psychic ability?" – Sanada finished.

"I don't know, but Lilith says we shouldn't rule it out. We already know Rei has some kind of passive extrasensory ability that allows her to detect the presence of nearby humans-" – Yui suddenly interrupted herself as she came to a startling realization. – "I just remembered. Three days ago, Rei was already inbound by the time we called her. How could she have known we needed her?"

"Are you saying she somehow detected the presence of the alien entity?"

She nodded. – "It wouldn't be out of the question that if she can sense humans, she could sense other lifeforms as well. And judging from the timing, she did so from kilometers away."

A long silence ensued until Sanada remarked – "Then the experiment was more successful than we thought."


Chapter rewrite complete on 15/07/31.

I couldn't decide for a long time whether Shamshel should live or die; that's why I left the last chapter's ending ambiguous in that matter. In the end, I decided to let her live because it throws a curveball at the reader and explores new possibilities. This is what I meant about the Angels not being one-off throwaway characters; Zeruel in particular will be an important recurring character.

Yoshiro Sanada is an original character and will be a recurring cast member as well. He's 13 years Yui's senior, making him 56 years old by the time the story takes place.