Rebuild of Third Genesis

Eight

As the inventory of global NERV assets continued, Tokyo-3 was carrying out their own survey with all the staff they had available. Men and women were exploring all over the NERV pyramid, cataloging equipment and resources as well as searching for any 'surprises' left by the previous commander. Just so far they had found two labs and several storehouses, all not on the building's plans.

Taking a good look around the engineering bays Ritsuko pushed her blonde hair out of her face and said with a dramatic sigh, "Things really are a mess down here."

"Yes, Sempai," Maya quietly agreed with her, the shorter brown haired woman having been following behind Ritsuko most of the day to take notes of their little tour of the engineering wing of the city of Tokyo-3. The place had mostly escaped direct damage in the invasion of NERV, but it was badly shaken by all the lost personnel.

The two surviving EVAs were almost useless, putting it simply. The EVA-02 was still mostly just a pile of wreckage, only partially reassembled from it's near dismembering by the mass production EVAs. EVA-00 was in better shape due to efforts to rebuild it started before Third Impact, but they lacked a pilot for it.

Ritsuko shook her head irritably as she said, "I just wish we had more members of the original repair teams available. Right now, we're having to train the new guys almost as much as they're doing the actual repair work."

"Do you want me to get on the phone," Maya offered quietly, "see if I can talk more of the NERV techs into coming back to work?" The woman in the brown NERV uniform even held up her phone, silently offering to call.

"Do you think you can?" Ritsuko asked her gently. Not only were staff traumatized by the Impact itself, many of them had also only just discovered some of the questionable things NERV had been up to. Not to mention a few being guilty of doing those things...

Maya thought about how bad and crazy things had gotten during the battle of NERV, and sighed softly. "Probably not," she admitted.

Ritsuko put her hand firmly on Maya's shoulder as she said, "We'll just have to manage with what we've got available, then."

Maya blushed brightly even as she squeaked out, "Yes, Sempai!"

Ritsuko flipped her call open and dialed, "Misato? We'll have a full report for you by the end of the day, but It's a mess down here." She listened for a moment then asked, "Heard back from NERV-Berlin, yet? No?"

"I wonder what's holding the report up?" Maya wondered, frowning.

Finishing the call Ritsuko shut the phone and looked around thoughtfully a moment, then decided, "Unit-00 is the nearest to functioning so we'll divert all repair teams to it, and get it running first. Just in case."

"Do you think we need a functioning Evangelion?" Maya asked as they began giving the crews their new orders.

"I don't know," Ritsuko admitted as her lab coat fluttered around her, "but knowing Misato she doesn't want to take chances."

In another part of the massive complex, Misato closed her phone with a weary sigh. Sitting at her desk she went back to reading a series of reports, developing an odd expression on her face. The black haired woman held up the sheets of paper as she addressed the woman in her office, "You're telling me that Rei Ayanami tests out as being entirely human?"

Doctor Suema Kazuko nodded her head firmly, her black hair flowing around her face as she calmly said, "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"And the blue hair?" Misato asked wryly, still wearing a casual jacket over a NERV uniform. Her rank was that of a major, but everyone knew she was getting a promotion pretty soon.

Suema shrugged at her as the more casually dressed woman answered, "Our Miss Langley has red-orange hair, and yours is off-purple. If it helps any, that and a few other odd hair colors are prevalent only in Japan, though we're still trying to find out why that genetic variation exists here."

"Because of Adam, maybe?" Misato asked.

"I wouldn't want to speculate before we've acquired all the facts," she said to Misato just a little bit reproachfully. Suema smiled as she admitted, "I will admit I'm looking forward to working at NERV more and more."

"You cleared up your obligations to your civilian practice?" Misato asked curiously.

"Yes, turned over my patients to friends in the profession or my partners in a clinic I work in," Suema said. Briskly she asked, "Whom will I be working under?"

"Previously medical issues were handled by Doctor Akagi, but with her running Project E I'm splitting the job off," Misato said briskly. "You'll be a new department, no idea what we'll call it, involving medical and psychiatric services for pilots and staff."

Suema's eyes widened, "Really?"

"Don't get too excited," Misato cautioned her, "with the United Nations now watching our budget, I have no idea how much I can give you to actually run this department. Still, whatever money I can get I will provide."

Suema nodded, "Thank you." Getting up she smiled as she said, "Can I get back to putting the medical wing back in shape? Someone trashed it during the attack on NERV."

"Go ahead," Misato smiled, sitting back as she left. She picked up the medical file left on Rei and flipped through it, pondering what to do. Obviously Rei was moving in with her, once the medical observation ended today, but then what? The child seemed entirely unsocialized... A few moments later there was a knock on the door and she called out, "Yes?"

"It's me," Asuka said as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her. The redhead looked good dressed in her NERV uniform, almost like a real military officer. "So what did Doctor Kazuko say?" she asked Misato curiously. She flopped down onto one of the long couches of the office, for a moment looking like a teenager again.

The gaze from Asuka's right eye could be quite piercing, Misato found herself noting. Shrugging that off Misato answered, "The results were about what we were expecting. It appears that this Rei is fully human."

Asuka leaned toward Misato with a frown as she asked, "But why would Gendo create a human version of Rei? Didn't he need the alien part of Rei to try and control Adam and Lilith?"

"I wish I knew," Misato sighed. She smiled at Asuka grimly as she waved around the office in the NERV pyramid, "I've been working through Gendo's personal files to try to find out more, but many of them are double or even triple encrypted. If Ritsuko wasn't so busy with the EVAs, I'd ask her to help me out with them."

"So what do we do now?" Asuka asked curiously.

"For now, we carry on as planned," Misato shrugged. "How ready are you to move back in with me?" she asked Asuka.

"I'm all packed and ready to go," Asuka looked honestly relieved. She hesitated slightly before asking, "And Rei's stuff?"

"The previous Rei didn't have much stuff," Misato said quietly, "and to be honest I'm not to sure if we should pass them on to our Rei." Asuka raised an eyebrow and Misato explained, "So far, she seems to be a mostly blank slate. This is a second chance for her, and I don't know if giving her things from the last Rei will help any."

"But it's still her things, though," Asuka frowned, clearly unsure.

"I'll put the stuff in storage," Misato decided, "if she gets curious we can give them to her later."

"And what about Rei's clothes?" Asuka asked her, "I mean, all she's got to wear right now is that NERV uniform she was given when we pulled her out of the tube. That, and some hospital gowns."

Misato looked over at Asuka thoughtfully to judge her size of clothing as she mused, "I guess your stuff wouldn't fit her too well."

"Oh, no," Asuka quickly protested, "I am NOT sharing my clothes with her!"

'Nice to see her act like a normal teen,' Misato thought as she hid a smile at Asuka's response."The I guess we'll have to take her out and go shopping for clothes," Misato sighed softly. Under her breath she muttered, "I hate shopping."

Asuka smirked, "At least it isn't going to be your money we'll be spending. We can charge everything for Rei to NERV."

"Heh, that's true," Misato chuckled softly. She got up from behind her desk, making sure not to bump her stitches even as Asuka bounced to her feet. "So where is Rei, anyway?" Misato asked her as they left the office and strode down the hallway.

"After the doctor checked her out Rei wanted to try out the EVA simulator," Asuka said with a smile as they took the elevator downstairs.

"Thanks for volunteering to fetch her from the hospital," Misato smiled.

Asuka shrugged slightly uncomfortably, "It was nothing."

After a short walk down another hallway Misato opened up the door and blinked in surprise at the young woman looking wide-eyed at the readouts on the control panels in front of her. She was sort of cute with her long black hair, but the most distinctive feature that she had were the massive round glasses that she wore.

"Ma'am!" Nako popped to her feet and saluted.

"Hi, Nako," Asuka said with a casual wave as she walked over to look in at Rei sitting in the simulator cockpit.

Rei's dark blue hair fell into her red eyes, which were visibly narrowed in concentration. A bit of red colored her cheeks, and she actually looked kind of... excited. Asuka wasn't too sure, but it actually looked like Rei was enjoying herself!

Misato was watching Rei intently, her expression nearly unreadable. "How's she doing?" she asked Nako curiously.

"Great!" Nako beamed, "She's actually matching some of Miss Asuka's best scores!"

"Not bad," Asuka murmured with a smile.

"Simulators are one thing," Misato mused, "actual combat is a very different story. What will happen when we put her in an actual EVA?"

"We'll find out when it happens," Asuka said firmly. She gave Misato a look, "We're not going to put her in Unit-00 until she's ready, right?"

Misato felt a bit of surprise at Asuka's concern for Rei, but she masked it well. "I won't put her in an EVA until I'm confident she can handle it," Misato agreed. She bent forward to say into the microphone, "Rei, we're ending the simulation in a moment."

"Hai," Rei answered, executing a roll to blast the final simulated opponent.

It took only a few moments to shut the simulator down and for Rei to exit the chamber. She looked pretty good dressed in the plug-suit, the skin tight garb clinging to each and every curve. Asuka blushed faintly, looking down to avoid Rei's curious gaze.

Misato smiled at Rei cheerfully, "How'd you like to go shopping?"

"Shopping?" Rei blinked, looking at her quizzically.

Asuka smiled slightly, "Trust me, you'll like it."

"All right," Rei agreed meekly, reaching out to take Misato's hand.

To be continued...