Well, would you look at that, I actually got out a decent length chapter for once even though I'm actually working on rethinking some parts of this story and trying to expand on my chicken coop a bit more.
Anyhow, I'm pretty tired. So, I think I'll try to keep this short. I'll do a few review responses. Also, I'll take care to remind you all that, as I just said, I'm still working on redoing a bit of this story. And I'm still looking for a beta reader if anyone is interested, probably mostly for my grammar. Ah, but how foolish of me to say I'm going to keep this short and then continue on and on.
And, uh, looks like we really only have one review response I can really respond to this time. But that's okay. I did say I'd try to be done fast.
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Hellsink Bathhall: Ah, well, just to touch on Kaji real quick... Uh, well. He definitely plays a role in this chapter. And, you'll certainly find out about whether he's sabotaging NERV or not. But, I don't want to spoil that yet! As I said, seek and you shall find.
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Anyways, I gotta go write the chapter preview. Hopefully, this chapter is long enough to keep everyone satisfied.
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Text Guide
Standard Wording
"Spoken Dialogue/Speech/Phone Texts"
'Internal Dialogue/Thoughts'
(Flashbacks)
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[Slash denotes scene transition for the moment; this may be changed in the future so as to become more visible.]
Italicized text, however it is used, is nonstandard and is often used for, but not limited to, emphasized or stressed dialogue, phone texts, and contextual references either through dialogue or narration or exposition among other things.
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Disclaimer: I do not own or profit off of Neon Genesis Evangelion, The End of Evangelion, or the Rebuilds of Evangelion. I do not own Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley Sohryu, or any of the other characters/ideas from the Evangelion intellectual property collective. All licenses remain with the proper license holders. If asked to, I will formally remove this story from the hosting website.
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*Cruel Angel's Thesis and Eva intro starts playing*
Neon Genesis Evangelion
A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love
Chapter 34
The Setup
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Wednesday : Early Night : The Katsuragi Residence
"Uggggh!" Misato groaned as she picked up a bottle of red wine that was sitting next to the bath tub.
"I don't feel right about this at all," The woman said before popping the cork off the top of the bottle and chugging it.
Misato's smartphone sat on a bath stool next to the tub. On it was a news cast covering the day's events.
"And, now, to Maria Ozawa who will be giving us an in depth look into the suspicious going ons at NERV and the Evangelion pilots," said a male news host.
"Ptah! In depth! They don't know shit," Misato spat, "Anything to get traffic numbers I guess."
"Thank you, Mister Hidehito. The room behind me is the hospital room where the Evangelion pilots were kept while their eyes were glowing. Normally, this part of NERV hospital is off limits to the public. But, NERV officials granted us access. Though, they have, as of yet offered no explanation for the cause of what set the children's eyes alight. Instead commenting that they wished to be in full possession of the fact before making an official statement and saying that they are undergoing an internal investigation currently to ascertain the truth of the matter," the news woman said.
"Well, that certainly sounds strange. You would think they would already be in possession of the facts. Surely this is just a statement to give them more time to prepare a more satisfactory but possibly entirely fabricated response. And what of the children involved in this? They could be in danger," the male news anchor said as he looked around at some of his fellow hosts, seemingly hoping for an agreeing consensus from his peers.
"That is definitely a valid concern-" the news woman said before being cut off by Misato's phone ringing.
"Agh, crap!" Misato hissed.
She looked over at the phone and saw Ritsuko was calling her.
She switched which hand her wine bottle was in before whipping the water off of her free hand on to the floor before grabbing her phone and bringing it to her ear.
"Uh, ugh, yes!? Ristuko? What's going on?"
"Oh, hey! I just thought I'd let you know I was going to have dinner with Shiro tonight. To see what kind of details I can wring out of him."
"Wait! What!? Tonight!? Just like that? Is that really safe? What if he catches onto our plan?"
"Yeah… I considered that. But… I think I might be able to get away with just passing off as trying to catch up. He and I did go to college together after all."
"Yeah, and you said that you two didn't really like each other..." Misato asked, still sounding unsure if this was a good idea.
"Hmmmm… that's true. But, even so, I know he wanted to get into my pants… at least for awhile anyways."
"I dunno, Ritsuko, this doesn't seem like a good idea. Can't you get someone else to do it?"
"I already called him and he agreed to meet me. And, it's not like he's going to meet for dinner with some random person. I'll just tell him I'm interested in working for him and that NERV isn't paying me enough and that Jet alone has me interested. I also know he wants someone to engineer an AT field generator or some kind of equivalent technology for him since Jet Alone can't create it's own AT field. He even said as much on live TV earlier today. And, I think, with that, I could pretend to offer my services to his project without raising suspicion if I meet him tonight."
Misato groaned. She wasn't convinced at first, but Ritsuko had plainly thought this through beforehand. Though, Misato figured she shouldn't really be surprised. Ritsuko was an intelligent woman who never saw profit in being reckless. It was only obvious she'd have made sure there was the least amount of risk involved as possible before deciding on a plan such as this.
"Okay, just be careful, Ritsu."
"Don't worry. I will be. And Kaji is gonna be with me too!"
"Ho there, Misato!" The man shouted in the background.
"Don't call me a hoe, Kaji!" Misato hissed back, though she wasn't sure he'd heard her on the other side of the phone.
"He's gonna be across the street listening in on the conversation and taking notes. So, I'll be fine," Ritsuko said reassuringly.
"Wait! You're gonna have a mic on you!? What if they frisk you and find out! Your cover would be blown!"
"It's in… or is about to be in my bra, Misato. They aren't gonna touch me like that in a restaurant. And it's one way. So, I'm not gonna have an earpiece to give me away. Kaji won't be able to talk to me, he'll only be able to hear the conversation. So, seriously, there's nothing to worry about."
"About to be?" Misato asked, almost sounding jealous.
"Look, Misato, everything is going to be okay. Kaji and I have this under control. But, I just thought that, since we're collaborating on this, I'd let you know. ...I also felt that I should tell you to avoid getting drunk. We have no idea when we might need your help."
Misato groaned and looked at her wine bottle.
"Hey, Asuka!" Misato shouted.
"What!?" Asuka shouted back from the living room.
"You want this wine!?"
"Misato! What're you- You can't give her alcohol! Her brain isn't fully developed yet!" Ritsuko growled over the phone.
Misato didn't pay any attention to the woman.
"Sure! But only if you're not gonna expose yourself!" Asuka said accusingly.
"Don't worry! I'm still under the bath water! I'll keep it PG!"
Misato could hear Ritsuko choking out curses and asking her why she was nude and inviting her wards into the same room as her in such a state of undress, but Misato still wasn't listening to any of it.
Misato could hear Asuka's socks pattering across the floor as she ran over to the bathroom door, which Misato had carelessly left open… though, that wasn't unusual for her. Everyone else in the apartment generally just pretended it was closed.
The short angular hallway leading from the kitchen to the bathroom usually obscured any compromising views, which generally meant privacy and decency could be maintained without needing the door to be shut. And, because of that, Misato actually used that as an excuse to keep the door open so she could communicate more easily.
Rei accepted that excuse well enough. Shinji, too, accepted it, though he didn't always believe it, even with how often the older woman requested minor favors from him while she was in the bath.
Asuka though, didn't accept that excuse at all, knowing well enough that Misato was at least slightly aroused by sexual exhibition. She always imagined the woman was secretly hoping someone would sneak a peek at her, which is why Asuka was a bit more wary of walking into the bathroom while Misato was occupying it.
"And you're sure you aren't gonna flash me?" Asuka asked one final time before entering the bathroom.
"Just come get it if you want it. Doctor Akagi has forbidden me from drinking, so I'm giving it to you."
"Hey, now! I forbid pilot Sohryu from drinking as well!" Ritsuko just about screamed over the phone.
"Alright, I'm coming in," Asuka said timidly as she walked though the short hallway and entered the bathroom.
Upon rounding the corner though, she squealed, seeing that Misato wasn't covering herself on account of one hand holding the wine and the other holding her phone.
"Eep! I knew it! You're just trying to be perverted! You aren't even covering yourself!" Asuka pouted in a shrill and whiny shout before retreating back into the hallway to obscure herself from view.
"For fucks sake, Asuka! My hands are full! Come get your damn wine. You see the same thing when you shower, so it's not like its anything you haven't seen before." Misato huffed, sitting up a little straighter in frustration, causing her nipples, which were previously submerged, to raise out of the water.
"You better not be being indecent around those children, Misato," Ritsuko growled.
Asuka peeked out from behind the door frame. She was already blushing but blushed even more seeing Misato's now fully exposed breasts.
Misato held the wine out expectantly, and though Asuka considered retreating again, she stayed still as a statue, partially hiding behind the door frame as she looked on at the deep red bottle.
"Come on Asuka, it's not any different from when we went to the onsen together. Quit being so awkward and just take it already. My arm is getting cold."
Asuka was able to muster some courage by thinking of something vile to say.
"I'm so sick of these stupid games. I didn't even like going to the onsen with you and Rei. It was weird just like this is," Asuka huffed as she emerged from behind the doorframe and snatched the wine bottle out of the older woman's hand, hanging her head down toward the floor, using her bangs to hide the fact she was staring right at Misato's tits, even if she didn't really want to.
Misato tried to stifle her laughter. She knew Asuka was just embarrassed. And, though she didn't originally intend to expose herself to the redhead, she couldn't deny she'd enjoyed how this had turned out.
She smiled as Asuka turned and ran out of the bathroom, and then began giggling as Asuka tried to offer some of it to Rei practically as soon she'd left the room. Hearing Shinji then jump in and try to prevent Asuka from offering the girl some then sent Mistao reeling into an uncontrollable and dopey fit of laughter.
"Misato! You can't give Asuka drinks! She's going to corrupt Rei!" the woman heard Shinji cry from the living room.
"It's okay, I'm sure they can both handle it! Bwhahaha!" Misato laughed while kicking her feet, almost sloshing her bathwater out of the tub before sinking back into it.
"I hope you're having fun fooling around over there and sexually abusing your children while the rest of us are working!"
"Oh, hush Ritsu! You should get some kids of your own. It would be good for you. It might be... fun."
"Ugh, that's disgusting. No, thank you!"
"And besides. I don't have any skills to help you out on your investigation. So, what's wrong with me having a bit of fun."
"The problem, Misato, is in your definition of fun. Now, I have to go. I'm at the restaurant now. I dunno if Shiro is already here or not, but the longer I wait around here, the more suspicious I'll look. Kaji, are you ready!?"
"Ready!" The man said.
The call was then abruptly cut. Misato put her phone back onto the stool and slinked even further into the warm bath water.
Before she could get comfortable though, she heard a loud knock on the apartment door.
"Shinji!? Is someone at the door!? Can you get it! I would, but I'm a little… uh… well, teeheehee," Misato said before finishing with a naughty laugh to herself.
"I'll get it!" The boy said.
Shinji nervously approached the front door. He was really hoping it wasn't any news crews like Ritsuko had warned him about earlier in the day. But, it wasn't normal for anyone to come knocking at this time of night. So, he was beginning to assume the worst.
After staring at the door for a second, he finally worked up his nerves and opened it.
Though, it wasn't some film crew for the news, he couldn't say that he was any happier with who it did turn out to be.
"F-father!?" Shinji said, trying his best to not sound pathetic.
"Shinji..."
The man starred down at him, not saying anything for a minute.
The man then sighed and put his gloved hand on Shinji's shoulder.
The boy flinched, not used to being touched in such a way.
"You've been doing a good job recently. Keep fighting fit."
"Uh, uh, thank you father. I will!" Shinji stammered, though he sounded a bit more confident than before.
"Now, is Rei in? I need to speak with her."
"Uh, oh, of course! She should be in the living room!"
Gendo then let himself in with Shinji following close behind him. As they rounded the corner, Shinji saw that Asuka must've hid the bottle of wine Misato had given her before Gendo had come in. If he had to take a guess, she probably hid it behind the armrest of the couch on the far side of the room. Hopefully Gendo wouldn't stay for long. Asuka may have been as sly as a fox, but she'd have a hard time finding a better hiding place if the man were to stay for any significant length of time.
Luckily, Gendo gestured to Rei for her to come with him and then walked back out of the apartment. Rei, of course, did as she was told and began leaving.
"Hey, don't tell him about the wine, okay, Rei!?" Asuka whispered.
Rei looked back and nodded before continuing on her way.
Upon exiting the apartment, Rei saw Gendo standing on the balcony, his back to her and his white gloved fingers laced together behind him.
"Commander?" Rei questioned when the man didn't say anything.
"We have to talk, Rei… About your role in the upcoming operation."
"Operation, Sir?"
"Let me explain."
/
-The Adjudicator of History-
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Wednesday : Early Night : The Katsuragi Residence
"What do you think this is about?" Shinji asked Asuka.
"How should I know? Maybe that jet alone thing? Though, I dunno what wonder girl would have to do with it… Even so, everyone's talking about it. So, I guess it's a possibility."
She was right. Shinji had already gotten several texts from Toji and Kensuke tonight asking about Jet alone and his mysterious condition.
Just that moment, the front door opened and Shinji and Asuka fell silent as they heard Gendo and Rei walking back down the foyer. Upon emerging, Rei calmly walked back into the living room while Gendo remained standing in the kitchen.
"Where is Colonel Katsuragi?" The man asked as he straightened his glasses.
"Uh, in here!" The woman stuttered from the bathroom.
"May I come in?" the man asked.
"Uh, well, I'm not dressed, but that's okay! You can come in!"
"Are you sure? I can wait," Gendo called calmly back into the bathroom.
"Oh, it'll still be awhile before I'm out probably. And, I don't wanna waste your time. So, come on in!"
Gendo didn't look as if he were entirely sure if he should enter or not. But, he kept calm and entered anyways.
"So, what did you and him talk about, "Asuka whispered to Rei as she saw the man disappear into the bathroom.
"I'll tell you later," Rei said back quietly.
"So, what have me or my kids done to earn your presence here tonight, Commander?" Misato cooed as she raised one of her legs out of the water seductively, though the tone of her voice made it obvious she was joking rather than seriously flirting.
"I just came to brief Rei on her new responsibilities and to inform you I have told her. ...I expect you will be ready to act when you're needed?"
"Oh, certainly, sir!" Misato said as she gave the commander a mock salute, which slightly raised one of her breasts out of the water.
"Well then, I'd better be on my way. Oh, and Colonel… take care of Shinji."
Misato looked a little surprised as she sunk back into the water, watching Commander Ikari leave without another word.
/
Wednesday : Early Night : A Dark Street in Tokyo-3
"The problem, Misato, is in your definition of fun. Now, I have to go. I'm at the restaurant now. I dunno if Shiro is already here or not, but the longer I wait around here, the more suspicious I'll look. Kaji, are you ready!?"
"Ready!" Kaji said from beneath a black blanket sitting in the back of Ritsuko's car.
If it were broad daylight, such an absurd form of concealment would likely only draw attention. But, it wasn't broad daylight. It was almost the middle of the night and Ritsuko had taken special care to park away from any street lamps. To any passerby, the blanket would fade away into the dark floor of the car, providing Kaji a way to conceal his fashlight that he'd use for writing down any notable information Ritsuko came across during her conversation with Mister Shiro Tokita.
"It's showtime," Ritsuko said as she hung up her call with Misato.
"They'll never see it comin'," Kaji chuckled under his stuffy blanket.
Ritsuko opened the car door.
"And, hey, don't forget to turn on the mic," Kaji teased the woman one last time.
"Oh hush. I'm not gonna forget," Ritsuko hissed back jokingly as she climbed out of the car and shut the door.
Admittedly, Ritsuko wasn't very comfortable in her current clothes. But, then again, she felt a little odd in anything that wasn't her lab coat. Despite the fact she hardly ever needed to wear it, she chose to wear it anyways. To her, it was almost like a part of her identity.
And so, walking around in a sleeveless, light pink, button up shirt and a white knee length skirt with pink and yellow flowers on it made her feel a lot more breezy. Not to mention the white thigh high stockings she was wearing. She already felt extremely out of her element given what she was about to do and her clothing didn't help her feel any more comfortable.
Still though, Kaji had insisted she dress this way so as to avoid suspicion. And, having stopped at a clothing store beforehand, she didn't exactly have the time to pick out something that resonated with her.
"Okay… calm down Ritsuko," she talked to herself as she crossed the street to the restaurant, "It's not an interrogation… it's just a conversation. It's okay if I don't get any useful information. So, I don't need to push my luck. If it gives us something to work with, that's great. But, if it doesn't, that's okay too."
Ritsuko opened the door to the restaurant and upon entering, immediately saw Shiro.
"Welcome! Please come in! Where would you like to sit!?" a friendly waitress asked
"Oh, I'm with him," Ritsuko said as she pointed at Shiro.
The woman then removed her shoes and placed them by the door next to everyone else's footwear, following traditional etiquette.
'Damn it, he's sitting in the no smoking area,' Ritsuko cursed internally.
After she took her shoes off, she glanced around but couldn't find an ashtray. So, she instead quickly and discreetly doused her cigarette on her tongue before stuffing it into the front pocket of her shirt. She cringed as she felt the ash on her tongue, but she was desperate to not make a scene at such a crucial juncture and swallowed the ash despite the bitter smokey taste.
After she turned around, she saw Shiro had risen from his seat to greet her.
She quickly pretended to straighten out her shirt so that she could turn on the mic she had hidden on her.
"Ah, it's been awhile Ritsuko," the man said as he held out his hand.
"Oh, yes. Not since graduation, I know," Ritsuko said demurely as she took his hand and let him lead her to his table.
After sitting down, the waitress came and asked what food and drinks they would be having. Shiro ordered some seafood and steak dish while Ritsuko went with a light vinegared rice salad with grilled chicken.
"And, to drink?" the waitress asked.
"Oh, I'll just take water," Ritsuko said.
"Do you have any bourbon?" Shiro asked.
"Yes sir, we do!"
"Great, I'll have that then."
The waitress then bowed and left.
"It's been a big day. So, I thought I might treat myself," Shiro said.
"I can imagine..."
They both remained silent for a moment before Shiro spoke up.
"Look, Ritsuko, I'll just get straight to the point. I know why you're here. I know you work for NERV. And you're looking for some kind of edge over me and Japan Heavy Chemical Industries. But, what I don't know is why you thought I'd give you anything."
"Oh, is that so? ...I figured you'd think that. …you're wrong though. I'm not here for NERV. I'm here for myself."
Shiro had a puzzled look on his face, but encouraged Ritsuko to keep talking nonetheless.
"See… I don't feel like NERV pays me very fairly. Being government funded and all, the amount we get paid is… generally quite disappointing," Ritsuko continued, hoping she was being convincing.
"So… what? You want me to hire you?" The man said as he scratched his chin.
"Well... yes, actually."
"And… why would I do that?"
"Well, I was listening to the news this morning on the way to work and a live interview with you popped up. And, in that interview, you said that your Jet Alone prototype was not capable of creating an AT Field."
"And? What of it? Technology will be able to create an artificial AT Field or some other kind of force field soon enough."
"Yes! And that's where I come in, you see!? I could create that artificial AT Field for Jet Alone. As you know, for an Evangelion, an AT Field is crucial for it to overcome the Angel's own AT field. And, without an AT Field, Jet Alone wouldn't stand a chance against the Evangelions operational capacities, much less actually defeat an angel."
"How are you so sure we aren't already working on our own AT Field?"
"Oh, I'm not sure. But, I figured you'd have mentioned it in the interview if you had. After all, you've been so open with the rest of the project."
Suddenly, the waitress appeared with their plates of food, and both Ritsuko and Shiro became quiet other than giving the woman a few thank yous before she wondered off to take another table's order.
Shiro tapped his fingers on the table rhythmically, obviously not feeling quite as confident as he was before.
"Okay, you're right. We've had incredibe difficulty creating a properly functioning AT Field. ...you think you could do better?"
"Oh, I'm certain," Ritsuko said pridefully, "I could, at the very least, create some kind of denatured AT Field for Jet Alone… At least, I assume its doable. I'd… probably need to get a closer look at it to know for sure. But, I'm certain I could create some kind of AT Field for it. And, make no mistake, having an AT Field would be necessary if you wish to technologically outpace the Evangelions. Nothing short of a nuclear, N2, or antimatter bomb would be capable of damaging an angel otherwise."
"Alright… and what do you want in return for furnishing us with Absolute Terror technology?"
"Oh, me!? Well, like I said, NERV doesn't pay well. So... I was hoping… maybe I could have a job at JHCI? I'm sure that, being privately owned, you probably pay better, am I right?"
"Well, I haven't looked at any NERV employee's salaries, but I would assume we pay better, yes. ...how much do you want?"
"Oh!? Per year!? Oh, um… how does fifty-five million yen a year sound?" Ritsuko asked bashfully.
The man looked down at his steak and then up to the ceiling.
"Yes… I believe I could accommodate you."
"That sounds excellent!" Ritsuko clapped quietly.
"I tell you what," Shiro said, "As I'm sure you're aware, we're having a public exhibition. I'm sure you've heard over the news. It'll be happening on Friday and Saturday. Perhaps… I could give you a behind closed doors showcase of the prototype. I could show you some of it's specifications and… maybe you could could give some input on how best we might be able to implement some kind of AT Field generating device onboard what we already have. Or, if that's not possible, how we might be able to redesign it to allow for such a thing to be implemented."
Ritsuko smiled sweetly, trying her best to hide her shock. It almost seemed like the perfect infiltration opportunity had practically fallen into her lap.
"Oh, I would be positivley delighted to provide my advice and input. But… you do have to hire me, okay? I don't want to resign from NERV and be left penniless."
"Of course, I wouldn't dream of cutting you out… you know I used to have some slight feelings for you back in college after our rivalry died down a bit. I've always found you to be a fascinating woman, Ritsuko Akagi."
"Oh!? Is that so?" Ritsuko asked in mock surprise, "Well, maybe if this turns out well, I could… maybe consider doing some… special work… just for you," Ritsuko said with a wink and a teasing smile.
"Hmm hmm hmm," Shiro chuckled quietly, "In that case, I might have to pay you more for such a dedicated show of effort."
/
Wednesday : Late Night : A Dark Street in Tokyo-3
Ritsuko opened the door to her car and climbed in only to be greeted enthusiastically by Kaji.
"Good show, Ritsu! Good show! Absolutely marvelous! You could be a real double agent someday, you know that!?"
"You think so?" Ritsuko blushed as she cranked her car.
"I know so!" Kaji said as he peaked out from the covers he was hidden under.
"Eh, I dunno. It feels kinda wrong. I mean, sure, I wasn't very fond of him back in college. And I've always though he was a bit of a douche. And I especially didn't like how he tried to bribe me into sex by offering to pay me more. How rude! But… it still feels wrong somehow."
"Ah, Ritsuko, you really must learn to finish the job. Just remember, there's no right or wrong side; only your side and theirs."
Kaji's words brought to mind images of Maya in Ritsuko's head.
For a moment Ritsuko tried to convince herself she was doing this for Maya. And, maybe to an extent, she was. But, deep down, she knew she was afraid of Commander Ikari. If he was willing to go to these lengths to stop a rival… what would he be willing to do to her if he failed her?
"Eh, whatever. It doesn't matter," Ritsuko mumbled as she began driving away from the restaurant.
After driving a few thousand feet from the restaurant and checking in her rear view mirror every now and then to make sure no one was following her, she finally decided it was probably safe for Kaji to come out of hiding.
"Hey, you can probably come out now," the woman said.
Kaji sighed in relief.
"Finally! That was thoroughly suffocating, though not as suffocatingly satisfying as Misato's thighs," the man said as he threw the covers off of him and sat up in the back seat.
"Ugh!" Ritsuko groaned as her eyes rolled into the back of her head at the mention of Misato.
"So, looking over my notes… we didn't get a lot of useful information. But, I daresay you secured us an excellent, mayhap the most excellent, infiltration route into the Jet Alone. And that in itself makes this excursion more than worth it."
"Yeah, I was pretty surprised by that offer to just bring me inside their brand new prototype. I guess it's lucky he was into me back in college. I think that's really the only reason I'm getting in. He wants to believe he has a chance with me, even if it makes him blind to the risk of letting me poke around inside his brand new expensive device. If it weren't for his crush on me, I don't think he'd have made the offer."
"Indeed, indeed. I believe your history with him played an important role in determining the outcome of this little meeting. And your acting wasn't all that bad either. You didn't sound nervous at all and that probably helped lend credence to the illusion. I guess you could be an actor too, Ritsu!"
"Gosh, don't even get me started. I was so worried walking into there. I was so afraid I'd mess something up. I was absolutely nervous the entire time. I'm just happy it didn't show up in my voice… God, I need my smoke."
The woman reached into her front pocket and pulled out the cigarette she'd snuffed on her tongue earlier.
"Hey, Ryo, you think you could light this for me?"
"Sure thing, babe," Kaji said as he pulled out his engraved silver lighter.
"Hey now, don't get flirty with me. I already had to put up with enough of that at dinner. And it was honestly exhausting because I have no idea how to flirt with people."
"Oh, speaking of dinner, you think you could stop at some fast food place and get me something? I'll pay."
/
Wednesday : Late Night : The Katsuragi Residence
"Wait, Rei, we're gonna do what!?" Shinji asked as him and his fellow Eva pilots sat huddled in his room once again.
"I… wasn't supposed to tell either of you," Rei said, looking at the floor dejectedly.
"All right! Well, I'm all for it! I'll be happy to kick Jet Alone's ass!" Asuka said in a psyched up whisper.
"Asuka, you can't mean that!" Shinji chided, trying to discourage the girl, "That's someone's life's work! Isn't this illegal or something?"
"Ah, who cares, Shinji!?" Asuka said, gently shoving the boy, "It's just a big hunk of metal. And Rei said it can't even create an AT Field. Isn't not like it stand a chance against the angels without one anyways. So... there's no harm in putting it in it's place."
"But, doesn't that mean it's not a threat to us!? Why do we have to destroy it!?"
"You already heard why, Stupid Shinji! We don't want them getting funding that's supposed to go to the Evas!"
"But, why can't we just work together with Jet Alone!?" Shinji rebuked.
Asuka huffed and crossed her arms.
"You're so naive Shinji! If we split our money on two resources, it means one of two things. Either, both products end up being inferior, which would mean our financial resources and the output of our money spent on defense would be spread too thin, or we end up taxing the people even more to make sure both products are up to snuff. So, it's better if we just focus on improving the one product that has shown the capability to destroy angels. Sure, it seems like a dickwad move to destroy Jet Alone, but some good can come from it!" Asuka assured.
Shinji wasn't entirely convinced and he really felt that Asuka was just using all of this as an excuse to justify destroying some else's expensive piece of equipment. But, Shinji wasn't particularly educated on the subject matter and decided not to argue over it anymore.
"Well, whatever," the boy said dismissively, "I just want to go to bed."
Shinji settled into his futon and pulled the covers up over his shoulders.
"I'm sorry if I caused trouble," Rei said, obviously feeling conflicted over sharing this information that Commander Ikari had expressly forbid her from sharing.
"Don't be sorry, Rei. It's okay," Shinji said with his face half buried in his pillow.
Asuka put her hand on Rei's shoulder in an uncharacteristic display of support for the girl.
"Yeah, don't worry about it, Wondergirl. You did the right thing telling us about this. We're Eva pilots. And that means we have to trust each other! Since we're all informed, we can work together more efficiently if it comes down to it. So, don't look so down, okay!?"
Rei smiled at Asuka. They then both snuggled up together under the covers, each of them on one side of Shinji or the other.
Even now that it had become a decidedly regular thing for both of the girls to share the same bed with him, it was still exciting and awkward for Shinji. Feeling one soft part of their bodies or another pressed against him while he was trying to rest ended up keeping him up some nights. The sensation of his burning cheeks radiating his body heat into the cold air of Misato's apartment didn't help him fall asleep either. And that was hardly the only thing relating back to the girls that kept him awake.
He'd often catch himself wondering what would happen if he'd told people at school that he was sleeping with not one, but two girls every night. He imagined Toji and Kensuke would probably be pretty jealous. They were already mildly jealous when it was revealed that he and Rei were dating, though they didn't seem jealous of the fact it was Rei so much as the fact it was a girl. Currently though, neither of them had girlfriends, so it was understandable.
Besides Toji and Kensuke though, he wondered what it would be like if he'd told the rest of the class. Of course, he wasn't proud or brave enough to say such a thing to the entire class. And that was to mention nothing of the fact that Asuka would probably be furious with him telling everyone she'd slept with him when they weren't even dating.
But… were they really not dating though? When Shinji thought about it… he realized that he practically treated Asuka the same way he treated Rei, minus the occasional kiss and holding hands in public of course. Other than that though, they practically went everywhere together. When he cooked for one, he usually cooked for the other. And, then there was the fact that Asuka slept in the same bed as him, which she had also been doing since before Rei had even moved in with him.
And, Asuka had even seen his dick, which Rei hadn't had the opportunity to yet. Though, after how Asuka reacted to such a sight, he wasn't keen on showing anyone else. The fact remained though that, to him at least, it was a rather intimate moment, even if it did end with violence.
It was… more confusing than troubling to Shinji. He surely didn't fully understand what was going on in the girl's head. Though, maybe he'd find out eventually. But not tonight. Not right now. Right now, he wanted to sleep.
"So, we just have to crush it's blackbox, huh!?" Asuka said after getting comfortable under the covers.
"Correct, though, we must wait for Doctor Akagi to find it," Rei confirmed
"Any idea how they're gonna do that?"
"No. But, Commander Ikari assured me she is attempting to find it as we speak."
"Weeeeeelll," Asuka yawned, "I guess there's nothing to do but to wait then," She said as she nuzzled her face into Shinji's neck.
"Yes, Indeed," Rei said she she rested her head on Shinji's chest.
"And Shinji?" Asuka said abruptly.
"Mmm hmm?" The boy questioned.
"I know you aren't on board with this. But, we need to stick together, okay? It sounds like Commander Ikari doesn't want you or me in on this, so he's probably not going to sortie us to take out Jet Alone. But… we never know how things are gonna go down. And he's gonna send Rei out there… and she's your girlfriend and all… so… so, well… we need to be ready to support her, okay? So, you can't be chickening out, okay!? She'll be counting on us if things go wrong. Kaji used to say to me… there is no right or wrong side. Just your side and their side. And Rei is on your side. She's on our side. So, we have to be ready to support her. Okay, Shinji!?" Asuka said firmly while poking Shinji in the chest.
"Yeah. I get it. I'm not going to let anything hurt her."
"Good. Because it sounds like Commander Ikari is gonna go through with this with or without our help. So… we might as well strengthen our side. We're the only 3 Eva pilots in the world who've seen combat. So, we gotta stick together. That's our side. We're special. The U.S., Germany, and Russia don't have any Eva pilots who've seen combat, despite the fact they do have Evas. Maybe that'll change someday. But, right now, we're the only ones who have fought and beaten angels. So, we're special."
Shinji wanted to tell Asuka that not everything had to be unique to be special. But, he chose to say nothing and instead threw his arm around her and reassuringly squeezed her shoulder, putting the girl at ease. She was obviously worked up over the flurry of news.
Rei too, seemed nervous, though for very different reasons from Asuka. Shinji put his arm around her as well and began gently stroking her arm and shoulder with his fingers.
Hopefully, none of them would have anything to worry about in the coming days.
/
-The Nail in the Coffin-
/
Thursday : Daybreak : The Katsuragi Residence
Shinji awoke to Asuka gently jostling him awake.
"Hey. Hey! Wake up, you dope!" Asuka gently demanded.
"Ugh, what!? What is it, Asuka?"
"I think we got a problem! So get up already!"
Shinji opened his eyes to see Rei kneeling next to him and Asuka still shaking his shoulder to wake him up. Both of them were still in their nighties. They must've just woken up themselves. Shinji finally began putting some effort into sitting up and becoming conscious, expecting something at least mildly serious.
"What is wrong!?" Shinji asked in slight annoyance as he groggily rubbed his eyes.
"Well, it looks like Doctor Akagi was right..."
"Right about what?" Shinji groaned.
Though, after inquiring and Asuka remaining silent in response, Shinji could hear… a sound. Many sounds actually. Muffled though they were, if sounded as though an entire crowd had gathered outside Misato's apartment.
This was highly unusual. The apartment complex Misato resided in was almost abandoned. Only she and a few other people lived here despite the size of the place.
"What is that sound?" Shinji asked with a strange look.
Asuka made a gesture with her head telling the boy to follow her before she exited Shinji's room. Shinji got up to follow her, and Rei took his hand after he'd stood and straightened himself.
Walking into the living room, he could see Misato peeking out of the blinds of her window while Asuka was standing on the tips of her toes looking out the peephole in the front door.
Misato noticed Shinji and Rei enter the room before hissing at them, "It's the press," in a disgusted tone.
"Ach, hell!" Asuka spat as she looked out the peephole.
"What's wrong?" Shin asked.
"Everything!" Asuka shouted.
"Of course, with Jet Alone's Tech demo happening tomorrow, the media have all day to loiter outside our house. Ugh, I think I need a drink." Misato sighed, still sounding disgusted.
"Of course, the last thing we need before our big secret operation to take out Jet Alone is a mob of fucking people outside our apartment hungry for fanatical fabricated news!" Asuka growled.
"What!? How did you hear about that!?" Misato asked in shock.
"Oh, Misato. We kids have our ways of finding things out!" Asuka said pridefully.
Misato looked at the kids suspiciously before setting her eyes on Rei.
"Rei, you didn't tell them, did you?"
Rei, despite her usual stoic self, actually blushed and straightened her back at Misato's inquiry, though she didn't say anything.
"Ah, becoming more and more human by the day, I see. I guess you spending time with Shinji has payed off," Asuka said as she walked over to Rei and teasingly poked her shoulder.
Misato pushed her fingertips into her eyelids and sighed.
"I guess you were all bound to find out one way or another. So, I guess it's not a big deal," Misato said before pulling out her phone.
"Who're you gonna call?" Asuka asked.
"The Commander. I'm gonna see if he can send some agents down here to keep the crowd under control. I don't want you kids getting hurt by some riled up pseudo-revolutionaries."
Misato found Gendo's number in her phone and speed dialed it.
"Oh, hey, yes, Commander, this is Katsuragi! Uh, we got a mob of film crews outside our apartment. You think you could send some people down to help keep it under control over here? ...Okay, yes. Thank you! That would be great. Bye!"
"How're we supposed to get to school?" Shinji asked.
"You're not going to school today. I'm about to call them next and pull you out for the day."
Misato then rung up the number for the Tokyo-3 General Graduates Academy while the Eva Pilots went about their own business… for what little business there was.
"Well… I guess we're stuck here for the day," Shinji said, somewhat sounding relieved.
"Nope!" Asuka said proudly, "We can leave through the fire escape. It seems like everyone's mostly out front, so no one would notice if we went down the fire escape, which is on the totally opposite side of the building."
Misato hung up her phone and looked at Asuka with a small smirk.
"That's actually a great idea, Asuka. I'll probably need to leave in a bit, and without being seen, so I'm happy you thought of that."
"No, problem!" the redhead said as she curtsied.
"My car is in the front though. So, I guess I'll need to call Kaji or Ritsuko and have them come around the back and pick me up."
"Oh! You're going to meet Kaji!? Can I come!?" Asuka asked.
"Hmmmm… I guess. But, it's going to be for business, Asuka. He's not gonna have time to flirt with you."
Misato heard Asuka choke on her spit and saw a blush rapidly spreading across her face.
/
Thursday : Noon : A Park in Tokyo-3
"Well, I see you brought the kids. Luckily, I brought the food and a little extra," Kaji greeted as Misato, the Eva Pilots, and Ritsuko all piled out of Ritsuko's crowded car.
"Yeah, well, they found out… somehow. So, I saw no reason to exclude from the information loop," Misato said, sounding slightly frustrated as she repositioned her purse on her shoulder.
"Well," Kaji said as he glanced around, "Do we having some tidings for you. Let's go somewhere a little further into the park… for privacy."
Misato nodded and Kaji turned around, leading the group to a little pastel yellow blanket he'd laid out over the grass. There sat a small variety of food, mostly nigiri, though there were some packaged foods consisting of spicy, sweet, salty, sour, and savory snacks. Asuka, not being the biggest fan of raw fish, immediately laid claim to several of the bagged foods while everyone else was content to sate their palette with the nigiri.
"Oh, where to start," Ritsuko sighed, obviously exhausted.
"I think I know where," Kaji said, taking the lead in the conversation, "So, to begin with, Ritsuko has secured us a rather neat infiltration route into the Jet Alone itself."
"Oh, how'd she do that?" Misato asked as she chewed on a piece of nigiri.
"Why, by using her womanly charms, of course!" Kaji teased.
"You're saying she… fucked her way in?" Misato questioned.
Ritsuko choked on her food.
"Mi- Ahuh, ahuhuh. Misato! I'm gonna kill- ahuh, kill you!" the scientist woman angrily growled and sputtered, desperately trying to get the rice out of her windpipe.
"Ah, heheh, not quite." Kaji said with a pleased smile, "But she did do a marvelous job seducing Mister Tokita."
"Tokita…. Tokita! He's the guy who was on the news yesterday going on and on about how dangerous the Evangelions were to their pilots and spouting garbage about how Jet alone was better!" Asuka said, recognizing the name, "Wait... so… that means Doctor Akagi went on a date with him last night or something?"
"No, no, no!" Ritsuko denied, finally having cleared her throat, "It wasn't a date. Not really anyways. I was just… playing along. I'm already dating someone. So… definitely not a date."
"Ooooooh, he's gonna be maaaaaad when this gets turned around on him. Oofie! That's gotta hurt!" Asuka giggled.
"Uh, no! No! Please don't remind me! I don't even wanna think about how he's gonna try to get back at me after this is over," Ritsuko said, desperately trying to avoid any stressful conversations, "I know he's gonna feel like I'm taking advantage of him. But, I don't have a choice. Commander Ikari's orders."
"Yes, well, back to the actual infiltration," Kaji said, redirecting the conversation, "Ritsuko is gonna be given a personal tour inside of the Jet Alone tomorrow. While she's in it, she'll be mapping out security inside and taking note of any notable pieces of technology onboard it while Katsuragi and I keep watch for guard patterns and shift changes outside."
"Hey! I didn't agree to that!" Misato chirped.
"Well, that's true. But, I need someone to write down my notes while I watch. I'll be telling you what to write."
"Oh, okay. That's great. Gimme the boring job I guess!"
"You… you aren't gonna hurt anyone, are you?" Shinji asked curiously.
"No, kid. Don't worry," Kaji said reassuringly, "We can't leave any evidence that we were there. No killing. No fighting or action like you see in those spy movies. We can't even be seen. ...Which is also where you come in."
"Rei said there would be a fight with Jet Alone. Not just that there would be, but that we had to fight it," Shinji mumbled.
"I knew it! I knew it! Rei told you two!" Misato said, cheering on her skills of deduction!
"Oh come on, Misato. It wasn't that hard to put two and two together. She was the only one who knew besides you!"Asuka groaned.
"Hey! It's possible the commander could have told you while I was in the bath!"
"True enough," Asuka sighed, though she still wasn't exactly impressed.
"We have to destroy the blackbox," Rei said, repeating the same thing she'd told Shinji and Asuka last night.
"I'm still not sure exactly what that is," Shinji said.
"Ah, right. Now might be a good time to explain," Ritsuko said after swallowing another piece of nigiri, "See… a blackbox, in truth, can be a lot things depending on what field of science you're talking about. In essence, it is a part of a system that sits between an input and an output. If you were to study that part of the system, you might be able to… learn things about the system… things that we don't want people to learn about. In our case, we are referring to the black box using the avionics definition. It's also often times called a flight recorder. As you can infer by the name, it records a lot of data relevant to the aircraft it's in. Flight speed, altitude, location, timezone and time of day as well as voice communications and many other things."
"But… Jet Alone isn't an Airplane… Is it? It does have jet in the name," Shinji questioned unsurely.
"Mmm, true. It's not an aircraft. But, it surely has an analytical system on board as a way of measuring any number of things. Now, we, and by we, I mean me and the magi, are going to have to write an altered program to install on the Jet Alone to make it look as though it's going haywire. Make it look scary and all that. But, to install that program, it's possible several components will need to be tampered with. And that will more than likely show up in whatever kind of recorder device is onboard the machine. So, that is where you three come in."
"Us? What can we do?" Shinji asked.
"You're going to destroy the recorder by fighting the hulking thing after its gone rogue," Kaji said.
"Correct," Ritsuko stated, "but we don't know exactly where on the machine the recorder is yet. That will perhaps be the biggest challenge, locating the damn thing. But, I do have a few things in mind. Hopefully though, I won't have to resort to any drastic, or, more importantly, compromising measures. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to find it while I'm on board. After we've located it, we will need one of you three to target it and destroy it when you fight the Jet Alone."
"Err, that sounds really specific," Shinji said, sounding pretty unsure of this course of action.
"Don't worry! You can count on me!" Asuka shouted as she formed her hand into a peace sign and held it up by her eyes with a big smile on her face.
/
Thursday : Sunset : The Katsuragi Residence
"Oh my god!" Misato said, panting as she climbed in her window, "I hope that damn mob out there disperses soon. I can't be climbing up n' down this fire escape much more."
"Hmph!" Asuka huffed, "Maybe if you didn't drink so much beer, you'd have more energy for athletics!"
"Oh, yeah!? Well, maybe if you wouldn't gimme such a hard time, maybe I wouldn't feel the need to drink so much!" Misato panted as she hauled her ass and thighs in through the window before just letting herself fall the rest of the way in.
"What kind of pathetic argument is that!?" Asuka asked incredulously, "You act like you weren't already an alcoholic before I came along!"
Shinji helped the woman up off the floor, though he could barely lift her. The carbs in the beer may very well have been putting some weight on her. Though, as far as Shinji could tell, it was in all the right places.
"I… I think I'll go cook dinner," Shinji said after hauling Misato up.
"You do that, Shinji," Asuka sighed before sitting at the couch and turning on the TV.
"Well, I guess I'll take a bath!" Misato said cheerily.
Rei didn't say anything but did choose to follow Shinji into the kitchen to help him cook. Most nights, she found herself alternating between cooking and sitting with Asuka on the couch.
Even if she was rather passive about it, she was happy with her progress with Asuka. She found the redhead had certainly begun warming up to her recently and would even let her feed her little snacks or rest on her shoulder while Shinji was cooking. Even with Rei being in such close proximity to the girl, sometimes even touching her, Asuka almost never got defensive around her anymore.
Maybe Asuka had just decided that, with how much they touched while sleeping in Shinji's room, there was no point making a big deal about it if they touched elsewhere. And, for that, Rei was grateful. She knew the girl was coming along. She was still brash and rude and a show off, but she wasn't as hostile as she was before and seeing her show genuine kindness wasn't an anomaly anymore. Even when Asuka called her or Shinji names, she could sense it was more of a pet name than an attempt at emotional harm.
Of course, that wasn't to say Asuka didn't still get confrontational with people. She still made mean spirited jabs at Misato. And, when it came to Toji, the two of them were still at each other's throats most days. But, Rei knew in her heart that Asuka was improving. She was happier. She knew it.
"Asuka is doing much better," Rei whispered as she met Shinji in the kitchen.
"Oh, yeah?" Shinji asked as he glanced over at the girl after turning on the stove, "I guess she is. She has seemed a lot happier recently."
"We helped her... just like we said we would!" Rei whispered while smiling and tilting her head.
"Yeah. I think she still has a ways to go though," Shinji whispered back after opening the fridge.
"You think so?" Rei asked.
"Yeah. But she'll get there."
"...yes. I believe she will. ...What will you be teaching me tonight?"
"Oh," Shinji said, finally raising his voice back above a whisper, "Uh, how about tonight... I teach you about complimentary spices and how they tie back to the five fundamental flavors?"
"That would be nice!" Rei said said as she held her hands together and smiled.
"Hey, what're you talking about over there!?" Asuka called from the living room.
"Oh, I'm... j- just uh, giving Rei more cooking lessons," Shinji stuttered.
Asuka looked at Shinji and then at Rei, who still had a rather large smile on her face.
"Huh… you really are becoming a lot more expressive, aren't you, Rei?" Asuka smirked.
"Yes. Thanks to you and Shinji," Rei said, her smile getting even brighter.
"I'm still surprised you told us everything about Jet Alone after the Commander told you not too… I'm proud of you, Wondergirl."
"Yes, well… you are my friends. I didn't think it would be… appropriate to hide things from you."
Hearing the conversation between Rei and Asuka, Shinji couldn't help but smile. It felt nice. They were both growing. And complimenting each other and showing each other gratitude like that? Once upon a time, Shinji never thought he'd see the day that they got along so well. Even with how much Asuka used to hate him, she always seemed to hate Rei more.
Rei was right. Not only Asuka, but Rei herself had both taken large steps towards bridging the gap between them.
/
-Behind the Pall-
/
Thursday : Late Night : Lake Ashinoko Commercial District
On top of the roof of a building of a middling height sitting on the side of a hill, a man with a scruffy chin and shoulder-length brown hair drawn back into a pony tail waited, watched, and listened.
Overhead, he could hear the sound of transport helicopters flying above the shore of Lake Ashi.
"I guess all the other venues were rented out. But, what did they expect? Of course, setting up an exhibition on such short notice would have left many places ill equipped to accommodate such a large piece of technology."
The man took a glance at the helicopters, which numbered at least 8. They were carrying a massive object, obscured by an equally gargantuan tarp.
"Goodness! Other than the Khan Shatyr, who would need such an ungodly sized tent!? Who commissioned such a thing!?" the man asked, mocking incredulity apparent in his tone of voice.
The man scrounged around in a utility bag he'd hauled up onto the top of the building with him.
"Mecha, mecha, behind the pall. Who is the most sly and sneaky of them all?"
Yanking a pair of binoculars out of the bag, he held them up to his face and observed some scaffolding that was lit up by some flood lights near where the helicopters were about to set the massive statue of metal that was surely the Jet Alone.
"Why, it's me of course. None other than Ryoji Kaji. Now, let us see what we can see..."
/
Friday : Early Morning : The Katsuragi Residence
Misato was awoken from her sleep by a knocking on her front door and the sound of someone opening it. Though, she almost didn't care. It appeared she'd drunken herself to sleep last night, but never actually made it to bed. She found herself currently laying on the floor somewhere between the kitchen and the living room. And, all her senses could really register was that her back and ribs hurt from sleeping on the wooden tiles.
Misato suddenly heard the pattering of socks dash past her.
"Nooooo," Misato groaned slowly, "Don't let them in! Don't let the news in!"
"Oh, Kaji! It's you!" Asuka happily shrieked.
"Nooooo! Asuka! Don't let him in!" Misato continued to groan, though, Asuka probably couldn't hear her.
"Morning, Pumpkin Patch! Is Misato here?" Kaji asked inquisitively.
Misato didn't hear anything for a second. Presumably, Asuka was looking down at the floor dejectedly. She knew she had a major crush on the guy and that Asuka would obviously be hurt by him inquiring about another woman, especially Misato.
"Don't worry, Pumpkin. Is not personal. It's business," Misato heard Kaji say to Asuka as sweetly as he could.
"She's on the floor... asleep," Asuka said, still sounding a little sad.
"Alright, Pumpkin Patch. I'll see if I can't get her outta here. She has work to do today."
Misato began slowly and drunkenly pounding her fist on the wooden floor in frustration.
"Well, would ya look at that? The Queen Mascot of Yebisu passed out on the floor, as is her wont," Kaji said, smirking as he walked into the kitchen.
"Stuff it, Kaji!" Misato grumbled into the wooden floor.
"My, my! Such hostility! I'm merely doing my sworn duty as a NERV official!"
"Get up, Misato! You're embarrassing me!" Asuka shrieked, "I can't believe I live in the same house as you! I should have kicked your ass when I found you on the floor this morning!"
"I bet you'd have liked kissing my ass," Misato retorted as she lifted herself off the floor.
"You fucking pervert!" Asuka hissed.
"Now, now, Pumpkin. That'll do. She's getting up now," Kaji said, trying to calm Asuka down.
"Why did you come through the front door, Kaji!? You're gonna let them in!"
"Oh, the press? Heheh, lest you wonder, they've wended their weary way over to the Jet Alone showing. And, that's exactly where we need to be making our way too. The exhibit is set to open in forty minutes or so. So, we kinda needa get goin', sis," Kaji casually said as he checked his watch and pointed over his shoulder.
"Ugh, fuck! Okay. Just let me get dressed first," Misato groaned even further as she made her way to her room.
/
Friday : Mid Morning : Lake Ashinoko Commercial District
Kaji opened the door to what appeared to be a conspicuously inactive building with a rather large hole going straight through it only slightly off-center from the support pillars that held the building up.
Looking up, about seventy feet above her, Misato saw a loose piece of paper lazily fly out of the hole in the building.
"This is it? This is your vantage point?" Misato asked in disbelief.
"Yeah! Gotta problem with it?"
"It... has a fucking… hole in it. So, yeah, I have a problem with it." Misato said, crossing her arms.
"Ah, but Misato, don't you see? That's what makes it so perfect. It was marked as a safety hazard after it caught a stray 209mm round from one of the Evangelion's pallet rifles several months back."
"Look, look, Kaji. I understand you're trying to convince me. ...but that is ...exactly why I don't want to go in this building."
"Ah, lay off it, Misato! It's still standing, isn't it? It's been standing for months! And I was already up there last night. Surely it can handle a couple hundred pounds… even if you have been putting on a bit of weight recently."
"Uuuuuuh, excuse you! The last time I measured myself, I was a hundred twenty pounds."
"Yeah? When was the last time you weighed yourself. Because you look like a hundred thirty now."
Misato's jaw was agape at the gall of this man; no, this chauvinistic pig!
"If you're trying to curry my favor, you are failing quite spectacularly. And calling me fat is not going to convince me to go inside this building!"
Kaji's eyes widened for a split second.
"I… Misato, I wasn't calling you fat! I was just saying… that, y'know… maybe you've grown a bit in a couple desirable areas. As it stands, you could actually put on a bit more weight if you catch my drift. You were nowhere near this… uh… voluminous back in college," Kaji finished with a wink.
Misato blushed at first, but then sighed.
"Trying to sweet talk your way back into my pants, are you?"
"Heheh, maybe. But, you aren't wearing pants right now. And skirts make it a lot easier to slip inside."
"Don't even start with that! You yourself said that this was business!"
"And it is! Business that is being conducted in a secluded and private place!"
"Yeah, well, now I know the real reason you chose an abandoned building as a lookout."
"Are you saying you object to entering this building with me and just with me?" Kaji said with a cheeky and dubious expression.
Misato crossed her arms over her chest, looked up up at the sky, and sighed.
"Uuuugh, I guess not. Let's just go and get this over with."
"Ladies first!" Kaji said as he held the door open while bowing.
"Yeah, whatever. I know you just wanna look at my ass," Misato said boredly as she walked through the door.
"Can you blame me? Mayhap you shouldn't have worn such a tight dress," Kaji said as he walked in and closed the door behind him.
Kaji followed closely behind the woman, but bumped into her as she suddenly stopped.
Misato looked over her shoulder and smirked.
"Maybe you should learn to keep your eyes pointed in front of you," the woman snickered before continuing to the base of the stairwell.
"Fear not, my dear. My eyes are always pointing ahead for I have eyes in the back of my head and I therefore have no need to look anywhere else."
"Is that so?" Misato chuckled, laughing at the abject stupidity of the line.
"Seriously though, where did you get such a fine ass? Where was this back in college?"
"Probably in all my beer bottles if I'm being honest."
"Ah, you drink that much, do you?" Kaji asked as he and Misato kept climbing the stairs up the building.
"Kaji, I was unceremoniously passed out on the floor this morning, as you saw. Yeah, I drink that much."
"And it's just the beer?"
"Most of the time."
"Well, I suppose the carbs would explain it then."
"A lot has changed, Kaji. Everything is changing. The world is changing, and with ungentle swiftness to boot. I'm… not the same woman I was back in college."
"Really? You don't seem that different to me?"
Misato rolled her eyes.
"First you ask me why I'm so different from back then and now you say I'm not all that different."
"Ah, you know what I mean, Misato. You're the same as you ever were. And that's why you're so different now."
"Talking a bunch of nonsense again. Pffft!"
"No, I mean it! You haven't changed that much from college. But your environment has. You're still the same fashionably drunk woman you always were. You're still perverted and lewd, possibly to the detriment of your career. And… you're still as determined as you ever were to enact vengeance against the angels. The only difference is now, you have a bit more disposable income, so you can drink a decidedly unhealthy amount. Your body has obviously matured more, which has enabled and emboldened you to do questionable things you might otherwise not do. And, now, you're a colonel and the operations director at NERV, allowing you to point people at things like weapons and demand they inflict justice upon those who've wronged you, namely, the angels."
"Pfft, men and their roundabout reasoning when they're trying to woo a girl."
"I'm serious, Katsuragi," Kaji said as he reached ahead of Misato and opened the service access door to the roof of the building, "You haven't changed that much. You're the same woman I fell in love with years ago. Like I said, it's only your circumstances that've changed."
"I don't even know what you're talking about," Misato said as she stepped out of the door and into the blustery gales assaulting the rooftop.
"Ohohoh, I think you do."
"Well, anyways. I hope it doesn't get too hot today. I don't want to be sweating in this nice dress. It's one of my favorites."
"Ah, y'know, that's another thing that still hasn't changed about you. You still always wear purple. And you still dye your hair purple too."
"Well, it was my mother's favorite color. So..."
"Well, here is your… notepad," the man said digging around in a bag he'd obviously brought up on the roof earlier, "And, I will be watching through my binoculars," the man said as he waved around a pair of binoculars he'd also pulled out of the bag, "And all you have to do is write down anything I tell you to. Ritsuko should going on her little excursion into that there machine sometime tonight around maybe nine o'clock and we will be here maintaining our vigil… at least until then."
The man held the notepad in front of Misato, his slate gray shirt flapping in the wind while he waited for her to take if from him. Misato looked at Kaji with a disappointed smile.
"This sounds like this is going to be extremely boring," Misato said, sounding sarcastically ecstatic.
"Ah, it'll only be as boring as you make it, my dear."
Misato then walked over to the edge of the building and began looked out over the cityscape which eventually blended into the shore of Lake Ashi where Jet Alone was standing surrounded by some hastily assembled metal scaffolding.
"Uh, hey, before we start. You mind if uh..." Kaji said before trailing off.
"Just spit it out Kaji, what do you want?"
"You mind if I smack it?"
Misato looked over her shoulder in disbelief before shaking her head to herself.
"Do whatever you want, Kaji. I don't care," Misato sighed, sounding only slightly disgusted.
The man then slapped her ass, causing Misato to squeak out a surprised little "Ooh!" before giggling.
"I know you like that exhibitionist stuff and teasing people while you pretend to be oblivious."
"Asuka would be so upset if she knew you just did that," Misato said in an excited voice, her spirits oddly seeming raised.
"Yeah, well, Asuka's not going to find out. And she needs to quit obsessing over me anyways."
"That may be true, Kaji. But, just don't hurt her, okay?"
"If she gets hurt, it's on her. She knows we can't be together."
/
Friday : Early Night : Lake Ashinoko Commercial District
"Uh, oh fuck. Oh Kaji! Oooh, fuuuck!" Misato moaned breathily.
Misato was roughly pressed up against the door she'd passed though hours earlier. She bit her lips as her flushed cheek was pressed against the cold metal door.
"Fuck! Oh, yes! Oh my god! Fuckin' rape me!" Misato moaned again, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as Kaji groaned and continued to thrust into her.
Misato's purple dress was lifted well above her ass and her white lace panties were pulled aside to allow Kaji inside her. The straps of her dress were also pulled over her shoulders, allowing her tits to hang out of her dress.
Misato suddenly felt the man wrap one of his hand around her throat and pull her away from the door.
"Who's cockslut are you?" the man growled in her ear.
"Oh my god! Fuck! I'm your cockslut! Fuck me!" Misato said as drool ran down her chin.
The man then used his free hand to slap her breast before shoving her against the door again.
"Oh my god! Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Misato cried.
Suddenly, Misato heard her phone ringing.
"Fuck! Kaji! I need to get that! Fuck! My phone! It could be Ritsukooooo!" Misato yelped.
"Damn it!" The man grunted before pulling out of the woman.
Misato knelt down to her purse and pulled the phone out.
"Okay, okay! I got it! It's Ritsu," Misato said, trying not to sound flustered.
As soon as Misato stood back up and answered the call, Kaji was already upon her again. It was likely the first thing Ritsuko heard was the phone slamming into the metal door along with the rest of Misato's face.
"Oh god! Hey Ritsuko!"
"Uuuuh, hey… is.. is everything okay? I was just calling to tell you I'm at the showing now. Shiro will probably be taking me inside any minute now. Is… are you okay? You're breathing is kind of..."
"Oh, yeah! I'm fine, Ritsu! Totally fine! Oh fuck!"
"Are… Are… Um… What's happening? Where are you?"
"Uh, we're on- Oh fuck! On top of a building S-south… uh, or East of you? Oh, fuck, I'm really not sure! Oooooh!"
"M-Misato? Are… Are you having sex!?"
"Fuck yes! I- I mean no!" Misato panted, still drooling.
"Are you fucking kidding me, Misato?! At a time like this!? Really!?"
"Oh, shut the- fuck! Oh fuck -up, Ritsuko. It was Kaji's fucking idea."
"You slut! What are you doing!? Why are you doing this now of all times!?"
Misato smirked hearing Ritsuko hiss through the phone.
"I'm not that big of a slut, Ritsuko! I've barely had any sex at all for the past 8 years!"
"That's probably for the better considering you and Kaji had more sex in college than most other people have in their entire lifetime!"
Misato could tell Ritsuko was positively fuming and it only made her more happy and horny.
"You jealous, Ritsu? Fuck! Oh my god!"
"Absolutely not! I'm disgusted and appalled that you would jeopardize this operation in such a disgraceful manner! You two are supposed to be keeping an eye out for trouble and making sure I'm safe!"
"Oh, don't get your cute little panties in a twist! We're almost done, Ritsu! Oh, fuck! Fuck, Kaji!"
"Fuuuuuck! Misato!" The man growled.
"Uuuuuh! Cumming! I'm cumming! Oh god! Oh fuck!" Misato squealed in a high pitched cry that would make most people cover their ears.
Kaji could feel Misato quaking and tightening around him, while Misato could feel him throbbing inside her and filling her up with his seed. The man grit his teeth tightly while the woman's eyes rolled back into her head once more.
"Oh my god, there's… so much fucking cum. Oh my god, all over my thighs! Sorry, you still there Ritsuko!?" Misato said in a sweet and innocent voice that seemed to be steeped in orgasmic afterglow.
Ritsuko had been entirely silent for the past few seconds and remained silent for a few more seconds.
"Just… both of you… do your fucking jobs," Ritsuko said, her voice sounding somewhere between spite and jealousy before she abruptly hung up the phone.
Misato carelessly dropped her phone back into her bag as she finally pushed herself off the door.
"Oh my god, Kaji!" Misato said with a mix of surprise and pretend anger as she lifted the hem of her purple dress up to her waist, "There is cum… all over my fucking panties and all over my legs. Uh, god, not to mention inside of me!"
"Ugh, what can I say, Misato?" The man said as he zipped up his black pants, "That's what happens when you leave a guy blueballed for almost ten years."
Misato made an insulted sound.
"Auch! I never once left you blueballed and you know it!"
"Yeah, but you did leave me pretty abruptly."
"I had my reasons! And you better not get used to this. It's only a one time thing since I actually haven't fucked a single guy since we broke up… well.. not including me sucking Shinji off. But that doesn't count! It was only for a couple seconds! It doesn't matter! I was starved for attention. I haven't had real sex in years! But, no more after tonight!" said as she tried to straighten out her panties.
"Heh, same. I haven't fucked any girls since you left."
Misato glanced at the man, obviously surpised.
"Really? ...You could get a girl pretty easily, you know?"
Kaji laughed for a second before nodding at Misato with a taunting nod.
"Oh, believe me, I know," the man said, trying to hide his shit eating grin in the darkness.
"Okay, smartass. Enough of that. Like I said. It's a one time thing."
"We'll see about that," Kaji said as he got closer to the woman, "But, I think we both know... this isn't over."
Misato blushed.
"Oh, yeah!? What makes you think that?" Misato said, trying not to sound like she was teasing him, though she knew she was failing pretty badly, which probably only made her sound more flirtatious.
"Oh, just the fact neither of us have been able to find anyone else. I think that's a pretty telling sign."
"Yeah, well, maybe I like being alone!" Misato said as she pulled her dress straps back up over her shoulders.
"At this age? I don't believe that for a second. Humans are designed for each other."
"Kaji… I..."
"God, you look so gorgeous when your makeup is a mess."
"Kaji!" Misato said again, a blush creeping across her face as she tried to stifle a laugh.
"What? It's nothing to be embarrassed about!" the man said earnestly.
"Shut up, you fool!" Misato giggled as she pushed the man away from her halfheartedly.
Kaji stepped even closer to her after Misato had pushed him. So close Misato could feel the man's breath on her lips. She swore he was leaning in to kiss her.
"Kaji, I… I..."
Misato's eyes were fluttering shut as she anticipated the man to kiss her. After finally closing them completely, she leaned forward and… nothing. Her lips made contact with nothing except the night air.
Strange. She should have touched lips with him by now.
She opened her eyes in surprised and saw the man staring through his binoculars at the edge of the roof.
"You fucking asshole! You complain about being blueballed by me and then you leave me hanging expecting a kiss from you like that?! Unbelievable! Shame on me for actually expecting you to be romantic with me after you fuck my brains out and leave cum stains all over my panties. This is one reason why I broke up with you!
The man lowered his binoculars and looked over his shoulder before shrugging.
"What! We have work to do!? Besides, I thought you were the one who said this was a one time thing!"
"Its a one time thing because you act like… like... like this!"
Kaji raised his eyebrow, though Misato could hardly see the man's expression in the dark.
"And you're saying… I'd actually have a chance at being something more with you if I acted… better?
"No! Of course you wouldn't!" Misato huffed, stamping her foot on the ground.
"Oh, well then..." Kaji said as he turned around and began peering through his binoculars again.
"Er… I mean… maybe..." Misato said, seemingly going back on her previous statement.
Kaji turned his head back around.
"Maybe what?"
"Maybe… we could… be something again," Misato said as she looked at the ground dejectedly and sighed.
Kaji turned around and approached the woman. He put his hand on her arm and rubbed her gently.
"You know, Misato. If you want attention, you don't have to act like you don't. If you quit making it so hard for others, you'll also make it easier on yourself. I know I seem like the kind of guy who enjoys playing games and who enjoys the chase. But, I promise you, I'm not. I just play that role because that's how you painted me in your head."
"Mmmgh," Misato groaned fitfully as she looked over to her right, away from Kaji.
Kaji put his fingers under her chin and pointed her face back towards him.
"I know you had family problems, Misato. A lot of family problems. And I know it's haunted you all these years. But, I'm here, Misato. ...I'm right here. The question is… are you?"
"Y- Yes… Yes, I'm here," Misato sniffled as a tear rolled down her cheek.
Kaji then leaned forward and kissed the woman. Misato could feel her legs trembling, about to fall out from beneath her. But, the man wrapped his arms around her and held her up while she reached up and frantically grabbed his face, trying to bring him closer into the kiss.
Kaji finally broke the kiss and smiled at the woman.
"I… think I still love you, Kaji," Misato said in a weepy trembling voice, "But… I need more time… at least before it's official between us. I don't want to hurt Asuka… She's growing. She's making progress… I don't want to set her back. So… we need to keep this secret for now, okay?"
"That's perfectly fine with me. I would wait until the end of time for you, Misato. Now, Ritsuko is counting on us! We should probably get to work."
/
Friday : Early Night : Lake Ashinoko Commercial District
""Uuuuuh! Cumming! I'm cumming! Oh god! Oh fuck! Oh my god, there's… so much fucking cum. Oh my god, all over my thighs! Sorry, you still there Ritsuko!?" Doctor Akagi heard Misato moan through the phone.
Ritsuko blushed and her eye twitched in madness and fury. Ritsuko was broken out of her trance-like state as she saw Shiro walk out from a blue plastic tent that had been set up for the showing. He seemed to be looking for her.
"Just… both of you… do your fucking jobs," Ritsuko hissed before hanging up the phone.
The woman tried her best to compose herself, straightening her glasses and brushing her hair with her fingers. She then called out to the man.
"Mister Tokita!"
The man looked at the direction his name was called from and finally saw the woman.
"Ah, Ritsuko! There you are! I was looking for you. Are you ready to go?"
"Oh, yes, of course I am! Lead the way!"
The man then gestured for her to follow him and then began leading her through the maze of tents until coming to some scaffolding that led up to a hatch leading inside the Jet Alone.
"Before we go any further, we'll need to put these on," Shiro said, gesturing to a small locker next to the scaffolding.
Pulling open the door to the locker, he revealed several hazmat suits. He grabbed two of the suits out and handed one to Ritsuko.
"There's also a decontamination unit we have set up a little further back. You'll want to make use of that after we're done inside," Shiro advised as he and Ritsuko put on the suits.
After walking up the scaffolding, they walked across a short bridge and prepared to enter the machine. Shiro grabbed a key from a guard stationed at the entrance and then inserted it into a keyhole on the machine and twisted it. There was a shuddering sound and the hatch opened with a gasp.
"Well, this is it," the man said as he turned around and held out his arms proudly.
"Oh, wow. This certainly is impressive," Ritsuko said, only pretending to marvel at the engineering.
"Yes, we hired some of the best structural engineers in the world. Spared no expense," the man said as he put a hand on the wall of the machine.
They both walked further inside, Shiro pointing out various things as the door shut behind them.
"The door closes automatically after 15 seconds unless the key is still inside it. Built that way to prevent any unfortunate mishaps given that's there's a nuclear reactor in here. Ah, speak of the devil and he shall appear. There's the reactor right there actually," the man said as he pointed out the component powering the entire thing.
Ritsuko wasn't paying much attention to what the man was saying though. She was instead looking around, trying to take stock of everything she could.
'Good. Since it's autonomous, no one is in here to monitor things. Kaji shouldn't have any trouble once he gets in here. The question is… how will he get in. There's a guard by the entry hatch. And we can't afford to be seen,' Ritsuko thought to herself before figuring she should probe Shiro with more conversation.
"My, it certainly is spacious in here for something that isn't designed to have people inside it. The Evangelions are nowhere near as bulky or hollow, but even they allow people inside of them," Ritsuko said with feigned curiosity.
"Ah, yes. That's for several reasons. Though, perhaps the most important reason is that, if for some reason, the reactor began malfunctioning and perhaps went promptly supercritical, we needed an easy way to remove the radioactive contaminants quickly and easily, either by machine or… manpower. Which would be a last resort obviously. We wouldn't want to send someone in here in that event, even with protection."
"So, you're worried you might have a rerun of Prip'yat'?"
"Eh, not worried exactly. Nuclear power is extremely safe if you use it safely and give it the respect any science deserves. What happened at Chernobyl was the result of a compaction of factors. And, one of those factors was that the people there didn't respect the science. They ignored certain protocols and rescheduled the tests on reactor four, ending up with a work-shift full of people who weren't prepared for what was going to happen. And after several problems arose, they continued testing anyways. What we have here in Jet Alone is not something to be worried about, and it's all because we've taken extra precautions that will hopefully remain unnecessary."
"I see. Though, I imagine if something like that happened, there wouldn't be much of Jet Alone's chassis left to obstruct you from removing the core," Ritsuko said teasingly.
"Like I said, it's all just a precaution, Doctor," Shiro said, pursing his hands together and laughing slightly.
"So… in the name of… precautions..." Ritsuko started, "would there perhaps happen to be a second point of egress?"
"Oh, well, actually, yes. There is. It's this way."
The man walked around a corner and Ritsuko followed after him.
Turning the corner, Ritsuko saw what appeared to be… a computer if she wasn't mistaken. There wasn't a screen. But glancing at it, she could see there were USB ports as well as several other places to plug in different kinds of cords.
"Oh! Oh! Is that the console," Ritsuko asked excitedly.
"Oh, yes. That's the module that runs the AI as well as several other core functions."
"Oh gosh! You know me! I'd love to just dig around in it! Though, I suppose that can wait for later... after I've been hired."
The man chuckled. He certainly did remember back from college that the woman did love computer science. Or every field of science she could get her hands on really.
The man then gestured to a small room and led Ritsuko inside.
"And, obviously, as you can see up there," the man said, pointing diagonally up to a hatch," that is the secondary entrance. ...I would open it so we could look at the stars through it, but I… I seem to have left my keys on my desk in my tent and this key only opens the primary entrance," The man said as he patted on his hazmat suit, probably out of habit considering it didn't have any pockets on it.
"Oh, that's okay. I've never been one for cliché romance anyways," Ritsuko said, waving her hand dismissively.
"Eh, probably shouldn't be opening it too much anyways. It is radioactive in here after all. Anyways, what're your thoughts."
"Oh, my thoughts? About installing an AT Field generator?"
"Yes."
"Oh, well, um. I'd probably need more time with it… But, I think it could be done. I'd need to look how everything is hooked up but I think we could at least fit something inside the cabin here... though, you may actually want it outside of it for easier access. There… there's a lot of things I'd have to iron out," Ritsuko said, mostly trying to bullshit her way through the conversation without giving too much insight as to how AT Fields were generated.
"Well, that is heartening. I suppose I can wait for specifics until after you're hired. But, if you have any advice you can give me now so we can get a jump-start on development, I'd be greatly appreciative," Shiro said with a smile.
"Oh, well, there really is a lot to cover. But, uuuuuuh… I would maybe start with… hmm, maybe try seeing if you can… uhhh-'
'Crap!' Ritsuko cursed to herself, 'I have to give him something substantial so I don't raise his suspicion, but I can't just tell him how AT Fields work. That would be giving away one of NERV's biggest trade secrets. Fuck! Think? What can I tell him?'
"- hmm, see if you can maybe get some kind basic circuit system and some electromagnets running along the outside of the chassis. Of course, you would need electromagnetic shielding. Anyhow, the AT Field would need electromagnets at several spots at least."
"Electromagnets?" Shiro asked.
"Yes. Well, that's not all obviously. But, the electromagnets would be a good start. I'd say go for a magnetic field that's at least a terajoule in strength for starters."
"A... terajoule?" the man asked incredulously, "Is that why the Evangelion are always hooked up to those cables? And, what about… all the side effects of having such a field up?"
"Look, look, Shiro, look! Like I said. It's a lot of work! And I would need to look at it more. We have ways of containing this and controlling the magnetic field and protecting electronics from it."
"I... dunno about this, Ritsuko. Is there something else we can try?" the man asked uncertainly.
'Damn it. Damn it all! I can't believe I made such a rookie mistake. But, damn it, I can't just tell him how a real AT Field works. Fuck!' Ritsuko cursed to herself internally.
Ritsuko tapped the plastic mask of her hazmat suit, trying not to seem flustered.
"I dunno… maybe uh… look. Maybe it would just be better if we waited to start on this until I can actually work on the project myself. I promise, everything will turn out fine. But, it's a lot of complicated technologies working together, some things controlling and moderating the effects of other things. It's… probably better that I just oversee this myself. I am the one who designed the Evangelion after all. And, you've seen the things they can do. And, I'm sure I can make Jet Alone even better!"
The man looked at the floor, seemingly weighing Ritsuko's words. This made Ritsuko really uncomfortable but, she tried to maintain her composure.
"I see. I didn't realize we were so far behind NERV," the man said, "Alright. We can talk about this after you've been formally hired. But, Ritsuko… just don't betray me."
"Shiro… I… I'm not… I'm not going to," Ritsuko said, trying her best to sound reassuring and not nervous.
"Well, I guess this is probably enough for today. We should probably head out," the man said as he turned and left the room.
Upon him leaving though, Ritsuko saw a large orange cylinder in the wall behind where the man had been standing previously.
"Hey, what's this orange thing in the wall over here?" Ritsuko asked.
Shiro leaned back into the room and looked at where Ritsuko was gesturing too.
"Oh, that? That's… just the operational recorder," the man said a little quietly.
"Oh, interesting!" Ritsuko said before following behind the man as he led her out.
Shiro opened the primary access door with the keys he'd borrowed from the guard, and, after both he and Ritsuko had evacuated from the machine, he handed the key's back to the guard.
"Like I said, the decontamination units are over there," the man said as he pointed over the scaffolding rails to a couple small facilities that had been set up near the shore of Lake Ashi, "You should probably go clean yourself up. I'm going to send these last few stranglers home and then I'll head over there myself."
Walking back down the scaffolding, there was another man waiting at the bottom, also in a hazmat suit.
"You can hand your hazmat suit off to him and then you can be on your way," Shiro politely said.
"Thank you, I will!" Ritsuko said courteously as she undid her suit and handed it over to the man.
After removing the suit, Ritsuko made her way to the decontamination units.
"The safety protocols are a little strange here," Ritsuko mumbled to herself as she pulled out her phone.
She checked over her shoulder, making sure she was out of earshot and then called Kaji.
Putting the phone to her ear, she heard it ring. And the amount of time it rung seemed stretched out due to how anxious and nervous she was.
"I swear to god, if he's fucking her again..." Ritsuko growled.
Finally, Kaji picked up.
"Kaji? Kaji!?"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Get down here now, quickly!" Ritsuko hissed.
"Okay, woah! What's wrong?"
"I might've fucked up a little bit. I'm, not sure."
"Fucked up how?"
"I- Look, I had to bullshit my way through an entire conversation and I might've accidentally said that AT Fields incorporate magnetic fields because I was really flustered and I just wasn't thinking and I don't have your silver tongue, so I can't just blindly stumble through every conversation and get out perfectly fine!"
"Oh… that's… not good."
"I know! Now shut up and get down here!"
"I'm already on my way! So, tell me, what am I filching?"
"Keys! They're in a blue tent, on a desk I think. If you need help finding it, I believe there's also a large gray toolbox in front of the tent. Maybe four feet tall, a foot and a half across! You need to get them now! They're our only clean way in. If you get them, I have everything else we need. Everything!"
"Well, if its so urgent, why can't you grab them and hand them off to me!"
"Because I just came out of an irradiated environment and the procedures here are strangely very lax. Probably due to setting up the show without proper preparation and them trying to act quickly and take advantage of our PR problems right now."
"Oh, okay. Well, that makes sense. Which side of the venue is the tent on?"
"The right side if you're facing the lake! The tent is pretty close to the street," Ritsuko said as she finally arrived at the decontamination unit.
"Okay, I think I'm almost halfway down the stairs of this building. Gimme a few more minutes and I'll be there.
"Hurry, Kaji! I need to go now! Meet me out back near the lake. Then we'll need to find somewhere else more concealed."
"Gotcha," The man said before hanging up.
"God, I hope this works. What've I gotten myself into?"
/
Friday : Early Night : Lake Ashinoko Shoreline
"Your hair's wet, Woman," the smoothe voice of Kaji called out from the darkness.
Ritsuko shook her head a bit to get her hair out of her face.
"Please tell me you have them!" Ritsuko pleaded.
The man held up a ring full of shiny metallic pieces that let out a soft clinking chime in the breeze.
"Oh my god, I can't believe we're about to do this," Ritsuko sighed, "Come on, lets find some place more private."
"Oh, Ritsuko, I thought we were here for business, not pleasure."
Ritsuko shot Kaji an annoyed glare.
"I meant somewhere hidden."
"Heheh, I'm just messin' with you. I already have Misato over around the corner. Follow me."
Ritsuko followed the man, trying to stay out of any lights as she followed the man to an alleyway. Between the two buildings was a white van, barely small enough to fit sandwiched between the walls.
"How the hell did you fit this in here?"
"Uuuh, I just drove it in," Kaji said casually as he slinked between the van and the wall of one of the buildings.
After he and Ritsuko arrived at the back of the van, Kaji threw open the doors to reveal Misato and a bunch of various equipment.
"Well, well, well. A white van with a pedophile in it. Who would have guessed?" Ritsuko sneered rudely.
"Okay, okay. I get it Ritsu. You're still mad about earlier," Misato said dismissively.
"I'm gonna fucking kill you, Misato!" Ritsuko spat.
"Leave out the I, the N, the G, and the kill and you got yourself a deal," Misato winked while give Ritsuko finger guns.
"Well... after you," Kaji said as he gestured for Ritsuko to get inside the van.
The woman climbed inside the van, ready to get to work, but she immediately smelled something… lewd that gave her cause to stop.
Ritsuko sniffed the air and then glared at Misato.
"You smell like sex!" Ritsuko said in a disgusted voice.
"Thank you, Ritsuko. I'm aware," Misato mumbled as she boredly rested her chin on her hand.
"Filthy creature," Ritsuko spat under her breath as she sat down on a chair anchored to the floorboard of the van.
"So, what do we got?" Kaji asked as he shut the doors of the van.
"Like I said, we have everything! I know where the onboard console is. I know where the black box is. And, I also found a second entrance that you can use to get in without being seen. It might be a bit of a climb to get up there though. But, once you get past the waist of the jet alone, there should be two sets of ladders welded to the chassis leading to a hatch near it's right shoulder. Since there's no scaffolding leading to that entrance, there's no one guarding it."
"Great. Misato and I were on watch all day and they didn't seem to have anyone watching from the rooftops or from any of the windows that we could see. So, we should be good then."
"Yes, but you'll still need to be quiet. You don't want to draw any attention from the one guard that is there."
"I think I can handle that."
"Oh, here. You'll also need this," Ritsuko said as she pulled out a small device from her bag.
"Okay. What do I do with this? What is this? It looks like a plug and a communication gadget or something."
"It is. Once you get in, plug that that into the jet alone. It should send a copy of the programming to this computer once I have the partner device hooked up. After that, I'll send a copy to the magi and I'll have them write a new version of the program that will overwrite the old AI's programming. Doing it myself would be too slow since this needs to be done by tomorrow. Which means… you should probably go now, Kaji. And, don't forget to put on a hazmat suit! There shouldn't be anyone inside since it's radioactive and autonomous, so once you're in, you shouldn't need to be stealthy anymore. Also, the hatch should stay open for about 15 seconds after you've unlocked it. It'll close automatically behind you as a fail-safe, so don't forget to bring the keys with you when you go inside," Ritsuko said, barely having time to catch her breath.
Kaji nodded and opened the doors to the van.
"Oh, and Kaji, be safe!" Misato added.
"I will," Kaji assured as he jumped out of the van.
"Oh, and Kaji, make sure you clean yourself in the decontamination unit before you come back," Ritsuko also interjected.
"Heh, you girls act like I've never been in a dangerous environment before. You do remember I grew up in the wild after Second Impact, right?" the man said before closing the van doors.
"Well, that was a little out of character for you, Misato. Usually you would have told him to fuck off. May I assume you two have made up then?" Ritsuko said teasingly.
Misato sighed.
"I guess... a little bit," Misato said unsurely.
"Well, I'm happy for you. I just wish you would have chosen a more appropriate time."
"Hey! That's not fair! It's not my fault. He knew I was gonna get bored sitting up on that damn building doing nothing all day! And.. it's not like I have anyone else I can mess around with… not legally anyways," Misato grumbled as she pulled out a nail file.
/
Friday : Late Night : Lake Ashinoko Commercial District
"Where is he? He should have been back by now?" Misato whined as she paced back and forth in the tiny van.
"I'm sure he's fine, Misato. He's probably just being extra careful, which is a good thing," Ritsuko said as she puffed out a cloud of smoke.
Suddenly, a rough fist knocked on the van and Misato gasped.
The doors opened an Kaji appeared with a tired but bright smile on his face.
"Did you get it plugged in?" Ritsuko asked.
"Yep."
"Good! Then I can just plug this in here," Ritsuko said as she inserted a plug into the computer in the van, "and begin sending this to the Magi. Hopefully, this'll only take like thirty minutes, and then you'll need to go back in after I've overwritten the programming and pull the companion device out of the Jet Alone's console."
"What!? You want me to go in there again!? Tonight!?"
"Well, we can't just leave the thing in there! They're going to find the wreckage and leaving a bunch of unclaimed electronics in there would scream sabotage!"
"Yeah, but I thought we'd be doing that tomorrow night or something! We need to be out of here soon or someone is gonna find us!"
"No! We're doing it all tonight and we're activating it tomorrow. We have no idea when they'll relocate it after the show finishes tomorrow and I don't want them moving it and making it impossible to recover our hardware!"
"Since when was that the plan, Ritsuko?"
"Since right now!"
Kaji rested his head on the back of his arm and took a deep breath. Misato reached over and gently rubbed his shoulder.
"Ritsuko, please hurry. I don't think an extended stay will serve anyone well," Misato said, sounding a bit nervous.
"I know that better than anyone, Misato! I'm working as fast as I can!"
/
-Showtime-
/
Saturday : Mid Morning : NERV HQ
Ritsuko sat watching the news on her phone from her office. Truth be told, she was nervous. As far as she knew, she, Kaji, and Misato had pulled everything off cleanly enough. But it still felt wrong, even if she didn't really like the guy. Even if she just tried to see it as payback for him sabotaging all of her school projects back in college, she was still trembling with anticipation.
"Only a few more minutes now," Kaji said.
Ritsuko jumped and almost knocked her phone on the floor by accident before looking at Kaji with an annoyed look and holding her hand over heart thumping heart.
"Can you please never do that again!?" Ritsuko shouted defensivly.
"Never do what again?"
"Sneak into my office and scare the shit out of me!"
Kaji looked at the floor and smiled. Ritsuko scowled, knowing the man took too much pleasure in sneaking up on people.
"I'll try to keep that in mind," the man chuckled as he straightened his belt, "What're ya watchin'?"
"The news. They're all gathered at the Jet Alone showing. All we have to do is wait until they fully activate it and turn on the primary systems and the AI. As far as I know, all the secondary systems are already on and have been on the during the entire show, which is why we were able to replace the programming last night. If the computers were off, it would have been a sight harder do that..." Ritsuko sighed before taking a drink of her coffee.
Both Ritsuko and Kaji leaned over the phone listening to the broadcast of a man giving a speech on the stage in front of the Jet Alone.
"In a few minutes, we'll turn on the Jet Alone and call up volunteers so that you can all test it's recognition capabilities for yourselves. First we'll have it mimic our volunteers and then we'll have it do the opposite of what our volunteers do so that you can all see and understand how well it will be able to accurately counter and attack in close quarters fights. As you'll see, its reaction speed and finesse will be well above the capabilities of the Evangelions, which are limited by the fact the Evangelions inhumanely require human pilots to give them commands!"
"That's so insulting! You helped designed the Evas, didn't you Ritsuko!?" Kaji said, teasing the woman.
"Part of them, yeah. ...Where's Misato?" Ritsuko sighed.
"She's at the command bridge. Another one who's nerves are eating her alive I suspect."
"Oh, shit. Kaji! I think it's starting," Ritsuko hissed.
"Well, let's hope the Magi did their job well enough. We don't want it killing anyone..."
The new broadcast on the phone showed on of the attendees raising their hands straight above their head, motioning for the Jet Alone to do the same.
The Jet Alone did nothing however.
"Uh, it's supposed to do something, right, Ritsuko?" Kaji asked
"Yes, It's supposed to- Oh, wait. Okay, it's doing something now!" Ritsuko said, half with excitement and half with terror.
Instead of raising it's hand, the Jet alone took a step forward, shaking the stage and the ground around the shore of Lake Ashi.
"Uh, that's… strange. It's not supposed to do that. Uh, heheh," the spokesman on the stage said, laughing in embarrassment.
The Jet Alone took another step, seemingly marching right for the crowd of people at the demonstration.
"Uh, okay, we should probably clear out of here while the engineers work out what's going on," the spokesperson said.
Despite the presenter trying to keep his cool, it was obvious that most of the guests were panicking and rushing out of the demonstration venue.
"They're gonna try to turn it off remotely, but they're not gonna be able to," Ritsuko said with a smarmy smirk.
"Nice going, Ritsu. You really do deserve a raise."
"You know, you might be right."
/
Saturday : Mid Morning : NERV HQ
"Colonel Katsuragi!" Gendo Ikari said as he walked out onto the command bridge.
"Yes, Sir!?" Misato said giving a salute.
"We've just received a call from the ministry of defense stating that we are cleared to sortie the Evangelions against an autonomous machine that seems to be malfunctioning. I want the pilots combat ready as soon as possible."
"Yes, Commander Ikari," Misato said, sounding exhausted.
She pulled out her phone and called Rei.
"Hey, Rei. It's time to do your thing," Misato said halfheartedly.
"Understood. I am already prepared to sortie," the girl said, Misato barely able to hear her speak over the bustle of the command bridge.
"Alright. Good girl, Rei. Be prepared to receive further orders in a few minutes," Misato said before hanging up the phone.
"Hey, did we miss anything!?" Kaji said as he arrived on the command bridge along with Ritsuko.
"Not yet, really. Rei's about to be sent up the Catapult."
"Could we also send Unit-02 and Pilot Sohryu up?" Ritsuko requested, "Jet Alone is pretty massive. And, while I'm sure Pilot Ayanami could handle this herself, there are people out there and we should maintain as much combat superiority as we can and make sure no one gets hurt."
"Yeah, sure, I'll call her… as long as it's okay with Commander Ikari," Misato said, glancing at the man questioningly.
Misato looked at the Gendo, obviously waiting for his response.
The man was obviously stewing over Ritsuko's request. He knew there was probably a reason the woman was requesting Asuka though, and he eventually agreed.
"Very well, Pilot Sohryu may sortie," Commander Ikari said in a final manner.
"Oh, and, can we also make sure Unit-02 is equipped with the automatic electromagnetic crossbow?" Ritsuko asked, adding yet more to the list of expensive pieces of technology that would be shot up the tunnels today.
Commander Ikari sighed before nodding.
"Okay, call her, Misato! She needs to be out there like now!"
"Okay, Ritsuko. Rei hasn't even gotten in her plug yet. Give us a minute," Misato said before calling Asuka.
/
Saturday : Mid Morning : Lake Ashinoko Commercial District
"Please stand clear of intersection. Evangelion arriving soon. Please stand clear," an automated voice warned everyone over a speaker.
"Oh crap! There's an Evangelion coming!" a person on the sidewalk adjacent to the intersection shouted as they jogged away from the rampant Jet Alone wandering down the street!
The road at the middle of the intersection began separating, opening up to a massive hole in the ground.
"Should we stay and watch?"
"No way! We'll get trampled! There's no way of knowing what's about to happen! Let's just go to the shelter!"
"I know what's about to happen! NERV is about to open a can of ass whoop!"
A rush of wind spewed out of the hole in the ground, and within the next second, Unit-00 had burst from the ground.
Despite the fact everyone should have been running, practically every person on the street stopped dead in their tracks to look on in awe of Unit-00, the sun shining though a break in in the clouds causing it's blue and white armor to sparkle in the morning light.
"Look! Look! It's Unit-00!"
"Careful now, Rei," Misato said over the com channel, "There's still people down there and we don't want to hurt them. Asuka will be up in a minute. She was a little behind you. Just keep it as still as possible until then."
"Understood," Rei said confidently.
For a second, Rei and Unit-00 stood still. Rei was sizing up her opponent and figuring out how best to immobilize it and gain access to the operational recorder while also trying to make sure that she wouldn't harm anyone if she needed to maneuver. The thing was big though. Even if it didn't fight back due to Ritsuko's meddling, it would be difficult to stop it. The thing was a tank compared to an Evangelion.
Nevertheless, that didn't stop Rei.
She suddenly shot forward, charging straight at the other machine. But, instead of body slamming it, she instead vaulted over it, getting behind it.
The impact tremors caused when her Eva landed on the street probably knocked half of the people on the sidewalk off their feet.
Unit-00 then spun around and charged Jet Alone from behind. The Eva Flung it's left arm around Jet Alone's neck… if it could be called such a thing, attempting to restrain the robot in place. The Eva's other hand reached for it's prog knife and began stabbing it into the hatch on the back of Jet Alone's right shoulder, where Ritsuko had told Rei where the recorder would be.
After stabbing into the hatch a few times, Rei was able to fit her Eva's fingers into the hatch and create a wider opening, allowing her to see into the machine and locate the recorder.
After finally identifying it, Rei sheathed her prog knife before drawing a small handgun from her other pylon… well, small by Evangelion standards anyways. Rei, held the handgun in front of the Jet Alone, allowing her other hand to help cock it before she the aimed it down the hatch an unloaded on the recorder.
Puncture holes appeared all through the lower right side of the Jet Alone's chest, the bullets then continuing onward and smashing into the asphalt of the road like small meteors falling from the heavens; the gunshots sounding louder than any natural thunder.
At just that moment, Asuka and Unit-02 arrived at the surface!
"Booyah! Your queen is here, bitches!" Asuka shouted, also broadcasting her voice over her Evangelion's speaker so practically everyone for a mile could hear her entrance.
She looked at the ground, noticing some people had still chosen to remain, even after Rei had engaged the Jet Alone.
"Hey, what're you doin' here, you dumbasses!? There's about to be a giant trash heap spewing radioactive shit all over the streets! Why're you still here!? Get out!" Asuka once again shouted over the loudspeaker, effectively scaring away the last of the people who thought to stay and watch.
"Remember Asuka, you need to hit it in the chest," Ritsuko said over the com, "I'll mark the approximate location you should be hitting on your heads up display. Keep firing until it seems to stop operating. That'll hopefully mean the computer onboard is destroyed."
"Yeah, and I'll mash it up afterwards just to be sure," Asuka sighed back into the mic, not keen on taking orders.
"This is gonna be too easy," Asuka moaned boredly, "It's literally just target practice. My skills could be put to so much better use. Just hold it still, Rei."
"I will," Rei said, also sounding somewhat bored.
Asuka then began showering the Jet Alone with bolts from the automatic electromagnetic crossbow. Luckily, none of them seemed to go all the way though the Jet Alone to hit Rei or her Eva or even her AT Field. Though, Asuka could turn up the magnetic acceleration to achieve more penetration power, Ritsuko had expressly forbidden her from doing such a thing though, given the delicacy of the operation and the fact that neither Misato or Ritsuko wanted any friendly fire, even with AT Fields to protect the Evas. The only reason Ritsuko had nominated the weapon in the first place was to lend more credence to the act and not make it too obvious that NERV was targeting the crucial operational aspects of the Jet Alone.
After firing six bolts, the jet alone finally went limp and Rei released her grip on it, letting it slump to the ground.
"Ah, only two bolts left in the magazine," Asuka sighed boredly.
"Hey, Rei!" Misato said over the com.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Ritsuko says to discharge any remaining ammunition you have into the main computer onboard the Jet Alone. She wants the thing completely obliterated with no way to recover her program."
"Understood," Rei said as she pulled out her handgun and then walked around the crumpled machine to stand next to Asuka's Eva.
"Shoot it," Rei said to Asuka.
"If you say so," Asuka said as she raised the crossbow and launched the last two bolts into the machine.
Rei then did the same, emptying her current magazine and her spare one into the computer of the Jet Alone.
"Okay, good. I don't think there's anything left of that," Misato said as she watched Unit-00's video feed, "Now, both of you get out of there. That whole place is going to need to be quarantined."
/
Sunday : Daybreak : NERV HQ
"Well, well, well. What a fine mess we've made," Kaji said as he threw a freshly printed newspaper on Gendo Ikari's desk, "JHCI won't be causing any trouble after that. From what we know so far, Mister Tokita threw himself onto the fuel rods after the Evangelions withdrew, possibly in an act of attempted suicide. He's still alive… for now. He's being treated for severe acute radiation toxicity, but everyone's pretty sure he's not gonna make it. Which leaves us with… exactly one casualty."
"Better safe than sorry," was all Gendo said in response.
Kaji crossed his arms and rested his weight on his right foot.
"Was it really necessary though?" Kaji asked the man, sounding a bit more serious now.
"It doesn't matter if it was necessary. It's done now and nothing can change that."
"Well, far be it from me to gainsay your decision. Anyways, I have other business to attend to as I'm sure you're aware," Kaji said casually before stuffing his hands in his pant pockets and beginning to leave Gendo's office.
"You did an excellent job orchestrating this, Officer Kaji. Forcing our business rivals to play their hand before they were ready. You may leave it to me to handle the rest when the media comes calling."
Kaji stopped for a moment, taking the extra effort to respond to the man, though he didn't dare turn around to show the scowl on his face.
"Yes, well... I suppose it's a good thing we found those patents when we did. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get those pictures for you so easily beforehand. And that would have made setting all this in motion a lot harder..."
"Indeed… You are dismissed."
.
*Eva credits roll and Fly Me to the Moon plays*
.
"Now that was something, huh!? But what could be next after such a turn of events?
Well, you're in luck because I can tell you. In the next chapter we take a deeper dive into my past! Would you believe it!? A chapter just for me! Ah, well, Ritsuko and Kaji show up. And even that Shiro guy too since the next chapter will go over a bit of my college life... and more. But anyways, it'll all be in the next chapter of Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love; Sand In Our Shoes.
And who knows what kinds of dirty filthy fanservice could possibly be found in my past!?"
*Misato laughs manically*
.
