.

-To Begin, We First Must See The End-

.

You have to give people something so you can take it away from them later…

That is my writing philosophy and I think you'll all see it pretty clearly in this chapter.

Also, since it's a Thursday that I'm uploading this on, Feliz Jueves everyone. Let's get into some review responses, shall we? Though, I hope you'll all excuse me if I'm not terribly detailed with the responses. There are things I want to cover with them, but I've been up for way too long and am super sleepy typing this up.

Mecha Rider 101: Ah, Misato. Yes, I think I've found a way to implement her successfully into the pairing. (Grouping? Not really a pair if its more than two I suppose) However, I will ask for patience with her. It's taken me almost 500,000 words just to get Shinji, Rei, and Asuka together. And, this is going to be a long story. And, there's also certain things I still need to accomplish with her. But, I think people will be happy with how things turn out... I hope at least.

JCarassco: I'm happy you seem so enthused with this story. Hopefully I got this chapter out fast enough for you, haha. Though, I know I'm generally pretty slow at uploading... But hey, at least this chapter is a long one.

Useful76: Ah, hahah, yes, ominous foreboding. Well, there was a reason for that as we'll see in this chapter. Agh, gosh, I'm nervous about this one for several reasons. And I'm sure everyone will recognize why once they read through this chapter. And yeah, about Asuka, wonder how many people were able to see all the times I also tried to make her vulnerable last chapter. Even during the sex scenes, I tried to have her let some of her weakness poke though so that the other characters could try to offer to help her.

Hellsink Bathhall: There's a couple thing I'd like to touch on from your response. But I'm so sleepy, so please forgive me if I'm somewhat short on words. Even so. First, relating to Rei's (used to be) planned suicide, you're right about Shinji. Originally, in my first script, I had, like I mentioned in last chapter's author's note, planned to kill Rei. Obviously, I still came close to doing that, but decided against that. I didn't go much into what was going to happen after that in the previous chapter, but I'll do it here. You're right about Shinji being the next to try suiciding in the original script. The way it was originally going to go was that Rei would kill herself while Asuka fucked Shinji, Shinji would find out Rei killed herself, and Shinji was then going to brood over it for awhile and feel guilty and ultimately try to kill himself with a kitchen knife, though Asuka was going to stop him by basically wrestling the knife out of his hand. And, she'd accidentally end up getting her hand cut, which would make Shinji feel even worse, but ultimately stop him from killing himself. And, then the next Rei clone would be awoken and basically, Shinji and Asuka would swear to take care of her.

It should be noted, that, while I did change my script, there are still remnants of it in there, and I think people will see it in this chapter, even if it's very different from what I'd initially planned.

Second, about me questioning whether I should use first or third person. Haha, as you know, obviously, I went with third person. But, surprise! There's actually a first person scene in this chapter! And It's going to be from the point of view of someone I think everyone will find very unexpected. Honestly, I was hesitant about switching up the point of view like that. But... Ultimately, I felt I couldn't quite capture the emotions right in third person, so I did go with a single first person scene in this chapter.

And, finally, speaking of tragic backstories... I don't want to spoil anything too quickly as most of this is covered in the chapter, but we might have.. a few more tragic backstories. I'm not gonna say anything on that yet though. We'll have to just read the chapter. I think people are gonna be surprised by this chapter because there's much more to it than Misato's chapter preview let on.

xXwolfsterXx644: Ah, once again, I'm happy people are excited for the next chapter. Hopefully you didn't have too wait to long for this might not seem like it, but I was actually working on this chapter since before last chapter was done and published... and it still took me months to get it out.

dragonick711: Okay, so, speaking of Gendo first, I actually have a whole little story arc planned out for him, though I'm waiting till later to introduce it. I'd somewhat considered starting it this chapter, but I actually have several other plot threads starting in this chapter and I thought I might be getting to the point it would be too many threads to keep track of in one chapter. Second, as for Misato potentially being one of the last to find out about the pilots being together... well... let's just say... she is going to find out. Oh gosh... spoilers.

Vikingsx7: Yeah, I was a little disappointed in Asuka's screentime in the rebuilds too. Introduced in the second movie and then already thrown out two thirds of the way through. Then she barely shows up in the third. Also, thank you for the compliment to my writing. I'm still trying to get better. And, I still also want to go rewrite some of my older chapters if I can get the time.

Blitzstrahl: Heheh, watch everyone in this story get a happy ending... maybe. I dunno... Maybe not. We'll see. I don't wanna spoil too much.

calborghete: That is true we have fanfics to warm our hearts... I intend for this story to be pretty heartwarming in parts. Though, unfortunately, this chapter is probably not going to be one of those parts.

Rowboat Girlyman 1: Agh, gosh, I have something I really want to say here, but I can't because of spoilers. But... maybe this chapter will give some hints at what I'd like to say.

Asherman410: Ah, yeah, I have to say myself, its relief even for me to finally have them all together now. It kinda feels like I've actually started what I set out to do. Of course, I was working towards it the whole time, but I've actually reached what I would consider 'the starting line' now whereas everything before was more like me just trying to get to the race in time.

OCsProtagonistAlliance: Once again, I feel compelled to thank you for complimenting my writing. I can only hope I'm living up to people's expectations with this. And, I hope that, in the future, I will continue to be able to subtly set things up and then just give them a push to let them unravel. Heheh, plot threads. So many new plot threads in this chapter...

Yvori Gevura: Ah, once again, with Misato, as I said in response to Mecha Rider 101, I do think I'll be able to get Misato set up in a satisfactory way, though I know it doesn't seem like that right now since I've had Misato with Kaji currently to push Asuka towards Shinji. And, as always, this is a long story. So, I hope everyone will be patient with me.

TheNotSoFantastique: Ah, yeah, so much lemony goodness. Three chapters in a row (including this one) that will have nice lemon scenes. Unfortunately, the next chapter after this one won't have many lemon scenes in it. But, the good news is the chapter after the next one goes right back to being lemony!

.

Okay, now, onto some things everyone should know about this chapter. First of all, its long. It's long as fuck. Its actually my longest chapter yet sitting at just over 70,000 words not including the author's notes and chapter preview. So, if you're not ready to sit down for a minute... you might wanna get ready. Don't leave any food in the over or anything thinking you'll just sit down and read this chapter and go back to the kitchen. Obviously, everyone reads at different speeds, but I'm still going to warn everyone now, if you have something that needs doing, you should probably do it before sitting down to read this.

Second of all! We have three songs this chapter if you'd care to listen to them. Also, in addition to this, I'm going to do some things I should have done last chapter. I'm going to embolden the scene transition titlecards that involve starting music. I'm also going to leave a music guide below with partially broken links as fanfiction will not let me link to any website outside of their own. All you should have to do is type in youtube's adress up to the dot com part and then copy and paste in the string of letters I leave in the guide right after that. For anyone who'd rather manually search, I'll leave details for that as well.

Also, I'd like to leave a little note of gratitude to a man named Masayoshi Soken as he composed one of the songs I'll be borrowing for this chapter while he was in the hospital with cancer. Welcome back, Soken.

So, let's get into the music guide.


:Music Guide:
:Song One:

To The Edge

This song should be played when you see the titlecard called "To The Edge" (Yes, I wanted to make it that easy)

The titlecard will look like this-

/

-To The Edge-

/

If you'd like to copy and paste the link into youtube, copy the following: /watch?v=MX_Fk7sLSg4&t=2314s

If you'd like to manually search for the song, search for: To The Edge Extended Final Fantasy XIV Hawkenwhacker

You should be looking for a video about an hour and ten minutes long. I specifically looked for extended versions because I never know how long it'll take for people to read through something.


:Music Guide:
:Song Two:

Today is The Time for Goodbye / Kyou no Hi wa Sayonara

This song should be played when you see the titlecard called "We Can Be Friends Forever" (It will be right after To The Edge)

The titlecard will look like this-

/

-We Can Be Friends Forever-

/

If you'd like to copy and paste the link into youtube, copy the following: /watch?v=knFqOa_vYaI

If you'd like to manually search for the song, search for: Today is the Time For Goodbye Andy Spacesoul

This one is short. You only need to play it once. But, if you feel like it, you can play it over until you've gotten though "We Can Be Friends Forever"


:Music Guide:
:Song Three:

And Love You Shall Find

This song should be played when you see the titlecard called "Hopelessness | The Girl No One Heard" (This will be the very last titlecard near the end)

The titlecard will look like this-

/

Hopelessness | The Girl No One Heard

/

If you'd like to copy and paste the link into youtube, copy the following: /watch?v=yQpN79L-aOo&t=187s

If you'd like to manually search for the song, search for: And Love You Shall Find Extended Hawkenwhacker

Once again, this one is extended and should be about an hour. You don't need to listen to the whole thing obviously.


EDIT:
As with last chapter, I have tried my best to make the songs used in this chapter available for download at the facebook page below.

Also, one last thing, I though I'd let everyone know I made a facebook page for this fic where I'll be doing things like reveal streams and posting intermission style titlecards for each of the chapters. I'll also be doing the reveal of Act 3's title there once the time is right. (Like I mentioned last chapter, we're getting close to act 3) If anyone would like to join the facebook page, it is called Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love; A Notice

Now that that's outta the way, lets get to the chapter!

.

Text Guide

Standard Wording

"Spoken Dialogue/Sign Language/Phone Texts"

'Internal Dialogue/Thoughts'

(Flashbacks)

/

[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, sign language, contextual references either through dialogue or narration or exposition, and extra-literary quotations among other things.

.

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.

.

*Cruel Angel's Thesis and Eva intro starts playing*


Neon Genesis Evangelion

A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love

Chapter 37

Staining The Twilight Black

.

"Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy."- Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald

:The United States

:Nevada

:NERV-02

:Yesterday

:Midmorning

The blazing sun viciously beamed down on an airfield in the middle of the desert. Based on the sun's position, one could assume it was later in the morning. But no one needed an assumption to know it was beyond sweltering. It was so hot in fact, that, if someone were to lay their hand down upon the tarmac of the airstrip, they would probably have found their palm blistering from the heat within moments.

And yet, despite the ungodly heat, two young girls in plugsuits could be found standing beside each other next to the runway.

The air could be seen rippling and distorting over the scorching asphalt and concrete. During this time of the day, most employees at NERV-02 would have been seeking shelter. Indeed, heat stroke was a legitimate concern in the deserts of Nevada, and even more so after Second Impact.

But not to these girls. Not right now.

The girl on the left of the pair had long, voluminous, pearly golden blonde hair tied into twintails on either side of her head. She wore a tan sandy colored plugsuit with dark purple accents that had been tailored specifically to her, given the "03" that was on the back of her suit.

She had grey eyes with occasional golden flecks in them and skin on the lighter side, though not quite porcelain. At a glance, she looked like she may have been around fifteen to sixteen years old or so. The girl had a fair face, though her jaw sometimes appeared to hang open loosely enough to slightly part her lips unintentionally. This didn't significantly detract from her charm though, and in fact, some would say it added to her for some reason or another.

As had been the case with the majority of the currently enlisted Evangelion pilots, happenstance would have it that the girl was somewhat small and lithe, though she did seem to have larger than average breasts for someone her age. As well as that, her hips were decently wide and her legs and arms were mildly muscular for a girl. These were the muscles of someone who would go out hiking or adventuring when she wasn't on duty piloting her Evangelion or absorbed in writing poems in her recreational time.

As well as this, despite how hard it was to see given the girl's magnificent hair, she did indeed have a scar running across the top left side of her head. This obviously went unnoticed most of the time, but this scar had shaped her life in more ways than she cared to remember. And, no matter how well she hid it, it would always remain and cast a shadowy reminder of her past.

Not that life was all bad by any means. The blonde girl looked at her right side, over to her companion.

A tan skinned girl; she had black hair, or at least mostly, save for some oddly white colored hair that grew from the front center area above her forehead. Her hair, which she usually left down, was already quite attention grabbing in and of itself, but if that weren't enough to draw the gaze of everyone around her, she also had stunningly blue eyes. Her eyes were so blue in fact that some people had almost described them as unnaturally blue. Though, they would be wrong, however. The two toned hair and blue eyes were actually completely innate to her genetics, one hundred percent natural, through and through. Though, natural doesn't always imply normal…

Indeed, the girl was not normal. But, then again, what Evangelion pilot was? Beyond her odd hair and eye colors, the girl also seemed young. For someone who looked like she couldn't have been over thirteen at the oldest and maybe ten at the youngest, it was strange to see her inside a military base as an enlisted member of the armed forces.

Though, once again, she was an Evangelion pilot as noted by the "04" on the back of her orange accented, dark grey plugsuit. And, the few Evangelion pilots across the world had a well known track record of not being particularly old. For whatever reason, the Marduk Institute's choices for pilots had always gravitated towards the younger generation.

Though, verily, this girl was probably the youngest Evangelion pilot yet.

Like the rest of her fellow pilots, she was oddly small for her age. And, like her companion next to her, she was extremely sylphlike. She was exactly the kind of girl who could escape her parents' watchful gaze by mischievously sliding through a pair of closing hotel elevator doors at the last second so she could run off to the complimentary breakfast buffet and wreak havoc by making off with all the sausage, bacon, and apple juice without her parents to reign her in.

The girl's chest was almost as flat as a board and her arms were as thin as a twig. She could probably slip through the bars of a jail cell if she felt so inclined.

It might or might not have been obvious, but the two girls were very close friends. More than friends actually according to some people's accounts. But it was only to be expected. Both of them had more problems than they could count, even with the shockingly nonexistent rate of appearance of angels in the United States. But, somehow they complimented each other, and together, were able to help themselves through troubles they never could have faced alone.

Beyond the girls, on the airstrip, was the reason they were both out in the staggering heat. Evangelion Unit-03 stood motionless on the searing concrete, soon to be shipped off some place far away across the Pacific Ocean.

The blonde haired girl noticed her mostly black haired friend seemed to be mildly distressed. She of course knew why this was and was aware there wasn't much she could do about the situation. Even so, she was determined to try.

The blonde girl then decided to gently poke her companion's left cheek to get her attention.

The black haired girl finally took notice of her blonde friend.

Neither girl said anything, but, after a moment, the blonde girl raised her hands and began curling and shaping her fingers in myriad ways, seemingly speaking in some kind of sign language.

"Are you doing okay, darling girl?" the blonde girl asked with her hands.

The black haired girl looked at the ground and furrowed her brow.

"Where… where is she… going?" The black haired girl struggled to say, seemingly having some kind of speech impediment along with her voice breaking a bit due to distress.

The blonde girl also took an unsure glance at the ground in an attempt to come up with some words. And, after finally putting a sentence together in her head, she once more started manipulating her hands into various symbols to help convey her message in place of her speech.

"To the place where plum and cherry blossoms used to bloom," the blonde haired girl signed with her hands.

"Where is th- that?" the black haired girl questioned again.

"To Japan. To Tokyo-3," the blonde haired girl once again explained with her hands.

The black haired girl looked at the ground sadly before then glancing back up her her blonde friend.

"D- Doesn't this make you upset? I… I feel so… awful. She isn't even… my Eva. She's- She's yours! Why aren't you upset?" the black haired girl stuttered, trying not to cry.

The blonde girl tried her best to smile despite her lips not responding well and shook her head before leaning forward and gently kissing her friend on the lips while stroking her hair. Granted though, due to a condition she had, the kiss was somewhat inexpressive and stiff, and it hardly did justice in representing her feelings.

After a few moments, she broke the kiss and once again communicated with her friend in sign language.

"I will be okay if I have you. You are all I want and all I need. What am I if I'm not yours?" the seemingly mute blonde girl explained yet again with her hands.

The black haired girl responded, though this time, she too actually responded with her own hand motions instead of with her voice.

"I will miss her… just like I miss Mark.04. It's not fair they're taking them from both of us!" the black haired girl signed depressingly.

"I will miss her too. Hopefully, she will be back soon," the blonde girl signed back optimistically, "You should keep speaking verbally. You are getting better at it."

"Okay!" the black haired girl said loudly.

"Too loud," the blonde girl signed.

"Oh... Sor- ...sorry," the black hair girl whispered.

"Too quiet. A little bit louder," the blonde girl signed again, further guiding her friend with her hands.

"Oh, s- sorry again. Like this?" the black haired girl asked, trying to accurately adjust her voice, which was exceedingly difficult for her due to her having her own disabling condition.

"Very good. Perfect, Ahni! I'm so proud of you," the blonde haired girl signed cheerfully.

Though, the girls were soon broken out of their conversation. Or, one of them was at least. The blonde one specifically.

"Girls, what are you doing out here? You're supposed to be inside," a prestigiously uniformed brunette woman asked, seemingly having walked up on the two girls without them noticing.

Apparently, only the blonde girl heard the woman, and waved back at her in response before the black haired girl turned around to see what her friend was occupied with.

"Hello, Commander Bow!" the black haired girl sloppily slurred out upon seeing the older woman approaching them.

The woman adjusted her sunglasses and shook her head in amusement. Being the head of NERV-02, Catherine Bow usually was a hardass and expected immediate answers to her inquiries. But, she knew the two girls… somewhat had to work together to communicate efficiently and she had a soft spot for them. So, where she would often frown at others who answered her questions with a smile or a hand wave, she actually found herself smirking to hide her laughter when the two pilots would jointly engage her in conversation considering they usually started off on different pages so to speak. And, to an extent, it was endearing to see the girls working together. So, Commander Bow usually cut them some slack.

"Amelia, catch," Commander Bow said before pulling a water bottle out of her pocket and tossing it at the blonde girl.

The girl was initially quite surprised, and almost dropped the bottle as it tumbled about in her hands despite how dexterous they were from years of communicating in sign language. But, she eventually managed to contain it between her inner arms and her breasts before giving an embarrassed smile… or attempting to at any rate.

"Drink it. You look flushed. Make sure Ahni gets some too. She doesn't look much better," the woman ordered.

The blonde girl silently nodded, opening the bottle and taking a short drink with some difficulty before trying to hand the bottle to her friend, who then declined.

"Don't want any! Hot water doesn't- it um… it doesn't taste good!" the black haired girl apparently named Ahni stuttered defiantly.

The blonde girl, Amelia, stuffed the water bottle under her arm so she could speak with her friend.

"Ahni, Miss Catherine says you have to. She says your face is red and you need to drink," Amelia signed as she eyed the girl disciplinarily before pulling the water out from under her arm and shoving it in Ahni's chest.

Ahni begrudgingly accepted the bottle with a frustrated groan, but still refused to drink and instead turned towards the older woman.

"I don't want it! I want… um... affel- um... alpel juice. Apple juice!" Ahni said, still holding her ground.

The woman once again shook her head in amusement.

"She drank all the apple juice. There's none left," the woman chuckled.

Amelia tapped Ahni's shoulder, causing the black haired girl to look back at her.

"Miss Catherine says you drank it all. We'll have to wait for the next shipment to base. Then you can have your apple juice and I can have my orange juice. So, please drink some water for us, okay. I'll give you a kiss if you do," Amelia finished signing with a pleading look.

"Mmgh, okay," Ahni groaned before finally taking a drink.

After taking a fair few sips, Ahni handed the water bottle back to Amelia. She knew that, because Amelia was older than her, she often times gave her priority when it came to resources or care. But, in truth, Amelia probably needed the water more than she did due to her condition, which was really the only reason she had relented and drank any.

Amelia actually suffered from anarthria inflicted through a head injury, which was the primary disabling factor in her ability to speak. But, as well as this, it also affected her ability to eat, drink, kiss, or express herself through smiling for frowning. Taking this into consideration, Ahni could rightly assume that Amelia was the one who was more in need of water, as Ahni's disability, deafness, didn't prevent her from consuming a regular intake of liquids.

Now, of course, one might question how a deaf girl who'd never heard a word in her life was ever able to learn how to speak as fluently as she managed. And no reasonable person would fault someone for asking such a thing.

This was, of course, answerable through the miracle of the Evangelion. Ahni, when concentrating enough during synchronization with Mark.04 before it had detonated, was indeed able to tentatively hear though the her neural connection with the towering silver monstrosity. This in turn had allowed her to begin taking language lessons. And, with great effort, she was now able to speak for herself as well as her best, and only true friend, Amelia, the designated pilot of Unit-03.

Truly, the pair of girls were inseparable. They had grown beyond close through their time together at NERV-02, and could almost be considered a single entity at this point because one would almost never be found without the other. One speaking for both, the other hearing for both, they had come to completely rely on each other for efficient non-written communication as well as just emotional support in daily life.

Neither of them had been fortunate enough to have a happy childhood. Both of them had been harshly singled out and bullied in the public school system due to their disabilities. Both of them had lost their mothers at a young age. And Ahni had contemplated suicide while Amelia had actually made an attempt at it before dropping out of school and being hired by NERV-02.

It was little wonder they had gotten on so well upon first meeting. Some people might have even called it love at first sight. It was too perfect; a girl who couldn't speak becoming fast friends with a girl who couldn't have heard her speech anyways. Was it fate, happenstance, or by design that they met?

Whatever it was, the Marduk Institute sure know how to pick their candidates.

Amelia Rineheart, the Sixth Child, Pilot of Unit-03 and Ahni Rubikard, the Seventh Child, Pilot of Mark.04. Be it fate or happenstance, the world was cruel to take both of their Evangelions from them. Of course, NERV-02 had guaranteed that both girls could still work for them, even without being active duty pilots. And it was probably for the better that was the case. Neither of them were suited to functioning in a normal school environment and NERV-02 had arranged a tailored education program for the girls directly on base so that they could continue their education while also serving as the pilots of Mark.04 and Unit-03.

Even so however, with Mark.04 destroyed and Unit-03 departing for Japan in a few hours, the future seemed more uncertain now than it ever had. After finding a way forward through the forest of life, it now felt as though their path was being blocked off by a sudden rock slide.

If they were let go by NERV, where would they go? What would they do? They would never succeed in the public school system and finding a career would be difficult even if they did get through school. The only career either could really follow was being a celebrity if not something of a more academic and informed nature. But, both of them being of humble birth, neither girl really wanted the celebrity life for themselves, even if they had become somewhat famous. Working for NERV was their only plan at this point in time if they wanted to pursue a proper education, but it felt to both of the girls like that option was slowly being torn from their grasp.

Ahni handed the water bottle back to Amelia, who gratefully took another drink. Though, due to her inability to articulate her oral muscles with precision, she accidentally ended up letting quite a bit of the water drip down her chin and neck and onto the breast of her light tan plugsuit.

After Amelia had finished drinking, she screwed the cap back onto the bottle before tucking it under her arm so she could talk when needed. Unfortunately, because of her disability, the girl had accidentally gotten her tongue caught between her upper and lower teeth and it was now slightly sticking out from her lips.

"Aww, Cutie! Your tongue is out again!" Ahni slurred, keeping up her amateur attempts at speaking verbally.

Amelia looked embarrassed and blushed. Ahni then stuck the dark grey finger of her plugsuit into Amelia's mouth, helping the girl reposition her tongue so she wouldn't accidentally bite it if she tripped or fell. After pulling her finger out of the girl's mouth, Ahni then repeatedly squeezed the girl's cheeks to help make sure her tongue wasn't caught in between her teeth further back in her mouth either.

"All better," Ahni stuttered, "All good!"

Amelia then leaned forward and gave Ahni a kiss, just like she'd promised. Though, it was really Ahni who was doing more of the kissing on account of Amelia not having the best control of her tongue or lips. All the same though, their bond meant everything to them.

"Girls, you should be inside. It's too hot to be out here without water," Commander Bow said.

Amelia, being the only one who could hear the Commander's words, translated them to her friend.

"Miss Catherine says we should go inside. It's too hot. No air conditioning. Not enough water. Bad for young ladies," Amelia said through her hand motions.

Ahni shook her head sadly before turning to face Commander Bow.

"We… just wanted to say… goodbye to Unit-03," Ahni slurred depressingly.

Commander Bow raised her hand and waved at the Evangelion, hoping to cheer the girl up.

"Co- Commander, why… why does she have to go?" Ahni asked.

Commander Bow knew the girl wouldn't be able to hear her, and so she instead just pointed towards Amelia instead.

After Ahni had returned her attention to Amelia, the blonde haired girl began explaining to her.

"There is a really good Evangelion engineer in Tokyo-3 named Miss Ritsuko Akagi. You remember Miss Ritsuko from when you were younger, right? She's going to watch over Unit-03 for us and make sure she's okay. NERV really wants to make sure the new engine they put in Unit-03 doesn't blow up like it did in Mark.04," Amelia signed.

"Yeah, I remember Doctor Akagi but I still don't like this," Ahni signed back, "Isn't there something we can do? This is ridiculous! This can't possibly sit well with you! They're taking away our lives! What're they gonna do with us once we don't have any purpose anymore?! I know how people are! They'll throw us out in the street and make us fend for ourselves! No one wants a deaf or mute girl! They have no purpose for us! You know how the government is! They're not gonna spend tax dollars on us if we aren't doing something useful for our country! I'm so scared! What're we gonna do!? What if Unit-03 blows up just like Mark.04? What're they gonna do with us, Amelia!? They'll throw us out!"

Amelia raised her hands and gestured for Ahni to chill out.

"Calm down, Ahni. It's okay! Despite us being on active duty, there haven't been any angels in the United States. They aren't going to throw us out, okay! We're practically reserve military anyway! There haven't been any angels! All they've ever had us do is training. And you've been living on base even before you were chosen as Mark.04's pilot. Everything will be okay. No one is throwing us out," Amelia signed, trying to calm the girl.

"Yeah, but they still fully intended for me to pilot Mark.04, even if I wasn't officially declared The Seventh Child at that point. Now Mark.04 is gone! I have no Evangelion! I don't have any purpose! They'll throw me out unless Unit-03 is here and they can get one of the dual soul entry plug modifications from Golgotha!" Ahni once again signed back, seemingly wanting to keep their conversation secret.

Amelia let out a sigh through her nose.

"Ahni, please be calm. They've been tinkering with both Mark.04 and Unit-03. Who knows? Maybe they will upgrade Unit-03 with the double entry plug system. Then we could pilot together again. Remember, Ahni, just like how there's no point worrying over the past, there's no point obsessing over a future that hasn't happened. Both stop us from moving forward. And even if they do kick you out, I'll be right behind you. I already said you're everything to me. No matter what happens, we'll make it," Amelia signed, trying to seem hopeful.

"Fine. Okay. You've convinced me for now," Ahni signed.

The black and white haired girl then turned to face Commander Bow once more. She tried not to look too accusatory, but her expression did convey plenty of dissatisfaction nonetheless.

"She will c- come back, right?" Ahni asked, her brows furrowed once more.

"That is the plan. I just want Doctor Akagi to check Unit-03 and make sure she's working alright with the new engine. Ritsuko is practically the Evangelion extraordinaire. She knows pretty much everything there is to know about them. If there's a problem that needs fixing, she's the one to ask," Commander Bow said in response, despite the deaf girl not hearing a single word of it.

Amelia once again tapped on Ahni's shoulder and began translating for her.

"She says she will be coming back. She just wants Miss Ritsuko to make sure nothing is wrong, just like I said. Everything will be okay, Ahni. Life isn't so cruel," Amelia signed back reassuringly.

Ahni shook her head and scowled.

"Life is cruel. People make life cruel. Look at us. You should know that better than anyone after what they did to you," Ahni signed, looking at the ground with an angry scowl as her thoughts apparently returned to some dark place in her mind.

Amelia put her finger under Ahni's chin and lifted her gaze back up before continuing their conversation.

"Some people make life worth living. And I do know better than anyone. That's why you should trust me," Amelia signed, trying her best to smile despite her disability.

"I do trust you…" Ahni signed back unenthusiastically.

"Then we should go back inside. We've said goodbye to Unit-03. She'll be back soon. It's too hot. Time to cool off," Amelia signed, hoping to convince her friend to get out of the heat.

"Yeah, okay. Lets go," Ahni signed, finally relenting.

The two girls then began walking off back to their quarters. Though, before taking more than a few steps, Commander Bow called out to the girls again.

"Are you two going inside?" The woman asked, turning around to face the girls.

Ahni obviously hadn't heard, but Amelia did and quickly looked over her shoulder to nod at the woman.

"Why don't you stop by the mess hall?" Commander Bow suggested to the mute blonde girl, "They had beef and cheese enchiladas today. Everyone seemed pretty excited about it. It's better fare than they usually get I guess. And you should probably eat something anyways. You need to keep your strength up, Mooneyes. Make sure to have Enchantress help you eat if you need it."

Amelia quickly tapped Ahni on the shoulder to grab her attention.

"Miss Catherine says they have enchiladas today. Want to go get some before they're gone?" Amelia signed with a bit of a spring in her step.

"I guess so. Hopefully they're good. The further North you go, the harder it gets to find quality Mexican food. That's the one thing I miss most about Texas. There was a little family run Mexican restaurant where I lived, in a little town just North of San Antonio, and they had the best milanesa tortas ever. I guess that's just the quality you expect when the chef is straight from Jalisco," Ahni signed, this time seeming a little more lively.

"Whataburger is mostly in Texas, right? Have you ever had it? Is it any good?" Amelia signed back, happy she'd found something to help take Ahni's mind off of the Evangelion.

"Yeah, Whataburger is pretty good, I guess. Their burgers really are freakin' huge compared to most other places," Ahni signed back with a giggle.

"So its true what they say then? That everything is bigger in Texas?" Amelia joked.

"Yeah, everything except my tits," Ahni laughed unconsciously as she finished signing.

If Amelia had been able to laugh, she would have. Unfortunately, her specific manifestation of muteness had mostly robbed her of that joy.

"Don't be like that, darling. I think they look good on you," Amelia signed with a blush.

"You're the only one who would know for sure I guess," Ahni signed back, also blushing.

"Oh, yeah? Well, maybe, later, we could make sure I really know for sure," Amelia signed to her friend, giving her a mischievous wink.

"Stop it, Amelia! You're embarrassing me!" Ahni signed back, her blush turning even redder.

"How'm I embarrassing you!? No one can understand us when we talk like this!" Amelia signed back teasingly.

Ahni shook her head in amusement.

"We can do it tonight. Outside, away from the barracks, under the stars, just like you like," Ahni signed to the girl before giving her a smile.

Amelia clasped her hands together endearingly before signing, "You know me so well!"

"So, now that that's settled, about food then. You think that they'll have any salsa that's actually spicy?" Ahni questioned.

"You're a lime and pepper addict. You really like spicy and sour stuff that much?" Amelia signed.

"Of course I do! Us southerners love spicy food! I just hope I can try a Carolina reaper one day. They're so hard to find after Second Impact," Ahni signed quite surely.

"I'm sure they'll have something you'll like," Amelia signed back confidently.

"They better. I'm running out of Tabasco and my bottle of Cholula is half empty too. And I'm down to only one bottle of lime juice now," Ahni complained though her sign language.

Commander Bow looked over her shoulder, seeing the girls had departed a fair distance from her and seemed to be engaged in a conversation. After confirming they, or at least Amelia, were out of earshot, she pulled out her phone and called someone despite the fact she'd been calling people all morning and she was quite sick of being on the phone. But, after Mark.04's destruction earlier in the morning, everything had been left in a hectic state of chaos, and someone had to clean up the mess.

"This is Commander Bow. How're the recovery efforts going?" she asked after the person on the other end picked up.

She stared at Unit-03 as she waited for the other person to answer.

"Okay, well, we need to hurry this up. Mark.04's soul needs to be salvaged before it dissipates. That soul is irreplaceable if we intend to continue having Rubikard serve as a pilot. The body and armor, if there's anything left of either, can wait," Commander Bow stated, making sure there was no ambiguity as to what was the top priority.

The woman slowly began pacing about uneasily as the person on the other line finished speaking.

"Yes, it should work. It's been tested on several occasions. It works better than the first set of soul transference machines. I think Commander Ikari finally realized that, despite what happened all those years ago, we need a way to reimbue souls without having to fly a classified piece of technology halfway across the globe. I know this is the first time using it in a field environment, but it should be safe," Commander Bow said into the phone.

The woman then sighed as the person on the other end responded.

"Yeah, just… keep me up to date. Shit's about to start moving real fast. I can feel it," Commander Bow said in exasperation before hanging up the phone.

She then glanced at the girls again. They were several hundred feet away from her by now. Even so though, she could tell they were happy. This didn't offer much comfort to Commander Bow however, and she still found herself frowning as she watched the girls sadly while they made their way to the mess hall.

After finally managing to take her eyes off the girls, Catherine Bow looked out at the horizon. It seemed as though there was a storm brewing in the distance as she could see occasional flashes of lightning far to the west, though it was too far away for any thunderous report to carry to her ears.

Given how hot it was, Nevada could certainly use the rain. But, for some reason, the storm clouds didn't seem to give off the aura of a refreshing reprieve.

"I… I have a bad feeling about this."

/

-The Kids Aren't Alright-

/

"Forbidden things have a secret charm."- Publius Cornelius Tacitus

:Japan

:Kanagawa Prefecture

:The Katsuragi Residence

:Present Day

:Late Morning

Shinji, Rei, and Asuka had just finished eating the meal Rei had prepared while Shinji had been visiting his mother's grave site with his father. And, currently, the trio were cleaning their dishes so they wouldn't have to come back and clean them later.

"You know, you're really starting to get good at this cooking stuff, Rei. I may need to brush up on my skills. It's been awhile since I cooked anything," Asuka said as she brought her bowl over to the sink and began rinsing it out.

"Oh, thank you. I am still learning though," Rei said with a smile as she handed her own washed bowl to Shinji, who then proceeded to dry the bowl with a cloth.

"You're doing great, Rei! This mulligatawny was really good. I'm sure you'll really impress father. He'll be happy you're learning," Shinji said as he gave the girl a genuine smile.

"Speaking of which," Asuka started, "you think he'll be coming over tomorrow or the day after?"

"Eh, I'm not really sure," Shinji shrugged, "We didn't set a date. All we really did was talk about mom or other stuff that didn't really matter. I imagine he wants too keep his options open with Unit-03 arriving later today. I guess I'll call him later and see what he thinks if he isn't too busy."

"Eh, understandable," Asuka sighed as she slid her bowl past Rei and towards Shinji, "I just wonder what the hell's going on with that shit. I mean, surely someone's gonna be upset about Unit-03 being shipped here. It does violate the Vatican treaty and all. Why here? Why not just send someone over to The States?"

"Well, the other day," Shinji said as he picked up Asuka's bowl and began drying it, "he said that the lady in charge of NERV-02 wanted Doctor Akagi to examine it. I guess they didn't want her to leave Japan with all the angel attacks and everything."

"I guess that makes since. She is the head scientist," Asuka said thoughtfully.

Shinji then stacked the girls' bowls on top of his and put them back into the cupboard.

"Oh, Rei, also, I hope you don't mind," Shinji started nervously, "but I told father you mentioned… um… the being cloned stuff to me… He didn't seem mad. Though, I didn't want to dig into it too much since we were supposed to be seeing mom."

"That is… good. I wasn't certain of... how he would feel. I am… thankful I didn't have to ask him myself. Thank you, Shinji" Rei said, seemingly being quite relieved by the news.

"You know, I'm kinda curious myself. It's pretty fucked up, don't you think?" Asuka inquired.

"What is? Rei being a clone?" Shinji questioned.

"Well, yeah. But, I mean… everything. Like… cloning your mom!? Like, that's his wife! And… I just… I don't… I don't know. It just doesn't sit right with me. Why? Why would he do that? What's the point?" Asuka asked.

The question had obviously been rattling about in her head for awhile, and Shinji could say the same for himself.

"I am sorry," Rei mumbled bashfully.

"No, no, Rei! I don't mean you," Asuka said as she reassuringly put her hand on the girl's head before looking back at Shinji, "I mean the commander. Like, do you think it's like Jurassic Park where they just figured out they could and went and did it just because they could? Or was it because the Commander missed your mom? If it was just that, why didn't he just clone her? Why mix her up with an angel? ...I'm starting to wonder what else NERV is hiding from us."

Shinji shook his head, indicating he really didn't have an answer.

"I really couldn't say. I've never been close with father. But… maybe, I'll get a chance to ask him if I can get him to trust me," Shinji said.

"I would not be so sure," Rei spoke, "Even he has not told me these things. I have asked him before. But, he never tells me his own reasoning. The day before yesterday however, he did tell me he created me to meet Shinji. That is more than he has divulged to me in the past."

A small blush could be seen on Rei's cheeks.

"Well, that's interesting… but vague," Asuka said suspiciously, "So he cloned you from his mom and intended for you and him to meet? Meet and do what exactly? I mean, obviously to pilot the Eva together but, what else? Meet and be friends? Start dating? I mean… if he really intended for you two to get together… why Shinji's mom? That's so fucked up if that's intentional."

"I am… very sorry," Rei said again.

"Rei," Shinji sighed before kissing the girl on the side of her head.

"No, Rei, I didn't mean you, seriously. Don't apologize," Asuka said as she stroked her fingers through Rei's hair, "You didn't do anything wrong, okay. I mean, yeah, the situation is a little fucked up, but it's not your fault. You aren't responsible for how you were born. And… it's clear we're all in a little bit of a special situation. So, don't apologize, okay, Rei? There is nothing wrong with you loving Shinji. So, please don't feel guilty."

Rei closed her eyes and sighed before gently leaning her head on Asuka's shoulder in a display of affection.

"I… do not understand what I am," Rei said as she opened her eyes.

"It doesn't matter what you are, Rei. It matters who you are," Asuka said as she leaned her own head into Rei's, "You're just you, Rei. You've saved my life and Shinji's. There's nothing wrong with us being together."

"Asuka's right, Rei. You don't need to worry about that. It doesn't change anything you've done for us. I know I don't really have the right to say that after how I acted the other day. But, I was wrong, Rei. Everything is fine and none of this is your fault," Shinji said before kissing the girl's head again.

Rei then tilted her head in the other direction and rested her head on Shinji's shoulder. The girl still seemed to be in somewhat low spirits, but all Shinji and Asuka could do was offer their love and support.

Asuka pulled away from the girl before then lightly pushing Rei closer to Shinji.

"Why don't you two go to the couch. I have an idea that'll help cheer Rei up and show her how much she means to us," Asuka said.

"Hmm? What would that be?" Rei asked with a confused blink.

Asuka gave the girl a quick kiss before telling her, "Shh, just trust me."

Rei nodded before looking up at Shinji, prompting him to respond to her as he nodded towards the couch in agreement with Asuka. Shinji had a sneaking suspicion he knew what Asuka was gonna pull, and he wasn't entirely sure if he should really go along with it. But, the redhead had been so sweet to both of them recently, he found it hard to fight her on her course of action.

Shinji took Rei's hand and led her over to the couch while Asuka bided her time until the both of them had sat down on the couch.

After a few moments, Shinji heard Asuka clanking some glass around in the kitchen, which all but confirmed what he imagined she was planning was exactly what she intended to do.

"Asuka, you're not getting the alcohol are you? It's a weekday!" Shinji called to the girl from the couch as he looked over his shoulder at her.

The girl didn't say anything, but gave him a wicked smirk as she leaned out of the cupboard she was rummaging through. Seeing the girl's reaction, Shinji turned back around and shook his head, though he couldn't help but smile. He felt just the slightest surge of adrenaline shoot through him as he recalled what had happened in the shower between all three of them just a few nights ago.

After a couple more seconds, Asuka walked into the living room with three bottles of alcohol and a trio of glasses. One was the bottle of apple brandy, which had almost been emptied. Besides that bottle though, one was a tall bottle with a soft pink liquid in it and the other bottle was rectangular and made from smokey black glass that couldn't very easily be seen through.

"The Brandy is pretty much gone, and I figured we'd finish it off. So I grabbed a rosé with rosemary and cassia and I also grabbed a bottle of some kind of American whiskey," Asuka said with a wink.

"Asuka, there's no way Misato isn't going to notice those missing," Shinji sighed, though he knew he probably wasn't gonna be able to offer much resistance to the girl once she inevitably started trying to convince him.

Asuka set the bottles and glasses down on the coffee table and Rei stared at the wine, seemingly enraptured by it's soft inviting coloration.

"Nonsense!" Asuka declared, "She can't even count when she's drunk and she only goes after the stronger stuff after she's gone through her Yebisu. And even if she did find out, she won't do anything about it because I have dirt of her from when she raped you, Shinji. That is the whole reason she let me drink in the past!"

"Oh, geez," Shinji said he bashfully rubbed the back of his head.

"This pink one is… pretty," Rei said as she continued to gaze at the wine.

Asuka curiously picked up the bottle of rosé and began trying to make sense of the label.

"Ah, fuck. It's all in French. I learned some back at school in Germany but don't remember much of it. Let me see… This one was imported from France and made using the traditional vin gris method and cinsault grapes. Something something something about being tried and true and being passed down for generations and this and that and whatever. Dunno, can't read all that much French. Uh… the vineyard is in the southern Rhône valley… So, somewhere near the Mediterranean then. Nice. Some more fucking French words I can't even read. Um, yeah. Sounds, pretty good," Asuka finished before setting the bottle gently back on the table.

"And that one?" Shinji asked, gesturing towards the black bottle.

Asuka was all too happy to examine the bottle, even without being prompted to.

"Ah, hell, I should have figured it would be in English. Um… like I said, it's American. Um… looks like it was made in Tennessee. ...I think I pronounced that right. I haven't spent much time in The States despite having citizenship. Anyways, um. Some more stuff about being passed on through generations. Apparently there's like black tea and white peach in it also. Um… aged for twelve years in charred oak barrels. So this bottle would be from at least as far back as like 2002 or something. Jesus, this thing's almost as old as second impact if not older. Is there a bottling date on this? There's gotta be! I wonder how much Misato paid for it," Asuka wondered aloud as she started turning the dark bottle over in her hand looking for more information.

"God, you're so smart," Shinji said in awe, "I wish I knew as much as you. You got all that from reading two languages you don't even know that well?! You are a genius."

Asuka blushed at Shinji's unexpected praise.

"Geez, shut up! You're embarrassing me," Asuka choked out, trying to hide her blush, "I'm not a genius. They just put me in a forced accelerated learning program when I was younger before shoving me off into college. It's not like this stuff came to me naturally. Besides, this is just dealing with cognates and familiar words and like… geography. It's not anything any other college graduate worth their salt wouldn't already know."

"Still though, that's impressive, Asuka! You should be proud of yourself," Shinji replied.

"Yes, Asuka. You are quite informative and knowledgeable," Rei added.

Usually, Asuka would be one to soak up any complement offered to her. She reveled in recognition. But, somehow, she found herself insecure in this instance. She often times didn't get genuine praise. Most of the time, it was only surface level flattery from people she didn't know and whose words meant nothing to her. But, actually receiving recognition from someone she cared about was different and had a strange effect on her heart that she wasn't used to. Or maybe Shinji's more humble disposition was rubbing off on her. Who could say?

"Seriously, it's nothing," Asuka said bashfully as she continued looking over the dark bottle trying to find a date, "So, looks like it was bottled in 1997. So, this is legit older than second impact. Probably a small miracle it wasn't destroyed. So, we should try our best to enjoy it."

"I hope we don't get in trouble for this," Shinji sighed, though it seemed her was finally relenting..

"Don't worry! We won't!" Asuka said as she broke the seal on the screw cap of the whiskey bottle before tossing it on the glass coffee table.

The girl then coolly poured the drink into the glass she'd set on the middle of the table, which she presumably intended to be Shinji's while Rei's was on the left and Asuka's own was on the right.

After Asuka had finished pouring the drink, she looked at Shinji with a deviant smile, obviously trying to prompt him into taking it. Shinji still wasn't all that much into alcohol. But, he supposed he'd just have to go along with it. And, even if he wasn't a fan of the taste, at least the actual drunkenness might prove interesting.

He reached for the glass and brought it to his lips. It smelled strongly of a variety of fragrance notes. Wood, alcohol, some light fruity presence, smoke, and some herbal scents. Overall, it had a very mature smell to it. Shinji, being unused to such perfumatic mixtures, still found himself trying to avoid a slight dizzy spell.

He knew he probably wasn't going to appreciate the flavor or scent as much as someone like Misato probably might, but he still went ahead and tried his best to swallow some of the drink without cringing.

Meanwhile, Asuka had picked up the bottle of rosé, sticking the top of it in the corner of her lips and biting down on the cork before twisting the bottle and yanking the cork out with her teeth. The girl then spat the cork out onto the glass table, which it then bounced off of before landing on the floor. Rei's eyes expertly tracked the cork as it flew through the air before it rolled in a wide circle on the floor and came to rest.

Asuka then poured the bright pink drink into Rei's glass before setting the bottle down and picking up the brandy and pouring herself her own glass before sitting down right of Shinji.

"Ah, the only thing that would make this better is if we were at a pre-impact beach. Supposedly, they used to smell more like salt rather than blood. Like, they smelled like how the aquarium smelled that one time Kaji brought us to it," Asuka said before taking a drink of her brandy.

"Actually, Asuka. Speaking of Kaji-" Shinji tried to say before he was immediately cut off by the redhead.

"Don't. I know what you're going to ask," Asuka said as she glanced at the floor, "You're going to ask if I'm really okay with how things are. But, I don't want to think about it. And even more, I don't know. I'm just trying to follow my heart, and my heart is leading me to you. I still care about Kaji… but, I was… stupid to have ever thought he'd date me at this point in time. I really… I don't know how I feel about him anymore. I know I care about him… but all I'm getting out of my relationship with him is pain. It just hurts. It's torture every time I try to connect with him and he shoots me down. ...I understand why, but it doesn't make it any easier or less hurtful. And, I'm just… so tired of being alone. And, it doesn't hurt when I'm with both of you. So… please, let's just not talk about Kaji. I just want to be happy and both of you make me happy. That's what I do know for sure."

Shinji sighed before gently resting his hand on Asuka's arm.

"Alright. I get it. I'm sorry, Asuka. I probably shouldn't have brought that up right now anyways," Shinji said to the girl.

Asuka leaned over and kissed the boy on the cheek.

"It's okay, Shinji. But, I was tryna do this to help Rei feel better; not me," Asuka said before she glanced at the blue haired girl.

Rei, despite her usual tendency towards being inexpressive, was blushing quite madly. This was probably partly because of her growing and exploring her emotions, but also because she'd been sipping on the wine Asuka had offered her.

"I am alright," Rei said back.

"You're really flushed right now. I don't think I've ever seen your face so red," Asuka chuckled devilishly as she gazed at the girl.

"Yes. My face feels strange and hot. It seems to be a common effect between these drinks," Rei said as she touched a few of her fingers to her cheek.

"Yeah, the ethanol makes the blood vessels in your face dilate. That's why you feel hot. There's more surface area for your blood to transfer heat," Asuka explained to the girl.

"Hmm… you are intelligent," Rei said back.

"Geez," Asuka said as she found herself blushing again.

"And now you are becoming red," Rei said observantly.

"Oh, just you wait, Wondergirl. I'll show you someone turning red," Asuka said back teasingly.

Asuka then turned her attention to Shinji and she nuzzled her face into his neck before kissing his throat.

"Oh god, Asuka!" Shinji gasped as the girl suddenly kissed him.

Rei took another sip of her wine as she watched Asuka kiss the boy. He definitely did seem to blush harder.

"He is more red now," Rei said.

Asuka broke her kiss and smiled.

"He's just a toy, isn't he?" Asuka giggled.

"Asuka!" Shinji said in embarrassment.

"A toy?" Rei asked.

"Yeah! He's a toy! I like playing with him. He's so cute when I tease him!" Asuka said, still blushing, but trying to regain her momentum.

"Asuka!" Shinji said again!

"He is a… metaphorical toy, then. I think I see," Rei said before taking another sip of her wine.

Asuka then took a swig of her brandy as well before setting her her glass on the table and returning her attention to Rei.

"You should try. Kiss him on his neck. It's fun messing with him. And I like hearing him gasp," Asuka said to Rei seductively.

Rei simply made an affirmatory sound and nodded as she blinked. She then set her wine down on the table before leaning over to Shinji and beginning to kiss him on the throat.

"Ughhhh, god!" Shinji groaned again.

"Hahah! You are so easy to please!" Asuka chuckled.

"Agh, god, can you really blame me?" Shinji let out.

"No, not really. I know how much you like it when we're both fawning over you," Asuka said with a sly smile as she watched Shinji's eyes roll back into his head a bit.

Asuka grabbed Shinji's glass of whiskey out of his hand before holding it up to his face.

"Don't choke now," she said seductively as she touched the rim of the glass to his lips.

Shinji found it hard to resist Asuka's offering of alcohol and tried his best to take her advice about not choking as Rei continued to kiss him while he drunk.

After the boy had swallowed a few times, Asuka pulled the drink away and brushed her hair out of her face.

"Oh, god. I'm worried if I drink too much, I won't remember anything," Shinji said as Rei continued to make squelching and sucking sounds while kissing him.

Asuka giggled bewitchingly before resting her head on the boy and placing her hand on his chest.

"Don't worry. I don't want you drinking so much you become shit faced like Misato. I only want you drinking just enough to dull your intuitions and make you vulnerable to me; just enough to take the edge off. You're right if you drink too much, you won't remember anything. But I want you to remember. I want you to remember every loving word, every desperate moan, every shock of pleasure, every gentle touch. I want you to remember everything. We're gonna go slow with this because I love this deliberately drawn out burn; this closeness," Asuka said seductively and needily as she raked her nails down the boy's shirt, her words sending a shiver down his spine.

The girl set Shinji's brandy on the table and then cuddled into him.

"Oh god," Shinji said as he felt Asuka begin kissing his neck again.

He wrapped his arms around both girls, causing Rei to moan and Asuka to giggle. The vibrations of the girls' voices on the flesh of his throat caused him to breathe out a frustrated exhalation. He could feel Asuka messing with the buttons on his shirt, unfastening them one by one. Once again, he shivered at the thought of where this was leading.

"Oh, God, Asuka, what if Misato-" Shinji tried to say before once again being cut off by the girl.

"Shh! It's not even noon. We have plenty of time. Quit worrying so much," Asuka shushed the boy as she continued to unbutton his shirt.

"Oh god," Shinji sighed as he stroked Rei's arm while gently squeezing Asuka's.

Asuka finally undid the last button on Shinji's shirt and she quit kissing him before also forcing Rei to break her kiss as the redhead pulled his shirt off. She dismissively tossed it over her shoulder and it flew straight over the coffee table and onto the floor in front of the television.

"Your turn. Come here, Rei! Sit on Shinji and face me. I'll get you undressed," Asuka ordered.

Shinji almost choked as Rei climbed onto his lap.

"Like this?" Rei asked.

"Yeah. Just move your legs right here," Asuka said as she slightly pushed Rei's legs to the side so she could sit a little closer to her and Shinji.

Asuka then leaned into Rei and kissed her on the lips as she placed her hands on Rei's breasts before running her finger's down Rei's pale, yellow, cotton shirt that she wore in place of her usual school uniform given she had skipped school today. Asuka's hands eventually found their way under Rei's shirt and she slowly lifted it up and over her the girl's head, breaking the kiss and revealing her light blue bra as she tossed the shirt onto the armrest of the couch.

Asuka stroked Rei's hair and cheek sweetly.

"You know, I think your hair's gotten a little longer. You gonna cut it soon?" Asuka asked as she continued playing with Rei's hair.

"I haven't thought about it recently. I have been… distracted," Rei said with a slight blush.

"You should grow it out. I think it would look magnificent. You'd be really attention grabbing," Asuka said as she lovingly caressed Rei's cheek again, "Don't you think, Shinji?"

"Oh god, o- of course. It would look great!" Shinji said, trying not to sound too excited.

Asuka giggled at Shinji's barely contained amorousness and Rei smiled at the suggestion.

Asuka then leaned in and kissed the girl again while undoing the clasps of Rei's bra and pulling the straps off her shoulders. Rei's bra fell right into her lap and, without looking or breaking the kiss, Asuka grabbed it and threw it into Shinji's face, which slightly confused him, but also turned him on as he lifted the fabric off his face and examined it.

"Oh, hell…" was all Shinji could say as he threw the bra on top of Rei's shirt and felt his cock becoming more erect as Rei sat on top of him kissing Asuka.

Asuka broke her kiss with Rei before leaning over and sucking the girl's left nipple. Rei lovingly put her hand on Asuka's head and stroked her red hair as she gazed down at the girl. In return, Asuka put her hand on the side of Rei's throat and slowly ran her hand down the girl's neck and collarbone before gently fondling her right breast. Asuka then stopped sucking and looked back up at Rei.

"God, you're so fucking soft," Asuka said with a mixture of lust and amazement.

Asuka then curled her fingers under her loose orange tank top and pulled her shirt over her head before tossing it to the side. Apparently, on top of not wearing her school uniform due to being truant, she wasn't wearing a bra either and her perky little breasts were immediately revealed.

"Hey, Rei, get up real fast," Asuka said.

Rei did as she was told and, without wasting any time, Asuka turned her attention to Shinji and gave him a quick kiss before beginning to tear his pants off.

"Oh, god, Asuka!" Shinji groaned as the girl dug her fingers into the waist of his pants and began pulling them down while simultaneously crawling off the couch.

"You say that a lot when I'm giving it to you. But it's okay. I like knowing I'm leaving you speechless," Asuka snickered as she finally pulled his pants and boxers down past his knees.

Asuka smirked at Shinji's dick before looking back at Rei.

"Let's get this skirt off," Asuka said to the blue haired girl.

Asuka, once again taking the lead, stuck her fingers into the waist of Rei's short grey skirt before quickly sliding it down past her thighs, leaving Rei in nothing but her white panties.

Asuka tenderly placed her fingers on Rei's panties, rubbing her pussy lips through the fabric. This, just like their last session the other night, caused Rei to begin moaning.

"Just as sensitive as ever, I see," Asuka said lewdly.

Rei only moaned in response.

In front of the couch, Asuka dropped to her knees and playfully bit the waist of Rei's panties before also hooking her fingers around it and pulling it down Rei's hips and thighs. Rei gently put her hand on Asuka's head and loosely grasped her silken red hair before she took a slow deep breath to calm herself. Shinji watched the blue haired girl inhale, and he had to temporarily shut his eyes to stop himself from loosing his mind at the sensual scene of the two girls' hearts throbbing for each other. Though, he couldn't keep his eyes off the girls for long.

After Rei's panties fell to her ankles, Asuka slowly gave a wide lick up Rei's slit before kissing her with a gentle suckling kiss on her clitoris. Rei's grabbed Asuka's hair a little tighter while clasping her other hand over her mouth despite the fact she had inhaled deeply again.

"Okay, that's enough teasing for now," Asuka said with a dirty smirk as she stood back up.

The redhead quickly dropped her own black skirt and red panties before allowing herself to fall back onto the couch. She casually leaned back, propping herself up on her arm, before throwing her legs over Shinji's laps, clamping his cock between her warm thighs only about and inch from her pussy lips.

"Oh, god, Asuka," Shinji groaned again as he also put his hand over his mouth, "Is this really okay?"

"Yeah, of course! Doctor Akagi gave us plenty of pills. We have enough to last us awhile. And the pills we took yesterday should still be working. There's nothing to worry about," Asuka said confidently

She then squeezed Shinji's cock between her thighs just a little tighter.

"Ugh, fuuuck," Shinji groaned as he put one of his hands around Asuka's calf and desperately tightened his grip as the girl squeezed him.

Asuka laughed mischievously before glancing at Rei, whose face was still flushed and red.

"Come on, Rei. Don't you want to have a little fun?" Asuka said with a wink.

"Fun… Fun," Rei said breathlessly as she began to sit back down.

So Rei could have her seat back, Asuka had raised her legs in the air some, which had consequently caused her to rub her thighs up Shinji' s dick. The boy struggled to stop himself from making any undignified sounds. Rei then sat down on the couch and shifted herself so that she was next to Shinji. And, after the girl had situated herself, Asuka lowed her legs back down so they were laying across both Shinji and Rei's laps. Of course, Shinji had felt a jolt of pleasure as Asuka's silky thighs slid down him again, and he once again found himself unconsciously tightening his grip on Asuka's leg.

Asuka casually reached over to the coffee table and took another sip from her glass of brandy. And, after having put her drink pack on the table, she then reached for Shinji's cock. She grabbed the end of his dick between the tips of her fingers, slowly and deliberately rolling the head around, causing the boy to start writhing as he temporarily threw his head back, and then forward again as he tried to regain control of himself.

"God, you have no idea how satisfying it is to see you squirm like that," Asuka said seductively.

Asuka then switched from using her fingertips to instead gently pressing her palm onto his dickhead and once again, rolling it in a pivoting motion between her thighs.

"God! Fuck!" Shinji spat as Asuka giggled at his reaction.

Asuka finally mercifully lifted her palm off the boy's dickhead, leaving a strand of precum hanging from the center of her hand.

"Wow, even you're wet with precum, huh?" Asuka giggled, watching Shinji as he utterly failed to produce any response besides heavy breathing.

Asuka licked the liquid off her hand before giggling and giving Rei a suggestive look.

"Hey, Wondergirl. Why don't you go ahead and start sucking him off. See how long he'll last," Asuka said lewdly.

"Sucking him… off? With my…" Rei questioned, somewhat pointing at her mouth as she was still not entirely familiar with all of the lewd terms Asuka was throwing around.

"Yes, Wondergirl. With those pretty little lips of yours," Asuka said sweetly.

Rei looked down at Shinji's cock nestled between Asuka's thighs. She blinked once and then again before lowering her head down and placing her lips around the tip of Shinji's dick. Shinji let out a wavering breath as the girl began sucking on him.

"Ooh, very good girl. Just around the tip! I'll handle the rest then," Asuka said, praising the girl.

Asuka then squeezed her thighs around Shinji's cock a little harder, causing him to groan again. Shinji put one of his hands on Rei's head and gently stroked her hair while he put his other hand on Asuka's stomach and gently rubbed her up and down.

"Oh, I guess you're finally getting more comfortable with us," Asuka said, almost sounding a little surprised, but not disappointed, that the boy had actually reached out and touched her, even if it had been rather innocent compared to how she and Rei had been touching him.

Shinji tried to hide his blush and calm himself as the girls continued to pleasure him. He carefully brushed his hand further down Asuka's stomach until his palm was just above her womb. He then paused and glanced at her as though he was seeking some kind of permission. Asuka noticed this, and she smiled at him reassuringly.

"It's okay, Shinji. You can touch it if you want. That's why we're doing this," Asuka said, gently trying to encourage the boy.

Shinji closed his eyes and let out yet another quiet breath of relief before he the continued feeling down Asuka's body. Eventually, his fingers slowly traveled over her slit and he gazed at it, just admiring its beauty. Asuka admittedly got a little embarrassed and she looked over at the coffee table to distract herself.

"Urgh," Shinji groaned as Rei continued to suck on him.

Asuka glanced back at Rei, seeing the girl's lips slowly traveling up and down the head of Shinji's cock as the boy's quaking hand rested on her hair.

"Use your tongue some, Wondergirl! Make him loose control!" Asuka ordered

"Oh, god, Rei!" Shinji gasped as he winced in pleasure as the girl began swirling her tongue around him.

"Very very good girl, Rei! Just like that. Twirl that little tongue around until he shoots off inside your cute little mouth!" Asuka said, almost cheering the girl on.

Rei only moaned back in response.

"Ugh, R- Rei!" Shinji said as he tried his best to remain gentle with the girl as he stroked her hair.

"Hmm hmm hmm," Asuka laughed with a smirk, "I can feel him throbbing, Rei. Keep it up!"

The girl did her best to sensually assault Shinji, flicking her tongue over the head of his cock. She could occasionally feel his fingers twitch in her hair, especially when she sucked on him a little more intently or ran her tongue across the underside of the tip of his cock.

Asuka reached over to the coffee table and grabbed her glass of brandy. She then casually took it to her lips and drank the last of it before setting it back on the table. She then noticed Shinji give her a quick erratic glance, to which she smiled in return. She knew the boy was flustered with pleasure and intimate feelings. She herself was beginning to get wet just from how close the boy's cock was to her vagina, and that was ignoring that he had been petting her as well.

Asuka then squeezed her thighs together even tighter, which caused Shinji to jolt before exhaling. Asuka tried her best to stop herself from letting out a satisfied squeal of delight. Her heart started racing every time the boy appeared to loose more control of his body.

There was a sudden lewd popping sound as Rei's lips accidentally came off of Shinji's cock before she quickly reattached herself to him. The sensation caused Shinji to throw his head back and close his eyes while trying to control his breathing.

"Ugh! God, Rei!" Shinji growled.

Asuka let out another satisfied laugh.

"Heheheh, I think he's close, Wondergirl. He can't hold out much longer with your soft little lips around him."

"Ugh! Don't talk like that, Asuka!" Shinji whined.

"Why!?" Asuka asked seductively, "Does it get you going!? Does it make it hard to hold it in when I talk like that!?"

"Oh god," was all Shinji could manage to get out as he closed his eyes and tried to maintain his composure.

Asuka once again tightened her thighs around the boy's shaft, which caused him to let out another groan.

"I know it must be so hard to hold back when you're thinking about creaming her lips. When you think about filling up those soft cheeks of hers with hot cum. When you think about ruining her pretty face!" Asuka said in the most sultry voice she could muster.

"G- God damn it!" Shinji gasped.

Asuka smirked before she reached over the side of her bed into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out her phone. She quickly entered her password before opening up her photo gallery.

"Hey, you remember that picture I sent you with our makeup all ruined? The one I told you to save," Asuka asked with a cheeky smile.

"Oh, god. Yes, Asuka, I remember," Shinji struggled to say though his gasping.

Asuka smiled back at her phone, looking at the very same picture on her own screen.

"Fuck, we look so cute," Asuka said in a needy voice before sitting up and showing her phone screen to Shinji.

"Oh god! Fuck, Asuka!" Shinji groaned as the picture was shoved in his face.

"What's wrong!? You worried you're gonna cum in her warm little mouth," Asuka said lewdly while throwing in a few teasing moans for good measure, "Look at us! Look at how fucking cute we are! Look at our fucking little titties and our makeup just running down our faces! Doesn't it make wanna just shove it in us!"

At this point, Asuka was working herself up just as much as she was Shinji.

The boy was completely speechless, but continued to spasm as he looked at the picture and Asuka could feel the boys dick starting to twitch more and more as she clamped it between her thighs. Asuka then felt Shinji inadvertently thrust into her thighs, and she knew the boy wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

"I know you can't hold out for much longer!" Asuka said, her words utterly steeped in seduction, "Just let go, Shinji. Just fucking let go! I wanna see it all over her fucking face!"

"Oh fuck!" Shinji gasped as he continued to gaze at the picture Asuka continued to torture him with.

"Come on, Shinji! Give her what she wants! I can feel you're about to! Just give it to her! Fucking cum inside of her fucking mouth!" Asuka teased as she continued to dangle her phone in front of Shinji's face.

It truly was a great picture and Shinji couldn't hardly stand to take his eyes off it. Rei's piercing red eyes, her tired and confused expression, her right breast pressing into Asuka's left. And Asuka's teasing wink and deviant smile as she pulled Rei closer to her with her arm around her waist. The makeup streaking down both of their cheeks. Asuka's lightly colored skin next to Rei's almost pure white. The picture's beauty was beyond words.

"That's right, Shinji. Just fucking look at us. Aren't we just the cutest fucking sluts you could ever date!?"

Shinji was trying his best to hold on, but with Rei's slow but deliberate oral ministrations, Asuka's absolutely filthy and provocative phrasing, and the astoundingly beautiful picture Asuka was holding in front of his face, Shinji could feel himself loosing ground to the girls' double assault.

"Agh! Asuka! R-Rei! I can't- Gah!" Shinji stuttered before finally releasing into Rei's mouth.

Rei's eyes widened a bit in surprise as she felt Shinji begin shooting off in her mouth.

"Oh god! I can feel him throbbing!" Asuka moaned as Shinji's cock pulsated between her thighs.

Rei could feel strand after strand of hot cum filling up her mouth, and she tried to swallow some of it. But, it eventually ended up being too much and it started spraying out of her mouth and onto Asuka's thighs.

"Fuck, that's a fucking lot!" Asuka teasingly moaned as the white fluid sprayed onto her legs and vagina.

Shinji's eyes rolled back in his head as Rei continued to suck on him and drink his cum. He looked like he was going to pass out if Rei didn't stop soon. Asuka gently placed her hand under Rei's chin and prompted her too look up, causing her to break her vacuum seal on the boys cock.

"Careful, Rei. If you keep on like that, you might suck his soul out too," Asuka said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Rei said as cum dripped down her chin.

"Silly girl," Asuka laughed, "that was a joke! Don't apologize!"

Asuka then leaned up a bit more and kissed Rei on her chin, cleaning the cum off the girl's face before swallowing it herself. She then kissed the girl on her neck a few times before also kissing her on the lips, all of which caused Rei to moan.

"Why don't you have something to drink? I'll screw him next," Asuka suggested to Rei with a sly smirk.

"Oh god," Shinji gasped.

Rei nodded and grabbed her glass of wine before sipping some of it. After closing out the picture and putting her phone on the table, Asuka also poured some of the rosé into her own glass, which had been emptied of the brandy. She herself then took a drink of it before setting it back on the table and grabbing Shinji's glass of whiskey. She then took a small drink of it too before bringing it to the boy's lips.

"You aren't afraid of sharing drinks, are you?" Asuka said as she seductively batted her eyelashes at him.

Shinji could only let out a wavering sigh as he gazed into Asuka's gorgeous blue eyes.

Asuka smiled and Shinji just couldn't refuse. He timidly drank some of the liquid while trying not to choke on it as he was still catching his breath. Asuka then pulled the glass away and kissed him on the side of his lips before setting the glass back down on the table.

"So, our second time. Think you'll be able to take me again? Or are you going to loose your mind like last time," Asuka teased as she crawled on top of the boy and sat on his cock, trying to get him hard again.

Shinji tiredly put his hands on the girl's hips before resting his head on the girl's shoulder.

"Oh, god, Asuka. I'll try. I think you're way ahead of me and Rei on this stuff though," Shinji said.

Asuka moved the boy's head from her shoulder to the cleavage of her breasts as she stroked his hair.

"That's okay, Shinji. That's why we're doing this. I think both of you are already doing good. I'm just happy you're actually touching me first this time," Asuka said with a slight blush, "I know it sounds stupid, but it feels really good when you touch me first. I like that you're actually reciprocating my feelings. I know you're kinda iffy about touching me without permission, hell, even when I do give you permission, you're still hesitant. And I know it's because you aren't comfortable around people. But, I'm happy it seems like you're getting comfortable with us. And, I hope one day soon, you won't be scared of touching me and Rei."

Shinji's eyes darkened a little and his jaw hung slightly agape before he looked up at Asuka's eyes.

She was smiling at him. And, unlike her more mischievous smirks, it was a gentle smile this time. Despite how demanding and in charge she was during these bonding sessions, she had also show her own vulnerability in several instances.

During their last sexual encounter, before they'd all tumbled into the shower together, Asuka had asked him, whispering into Shinji's ear and begging the favor of not letting her go before they had done anything more.

Even though she didn't show it every moment that she was sexual engaged with him and Rei, it was obvious that to Asuka, this meant a lot to her, enough that her own fears and weaknesses would show through and make it abundantly clear that she would be heartbroken if anything ever came between the three of them.

It was incredible how quickly Asuka would go from authoritative dominatrix to her current soft and gentle self. She went from relentlessly power tripping off him to gently caring for him and reassuring him.

It was just like she'd said only a few minutes ago; Asuka loved the slow burn of love and closeness between them for much more than just the reason of sex. It really truly was the intimacy she'd craved for so long, that each of them had yearned for, and the reassurance that they weren't alone in this world.

Even now, as he looked up into Asuka's beautiful blue eyes glimmering in the sunlight pouring in through the balcony window, she was vulnerable and worried, but also seemingly reassured that she was loved.

"Asuka," Shinji said as he looked into her eyes.

The girl's smile widened a bit more and she leaned down and kissed the boy lovingly as she gently caressed his face. And, after a few seconds, she broke the kiss before giggling and brushing his hair aside. She then leaned back down and kissed his neck, which caused him to gasp.

Rei glanced over at the two before setting her glass of wine down and joining in as she also kissed Shinji on his neck. Shinji wrapped his right arm around Asuka's waist while he reached his left hand out and took Rei's hand in his own before giving her a loving squeeze.

Before long, Asuka could feel the boy hardening underneath her and she herself could feel herself beginning to drip with both arousal and love.

Asuka finally stopped kissing the boy and instead, she breathily raised her lips to his ear and whispered, "I- I want you inside me."

"Asuka!" Shinji said, letting out a wavering breath into her neck.

Asuka could feel herself getting lightheaded, though she wasn't sure if it was because of the alcohol, the adrenaline, the oxytocin, or all three mixing together in her searing hot blood. Either way, she closed her eyes and let out a few needy steaming breaths across Shinji's chest as she hugged him tight.

"Heheh, I'm like the impenetrable wall of Jericho," Asuka chortled as she hugged the boy.

"I- impenetrable!? Jericho? Wall?" Shinji asked the girl in confusion, though he was hardly able to form a sentence.

Asuka pulled away from the boy before playfully poking her fingers in the boy's chest and marching them down his ribs.

"Oh, come now, Shinji. Surely you know the story of the wall of Jericho," Asuka said before leaning next to his ear and lustfully whispering, "It fell."

After a few more moments of trying to calm her heart rate, she finally propped herself up on the boy's chest before reaching her delicate fingers between her legs. Before long, her fingers were wrapped around the boy's cock and she guided him into her. Shinji tried to avoid throwing his head back in pleasure as the girl tightly coiled around him and slowly pressed down on his lap with all the force her extraordinarily lightweight body could muster.

Asuka took several short, broken, gasping breaths before letting out a moan as she felt Shinji twitch inside her. She felt deeply satisfied on an emotional level and her cheeks became flushed and her eyelids tiredly but pleasurably began drooping.

"Asuka- Asuka, I love you," Shinji gasped, his eyes seemingly dazed with pleasure as Rei continued to kiss his throat.

Asuka once more leaned into the boy before kissing his cheek while lovingly stroking the other side of his face.

"I love you too," Asuka said back sweetly after breaking the kiss.

Asuka then leaned back up, repositioning her weight back on top of the boy's hips, which understandably made him writhe in pleasure beneath her as her walls shifted past him. Asuka placed her left hand on the boy's torso before running her right hand over her uterus, feeling the minor distending bulge in her belly produced by his penis prodding against her walls.

"Oh god. Oh my god! I love being together like this," Asuka gasped out with a tone of barely restrained affection as she then moved her hand to her chest, "Oh, my heart. Oh my goodness, my heart."

Shinji gave the girl a reassuring squeeze on her thigh as he looked up at her completely love-stricken face. The girl seemed so emotional that she could have broken into tears at any moment despite her soft smile.

Asuka then turned her affectionate eyes towards Rei. She reached out her hand and gently stroked the girl's hair as she kissed Shinji's throat.

"Oh, Rei," Asuka moaned as untold amounts of adoration saturated her words.

Rei stopped kissing Shinji and stared at her redhead companion. Both girls had an insanely pink blush streaking across their faces due to their intimate contact and the alcohol they'd been consuming. Asuka could smell the wine on the blue haired girl's breath as she exhaled. Asuka once more let out a needy gasp before leaning into Rei and beginning to kiss her. She continued petting the side of the girl's face and stuck her tongue into Rei's mouth. Rei mirrored the action and her tongue clashed with Asuka's. Asuka could still taste Shinji's seed in the girl's saliva along with the wine, and the flavor sent Asuka into a frenzy of passion as her heart soared.

Asuka finally broke the kiss with the girl and a strand of saliva hung between their lips.

"Rei, keep giving Shinji attention, would you?" Asuka said as she petted the girl's face one more time.

Rei nodded and drunkenly leaned back into Shinji's neck, beginning to kiss his throat again.

"Ugh, Rei," Shinji groaned as the girl's hot tongue licked the flesh of his neck.

"Her tongue sure is soft, isn't it?" Asuka cooed as she stoked Shinji's face.

The boy only moaned in response.

"Yeah, just like that, Rei. Keep using your tongue to fuck with him," Asuka praised the girl.

Asuka then lifted her hips a few inches before dropping herself back down on Shinji, which caused the boy to bite his lips as he tried to control himself. However, he failed and inadvertently thrust into Asuka, which once again lifted the girl off him for a second before she pressed back down into him. The sudden thrust surprised the girl and she gasped before also temporarily crossing her eyes in a moment of pleasure.

"Fuck! You just can't take my tight little self, can you, huh?" Asuka teased as she came back to her senses and grinded her hips on the boy.

"Agh, Asuka!" Shinji groaned as he tossed his head to the side before returning his gaze to her eyes.

Asuka leaned forward and hugged the boy before purposefully lifting her hips and then dropping them down on the boy again. Shinji once again threw his head back, raising his face into Asuka's soft hair. He breathed deep of the cinnamon, orange, and vanilla scent her shampoo had left behind. The fragrance was dizzying and mature, and between it and the feeling of both Asuka's arms and vagina around him while Rei kissed his neck, Shinji was already beginning to lose himself in both the sensations and the attention.

Asuka felt Shinji let out a tense breath into her hair. She comfortingly ran her nails through the hair on the back of Shinji's head. She then whispered in his ear again.

"Grab my fucking ass, Shinji," she quietly demanded.

She felt the boy lean his head back forward and into her shoulder before letting out another breath. She then felt his fingers gently trail up her thighs, barely touching her at all, before his hands finally came to rest on her ass cheeks.

"Good boy," Asuka whispered in his ear before kissing him on the cheek a few times, "Make sure to squeeze when you feel good. That way I know I'm fucking you right."

Without even doing anything else, Asuka already felt the boy grab her a little tighter. This brought a slight smirk to her face as well as making her blush. The boy may have been timid, sometimes even speechless, but all he needed was a little prodding. She knew it would be difficult for him to say it as Shinji wasn't the greedy or assertive type, but she knew this was the boy's way of saying that he did direly wanted her to continue, even if he couldn't put it into words.

"I know it's already a trip for you just being inside me," Asuka whispered in his ear again, "but don't be afraid to control the pace a bit, okay? I don't always have to be the one in charge. Slow me down or speed me up however you want. I can be your fucktoy too every now and then."

"Fuuuck," Shinji groaned into the girl's shoulder again.

Asuka giggled and then gave the boy another quick kiss.

She then pushed Shinji back into the couch, trying to get him to relax a bit as she continued hugging him. Asuka could feel the bulge in her stomach flattening as she pressed herself against Shinji. She knew this would make her insides even tighter and sure enough, Shinji let out a gasp followed by a strained groan as she hugged into the boy even tighter as he finally rested back on the couch. She then laid her head on his right shoulder and began kissing his neck while Rei continued kissing and sucking on his throat from the other side.

Asuka then lifted her hips once again before lowering them and finding a comfortable rhythm. And, for good measure, she let out a teasing gasp and a short girlish moan as she came back down, her face still buried in his neck. She noticed Shinji's body seemed to become more tense when she made pitiful or pleasured sounds. As well as that, he had gripped her a bit tighter directly after she'd made the little noises. Apparently, just her voice was enough to get him going.

When she came down again, she let out yet another sound, this time a little yelp.

"Eep!" Asuka squeaked.

"A- Asuka!" Shinji desperately exhaled as he squeezed the girl's ass again.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Its just... it feels soooo good when you go all the way inside me! I just can't help myself. I hope you don't mind if I cry out in pleasure!" Asuka teased seductively.

"Oh… oh god," Shinji breathily groaned into Asuka's hair.

"Just enjoy wrecking my little ovaries, yeah!?" Asuka said in a giddy voice.

"Jesus Christ, the way you talk…" Shinji sighed.

"What about the way I talk?" Asuka asked innocently before licking Shinji's throat lewdly.

A shiver went down Shinji's spine as Asuka licked him and it stopped him from speaking for a moment.

"What's wrong, Shinji?" Asuka asked again after he didn't answer.

"Its… so… oh, god," Shinji gasped again as he buried his face in Asuka's hair.

Asuka giggled

"You really like the way I talk that much?" Asuka teased, "You like it when I talk about how lucky you are to be fucking two girls?"

Shinji didn't say anything, but she could feel him nod a confirmation into her shoulder.

"You like it when I talk about how nice it must be to stick it inside my little fourteen year old pussy?" Asuka said in a deviant and lewd manner.

"Y-yeah," Shinji barely managed to gasp out.

"But, Shinji, that's illegal, you know?" Asuka whispered into the boy's ear.

"Gah!" was all Shinji groaned in response.

Shinji spasmed under the girl and Rei's lips made a lewd wet sound as she attempted to reattached herself to Shinji and continue kissing him.

"I guess that what makes it so exciting though," Asuka seductively said as she brought her hips down on the boy again, "The fact it's so taboo is what makes it so fucking hot. The rush of cumming inside my little underage pussy, it must be so hard to hold back when you think about defiling me like that."

"A-Asuka! Gah!" Shinji gasped into the girl's red hair as she dropped onto him again.

"God, can you imagine the headlines that would make? I don't want the whole world to know, but the risk is what makes it so much fun. It makes it all that much more exciting every time you cum inside us. God, I fucking love breaking the rules! The wrongness of it all is what makes it feel so fucking right," Asuka said dreamily as she hugged the boy and pressed her small breasts into his chest.

Asuka then kissed the boy's throat again, her own saliva mixing with Rei's. She could feel the boy squirming under her and how he would squeeze her ass every time she lowered her hips down on him. Her eyes fluttered and she kissed him on the cheek before returning her attention to his neck where she continued to suck on him.

Shinji once more inadvertently thrust into the girl, causing her to let out a little yelp as she was lifted into the air before her thighs smacked back down onto the boy. She could feel her grool coating her pussy lips and seeping onto Shinji's pubic area. As well as that, the cum on her thighs was being smeared all over her inner legs. She found herself hugging the boy even tighter than before as some searing urge for intimacy boiled up inside of her.

"I never want to leave you. I want to stay like this forever. I love being close to you," Asuka mumbled as she peacefully closed her eyes and nuzzled her face further into Shinji's neck.

"Asuka! I... I love- Gah!" Shinji gasped again before he once more thrust deep into the girl, causing her vagina to clench around him.

Asuka let out yet another squeal before she once again wrapped her arms around Shinji tighter.

"Oh, god! I- I want your fucking- your fucking babies!" Asuka cried into Shinji's neck.

"Agh! Asuka! If- If you keep talking like that-" Shinji gasped.

"What, Shinji!? What'll you do if I keep talking like that?" Asuka moaned, her face becoming more flushed by the moment.

"I- I- Agh!" was all Shinji could get out.

"You'll cum inside me?" Asuka questioned lustfully.

Asuka then felt Shinji lift her hips up with his own hands before bringing her back down.

"Oh god!" Asuka gasped into Shinji's neck.

It seemed that, against her expectations, Shinji may have actually been taking the lead. Again, the boy smashed her hips into him, letting out a clap as their skin collided. Asuka was no longer the one controlling the rhythm and instead, she found herself going with Shinji's orchestrations. Her eyes crossed for a moment as Shinji pulled her back down on him again. She lurched into the boy as pleasure shot through her body. She found herself desperately breathing in and out as she nestled her head beneath Shinji's chin.

"Oh! Oh, fuck! Oh, fucking god!" Asuka squeaked out as Shinji pounded into her.

"Agh, Asuka! Fuck!" Shinji groaned through his clenched teeth.

Asuka began panting so hard that some drool began to escape her lips before dripping onto Shinji's throat.

"Oh, fuck! Oh, fuck, Shinji!" Asuka gasped again as the boy continued to take charge of her.

The boy's dick kept prodding into her and he continued to increase the speed at which he maneuvered the girl's body. Asuka's moans began to turn into pathetic girlish whimpers and occasional sharp yelps of pleasure. And every time she cried out, she could feel the boy grab her a little tighter and speed up the rate at which he thrust into her.

"Agh, Asuka, I- I can't!"

"Yes! Yes! Please, cum inside me! I want to have your fucking babies! Oh god!" Asuka just about screamed in ecstasy.

"Fuck! Asuka, don't talk like that! You'll- You'll make me-" Shinji huffed.

"I'll make you cum inside of my little pussy, I know! Don't lie! I know you want to! Oh god! Please!" Asuka said desperately, "Please, let me have your babies, Shinji! Please, oh fucking god! Please cum inside me!"

Asuka's begging and the way she clung to him was simply too much for Shinji. He finally took his hands off of her ass cheeks and instead threw one of his arms around the girl's upper back and the other around her waist, hugging her to him tightly.

"AGH, ASU- ASUKA!" Shinji yelled as he pulled the girl as close as he could and began shooting off inside her.

Asuka's eyes suddenly crossed in pleasure and she clenched her teeth, trying not to drool as she temporarily lost her mind. Her legs began trembling and she could feel her vagina clenching hard around Shinji.

"C- Cu- CUMMING! OH FUUUUU- FUCKING CUMMING!" Asuka shrieked as her trembling body tensed up before falling limp on top of Shinji.

She could still feel the boy just shooting load after load inside of her, his cock pulsing with each injection. Before long, she could feel hot cum leaking out of her, some of it falling onto Shinji and some of it dripping down her own thighs. She panted and slowed her breathing, waiting for the boy to finally finish spewing inside her.

Upon finally feeling the boy's cock finish twitching inside of her, she threw her arms around his neck and she kissed him, somewhat interrupting Rei's own kisses in the process. Shinji brought one of his own hands up and placed it on the back of her head, pulling the girl deeper into the kiss.

They quickly had to separate to continue catching their breath though.

"Oh god… Oh, I fucking love you," Asuka panted as she rested on Shinji's chest.

"Oh, Asuka… I love you too… so much," Shinji said back as he gently stroked the back of the girl's head.

Asuka gasped a few times as she tried to get up and push herself off of Shinji so she could reposition herself. Shinji in turn writhed as his cock was slowly pulled out of the girl and several varieties of juices dripped out of the girl's slit and onto him.

"Okay," Asuka said before taking a gasp and standing up off the couch, "Okay, Rei. Your… your turn. Just… just give him a minute to- to… Oh, god."

Asuka was barely able to stand up and her trembling legs quickly gave out. She collapsed on the sofa next to Rei.

Asuka tiredly looked up at the girl. Rei's eyes were droopy and her face was flushed completely pink from both the wine and everything she'd just witnessed. The expression on her face wasn't what someone would conventionally call lusty but, nonetheless, Asuka could tell just by looking at her that she was feeling needy.

Asuka reached her hand up and lovingly put it on Rei's cheek. The girl's face felt like fire and she was obviously worked up.

Asuka gently pulled Rei's face closer to her own and then kissed the girl. The contrast between the two girls breath patterns was quite astounding. Rei's breathing was short, erratic, and unsatisfied while Asuka's breaths were long and deep and contented.

They broke the kiss and a strand of hot saliva connected their lips for a moment before separating and hanging off the curve of Rei's bottom lip. Asuka delicately reached her fingers in between Rei's legs to find the girl's thighs drenched in grool.

"Fuck, you're wet as fuck, little girl," Asuka spat out lewdly with a sly smile, "Seeing both of us screwing really got you going, didn't it Wondergirl, you precious little slut?! Just look at all this fucking girl cum. You're absolutely dripping."

Rei didn't say anything, but nodded vigorously as she continued to let out needy breaths. Asuka licked the girls grool off her fingers before then wrapping her arms around Rei's chest and pulling her closer to her. Asuka then kissed the girl between her tits before looking at her with a mischievous smirk.

"You look so fucking frustrated! Why don't you go ahead and get on him if you really want him to cream your insides that bad?" Asuka teased.

Rei let out a little whimper, nodded, and then she got up from the couch. After the girl had gotten up, Asuka smacked the girl's butt before giving her a quick kiss on the side of her ass cheek. Rei let out a gasp at this which only seemed to satisfy Asuka and further arouse Shinji.

Asuka then stood up shortly after the girl to help guide her into position.

"Oh, fuck, my legs," Asuka moaned as she found her thighs still trembling upon standing up.

Even so, Asuka placed her hands on Rei's hips and pushed her down onto Shinji so that she was sitting on his hips with her back to him and his cock was right in front of her vagina.

Asuka looked down at Shinji's cock, seeing it was already starting to straighten out again. She smirked as she saw her love juices and his cum dripping off of it. She then knelt down and slid the whole thing down her mouth before sucking the juices off his dick like a mad woman and rapidly pulling her head back, which made a lewd smacking sound as her lips popped off his tip.

Once again, Shinji found himself spasming in pleasure at the girl's expert degeneracy.

"Oh, fuuu-" Shinji tried to say before his words just devolved into several strained gasps.

Asuka then stood back up, leaned over Rei, and shoved her thumb inside the girls mouth so she could pry her jaw open. Rei didn't resist and opened her mouth, inadvertently breathing her wine scented breath into Asuka's face.

Asuka smirked before then sticking her tongue out and letting her pussy juices and Shinji's cum drip down the tip of her tongue and into Rei's mouth. Asuka then aggressively grabbed the girl from the bottom of her jaw, just above her throat, and squeezed her cheeks together from either side, somewhat causing Rei to pucker her lips.

Asuka's heart began to race as Rei looked up at her with her helpless red eyes.

"Oh, baby girl, you're such a good little slut," Asuka hissed, her voice dripping with lust.

She then ferociously leaned forward and kissed Rei. Shinji couldn't help but close his eyes and let out a frustrated breath just imagining everything that was happening as lewd wet smacking sounds emanated from the girls' lips along with a few moans.

Asuka finally separated from the kiss before placing her palm in between Rei's boobs and pushing her back into Shinji.

Asuka then knelt down and placed her hand under Shinji's cock. She rubbed it up and down a couple times before grabbing it by the based and tilting it up to slap Rei's pussy lips a couple times. Rei was so wet that almost three or four stands of syrupy glistening grool clung between her labia and the head of Shinji's dick.

Rei whimpered and Asuka let out a deeply satisfied chuckle. Asuka then gently bent Shinji's cock back so that his head began to part Rei's pussy lips. The boy groaned a bit as Asuka handled him, but he tried to keep his cool. Then, with one fluid motion, Asuka pushed the head of Shinji's cock inside Rei.

Shinji grabbed Rei by her hips as his cock sunk deeper into her. He then felt Asuka lick her tongue up his shaft before transitioning to Rei's labia. Both he and Rei moaned, one right after the other.

"That's right, Wondergirl. Just keep going down," Asuka then praised the girl.

"Mgh! Nya!" Rei moaned again as Asuka also put her hands around the girl's waist and pulled her further down Shinji's shaft.

After a few more moments, Shinji's cock was deep enough inside Rei that the girl's uterus began to distend slightly. Asuka smirked and placed her hand on Rei's belly, gently rubbing the bulge. Shinji himself let out a pleasured sigh as he felt Asuka's hand through Rei's flesh.

"God, we sure are tiny, aren't we, Wondergirl?!" Asuka said before chuckling lewdly.

Rei frantically nodded in response as she curled her fingers into fists and held them on either side of her bottom jaw, her hot pink blush getting hotter with every passing moment.

Asuka stood up for a moment, seemingly to once more grab the glasses of alcohol off the coffee table. And, in the intervening time while Asuka was distracted and not toying with Shinji or Rei, Shinji gently caressed his hand up the side of Rei's torso.

"I love you, Rei," Shinji said to the girl.

"I- I love you- you too," Rei said in a trembling voice as she caringly put her hand over Shinji's as the boy stroked her skin.

"How 'bout just a couple more?" Asuka said before turning around, holding one glass of wine and one of whiskey.

She then handed the glass of wine to Rei, who took it and drank it, trying not to choke on it due to her excited breathing. Asuka then sat down on the couch next to Shinji and lifted the glass of whiskey to his lips for him. He accepted and a satisfied smile spread on Asuka's face as she watched the liquid disappear into the boy's mouth.

After both had finished, Asuka stood up, took Rei's glass for her, and set both of the glasses back down on the table. She then poured out another glass of whiskey before throwing her head back, shaking her hair out of her face, and then downing the whiskey in several gulps.

"Fuck!" Asuka sighed as she set the glass back down.

Asuka then turned around and eyed Rei hungrily. The girl's unnervingly sharp but submissive red eyes drove Asuka wild. Asuka walked up to the girl before ferociously grabbing her by the throat and tilting her head to the side. Asuka then leaned over and aggressively kissed the girl on her collarbone before flicking her tongue out and licking the girl all the way up her neck, to her jaw, and then finally her earlobe. All of this caused Rei to make several audible and sharp inhalations.

Asuka then forcefully tilted Rei's head back so that the girl was looking straight at her.

"You are so… fucking… God," Asuka said, before seemingly not being able to find any suitable words to describe the girl.

Asuka suddenly leaned forward again and kissed Rei on the lips. This caused Shinji to let out a subdued groan yet again as the girl's weight slightly shifted around on his cock.

After Asuka broke the kiss, she slapped one of Rei's tits before then kissing her nipple and slowly working her way down the girl's body as she knelt back on the floor. She kissed down girl's stomach, her lips softly sucking on the bulge Shinji had created in the girl's uterus, before finally stopping just before reaching Rei's clit. Asuka smirked up at Rei, who was looking down at her with a pleading expression.

Asuka then rudely poked the bulge in Rei's stomach, stimulating Shinji's cock and causing him to inadvertently thrust into Rei. Rei yelped as she was launched a few inches in the air before crashing back down with a lewd squelching sound as she landed in her own grool that was dripping all over Shinji.

The girl tried her best to not keel over as the wave of pleasure dissipated. Even so, she couldn't help but lean over as she tried to recover, and her head hung next to Asuka's.

Rei could smell the dizzying cinnamon, citrus, and vanilla scent of Asuka's hair as she gasped a few times.

"Y'know Wondergirl," Asuka whispered into Rei's ear, "I bet that tight, innocent, little, fourteen year old cunt of yours is gonna wring every last drop of cum outta this boy."

Rei clenched her teeth and tried not to drool. Her eyes couldn't focus on anything and all she saw was a mixture of her blue hair and Asuka's red.

'Red,' Rei thought to herself in a daze, 'the color I hate… The color I love.'

Rei could feel her vision shaking as her eyes still failed to focus on anything. The alcohol might finally have been starting to grip her in a significant way. She then felt Asuka raise one of her hands up to her face and ever so slightly rake her nails across her cheek. The touch was so light, it almost wasn't there. The only thing that told Rei Asuka had made any contact with her was the tickling sensation that crept over her flesh and made her skin tighten.

"I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you, Wonderslut?" Asuka continued, "Having all that virile cum totally creaming your fertile little insides. Doesn't it just make your ovaries quiver?"

Rei nodded, still in a daze as a several inch long strand of drool hung from her lips.

Asuka then put her hand between Rei's breasts and pushed her back up so she was sitting straight before then pushing her even further back so she was laying on Shinji.

"R- Rei! T- Tight! Agh!" Shinji choked out as the girl leaned back into him.

Shinji once again thrust into the girl several times as her vaginal walls twisted around him while she was resituated. Asuka looked on with a satisfied smirk as Rei crossed her eyes in pleasure and yelped every time Shinji's cock prodded her.

After the two had finally finished spasming, Asuka gazed at Shinji and Rei. Rei had a bit of drool running down her throat and Shinji looked like he was trying his best to stop himself from getting too excited by burying his face in Rei's hair and breathing in the scent of her seaweed and pine scented shampoo.

"Shinji, how about you go ahead and hold her hands so she doesn't get too tipsy," Asuka directed, "I think the alcohol might finally be getting to her. And, if she decides she wants to hold onto… anything else, then you can just grab those cute, fat, little titties of hers to help keep her in place. That's what they're there for after all, heeheehee."

"Oh fuck," Shinji exhaled as he did what he was advised to and helped stabilize Rei by holding her hands.

"Ugh, both of you look so fucking cute together! I can't take it," Asuka said in a giddy voice.

Shinji blushed a bit at Asuka's comment and Rei seemed to be becoming ever more needy.

Asuka then knelt down in front of the couch before placing her hand over Rei's womb.

"Come on, Shinji! Fuck this little fourteen year old slut's cunt! Take charge of her like you took charge of me!" Asuka shouted at the boy!

Shinji blushed and started finding a rhythm to which he could thrust into the girl and Rei's neediness finally started to dissipate.

"Yeah, that's what I like to see!" Asuka cheered, "A fucking little cumslut gettin' her fuckin' pussy spread by a fat cock!"

"Oh, god, Asuka. You're still gonna talk like that?" Shinji groaned, "I'm not gonna last!"

"Of course I am! I wanna see this whore's tight little snatch fuckin' creamed!" Asuka taunted before rudely spitting on Rei's pussy.

Asuka then licked up the shaft of Shinji's cock, catching all of Rei's leaking love juices that were running down his dick on her tongue before swallowing them. She then started giving her attention to Rei, kissing and licking her thighs before then sticking her tongue out again and slowly but deliberately dragging it over Rei's clit.

Rei let out a moan that gradually transformed into a scream and her thighs ended up desperately clamped around Asuka's head.

"Was that too much for you, Wonderwhore?" Asuka chuckled as she looked up and to see Rei spasming on top of Shinji, which also consequently caused Shinji to erratically thrust into her.

"D- D- Don't s- stop, puh- please! D- don't stop!" Rei pleaded in broken gasps.

"Ooh, someone's more demanding than usual today! You're stuttering a bit though, Rei. What's wrong, Wonderslut? Cat got your tongue? Or would it be a tongue's got your cat?" Asuka purred as she flung her arms under Rei's legs before wrapping them around her hips to lock her in place.

"Asuka! Please!" Rei mewled in response.

"It's not like you to beg," Asuka teased, "I guess you really are feeling like a cumslut today."

"Asuka!" Rei yelped again.

"Okay, okay! Just remember you asked for this, Wonderslut. Don't kick me in the face just 'cause it feels too good, alright?" Asuka said, finally relenting to the girl's pleading cries.

"I won't! I won't! I promise I won't! I will restrain myself!" Rei whimpered.

"Tch, you wouldn't be able to control yourself even if you wanted to," Asuka said under her breath.

Asuka then once more slowly dragged her tongue across Rei's clit. The girl's eyes slowly rolled back in her head and she arched her back. She let out a drawn out, pathetic, high-pitched shriek as she clenched her teeth and drooled uncontrollably. Her vaginal walls clamped around Shinji which also caused him to spasm under the girl and chaotically thrust into her as she throttled and garroted his cock.

"Agh!- Gah! REI! FUCK!" Shinji cried out in a choked scream.

"Holy fuck, Wondergirl. If you keep screaming like that, someone's gonna think you're getting murdered in here!" Asuka shouted.

Rei looked past her cleavage and into Asuka's eyes, only gasping and trembling in response.

"Though, then again," Asuka continued, "no one really lives in these apartments. And I kinda like hearing you scream."

Asuka, without warning, once again ran her hot tongue across Rei's clitoris and the girl, as expected, started descending into another fit of pleasure. Rei actually let go of Shinji's hands only to start grabbing locks of Asuka's hair as she gasped and yelped. Shinji felt the girl began to tilt off of him before he quickly flung his arm around the girl's chest to once again stabilize her.

After once again pulling up, Asuka smirked as she looked at Rei. Rei loosened her grip on Asuka's hair a bit and tried to slow her breathing, even though she wasn't particularly keen on just waiting for Asuka to start licking her again.

"A- As- Asuka! D- don't stop! Please!" Rei moaned.

Rei's eyes crossed yet again and she spasmed as Shinji thrust into her a little harder as his pace picked up.

"You're being really bossy today," Asuka teased, "And what do you mean don't stop? You're barely holding yourself together!"

Rei whimpered and Asuka could feel the girl's fingers trembling in her hair.

"Oh well," Asuka sighed, "I guess it can't be helped. If you really want me to go down on you, I guess I'll go down on you."

"Huh!?" Rei questioned right before Asuka put her entire mouth over her clit, making Rei gasp.

Immediately, Asuka began not just licking but sucking on Rei's clit as she wildly flicked her tongue over it. Rei's eyes once again crossed and her entire body tightened as she convulsed from the sudden surge of pleasure. Shinji let out a choked gasp as the girl's vagina clenched around him. He, after a moment, finally grabbed Rei's breasts just like Asuka had recommended to do to help keep her in place.

Even so though, Rei's body continued to spasm. She moaned wildly and desperately grabbed at Asuka's hair.

In an expert maneuver, Asuka stuck her tongue out of her mouth while still keep her upper lip vacuum sealed to Rei's flesh. This allowed the girl to slowly extend her tongue out before allowing it to recede back in, creating a slow and wide undulation that softly but intently moved against Rei's clit all while still applying pressure through her sucking.

This quickly drove Rei mad and she let out sharp whimpering screams which only became more intense as Asuka moaned and created vibrations in her tongue. Before long, Asuka could feel Rei pulling her head down even further so that her tongue pressed against her even more. As well as this, Shinji's thrusting was beginning to reach a fever pitch tempo and was knocking against the girl's insides completely unrestrained.

Rei's excited spasming and her soft thighs squeezing against Asuka's head told the redhead the precious girl wasn't going to last much longer. To give the girl just a moment to calm herself, Asuka pulled her lips off of Rei with a loud pop. The lewd sound seemingly made Shinji groan in pleasure just hearing it.

Asuka could feel the girl tugging at her hair, wordlessly asking her to keep pleasuring her. But Asuka just had to take a few more moments to torture the girl. Rei's spit leaking out of her mouth and down her throat, her barely focused eyes, her breasts jiggling as they were caged in Shinji's finger; Asuka wanted to admire the sight for just a moment.

"Gonna cum, Wonderslut?" Asuka asked in a teasing manner as Rei's grool clung to her chin.

"Y- yea- yes!" Rei said in between gasps.

"Gonna cum like a little baby girl who can't hold herself together?" Asuka tauntingly questioned again, almost taking too much delight in the vulgar interrogation.

"F- fuck!" Shinji huffed, probably in response to Asuka's lewd dialogue.

"Ye- Yes!" Rei said again before her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she suffered from a pleasured convulsion.

"You gonna wring all the cum out of Shinji with that tight little pussy of yours?," Asuka questioned, still dragging out the girl's ordeal, "Gonna strangle that cock when you cum, Wonderslut? Gonna let him ruin that little pussy? You're gonna let him wreck your ovaries and you're gonna have a baby!?"

"Asuka! Fu- Fuck!" Shinji gasped.

"Yes! Yes! Asuka!" Rei whimpered out before yelping.

"Get fucked, Wondergirl!" Asuka spat before putting her mouth back around Rei's clit and sucking as hard as she could.

Once more, Rei's entire body tensed up and her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she let out a pathetic shriek. She clung to Asuka's hair for dear life and she arched her back, pushing her ass into Shinji's hips. And, after just a few moments, the girl began clenching down on Shinji as she came.

"ASUKAAAAAGH!" Rei tried to say in a strangled scream.

"R- REI! AGHHHH!" Shinji also shouted before thrusting as deep as he could and unloading inside the girl.

After just a couple shots, Asuka could feel Shinji's cum spurting out of the girl's insides before dripping down her chin as she continued to suck on Rei's clit. After another ten seconds or so, Shinji finished and Asuka finally released Rei from her suction trap.

She looked up to Rei's flushed face taking in her surroundings in a daze. The girl was still spasming occasionally and her thighs were trembling. As for Shinji, his grip around the girl seemed to have loosened and he was just trying to catch his breath for now as he once more buried his face in Rei's hair.

"God, Wondergirl. You sure do squeeze hard when someone fucks you just right. You look like you just about strangled Shinji's dick from where I'm sitting."

"I- I apologize," Rei breathed out.

"Don't be sorry. I think he liked it," Asuka said with a smirk.

"Oh, Jesus," Shinji mumbled, hoping Rei's hair was hiding his blush.

"But, if you're really feeling sorry," Asuka continued, "maybe you could try giving me head next time. Who knows? Maybe you'll be able to drive me as wild as I do you."

Asuka then licked up Shinji's cock one last time, kissing up all of the cum and grool leaking down it before kissing around Rei's vagina as well.

"Agh! Asuka! Wh- God, what're you doing!?" Shinji groaned.

"Ah- Ah! Asuka!" Rei yelped.

Asuka then crawled on top of Shinji and Rei both before kissing Rei and spitting the variety of sex juices into her mouth, which Rei seemingly then drunk.

After breaking the kiss, Asuka then nuzzled her head into Rei's neck and wrapped her arms around both of her loves.

"Ahh," Asuka sighed, "I wish we could stay like this forever…"

/

:The United States

:NERV-02

:Dusk

Meanwhile, in Nevada…

The sun had just set below the horizon, but it's pale orange light could still be seen reaching over the expansive and dim sky. Even so, it was dark enough that the automated lighting system of NERV-02 began to start activating, causing a slow flickering chain of lamps and floodlights to light up the military base's roads, walkways, and buildings.

And it was on one these freshly lit walkways between a few offices and military buildings that a lone girl with blonde hair tied into twintails walked down.

Off in the distance, she could hear the thrumming sound of a blackhawk's propeller thrashing the air. In one of the buildings next to her, she could hear a phone ringing before a commissioned officer picked it up, though she couldn't make out the man's words through the glass window to the man's office. And, down an intersecting path leading to her left, she could hear a couple men telling a comedic story about some guys on an Arleigh Burke destroyer who attempted to cook some store-bought popcorn in front of the onboard Aegis radar, which eventually caused the popcorn bag to explode and promptly caused panic in the CIC about how the system had detected a split-second radar contact from a massive object before it had then mysteriously vanished.

The girl had often times wanted to join in on such occasions of camaraderie, though she almost always refused to do so due to her feeling like she wouldn't fit in despite how often people had tried to include her in fun activities.

And, even if that weren't the case, the girl currently had a mission and she wasn't particularly in a state where she felt comfortable showing her face.

Her face was consumed by a rosy blush and, though she tried to control her breathing, the girl was still breathing harder than someone averagely would from taking a short walk just after sunset. As well as that, there was a faint stickiness that clung to the insides of her thighs under her skirt as she'd just finished what could perhaps be called a session of indecently sinful debauchery just a few minutes ago out in some dark corner of NERV-02.

Right now, she mostly just wanted to get a snack and go back to her room with her friend. She was quite starved, and the enchiladas she'd had earlier in the day hadn't been quite as filling as she'd hoped.

Finally, under a streetlamp, she saw what she was looking for; a pair of vending machines, one with snacks and the other with drinks. She happily skipped over to them before looking at what all was available. A few packages of honey buns, three small bags of nacho cheese Doritos, several bags of skittles, and some other things that didn't really catch her attention. Her eyes widened when she saw a two pack of cinnamon pinwheels though.

She reached into the pocket of her skirt and then shoved in some coins before pressing some seemingly random buttons to request the cinnamony delights! She kept her eyes glued to the package as it tumbled down in front of her eyes and landed at the bottom of the vending machine. She was only too happy to indulge in sweets after the hectic week she'd had and, after receiving her reward, she stepped over to the other vending machine to see what drinks were available.

She already knew exactly what she wanted. But, she could only hope they had it in stock.

Luckily, it seemed they did, as after inserting her coinage, a medium sized glass bottle was dropped from the lowest shelf of the vending machine. The girl reached into the bay and pulled out a chocolate fizz soda, bottled by the Durango soda company.

She lustfully gazed down at the soft brown bottle before a womanly voice shouted at her from behind.

"Mooneyes!" the authoritative voice barked.

The blonde girl instantly turned around and raised her hand to salute whoever it was calling her name. Though, unfortunately, the bottle of chocolate soda accidentally slipped out of her hand and she flung it almost twenty feet over her head. She couldn't help but cringe as she heard the bottle shatter somewhere behind her.

"What the hell…" the woman said, trying not to chuckle as she stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the lamp.

The woman, who happened to be Commander Bow of NERV-02, looked at the blonde girl suspiciously. She could see the girl's eye was twitching like she was trying not to cry from embarrassment.

"Geez, you're such a klutz. Be at ease already," Commander Bow sighed.

The blonde girl then let out the breath she was holding.

"What's got you so worked up?"

The blonde girl just shook her head no.

"Just afraid of the dark?" the woman asked again.

Once more, the blonde girl vigorously shook her head no.

"Well, whatever. Lets just get you a new drink," the woman said as she walked over to the vending machine, "Which one was it?"

The blonde girl pointed out the chocolate soda and Commander Bow thumbed a few coins into the vending machine, and once more, the glass bottle fell into the retrieval bay before it was grabbed by the blonde girl's eager hands.

The girl then stored the soda under her arm before shoving a few more coins into the vending machine and picking out a 7 Up.

"You and Ahni weren't in your room earlier," Commander Bow said as the blonde girl blushed a bit, "but I wanted to tell you that they've decided that Asuka Sohryu will be the test pilot for Unit-03."

'Asuka?' the blonde girl thought to herself as her eyes widened a bit, 'Asuka… Sohryu…'

/

Upon returning to her room, the blonde girl kicked the door shut behind her as her hands were minorly occupied transporting her food and drink and she certainly didn't want to drop another bottle of soda. And, after stepping into the room, she saw her friend, a girl with mostly black hair, save for a white tuft at the front of her head. The girl was wearing a pair of silver aviators and seemed to be smoking a cigarette as she sat in a cheap brown couch and had her feet kicked up on a heavy wooden table as she watched something on the television.

The blonde girl put the food and drinks down on a counter before stamping up to the girl and flicking her ear.

"Ow!" The black haired girl whined as she rubbed her ear and looked up at the blonde girl.

"Why are you smoking again, Ahni?" the blonde girl asked in sign language.

She knew that the girl, Ahni, didn't smoke that often unless she was stressed out. And, while she knew that the girl had every reason to be stressed out after Mark.04's destruction, she didn't want the girl to turn this into a more regular habit.

"Aww, come on, Amelia! Its just one more!"

"No! You just turned twelve. You shouldn't be smoking," Amelia signed back, "Seriously? I wasn't even gone for five minutes and you light up while I'm getting us food? You're going to stink the place up again!"

"You're really gonna bring up my age after we just got finished fucking like ten minutes ago? And besides, it's lime flavored! And lime scented too!" Ahni shot back.

"And? They're all lime flavored! What makes you think I want the whole place smelling like lime!?"

"Mmgh," Ahni groaned while letting out a puff of lime smoke through her nose before putting the cigarette out by sticking it on her tongue and then dismissively tossing it onto the wooden table.

"If you want lime, I got you a 7 Up," Amelia signed to the girl.

"Ugh, it's not the same," Ahni groaned again as she got out of the couch and headed to the kitchen, "Even the cigarette tastes more like lime than 7 Up. Why do they always gotta skimp out on the flavor?"

"Because big companies are cheap," Amelia signed to the girl.

Ahni opened the door to the fridge and searched around for a moment before pulling out a squeezable bottle filled with… concentrated lime juice of all things. She then unscrewed the cap of the 7 Up, took a quick swig of it, slammed it back down on the kitchen counter, and began shooting an ungodly amount of lime juice into the bottle.

Amelia silently laughed through her nostrils as she watched the girl out of the corner of her eye and then laughed even harder as the girl cringed after taking a drink of her concoction.

"Enough for you?" Amelia signed as she sat down on the couch with her chocolate soda.

"Oh yeah, baby! Get that fuckin' lime juice! Whooh!" Ahni shouted in an overly hyped voice before grabbing the bottle and the package of cinnamon pinwheels and running back to the old beaten couch.

She jumped and crashed into the cushion right next to Amelia. She then turned to her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, which caused Amelia's blush to return.

"Bada-bing bada-boom! This drink has been turned into something fit to consume! How's that for poetry? Think it could hold up to yours?" Ahni joked as she tossed the cinnamon pinwheels on the table.

"Needs more lines. Gotta work on your verse too. The length of the lines are unbalanced and not compact enough. Sounds more like you're finishing an incantation in some old fantasy movie," Amelia signed with a sparkle in her eyes.

"I guess that's why they call me Enchantress," Ahni said before she took another drink of her now excessively lime flavored soda.

"You are pretty enchanting for a brat," Amelia signed teasingly.

"Who're you calling a brat?" Ahni said under her breath before she leaned over and kissed the girl's neck, causing her to gasp and almost lose hold of her chocolate soda.

Amelia ran her free arm around the girl's shoulder and then began stroking her hair. Even though she had difficulty expressing her pleasure due to her speaking disability, her breathing did speed up a little as she felt the girl's small soft lips suckling on her neck. She was thankful that she could have just a few moments every day to close her eyes, relax, and have the girl just give her attention. It was beyond therapeutic and if she'd been able to smile, she would have.

Ahni finally broke the kiss and pulled away from the girl and stared at Amelia's delicate face. Amelia, after reopening her eyes, then turned towards Ahni and pulled her arm back to herself so she could communicate.

"Why're you still wearing your sunglasses? It's night now. I want to see your eyes," Amelia signed to the girl, shaking her head a bit as if to signify she didn't understand.

"I… I don't like them. Y- You know that," Ahni said a bit dejectedly.

"I know, darling. But it's just me. I like seeing them," Amelia signed before then grabbing the glasses and pulling them off the girl's face.

As the glasses were gently removed from the bridge of her nose, Ahni's extremely blue eyes became visible to Amelia. Amelia set the glasses down on the wooden table before then resting back in the couch and looking at Ahni's eyes. They were quite possibly the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen. No, they were certainly the most decorative natural eyes that she'd ever had the pleasure of witnessing in person.

Ahni looked down at the floor, still trying to hide her eyes.

"It makes me uncomfortable when you just stare at me," Ahni signed, choosing to forgo her verbal communication, "Sophie always use to just stare at me."

Amelia put her hand under the girl's chin, trying to convince her to look back up.

"I know, darling. But, I'm not her," Amelia signed, "I wish you felt more comfortable with me. You're just so beautiful, I can't help but want to see you."

"I do feel comfortable with you, Amelia. I just don't feel comfortable with myself," Ahni signed to the girl.

"I remember when I first saw you, I was so scared of talking to you. You were so pretty. I thought you'd never want anything to do with me," Amelia signed to the girl, trying her best to smile despite her disability.

"I remember how much you blushed when I waved at you the first time. And then you wouldn't even make eye contact with me," Ahni signed back as a little smile crossed her face.

"Exactly. But now you're the one who won't look at me," Amelia signed, "I just want you to be okay."

"I am okay when I'm with you. I just… never liked people just staring at me. Not after what happened in school. I mean, I guess I should be used to it. Everyone always looked at me because of how weird I look. But, I'm not used to it. It helps if you're like touching me or something. It's not as awkward then," Ahni signed back.

"You're right. I'm sorry. Staring is rude. Its just so hard not to when you're so beautiful," Amelia signed as a blush spread over her cheeks.

"Its okay," Ahni said, finally returning to spoken English, "Do you know what you want to… watch tonight? Besides me, I mean."

Ahni leaned over and picked up the television remote which sat on the wooden table in front of the couch and sat ready to flip to a different channel.

"I don't care what we watch as long as it isn't fucking Grey's Anatomy," Amelia signed.

"Eww, yeah. Fuck Grey's Anatomy. The literal Gray's Anatomy textbook has a better story than that show. And its… well, a fucking textbook," Ahni laughed.

"Didn't you actually read that book?" Amelia signed questioningly.

"Yep. Read the whole 1918 American edition when I was… um... eight… I think," Ahni casually said, as though that were the most normal thing in the world.

"You are so unconventional," Amelia signed as she rolled her eyes in amusement.

"What about Jeopardy then?" Ahni questioned.

"Don't you want to watch something a little more… dramatic?" Amelia asked unsurely.

"What about… a documentary on World War 1? Or Kodiak bears? Or no! What about a documentary on salmon getting eaten by Kodiak bears during World War 1!?"

Amelia almost laughed some of her chocolate soda out through her nose.

"You're so frickin' weird sometimes," Amelia signed as she continued to laugh though her nose.

"Okay. Anime then? KILL la KILL. It should be on in a few minutes," Ahni said confidently.

"Just change the fucking channel to something, silly. I don't care. I just want to make out with you and I want some background noise," Amelia signed as she shook her head in amusement.

"Ah, background noise… I wonder what that's like," Ahni sighed as she flipped through a few channels, "I'd turn on captions so I know what's going on, but I get the feeling I'm not gonna be watching the TV very much if you're having your way with me."

Amelia blushed and looked away from the girl due to her choice of wording.

"Having my way with you? Oh god," Amelia signed as she shyly looked back at the girl.

"Well, what else do you want to call it?" Ahni silently signed back before winking at the girl, which only made Amelia blush harder.

"Making love might not sound quite as lewd," Amelia timidly suggested.

"Heheh," Ahni chuckled before taking Amelia's chocolate soda out of her hand and setting both it and her 7 Up on the wooden table.

Ahni then leaned towards the girl, giving her a sly look and a cheeky smile. Amelia had finally gotten what she'd wanted, a delightfully unobscured view of Ahni's ridiculously blue eyes. Ahni slowly leaned in even closer and oh how Amelia wished she could call out her name.

Amelia was so entranced by Ahni's dazzling blue eyes, she couldn't help but eventually find herself leaning towards the girl as well. Ahni then placed her palms on Amelia's cheeks, gently pulling the girl in for a kiss.

"Amelia," Ahni whispered before finally closing her eyes and pressing her lips into the girl.

Amelia threw her arms around Ahni and the two stayed like that for a moment before Amelia let herself fall back into the cushion of the couch, taking Ahni with her as they both slipped into the bliss of nighttime love.

/

:Japan

:Tokyo-03

:Early Night

Several hours later, in Japan…

"Hey, everyone! I'm home!" Misato called out as she finally stepped into the apartment.

'Agh geez,' Asuka thought as she watched the television with Shinji and Rei, 'I thought she'd be out a little longer since she's… ugh, back with Kaji.'

Asuka quickly pulled out of the tangle of cuddling she'd been entwined in, still not keen on letting her guardian know about that she'd joined into a three way relationship.

"Welcome home, Misato!" Shinji called back to the woman as Asuka pulled out of his arms and pretended to casually lean against the armrest of the couch while Rei remained sleepily resting her head on Shinji's shoulder.

"What're you doing back so early," Asuka called out as Misato exited the foyer and stepped into the kitchen, "I figured you'd still be at… work."

"Ah, well, technically, I am still at work until I deliver this one little thing," Misato said as she set her purse down on the kitchen counter and started digging through it, "Asuka, could you come here? I actually have something for you."

Asuka suspiciously squinted her eyes at the woman but got up and headed to the kitchen nonetheless.

"What's this about?" Asuka asked as she casually strode into the kitchen.

"Uh, well, with Unit-03 being shipped to Japan today," Misato said as she pulled out a white cardboard package about a foot across and maybe four inches tall, "NERV decided it needed a pilot. And, they went with you since they didn't reassign either of the American pilots here. Apparently there were some communication difficulties outside of just language barriers. And I think they wanted to avoid working anyone up over the Vatican treaty. Three pilots means only three Evangelions can be used, even if we have four now."

"Huh!? Wha-!?" Asuka asked as she took the package from Misato.

"It's your new plugsuit… for now anyways. That one's just a test suit. If you're made the pilot of Unit-03, I imagine they'll give you a proper numbered suit," Misato said.

"Huh!? Unit-03!? But what about Unit-02!?" Asuka shouted, which caused Shinji and Rei to glance over into the kitchen at her.

"Uh, about that," Misato said as she bashfully scratched the back of her head, "They've actually put Unit-02 into containment. No one's allowed to pilot it until further notice."

"Wha- Huh!? But- What the fuck!? That's my Evangelion!" Asuka shouted.

"Asuka, I- I can't do anything about it," Misato sighed, "This came straight from the top brass in the U.N.. You know how they are. Posturing and everything. It is what it is. They've already violated the Vatican treaty and they don't want to push people any further. The last thing we need now is people opposed to the decision rioting in the streets, especially not when there's angels running loose."

"Filthy fucking government elites! How dare they take my baby from me," Asuka spat under her breath.

Misato gently put her hand on top of Asuka's head and tried to calm her down by petting her hair. This somewhat surprised the redhead and her expression softened a little.

"Try not to get so worked up about it, Asuka. There's no guarantee Unit-03 will even be staying here. They just wanted you ready to pilot it in case an angel showed up," Misato said before letting her hand slip off of Asuka's head.

The woman then picked up her purse and headed to her room. But not before Asuka would stop her once more.

"You… You aren't wearing your lavender perfume today," Asuka said, trying not to sound accusatory.

Misato paused for a moment, though she didn't care to turn around.

"Yeah. I'm not… I was… busy with Unit-03 today," Misato said before once more trying to head to her room, "You should try on the plugsuit. Make sure there isn't anything wrong with it. We have to go in tomorrow morning. So, it would be better to find any problems with it now in case you need a replacement."

Asuka somewhat glared at the woman as she slid open the door to her room and disappeared inside to change into more casual clothing. Though, she tried not to be angry with the woman, she still couldn't help but feel at least dissatisfied. She clutched the package to her chest before sighing.

"Asuka?" Shinji asked from the living room.

Asuka looked over her shoulder to see Rei and Shinji looking at her inquisitively from the couch.

"Is everything okay?" Shinji continued.

"Yeah… Yeah, I guess," Asuka said before walking back into the living room, "I don't know why, but I just… don't like this."

"Do you… wanna talk about it?" the boy offered.

"Later," Asuka silently mouthed before returning to her normal speaking volume, "I'm gonna put this up. I'll try it on later."

/

:The United States

:NERV-02

:Sunrise

Several more hours later, in Nevada…

Ahni's eyes fluttered open. She'd been awake for a few minutes now but hadn't had the heart to open her eyes. She was quite enjoying resting her head on whatever soft thing was beneath her. But, the morning sun was bright enough now that she was starting to see it even through her shut eyelids and so she'd finally decided now might be the time to wake up.

Admittedly, she was already sleeping in later than she usually would have been allowed to. But, considering that both she and her companion no longer had Evangelions to pilot and their education program didn't start until eight, she had managed to actually sleep a bit longer today.

A hand suddenly appeared beside her, right in front of her face, before spelling out, "Good morning," in American sign language.

"Mor-" the girl started to say before yawning, "Morning."

Apparently, she had been sleeping on top of another woman with her face nestled in her cleavage, and she rotated her head so she could look the girl in the face. It was there she saw two kindly grey eyes gazing back at her.

"Mmgh, Amelia," Ahni mumbled as she tried to crawl up the girl a little more before kissing her neck.

Amelia let out a pleasured sigh and Ahni could feel the girl squirm a bit underneath her. She then kissed the girl on the lips a few times before trying to sit up and rise out of bed. As she sat up, the white and chocolate brown sheets covering the girls fell off of Ahni's shoulders, revealing the girl wasn't wearing anything except for some black lace panties with a couple blue flowers stitched into their design.

Amelia, despite this not being the first time she'd seen the girl nude, still blushed at the sight. She reached up, placing her palm on the girl's chest between her nearly flat breasts. She reveled in being able to touch the girl's soft bright caramel colored skin.

After a few moments, she let her palm slip down the girl's chest. Underneath Ahni's breasts where what could be described as a few patches of lighter colored skin, somewhat akin to the colors one would find in a piece of latte art's foam. Amid the girl's averagely tan skinned body were occasional patches of very pale milky splotches.

One would almost think of certain conditions like vitiligo, though piebaldism would be more correct. There were several places over her body where her skin was lighter, with the most notable places being under her breasts and one asymmetrical swath over the lower front side of her stomach just above her right hip, and even a very tiny, single, pale dot on her left eyelid that usually couldn't be seen when the girl's eyes were open. And, finally, there was a thin roughly diamond shaped patch that began at the very top of her forehead and went up her scalp and was almost entirely covered by her hair. That mark in particular is what also caused the girl to have her completely natural vertical streak of white hair and, in Amelia's opinion, heavily contributed to the girl's otherworldly beauty that she found herself succumbing to on almost a daily basis now.

Amelia's hand traced down to the girl's stomach and finally down to her panties. The sunlight streamed in though a small break in the curtains and shined over the girl's face. Amelia could swear Ahni's eyes glittered like the sea when the sun hit them just right and it figuratively, and almost literally, took her breath away.

Amelia let out a few trembling gasps, which caused Ahni to smile.

"School's starting in an hour. It's a little early to get excited, don't you think?" Ahni teased, "Or are we gonna have to put you in horny jail for the day?"

Amelia's blush reddened and Ahni then once more attacked the girl's neck with a barrage of kisses. Amelia then let out a few more gasps which could almost constitute moaning had the girl not been almost entirely mute aside from a very occasional, strangulated, miscellaneous sound that would only sometimes escape from her throat.

Ahni broke the kiss and got out of bed, leaving Amelia breathless, and completely topless as well, as the blonde girl continue to stare at the ceiling in a daze.

Ahni slipped out of her black lace panties and instead changed into a pair of cotton ones, dyed in a striped black and blue pattern. She then, rummaging through her clothing drawer a little more, pulled out a white bra and put it on before noticing that Amelia was still laying in bed.

"Amelia! If you don't get up, we're not gonna make it to the mess hall in time for breakfast. You do wanna eat, right? You need to eat!" the girl said, trying to encourage her companion to get out of bed.

"Okay," Amelia lazily signed back, holding her hand in the air so Ahni could see.

Amelia finally got up and opened her own clothing drawer as Ahni put on a pair of blue jeans with holes torn in the knees, thighs, calves and shin.

"Hey, you okay?" Ahni signed to the girl.

"Yeah. I was just thinking about you," Amelia signed back before adding, "And Unit-03."

"Aren't you the one who told me yesterday not to worry about her? That everything would be fine?" Ahni asked verbally as she slid a loose grayish-blue tank-top over her head.

"I did say that. But still," Amelia signed after Ahni had gotten her top on.

Ahni then reached over into Amelia's drawer and pulled out some white panties and a pink bra before slipping Amelia's current underwear off and putting the fresh clothing on for her so that Amelia's hands could be free and she could still communicate.

"You also said that there was no point worrying over something you can't change," Ahni said as she clasped the girl's bra for her.

"I know I said that. I just need something to take my mind off it. There's nothing happening right now to distract me, so my mind keeps drifting back to her," Amelia signed.

"And that's why you wouldn't get out of bed to dress and feed yourself?" Ahni asked, not entirely believing the girl was okay.

"Shut up! I said I was thinking about you too!" Amelia signed while stamping her foot in frustration.

"Whatever you say I guess. If you need to talk about it, we can," Ahni said before holding up a pink skirt as well as a pale yellow one, "So, which one you wanna wear?"

Amelia pointed at the pink one and Ahni then helped her put it on while she pulled out a white button up shirt and put it on herself. Ahni then yanked out two pairs of ribbons, one pink pair and one yellow pair to which Amelia chose out the yellow. Ahni then put the pink ribbons back in the drawer while handing one of the yellow ones to Amelia. Then, each girl tied up Amelia's blonde hair into two long twintails, each reaching about down to her waist.

"I hope they still have french toast and waffles this late," Ahni said as she walked over to the wooden table in front of the couch and picked up her sunglasses from where she'd left them last night, "You know how the boys are. They never leave us girls any if we don't get there early enough."

"I don't think they'd leave any for the other gentlemen either. You know how it is. It's a man eat waffle world out there," Amelia signed jokingly.

"The fuck does that even mean?" Ahni signed back with her free hand as she unconsciously laughed.

Amelia only wished the deaf girl could hear how delightful her own laugh was.

"Your laugh is very pretty," Amelia signed as a blush crossed her face.

Ahni also blushed and slightly diverted her gaze before putting on her sunglasses to try to help hide both her eyes and her blush.

"I wish you wouldn't always wear those. I miss seeing your eyes," Amelia signed, which only caused Ahni to blush even more.

"Maybe one day, I won't," Ahni signed back before going over to a hat rack just past the kitchen.

After arriving at the rack, Ahni grabbed a grey baseball cap. It was actually a custom one that had been commissioned for her. On the forehead of the cap, "NERV-02" was stitched in white letters while on the brim of the cap was "04" also stitched in white. On the right side of the cap was a patch of the American flag and on the left was her own custom emblem, the "Enchantress," which was essentially a blue skinned demoness with black hair and white eyes. The demoness wore a black bikini and also held a white staff in her right hand while her left hand was placed on her hip.

Ahni thoughtfully gazed at the baseball cap for a moment, during which time, Amelia came up behind her and hugged her with one of her arms while holding the other one in front of the girl so she could speak with her.

"You're going to hide your hair today too?" Amelia questioned.

"Yeah… Yeah, today I am," Ahni confirmed solemnly.

"I won't force you… But I wish you wouldn't. I love seeing how beautiful you are. It makes me sad that evil girl hurt you so badly to make you like this," Amelia signed as she subconsciously tightened her hug around Ahni.

"Yeah… I hate it too," Ahni said as a small scowl came across her face.

Ahni then turned around and put her free hand behind Amelia's head and pulled her in for a kiss. Amelia was slightly surprised by the girl's actions, but realized that perhaps Ahni just didn't want to talk about the past right now and she quickly gave into the kiss.

After separating, Ahni then put her cap on her head and then additionally reached for a pair of black and silver headphones that were hung around the hat rack as well. Strangely enough though, the cord of the headphones had been cut and they were effectively rendered useless for listening to music. And, even if they weren't broken, how was a deaf girl supposed to listen to music?

In truth, the girl only wore the headphones so she wouldn't look like an idiot or an asshole if someone tried to talk to her. Though, occasionally, she still got branded an asshole if she wore them someplace that would generally be considered rude to wear them in. But, more often than not, the ragged thing had saved her from embarrassment more often than it'd gotten her in trouble. And so, she wore the headphones pretty regularly.

She put the headphones on and then pulled out the collar of her tank-top with her finger before lifting the cut cord and dropping it down her shirt so it's wouldn't be in the way of anything.

Both of the girls then put on some socks and then got into their shoes, Amelia's being pink, black, and white sneakers while Ahni's where light brown riding boots that one would commonly find in a sterotypical depiction of a cowboy's attire.

Finally, Ahni was ready to go and she took Amelia by the hand before leading her out of the room and into the morning sun now rising over NERV-02.

/

:Japan

:Tokyo-03

:Midnight

Meanwhile, in Japan…

"So? How does it look?" Asuka asked after having put on her new plugsuit to show it off to Shinji and Rei.

Rei and Shinji stood in the living room, directly next to the kitchen, almost ready to head to their room for the night when Asuka stepped out of the hallway leading to their room.

Shinji blushed seeing the girl. The plugsuit was at the very least brighter than Asuka's usual red one. The legs and arms of this new plugsuit still held pretty strong to the theme of red. But the core body of the plugsuit was orange and more form fitting than usual. And the breast area was almost yellow along several strapped lines running down either side of the stomach of the plugsuit. And, above the breast area was the English word "TEST" written in black coloring. And to top it off, there were a new set of neural connectors sitting atop Asuka's head. These ones, while still primarily red and orange, had a wiry arc protruding from each of them that made them look somewhat like the antennae of a bug. It was, all in all, quite a flattering ensemble of piloting equipment.

"Uh… Oh god, its…" Shinji stuttered, trying not to seem too rude or vulgar.

"It's kinda lewd, I know," Asuka said, blushing a bit.

"It is… different from our previous ones," Rei stated.

"Its a third generation type A test suit," Asuka confirmed, "My normal one is a type B second gen combat variant."

Rei then walked up to Asuka and poked the girl in her stomach.

"Agh! Rei!? Stop it! What're you doing? That tickles!" Asuka giggled, though she tried to remain serious.

Shinji was the next to approach the girl and took her hand in his.

"It looks good on you, Asuka," Shinji said before squeezing the girl's hand affirmatively.

Asuka sighed before smiling.

"Thanks," Asuka said with a slight blush before hugging Shinji.

"Its getting a little late. We should... probably go to bed. Especially if you have to be up tomorrow," Shinji suggested.

Asuka relinquished the boy before then taking both Rei and Shinji by their hands and leading them to their room.

Thankfully, over the past few hours Misato had been home, she had indeed not found out that the kids had been drinking or fucking earlier in the day. One could have said this might have been predictable. Shinji had been living with the woman for months now and Asuka had been as well on top of the time she'd lived with her in Germany. The woman, while not ignorant, did have a stronger desire than most to relax after work. And this made it somewhat easier to slip things under her radar, especially when she'd drink and pass out early.

Of course, Asuka and Shinji knew that all of this, the drinking, the fucking, the relationship, was all going to come to light at some point or another. It was only a question of when and how. All it would take was one night when Misato went through her cabinet of stronger alcohol to find out they'd been stealing her drinks. Just one mistake, like leaving the packaging for the morning after pills on the top of the pile of garbage in the trash bin to find out they were fucking.

It wasn't going to last forever. They'd be found out at some point. And they could only hope that it wouldn't be too dramatic when it happened.

"Hey, Shinji?" Asuka asked as they all stepped into the bedroom?

"Hmm? What is it?" The boy asked.

"Can you just try to make sure I'm up before Misato tomorrow? I don't want her to find out about… us." Asuka mumbled.

"Of course I can, Asuka," Shinji said as he threw the sheets off the futon and began undressing.

"Um… listen… I- I don't enjoy hiding this," Asuka stammered, "But… I just… I don't know how to tell her yet."

"I understand, Asuka," Shinji said.

"I can tell her," Rei offered as she too got undressed.

Asuka's expression softened and she walked up to the girl before kissing her on her forehead.

"Maybe I'll take you up on that, Rei... Maybe," Asuka sighed.

Rei then gently hugged the girl before finishing undressing.

Asuka herself then depressurized her plugsuit and began unharnessing it.

"I imagine I'll have some time with her tomorrow. Maybe I'll try to tell her then," Asuka said before the plugsuit fell to the floor.

"Asuka, about tomorrow… Is everything okay?" Shinji asked as he and Rei crawled under the sheets of the futon.

Asuka sighed and stepped out of the plugsuit before crawling into bed with Shinji and Rei.

"I don't really know," Asuka said in a worried sigh as she snuggled her nude body closer to Shinji's for warmth, "I just… I don't know what to think. I don't like them changing this stuff up on me. What if Unit-03 doesn't respond to me? Or…"

Asuka had seemingly gone silent and Shinji stroked the girl's back.

"Or what, Asuka? What's wrong?" Shinji asked the girl.

"What if something…" the girl tried to say again, "What if something bad happens. What if Unit-03 blows up like Mark.04 did?"

Shinji and Rei's eyes widened and they both looked at Asuka.

"I…" Shinji trailed off, somewhat surprised the girl would think of something so morbid.

"No… I'm sorry. That's stupid. Last I heard, Unit-03 and Mark.04's pilots were still alive. Surely they… Surely NERV wouldn't have me near it if they thought it would be dangerous," Asuka said, trying to reason her way through her discomfort.

"Y-yeah, Asuka! And besides, Doctor Akagi will be there too, right? That's what Misato said earlier. I'm sure they just want you there for some formalities or something," Shinji said, trying to help reassure the girl.

Asuka timidly nodded her head before sighing and nuzzling closer to Shinji,

"Yeah… Goodnight, Shinji. Goodnight, Rei," Asuka mumbled.

"Goodnight, Rei. Goodnight, Asuka," Shinji said in response, hugging both of the girls closer to him.

"Goo-" Rei tried to say before yawning, "Goodnight..."

/

-Evangelion Unit-03-

/

"'Tis the hero's lot to be judged by the deeds of the present."- Minfilia Ward

The next day…

"So…" Asuka asked as she sat in Misato's car.

It had been a rather boring ride to Unit-03's test site so far, which resided just outside the city limits of Tokyo-03. Though, in spite of, or perhaps because of that, Asuka still felt anxious over the whole thing. The longer she remained quiet the more the unease stewed in her head.

"Yes, Asuka?" Misato asked, prompting the girl to continue.

"What's this all about? I mean, what're we actually doing?"

"Not sure yet. I assume Ritsuko will give us more info once we get there. She just said that she would meet us there. Oh, also, she called a little earlier and said she might be late. So, I hope you don't mind waiting."

"Oh great," Asuka sighed, "Just what I wanted. More time to sit around and do nothing. Even sitting in that boring ass classroom would be better than this. At least then I might actually learn something."

"Don't be so negative, Asuka," Misato said as she nudged the girl in her arm encouragingly, "I'm sure this is important. I just don't know all the details yet. I'm sure Ritsuko will have something for us to do once we get there."

"Speaking of Doctor Akagi, when she called you earlier, she didn't say… anything else, did she?" Asuka prodded.

"No. Why?" Misato questioned as she glanced at the girl for a moment before returning her eyes to the road.

"N- no reason. I just… wanted to know what's going on is all," Asuka lied.

In truth, Asuka had been somewhat concerned that Ritsuko may have told Misato about her going to her for medication. But, it had appeared the woman had so far decided to keep her mouth shut over the matter. Even so, Asuka knew that it was only a matter of time before it got out that she was dating both Rei and Shinji. And the last thing she wanted was a bunch of drama getting in the way of their relationship.

"So, how're things with you? You've been acting a bit… different recently," Misato asked.

The question somewhat caught Asuka off guard but she tried to keep herself composed.

"How so?" Asuka asked, trying to hide her suspicion.

"Well… you did cook breakfast with Rei," Misato started, "And usually, you're the one ordering Shinji around the kitchen, but instead, you're the one who brought him coffee."

'Shit! She's sharper than I thought,' Asuka thought as she narrowed her eyes, 'But nothing I can't recover from.'

"It was nothing. Shinji was out with his dad or whatever. He just wanted me to keep an eye on her while she cooked since he's been trying to teach her. Silly girl still cut herself though," Asuka said nonchalantly.

'Silly girl?' Misato thought to herself, 'Again, that's not like her to call Rei silly girl. Usually she'd say stupid girl or something like that. Something really is up with her.'

"Is that so?" Misato questioned, "You seemed to be having a good time with her. You were both laughing and it at least seemed like you were enjoying yourselves."

"Seriously, it wasn't anything," Asuka asserted once more, "Like what? Is it that weird for me to have a good day every now and then?"

"That's all it was then? Just you having a good day?" Misato asked once again.

"Yeah, that's all," Asuka said dismissively, "Oh, and, if I like Unit-03, have them repaint it red."

Misato reached her hand out, still keeping her eyes on the road, and stroked Asuka's hair. The girl tried to flinch away but, somehow found it difficult to retreat from the touch. And so she mostly just stiffened up and felt a shiver run through her spine.

"You know, Asuka. You don't need to... hide everything," Misato said as she continued to stroke the girl's hair.

"It- It's not like that!" Asuka huffed, "I'm not hiding anything. I've just… I've never really been close with anyone! Not with you back in Germany. Not with the people in school or college. Not even with Kaji. I'm not hiding anything. I just don't have anything to say that people would care about."

Misato had a sneaking suspicion that the girl was lying, at least in part, based on how she was slowly becoming more defensive.

"Listen, Asuka," Misato said, finally returning her hand to the steering wheel, "I know… I haven't always been the best… mother. But, you have people here who support you and care for you. I know your friendship with Shinji was a little rocky at the beginning. And I know our own… relationship hasn't always been on the surest footing. And I know you and Rei used to not get along all that well… But I've seen you all growing. We are here for you, Asuka. You can talk to us. You don't have to keep it all bottled up."

"I… I know that. You don't have to tell me," Asuka said, diverting her gaze and looking out the window to hide a blush that had formed on her face, "I mean… I guess having friends isn't all that bad. I mean, I don't need friends. I've never needed anyone. I've always been fine on my own… But it's not bad."

Misato let out a lighthearted chuckle before smiling.

"You're right, Asuka. It's not bad," Misato said before reaching over and patting the girl's head a few times.

Feeling the woman's hand on her head somewhat made the girl blush but it also somehow helped comfort her for some strange reason.

"Um, Misato?" Asuka started, seemingly looking for confirmation the woman was giving her the attention she desired.

"Mmmhmm?" Misato asked, prompting the girl to go ahead.

"Um… The truth is… I, um-"

Misato's phone suddenly began ringing and interrupted the girl.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Asuka. One moment," Misato said before pulling out her phone, "This looks like a work number."

Misato then put the phone to her ear and Asuka breathed out a stressed sigh.

"Uh, what? What're you talking about?" Misato asked.

Asuka then glanced at the woman as her voice seemed to be gradually growing more alarmed.

"What the hell do you mean it's been possessed? What does that even mean?" Misato asked before a flash of blue light erupted from behind a mountain several miles ahead.

Asuka was suddenly flung forward in her seat as Misato slammed on the breaks. Luckily, her seat belt was there to catch her.

"What- What the hell is that!?" Asuka shouted.

"Never mind, I see it! Jesus! We're headed back now! Get Unit-02 out of containment as fast as you can!" Misato shouted into the phone before hanging up and putting her car in reverse so she could turn around.

"What the hell is going on, Misato!?"

"Asuka, can you call Shinji and Rei and tell them to head to the Geofront? There… There's an Angel."

/

Gendo absentmindedly drove his car down the road to Misato's apartment. In truth his mind was not focused on driving. Though, he'd never show it, he was almost intimidated at the thought of having dinner with his son.

So many things went through his head. Would Rei's cooking be any good? And if it wasn't, would he actually be able to stomach the food? What would he say as an excuse if he couldn't? What kinds of things did Shinji like to talk about? Would he be able to hold up a conversation with him? Both he and his son were quiet people and Rei herself wasn't particularly talkative either. Hopefully, the entire gathering wouldn't be spent in awkward silence. Having Sohryu or Katsuragi there might've helped liven things up, but both were required at the test site for Unit-03 this morning.

Gendo then felt his phone vibrating in his coat pocket. He sighed and pulled it out.

"Yes? What is it? I'm in the middle of something important."

The man then scowled at the next words he heard.

/

-Horizons-

/

"There's a storm inside of us, a burning, a river, a drive. You push yourself further than anyone could think possible. You are never out of the fight."- Marcus Luttrell

"Okay, everyone. One more time. Let's go over the situation and plan," Misato said over the radio.

Each of the Evangelions, Unit-00, Unit-01, and Unit-02 all sat waiting at dispersed intervals near the city limits of Tokyo-03. Behind them was a small neighborhood with the only nearby power station for the Evangelion's umbilical plugs which each Evangelion was currently hooked up to as they waited in Ambush positions behind several hills just outside the neighborhood.

"Fine," Asuka said.

"Okay," Shinji sighed into the LCL of his plug, trying to calm his nerves.

"Yes, Ma'am," Rei affirmed.

"So," Misato started, "once more, the angel has possessed Unit-03. So you will be fighting against an Evangelion as well as an angel. So far, our measurements of its A.T. field appear to be very high as it appears to be in control of both its own A.T. Field as well as Unit-03's. This means it's very likely we will need at least two of you to be able to neutralize its A.T. field."

"Sounds pretty wicked," Asuka said, seemingly up for the challenge.

"Second of all," Misato continued, "We have satellite scans of the angel and it currently appears to be taking on the shape of some amorphous object and is mostly massed around Unit-03's entry plug. Doctor Akagi says it's not entirely clear why this is yet, but it may be how it's taken control of Unit-03. Because of this hypothesis, we tried to eject the plug, but were unable to as the angel seems to be preventing it from ejecting. So, because of this, we are primarily tasking you with removing the entry plug and not causing damage to Unit-03. Understood?"

"Understood," Rei said.

"Yeah, understood," Shinji sighed again.

"Got it," Asuka said, "you can leave the rest of this to us. I think I'm starting to come up with a plan of attack."

"What is the plan, Asuka?" Rei asked.

"I'm glad you asked, Rei," Asuka said proudly, "So, here's what I'm thinking. Rei, you're furthest out from the power station. I want you to be the one to launch the ambush. That'll tell both Shinji and me our maximum operating range while also still allowing us to remain connected to the grid. I want to avoid leaving this area because Unit-03 appears to be operating without power. So, I don't want to give up our advantage of being here. This is our most advantageous position. There is no better place. Second, if you attack first, that'll also give us a buffer zone to hopefully slow the angel before it reaches the shopping center and residential area over here and hopefully we'll be able to neutralize it before it ever gets close enough to cause any damage to the infrastructure. Got it?"

"I do," Rei affirmed.

"Shinji!" Asuka said, grabbing the boy's attention.

"Yeah?" Shinji said.

"I want you to go in just after Rei has established our operating area and begun neutralizing the angel's A.T. field. Pretty simple. Hopefully, this will be enough to bring down its defenses. But, if it's not, I'll be furthest in the back. So, I can get a running start and try to bust through its A.T. field with both raw force and with my own A.T. field. If both of you are able to neutralize its A.T. field on your own though, then I'll still have a running start and hopefully, I can body slam it and help get it pinned to the ground. After that, I want both of you trying to remove the entry plug. We don't know what this thing is capable of, so I'd recommenced trying to focus your A.T. field around the hands of your Eva. Rei, I want you to focus on neutralizing the angel's own A.T. Field so that Shinji is less likely to have his neutralized. Shinji, I want you to try to remove the entry plug manually while also taking care to protect your Eva's hands from the angel."

"Okay, I think I got it," Shinji confirmed.

"Understood," Rei also confirmed.

The radio crackled to life once more and Misato spoke again saying, "Sounds good, everyone. Due to the… odd nature of the angel, we have two F-15's from the JASDF Precision Aerial Strike Group on standby waiting to firebomb it with incendiary munitions once you've retrieved the entry plug. It's gonna be close, but your A.T. fields should protect you from any damage. Remember though, don't underestimate it. We still don't know this things full capabilities and it has an entire Evangelion at it's disposal."

"Yeah, yeah. I dunno what a blob is really gonna do to us anyways…" Asuka mumbled.

"Asuka, I just said not to underestimate it," Misato barked.

"Okay, okay! I'm not! Geez! Get off my case, will you? If it does something unexpected, we'll improvise. That's all we can do, right?" Asuka huffed.

Misato could audibly be heard sighing over the radio.

"Just… be careful, will you?" Misato said before adding, "Please?"

"Oh! Look! Contact!" Asuka shouted over the radio, "We got contact with Unit-03 and the eleventh angel! Just over the hill to the left, eleven o'clock moving to twelve. Get ready, everyone!"

"Ugh," Shinji sighed, "we only just got that sorted out in time."

"You sigh a lot when you're stressed out, huh, Shinji? I could think of a couple other times you've sighed a lot. And rather recently too," Asuka teased.

"Asuka! Not now! It's not the time for that!" Shinji said with a blush.

"Pilot Sohryu, quit distracting your squadmates!" Ritsuko spat over the radio.

Asuka suddenly found herself blushing as well and she could only hope Ritsuko hadn't caught on to what she was hinting at. She'd forgotten that Ritsuko was even there due to the woman usually talking exclusively to the people on the command bridge and helping advise Misato while sorting through information as it came in.

Asuka tried to shake herself out of her embarrassment and attempted to focus on the angel possessed Evangelion stepping around the foot of the hill before it turned towards the small neighborhood that the squadron of Evangelions were waiting to ambush it from.

Unit-02 barely peaked its head out from behind the hill it was taking cover behind to get a better look at the perversion of science and nature that heartlessly shambled its way across the valley.

"Geez, it's kinda walkin' like a zombie. Creepy," Asuka said under her breath.

"Quit letting it get to you," Ritsuko stated rather blandly, "I'm keeping an eye on your sync ratio. You just dropped one percent."

"Hey! I asked you jerks in the command bridge to get off my case, alright!? Now you're the ones distracting me!" Asuka huffed.

"Focus, Pilot Sohryu," Ritsuko said once more.

"Asuka, knock it off," Misato also added.

"Fuck off," Asuka said under her breath.

"I heard that…" Misato said back.

"Don't antagonize her, Misato. I don't want her sync rate dropping any more," Ritsuko ordered.

"Asuka, come on, its okay. Lets just…" Shinji said, trailing off as he tried to comfort the girl.

"Yeah, fine," Asuka sighed.

Asuka once more tried to clear her thoughts and focus on Unit-03. The Evangelion slowly ambled its way closer and it was eventually within striking distance.

"Okay, I think it's just about close enough," Asuka stated, "Whenever you're ready, Rei. We go on your signal."

Asuka continued to gaze at the Evangelion, taking in little details. She'd only seen the thing a handful of times in pictures and on a couple occasions when she'd traveled to the states. The titan was primarily black with a few instances of white or red detailing. Under the shadow of its brow, its eyes appeared to glow a grey color. Just like all of the Evangelions, it was a sight to behold.

The massive thing continued to lumber closer and closer. And Asuka was starting to get anxious.

"Rei?" Shinji asked, seemingly also feeling a little unnerved by just sitting around.

"Rei, I'm pretty sure it's within range now. You can attack whenever you want," Asuka said.

There was no response.

"Asuka, Shinji," Misato's voice called over the radio, "Rei's sync ratio just dropped and a lot of thought noise started showing up in her entry plug. What's going on? The satellites aren't showing anything."

"Rei?! What the hell's going on with you!? What're you-" Asuka shouted in mild frustration as she glanced at her holographic screen showing Rei's entry plug.

But, before she could inquire any further, she gasped.

Purple…

Rei's eyes were glowing purple.

The girl seemed totally unresponsive and she just stared into the distance with haunting, searing, purple eyes.

"Oh… Oh no…" Asuka said in disbelief.

Terror started to take over and Asuka could feel her arms beginning to shiver with fear and adrenaline.

"Rei!? Rei!? No!" Shinji shouted, also seemingly noticing the girl's purple eyes.

"What in the hell is going on!?" Misato asked again, "What- Oh… Oh god!"

Apparently, Misato too had now noticed exactly what was wrong.

Rei started moaning in pain before clutching at her forearms.

"No! No, no, no! Not here! Not like this! Please, god, no!" Asuka pleaded in trembling gasps.

"Rei! Rei, please, say something!" Shinji begged of the girl.

The only response he got was the girl's moans transforming into screams as her Evangelion fell limp and crashed to the ground.

Asuka was frozen in fear. All she could do was stare at Unit-03 in pure horror as it turned its head towards where Unit-00 had just fell, sending a sound like an avalanche echoing through the valley.

Everything had suddenly devolved into chaos. Shinji, upon seeing Unit-03 turn toward Unit-00, immediately willed Unit-01 to it's feet and had it sprinting to Rei's defense. But all Asuka could do in the meanwhile was wait. She already knew what was coming.

"This… this is the end," she said under her breath before letting out a chuckle.

The girl then let out yet another chuckle. She then began laughing. And finally, she found herself manically screaming and laughing at the same time.

And then it happened.

Her vision went purple and became distorted. She stopped laughing and was left with a blank look on her face as she fell silent.

She heard a shrill female scream seemingly coming from the depths of her mind. It went on and on and on. It never ended. It never took a breath. It just kept screaming.

And then laughing. Sick demented feminine laughter. Once again, never stopping, never ceasing. It just kept laughing and laughing and laughing and it just wouldn't stop rattling inside her head.

And then there was a soft humming. It would have been comforting if it hadn't been so terrifying. And it too kept going on and on right next to the laughing and screaming.

Then there was moaning. Gasping! The sounds of a woman being pleasured. Delight. Happiness. Togetherness. Love. And the moaning went on.

And finally crying. The sobs of a woman began echoing inside her mind. Such profound sorrow. The weeping, like the laughing and humming and screaming and moaning, never stopped.

Asuka looked up and time seemed to have slowed down. She could see Unit-01 running to Unit-00's defense, but it was moving so slowly it seemed like it made no progress at all.

And then she felt pain. A familiar pain. The same pain she'd felt the past times this had happened. A sharp stabbing in her uterus and womb both and the feeling of her ribs slowly breaking under the weight of the world.

"Die with me, Asuka! Won't you come and die with me? I want to see you again," a voice said from within the dark depths of Asuka's mind.

'You! You again! No!' Asuka desperately cried out inside her mind.

"Come, Asuka. Come to heaven with me. It's so nice up here," the voice said again.

'Go to hell!'

"Now, that's no way to talk to your mother, you fucking worthless brat. I'm sorry I ever had you! I wish I'd never fucked your disgusting pig of a father! All you ever did was leech off me!"

'Please, leave me alone. I did everything you asked!' Asuka mentally begged as tears began to drip from her eyes and cling to her cheeks in the LCL.

"Well, I'll admit, you did bring me that knife. So, maybe you did do something for me, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

'Please, stop it! Please leave me alone!'

"Like you left me alone in the asylum? Hahah, no, daughter dearest, I'm here with you forever. So, why don't you just come see me already? It'll be quick, I promise. All you have to do is cut your throat-"

An image of an eerily familiar kitchen knife suddenly flashed in the eye of Asuka's mind.

"-or hang yourself."

Asuka suddenly saw a doll hanging from a noose amidst a red background.

"You could strangle yourself too. Just like how I used to strangle that beautiful puny little throat of yours. Ooh, it was so easy for me to wrap my fingers around your entire neck when you were that young. God, I wish I could have throttled you even harder. Nothing felt as good as when I got to grab you and just watch you fucking suffocate in my hands! Seeing the light fade out of your beautiful blue eyes as they rolled back in your head. Oh, thinking back to it makes my spine shiver."

Asuka then had a flashback to the image of a mad woman strangling her and slamming her head against a wall like she was nothing more than a rag doll.

"Or hell! You could even shoot yourself right in the goddamn head with that fucking gun Misato got for you! Oh, just imagine Shinji walking into your room and seeing your blood and brains splattered all over the fucking wall! A gaping hole in your head! Fragments of your skull strewn all over the floor! And your body just sitting there, limp and waiting to rot and be eaten by maggots! Oh, it would be so beautiful! You could have Rei take a picture of it and submit it to a gallery at an art museum!"

'Please… Please stop! I don't want to think about that!' Asuka begged as she heard the sound of a gunshot.

"If you want it to stop, then come die with me! Come see me, Asuka!"

'No, no! I don't want to see you! I don't want to hear you! Get out of my head!'

"Why would you talk to your mother like that, Asuka?"

'Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! GET OUT OF MY HEAD, PLEASE!'

"Didn't you hear me, you dumb bitch? You're stuck with me! And it's all because you didn't do enough for me when I was still around! You let me down, Asuka! YOU JUST KEEP LETTING ME DOWN!"

"I know… I know I've let you down. I've been a fool to myself. I thought that I could live for no one else but myself. But, now… Now I'm going to make it right," Asuka heard her own voice echoing from inside of her mind.

"You said that, remember? So make it right. Kill yourself. Come die with me, Asuka!"

'No! No! I said that to Shinji! Not to you!'

"Asuka…" she heard Shinji say, his voice hauntingly emanating from some dark place deep inside of her.

"Asuka…"

'Please, stop! I can't do this anymore!'

"So… just do one thing for me, okay?" Asuka once more heard a memory of herself say as something was dragged up into her consciousness.

"So, just do one thing for me, okay Asuka? Kill yourself. Kill yourself and it'll all be over."

'Please, go away! I don't want to kill myself! I'm finally happy! Please, don't take this away from me!'

"Anything, Asuka. I'll do anything," Asuka once more heard a memory of Shinji say.

"Anything, Asuka. I'll do anything to convince you to kill yourself, to die with me!"

Asuka could suddenly feel warmth. Steam softly billowed up her nose. The distorted purple landscape she was seeing was gradually replaced by a warm light. She could feel something. No, someone, touching her. Holding her. Hugging her. Keeping her safe. The sound of a running shower started to drown out the sounds of the screaming and crying and moaning and the humming and the demented laughing.

Without realizing it, she'd found herself in the bathroom of Misato's apartment a few nights ago. The night Rei tried to kill herself. The night that her and Shinji had barely found Rei in time and saved her. The night they'd all had sex together.

The happiest night of her life.

"Don't let me go… Don't let us go. No matter what happens. We're all we have," Asuka once more heard her memory of herself recite.

/

Meanwhile, in reality…

"Asuka! ASUKA!" Misato shouted over the radio, "GOD DAMN IT, RESPOND, PLEASE! God, please!"

"Enough, Misato! We've lost her! Focus on saving Shinji!" Ritsuko shouted.

"What… in the hell... is that?" Maya asked as she stared in horror at the holographic display of the video feed of Unit-00 and Unit-02's entry plugs beyond the command bridge.

Both Rei and Asuka sat completely still in their entry plugs. Rei was slumped over and her hair hid her face, though the slight illumination from her now glowing eyes reflected off of her white plugsuit. Asuka meanwhile had fallen back in her piloting seat and her head lolled to her side as her jaw hung open. Her eyes were lifeless and didn't flinch or blink as they continued to glimmer with that horrifying purple light. Drool floated out of her lips before being carried up and away by the bubbling LCL currents. Similarly, tears clung to her eyelids and cheeks as some occasionally let go of her skin before floating away. Red warning lights flashed in both of the girl's entry plugs and lit up the grim scenes for everyone on the command bridge to see.

"Commander Ikari, this is..." Fuyutsuki whispered to the man.

"Yes, I know," Gendo gruffly mumbled back to the man, "Seele is playing their card. The Fifth Child has entered the fray."

"What are we going to do!? This is about to turn into a massacre!" the older man harshly whispered back.

"Give me a few more moments to decide. We don't have many options, but none of them are ideal and I must choose carefully," Gendo once more said, not betraying a single hint of concern or fear.

"But, the lives of the pilots-" Fuyutsuki started.

"Are irrelevant," Gendo finished.

Fuyutsuki was astonished the man could remain so calm in such a disastrous situation. But, as always, he trusted the man's judgment.

As fate would have it though, Shinji would be the next to fall.

As was only to be expected, the boy's eyes began glowing purple as he rushed to Rei's defense. And, everyone on the command bridge, save maybe for Commander Ikari, knew the true meaning of dread in that moment as they watched Unit-01's video feed and saw Shinji's eyes begin flickering alight.

Unit-01 then collapsed and fell to the ground right in the middle of it's stride.

It had never had any chance of reaching Unit-00.

"Shinji! SHINJI! NO!" Misato screamed, trying not to cry.

Every

single

Evangelion

was now rendered

inoperable.

"Oh god… Oh, god! We're going to die!" Maya sobbed.

And Evangelion Unit-03,

possessed by the eleventh angel,

would now proceed to kill

every

single

Evangelion pilot

on Japanese soil.

"Damn it! Damn it all to hell!" Ritsuko spat in a wavering voice.

And no force

on heaven or earth

could stop what was about to happen.

"This… This really is the end," Misato choked out as she clutched the cross necklace she'd been given by her father, "There is no hope. Father… Dad, I'm sorry."

No one,

man or God,

had the strength to oppose

that which had been set in motion.

/

"Don't let me go… Don't let us go. No matter what happens. We're all we have."

Asuka slowly pulled away from the person hugging her, only to see it was her mother.

"I won't, Asuka," Kyoko sweetly said to the girl.

"Thank you," Asuka heard her disembodied voice whisper.

"You said that! Remember? I'm all you have, Asuka."

The scene quickly dissolved and once more, all Asuka could see was purple. The sound of the shower had faded away into an echo and it was replaced with the never ending screaming and laughter and crying once more.

'No! No! That was Shinji! I said that to Shinji! Quit ruining my memories! GET OUT OF MY FUCKING HEAD!'

"You're disgusting. No one loves you! I'm the only one who loves you!"

'THAT'S NOT TRUE!'

"You think Rei loves you? Why would she? All you've ever done is harass her. Belittle her! Talk down to her! She just tolerates you because she has to work with you!"

'No! No… Rei…'

"And Misato? Hah! Same with her! You black mail her! Look down on her! She may be fucked up, but she cared about you. And what did you do? You used her! You stole from her! You're a pariah!"

'Misato…'

"Oh, and Kaji! All you ever did was get in his way. He put up with you, but truth be told, you were a pain to him and he couldn't wait to get rid of you. You were in his way. You were between him and Misato."

'Kaji… No! He- He cares about me! He does!'

"No one cares about you. Not even Shinji. I mean, come on! You literally beat him so bad you made him bleed from his fucking face! Do you remember that? You had to cover his face in makeup to hide what you'd done to him. You're so vile, even you can't face the consequences of your actions! And so you run from them instead. And now you have the gall to fuck him!? After you beat the ever loving shit out of him!? Are you fucking kidding me!? Who the fuck does that, hahahah!?"

'No! Please! I didn't mean to hurt anyone! Shinji, I'm so sorry! I never wanted to hurt anyone! I just wanted someone to hold me! Please! Please, hold me… Someone...'

"If you want to stop hurting people, if you want someone to hold you, then come die with me, Asuka."

'No… I don't wanna die.'

"You deserve to die. Don't fool yourself. Come die with me, Asuka."

'Please… please go away. I just wanted to be happy for once. Just one time! Why can't you let me have this? I'm begging you! Please, just let me be happy!'

"You're going to die here, Asuka. You'll never be happy until you die with me."

"You're going to die here if you don't do something, Mistress Sohryu," a different voice said, this time in the voice of a boy, "And so will everyone you care about."

And just like that, the psychotic laughing and the screaming and the moaning stopped. All of it stopped. Though the purple haze over her vision remained, Asuka's mind had returned to quietude except for this single voice calling her from afar.

'Who are you? What... are you?' Asuka questioned into the emptiness of her mind.

"A friend," the voice said back.

'Why are you trying to kill us? Why do you keep doing this to us?'

"I have no intention of killing you. But, there are those who wish you dead. And that is why I have graciously decided to help you this day. To give you a metaphorical leg to stand on. To save yourself… and to save myself."

'Someone… wants me dead? What do you mean you're saving me? All you've done is torment me and Shinji and Rei! All you've done is try to get us killed!'

"On the contrary, I have tried to preserve my own life so that I may help you. I have never been one for killing mercilessly. And I don't intend to let you die this day. However, there are certain events that must happen in order for me to save you as well as myself. Now, if you are yet content to live, I suggest you search your own memories. If you do that, you may leave the rest to me."

'My… memories? What do you mean? How is that supposed to help me!?'

"Oh, I'm sure you know what I mean. I saw it when I was looking through you. Let me see if I can help you remember."

"I wanted to know if you'd ever heard of something called," Asuka heard the voice of Kaji say from somewhere inside of her, "the triple seven protocol."

"Do you… know anything about a triple seven protocol?" Asuka heard an echo of herself say.

"Hmm… yes, I do know about that. I would be interested to know where you heard about it," Asuka then heard the voice of Rei say.

"Kaji brought it up when I was with him earlier," Asuka heard her voice say again, "He said it allowed an Evangelion to sync past eighty percent. And… I just wondered if you knew anything about it. It sounded interesting."

"That is correct," the far away sounding voice of Rei said again, "Though, it is generally not considered a viable option when piloting the Evangelion. But, it does allow it to synchronize beyond the normal limit of eighty percent. Commander Ikari told me that it does much more than that but… he refused to elaborate and forbid me from ever using it. I… never believed it to be relevant, so I never brought it up."

"Do you remember now?" the voice of the boy inquired.

'I… You're saying… I have to…' Asuka's thoughts trailed off.

"Think, Mistress Sohryu," the boy's voice said again, "where are you?"

'I… I'm in… I'm in Evangelion Unit-02. I'm on the southern outskirts of Tokyo-3.'

"What is the situation you're in, Sohryu?" the boy's voice asked again.

'I'm… fighting the eleventh angel.'

"You're in an emergency, Asuka Langley Sohryu."

'Emergency?' Asuka questioned.

Soon, another memory flashed inside Asuka's mind.

"Is there anything else?" Asuka once more heard her voice say, "Remember, I did say no more secrets."

"Besides that," Asuka then heard the memory of Rei say once more, "all I can remember is that Commander Ikari told me it should only ever be used in an emergency. But, as I mentioned, he never did elaborate beyond that."

"An emergency, huh?" Asuka once more heard her memory say, "Sounds pretty powerful. I wonder what all it does..."

'Emergency?! Triple seven!?' Asuka finally realized.

"Ah, so you do remember then," the voice of the boy said, "Would I be right to assume you'll be able to handle this yourself while I deal with… my share of the burden?"

'I… I think so. Just… let me go, okay? I'll do it.'

"Then, I'll take my leave… One... last thing though. Be careful who you tell about me. And don't tell anyone except Shinji and Rei that I decided to spare you today. It is crucial to your well being as well as my own. Now, take hold of your fate, and become what you must. Don't be afraid to embrace the dark."

And like that, the presence in her mind vanished. Asuka was now alone but somehow still trapped inside her mind.

'I… I… I've never been so scared in my life,' Asuka thought to herself.

Her words echoed in her empty mind. There were no more voices. No more intrusive thoughts. Just purple.

She could see now out of the corner of her eye that Unit-01 had fallen and was currently collapsing into the dirt. Her own Evangelion seemed to have collapsed as well as she could see the clouds above her, all stained purple.

Once more, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Unit-03 ominously lumbering towards Unit-00 and the desperation of the moment finally hit her.

'I… I have to save them. I have to save Shinji and Rei… Evangelion Unit-02… can you hear me? Please, get up. Please, help me! Please! ACTIVATE TRIPLE SEVEN PROTOCOL!'

/

-Our Tales Are Painted In Red-

/

"I have to face the final battle by myself, maybe lonely, maybe desolate, maybe against formidable odds. But I was not giving up."- Marcus Luttrell

Asuka's Definitive Moment

Magi Statistical Input-
Unit-00: Incapacitated Due to Thought Noise and Low Sync Ratio
Unit-01: Incapacitated Due to Thought Noise and Low Sync Ratio
Unit-02: Available; Low Functionality
Asuka Sohryu: Synchronization Rate 17.7%
WARNING: LOW
Asuka Sohryu: Mental Function, Clarity, & Stability 16.4%
WARNING: LOW
Asuka Sohryu: Motor Function Neuron Responsiveness 00.8%
WARNING: LOW
Unit-02 Entry Plug: Thought Noise Detected 82.4%
WARNING: HIGH
Final Input is as follows…

Asuka Sohryu :|: 11th Angel

Evangelion: Unit-02 :|: Bardiel :Codename

Waiting for Analysis…
Waiting…
Waiting…
Query Completed
Results are as follows...
Magi Estimate
Odds of Victory: Low

22.3% :|: 77.7%

Diagnostic Summary: Unit-02 Pilot Sohryu is experiencing difficulty maintaining meaningful mental and physical control of her body. Pilot Sohryu is experiencing difficulty maintaining consciousness. Pilot Sohryu is exhibiting abnormally high blood pressure and excited heart rate. Pilot Sohryu is under affect of adrenal surge. Pilot Sohryu is suffering from pain in select quadrants of her body; no injury detected. Pilot Sohryu is in severely disadvantageous combat engagement. High degrees of thought noise detected in entry plug of Unit-02 from anomalous source, diluting responsiveness and lowering combat suitability of Unit-02. Pilot Sohryu herself is not capable of carrying out engagement currently due to low lucidity, low concentration, low sanity, low motor neutron functionality, abnormal brain activity, erratic and impulsive suicidal urges, and abnormally high anomalous pain response. Pilot Sohryu is effectively nonfunctional as a combat asset and is in dire risk of death excepting if the aforementioned problems are dispelled immediately.

Suggestion: Extremely Low Chance of Success. Reformulate Course of Action.

Additional Suggestion: Raise Synchronization Rate of Pilot Sohryu to 80%.

Additional Suggestion: Initiate 777 Protocol in Unit-02 and Raise Synchronization Rate to 99%.

Additional Suggestion: If Available, Initiate 999 Protocol in Unit-02 and Raise Synchronization Rate to 99%. NOT RECOMMENDED.

Additional Suggestion: Engage Dummy System in Unit-02. NOT RECOMMENDED.

Additional Suggestion: Evacuate Pilot Sohryu, Pilot Ayanami, and Pilot Ikari. Deploy N2 Weaponry with Minimum Explosive Yield of 34.2 Megatons. NOT RECOMMENDED.

/

-To The Edge-

/

"When they face desperation, human beings become animals."- Dan Brown, Inferno

"H- hey! Unit-02's sync rate just shot up a bit!" Maya exclaimed, evaluating her monitor with teary eyes.

Asuka could suddenly be heard groaning some over the radio, and on the video feed, the girl's glowing purple eyes could be seen darting back and forth.

"Wh- what!?" Misato asked in awe as she watched the holographic feed of Unit-02's plug.

Asuka then let out a low feral growl. The girl's hand twitched and then her body convulsed. The girl then suddenly seemed to be revived and she brought her hands to the sides of her head, grabbing her hair, almost like she was trying to tear it out. Several points on her plugsuit began to light up and Asuka's sync rate progressively started to rise.

Asuka's growl then turned into a scream. A ferocious hungry blood curdling scream, like the sound a furious predator would let out after its prey had escaped. It was then that everyone on the command bridge could see the girl's teeth, which had grown long and sharp, especially her canines.

"What in the hell is that?!" Shigeru asked in awe.

"Asuka!?" Misato gasped as she watched the girl violently and painfully thrash around in the LCL.

"Is that… still even a human?!" Makoto asked in total shock.

"A...vate T...le. ...ven ...col", the girl could be heard saying under her breath.

"What… what's she saying? Asuka! Speak to me! Please!" Misato desperately cried over her radio.

"Acti...vate Triple… se...ven ...protocol," Asuka said once more.

"Wait, what!?" Ritsuko asked in solemn realization, "No… No, she's not. She can't! How did she learn about that!? It's forbidden!"

"ACTIVATE TRIPLE SEVEN PROTOCOL!" Asuka suddenly screamed.

The girl's eyes abruptly shifted from glowing a haunting purple to that of an angry green and the flashing red warning lights in her plug ceased and instead were replaced with a constant red illumination.

Unit-02 itself now began writhing on the ground and its red A.T. field began flickering around it.

"Unit-02's sync rate just went up to seventy percent!" Maya shouted.

"GET UP, UNIT-02!" Asuka snarled as she bared her teeth, "GET UP NOW!"

Misato felt a chill run down her spine as she watched the girl's green eyes flit back and forth, taking in every detail as she demanded the Evangelion do as she bid.

The Evangelion finally found itself crouching on the ground before it hunched over, ejecting several cylindrical objects out of various places in its body.

"She just ejected her sync limiters!" Ritsuko shouted, "How is she doing this!? Who in the hell told her how to do this!?"

"KILL! KILL, KILL, KILL! KILL IT! KILL IT!" Asuka once more said in a fury of bloodlust.

"A- Asuka… Are you… Are you still there? Please, say something. Talk to me," Misato timidly begged into the radio, desperate for the girl to say something back to her.

"KILL!" was the only response she got from the girl.

Unit-02 continued to shudder as it tried to stand on all fours with its hands in the dirt. And then, finally, several bolts shot out of the Evangelion's mouth armor and it flung its jaw open, revealing a maw of needle-like teeth as it let out a roar that shuddered the very firmament.

"That's… not an Evangelion... That's a demon," Shigeru said as he continued to watch the chilling video feed.

"It's a blood thirsty animal that's been forced into a corner," Ritsuko said with a slight scowl, "She's abandoned her humanity and activated a bestial reversion."

"Asuka's sync rate is at ninety two percent! That's over the safety threshold!" Maya once more shouted.

"There's nothing we can do," Ritsuko spat as she glared at the floor, "Without her sync limiters, we can't manually bring down her sync ratio. If she goes too high… there's nothing we can do to bring her back."

"But, surely there must be something- anything we can do!" Maya declared.

"Pray," was all Ritsuko said.

"Asuka," Misato said as a single tear fell down her cheek.

"KILL IT, UNIT-02! KILL IT! KILL IT NOW! I WANT IT DEAD!" the girl once more shouted at the Evangelion.

Unit-02 dug it's fingers into the ground, pulling up massive clods of dirt and crushing them in its fingers. And the massive monstrosity then propelled itself forward, launching itself right at Unit-03.

The black titan was almost upon Unit-00 when Asuka and Unit-02 instantly barreled through its mostly lowered A.T. field in a red flash and body slammed the ominous giant, knocking it off its feet and into the nearby hill it had just walked from.

There was a massive sound of clashing metal as Unit-02 collided with Unit-03 and a dust cloud was kicked up from the hill as the Evangelions crashed into it.

For a moment, all anyone could hear was the sound of crunching metal, animalistic groans, and Asuka screaming over the radio.

After a few more moments, the dust cleared and everyone on the command bridge could see Unit-02 clawing at the plate armor of Unit-03.

There was then a flash of orangey-yellow and Unit-02 was repelled and thrown off of Unit-03, landing several thousand feet away.

"Grrrr," Asuka growled animalistically.

Unit-02 managed to land on all fours. Its armor seemed to be shifting or moving as its muscles started to ripple underneath it. It seemed to be becoming more animalistic by the moment. Unit-03 then stood up and its grey eyes flickered as it gazed at Unit-02 threateningly.

Unit-2 seemed to bristle as the giant made eye contact with it. In an explosion of steam, Unit-02's pylons then detached from it's shoulders and much of the armor around its hands seemed to explode and pop off of it as its muscles tensed underneath the metal.

Asuka's eyes could be seen twitching in her video feed as she bared her teeth. She seemed to be weighing her options, but no one could truly tell what the girl was thinking as she wasn't communicating with anyone and may not have even been sane anymore.

Claws began to emerge from Unit-02's fingers and the beast arched its back even further.

Unit-03 then began walking towards it and Asuka lunged forward.

She was immediately met with contact from its A.T. field and Unit-02 was repelled again. However, Unit-02 once more landed on its feet and, without a moment of hesitation, it lunged straight into the A.T. field, shattering a few layers of it.

"KILL! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Asuka roared.

"I've… I've never seen her like this," Misato said under her breath.

Unit-02 then reeled its hand back before viciously plunging its claws into Unit-03's dark yellow A.T. Field. As she was attempting to neutralize the A.T. field, a burst of steam erupted from Unit-03's back and Asuka could see the angel. Like slime, it clung to the entry plug and Unit-03 both, preventing the plug from being ejected.

The angel's body then emitted a soft white light and Asuka could feel Unit-03's A.T. field beginning to strengthen.

This absolutely infuriated the girl and she focused her A.T. field into her Evangelion's hands as she tried even harder to tear through the barrier.

"THAT LIGHT RUINED THE WORLD! AND EVERY LIFE UPON IT!" the girl furiously screamed as she finally tore through the field once more.

"DO IT, ASUKA!" Misato screamed into the coms!

"Misato! Don't encourage her! She'll be in grave danger if her sync ratio goes much higher," Ritsuko shouted at the woman, though she didn't seem to hear.

In a split second, Unit-02 was once more on Unit-03, clawing at its armor and beginning to pry a few plates off.

Unit-03 tried its best to hold Unit-02 at bay but its claws dug into the gaps of its armor every time it tried to shake it off. Unit-03's eyes then flashed again and in a cloud of steam, several plates of metal burst off its chest.

Asuka then felt a hard blunt feeling strike her chest and Unit-02 was once more thrown off of Unit-03.

Unit-02 landed on its side and Asuka growled as she regained her senses.

"What... what the hell is that?" Misato asked as she saw a silhouette begin to appear in the cloud of steam.

"It's one of Unit-03's additional capabilities," Ritsuko said grimly, "one that Unit-2 doesn't have despite them both being production models."

"What… what do you mean?" Misato questioned as she glanced at Ritsuko.

Ritsuko didn't say anything but grimaced as she continued to watch the video feed.

Asuka once more braced herself and Unit-02 arched it's back, ready to evade at a moment's notice. As the steam around Unit-03 finally began to clear, it became apparent that, against everything anyone could have expected, Unit-03 had unleashed an additional pair of arms from its chest armor.

"Because of the Vatican treaty," Ritsuko began, "any given country is only allowed to claim ownership of up to three Evangelions. The United States were given access to two, Production Model Unit-03, the sister to Unit-02, and the Second Generation Test Type, Evangelion Mark.04, which was intended to be a testbed for the next generation of Evangelions and armaments."

"Huh!?" Misato asked.

"However," Ritsuko continued, "because of their possession of Mark.04, NERV-02 was granted the prerogative to experiment on both Evangelions to further development and to research combat applications as well any other significant or revolutionary discoveries. And, before Unit-03 and Mark.04 had even finished construction, they had already begun altering them. An additional set of arms were added to both Unit-03 and Mark.04, though these arms are usually kept restrained under their chest plates as they can be unwieldy and slow the Evangelion down. But, in the correct situation…"

"...They can be used effectively," Misato finished as she returned her gaze back at the video feed.

"Potentially to deadly effect," Ritsuko added.

Asuka cringed as she watched the pasty flesh of the additional arms ripple as the muscles underneath the skin flexed, appreciating their newfound freedom. Unit-03 then let out a deep thrumming growl that shook the air around it.

Asuka once more let out a sound that was indescribable as anything other than rabid, which also caused her Evangelion to snarl at Unit-03.

Unit-02 then once more pounced at Unit-03, breaking through it's barely reconstituted A.T. field. It managed to scrape its claws against some of the remaining metal on Unit-03's chest, but with monstrous strength, Unit-03 grabbed Unit-02 with all four of its arms and tore it off of it before raising it above its head and then smashing it into the ground.

Asuka once more felt the pain of her ribs breaking. Though, unlike her past experiences with piloting the Evangelion, this time, it felt all that much more real due to her extremely high sync rate.

"Gaaaah!" Asuka painfully choked out as it felt like the breath was knocked out of her.

The girl only just barely recovered in time to avoid Unit-03 bringing all four of its arms down on Unit-02 and she managed to scramble away despite the pain. And it was probably good that she had, as the creature had hit the ground hard enough that it almost had enough force to be considered explosive.

"Jesus, that almost would have been enough to break Unit-02 in half," Ritsuko whispered as she watched the video feed with bated breath.

Misato glanced at her in alarm before gripping her cross necklace even harder.

Asuka slinked away from Unit-03, perhaps trying to take stock of the situation.

Unit-03 was slow and lumbering, and though it walked like it had no goal or instincts, it moved with purpose, constantly trudging towards Unit-02 as Asuka circled around the giant and kept her distance. Though Unit-02 was much faster and dangerously strong in and of itself, it didn't have the abominable strength of Unit-03. And, as well as that, she'd already discarded some of her armor by activating the triple seven protocol. She absolutely could not afford to be grappled by Unit-03 as, if it got hold of her again, it would probably kill her as evidenced by the pain she felt in her chest. Unit-02's ribs were already fractured in some places and taking another hit like that would probably rupture Unit-02's chest cavity and ultimately immobilize it, leaving it fully at the mercy of Unit-03's brutal physical strength.

Asuka glared at the black metal creature, its arms hanging limply at its side. Every second she remained distanced from it was more time it had to reconstruct its A.T. field.

The only thing she could do was strike fast. Hit and run tactics. Get in and get out before it could grab her again. Slowly bleed it while making sure to attack it often enough to keep it from fully raising its A.T. field again and attempt to destroy the muscles and ligaments of Unit-03's arms until they could be severed with a swift strike or otherwise disabled.

Finally, Unit-02 quit circling Unit-03 and snarled at it, letting out a puff of steam from its mouth. As expected, Unit-03 slowly but deliberately walked straight towards Unit-02. And, when it got close enough, Asuka charged at it.

She instantly broke through the A.T. field and dived under the left arms of the creature. She raised Unit-02's right arm and clawed at the base of Unit-03's lower left arm, leaving deep gashes in it as she continued forward and retreated behind Unit-03 before it could grab her.

"What- What's she doing?" Maya asked.

"She changed her tactics. She's gotten control of herself," Misato said, sounding hopeful.

"She seems to have wisely realized that she can't stay close to Unit-03 without it triturating Unit-02. So she's going to surgically assault, exhaust, and progressively disembowel it until she can safely land the killing blow," Ritsuko said, "You can see she's not just blindly attacking it any more. Look there, under Unit-03's arm. She's specifically aiming to cripple and disable Unit-3's greatest weapon against her."

"How're Shinji and Rei?" Misato questioned.

"They're... still out of it," Makoto responded, "Though, Pilot Ikari appears as though he may be operable again soon… maybe. His consciousness measurements are fluctuating."

"So it's still just you, Asuka… Take it slow and don't get reckless. The entire world is relying on you right now," Misato whispered.

"So, she activated the triple seven protocol. Though it's welcome that we may not need to resort to anything more drastic, one would wonder how she learned of it," Fuyutsuki whispered to Gendo in a low voice.

"Hmph," was all Gendo responded with.

"Do you think Rei told her?" Fuyutsuki questioned.

"Perhaps. Though, I never told Rei the specifics of it," Gendo stated plainly.

"Then who do you think it could be?" the older man asked.

"I have several guesses. But it's of no moment right now. Come, let us see how this unfolds," Gendo said.

Unit-02 turned back around to face Unit-03 after retreating a safe distance from it. And once more, it waited for Unit-03 to approach it.

As expected, the behemoth continued walking straight for Unit-02. And when it got close enough, Unit-02 dashed in and dove under Unit-03's arm for a chance to cut into it. Asuka made contact, this gash running even deeper than the last, and then continued past Unit-03. Only, this time, she suddenly found herself lurched backwards as she tried to gain distance from Unit-03.

"Grr!?" The girl growled.

"Oh no!" Misato gasped.

As Asuka had launched her second strike against Unit-03, it had managed to grab her umbilical cable and was now pulling her back towards it.

"It's got her by the umbilical cable! Separate it now!" Ritsuko ordered.

Maya quickly hit a button on her console and, with yet another burst of steam, the plug of the umbilical cable was detached from Unit-02. Pulling on the now slack cable had caused Unit-03 to lose its balance and it had toppled over.

"Ah! Look!" Maya shouted, "Her- her battery's not running out! What the heck!?"

"It's not?" Misato questioned as she glanced at Maya's console.

Sure enough, Asuka's battery timer had not engaged despite the Evangelion still running and being cut off from the power station.

"Then… that must mean the Evangelion is acting of its own accord somehow. It's… gone berserk perhaps? Or… something else," Ritsuko said.

Asuka, quickly willing Unit-02 to its feet, wasted no time and was once more directing Unit-02 to attack Unit-03. Unit-02 pounced at Unit-03 and gnawed its teeth into the lower left shoulder of Unit-03. It viciously thrashed its head, tearing at the flesh while using its arms to push off of Unit-03's body, further straining the muscles of Unit-03.

Hundreds of gallons of blood spilled out of the various wounds under Unit-03's shoulder. The titan let out a deep hum like it was groaning in pain as Unit-02 continued to chew at its muscles and bone. And then, a sickening elastic snap was heard echoing throughout the valley and Unit-02 had finally mauled Unit-03's arm off.

"Jesus Christ…" Misato whispered.

"I- I can't look!" Maya said, cringing as she averted her gaze from the video feed.

Not wanting to push her luck, Asuka ordered Unit-02 to retreat once more. Gigantic spurts of blood shot out of Unit-03's arm and sprayed onto the grass and dirt. The giant groaned and attempted to right itself and stand up with it's remaining three arms.

"BLOOD! I TASTE BLOOD!" Asuka screamed.

"Asuka… What's happened to you?" Misato once more asked under her breath.

"That's odd. LCL is reported to taste like blood. Is she… tasting more blood?" Ritsuko questioned mostly to herself.

Unit-03 finally stood up but as soon as it had, Asuka had urged Unit-02 to jump onto Unit-03's back and she then had the beast begin chewing on it's top right shoulder as it fell back to the ground face first.

"No! No! Left, Sohryu! Left! Get the other left shoulder!" Ritsuko said into her radio.

Seemingly, Asuka had heard the woman and then changed her target to the upper left shoulder of Unit-03.

"Yes!" Misato shouted!

"If she can completely disable its left arms, that'll be an entire side it can't attack her with. It'll be much more mechanically difficult for Unit-03 to grapple her with two right arms," Ritsuko said.

"Good thinking, Ritsu!" Misato praised the woman.

Unit-03 attempted to reach behind its head to grab Unit-02, but Asuka had managed to slip it's grasp every time so far. However, due to the armor and pylon protecting the upper shoulder, she was having a hard time actually destroying the joint compared to the more fleshy secondary arms.

She then made the decision to attack the elbow instead. And the next time Unit-03 reached its left arm up, Unit-02 viciously bit down on the joint. Creaking metal could be heard, but it wasn't enough. She then tried to pull the arm in an attempt to dislocate it at the very least.

She was more than successful and there was yet another snap as the arm was pulled out of it's socket. Unit-03 once more let out a terribly pained roar.

Redoubling her efforts, Asuka made Unit-02 bite down as hard as it could on the elbow, and miraculously, there was the unmistakable crunch of breaking bones. Asuka then urged Unit-02 to completely tear the arm off. And it did.

First, the metal separated. Then the flesh. And finally the muscle was stretched and torn until it fully separated from the rest of Unit-03's arm.

"Incredible! I think she may actually have this in the bag," Ritsuko said in awe.

"It looks like Pilot Ikari may be functional too! Unit-01 appears to be showing activity," Makoto said.

"Great! Then this is all but over!" Misato sighed in relief.

"It was pretty close for a second there though," Ritsuko said, just about to pull a cigarette out of her lab coat.

"W-wait! Unit-02's sync ratio just dropped!" Maya shouted.

"What!?" Misato and Ritsuko both asked simultaneously.

"Get… GET OFF ME!" Asuka could be heard growling over the radio.

"Wait, what the hell's going on?" Misato asked.

"I- I- I'm not sure," Maya responded.

A look of realization hit Ritsuko.

"Someone, bring up the aerial view!" Ritsuko ordered.

Upon bringing up the birds eye video feed, everyone's jaws dropped.

"The angel… the damn angel. We were so preoccupied with the Evangelion, we forgot about the angel. Damn it!" Ritsuko cursed.

The aerial video feed showed the amorphous angel had detached itself from Unit-03 and was instead climbing its way up Unit-02's arm that had previously been pressed on Unit-03's back to pin it to the ground.

"N- No! G- get off me!" Asuka yelped, her voice changing from feral to fearful.

The video feed of Unit-02's entry plug seemed to show Asuka's glowing green eyes flickering out and returning to their normal soft blue color as well as her sharpened teeth somehow receding back down to what could be considered human. Unit-02 then limply collapsed on top of Unit-03's back and stopped moving.

"What the hell! Unit-02's sync ratio is climbing again but…" Maya said in confusion, "it doesn't appear to be responding to Asuka."

"What in the hell?" Ritsuko huffed as she went to look at Maya's monitor.

"Its already all over her entry plug! Eject her!" Misato shouted.

Shigeru hit a button on his console, but according to the aerial video feed, Asuka's entry plug did not eject.

"I… I'm getting an error," Shigeru said.

"Misato, what's going on with Asuka," Shinji's voice finally called through the coms.

"Shinji! Oh, thank god you're back. We aren't entirely sure yet. Just hold a moment while Ritsuko figures things out," Misato radioed back.

"This isn't good. Asuka's in dire risk of contamination and she's quickly loosing her connection with Unit-02. The triple seven protocol appears to have been deactivated as well," Ritsuko said as she continued examining Maya's monitor.

"So… Jesus Christ, is the angel taking control of Unit-02 then?" Misato asked.

"Taking?" Ritsuko laughed nervously, "It's practically already taken it over."

The entire command bridge went silent for a moment except for Asuka's increasingly anxious calls for help.

"S- someone!? H-help! I can't do anything! U- Unit-02 isn't responding to me! The angel! It's still out here somewhere! Someone! Please! Help me!" the girl begged, trying her best to hide her fear.

"A- Asuka!" Shinji called, "Are you okay? What's going on!"

"Shinji!? Shinji, oh god, I- I don't know. I felt it-"Asuka gasped, seemingly relived the boy was back.

"Felt what!?" Shinji questioned.

"The angel! I felt the angel crawling all over me! But, now I don't feel anything! I can't feel anything from Unit-02. It's gone completely unresponsive! Its- Its not fucking synchronizing with me!" Asuka wailed, becoming more fraught with worry with every passing moment.

"Sh- Shinji," Misato radioed the boy, fearful of what she might have to say.

"Hmm? What is it, Misato?" Shinji questioned.

"Asuka is…" Misato trailed off.

"Asuka is? Asuka is what!? What's going on!?" Shinji asked back.

Unit-02 suddenly lurched.

"Wh- what the hell was that!?" Asuka yelped.

"Evangelion Unit-02 has now been designated as the eleventh angel," Commander Ikari said into his own radio.

"Father!? What!?" Shinji asked in disbelief.

"Unit-02 has been possessed by the eleventh angel. It is now an enemy," Gendo repeated.

Once more, the silence in the command bridge stretched on. Unit-02 slowly appeared to be reanimating as its fingers twitched and its body convulsed as the Angel attempted to puppetize the war machine.

"What… what are you saying, Father?" Shinji asked the man solemnly.

"Unit-02 is now your target. Is there anything else you find unclear?" Gendo once more blandly declared.

"What in the hell? Is he serious!?" Ritsuko whispered to herself.

Yet again, an ominous silence permeated the entire command bridge before Shinji responded again.

"Are you… telling me to kill Asuka?" Shinji once more asked.

"I am ordering you to destroy the eleventh angel," Gendo one more radioed Shinji back as though he couldn't be bothered.

"Is that all she is to you?" Shinji asked, "Just another person to get out of the way of your goals?"

Commander Ikari did not respond.

"SHINJI! HELP ME! UNIT-02! IT'S- I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S DOING!" Asuka cried.

Shinji closed his eyes and took a breath, trying to consider his options. Whatever course of action he took, it was obvious his father wasn't going to be of any help.

"Asuka, talk to me. What's happening?" Shinji asked the girl.

"I- I don't know. Unit-02 isn't listening to me! I… I think the angel stole my control from me. I'm desynchronized and I can't see anything out of my plug," Asuka said, slightly calming herself and just being happy to hear Shinji's voice.

Shinji sighed into the LCL and tried to think as he stood Unit-01 back up. He'd been out of the situation and had no idea what was going on, no idea what he was facing. All he knew was that the angel could possess Evangelions and now it had Asuka in its clutches.

"Did you try ejecting?" Shinji asked.

"Y-yes," Asuka sniffled, "Command tried ejecting me too. It didn't work though. It's too late. I can't get out. It happened so fast, I didn't even know what happened."

"Damn it…" Shinji sighed.

"Shinji, why are you not engaging?" Gendo radioed him.

"Asuka can't get out," Shinji said back.

"Irrelevant," Gendo responded.

"Commander!" Misato tearfully shouted at the man, though he seemed indifferent to her emotion.

Unit-02 then lurched again and finally started to rise off of Unit-03's body.

"SHINJI! HELP ME, PLEASE! PLEASE! I CAN'T STOP UNIT-02! PLEASE, YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!" Asuka shrieked as her tears clung to her face in the LCL.

"I- I don't know what to do, Asuka!" Shinji said.

Unit-02 finally stood up and glared at Unit-01.

"I DON'T CARE! JUST DO SOMETHING, PLEASE, SHINJI! PLEASE, HELP ME! I NEED YOU! I'M BEGGING YOU!" Asuka again shrieked back.

The girl's desperate cries were almost enough to bring Shinji to tears and it wasn't helping him think up a course of action to save her.

Unit-02 clambered off of Unit-03 and began making its way to Unit-01. Shinji didn't have much time until it was on him. He'd be forced to act soon.

"Shinji! SHINJI! PLEASE, DO SOMETHING! PLEASE, SAVE ME!" Asuka begged as Unit-02 continued to approach Unit-01.

"Shinji?" Misato questioned the boy, though he still didn't respond.

"If you do not act, I will be forced to," Gendo also radioed the boy.

"Shut up!" Shinji spat back, "I'm trying to think of something."

"SHINJI! PLEASE, DO SOMETHING! I CAN'T STOP UNIT-02!" Asuka cried once more.

Shinji watched Unit-02 walk up to him. He still wasn't sure of his course of action, but he knew at the very least, he'd need to be close to Unit-02 to neutralize its A.T. field… if he even could bring down the barrier just by himself. He was competing against both Unit-02 and the eleventh angel. And it would be extremely difficult to bring down the field without an extremely high sync ratio.

But even that seemed hopeless now. He was shaken and his sync rate was only just above forty percent. It almost seemed pointless to neutralize Unit-02's A.T. field.

Unit-02 was close enough now that it's own A.T. field had begun flickering to try to bring down Unit-01's and it did so without much effort.

"SHINJI, PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! PLEASE, I CAN'T!" Asuka shrieked.

Shinji tried to spread his own A.T. field to neutralize Unit-02's, but it didn't seem to be enough. Unit-02 then took just a few more steps and grabbed Unit-01 by the throat.

"SHINJI, PLEASE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? PLEASE, HELP ME!" Asuka cried.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing, Shinji Ikari?" Ritsuko disbelievingly asked into the radio.

"I'm… trying to lower Unit-02's A.T. field," Shinji choked.

That wasn't entirely a lie, but in truth, Shinji had no idea what he was going to do even if he managed to bring down the field.

"That's bullshit," Ritsuko said to herself, "he can't do that. Not at that sync ratio. There's no way."

"Shinji, engage Unit-02, now," Gendo said into his radio, sounding somewhat frustrated with his son's lack of action.

"No! Asuka's in there! I'm not going to kill her!" Shinji choked out as he felt Unit-02's fingers wrapping around his throat.

"SHINJI, LISTEN TO ME!" Asuka screamed.

"Asu- Asuka!?" Shinji asked.

"Do it…" Asuka said.

"What!?" Shinji asked again.

"Do it. Kill the eleventh angel," Asuka said, sounding surprisingly calm.

"Asuka… What are you saying!?" Shinji asked the girl, still not sure he was hearing her right.

"I… I always knew this day would come," Asuka sniffled, "Part of me even expected it to come early. And… it looks like it has. But, that's okay. I've accepted it."

"SHUT UP, ASUKA! D- Don't talk like that!" Shinji said, trying not to let his voice break as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Thank you, Shinji. For everything. I'm sorry for everything I ever did to hurt you. And, I'm so-"Asuka tried to say before she choked on her words, "I'm so… so... thankful that you tried so hard to make me happy. Please, keep Rei safe. And tell her I'm sorry too. And, tell her I love her. And, Shinji?"

"Yes, Asuka?" Shinji asked as he finally broke down.

"I love you," Asuka said, trying her best to smile a weak trembling smile.

"I- I love you too, Asuka," Shinji cried as his tears clung to his cheeks in the LCL.

"What… what's…" Misato tearfully asked as she listened to the exchange.

"Enough of this," Gendo said as he stood up from his battle station.

"Ugh, C-Commander!? I- I-" Fuyutsuki stuttered.

"Doctor Akagi," Gendo shouted down at the woman, "Engage the dummy system."

"Uh!? Wha- What!? But-" Ritsuko stuttered as well.

"Do it! Now!" Gendo shouted.

"But, Commander-" Ritsuko protested again.

"Now! Before Unit-01 is incapacitated again," Gendo shouted once more.

"What?! What's going on!? What's the dummy system!? What the hell is happening!?" Misato asked.

"I'm sorry, Misato," Ritsuko said as she looked at the woman sadly.

Ritsuko then walked over to a console and typed in a code before whispering "Fucking disgusting" under her breath.

"Gah! What!? What's happening!?" Shinji questioned as his entry plug display went red.

The choking sensation he'd felt suddenly disappeared, indicating his synchronization with Unit-01 had been cut. He then gasped as a pair of metal arcs were lowered down the length of his entry plug.

"Shinji!? What's wrong!? Is everything okay?" Asuka asked as sweetly as she could manage.

"I- I'm not sure!" Shinji shouted back in a panic.

The arcs had some type of capsule at the end of them which then placed themselves over the control paddles of the entry plug, locking Shinji's hands in place.

"F-father!?" Shinji questioned.

No response.

A blank red visor was then lowered down in front of Shinji's face before lighting up with the English words "Dummy System-8" and "Product of Golgotha Base."

"What!? What the hell is this!? Father!? FATHER!?" Shinji shouted.

/

-We Can Be Friends Forever-

/

"I would rather walk with a friend in the dark than alone in the light."- Helen Keller

Unit-01 finally began reacting to the threat it was facing and it grabbed Unit-02 by the throat, attempting to choke it just as Unit-02 was doing. Unit-01's mouth then burst open and it almost seemed to be struggling for air as both of the Evangelion's stood choking themselves.

"Sh- Shinji… Something's happening!" Asuka gasped as she heard metal shuddering somewhere outside her entry plug.

"Asuka! No! I'm sorry!" Shinji shouted.

"N- no! No, it's okay, Shinji! Just keep talking to me! I- I want to hear your voice if… if this is the end."

"No, Asuka! Please! Don't talk like that! I'm sorry! I'm not doing this!" he cried out in a panic.

"It- It's okay, Shinji! Please, everything's okay. Please, just keep talking to me! Please," Asuka whimpered.

"FATHER!? STOP IT! I'M SORRY! JUST STOP THIS!" Shinji screamed.

"Shinji… It's okay, really," Asuka said, "Just, stay here with me. Keep talking to me, please. I… I need to hear your voice right now."

"A- Asuka!" Shinji gasped.

"Just talk with me, Shinji. What're you gonna do tomorrow? I'm sure it'll be a beautiful day," Asuka calmly asked the boy.

"IT'S NOT GOING TO BE BEAUTIFUL WITHOUT YOU!" Shinji screamed back.

Asuka tightly closed her eyes and tears floated off her cheeks before being lost in the LCL. She then sniffled and put her hands over her eyes before taking a deep breath to compose herself

"D- don't be like that, Shinji. What're you- you going to cook with Rei. She's gotten so much better," Asuka tried to ask without breaking down.

The disgusting sound of breaking bones reverberated in Asuka's entry plug.

Unit-01 had just broken Unit-02's neck and Unit-02's arms then fell limply to it's side, not posing much of a threat to Unit-01 anymore.

"FATHER, STOP THIS, PLEASE!" Shinji screamed, ignoring Asuka's question.

"Shinji, please…" Asuka sighed sadly.

"Asuka!? Asuka!? What's going on!? I can't tell what's happening!?" Shinji asked the girl.

After breaking Unit-02's neck, Unit-01 quickly picked Unit-02 up by the throat before slinging it into the ground, pinning the angel underneath Unit-02.

Asuka then found herself experiencing a sickening feeling of weightlessness before she felt herself and her entry plug smash into something. Though, somehow, she didn't have the feeling she'd managed to eject.

"Gah!" Asuka yelped as she felt her entry plug crash.

"Asuka!? ASUKA! WHAT'S WRONG!?"

"I- I don't know. It- It's nothing. I'll be okay. Just keep talking with me," Asuka said.

In truth, Asuka had never been more scared for her life. She felt sick and her heart had so much adrenaline pumping through it, it felt like it was burning up inside of her.

"Asuka… I… I can't live without you! PLEASE DON'T GO! ASUKA!" Shinji cried.

"I'll always be with you, Sh- Shinji," Asuka sniffled as creaking metal buckled outside of her entry plug.

Unit-01 had just raised its hand high above Unit-02's head before bringing it down on it's head full force, completely shattering its skull and spewing it's liquefied brains all over the street below it. The furious purple monstrosity then began to dye Unit-02 an even darker shade of red as it tore its plate armor off and began biting into its chest and stomach, rending Unit-02's flesh and spewing blood into the air.

"NO! ASUKA!" Shinji cried, "YOU CAN'T TALK LIKE THAT."

"Shinji," Asuka wept, "y- you're the best thing that ever happened to me. I- I love you!"

Asuka ultimately couldn't take anymore and finally began bawling and screaming in unbelievable sorrow.

"ASUKAAAAA!" Shinji screamed.

"Sh- SHINJI!" Asuka wailed.

"FATHER! STOP IT!" Shinji helplessly yelled into his radio.

Unit-01's teeth, covered in blood, had finally torn through Unit-02's already broken ribs and began eviscerating its chest cavity. It dug its fingers into Unit-02's body and tore out numerous organs, flinging them out onto the street and knocking down entire buildings. Its gut was torn out and strewn across a light pole. Part of its liver was thrown into the fourth and fifth floor room of an apartment before falling to the street in a sickening splatter. Unit-02's heart was then bitten out of its chest by Unit-01 before being crushed in its teeth and discarded. Blood spewed into the air so finely that it had actually caused a rainbow to form above the little neighborhood.

Unit-01 then let out a roar and plunged its head into Unit-02's chest once more before clamping its teeth around a piece of metal. It then pulled out what would tragically turn out to be Asuka's entry plug.

"Wh- what's that noise? Father!?" Shinji asked, even though he knew he would get no response from the man.

Asuka felt her entry plug shift before being jerked into an ascension. And before long, she could hear the walls of the plug itself creaking and screws gradually being snapped as it struggled to maintain its structural integrity.

"N- NO! Sh- SHINJI! I'M SORRY!" Asuka screamed as she clasped her hands over her mouth in grim horror, realizing what was about to happen.

"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!" Shinji desperately screamed over and over and over again.

And then it happened.

Unit-01 crushed Asuka's entry plug in its mouth.

Shinji could hear Asuka screaming just before her radio cut out. And then there was nothing.

"STOOOOOOP IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTT!" was all that could be heard as everyone on the command bridge watched Unit-01 finally cease it attack, leaving the most revolting and tragic of scenes painted in the street as it relented.

/

The red lights in Shinji's plug suddenly shut off and he was left in almost complete darkness as the metal arms that had previously been restraining his hands released him.

"A- Asuka…" Shinji whispered.

He wiped his tears out of his eyes. The boy somehow found it hard to look away as they clung to the fingers of his plugsuit. He shook his hand and they were flung off of him before floating away.

Shinji hit the ejection button for his entry plug and thankfully, it worked. The LCL began draining out of his cockpit and he frantically made his way to the interior ladder on the wall of the entry plug, choking out LCL all the while.

After finally reaching the exit hatch, he flung it open and was greeted by a breeze that smelled of blood. He could hear the sound of jet engines roaring overhead and the golden sunset, blurred by his tears, shined into his eyes. Along with his coughing fit and the complete lack of situational awareness, everything had left him in a daze.

He looked around, trying to figure out exactly what had just happened. And before long, he looked over Unit-01's shoulder and saw what appeared to be an entry plug, nearly split in two, resting in its jaws.

"No… NO, ASUKA!"

He considered for a moment how he might reach it before the sound of shuddering metal reverberated in the air and Asuka's entry plug fell from Unit-01's mouth, crashing into the ground so loudly that it physically hurt to listen to.

"No! ASUKA! I'M SORRY! D- damn it… DAMN IT!" Shinji cried as he perilously hung out of the hatch of his entry plug.

He hit a button near the hatch and an evacuation ladder was the released, allowing him a way to safely reach the ground.

He climbed down it in a flurry of panic, still managing to choke out LCL as he descended and, upon reaching the ground, then ran as fast as he could to the entry plug.

Once more, Shinji heard the sound of a jet overhead, and before he knew what had happened, there was an explosion and one of the halves of Asuka's entry plug had been set on fire.

"ASUKA! NO! ASUKA!" Shinji screamed as the fire burned just outside of the split in Asuka's plug.

Shinji could hear a horrific screeching sound and tendrils of a slime-like substance began crawling around the outside of Asuka's entry plug. If he hadn't been so singularly focused on Asuka, the sound would have chilled him to his bone and stopped him in his tracks. But now, not even hellfire would stop him from getting to Asuka.

Upon reaching the plug, he stumbled for a moment looking for her hatch before then remembering it was on the other side.

Flames and debris marred his path and he almost tripped several times before he got to her entry hatch.

Ordinarily, it would have been easier to just crawl in through the splits in the metal, but they were mostly beyond his reach and the flames from the firebombs rose high over what had been the angel's body. The only safe way into Asuka's plug was through the hatch.

Shinji grimaced before doing what had to be done and grabbing the searing hot release levers of Asuka's plug. At first, he found himself groaning from the temperature. But, as the heat infiltrated his plug suit, he eventually began screaming. Even so, he never let go.

"SHINJI!" the boy heard someone scream several hundred feet behind him.

'Rei? Rei!' the boy thought, barely able to recognize the girl's voice as the sound of fires and jets and alarms permeated the air.

Finally, the levers of Asuka's plug released and her hatch was unlocked. He shook his hands in the air in a pained fashion, taking only a moment to try to alleviate the agony of the searing burns on his palms. And then, he flung the hatch open.

"Asuka? ASUKA!?" he yelled into the plug.

Aside from the orange sunlight peeking in through the cracks in her entry plug, it was mostly dark except for a soft blue glow coming from near Asuka's motionless body.

"Asuka… ASUKA, NO!" Shinji yelled as he ran towards the girl.

As he approached her, he eventually realized that there was a massive shard of metal sticking out of her left eye and that her eye socket was what was giving off the blue light. Streams of blood flooded out of her eye and down her throat. It also soaked her hair and turned it a dark red. It was horrifying knowing so much blood could come from just one person.

It was haunting and he didn't know what to do but he put his head to her chest to see if her could hear or feel her heartbeat. And luckily, the girl's heart was still beating.

"SHINJI!" Rei yelled again as she ran into the plug, tears running out of her eyes.

"R- Rei! Help me! Asuka needs help!" Shinji cried.

Rei frantically nodded and ran up next to Asuka's body.

"I…" was all Rei managed to say.

"G- get her feet! I'll grab her shoulders! She needs to get out of here and we need to get the LCL out of her! It's not going to stay oxygenated long!"

Rei nodded before grabbing Asuka by the feet. Shinji then managed to take the girl by her shoulders and together, they lifted her out of her pilot seat and carried her out of the entry plug. Audible sounds of Asuka's blood could be heard splattering over the walls of the entry plug and then on the street before they set her down.

After setting the girl down, Shinji sat her up and leaned her over before wrapping his arms around her diaphragm and squeezing the girl, trying to get the LCL out of her lungs.

Some of the orange liquid seeped out of her lips and dripped down her plugsuit. It was extremely difficult with the girl resting limply in his arms and Shinji himself not knowing the specifics of the Heimlich Maneuver, but he became somewhat hopeful seeing the liquid come out of her mouth and he tried his best to continue.

"I… I don't understand… why," Rei said, tears dripping down her cheeks as she watched the gentle blue light shining out of the bloody crater of Asuka's eye socket.

The LCL spewing out of Asuka continued to run down her plugsuit before it mixed with her blood and Rei watched the mixture glittering as it streamed over the hands of Shinji's plugsuit.

"Asuka! Come on, Asuka!" Shinji begged of the girl as he continued to evacuate the LCL from her lungs.

Rei put her hands over her mouth, crying even harder as she watched Asuka bleed and choke LCL all over herself.

"Rei, c- can you try to find a first aid kit. Or just something to stop the bleeding?" Shinji sniffled.

Rei bit her lip and nodded before running off to search though the surrounding buildings. Across the street was a small convenience store and Rei almost slipped in pools of blood several times as she ran to it.

All the windows of the store had been shattered from the wave of blood that had flooded past them a few minutes ago. Rei stepped through one of the broken windows but slipped as she stepped onto the slick tile floor that was also completely submerged in almost an inch of Unit-02's blood.

The girl's foot came out from under her and caused her to fall on both her hip and her shoulder, though fortunately, she hadn't hit her head. Blood had still splashed up onto her cheek and had covered almost the entire right side of her face in blood as well as the back of her head.

She tried to get up but her elbow shivered and hurt immensely as a result of it hitting the tile. So, she instead remained on her hands and knees, wallowing around in the blood as she crawled past shelves looking for any kind of first aid kit on the walls.

'Red… the color I hate… the color I love… I don't know how to feel anymore,' she thought in a daze as her bloody hair clung to her cheek.

She felt a slight sting in her eye as a stream of blood seeped down her forehead, past her eyelashes, and into her right eye. She tried to blink it away and ignore it.

"Asuka… Asuka," she panted, trying to keep her mind focused despite the panic setting in.

It wasn't often she felt fear; not for her life or anyone else's. And for the longest time, she thought she never would. But she felt it now. She feared for Asuka. She was scared. Scared Asuka would die. Scared she'd never see her again. Scared she'd never get to hear her voice explain something to her or laugh next to her. Scared she'd never see her blue eyes open again. Scared she'd never smell the cinnamon in her hair again. Scared that the she wouldn't come home with something new for her to try after going out shopping. Scared she wouldn't feel the comfort of her warm skin in the cold air when she slept at night.

All of these things were things Rei never would have cared for in the past. But now, she couldn't imagine life without them. She couldn't imagine life without Asuka.

And then, after nearly a minute of crawling through blood and the garbage and trash that floated in it, Rei saw a first aid kit on the wall, also splattered with blood.

Ignoring her pain, she tried to stand up but slipped again. Her face plunged into the blood but she quickly propped herself up on her palms. She made a small gasp before spitting the blood out of her mouth and trying to stand again, this time more carefully.

After finding her footing, she limped to the wall and unlatched the container.

She'd only studied some medical science in school, but most of it was basic. Overall, she didn't know what all to grab, but decided at the very least to take as many packages of quick clotting gauze as she could as well as scissors, alcohol, and antibiotic cream as well.

Barely able to carry everything she'd grabbed, she then tried to turn around though, before she could, she once more slipped and fell backwards into the blood.

She let out a yelp as she fell on her spine. She winced and once more began crawling through the blood and dirt and garbage. And, when she got to the window, she was careful to avoid any of the sharp glass fragments still embedded in the window frame.

After finally crawling out of the store, she finally found herself able to stand a little easier and she painfully got to her feet. Everything she was carrying was covered in blood, but was fortunately protected by plastic save for the scissors.

As quickly as she could, she limped back across the street. Though, as she was returning, Shinji almost ran right into her as he navigated around the rubble looking for either her or trying to find first aid on his own.

"R- Rei!?" Shinji gasped as her put his hands around her blood soaked arms and tried to stop himself from colliding with her, "Wh- what happened to you?!"

"I f- fell," the girl sniffled.

Somehow, that didn't seem to cover everything that had happened to her, but she seemed determined to continue back to Asuka and Shinji hurriedly led her back to where Asuka was resting on a piece of rubble.

Rei then set down all of the medical supplies she'd brought and tiredly dropped it on the ground next to Asuka before trying to pick up one of the packages of gauze and open it.

"I c- can't open it," Rei cried as her bloodied hands kept slipping past the plastic packaging.

Shinji quickly unscrewed the cap on the bottle of alcohol before then pouring it over the blood coated scissors. He then also poured some of the alcohol on the package of gauze in Rei's hand before then setting the alcohol down and taking the package from Rei.

At first, the plastic didn't open when snipped. But it did eventually cut with the second attempt. Shinji then handed the now open package of gauze back to Rei.

"Are you sure you're okay? You're not hurt?" Shinji asked the girl

"Y- yes…" Rei said, still crying.

"Can you watch over Asuka for me? There's… something I have to do…"

Rei looked confused for a second, but silently nodded.

Then, despite the girl being completely covered in blood, Shinji kissed Rei on her head before leaving and walking back to Unit-01.

/

-I Can't Feel You There | I'm Afraid of Your Touch-

/

"There are too many people today who instead of feeling hurt are acting out their hurt; instead of acknowledging their pain, they're inflicting pain on others."- Brené Brown, Rising Strong

"WHY!? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!? ANSWER ME, FATHER!?" Shinji furiously screamed.

Unit-01 smashed its heel into the top of the pyramid of NERV-HQ, sending dust and small flecks of debris falling onto the command bridge.

"Ritsuko, I'm sorry," Maya stammered apologetically, "But, I can't cut the synchronization with Unit-01. Its overriding my commands somehow."

"Damn it," Ritsuko cursed, "I don't understand how that's possible. It hasn't discarded it's synchronization limiters. Unless it's gone berserk… or something. I just… I don't understand."

"WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER ME, YOU COWARD!?" Shinji's voice once more screamed over the radio.

Again, a distant thundering sound could be heard throughout the walls of the command bridge and even more dust was dislodged from the ceiling.

"Shinji, please! I understand you're upset, but please don't do this!" Maya begged into her radio.

"The dummy system still won't engage?" Ritsuko questioned.

"It's… refusing! I don't know how!" Shigeru responded before muttering under his breath, "And it's not like I'd even want to activate something like that again."

"Damn it," Ritsuko sighed, "Maybe we shouldn't have let Misato go to get Rei. Maybe she'd know what to say."

"Can you try ejecting his plug?" Fuyutsuki inquired.

"N- No! I've already tried!" Maya asserted, "Unit-01… it just won't respond to me. It's... only listening to Shinji now."

"He's locked himself inside it…" Shigeru sighed.

"Listen to reason, Shinji!" Makoto said, directly radioing the boy in Misato's place, "Just stop and think about what you're doing! Please!"

"I know exactly what I'm doing. And you're only making me angrier!" Shinji shot back in a more threatening tone than anyone on the command bridge had ever heard from the young pilot, "Unit-01 has two hundred and eighty five seconds left on its battery! And even longer in minimum gain mode! THAT'S ENOUGH TIME TO DESTROY HALF OF HEADQUARTERS IF I WANT!"

"In his state of mind, he might just do it," Shigeru said, "And I can't exactly blame him after… that."

"SHINJI, PLEASE JUST LISTEN TO US!" Maya begged into her radio, "COMMANDER IKARI HAD TO DO IT! YOU AND THE REST OF US WOULD HAVE DIED IF YOU JUST KEPT SITTING THERE! YOU HAD NO CHANCE OF LOWERING UNIT-02'S A.T. FIELD BY YOURSELF AND REI WAS COMPLETELY INCAPACITATED!"

"That doesn't change anything," Shinji hissed.

"BUT ITS STILL THE TRUTH, DAMN IT!" Makoto shouted back.

"I WOULD HAVE RATHER DIED THAN BE A PART OF WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" Shinji screamed, "Dad tried- That bastard tried to kill Asuka. AND HE USED MY HANDS TO DO IT!"

Once more, Unit-01 furiously crushed the heel of its foot into the top of NERV-HQ.

Maya fearfully listened to the walls around the command bridge shuddering as yet more dust shook off of the walls.

"TELL ME WHY!" Shinji screamed as he willed his Evangelion to continue destroying the building, "WHY!? WHY DID YOU DO IT!? HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO HER!?"

Gendo still said nothing and remained at his battle station desk as calm as ever. Did the man feel any remorse? Any regrets? Was he considering if there was a different way to have done things or was he already thinking of the future? It was difficult for anyone on the command bridge to tell.

"You don't even understand, do you, dad!?" Shinji spat out accusingly, "After all this time, after yesterday, I thought you might. But you don't! I was stupid to think anything could get better. I was stupid to trust you. Maybe if it was something you cared about, THEN YOU'D UNDERSTAND!"

Shinji obviously had no intent of stopping and continued to crush the pyramid under his Evangelion's feet. The walls of the massive building continued to shudder and, though no one took any pleasure in what they had done to Shinji, none of them wanted to die over this either.

"Raise the LCL compression density to the limit," Gendo ordered, "We don't have time to deal with a child's tantrum."

Maya hesitated for a moment. She truly felt the poor boy had already been through enough. Increasing the pressure in the plug could potentially kill Shinji and she didn't want to do that after what had just happened to Asuka. And that was to say nothing of Rei's feelings. After Rei had told her the other day that she was dating both Shinji and Asuka, she almost didn't have it in her to bring any more harm to any of them. Oxygen toxicity and pressure differentials were only a couple things that could potentially harm Shinji, and she certainly didn't want to be the one responsible for inflicting that kind of emotional pain on Rei if she did hurt Shinji. But, if she debated her actions much longer, there was the possibility Shinji would kill them.

With a torn heart, she turned up a dial at her workstation, though she did disobey Gendo's orders to turn it as high as it's maximum setting.

"I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU REGRET THIS!" Shinji screamed once again before the inside of his plug suddenly lit up with a red warning light.

And, in the next moment, he found himself loosing consciousness.

"D- damn you. Damn you all. Damn… you…" the boy choked before he blacked out.

Unit-01 then shuddered and toppled over backwards, eventually tumbling down the slanted walls of NERV-HQ before landing in the giant pool of water next to the building.

Finally, it was over. But no one felt much relief.

/

"Shinji Ikari…" Gendo said boredly.

Shinji was cold, dazed, and dripping with LCL as two men dragged him into Gendo's office. The boy was handcuffed and had a bruise on his face where one of the men who'd restrained him had punched him after he'd awoken in his plug and tried to fight the two men. And, after the disorienting experience in his entry plug, he could hardly stand.

After dragging him some ways into the office, the men forced Shinji to stand up straight, which was difficult for him to do, but he managed.

"Mutiny. Refusing my orders. Treason. Making attempts on the lives of your fellow countrymen and women," Gendo said, "These are serious charges. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"I have nothing... to say to you," Shinji spat under his breath as he looked towards the floor and hid his eyes with his soaked bangs.

"Nothing? Nothing at all to the innocent lives you threatened; that you attacked?"

"You attacked someone innocent… That's all I have to say."

Gendo leaned back in his seat, staring at Shinji, measuring him, perhaps even deciding his fate.

"Take him to the detainment cells above the conditioning rooms," Gendo said before looking over some papers on his desk, "Cell four should be available."

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HER AFTER WHAT HAPPENED TO MOM!?" Shinji yelled as the two men began dragging him off again.

Gendo scowled at the boy.

"You've already forfeited your chance to speak," was all Gendo said in reply.

"DAMN YOU! YOU BETTER ENJOY YOUR LAST DAYS! I'M NOT PILOTING THE EVANGELION ANY MORE! AND IF ASUKA DIES, SHE WON'T BE ABLE TO EITHER!" Shinji screamed as he was hauled out of the office.

"That is quite alright," Gendo said, seemingly unworried over the current situation of being reduced to only one pilot.

The men had finally dragged the boy out of the office and Gendo sighed as quietness fell over the floor once more.

"Damn it…" the man said.

For a moment, he felt tired. It had been a long day organizing everything with Unit-03 and then unexpectedly needing to deal with an angel along with the seeming intervention of Seele's meddling and what he assumed could only be the fifth child based on the few reports he'd been able to read surrounding him.

He quickly recomposed himself and then pulled out his cellphone to call Ritsuko.

"Um, yes, who is it?" the woman asked as she picked up her phone.

"Ritsuko, come to my office as soon as you can," the man said.

"Wha- But- I- I'm very busy with Pilot Sohryu right now as I'm sure you're aware," Ritsuko stammered.

"Then come as soon as you are free. There are subjects I must discuss with you. Also, make sure to review and update each of the pilots' case files before joining me."

"Their case files, sir? At a time like this? I'm not sure I understand," Ritsuko questioned.

"Just… do it," the man said in frustration before hanging up the phone.

Gendo set his phone on his desk before taking off his glasses and setting them on the desk as well. He then tiredly put his gloved hand to his face and rested his head for a moment before sighing once more.

"Damn it…"

/

Misato sat anxiously in a waiting room of the NERV hospital. She tried her best to keep her mind occupied, but such a thing was difficult to do and it kept drifting back to Asuka and Shinji. And, with Rei sitting next to her, still completely covered in blood, it made it hard to think of anything else, especially when she noticed all the people walking by looking at the blood coated girl in shock.

On several occasions, hospital workers had actually run up to her in alarm fearing she was injured. They'd ask her what was wrong, but the girl never answered. She just sat there crying and Misato would have to answer for her, telling the nurses that there wasn't anything severely wrong with the girl and that'd she'd just unfortunately gotten someone else's blood on her. In fact, about the only part of the girl's body that wasn't stained in blood were the lines on her cheeks where her tears had washed away the blood.

Rei's hair was matted with dried blood and, aside from her cheeks, most of the blood had dried and was beginning to crumble off her skin. Seemingly, she hadn't really cared about or noticed the blood. She was a mess. But, Misato couldn't blame her.

"Oh, Rei. What are we going to do with you," Misato said to the girl, trying to stroke Rei's hair despite it being stiff with dried blood.

Rei didn't say anything. She just continued staring into the distance and silently crying.

Finally, Ritsuko emerged from around the corner of a hallway and briskly walked into the waiting area. Misato immediately noticed the woman and Ritsuko seemed to notice her as well before gesturing for Misato to come with her by curling her index finger in and out.

Ritsuko waited at the corner while Misato turned to face Rei.

"Come on, Rei," Misato said.

Rei still seemed mostly unresponsive, but Misato took the girl by the hand and Rei stood up from her seat along with Misato.

The two girls then walked after Doctor Akagi who quickly turned on her heel and began walking down the hall without waiting for them to catch up with her. Misato lost sight of the woman for a few second before she herself rounded the corner and saw the woman walk into a room further down the hall.

Misato had many questions she wanted to ask, but nonetheless, she stayed with Rei and walked at the girl's own pace as they approached the room together.

Upon finally arriving at the door of the room, Ritsuko ushered them in without making any eye contact. She then shut the door behind them. Misato finally let go of Rei's hand and the girl continued walking further into the room before stopping about a foot away from the wall on the other side of the room and then just standing and staring, not turning around, not doing anything except remaining silent and continuing to weep.

"I already texted Kaji the room number," Ritsuko muttered, "He should be with us soon..."

"What in the hell was that, Ritsuko!?" Misato asked, trying to remain calm.

For a moment, Ritsuko didn't answer. She just sighed and scowled at the floor.

"DAMN IT! SAY SOMETHING! WHAT'S GOING ON!? IS ASUKA OKAY!?" Misato shouted at the woman, finally breaking and letting a few tears trail down her cheeks.

"Asuka is… okay… Maybe…" Ritsuko sighed again.

"Maybe!? MAYBE!? WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN!?"

"I DON'T- I don't know, Misato. She's in a complicated situation right now. She's in surgery. Her life doesn't seem to be in immediate danger. But… she's not getting her eye back."

"What in the hell?" Misato whispered as she put her hands over her face trying to calm herself.

"That's not the worst of it, though… You saw her eye… socket glowing?"

"Yes. I fucking saw her eye glowing. I'm so fucking sick of this shit!" Misato spat into her hands before taking them off her face, "Red, purple, green! Blue! WHAT IN THE HELL IS THIS!?"

Ritsuko sighed yet again, trying to find out where to even start.

"Listen… I still can't explain the red and purple… or the green. But, the blue glow from her orbital cavity after she… lost her eye, was not connected to the rest of the phenomenon so far as I can tell."

Misato wiped a few tears from her eyes before exhaling, trying to stay calm.

"What… in the hell are you saying?"

"Listen, Misato… I believe Asuka has been corrupted by the eleventh angel."

"I still… have no idea… WHAT IN THE FUCK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Misato yelled at Ritsuko.

Ritsuko really wanted to tell Misato to keep her voice down, but she knew that would likely just infuriate the woman further.

"What I'm saying, Misato, is that it appears part of the eleventh angel separated from its main body and has infiltrated Asuka's body and taken up residence in her eye."

"So… What!? What does this mean! I don't fucking care about the medical terminology! What in the hell is going to happen to Asuka!?" Misato spat before once more breaking down and crying.

"Like I said," Ritsuko started, "she's currently in surgery to remove the shrapnel and what remains of her eye. But, she's going to have to undergo another procedure to implant a restraining bolt."

"A… A restraining bolt?"

"That's currently what we're deciding to call it, yes," Ritsuko muttered.

"I don't fucking care what it's called, Ritsuko! What the hell does it do!?" Misato spat out in frustration.

"Exactly what the name implies. It should arrest the angel by casting an A.T. field over it and stop it from causing any further harm. We already considered trying to surgically remove it but, most of the options either likely wouldn't get through its weak but not insignificant A.T. field or, if they could, would further threaten Asuka's life on top of the angel's. So, all we can try to do is just keep it in place."

"So, what!? She's going to live the rest of her life with this angel inside her? After what it did to the Evas!?" Misato cried.

"I… couldn't say for sure, but that is a possibility," Ritsuko said before looking over her clipboard at a few things.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Misato wept before once more burying her face in her hands.

"Listen, Misato, she's in good hands," Ritsuko said as she put her own hand on Misato's shoulder, "I have some things I have to do, but after Asuka is out of surgery, she'll be brought to this room. Commander Ikari wanted me to update some reports on the pilots. So, I have to go do that. But, I'll check up on Asuka when I can."

Ritsuko then glanced over at Rei, seeing the girl hadn't moved at all during her entire conversation with Misato.

"Rei," Ritsuko gently called out to the girl, "if you need anything, you can come to my office."

Rei still didn't move at all and show no indication she'd heard the woman at all.

With that, Ritsuko folded her clipboard under her arm and began to walk toward the door to leave the room, but as she reached out to the door, she remembered something and she hesitated to open the door.

"Misato, one last thing," Ritsuko said, turning around and glancing back at Rei before continuing, "I know it's extremely unprofessional for me to say this since, as their medical doctor, I'm supposed to maintain confidence... but you should know Asuka came to me for morning after pills yesterday along with Rei and Shinji."

Misato, once more removing her face from her hands, looked up at Ritsuko in shock before then looking at Rei.

"Asuka adamantly denied anything happened," Ritsuko continued, "but I'm certain they engaged in intercourse and I gave them medication."

"How, Ritsuko?" Misato asked as she continued to sadly stare at Rei, "How could you do this to them?"

Ritsuko scowled at Misato, though she could understand why she was upset.

"It's not like I wanted to do this, Misato. But, sometimes, choices have to be made. And sometimes, neither option is an easy one to choose. But I chose what I thought was the best one. Either Shinji was going to die along with the rest of us, or we could engage the dummy system."

"...What is the dummy system, Ritsuko?" Misato asked lifelessly.

"Its… just an A.I. It can pilot an Evangelion in the event one of the pilots themselves are incapacitated."

"Or if someone decides they don't agree with the orders they're given… And still you activated it knowing it would try to kill Asuka…"

Ritsuko once more deepened her scowl as she continued to glare at Misato.

"Asuka would have died too if we hadn't activated it. Third impact would have happened and every one of us would be dead. ...At least this way, she's still alive."

"Just… go Ritsuko," Misato whispered, "Go do whatever you have to do and leave me alone."

Ritsuko's glare softened a little and she finally opened the door to the room only to find Kaji himself reaching for the doorknob on the other side.

She refused to speak to him, but she did give him a quick nod before sliding past him and briskly making her way down the hall.

"Is it true what I've been hearing?" Kaji asked solemnly as he walked into the room and quietly shut the heavy door behind him.

"Yes," Misato whispered in a sigh.

The man balled his hand into a fist before scowling and punching the solid cinderblock wall of the hospital room.

"Damn it!" he shouted.

Misato ran up to Kaji and hugged him from behind, sobbing into his shirt.

"How could they do this!?" Misato cried, "How could they do this, Ryoji!?"

Kaji closed his eyes in frustration before turning around and hugging Misato back.

"Kaji! Asuka! She- she-" Misato continued to cry as she clung to Kaji's shirt, "Ritsuko said Asuka had sex with Rei and Shinji! HOW COULD THEY DO THIS TO THEM! HOW COULD THEY DO THIS TO MY BABIES!?"

Kaji's eyes widened some and he held Misato a little tighter as she screamed into his chest. The man then glanced at Rei while stroking Misato's hair, trying his best to calm her down. The girl still, after everything, did not turn around or even flinch.

"Is she okay? Ayanami I mean," Kaji asked.

"She- She's not hurt physically, but she…" Misato sobbed before finally letting go of Kaji and timidly approaching Rei.

Misato walked around the girl and knelt down in front of her. She could see that the girl's jaw was clenched shut in sadness and tears were still flooding out of her eyes despite her not making any kind of sound. It truly was like something in her had just broken.

"Oh, Rei," Misato sobbed as she hugged the girl around her waist, "I am so… so sorry."

"Where… is Shinji?" Rei asked, finally saying something for the first time in hours.

"Shinji… has been detained," Kaji informed the girl, "I heard about it while heading here."

"Oh…" was all Rei said before falling silent once more.

Misato hugged the girl tighter and wept into her plugsuit even harder as Rei just stared at the wall of the hospital room, not making another sound but continuing to cry the entire time.

/

Ritsuko, after closing the door to her office, immediately locked it and then dropped her clipboard on the ground. For a moment, the entire world seemed to pause and she stared at her desk with sullen eyes. She slowly raised her hand to her face and removed her glasses before hanging them in the pocket of her lab coat.

Without warning, she then collapsed to her knees and began weeping into her hands.

"Jesus fucking Christ, what am I doing?" the woman sobbed, "What have I done? Oh god, please forgive me."

Thankfully, there was no one else in her office, not even Maya. And, that was precisely why she'd taken this chance to allow herself a moment to let out her emotions. She still needed to face commander Ikari after this as well and she didn't know if she could hold herself together for that long.

"Please forgive me, Misato. Asuka. Oh, Jesus."

The woman raised her head out of her hands and looked up at the ceiling before taking a deep breath and wiping her eyes with her lab coat.

She took one more deep breath and put her glasses back on before standing up and walking over to her desk. And, after sitting down in her swivel chair, she brushed her hair out of her face before opening a few files on her computer before finally navigating to a few numbered documents. She opened one of the documents labeled "03" and sniffled during the short moment it took to load. She then proceeded to read over it.

Case File #03 RA-II

Subject Name: Ayanami, Rei (Second Iteration)

Marduk Institution Labeling: The First Child

Subject's Mother: N/A

Subject's Father: N/A

Guardians: Ikari, Gendo (Adoptive Father); Katsuragi, Misato (Guardian)

Date of Artificial Conception: Monday, June 19th, 2000, 11:14 PM JST

Date of Release: Thursday, July 28th, 2006, 7:21 AM JST

Current Residence: Japan, Tokyo-3, Kanagawa Prefecture

Eye Color: Red

Hair Color: Blue

Pilot of: Evangelion Unit-00

Subject Summary: The First Child. Second production iteration of the [REDACTED] series created through the miraculous genetic splicing of [REDACTED] and the [REDACTED], [REDACTED]. Current pilot of Unit-00. Subject Ayanami displays varying ineptitude in social skills due to multiple factors, some of which include the solitary conditions she was raised in as well as the fact she was already aged at roughly five years old by the time she was released from her birthing vat and therefore only began to learn of her surroundings, social interactions, language, and the structure of society at a five year delay compared to other children her age. Despite this, she is rather fluent in her speech, if a bit rigid, and is quick to understand new concepts even with her general naïveté.

Subject is emotionally repressed but fiercely loyal to authority due to rigorous conditioning. Due to this, subject has a habit of asking for clarification on if any given demand is an "order." Subject appears to still have a poor understanding of social conditions, but this underdeveloped social understanding was to be expected due to subject being housed in the birthing vat for longer than the previous iteration which was notably more talkative and expressive given the unfortunate understanding of the manager of these case files (myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi).

Like previous iterations of the [REDACTED] series, subject is severely biologically unstable and must occasionally submerse herself in an electrolized and oxygenated LCL chamber or subject will perish due to the critical failure of her Absolute Terror Field. As LCL has [REDACTED] properties discovered by [REDACTED], it is suitable for ensuring Subject Ayanami continues to function. Overall, in spite of these debilitating factors, Subject Ayanami is a perfectly capable pilot.

Additional Note, Entry-01: Subject Ayanami has never been observed socializing with anyone that could be described as a friend and was also harassed and made fun of in school for her peculiar mannerisms. It seems she is largely unbothered by this social pressure though.

Additional Note, Entry-02: Subject was severely injured in activation test of Unit-00 in early 2015. Subject was prescribed opiate/opioid pain medication due to numerous broken bones and other internal injuries suffered when she ejected Unit-00's entry plug, causing it to eject directly into the walls of the test facility at an unsafe velocity.

Additional Note, Entry-03: Subject has become more expressive due to friendly interactions with Subject Sohryu and Subject Ikari and seems to be becoming more socially acclimatized.

Additional Note, Entry-04: Subject Ayanami appears to have entered into a romantic relationship with Subject Ikari. This is a strange turn of events, but perhaps a good sign that she is becoming more successfully acclimatized to social interaction and perhaps overcoming her emotional repression.

Additional Note, Entry-05: Subject, along with Subjects Ikari and Sohryu, suffered from a strange unidentifiable and undiagnosable episode causing pain response in subject mirroring combat injuries as well as causing subject's eyes to glow purple before shifting to red. As well as this, subject claims her vision took on a purplish hue. Episode eventually resulted in temporary unconsciousness. Effects faded with time. It is assumed this episode was caused by unknown phenomenon relating to Absolute Terror Physics.

Additional Note, Entry-06: Subject Ayanami has been relocated from her original assigned residence to the Katsuragi residence due to the most recent angel leaving buildings in the area of her domicile in an uncertain state of structural integrity.

Additional Note, Entry-07: Subject Ayanami, along with Subject Ikari and Subject Sohryu, have been observed sleeping together and sharing the same bed by their shared Guardian, Misato Katsuragi. It is currently unclear if they are all romantically or sexually involved with each other or not, but there appears to be a highly unique bond between them and Subject Ayanami appears to be learning to engage with people more socially, even if this specific event could be construed as highly inappropriate by many societies.

Additional Note, Entry-08: Subject suffered from another episode. Claims to have heard a voice in her mind this time. Episode once again consisted of pain and changing hue and luminosity in the iris of the eye.

Additional Note, Entry-09: Subject Ayanami is heavily presumed to have engaged in sexual activity with Subjects Ikari and Sohryu. See Additional Entry-09 of Case File #02 for more details.

Ritsuko sighed before adding yet another update to the file.

Additional Note, Entry-10: Subject Ayanami, along with Subjects Ikari and Sohryu, have suffered from yet another episode of purple glowing eyes. This happened during combat between them and the eleventh angel, Codename: Bardiel. Initially, all pilots were incapacitated, but Subject Sohryu and eventually Subject Ikari were able to overcome the episode. Subject Ayanami was the last to return to her senses and the fighting had mostly ended by the time she had recovered. Due to events that happened during and after the engagement however, Subject Ayanami appears to have entered into a depressive state. She should be monitored.

End of Case File for Subject Ayanami: Second Iteration

"Jesus Christ," Ritsuko sighed before opening yet another file labeled "02" and proceeding to go over it.

Case File #02 ALS-0

Subject Name: Sohryu, Asuka. Langley

Marduk Institute Labeling: The Second Child

Subject's Mother: Sohryu, Kyoko. Zeppelin

Subject's Father: Langley, Daniffen. Haalling

Guardians: Vela, Karla. Elora (Stepmother); Katsuragi, Misato (Guardian); Kaji, Ryoji (Guardian)

Date of Birth: Tuesday, December 4th, 2001

Current Residence: Japan, Tokyo-3, Kanagawa Prefecture

Eye Color: Blue

Hair Color: Red

Pilot of: Evangelion Unit-02

Subject Summary: As The Second Child, Subject Sohryu is the longest serving Evangelion pilot in the world. If [REDACTED] had not been [REDACTED] by [REDACTED], subject would be the second longest serving pilot. Subject Sohryu has a highly traumatic past.

Subject Sohryu is fluent in Japanese and German and can speak some limited English as well as several other mostly Romantic and Germanic languages. Rigorously trained in martial combat from a young age (Aikido, Krav Maga, Kendo, Pankration) and put on an accelerated learning schedule including a large variety of college performance classes so as to be beyond fully capable of her position as an Evangelion pilot, she was conditioned from a young age to achieve the height of perfection.

Much hope and heavy burdens were placed upon her by the Marduk Institute and she was afforded special privileges, which eventually became a point of pride for her. However, after closer examination of subject, the courses of action taken with her were discontinued for other subjects as they were deemed too strenuous and ultimately unnecessary. Subject Sohryu is observed to have a tendency to leave her A-10 neural connectors in her hair as she seems to take great pride in piloting her designated Evangelion and her prestigious accomplishments that she achieved on the way down the path to becoming the model pilot.

Subject Sohryu's mother worked for [REDACTED] and was the [REDACTED]. Subject's mother suffered from a work related accident which left her legally and clinically insane. Subject's mother was kept in [REDACTED] Asylum, where Subject Sohryu was occasionally allowed to visit her mother.

Subject Sohryu's father became unfaithful to subject's mother through a relationship with the mother's carer. This resulted in negligent and malicious treatment against the subject's mother by the carer herself, which further worsened the mother's condition. Given this turn of events, it is presumed that the mother occasionally confided in Subject Sohryu and asked favors of her. Such favors included having Subject Sohryu sneak a knife into the mother's room so that the subject's mother could attempt to kill the father and carer turned stepmother.

Another favor included the mother asking Subject Sohryu to additionally sneak rope into her room using her school bag to hide it. It was the rope that Subject Sohryu herself delivered that later allowed the mother to commit suicide through hanging. Subject Sohryu was deemed to have been too young to understand the implications of bringing the rope to her mother and was not considered to have assisted in the suicide.

Additional sources of trauma include the subject's mother herself abusing her verbally, mentally, physically, and possibly sexually. It is known the subject's mother attempted to strangulate and choke Subject Sohryu on several occasions as well as forcefully hitting the subject's head against the (notoriously) out of date cinderblock walls of her room.

As well as that, in the later stages of the mother's insanity, the mother eventually adopted a doll in place of Subject Sohryu and would call the doll by the subject's name as well as "hanging" the doll before her own suicide by hanging.

All of these events compounding seem to have developed deep seated insecurities in the subject as well as an extreme fear of abandonment, a deep hatred of dolls, and a false superiority complex that stemmed out of her inferiority complex, all of which often times cause her to be exceptionally hostile to those around her. Despite these hurdles, Subject Sohryu has proven herself a stellar pilot, though her state of mind could one day interfere with her piloting abilities if her mental problems were to ever worsen.

Additional Note, Entry-01: A sample of [REDACTED] was obtained from Subject Sohryu at birth as her mother worked with [REDACTED]. This was to be used in the [REDACTED] project as demanded by order of [REDACTED].

Additional Note, Entry-02: After her mother's suicide, Subject Sohryu burned down her residence in Germany before eventually moving in with her guardian, Misato Katsuragi and later, Ryoji Kaji. It is unknown why she did this, but it is presumed the subject was either attempting to enact vengeance against her father and stepmother for pushing her biological mother over the edge or she was perhaps trying to cope with her past memories of trauma in an extremely destructive manner. Subject Sohryu herself has never commented on her reasons for taking such actions, but the Marduk Institute and [REDACTED] granted her immunity from any criminal charges do to their investment in her and her young age at the time of committing the arson.

Additional Note, Entry-03: On top of expectedly having extremely poor relations with her biological father and stepmother, Pilot Sohryu has never been observed having any deep or meaningful friendships during her time in Germany with the exception of Ryoji Kaji, her second guardian. She had no friends at school and seemed largely indifferent to her first (and current) guardian, Misato Katsuragi. She was largely alienated as a child due to her off-putting demeanor, her vulgar and harsh language, and her proclivity towards violence and destruction. It is suspected this was both a result of her fear of abandonment as well as something that exacerbated that same fear due to long term solitude.

Additional Note, Entry-04: After relocating to Japan, Subject Sohryu suffered an attempted rape against her as well as a head injury. It is unknown what effect this will have on her as she is currently unconscious due to the mentioned head injury. She also seems to have a tendency to internalize her more severe traumas or anything she finds even mildly embarrassing and chooses not to speak of them to those she doesn't trust, which includes her counselor (myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi) and her case manager (also myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi), so it is unlikely she will speak of this to very many people.

Additional Note, Entry-05: Subject Sohryu, like Subjects Ayanami and Ikari, suffered from a mysterious episode of pain, purple/red glowing irises, and vision that was skewed with purple tint. Episode in subject also resulted in unconsciousness before all effects seemingly resolved themselves.

Additional Note, Entry-06: As mentioned in Subject Case File #03 and Subject Case File #04, Subject Sohryu was observed by her guardian, Misato Katsuragi, sleeping in the same bed as Subjects Ikari and Ayanami. Once more, it is unknown if this is indicative of sexual or romantic behavior, but she appears to be becoming less hostile to people around her and in all likelihood has developed a legitimate friendship with the other two subjects. This is good progress towards her attaining better mental stability, but this could prove ephemeral if the relationship were to fail. Even so, she appears to share a very unique connection with the other two subjects.

Additional Note, Entry-07: Once more, Subject Sohryu along with Ayanami and Ikari, suffered another strange and inexplicable episode. Subject Sohryu also claims to have heard a voice from inside her mind.

Additional Note, Entry-08: Subject Sohryu's personality and temperament seem to have further mellowed some in response to the time she spends with Subjects Ikari and Ayanami.

Additional Note, Entry-09: Subject Sohryu was brazen enough to ask the manager of these Case Files (myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi) for morning after pills. Despite her swearing up and down they weren't for her or Subject Ayanami, Subject Sohryu's and Subject Ikari's nervous composure as well as Subject Ayanami's affirmation that she was romantically involved with the both of them since the night before give the manager of these records (myself, Doctor Akagi) the intuition that Subject Sohryu is lying and engaged in sexual activity with Subject Ikari at the very least and most probably Subject Ayanami as well. The case file manager (myself, Doctor Akagi) relented and provided both of the female subjects with ample medication. This is liable to be troublesome, but hopefully at the very least, this development will allow them to come out on top of whatever awaits in the future.

Yet again, Ritsuko added an addendum to the report to reflect the events that had occurred this day.

Additional Note, Entry-10: Subject Sohryu, Subject Ayanami, and Subject Ikari suffered from another episode of glowing purple eyes, this time during an active combat engagement against the eleventh angel Codename: Bardiel. While the other two pilots were incapacitated, Subject Sohryu seemingly somehow managed to snap herself out of the episode and activated a 777 protocol in Evangelion Unit-02. Subject underwent temporary mental and physical changes including the elongation and sharpening of her teeth, a green glow emanating from her eyes, and her thought process seemingly entering a state of "animalistic tendencies" as she mostly refused to communicate with anyone on the command bridge. Ultimately, Evangelion Unit-02 was possessed by the eleventh angel (which had previously been possessing Unit-03, which the Subject fought against) and her Evangelion became unresponsive to her. It was at this time that Subject Ikari was ordered to engage the eleventh angel in combat. Subject Ikari refused due to his romantic relation with Subject Sohryu. Consequently, the dummy system was engaged in Unit-01 and it eventually defeated Unit-02 along with severely injuring Subject Sohryu by damaging her entry plug, causing her to loose her left eye to stray shrapnel. As well as this, it appears part of the eleventh angel has rooted itself in subject Sohryu's now vacant left eye socket and will need to be restrained with a piece of experimental technology that should unconsciously assist subject Sohryu in casting her A.T. field over the remnant of the angel. Subject is in the operating room undergoing surgery at the time of writing this. It is unknown how this will affect her, but it will likely cause a decline in her esteem at the very least. Though, it should be noted, much worse could easily be expected.

End of Case File for Subject Sohryu.

Given Ritsuko's mental state, she didn't particularly want to be typing up reports right now. She was already overworked as it was and now she was dealing with the emotional pressure of her once best friend being upset with her and with the guilt of almost killing Asuka. But yet, she focused herself and proceeded to the next file.

Case File #04 SI

Subject Name: Ikari, Shinji

Marduk Institution Labeling: The Third Child

Subject's Mother: Ikari, Yui

Subject's Father: Ikari, Gendo

Guardians: Akiyama, Mirai (Aunt, blood related, father's side); Akiyama, Itsuki (Uncle, no shared blood); Katsuragi, Misato (Guardian)

Date of Birth: Wednesday, June 6, 2001

Current Residence: Japan, Tokyo-3, Kanagawa Prefecture

Eye Color: Blue

Hair Color: Brown

Pilot of: Evangelion Unit-01

Subject Summary: The Third Child, soon to be pilot of Evangelion Unit-01, and son to Commander Gendo Ikari and the genius Yui Ikari who worked for [REDACTED] before it became NERV and also had ties with [REDACTED]. Subject Ikari was sent away to live with subject father's sister and her husband in New Atsugi by the subject's father himself after a work related accident claimed the subject mother's life.

During the subject's time in New Atsugi, he developed antisocial tendencies, often times not being able to maintain friendships and preferring to stay inside his residence and away from people. Even though subject was grateful to his hosts, he seemed to avoid interacting with them. It appears subject had no genuine emotional bonds to anyone in his life. Subject was also harassed at school and often times appeared to become submissive and avoidant of conflict whenever possible.

When very young, the subject was also falsely accused of stealing a bike that had been previously abandoned, which seems to have further worsened his antisocial behavior and reclusiveness.

Subject was observed attempting to cook on several occasions without supervision despite his young age at the time, one time accidentally causing a fire before successfully putting out. Despite this mishap, it appears Subject Ikari remained undeterred and eventually gained some skill in cooking and the act of cooking appears to be a stress relief outlet as well as a passion for him.

In 2015, subject was invited to Tokyo-3 by subject's father. Additional notes to follow on subject's more current endeavors as events unfold.

Additional Note, Entry-01: Subject was officially made the Pilot of Evangelion-01 only moments before entering the Evangelion for the first time and confronting the Third Angel, Codename: Sachiel, in combat. Astoundingly, subject was able to defeat the angel with only mild exertion on his part. It should be noted, Evangelion Unit-01 exhibited odd behavior during this incident.

Additional Note, Entry-02: Subject has been given into the care of Major (Scratch that, Now Colonel) Misato Katsuragi.

Additional Note, Entry-03: Subject was enrolled at Tokyo-3 General Graduates Academy. Subject was shortly harassed and assaulted by a classmate. It is unknown what effect this will have, but as has been observed, subject Ikari is still avoidant of conflict and did not retaliate. (Update to this note. Subject Ikari reportedly punched his assailant at a later date as they made amends and demanded Subject Ikari hit him back to "get even" and ensure there was nothing between them.)

Additional Note, Entry-04: After Operation Yashima, Subject appears to have developed a not insignificant bond with Subject Ayanami as well as Major (Colonel) Katsuragi as they have been observed participating in recreational activities together. Will these bonds last or will they fade like his previous friendships? Also, it should be noted that shortly before this event, Subject was sexually assaulted and raped by his guardian, Misato Katsuragi.

Additional Note, Entry-05: Subject Sohryu arrived in Tokyo-3 after her departure from German Navy Base Wilhelmshaven. Subject Sohryu was forced to spend approximately a week with Subject Ikari in an underground suite provided by NERV to force a connection between them in an attempt to defeat the seventh angel, Codename: Israfel (Israfel Prime, Israfel-α, and Israfel-β). This appears to have formed the beginnings of a rough emotional bond with them, though they do not seem to get along well with Subject Sohryu being exceptionally hostile.

Additional Note, Entry-06: After spending more time in the presence of subjects Ayanami and Sohryu, Subject Ikari seems to display less anxiety when piloting Unit-01 as well as slightly more fortitude when engaging in civil discourse and social conflict. Subject Sohryu in particular has probably strengthened his resolve when confronting people, though Subject Ikari is still notably avoidant of conflict.

Additional Note, Entry-07: Subject Ayanami appears to have entered into a romantic relationship with Subject Ikari. This was somewhat unforeseen. It is presumed Subject Sohryu subtly encouraged a dialogue between the two, though who she would have initially coaxed into this is currently unknown. However this turns out, this appears to be a step forward for Subject Ikari.

Additional Note, Entry-08: As mentioned in Case Files #03 and #02, Subject Ikari suffered from a seemingly shared episode of pain, purple and red glowing eyes, and purple vision before being left unconscious. As with the other Subjects, Ayanami and Sohryu, the issues seemed to resolve themselves. It is currently completely unknown what is causing this, but it is presumed to be something relating to the abstract field of Absolute Terror physics.

Additional Note, Entry-09: Subject Ayanami was relocated from her residence and was placed under the care of Colonel Katsuragi and is presently living in the Katsuragi residence along with Subject Sohryu and Subject Ikari. This seems to have continued to slightly embolden the fortitude and resilience of Subject Ikari as it was discovered by his guardian, Misato Katsuragi, that he shared a bed with subjects Sohryu and Ayanami. Once again, as with Case Files #02 and #03, it is important to state that these subjects seem to share a highly irregular but profound emotional connection and seem to heavily rely on each other to satisfy their psychological "belongingness and love" needs of Maslow's hierarchy. Despite the unconventional (and possibly romantic) nature of the relationship they share, they seem to have all been steadily improving their mental problems in each other's shared company and obviously are in possession of a remarkably special bond.

Additional Note, Entry-10: Just like subjects Ayanami and Sohryu, Subject Ikari also suffered from yet another episode of glowing eyes, discolored vision, and pain in tandem with Sohryu and Ayanami. Subject also confirmed he had heard a voice in is head akin to the experiences of subjects Ayanami and Sohryu. This needs to be solved before it becomes a problem in an active combat scenario.

Additional Note, Entry-11: Subject Ikari is presumed to have engaged in sexual intercourse with both Subject Ayanami and Subject Sohryu as well as being suspected of ejaculating inside both of the female subjects' vaginal canals. See Case File #02, Additional Entry-09, for more details on the founding of these suspicions.

"Poor kid. I don't even want to imagine what's happening to him right now," Ritsuko sighed before adding another note to Shinji's report.

Additional Note, Entry-12: Subject Ikari, along with Subject Ayanami and Subject Sohryu, attempted to engage the eleventh angel Codename: Bardiel in combat. But, before they could successfully ambush the eleventh angel, all three subjects suffered from another episode of glowing purple eyes which eventually incapacitated them. Subject Sohryu was able to overcome this hurdle and was able to successfully engage the eleventh angel before it then possessed Evangelion Unit-02, once more rendering it inoperable. At this time, Subject Ikari had regained consciousness and was ordered to destroy the eleventh angel. However, he refused due to his romantic bond with Subject Sohryu and Unit-01 was subsequently overridden by the dummy system and severely injured Subject Sohryu, blinding her in her left eye. In response to this, Subject Ikari, in a rage, threatened and then attempted to destroy NERV-HQ. Several attempts were made to wrest control from him but the dummy system became unresponsive and for some reason, we were unable to lower his synchronization ratio despite the sync limiters still being onboard Unit-01 and in fully functional order. Eventually, Lieutenant Ibuki was ordered to compress the LCL in his plug, which ultimately rendered him unconscious. Subject Ikari has since been retrieved, treated for minor oxygen poisoning, and detained for insubordination. This is… obviously all going to have a strong negative effect on him.

End of Case File for Subject Ikari.

Ritsuko massaged her forehead and exhaled. Honestly, she wanted this all to be over with. But, she knew she should probably look over the other reports as she hadn't updated them in awhile and a lot had happened the past few days. So, she proceeded to open the next file, which was numbered as "05."

Case File #05 ABR

Subject Name: Rineheart, Amelia. Bree

Marduk Institution Labeling: The Sixth Child

Subject's Mother: Rineheart, Sara. Marie

Subject's Father: Rineheart, Michael. Rhoades

Guardians: N/A

Date of Birth: Tuesday, November 9th, 1999

Current Residence: The United States, Ash Springs, Nevada (Subject often times resides at on base accommodations at NERV-02 in Nevada)

Eye Color: Grey (with occasional golden/amber/yellow flecks)

Hair Color: Golden Pearl Blonde

Pilot of: Evangelion Unit-03

Subject Summary: Subject Rineheart is the sixth child, handpicked by the Marduk Institute, as they saw great promise in her from the outset. A born survivor, Subject Rineheart was birthed before second impact. Spending her young life in Friday Harbor in Washington State, Subject Rineheart developed a natural fascination with the stars and other celestial objects as well as fostering recreational habits of going fishing or swimming due to the town's proximity to water. She is the oldest Evangelion Pilot not including [REDACTED].

Several years after Second Impact, Subject Rineheart and her immediate family relocated to Seattle, Washington so as to be closer to resources and infrastructure as well as the fact that the rising ocean level had claimed much of San Juan Island. Before moving to Seattle, the subject's family had stayed with relatives. Approximately two and a half years after relocating to Seattle, Subject Rineheart was assaulted and suffered a brain injury leaving her completely unable to speak due to developing anarthria. As well as that, during the subject family's stay in Seattle, the subject's mother, Sara Marie Rineheart, disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Unfortunately, beyond even that, Subject Rineheart was raped by a teacher at her school, presumably because the teacher was aware of her muteness and knew she could not call for help. After that, Subject Rineheart confided in one of her friends, Isaiah Carter, and told him what had happened. Isaiah then proceeded to find the teacher returning to his car after school and murdered him by shooting him several times before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide.

These events severely negatively affected Subject Rineheart's social proclivity and she was ultimately harassed, bullied, had rumors started about her, and made fun of at school until she dropped out after a failed suicide attempt. It was at this time that she was approached by the Marduk Institute and was accepted by NERV-02's very own Commander Catherine Bow as the official Pilot of Evangelion Unit-03 and relocated to Ash Springs, Nevada to be closer to NERV-02 and to leave her past behind her.

Shortly after, Evangelion Unit-03 was shipped from its construction site at NERV-01 in Massachusetts to NERV-02, as the desert terrain of Nevada was more suited to testing and the live training of Evangelion pilots than the wooded forests, farmlands, and urban areas of Massachusetts. Upon entering Unit-03 and synchronizing with it for the first time, Subject Rineheart described it in written English as "a new path forward in life when all other paths had been overgrown with bramble." Unit-03 responded wonderfully to her neural inputs even with her initially below average sync ratio results.

Despite this success, she still displayed severe social anxieties around people until the Seventh Child, Subject Rubikard, was instated as the pilot of Evangelion Mark.04 and was able to befriend her. After Subject Rubikard broke down her walls, Subject Rineheart took to writing poetry to express herself and regularly presented it to Subject Rubikard. This eventually resulted in a written confession of love in the form of a poem to Subject Rubikard, which she accepted. Given Subject Rineheart's innate physical and mental problems with socializing, it is surmised that Subject Rineheart is fearful of losing her strongest human connection and wished to instill a more permanent bond.

Her bond with Subject Rubikard certainly seems unique. It will be interesting to see how it compares to the bond between Subjects Ayanami, Sohryu, and Ikari. As it appears that, due to Subject Rineheart's past experience with her friend Isaiah "getting revenge" for her by killing the teacher who raped her, Subject Rineheart may have developed something of a Messiah complex, specifically in relation to Subject Rubikard. Subject Rineheart has displayed extreme selflessness when caring for Subject Rubikard and has a strong urge to protect her.

It should also be noted that Subject Rineheart can be extremely easy to startle. This is presumed to be because of her social anxiety as well as the general trauma of being raped and being physically assaulted to the point she went mute due to brain damage. She can often times make foolish mistakes when startled and has displayed irrational (though almost always innocent) and exaggerated actions and reactions when surprised. So, care should be taken when addressing her as she has, on exactly one occasion, literally jumped out of her shoes in surprise and accidentally sent one of said shoes flying through a window and right into someone's bowl of chili when she inadvertently jerked her leg in fear after someone at NERV-02 walked up behind her and dropped a bag of concrete mix on the ground outside a storage building and unintentionally alarmed her in the process.

To make matters worse, the man who's bowl of chili her shoe had landed in came storming out of the barracks asking which person thought it would be funny to throw a shoe through the window only to see Subject Rineheart trying to put on her shoe and realized she must've been the culprit. He then aggressively approached her and asked what she thought she was doing, to which she tried to apologize. Though, that was difficult for her due to her being mute and she simple started crying instead before several other men stepped in and said it had been by accident. Subject Rineheart then, being the caring and giving girl she is, offered to make homemade chili for the man by typing a message out on her phone and showing it to him, tears still rolling down her cheeks the entire time. And, she true to her word did indeed fulfill her promise to make chili for the man which eventually prompted him to apologize to her as well.

Additional Note, Entry-01: A sample of [REDACTED] was obtained from Subject Rineheart without her knowledge. This is to be used in the [REDACTED] project as demanded by order of [REDACTED].

Additional Note, Entry-02: Subject Rineheart as well as Subject Rubikard are both well versed in sign language. Despite being aware of Subject Rubikard's sign language proficiency, we didn't initially pick up on this in Subject Rineheart due to her being so anxious and avoidant of human interaction. No wonder Subject Rubikard was able to get through to her.

Additional Note, Entry-03: Subject Rineheart has been found to have had sexual interactions with Subject Rubikard. This is, of course, technically illegal. But, obviously, neither wish to press charges against each other due to romantic involvement and the Marduk Institute and NERV-02 have both granted them immunity. This is probably for the best as both seem to be showing improved mental stability, higher esteem, and given both subjects are female, there are no problems that would arise in the neural interfacing process due to there being no pregnancy potential to introduce thought noise.

Additional Note, Entry-04: Subject Rineheart has shown distress over the fact that Subject Rubikard has temporarily been suspended from piloting due to Mark.04 showing severe signs of instability after the installation of the experimental [REDACTED] engine. Other than that, Subject Rineheart appears to be in much better spirits than when she first arrived and has taken it upon herself to help coach Subject Rubikard in speaking English more fluently since Subject Rubikard is deaf and can only hear when synchronizing with Mark.04.

Ritsuko finished reading the report and, with a sorrowful expression on her face, added another note.

Additional Note, Entry-05: Evangelion Unit-03 has been severely damaged by 777 Protocol Initiation in Evangelion Unit-02 at the behest of Subject Sohryu after Unit-03 was somehow corrupted by the Eleventh Angel, Codename: Bardiel. Subject Rineheart is hereby to be indefinitely placed on standby.

End of Case File for Subject Rineheart.

Ritsuko pushed her glasses up her head and rested her face in her palms.

"God, I hope she'll be okay," Ritsuko sighed before removing her hands from her face and opening the next file.

Case File #06 AIR

Subject Name: Rubikard, Ahni. Isabella

Marduk Institution Labeling: The Seventh Child

Subject's Mother: Rubikard, Rosa. Fiorella

Subject's Father: Rubikard, Donovan. Jarvis

Guardians: N/A

Date of Birth: Monday, September 1st, 2003

Current Residence: The United States, Bergheim, Texas (Subject often times resides at on base accommodations at NERV-02 in Nevada)

Eye Color: Blue

Hair Color: Black (with natural white forelock)

Pilot of: Evangelion Mark.04

Subject Summary: The Seventh Child and currently the youngest ever Evangelion pilot, she ages only eleven at the time of writing the initial summary. Subject Rubikard was born with total sensorineural hearing loss due to a mutation in her MITF gene that caused her to also be born with Type-2A Waardenburg Syndrome. Her father was American while her mother was a Peruvian immigrant who moved to The United States shortly after second impact. She spent most of her younger life living in Bergheim, Texas while going to school in the next town over.

As well as depriving her of her ability to hear, her genetic condition caused her to be born with abnormally pale blue eyes as well as a patch of naturally discolored white hair above her forehead (there are several other places on her body that also display discoloration), which teachers at her school initially mistook as hair dye and demanded that she remove the "dye" to adhere to the dress code. Being deaf, she obviously did not regard the teachers' demands, which led to some social conflict and mistrust towards adults.

The manager of these case files (myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi) was afforded the chance to meet her in person as the Marduk Institute had displayed interest in her. The case manager (myself, Doctor Akagi) thought she was strikingly beautiful due to her unusual features, but Subject Rubikard asserts she has suffered just as much bullying as she has admiration. That could be potentially inaccurate though as the subject, obviously being unable to hear, may actually suffer more bullying than she is actually aware of.

One particularly notable set of instances of bullying she suffered was from a fellow student that attended her school named Sophie Provenzano. Sophie was apparently a regular harasser of Subject Rubikard and singled her out due to her deafness and her looks, reportedly seeing her as "competition" when it came to attention, recognition, and beauty standards. Sophie apparently held a deep resentment for and jealously towards Subject Rubikard's abnormally blue eyes and the white streak in her hair and was reported to have repeatedly thrown dirt and sand in Subject Rubikard's eyes while her friends would restrain or even beat Subject Rubikard and prevent her from running away.

These repeated efforts in bullying Subject Rubikard eventually came to a head when Sophie brought a kitchen knife to school and threatened Subject Rubikard with it during their recess break period when they were let out to the playground. It is presumed that Sophie did not actually intend to harm Subject Rubikard and was only attempting to intimidate and frighten her. But, Subject Rubikard, being backed against the school fence at the time and having a knife waved around in front of her face by someone who had continually abused her, was in fear for her life. And, when Sophie approached Subject Rubikard, the subject kicked her in the gut causing her to drop the knife. Subject Rubikard herself then picked up the knife and stabbed Sophie several times as Sophie's friends were still surrounding her and Subject Rubikard did not like her odds. The children quickly scattered upon seeing Sophie being stabbed and Subject Rubikard, presumably at her breaking point, attempted to chase after them and stab them as well. She was quickly immobilized with a taser after the school police officer saw her threatening the other children and no one else came to harm

Sophie was hospitalized and survived and Subject Rubikard was brought to court, though the charges against her were mostly dropped after the court was informed that Subject Rubikard had always been extremely well behaved and had always desired to be left alone and in peace and only acted the way she had due to Sophie threatening her and harassing her for a prolonged amount of time. As well as this, the Marduk Institute had already been eyeing her at the time and exerted further pressure to have the girl's actions overlooked by the judge.

Conflict between Sophie and Subject Rubikard largely seemed to cease after that, though it appears as though Subject Rubikard was permanently mentally damaged by their final encounter. As a result of her bullying, she seems to have developed an overadapted fight or flight response that tends to lean more towards fighting. And, when she feels her life is threatened, she becomes extremely violent and abandons most of her reason until she feels the danger has passed.

Due to her hearing disabilities as well as the bullying and controversy she was subject to, she was largely kept separate from other children at her school in Boerne, Texas. This resulted in a dual setback in her social growth as both her deafness and her seclusion destroyed her ability to socialize in a healthy manner. As well as this, the subject's mother went missing and was eventually pronounced dead. This left the subject with no closure as well as nightmares and insomnia for several years

This all negatively affected her grades as depression set in and caused her to loose interest in her school subjects. Though, it should be noted that she possessed a natural love of learning and often researched topics far beyond anything the other students at her school were taught.

When the case manager (myself, Doctor Akagi) met with her years ago, she displayed extremely advanced knowledge for someone of her age and was actually able to keep up with the case manager (myself, Doctor Akagi) and a translator in a written conversation relating to "The Phosphorus Problem" and neutron star mergers.

The case manager (myself, Doctor Akagi) regretfully did not have time to probe her any further or score her IQ. But, given her age, I am certain she could have an IQ score around one hundred and ninety and is almost certainly destined to become a polymath genius. In fact, I am ashamed to say this, but I believe with proper nurturing, she will surpass the intelligence of the case manager (myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi).

The truly astounding part is that Subject Rubikard had failed or was failing every single one of her classes due to her work ethic and, more importantly, her executive function disorder that was brought on by her depression, not because she was incapable.

It was truly saddening to see Subject Rubikard in that state, and so the case manager (myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi) arranged for her to be hired by NERV-02 as a subject of study where she would receive a far better and more free-form education as well as much needed social interaction to help her flourish. She has done exceedingly well with the increased social and mental stimulation.

During an experiment it was discover that, when synchronizing with Evangelion Mark.04, she was remarkably able to hear. Of course, this was initially totally unfamiliar to her and Subject Rubikard was quite terrified. But eventually, it was pieced together that Subject Rubikard was able to hear though the Evangelion if she concentrated enough. She herself was still completely deaf, but there was a "presence of sound in her mind" granted though the neural connection with Mark.04.

NERV-02 began giving the subject speech lessons and she is now remarkably able to speak despite never having heard a word in her life. It should be noted though, Subject's speech is highly irregular, slurred, and amateur, if still rather endearing. It is truly miraculous nonetheless.

Eventually, Subject was made the official pilot of Evangelion Mark.04 and declared The Seventh Child by the Marduk Institute. It was shortly after this that Subject Rubikard was given her own plugsuit and fortuitously met with Subject Rineheart in the changing room after seeing each other around the base several times. The two immediately became fast friends and would never be found far from each other. They would often times be found spending time together at night outside of their quarters as Subject Rineheart displayed a love of stars and would point them out to Subject Rubikard. As of writing this initial summary, Subject Rubikard is leading a much better life than before and seems to be overcoming her depression, though, out of both her and Subject Rineheart, Subject Rubikard is still the more pessimistic one.

Also, one other miscellaneous note before finalizing the initial summary. Subject Rubikard seems to have an… unnatural affinity for the taste of limes. It is… completely unknown why this is, but she has been observed putting lime juice on unsuspecting food items that most people would never consider putting lime on. Milk, cookies, macaroni and cheese as well as literal cheese blocks, entire heads of lettuce, fried bananas, there was even an occasion where she put concentrated lime juice… in a half full bottle of concentrated grapefruit juice and proceeded to drink it. She's even soaked lime slices in lime juice to… "re-limeify" them in her words. She even eats the lime peels, which many people find extremely bitter on not just limes, but the majority of citrus fruits. It is baffling and extremely odd, but… harmless. At least I hope it's harmless as I would be totally unaware of how to proceed if she were indeed addicted to limes or had some… other... deficiency, whatever that might be.

Additional Note, Entry-01: A sample of [REDACTED] was obtained from Subject Rubikard without her knowledge. This is to be used in the [REDACTED] project as demanded by order of [REDACTED].

Additional Note, Entry-02: Subject Rubikard is continuing to do well. She has been an invaluable topic of study and even an asset in the workplace due to her extreme intelligence, unconventional quirkiness, and her spontaneous and potent problem solving abilities and she appears to actively enjoy her time on base at NERV-02. Subject Rubikard and Subject Rineheart's connection appears to be deepening as well. It has been noted that Subject Rineheart is quite the poet and often times writes poems to Subject Rubikard about the joys of life and love. It was also observed that Subject Rineheart communicated with Subject Rubikard in standard American sign language. It was known beforehand that Subject Rubikard self-taught herself sign language but Subject Rineheart's ability to sign went undiscovered, which isn't surprising as she is quite shy and antisocial.

Additional Note, Entry-03: Subject Rubikard has been discovered to have had sexual relations with Subject Rineheart while on base. The case manager (myself, Ritsuko Akagi) cannot condone this, but also find it hard to condemn either despite the illegality of it. Despite certain reservations, ultimately, this does not seem to be having a negative affect on either subject pilot and both have been granted immunity and protections under the law.

Additional Note, Entry-04: Subject Rubikard as been temporarily restricted from piloting Mark.04 after the installation of the [REDACTED] engine. Subject seemed mildly upset by this development but was receptive to the understanding that Mark.04 was currently, and always was, set to serve as a testbed and that it was highly unstable and dangerous to be inside it after what happened to Provisional Unit-05 at Bethany Base. Subject Rubikard's fellow pilot, friend, and now lover, Subject Rineheart, has taken up attempting to continue Subject Rubikard's speech lessons despite the communication barriers they face without Mark.04 to act as a communication medium for Subject Rubikard to hear though.

"Geez, poor girl. I can't imagine how she's coping with Mark.04's destruction," Ritsuko muttered to herself as she added another note.

Additional Note, Entry-05: Subject Rubikard is suspended from piloting indefinitely after the unintended destruction of Mark.04 due to a likely malfunction in it's [REDACTED] engine. It is worrying what effect this might have on the subject's psychological state but, unfortunately, nothing can currently be done to change this situation. Fortunately, Subjects Rubikard and Rineheart were both on leave in Flagstaff, Arizona to visit the Lowell Observatory at the behest of Subject Rineheart at the time Mark.04 spontaneously detonated and neither were harmed. Their escort immediately had them both return to NERV-02 in Nevada.

End of Case File for Subject Rubikard.

Ritsuko unconsciously pulled a pen out of the pocket of her lab coat and began chewing on it nervously as she opened the next report.

Case File #07 PROJECT: Platinum Dawn

Subject Name: N/A

Marduk Institution Labeling: The Fifth Child

Subject's Mother: N/A

Subject's Father: N/A

Guardians: N/A

Date of Birth: N/A

Current Residence: N/A

Eye Color: N/A

Hair Color: N/A

Pilot of: Evangelion Mark.06

Subject Summary: N/A

End of Case File on PROJECT: Platinum Dawn

"Right, of course. This one. I forgot," Ritsuko sighed before closing the file and opening the next one, "I wonder why Seele and the Marduk Institute have been so tight lipped about the fifth child."

Case File #08 MIM

Subject Name: Makinami, Mari. "Illustrious"

Marduk Institution Labeling: The Fourth Child

Subject's Mother: [REDACTED]

Subject's Father: [REDACTED]

Guardians: N/A

Date of Birth: Thursday, March 3rd, [REDACTED]

Current Residence: [REDACTED]

Eye Color: Teal

Hair Color: Brown

Pilot of: Evangelion Unit-08 (Temporarily Piloted Provisional Unit-05 as Undesignated Test Pilot)

Subject Summary: The Fourth Child, Subject Makinami, is the designated Pilot of Unit-08. But, in truth, she is more than just an Evangelion Pilot.

In the year [REDACTED], she found a practical method of [REDACTED] LCL after she graduated from The Kyoto University alongside [REDACTED], [REDACTED], and [REDACTED] and joined [REDACTED]. As well as this, she discovered LCL had [REDACTED] properties that allowed [REDACTED] and also enabled the inception of the [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], and [REDACTED] series projects. She is a certified monomath and probable polymath.

However, during her time at The Kyoto University, she developed some jealousy towards [REDACTED] as the subject viewed her brilliance as superior and ended up stealing her glasses in frustration. It was later found out by [REDACTED] that Subject Makinami had stolen her glasses, which caused the subject to lash out at her due to her jealousy and insecurity. [REDACTED] ended up deescalating the confrontation and allowed Subject Makinami to keep her glasses, which she still wears to this day as a keepsake and memento. Also… [REDACTED] began wearing contacts after that incident to avoid a repeat of it. I can't say I blame her...

As well as this, Subject Makinami is also the one who introduced [REDACTED] to [REDACTED] which ultimately ended up in them getting married. Not terribly relevant in relation to studying the subject, but an interesting bit of history nonetheless.

Despite all this though, Subject Makinami has remained exceedingly elusive and it is always a challenge to pin down her location at any given time unless she explicitly desires to be found. Given she is one of the earlier members of [REDACTED] she has an intimate knowledge of how things work internally. This is somewhat worrying but she generally is not perceived as causing too much trouble and always pops up again some time or later, and so the higher ups generally leave her be despite how lax she is. I suppose geniuses come from all walks of life. More notes to follow...

Additional Note, Entry-01: Subject Makinami has been observed to… enjoy the smell and taste of LCL, going so far as to call it her "favorite smell in the world" on numerous occasions. Given her background, the case manager (myself, Doctor Akagi) should really not be surprised, but I must say that I am indeed revolted and surprised in equal measure. Subject Makinami is a strange and chaotic entity and the case manager (myself, Doctor Akagi) is not sure she ever wants to be within her general vicinity…

Additional Note, Entry-02: Despite the death of [REDACTED], who was apparently a close friend of hers, Subject Makinami has been stated to have always been her excitable and care-free self. The case manager (myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi) has not observed this herself as it was before… Well, before. (Saying anything else would get this entry censored.) But this seems strange to the case manager.

Additional Note, Entry-03: Subject Makinami apparently has a tendency to spontaneously break into song? Why? I thought this was something that only happened in musicals. Who in their right mind actually does this? The case manager has many questions that she's not sure she wants the answers to…

Additional Note, Entry-04: Subject Makinami appeared from seemingly out of nowhere at Bethany Base, where Unit-05 was being experimented on, and proceeded to walk right through the front door (There is no front door; only helipads and tightly guarded docks. It's in the middle of the ocean. How the hell did she get there?) like it wasn't one of the most secure places on earth and she hadn't shown up unexpectedly. She must have very high clearance; higher than any other Evangelion pilot currently has. She apparently was then allowed to pilot Unit-05 despite it's highly experimental nature. Of course, she showed reckless abandon while piloting it around Cocytus like it was just some children's toy and eventually, the [REDACTED] engine detonated. She ejected Provisional Unit-05's entry plug shortly before the [REDACTED] engine detonated… but it did still detonate and we lost a multi-million dollar war machine. Good thing she (possibly) survived though, I guess... Anyhow, when a recovery team found her entry plug in the Arctic Ocean, it was apparently empty despite there being no way to evacuate and no way to survive the freezing waters, even with the assistance of her plugsuit. Her current whereabouts... or whether she is even alive or dead is completely unknown to the case manager, though the case manager (myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi) has an unfounded suspicion that Subject Makinami will reappear, though the case manager must admit, that, while not wishing death upon Subject Makinami as that would be rather unprofessional, she does hope the subject will not show her face again for some time if this is the type of mischief she causes…

Additional Note, Entry-05: In reference to the previous entry, the case manager (myself, Doctor Akagi), would like to add that she would rather deal with Subject Sohryu any day of the week. And that's saying something because, until recently, Subject Sohryu seemed to be permanently menstruating...

End of Case File on Subject Makinami.

"Geez. What a pain," Ritsuko said, though a small smile was present on her lips, "The fact you haven't been up to anything is maybe the only piece of good news today. But as for everyone else… so much has happened over just the past few days."

Ritsuko finally noticed she'd been chewing on her pen and cursed as she dropped it on the table.

"Damn it."

She then looked back at her computer and saw a file that appeared to have a lock icon on it. She of course had read these files on numerous occasions and already knew what was in these files and it wasn't particularly pleasant materiel. However, she was still stressed out and looking for any reason to put off her meeting with Gendo as he was liable to heap a whole load of responsibilities on her and she wasn't eager for even more chores despite her workaholic nature.

Ritsuko sighed sadly.

'Well, he did tell me to look over them…' Ritsuko thought to herself, trying to rationalize her decision to procrastinate.

She clicked on the file, and unlike the other ones, she was prompted to enter a password which she duly did. And then, as expected, the report loaded and appeared on her screen.

[CLASSIFIED: RESTRICTED ACCESS]

Case File #00 PROJECT: Nameless Tomorrow

Subject Name: Sazanami, Yui (First Iteration)

Marduk Institution Labeling: The Unnumbered Child

Subject's Mother: N/A

Subject's Father: N/A

Guardians: N/A

Date of Artificial Conception: Wednesday, July 15th, 1998, 8:24 AM JST

Date of Release: Monday, April 19th, 1999, 7:42 PM JST

Date of Death: Monday, April 19th, 1999, Approximately 7:50 PM JST

Current Residence: N/A

Eye Color: Orange

Hair Color: White

Pilot of: Undesignated

Subject Summary: Subject Sazanami and the rest of the Sazanami Series was the first attempt to create an artificial and manufactured Evangelion Pilot through the project initiative called "Nameless Tomorrow." As well as this, subject's genome was spliced with genetic materiel from the beyond brilliant Yui Ikari (the subject's namesake) obtained before she passed on (C.E. 2000) and the Second Angel, Codename: Lilith. She was given the name "Yui" in accordance with her primary genome donor being Yui Ikari. This set of naming conventions has been maintained in the other clone series except for the Ayanami series, who were also made using Yui's genome but were named "Rei" due to that being Gendo Ikari's preferred named for his hypothetical daughter as well as the fact "Yui" was already taken by the Sazanami series.

The ethics of the manufacturing of Subject Sazanami were… murky at best and so were kept completely hidden from the ethics board at Gehirn (To be fair, almost nothing was actually run by the ethics board for consultation anyways).

Upon retrieval from the birthing vat, emergency care was given to Subject Sazanami to help her expel the LCL from her lungs. This process was successful after examining her breath patterns. However, Subject Sazanami expired only a few minutes later. It is unknown what caused her to die as no one was able to preform an autopsy on her due to her… "disintegrating" for a lack of a better word. And she was completely "disintegrated" to be clear. At first, she appeared to fall apart at metaphorical "seams" as her arms and legs… somehow detached and fell from the center mass of her body. But, ultimately, every part of her dissolved into… something inconclusively resembling LCL.

Whatever caused her to die, it was clear Subject Sazanami was extremely unstable either biologically or abstractly through Absolute Terror Physics. It is assumed that the only reason she survived that long in the vat in the first place was due to the still unclear life and youth preserving properties of LCL discovered by Subject Makinami's experiments, as, upon removing every other of Subject Sazanami's thirteen subsequent iterations from their birthing vats, they all quickly perished in the same manner.

Sazanami's entire genome (which was stored digitally) was rebuilt from the ground up by the case manager's (myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi) mother, Doctor Naoko Akagi, which resulted in the Ayanami Series and Project Ayanami being the successors to the Sazanami Series and Project Nameless Tomorrow.

No Additional Notes...

End of Case File on Subject Sazanami and PROJECT: Nameless Tomorrow.

Ritsuko flinched reading her mother's name and decided to move onto the next report, which also required her to enter a password, which she once more typed before reading the document.

[CLASSIFIED: RESTRICTED ACCESS]

Case File #01 RA-I

Subject Name: Ayanami, Rei (First Iteration)

Marduk Institution Labeling: The First Child

Subject's Mother: N/A

Subject's Father: N/A

Guardians: Ikari, Gendo (Adoptive Father)

Date of Artificial Conception: Monday, June 19th, 2000, 8:09 PM JST

Date of Release: Saturday, March 17th, 2001, 6:16 AM JST

Date of Death: Tuesday, July 26th, 2006, Approximately 1:00 AM JST

Current Residence: N/A

Eye Color: Red

Hair Color: Blue

Pilot of: Retired

Subject Summary: The Original First Child and the first cloned entity to be able to successfully survive without needing to be submerged in LCL for a near total amount of time, Subject Ayanami (I) still displays some of the original pitfalls of the Sazanami Series, like physiological precariousness and instability of her Absolute Terror Field, but on a much more manageable timescale. She still must bathe in LCL, but she is able to be independent of such necessities for much longer amounts of time.

She was still only just barely able to be woven together genetically though. For this reason, we named her series of clones "Ayanami," meaning "twilled waves." She and the others in her series are named after a Fubuki class Destroyer that Gendo Ikari happened to be particularly fascinated with as well as the fact that twilling is a form of weaving and that Subject Ayanami (I) was "stitched" together with care and hard work. And because of that, Gehirn accomplished something that at the time had long been thought to be relegated to fiction, we combined two life forms into one with genetic splicing and the resulting life that was created was able to sustain itself, at least more than any other creature that had its genome perilously and undependabley thrown together from bits and pieces of other life before it.

Subject Ayanami (I) has (had) shown herself to be rather normal, aside from her oddly colored red eyes and blue hair. The hair is easy enough to explain away as hair dye, but the eyes… draw some attention.

Unfortunately, due to a… run in with the case manager's (myself, Doctor Akagi) mother, Subject Ayanami (I) was… strangulated to death after… we assume she accidentally provoked the case manger's mother due to her being young and unaware of what she was saying based off the camera footage, but we don't know for sure. After the case manager's mother… "came to her senses" and realized what she had done, she committed suicide.

After what happened had been found out later in the day, Gendo Ikari was furious and attempted to capture Subject Ayanami's (I) soul with… The End of Proof Object. The attempt was successful. Subject Ayanami's (I) soul was eventually transferred to Evangelion Unit-00 and ultimately preserved her life. Subject Ayanami (II) was awoken approximately a day and a half later and began her conditioning.

No Additional Notes...

End of Case File on Subject Ayanami: First Iteration

Ritsuko depressingly shut her eyes and sighed, taking a moment to try to calm herself before opening the next file. Once again, she was required to enter a password to access the documents and she entered it before then going over the contents.

[CLASSIFIED: RESTRICTED ACCESS]

Case File #1438 Q.E.D. Musica Universalis

Where to even start with this file…

"Quod Erat Demonstrandum," Latin for "What is to be demonstrated." In our modern Argumentative Composition as well as mathematics and the fields of science, we have what is called "End of Proof." This is derived from "Quod Erat Demonstrandum."

So it was that, when Gehirn found a strange object of unknown origin in [REDACTED] that could transfer souls from one corporeal living vessel to another, it was named "The End of Proof Object" due to it demonstrating that the soul (or something so remarkably similar to it as to not matter the difference) was indeed empirical and more than just a metaphor for consciousness or life and that there was simply no way to argue against it. This single object is what opened up the field of Absolute Terror physics to people like Yui Ikari, Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu, Gendo Rokubungi, Mari Makinami, the case manager's mother; Naoko Akagi, and the case manager (myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi) herself.

For some time, what exactly the End of Proof Object was went unknown. It was a difficult to describe artifact. Roughly in the shape of an ellipsoid, and small enough to be held in one's hand, its pattern constantly shifts and often times portrays what look like rapidly moving stars or sparks, though only vaguely. However, upon capturing a soul, its color shifts to "the color of the soul." And, no, the case manager is not being poetic. It truly does seem to represent the color of the soul it has entrapped. (Who knew souls had color?) It is not entirely certain how the "color" of the soul is determined or how the End of Proof Object shifts in color, but it does. Until more research is done, its something we just have to accept. And, given how often (or not) the only two End of Proof Objects are used, they are usually kept locked away in [REDACTED] making it hard to actually preform further tests on them. One thing can be said for sure though. The color of the soul seems to match the color of one's A.T. field.

As for how it was discovered to be able to capture souls, lets just say that, one day, there was a sweet girl attending a top secret meeting. This girl was gentle and caring and thought all life was precious. So, when one of her colleagues, who happened to be scared of spiders crushed an unfortunate spider that had happened to be in the room the meeting was taking place in, the girl, who happened to have pet spiders at home (several Typhochlaena amma, Pterinopelma sazimai, and Monocentropus balfouri where all the Case manager was able to find evidence of), was notably upset. The End of Proof Object then seemingly… "responded" to the girl's distress and captured the drifting soul of the now dead spider.

Once again, very mysterious. Difficult to describe. Or any other phrase you'd like you use to signify something beyond comprehension. Literally no one knows how it captured the spider's soul. In fact, at first, no one even knew it had captured the spider's soul. They only saw that The End of Proof Object had shifted from its usual speckled black color to a solid brownish-green. It was only discovered after an unfortunate accident several weeks later that, upon having a certain person wish to restore life to a lab rat, the End of Proof Object once again responded to the desires of the person and then proceeded to instill the spider's soul into a rat that had just recently died. Once again, it was noted that the End of Proof Object had reverted back to its usual black self with colored "sparks" floating around inside of it after the rat… or the spider… whichever you prefer, had been restored to life. Either way the spider (rat?) did not appear… pleased and displayed odd gestures of aggression when interacted with; gestures of aggression that normal rats do not display but that spiders often do. Threat posturing.

This also infers that the subject's soul is still… conscious? No, conscious isn't the right word. But, the soul inside is somehow aware of what is transpiring around it, which means that there is somehow a way to translate memory based information to the soul directly and bypass the corporeal body.

After this series of events, as well as several other anomalies, Yui Ikari took a significant interest in The End of Proof Object and became very passionate about uncovering its workings. This… had an interesting result. Yui Ikari was able to construct a device that was able to artificially transfer the soul in a similar manner. (It should be noted, it is unknown if The End of Proof Objects are natural or artificial, though the case manager's bet is on artificial given the context of where they were found.) The exact workings of this device are… beyond just classified. It is, in practice, entirely forbidden to speak of the device on top of it being considered… unsafe after a certain series of incidents that will be covered further down. What I can say is the device does partly seem to operate on a similar principle to the A-10 neural connectors that our Evangelion Pilots make use of.

Anyhow, due to the unknown properties of The End of Proof Object, Yui wanted a human operated device in place of a mysterious… thing. And, she was successful in working out a blueprint for the device, and eventually, after it was constructed, it is believed she intentionally, or by accident, projected her own soul into Evangelion-01 during a contact experiment, leaving her original body lifeless. Once again, this is just speculation. No one knows if she did it by design or not. Unit-01 was lifeless and soulless before this. It was a potentially predictable outcome. But, she never explicitly revealed her plans to anyone, aside from perhaps her husband, Gendo Ikari, who has refused to comment on the matter.

This… goes without saying, but this event appears to have had extremely negative effects on Gendo Ikari, though he has often times said it was "necessary in order to save the world." Though the case manager is not sure how much he believes that himself.

Despite this turn of events, Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu preformed a similar contact experiment on Unit-02, though this… experiment had a conclusion that was just as tragic. After startup of a sister device in Germany, there was a malfunction in it and… it would appear Kyoko's soul was entirely split into two halves before an emergency shutdown was initiated. Her body did not keel over, die, and disintegrate into LCL as Yui's did, though there did appear to be new-found life in Evangelion-02 after measuring it's Absolute Terror waveform. It was found later to be strikingly similar to Kyoko's A.T. Field waveform measurements, though notably different (Kyoko's own A.T. field was also found to have differences compared to what was previously recorded, almost as if the now split soul had different aspects in some way). However, Kyoko's own body still displayed life as well as… an abstract response that seemed pained, but no one was ever able to deduce whether she was suffering from physical pain or something else entirely.

Either way, Kyoko seemed to have lost her sanity after the contact experiment. This would infer that there is perhaps a very delicate intertwining of the soul and of thoughts. Or that, at the very least, there is some kind of "residue" left "on" the soul by thoughts and memories. As, also, in the case of the spider, it appeared hostile after being resurrected, which could infer a continuity of memory.

After Kyoko's sanity deteriorated and she'd killed herself, Gendo Ikari, who had been made Commander, issued an organization wide ban on the use of these devices (which are also not allowed to be specifically named after the ban so as to prevent anyone digging them up) and elected instead to rely solely on The End of Proof Object(s) for further instances of soul transfer.

As mentioned before, The End of Proof Object is capable of displaying the "color of the soul," which it did on several occasions, most notably after the strangulation and murder of Subject Ayanami (I) where, upon taking her soul into it, it became a sky blue color that was described by Commander Ikari as "emanating untold sadness and regret." It is unclear if Commander Ikari was simply waxing poetical in grief (which he rarely ever does, verging on never) or if Commander Ikari truly felt the emotions of Subject Ayanami's (I) soul.

On several more occasions was it demonstrated that The End of Proof Object was shown to take on the color of the soul. After the orchestrated death of Subject Rineheart's mother, Sara Marie Rineheart, it is described as having taken on a color between orange and yellow after it had captured her soul before it was then transferred to Evangelion Unit-03. And once more after the, yet again, organized death of Subject Rubikard's mother, Rosa Fiorella Rubikard, was the Object displayed to become a dark navy blue color before her soul was finally instilled, quickened, and awakened in Evangelion Mark.04.

As the case manager, I must say I find these instances truly disgusting. Awful. Completely irredeemable. But yet, I also find it fascinating. And… there is no other way.

Currently, NERV only has in it's possession two End of Proof Objects, which means that we can only store two souls at a time unless we can come up with an alternative vessel. Though, there's no telling what effect it would have on the soul to move it between that many vessels that often. Would it lose its identity? Would it eventually be torn apart? Would it be driven to madness? Would it be fine? No one knows. And hopefully no one ever does...

Both End of Proof Objects are kept in [REDACTED] and can only be accessed by a select number of people. The original End of Proof Object was discovered with [REDACTED] while the other was discovered with [REDACTED]. The one obtained from [REDACTED] was the one that Yui Ikari built her machine off of while the second one was seemingly kept in a place that the case manager (myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi) does not know until it was one day, at a later time, presented to Commander Ikari by [REDACTED] and stored with the first one.

End of Case File on "The End of Proof Objects."

After rereading the document for what had probably been the dozenth time in her life, Ritsuko felt a few tears welling up in her eyes. Especially now of all times, after Pilots Rineheart and Rubikard had lost access to their Evangelion, did Ritsuko feel exceptionally guilty of the deaths of the American girls' mothers, even if she herself was not directly responsible for it. All these lies and half truths ate at her every single day she lived despite her doing a good job of hiding it. And what made it worse was that all these people relied on her, trusted her, some of them even called her a friend. And she still hid these things from them.

Even now, after years, Ritsuko could still remember how sick she felt with herself when talking with Pilot Rubikard, listening to her tell her about the suffering she had been through after loosing her mother, and knowing the whole time that she could have told her exactly what had happened to her mother.

Every day Ritsuko kept these secrets was torture. But she was in too deep now and she couldn't escape the web of lies.

Once more, she closed the file before going over to the next one, and like clockwork, entering the password and perusing its words.

[CLASSIFIED: RESTRICTED ACCESS]

Case File #19346 The Auracell

This case file is a continuation of Case File #1438

So, about about how Gendo Ikari restricted all soul transference to strictly The End of Proof Objects. Yeah, well, turns out, we figured out that things don't always go our way. Who would have thought?

Despite Gendo Ikari's obvious pain over loosing Yui to the previous soul transference devices and the unfortunate circumstances that let up to the suicide of Kyoko Sohryu and the mental scaring of her daughter, Subject Sohryu, it was ultimately decided that we needed a more accessible and importantly, more reliable, way to store and transfer souls. The only things that could do such things were either kept under lock and key or were deliberately erased from the annals of history.

After more than plenty of experiments, it was found that the soul only remains for some time before dissipating and "returning" to a place that certain higher ups are calling the [REDACTED]. That's great. That means you can effectively capture someone's soul and resurrect them even after they've been killed. But what happens if their soul dissipates and you really want to put that soul into a multi-million dollar war machine or anything else and the only thing you can do that with is halfway across the globe?

Well, you'd be shit out of luck.

It was obvious we needed something portable, and that wasn't so valuable that it had to be kept in a top secret vault. And so, after spending much time convincing him, Gendo Ikari relented and Gehirn/NERV were able to proceed with further research on soul transference.

Eventually, after much trial and error, we were able to develop what we called "The Auracell." This was our attempt at creating a manmade End of Proof Object along with refining the soul transference techniques employed by Yui Ikari and Kyoko Sohryu.

Most of their design is highly classified for understandable reasons and looking at blueprints for them would require even higher clearance than what is already needed to view this file. But, one key thing is that there is a core vial of LCL in them that is able to house the soul safely. Overall, they work very similarly to The End of Proof Objects and have so far proven to be much safer in test environments than anything we constructed before. Though, much of the experimentation leading to the final design was not safe and ultimately cost several people their lives. Though, the last person to die actually did have their soul captured. Though, what happened to their soul after that isn't quite so clear.

These devices are very expensive to create though. And, while they have alleviated some of the pressure around only having two vessels for soul storage, they can still only be produced in extremely limited quantities.

As of writing this report, Japan only has three, The United States two, Germany one, and one additional one is held onto by the U.N. in case any branch of NERV needs a spare.

End of Case file on "The Auracell."

Once more, Ritsuko sighed and closed the file before opening the next one and entering her password.

[CLASSIFIED: RESTRICTED ACCESS]

Case File #11 ABU

Subject Name: Uranami, Amelia. Bree (First Iteration)

Marduk Institution Labeling: The Sixth Child

Subject's Mother: N/A

Subject's Father: N/A

Guardians: N/A

Date of Artificial Conception: Friday, February 2nd, 2007, 2:33 PM MST

Date of Release: Monday, November 5th, 2007, 3:57 AM MST

Current Residence: N/A

Eye Color: Grey (with occasional golden/amber/yellow flecks)

Hair Color: Golden Pearl Blonde

Pilot of: Undesignated (Intended to Pilot Evangelion Unit-03 in the event Subject Rineheart is no longer capable of serving as its pilot.)

Subject Summary: One of the more recent clone series to have emerged from a birthing vat, Subject Uranami is probably the most perfect clone created by NERV so far. The case manager is told Subject Uranami is practically the spitting image of Subject Rineheart not including the difference in age, which is, unfortunately, more pronounced than in the earlier but more imperfect clones. Both American Subjects joined NERV somewhat later in their young lives and obtaining gene samples from them without them knowing had proven difficult which also delayed the production of both the Uranami and Isonami series clones.

Like the clone series before her (excluding the Ayanami series) Subject Uranami inherited her given name of "Amelia" from her genome donor while what would ordinarily be her family name has been replaced with the name given to her series of clones, in this case being "Uranami."

Currently, Subject Uranami is said to be undergoing conditioning and language lessons. Obviously, she can speak, unlike her genome donor, Subject Rineheart, who suffered a brain injury which left her unable to speak due to anarthria. Her speech progress is supposedly going well for someone her age but, the case manager (myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi) is worried about the conditions she potentially lives in.

Given the Case manager's own experience with similar matters regarding the various clone series, it is not unreasonable to think that Subject Uranami may be living in complete isolation, or worse, may potentially be being abused in myriad ways. It is difficult to determine as this topic of conversation is highly restricted and tightly regulated and is difficult for the case manager (myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi) to gain a reliable grasp on the situation and anyone between the case manager and Subject Uranami could manipulate the narrative.

I sincerely hope she is doing well…

No additional notes…

End of Case File for Subject Uranami: First Iteration

Once more, Ritsuko found herself tearing up before she opened the next file.

[CLASSIFIED: RESTRICTED ACCESS]

Case File #12 AII

Subject Name: Isonami, Ahni. Isabella (First Iteration)

Marduk Institution Labeling: The Seventh Child

Subject's Mother: N/A

Subject's Father: N/A

Guardians: N/A

Date of Artificial Conception: Sunday, January 4th, 2009, 3:29 AM MST

Date of Release: Saturday, September 26th, 2009, 4:42 PM MDT

Current Residence: N/A

Eye Color: Hazel

Hair Color: Black

Pilot of: Undesignated (Intended to Pilot Evangelion Mark.04 in the event Subject Rubikard is no longer capable of serving as its pilot.)

Subject Summary: The most recent of any Evangelion Pilot clone to be retrieved from their birthing vat, Subject Isonami is the most advanced clone yet, so much so that she in not simply a perfect clone of Subject Rubikard, but an improvement on Subject Rubikard as, after her genome had been read by the compiling software, the geneticists at NERV-02 were able to eliminate her Type-2A Waardenburg syndrome before beginning her incubation.

Due to this, her melanocytes are all properly dispersed within her body and she somewhat differs in appearance from her genome donor, lacking Subject Rubikard's signature blue eyes and white forelock, but is able to hear, unlike Subject Rubikard. Subject Isonami is also said to display the same promising exceptional mental performance of Subject Rubikard.

Like the Uranami and Sazanami series of clones, the Isonami series also inherited their given names from their genome donor, Subject Rubikard. As such, Subject Isonami's (First Iteration) given name is Ahni.

But, once again, the Case Manager (myself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi) must express her fears over the potential mistreatment of Subject Isonami. As stated in Case File #11, it is difficult to ascertain the true nature of her living conditions and the Case Manager has reason to believe the possibility Subject Isonami is experiencing or has experienced intentional sexual, physical, or mental abuse is extremely high. And, even if that is not the case, it is entirely possible that, Subject Isonami, as a clone, is being kept in total isolation, which would be disastrous for her developing mind and would potentially permanently damage her ability to pilot Evangelion Mark.04.

Information is extremely limited however. I once again hope for the best...

No additional notes…

End of Case File for Subject Isonami: First Iteration

Ritsuko, staring blankly at her computer as tears continued to dampen her face, once more took her glasses off and set them on the desk. She then closed the file before folding her arms over her desk and crying into them.

"Treating them all like they're disposable," Ritsuko quietly sobbed into the sleeves of her lab coat, "Like they can just be replaced. They're living humans, damn it! Clone or not!"

For almost half a minute, she just sat there, soaking the sleeves of her lab coat as she continued to cry. Ritsuko was usually excellent at hiding her stress and guilty feelings. But both always ate her alive and sometimes, those feelings would manage to peek through her cracks and she'd have to take a moment to let those emotions out so she could put herself back together.

Honestly, the woman did know how much longer she could take it. She knew it was likely only a matter of time before she snapped if she kept living like this. But for now, all she could do was cry.

She finally sat back up in her seat and took several deep breaths trying to compose herself. A few more tears fell out of her eyes and she wiped them away before sniffling and glancing at the next file on her computer. This one was labeled "09" and, upon seeing it, she closed her eyes and took another breath, filling up her lungs and trying to cleanse herself of the disgust she felt.

Finally, opening her eyes, she clicked on the file and entered her password.

[CLASSIFIED: RESTRICTED ACCESS]

Case File #09 ALS-I

Subject Name: Shikinami, Asuka. Langley (First Iteration)

Marduk Institution Labeling: The Second Child

Subject's Mother: N/A

Subject's Father: N/A

Guardians: N/A

Date of Artificial Conception: Wednesday, December 5th, 2001, 9:39 PM JST

Date of Release: Tuesday, August 6th, 2002, 4:54 AM JST

Date of Death: Tuesday, June 14th, 2005, Approximately 3:00 PM JST

Current Residence: N/A

Eye Color: Blue

Hair Color: Strawberry Blonde

Pilot of: Retired

Subject Summary: An imperfect but completely serviceable clone of Subject Sohryu, intended to serve as a reserve Pilot to Evangelion Unit-02 in the event Subject Sohryu was ever unable to pilot for reasons like death in combat. As well as this, the Shikinami series were much more genetically stable than the Ayanami series or the Sazanami series before them and there was no need for them to return to the LCL chambers every so often as they were fully able to sustain themselves.

Subject Shikinami (I) and Subject Shikinami (II) began incubation the day after Subject Sohryu was born and after her complete genome had been sequenced and sent to Japan through digital transmission which marked the beginning of the Shikinami series of clones as well as the Shikinami project itself.

After several months of incubation, it was found that, despite Subject Sohryu's genome having been sequenced in its entirety, there was a small inconsistency between Subject Sohryu and the two Shikinami subjects. As our cloning technology was still somewhat in its infancy back then, even with the creation of the Evangelion prototypes and Ayanami series, there had been a small error in both Shikinami subjects, most notably that the MC1R gene variants, which were homozygous and deactivated by mutation in Subject Sohryu and ended with her having red hair color, where actually made heterozygous, causing part of the MC1R gene to be reactivated in the Shikinami subjects, resulting in them both having more of a strawberry blonde hair color instead of Subject Sohryu's red. We assume that the error was on the computer's end or was human error that manifested in the replicator, as Subject Sohryu should not have any heterozygous RHC genetic materiel in her considering her red hair's recessive nature. Besides that though, they were almost perfect replicas of her, once again, not taking into account the almost one year age difference and hair color.

However, that is where their similarities end. While Subject Sohryu went on to achieve many prestigious accolades and become famous all over the world, Subject Shikinami (I) was to be kept deep below NERV HQ in the darkness in a set of conditioning rooms somewhere about the restricted access layer in or around Terminal Dogma.

Even as a newborn freshly retrieved from the vat, Subject Shikinami (I) was treated despicably by a bad actor who had consistently abused her until she finally died due to organ rupture. She wasn't even three years of age at the time if you exclude her incubation period. The Case Manager… I, Ritsuko Akagi, am completely disgusted with how she was treated. The only redeeming part of this report is that the culprit was caught and [REDACTED] and that Subject Shikinami's (I) soul was captured in one of The End of Proof Objects, where she currently remains and lives on to this day.

If the End of Proof Objects allow the soul they contain to be aware of what is happening around it however, I can only imagine how miserable she must be.

No additional notes.

End of Case File for Subject Shikinami: First Iteration

Once again, Ritsuko began crying. Between her tears blurring her vision and the fact she hadn't put her glasses back on, she could barely read the words on her computer. Taking a moment to find her cursor, she then closed the file before opening the next one and entering her password for what would hopefully be the last time today.

[CLASSIFIED: RESTRICTED ACCESS]

Case File #10 ALS-II

Subject Name: Shikinami, Asuka. Langley (Second Iteration)

Marduk Institution Labeling: The Second Child

Subject's Mother: N/A

Subject's Father: N/A

Guardians: N/A

Date of Artificial Conception: Wednesday, December 5th, 2001, 11:18 PM JST

Date of Release: Tuesday, June 15th, 2005, 6:51 PM JST

Current Residence: N/A

Eye Color: Blue

Hair Color: Strawberry Blonde

Pilot of: Undesignated (Intended to pilot Evangelion Unit-02 in the event Subject Sohryu is no longer willing or able to.)

Subject Summary: The Second Iteration of Subject Shikinami… The case manager… I wish I could say this Case File wasn't as hard to read as the last. But… it is worse in almost every way imaginable…

The day after Subject Shikinami (I) was discovered to have been murdered, Subject Shikinami (II) was awoken and released from her birthing vat. Aged at slightly less than 3 years old, not including the initial suggested 9 month minimum average wait time for incubation, she was immediately a curious and inquisitive entity and, despite the extra time she spent in the birthing vat, she was quick to begin picking up on language from her language tutors.

Unfortunately, bringing a language tutor down to the depths of NERV HQ is not the most straightforward task, and they must be sworn into secrecy. This is where the problems started for Subject Shikinami (II) as the people who are likely to swear to secrecy often times ended up being the same kind of people who would take advantage of a situation… or a defenseless young girl.

This was, of course, already well known after the incident with Subject Shikinami (I) and we tried to take measures to negate this. These measures proved ineffective though as… once again, anyone who was to sign up to keep an eye on her and ensure her safety were once again sworn to secrecy and, unfortunately ended up also taking advantage of the situation.

After realizing this, we attempted to only hire female candidates. But, hiring female candidates for every single one of Subject Shikinami's (II) various conditioning needs proved… extremely difficult.

Some would not swear secrecy. Some did but did not maintain secrecy due to ethical concerns and were summarily [REDACTED]. Some of them ended up harming Subject Shikinami (II) despite them being female. And, ultimately, ignoring everything previously mentioned, seeking out exclusively females was infeasible.

In short, Subject Shikinami (II) has been the victim of constant physical, emotional, and sexual abuse from essentially the moment she was allowed out of her birthing vat. She has mental scarring she will likely never recover from. As well as this, she has never been allowed out of her conditioning room except to transfer to yet another conditioning room.

She doesn't know anything about the outside world except from what she has seen or read in movies and books. And, even then, due to her abysmal living conditions and constant abuse, she often times finds the depictions of the people in such forms of entertainment completely unrealistic and abnormal because she has hardly ever had any positive human interactions.

As much as it makes me sick to suggest this, she should be humanely euthanized and we should start again with the next Shikinami iteration. But the case manager… I can't… I can't do it.

She is so much like Subject Sohryu. She has astounding willpower. Despite the untold amount of suffering she has gone through, she still has the will to live despite her only really living just to stare at the walls of her room and be hurt. And she's done this for the entirety of her ten years of life outside of her birthing vat. The solitude and pain she suffers from every moment she exists is utterly unimaginable.

Many have tried to sexually violate her. She always resists. This almost always results in her being beaten as, unlike Subject Sohryu, she has no formal training in any form or martial combat. Even so, she has never relented. She has fought every day for her sanity, her purity, her innocence, her life, and for a better tomorrow for herself. And, despite how miserable I know she is, I simply cannot find it in myself to simply erase her from existence.

As her case manager, I cannot let her fight be for nothing. I have tried my best to limit her human interaction, which I know is unhealthy, but what is the alternative? Let her be beaten or nearly raped?

If I had a yen for every time I thought she'd fail to survive, I'd be able to buy a mansion. But, if I had a yen for every time I thought she'd give up… well, I would be penniless because I have not once thought she wants to give up. Not truly at least. She has her moments of weakness, but I know she can persevere.

She wants to live. I know she does. Through all the times she's been beaten and groped and spat on and kicked while she was down, she miraculously never failed to get back up. And, if she is that determined to live, then the least I can do is try to limit her suffering.

So, I do what I must and allow only minimal human contact.

She has primarily been continuing her language lessons and social acclimatization by reading books and watching movies instead of having someone to teach her. And, through this approach, she has developed a fascination with heroes and villains and themes of dark and light.

She has a highly pessimistic and romanticized view of the world, and is prone to calling people villains while claiming heroes are not real. I honestly cannot fault her for seeing the world this way given her past. Even to me, she only ever calls me a "sinner" at best, even though I have tried to help her. Though, I fully understand that my efforts to help her have been wholly insufficient.

Not only does she not see anyone as a friend, but she actively sees everyone as an enemy. She has attacked me on numerous occasions, and I have regretfully been forced to immobilize her with my stungun as she's gotten older and more ferocious. And I know that every time I do that, her trust in me diminishes further. Even I, her best hope, am still seen as an oppressor. And, truly, I suppose I am complicit in this nightmarish world she's been brought into.

I cannot stress this enough, she sees literally every human being as a threat; if not to her life, then to her sanity. She sees the world and every person on it as being entirely Machiavellian and specifically against her.

Not only does she not understand and outright reject the idea of friends, she even rejects the idea of neutrality. It goes beyond the idea of "if you aren't with me, you're against me." In her mind, everyone, literally everyone, is against her.

The only truly positive influence in her life… if it can really be called that, is her doll, which she has chosen to name "Evangeline." This is ironic in more ways than one given that, if Subject Sohryu were to be killed in combat, Subject Shikinami (II) would be next in line to pilot Evangelion Unit-02 (though, I think she is completely unfit for such a responsibility). And, on top of that, Subject Sohryu, Subject Shikinami's (II) genome donor, has a fanatical hatred of dolls due to the behavior of her mother before committing suicide and has been observed to have had notable conflict with Subject Ayanami (II) due to her often times attributing Subject Ayanami's (II) emotional repression, social rigidity, and astute receptiveness to authority to being doll-like.

And yet, Subject Shikinami (II) is constantly clinging to her doll and whenever she is separated from it, she generally becomes visibly discomforted and extremely irritable before usually breaking down and beginning to cry hysterically and inconsolably until the doll is returned to her.

I have considered perhaps trying to introduce her to one of the Ayanami series. But… I don't know how that would turn out. As stated before, she views everyone as an enemy, a villain; as inherently and invariably evil.

I am also worried awakening yet another of the Ayanami series would only reinforce her beliefs that the portrayal of average people in books or movies are actually incorrect representations as awakening one of the Ayanami series this late in their growth just to pair her with Subject Shikinami (II) would result in a fourteen year old girl who cannot speak and who has no knowledge of social interaction being thrown in with a violent and scared thirteen year old who has a very warped view of reality.

Speaking of the Ayanami series, the first Ayanami series was usually kept in Commander Ikari's care. But, after her death, Commander Ikari initially refused to accept any more of the cloned children. Fortunately for the second Ayanami series, the first one was killed, and she was allowed to exit the restricted access area without raising too much suspicion.

We don't have the option of letting Subject Shikinami (II) out though as Subject Sohryu is still alive and it would be difficult to explain things to employees as well as Subject Sohryu herself.

We had originally intended to prevent any kind of emotional or mental stunting in Subject Shikinami (II) by letting her out of her birthing vat but, I think, ultimately, we made a critical mistake and we have now created an endlessly despairing pit of sadness that will never be filled by letting Subject Shikinami (II) out of her vat while Subject Sohryu was still around.

After what happened to Subject Shikinami (I), it should have been a big enough warning sign, but we did not heed it and awakened Subject Shikinami (II) anyways.

I have failed her. I have failed both of the Shikinami series we have awoken. And I fear I have failed Subject Uranami and Subject Isonami as well given what I know has happened to both of the two activated Shikinami series.

When do you know it's time to stop playing god? When you realize you never had the power to handle the responsibility in the first place? When you fail to protect your creations? If you create a vulnerable and precious life and then knowingly let it suffer, are you a malevolent god? Is NERV a malevolent god? Was my mother a malevolent god? Am I, Ritsuko Akagi, a malevolent god? What does man do to a malevolent god? What does a hurt, broken, and innocent girl do to a malevolent god? Does she kill the malevolent god? These are all questions that go through my mind when I look at Subject Shikinami (II).

I don't know how much longer I can do this…

No additional notes...

End of Case File for Subject Shikinami: Second Iteration

Ritsuko, crying while staring at her computer blankly as though she were in a trance, slowly closed the file.

"I can't…" Ritsuko whispered, "I can't keep doing this…"

She then again buried her face into her arms. She trembled in sadness and guilt, occasionally gasping before returning to weeping. She was sick of it. Sick of the responsibilities. Sick of the despair.

"I just can't keep doing this!"

/

"Commander Ikari?" Ritsuko asked as she stepped into the man's office.

He didn't say anything. He stood behind his desk, his hands behind his back as he faced away from the door and Ritsuko herself. It almost seemed as though he'd been meditating on something, or at least intently pondering exactly where he was walking on the path of life.

"I… I did as you asked," Ritsuko continued, "I… updated the reports on the pilots."

"You're up to date on their situations then?" the man inquired without turning around.

"I am," Ritsuko confirmed.

"Good. I wanted you to familiarize yourself with them further as things may begin to change around here."

"Change, Sir?"

Ritsuko heard Gendo exhale and then he finally turned around to face her.

"Pilot Ikari has been detained and Sohryu is, for now, unable to pilot. As well as that, it seems Unit-01 has become unresponsive to the dummy system and Unit-02 has been almost entirely destroyed and will need time to heal."

"Yes, Sir, I am aware of that." Ritsuko said.

"That means Rei and Unit-00 are all we have right now…"

"Yes, Commander Ikari, I know."

"She's not enough…" Gendo said ominously.

"Yes, Commander. I… have the best surgeons I know working on Pilot Sohryu right now. She should be capable of piloting again in a few days if she absolutely needed to. The shrapnel didn't do any lasting damage to her skull. It only took out her eye. All she should really need are antibiotics to stop any infections from occurring."

Gendo seemed to ponder Ritsuko's words for a moment before shuffling a few papers on his desk and then scratching his beard.

"Even then, that's only two pilots," Gendo mumbled before looking back at Ritsuko, "Doctor, Seele are beginning too move."

"S- Seele? Wait, what do mean? How do you know that?" Ritsuko asked in shock.

"Their eyes," Gendo responded, "I am convinced that the fifth child is the one who intervened in today's fight with the angel. He is the one who caused the pilots' eyes to glow."

"Wh- What!? How is that possible!?" Ritsuko asked in complete disbelief, "How could a human do such a thing!?"

"The fifth child is not human. At least, not in the same manner you and I are," Gendo said.

Ritsuko furrowed her brow, trying to take in everything she was hearing despite how preposterous it sounded.

"So Seele… they're the ones who did this to our pilots?"

"I have no doubt in my mind," Gendo said confidently, "The Fifth Child is said to possess powers strange and miraculous. And he acts at the committee's beck and call."

Ritsuko didn't say anything and instead just looked at Gendo in complete disbelief.

"You know what I'm saying, don't you?" Gendo continued, "I need more pieces if we are to win this game."

"So… that's why you had me look over everyone's reports," Ritsuko said depressingly, "What are we going to do then?"

"I have several things to ask of you," Gendo started, "First, I want you to get in contact with NERV-02. Tell them they are to reassign Pilots Rubikard and Rineheart to Japan. Also, inform them of what has happened to Unit-03 and inform them that they are to ship Mark.04's soul to us as well. They should have already contained it in an auracell vessel."

"But Sir, we've already broken the Vatican treaty by bringing Unit-03 to Japan! Wouldn't this cause unrest if we were to assign the American pilots here as well?" Ritsuko asked.

"I am sure we will be able to politically maneuver around such things. The need is great and our circumstances are dire. With enough pressure, we could have the treaty revised or revoked, or at the very least, overlooked and Seele will have a hard time manipulating the more influential powers into thinking that more defense against the Angels is a bad thing."

"Very well," Ritsuko sighed, "And what else?"

"Second, I would have you awaken the next of the Ayanami series. If the second iteration should die, the third will need to be functional and able to take orders. So, I would have her begin her conditioning."

"Yes… Sir," Ritsuko said as a small frown started to cross her face.

"And lastly, I would have you check on the second iteration Shikinami clone. She will need to begin the next phase of her conditioning."

"She… she was fine when I checked on her last week… As fine as anyone can be down there at least," Ritsuko said sadly.

"Will you meet with her again? I'm about to have her moved to the next conditioning block," Gendo said.

"I… I hate going down there. So many awful things happen there…" Ritsuko uneasily said.

"You refuse then?" Gendo inquired coldly.

"I didn't say that…"

"There are great powers at play, Ritsuko Akagi. Ours is a duty to restore the world to its rightful form. But the road that we walk is lost in the flood and I am barely able to keep my head above the water. I need more cards in my hand. I hope you will do what needs to be done," Gendo said.

"Just… what kinds of powers are at play here, Ikari?" Ritsuko asked in a trembling voice, "Exactly how much are we playing god!? When does this end? When is enough enough!?"

"I cannot answer that as it remains to be seen. But we must ensure that the dice fall in our favor. We must make use of every advantage, for the outcome will shape the world."

Ritsuko almost felt herself tearing up again, but she tried to remain composed.

"Fine… I'll do it," Ritsuko said.

Gendo nodded and then picked up his phone before calling someone.

"Yes, it's me, Commander Ikari. I want the Shikinami iteration moved into the stage four conditioning block."

/

-The Sad Expression of Waves-

/

"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before."- Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven

A few minutes later…

There it was, staring back at her with unnerving red eyes that seemed both alive and dead at the same time. She floated upside down in her vat, her hair moving with the currents of bubbling LCL. Her mouth was slightly open and she had an expression on her face that was both wild and lifeless simultaneously.

Ritsuko shivered in discomfort as she watched the clone float before her. Though it didn't say anything, Ritsuko couldn't help but feel like it was judging her as it kept its eyes focused on her. Ritsuko eventually just couldn't look at it anymore and averted her gaze upwards to the top of the vat labeled "Ayanami Type – Third Iteration."

"Jesus, I hate this," Ritsuko sighed.

She unconsciously rested her hand on the glass of the vat and the clone also placed her hand on the glass, attempting to touch Ritsuko. This creeped Ritsuko out, but she tried to ignore the shiver in her spine.

Ritsuko then swiped her keycard though a card reader attached to the vat and she heard the accursed thing unlock.

She sighed and then took her lab coat off before throwing it on the floor. Ritsuko then climbed up a ladder attached to the side of the vat and threw open the lid.

The Ayanami clone had still not righted herself and remained upside down. Ritsuko cringed before rolling up her sleeve and reaching into the LCL to grab the girl by her ankle. At first she considered pulling the girl entirely out of the vat, but decided to at least orient her properly first, which was a small pain as the girl was minorly uncooperative and didn't seem to understand what was going on.

Eventually, Ritsuko had managed to rotate the girl so her head was above her feet. She then grabbed the girl by the hair and pulled her head out of the water.

Admittedly, Ritsuko had only done this a handful of times and didn't quite know what she was supposed to do next. Though, eventually, she noticed the girl seemed to start having trouble breathing as the oxygen content of the LCL in her lungs began to deplete.

"Oh god, please don't suffocate. Please. The last thing we need is a multi-million dollar clone dying on our floor because she can't figure out how to breathe the damn air."

Ritsuko quickly shoved the girl's head back under the surface of the LCL.

So, obviously, just pulling the girl out wasn't the greatest option. Ritsuko would probably have to show her how to breathe at the very least. Hopefully, being about fourteen year old, the girl had at least some form of higher mental function even if she'd spent her entire life in what amounted to nothing more than a human fish tank.

After the Ayanami clone seemed to have gotten some oxygen back in her, Ritsuko prepared to pull the girl back out and do something she would be absolutely disgusted by. After finally convincing herself, Ritsuko pulled the girl's head back out of the tank.

"Okay, listen. I need you to do what I do," Ritsuko awkwardly said to the girl.

The Rei clone only looked at her in what appeared to be confusion.

"Right… You don't understand me… Geez, what am I doing?" Ritsuko once more awkwardly said to the clone.

Hesitating for a moment, Ritsuko used her free hand to cup some LCL into her palm before slurping it into her mouth. She immediately wanted to throw up, but luckily, she didn't need to keep it in her mouth that long and spit it out back into the tank, trying to show the uninformed clone that she had to expel the LCL from her lungs if she wanted to breathe the air.

Still, the girl didn't immediately pick up on what Ritsuko was trying to tell her. Though, she did spit up some of the orange liquid, which caused Ritsuko to cringe.

Soon though, the girl was beginning to run out of oxygen once more and Ritsuko plunged the girl's head back into the LCL.

"I really do fucking hate this," Ritsuko muttered before dragging the girl back up.

Once more, Ritsuko cupped some LCL into her mouth with her hand before spitting it out again, though this time, she spat it out onto the floor instead of into the tank to help show the girl where to cough to liquid. The girl seemed to watch her intently, but still didn't quite understand.

Again, Ritsuko pushed the girl's head back under the LCL, giving her enough time to breathe before pulling her back out. And, as before, after dragging the girl's head back up, Ritsuko put the LCL into her mouth and spat it on the floor before then taking several exaggerated breaths, showing the girl she was trying to get her to breathe.

Thankfully, Rei inhaled, drawing just a bit of air into her lungs before then coughing from breathing in almost too much. After a moment, the girl was thrown into a full on coughing fit and she began choking the LCL out of her.

"Yes! Yes! Exactly!" Ritsuko said.

It still wasn't clear if Rei had understood her intentions or not, but at least the girl was removing the LCL from inside her.

Ritsuko quickly tried to haul the girl out of the tank so she couldn't submerge herself again and have to repeat the process. It was difficult lowering the girl down the ladder, even if she was small for her age, but luckily, Ritsuko managed to not drop the girl.

After arriving back on the floor, the Rei clone collapsed, still coughing out the LCL from her tiny lungs. It took her another few minutes, but eventually, whatever LCL hadn't been coughed out had evaporated and the girl was able to breath air for the first time in her life.

Ritsuko picked the girl up and, though her legs were trembling and weak, she miraculously managed to stand.

"Incredible," Ritsuko whispered as she gazed down at the shivering nude girl.

Ritsuko eventually took the clone by her hand and tried to lead her forward, and once more defying Ritsuko's expectations, the girl managed to take a few steps.

It took several minutes longer than it needed to, but Ritsuko thought it would be good for the girl to walk to her own room. And so, she led the third Rei clone to her conditioning room, letting the girl take her own steps the whole way. The girl caught on quickly. Even if she'd spent her whole life in a jar, it was obvious she wasn't stupid.

Upon finally arriving at the girl's new room, Ritsuko slid her keycard through a reader by the door and it opened. Rei seemed slightly startled by it, but also seemed very curious.

Ritsuko reached into the dark room and felt around on the wall before finding the light switch.

Rei squinted her eyes. She'd never seen anything so bright in her life. The only light she'd ever seen was the one that illuminated her birthing vat. Other than that, all she'd ever seen had been the dark halls outside her vat deep below NERV-HQ.

Eventually, her eyes adjusted and she made some curious sound as she looked at the room.

"Go on," Ritsuko said encouragingly before gently pushing Rei's back.

The girl stepped into the room and saw many things she'd never seen before. Though, all of these things seemed rather normal to Ritsuko, Rei immediately took an interest in the common pieces of household furniture.

It was then though that Ritsuko heard a high pitched scream coming from one of the adjacent hallways. She stepped out of the doorway and looked down the dark hall.

Making a split second decision, Ritsuko glanced back at Rei. The girl seemed curious about the noise as well, though, unfortunately, she would have to stay here.

Ritsuko slid the metal door shut and it automatically locked behind her, leaving Rei trapped in the room. Ritsuko sprinted down the hall, pulling a revolver out of one of the pockets of her lab coat.

"Jesus! I can't believe they're doing this to her again," Ritsuko cursed as she ran down the darkend hallways.

Once more, she heard the scream. It wasn't far now. She continued running down the hallway before finally arriving at another door, not unlike the one she'd just came from.

"NO! NO! STOP IT! GET OFF ME! I'LL KILL YOU!" Ritsuko heard a girl scream from the other side of the door.

Ritsuko swiped her card through the reader next to the door. And every moment it took for the system to verify and unlock the door, Ritsuko's fear increased.

Finally, the door unlocked and Ritsuko slid it open to reveal a nude girl with strawberry blonde hair, maybe twelve or thirteen years old, viciously biting the arm of a man while another man repeatedly punched her in her face.

The girl flinched in pain as blood spewed out of her nose but she didn't let up on biting the man.

Ritsuko pointed her gun at the men before screaming, "WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO HER!?"

The man who was being bitten finally kicked the girl in the stomach, sending her flying before she fell onto the cold rough concrete floor. Both of the men then look at Ritsuko, seemingly stopping whatever they had been doing.

"GET OUT! NOW!" Ritsuko screamed at the men.

Neither of them said anything, but left the room as they were told.

After they'd walked out of the room, Ritsuko furiously slid the door shut behind her, locking her in the room with the girl.

Ritsuko watched her get up off the floor before the girl quickly scurried into the far corner of the room and proceeded to glare at her hatefully.

Ritsuko sighed and pulled out her phone, attempting to call Commander Ikari. Thankfully, the man quickly picked up.

"Yes," the man asked boredly.

"Ikari, I told you, you cannot keep letting men near her! They were... hurting her again. She's never going to be functional in any capacity if this keeps happening!" Ritsuko cried into the phone.

Ritsuko heard Gendo sigh before he said, "Very well. I'll see that they are both properly… reprimanded."

"Okay…. Thank you," Ritsuko breathily said back into the phone before hanging up.

She stuffed her phone back into her pocket as well as her gun. She then looked into the corner of the room where the girl was. Her skin was slick and wet, presumably with water, causing her to shiver. Blood flooded out of her nose and dripped down her neck and breasts. The girl spat on the floor and yet more blood was mixed with her saliva. And her eyes. Her eyes were so full of hate and fear, it was unfathomable.

"Shikinami?" Ritsuko gently called out to the girl, "It's okay. No one's going to hurt you."

"All anyone ever does is hurt me," the girl shot back, her voice steeped in distrust.

"Asuka…" Ritsuko said again, "do you want to talk about it?"

"No..." the girl said in a low spiteful voice as she continued to glare at Ritsuko.

"Okay, fair enough, Asuka. Maybe that's not the best way to start a conversation… Will you tell me what happened?" Ritsuko asked again.

"No!" the girl spat again.

Ritsuko sighed sadly.

"Do you want me to get you something to stop the bleeding?" Ritsuko asked.

"I want all of you to leave me alone!" the girl shouted back tiredly.

"Asuka… please, will you please tell me what happened?" Ritsuko asked again.

Shikinami remained silent for a moment before finally saying, "They came into my room while I was showering and told me they were moving me and they didn't give me anytime to get dressed or to get Evangeline."

"So you attacked them because of that?" Ritsuko questioned.

"They were grabbing me all over! Wouldn't you?" Asuka shouted.

"That makes things clearer. I guess I can't blame you…"

For a few seconds, there was silence between the two before Asuka spoke again.

"I don't want to be here. Let me out!" the girl demanded.

"Asuka, I'm so… so sorry, but I'm afraid I can't do that," Ritsuko said in a truly regret filled voice.

The girl then seemed to stop breathing and her glare got even sharper than before.

Ritsuko knew what this usually meant and she reached into her lab coat before putting her hand on a stungun she'd brought with her, though she didn't pull it out just yet, hoping she could deescalate the situation verbally.

"I HATE YOU! I HATE ALL OF YOU!" the poor girl screamed.

"Shikinami, please don't attack me," Ritsuko pleaded, "I'm trying to help you, but my hands are tied."

Asuka seemingly didn't appreciate this form of help, and in a flash, she got to her feet before charging Ritsuko. Ritsuko barely managed to sidestep the girl and pulled her stungun on her, making contact with her as she ran at her.

Asuka then tumbled to the ground, landing on her back, almost entirely immobilized from the shock Ritsuko had hit her with

"Damn it, Asuka. I fucking hate it when you make me do this to you!" Ritsuko shouted at the girl in frustration.

Though, Ritsuko shortly felt awful for shocking the girl and shouting after she saw she was crying.

It was a truly piteous sight. The broken and vulnerable girl, completely immobilized, not able to do anything but cry as she stared at the blank dark ceiling that she'd known every day of her life.

"D- Doctor Akagi?" Asuka questioned as tears and blood covered her face.

Ritsuko sighed and put her stungun back in her coat.

"Yes, Asuka?" Ritsuko asked, softening her voice.

"W- What's it like, outside? Is it beautiful like they say it is?" Asuka sniffled.

"Its… so beautiful. I'm… sure you'll get to see it… one day," Ritsuko said, though she knew she could very well be lying to the girl.

"What do flowers smell like? How does it feel when the wind blows? What does it feel like when the sun hits your skin? Is it really warm like they say?" the girl asked as her tears ran over her temples and fell into her hair

"I…" Ritsuko tried to say before she found herself crying as well, "I wish I could describe it to you."

Asuka closed her eyes and began crying even harder as she laid on the cold floor.

"If you won't let me out of here," Asuka sobbed, "can you go get Evangeline for me? They didn't let me get her."

"Of course, Asuka," Ritsuko cried as she nodded her head.

Ritsuko then swiped her keycard through a reader and the door once again opened to the dark hallways.

So close, and yet so far, that was where Asuka wanted to go. Into the darkness. It would be better than being stuck in a room. And yet, despite the fact she was so close to the open door, she couldn't walk though. Her muscles wouldn't respond to her, and Ritsuko walked past her before shutting the door and leaving her on the floor of the room as the door to her freedom slid shut, once again imprisoning her.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Ritsuko sobbed after hearing the door lock behind her, "I can't keep doing this."

Walking to Asuka's old room, Ritsuko tried to stop herself from crying any more. The room wasn't particularly far though, and Ritsuko still found herself crying as she unlocked the door and stepped into Asuka's room.

It was a minimalistic room, nothing more than a box really. Even the bathroom, if it could be called such a thing, didn't have any walls; it was just a shower head and a toilet relegated to a corner of the room. In another corner was a bunk bed and a chair and against one of the walls was a television sitting on a table. There was precisely one cupboard with clothes as well. All in all, there was almost nothing in the room.

The shower was still running and Ritsuko walked over to it to shut it off before then looking around to find Shikinami's doll. Though, oddly enough, she couldn't find it. There weren't really any places to hide it though. It had to be in there somewhere.

Eventually, Ritsuko finally noticed a bulge under the sheets of one of the beds. She walked over to it and pulled the sheets back, revealing the doll.

She was about to leave and return the doll to Asuka in her new room. However, she remembered Asuka had been showering before she was removed from her room and was also currently nude. So, she went over to the cupboard and began searching the drawers for clothes, which also reminded her she'd need to bring the newly awoken Ayanami clone clothes later as well.

Not sure exactly what Asuka wanted to wear, Ritsuko grabbed a pink tank top and a white bra as well as a pair of white panties, a white skirt, and a pair of black socks with holes in them before slinging all of it over her arm and exiting the room.

As she walked down the black hallway back to Asuka's new room, Ritsuko worried if the shock she'd given the girl had worn off or if she'd attack her again. But, it hadn't even been two minutes, and she should have still been largely immobilized and unable to move. And sure enough, once opening the door to Asuka's new room, the girl was still laying exactly where Ritsuko had left her.

"I… I have Evangeline," Ritsuko said, hoping Asuka would cheer up, though she knew that was asking a lot, "I also brought you some clothes. I hope they're okay. I'll be back in a bit to bring you some more."

Asuka didn't say anything. She just kept silently crying as she laid on the cold floor. Ritsuko tried to ignore this so she wouldn't start crying again herself. She put the clothes on Asuka's new bed and rested the doll against the pillow before walking back to the door.

"I'll… be going now I guess," Ritsuko said, "Have a good night, Asuka."

"There is no night down here…" Asuka wept in a pained whisper.

"I… I know," Ritsuko stuttered sadly, "Goodbye for now... Asuka."

Ritsuko then slid the door shut and Asuka heard the automatic lock engage.

Once again, she was left in complete solitude, just like she had been for almost all of her life. She was the loneliest girl in the world; one of the most abused people in the world. And, although she screamed and cried and begged for someone to save her, in the end, she was the girl no one heard...

She was alone...

/

-The Beginnings of an American Tragedy-

/

"Maybe we all have darkness inside of us and some of us are better at dealing with it than others."- Jasmine Warga, My Heart and Other Black Holes

:The United States

:NERV-02

:Late Night

Meanwhile, in Nevada…

"Y'know, you needa get this old ass truck replaced, girl!" Ahni laughed.

"No way. I wouldn't trade this baby for the world," Amelia signed absentmindedly as she kept her eyes on the dark road leading back to NERV-02.

"You sure? Dad has a silver 64 Impala at home he said I could have once I turned sixteen… and get my license," Ahni said with a cheeky smile, "Maybe I could convince him to let you borrow it."

"I'm positive. This truck's been in my family for a few generations now and I've wanted it ever since I was a little girl," Amelia signed back confidently.

"Just how old is this rust bucket? What is this again? A Chevy Advance Design? 3100? 3800? What year?"

"6400. And it's the 1953 model. Last year that they actually put their straight six 216 engine in them," Amelia signed as she approached the gate to NERV-02 and started to press on the brake.

"Interesting…" Ahni said as they finally came to a stop just outside NERV-02.

A man walked up to the car and Amelia rolled down the window.

"You two're back late," the man said.

"Ahni, can you tell Clyde why we were out so late," Amelia signed to her companion.

"Hi, First Sergeant Griffiths! Captain Rineheart says to tell you we have Pizza!" Ahni said excitedly as she lifted a box of pizza out of her lap.

"I see that," the man chuckled despite the deaf girl not being able to hear him.

"So, we free to go!?" Ahni asked, seeing that the man had stopped talking.

"You are, but Commander Bow told me she wants to see you, Captain Rineheart. She was lookin' for you earlier," the man apparently named Griffiths said.

Amelia's eyes widened a bit before she then frowned some. She then nodded to the man before waving goodbye.

"Night, Captain. Tell the lieutenant I said goodnight for me, will you?" the man said.

"Clyde says good night," Amelia signed.

"Goodnight, Sergeant!" Ahni called out as the man waved at the girls.

Letting up on the brake, the truck lurched forward and Amelia drove through the gate.

"Hey, something wrong? You look like you're upset about something," Ahni asked the girl.

"I'm fine. Miss Catherine says she wants to talk with me. You can go on back to the room once I park," Amelia signed.

"Something about Unit-03?" Ahni asked.

"No idea. Clyde just said she wanted to talk with me," Amelia confirmed.

Ahni sighed.

"You seriously need to replace this truck though. Or at least get it repainted. Seriously, the entire thing might as well be made of rust. I'm scared I'm gonna get tetanus if I touch it wrong and accidentally cut myself," Ahni said, hoping to relieve the tension.

"Rust doesn't give you tetanus, silly girl. Bacteria does," Amelia signed as she chuckled out her nose.

"I know that! I took med term in school. Still though, this thing needs a glow up," Ahni said.

"I'll consider getting it painted, but I'm not getting rid of it," Amelia signed as she pulled into a parking place.

The girl then shut the car off and pulled her keys out, though Ahni was already out of the car and was shutting the door, taking the Pizza with her.

"Hey! Don't eat all the pizza without me," Amelia signed to the girl as she shut the door to the truck.

"I won't, I won't. Don't worry," Ahni laughed.

"Don't drench it in lime juice either," Amelia signed as she gave the girl some kind of suspicious look.

"Hmm, I can't promise you that unless you promise to get this truck repainted. Seriously, its literally nothing but rust," Ahni said jokingly as she gently kicked her shoe against the front fender of the vehicle.

Amelia rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I'll see you in a few minutes. And don't forget to take your sunglasses off. It's dark out and I don't want you tripping and dropping our dinner," Amelia signed to the girl before leaving the truck to go find the Commander.

"Agh, fine. See yah," Ahni said with a farewell wave before pulling her aviators off and heading back to their quarters.

It didn't take long for Amelia to walk down a few lit pathways before arriving at Commander Bow's office building, where she assumed she would be in all likelihood.

Entering the building, a few people she knew waved at her and she politely waved back. Unlike Ahni, she was keenly aware of when someone was attempting to interact with her, and being the strictly well mannered rural girl that she was, she practically never failed to exchange pleasantries even if she was extremely socially anxious and really never wanted to talk to anyone that she didn't know.

Ahni herself was also raised out in the country, and though she couldn't really be described as rebellious, she also wasn't the most well mannered either. Perhaps that's how they made up for each other's shortcomings though; what allowed them to work so well together. While Amelia was somewhat anti-social, Ahni was significantly more outgoing and wasn't afraid to assert herself.

Conversely though, Ahni rarely ever needed to assert herself because she was usually pretty chill and just went with the flow, though she had been more on edge in recent days. Amelia on the other hand had certain preferences, but rarely ever gave voice to them ignoring the fact she couldn't actually speak. And, more ironically, though Ahni was more receptive to the prospect of conversation, she often times had no idea someone was trying to converse with her due to her being deaf.

Truly, both of the girls were a mishmash of senses, ideas, physical attributes, and personalities. And yet, they somehow still fit together perfectly to form an efficient and cohesive unit that could engage with people of the wider world.

Finally, after timidly making her way down a hallway, Captain Amelia Bree Rineheart arrived at the office of Commander Catherine Bow. And, just as timidly, she knocked on the imposing wooden door.

"Enter," she heard the woman say.

Amelia then opened the door and peeked in.

"Oh, Mooneyes, it's you."

Commander Bow moved a few papers to the side of her desk.

"You can close the door behind you," the woman said.

That made Amelia a little worried, but she did as was suggested and closed the door after stepping in. However, despite knowing the door was going to swing close, Amelia still jumped as the heavy door hit the door frame. A consequence of her nervous nature no doubt.

"Are you sure you aren't afraid of the dark or something? Nighttime in general even? That's the second time I've seen you jump at something in the past two days," Commander Bow inquired.

Amelia vigorously shook her head no. It wasn't the dark she was afraid of, but just unexpected things in general. Though, explaining that to people seemed futile to her in most cases and, even if it weren't, it took more time than most people would appreciate, especially as she was mute and in the time it took her to type or write out a response, any curiosity someone had would have diminished and transformed into impatience.

"Well, whatever," Commander Bow said as she waved her hand dismissively as though she were physically brushing the topic of Amelia's nervousness aside, "So, listen, I need to tell you something."

Amelia nodded, signifying she was listening.

Commander Bow sighed, putting her hands on her desk and leaning forward.

"We… got some news about Unit-03."

Amelia, despite trying to hide her shock, still felt a surge of adrenaline shoot through her as well as a sense of foreboding.

"Actually, hold on. Let me back up. I got word from Ritsuko Akagi that you and Ahni are being reassigned to Tokyo-3. So, first of all, you're going to have to pack your bags."

This somewhat stemmed the tide of dread Amelia felt rising through her legs and into her chest and began replacing it with a wash of confusion.

'Reassigned? To Tokyo-3? Why? I don't speak any Japanese. I can't even speak English,' the girl thought to herself.

"Second of all... and I hate to say this, but it sounds like Unit-03 might have been destroyed."

Amelia could audibly be heard inhaling in surprise. Commander Bow sighed as she watched the girl's eyes quickly begin tearing up.

"Amelia, listen," Commander Bow said, trying to refocus the girl, "I said might. We're having some difficulties with translations, alright? Whatever is going on at Tokyo-3, it sounds like there's a lot of drama. They just had an angel. They might've lost a pilot, I'm not sure. I even heard something about someone possibly committing treason. There's a lot of unconfirmed reports right now. I'm only saying it's a possibility… though, by the sound of things, I wouldn't hope for the best. At the very least, it sounds like Unit-03 got tore up pretty good. Unit-02 sounds like it got it even worse."

None of this served to comfort Amelia though and she collapsed to her knees and began crying into her hands.

/

Ahni, out of the corner of her eye, saw the door to her room open as she reached for a slice of pizza.

"Hey. I was wondering when you'd be back. What'd the Commander have to say?" Ahni asked before she glanced at the girl.

Though, when she saw the expression on Amelia's face, she froze. The girl's eyes were flooded with tears and she looked utterly heartbroken.

"H- hey, what's wrong!? What happened!?" Ahni asked as she ran up to the girl and hugged her.

After Ahni pulled out of the hug, Amelia raised her trembling hand.

"Unit-03 is gone," she signed solemnly.

Ahni's eyes widened before she then found herself frowning.

"Damn it," Ahni cursed, "Damn it!"

She ran her fingers through her hair before scratching the side of her head and beginning to pace around in the small kitchen. In frustration, she pulled her cap off and threw it on the kitchen counter while Amelia continued to cry.

"Fuck! FUCKING FUCK!"

Ahni then pulled a thin fillet knife from the knife block and threw it across the room right into a dartboard, unintentionally almost hitting a bullseye. She then pulled out another knife and once more furiously threw it across the room. That one stuck into the wall right next to the dartboard. And again, she reached for the knife block, this time pulling out two knives and sending both of them spiraling through the air. One managed to impale the outer twelve segment of the board while the other bounced off the board by it's handle and clattered to the floor.

Amelia, despite how much she loved Ahni, was scared of her when she became like this.

A bloodthirst trance is what she'd taken to calling it. Due to her trauma from when she was younger, when Ahni became scared, Ahni became violent. And when Ahni became violent, Amelia became scared. And being scared was the last thing Amelia wanted right now.

There wasn't much she could do but wait it out though. If she interfered, Ahni might cut her in her flurry of rage. And being mute, she couldn't call out to her or beg her to stop. Not that Ahni would have heard her anyways. And stepping in front of the deaf girl so she could see her wasn't exactly the wisest decision when the girl was hurling a barrage of knives into the wall.

And so Amelia helplessly stood there and watched. Watched as Ahni flung knife after knife after knife into the wall.

It was like seeing a totally different person take over her best friend and lover's body. Ahni was usually so care free despite all the difficulties she'd faced in life. She was usually so collected and rational. She was usually the kind of person you could turn to when you didn't know how to deal with a situation and, despite her young age, she'd almost always have something witty, genius, or wise beyond her years to tell you as advice.

But not when she was like this. When she was like this, she lost her sense of rationale. She became inconsolable and her flames couldn't be quenched. And most of all, she became unpredictable. And so it was generally best for Amelia to just give the girl her space.

Though Ahni had never hurt anyone during her bloodthirst trances with the exception of one time when she was still in school and suffering from bullying, she had a great capacity for violence despite her size and age. And her intelligence and beyond sharp split second decision making capabilities only made her more vicious and formidable.

Something inside of Ahni was broken. There was a tremendous and overpowering darkness in the girl. Amelia saw it. Not often, but she saw it. And she still chose to love her despite how much she also came to fear her.

Luckily, this side of Ahni wasn't something she witnessed often. It would only boil over occasionally. Most of the time, due to the hurt she'd suffered, she was quite understanding and gentle to people. Pain had a way of making people kinder once that pain was conquered. And that's usually what Ahni was, kind, if not always the most well mannered.

Ahni reached for the final knife in the block and threw it into the wall. It lopsidedly stuck into it for a few seconds before gravity dislodged it and pulled it to the floor.

Ahni stared at the wall with a deep loathing, breathing furiously as her fingers twitched in anger. Almost two dozen knives were now pinned into the wall or otherwise strewn about the living room.

Amelia fearfully reached out for Ahni, gently placing her hand on the back of the girl's shoulder. Ahni looked back at the girl and saw her pleadingly shaking her head no as tears streaked down her cheeks, begging her to calm down.

Amelia sniffled two times and Ahni finally began to calm herself. Ahni then approached the girl and hugged her, cradling her in her arms lovingly. It was like a switch inside her had been turned off and she just went back to being the kind girl Amelia knew she was.

"I'm sorry," Ahni whispered into Amelia's ear.

Amelia just buried her face into the girl's neck and continued crying. Despite not reacting the same way as her, Amelia understood how Ahni felt. They needed this. They needed the Evangelion. And now, even knowing she and Ahni were to be posted in Japan, the future felt uncertain.

Neither of them spoke the language. Neither of them had combat experience. They were still just girls, young and vulnerable and soon to be at odds with the world, among people they didn't know, living under an unfamiliar ceiling.

Amelia eventually pulled out of the hug and rubbed some tears out of her eyes.

"Ahni, we have to get packed," Amelia signed, silver tears glistening on her wrist, "We're going to Tokyo-3."

/

-Playing With Fire-

/

"Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad."- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

:The Moon

:Mare Tranquillitatis

:NERV-07

:Lunar Base Tabgha

Meanwhile, on the Moon…

As had become expected of The Fifth Child, he found himself out and about on the surface of the Moon. And, on this particular occasion, he was sitting upon a medium sized rock playing with a pebble and twirling it between his fingers.

Something was different about him this time though. As opposed to his usual white button up shirt and black slacks that he wore, even when out in the vacuum, he could now been seen wearing a mostly black plugsuit.

Becoming bored of the pebble, the boy brought it up to his face, smiled at it, and then flicked it away. He watched it as it floated off, up and away, into the stars.

Breaking him out of his mild amusement though, he suddenly felt a presence behind him.

"They are saying the Second Child still lives… I thought I told you to kill her," the presence said.

The boy sighed into the void before standing up from the rock and shrugging.

"What can I say? She pushed me out," the boy said, "She's a resilient soul and that's why I recommended not killing her just yet."

"And that is exactly why I ordered you to kill her!" the presence mentally seethed into the boy's mind.

The boy turned around to find the dark Monolith he so often spoke to, Chairman Keel. Or at least something that served as a stand-in for the man.

"Lest you doubt my intentions, I did try. But there's only so much I can do when she's a world apart," the boy said.

The monolith, despite not displaying any visible emotion, did not seem pleased by this. And, in the next moment, the boy found that a floating ring of red diamond like objects had phased through his plugsuit before they began circling his neck. They boy was mildly surprised by this, but quite skillfully masked it with indifference.

"Perhaps I could just kill you instead then," Keel once more spat into the boys mind.

The boy, despite being nervous, still hid his fear and instead just sighed as though this whole thing was just some vexatious misunderstanding he could talk himself out of.

"What would that accomplish?" the boy asked, "At the very least, even if she didn't die, she did suffer some debilitating injuries. Supposedly, she lost her eye. Who knows. Maybe she'll leave of her own accord and no longer pose a threat to your vague prophecies."

The stone didn't say anything for a moment. And then the red objects orbiting the boys throat seemed to paused before calmly receding back under his plugsuit.

"Perhaps you are right…" the Monolith said ponderously, "Very well then. I'll leave you for now. But the next time I give you an order, I want it fulfilled."

The boy politely bowed and said, "I always strive to do my best."

The monolith then disappeared and the boy felt the presence leave him.

The boy then stood up from the bow and gently rubbed his neck as a troubled scowl appeared on his face.

"I will need to pick my words carefully when I lie to him, or this necklace will be the end of me..."

/

-Hopelessness | The Girl No One Heard-

/

"He that is without sin among you, let him cast upon her the first stone."- Jesus, John 8:7

When I finally gained freedom and got to see the world, it was nothing like what they said it would be like. The air smelled of blood and the ground was soaked in it. There was no blue. There was no green. There was only red. The skies were red. The ocean was red. The land was red. There were no trees, no grass, no birds in the sky or fish in the rivers. Only red.

The man in the hooded cloak… he's the one who guided me to my new life that day.

I've never trusted men. Especially not ones in cloaks or suits. But, he seemed okay. At the very least, he didn't hurt me.

Only later would I find out that I knew all too well who he was.

Only later… would I find out what he truly had in store for me and the rest of the world.

He tasked me with many things, but ultimately, he told me I would be responsible for saving the world.

Eventually, he showed me what he called the tool of our salvation; the Evangelion. Mark.12 it was called. And the other one, the one with blue hair and red eyes, she was to be assigned Mark.09. And together, we would save the world. Save it from pain. Save it from hurt. Save it from suffering. Save it from the despair I had gotten to know so well.

Or so he claimed…

What world is there left to save though? This world is broken and bloodied. It reminds me of myself. I'm just a broken and bloodied girl. There is nothing left to save of me and there is nothing left to save of the world. The world… is nothing like what they said it was supposed to be. There is no rain, only tears of blood. There is no sanctuary, only ruin. There are no people to walk down the street with, only crumbling concrete. There is nothing left. It's nothing like the pictures they showed me. I realize now that life was never worth living if this was all I was destined to escape to.

I should have died in that room. I should have let them beat me. I should have let them rape me. I should have let them kill me and just get it over with. I should have given up. I never should have fought back. I never should have had hope.

The books and movies I used to read and watch when they kept me in that room… I remember they gave me hope. I remember all the amazing heroes who did incredible things. They helped people in need…

People like me.

A selfless savior on the street, a knight in shining armor, an honorable thief, the lone traveler and well-wisher, the good samaritan, the almsgiver who offered succor, or just someone who made sure to do one good deed a day be it rain or shine. Someone who pursued their own justice and wouldn't let things stand the way they were and who strove tirelessly to uncover evil and swore to let their blade fall upon it wheresoever it should be. They made it sound like anyone could be a hero; a knife shrouded in the dark to protect the innocent from those tyrants who hid in the light.

I'M INNOCENT! WHAT DID I EVER DO TO HURT ANYONE!? WHY DID NO ONE SAVE ME!?

I always hoped someone like that would come for me. Come and steal me away into the night and away from the pain. Take me some place beautiful! A nice house in the countryside or a castle in the mountains or a little hut on a beach. And my heart would race the entire time as I ran with them to freedom!

No one ever came for me…

If only people like that actually existed, I could die happy knowing someone like that was around.

All those stories were lies. No one I've ever known was a hero. And I'm certainly not one. I'm not cut out for saving the world. There is no such thing as heroes in this world; only sinners and villains.

I'm not a saint or savior; just another sinner. No one ever helped me and I don't want to help anyone else.

The world is dead. And I am dead too. There's nothing left to save.

But that… that is in the future. How will I get there?

Eventually, I would find out that… No, someone, not unlike myself, would tell me that... we are the stories we tell ourselves and that if all of our heroes were gone, we'd just have to make heroes of ourselves.

I don't know how to do that yet though. How was I ever supposed to be a hero? I'm weak. The world I know is small and dark and cold and I have no way out. Everything hurts. Everything is pain. There is no escape.

I can finally begin to move my body again and I find myself deliriously reaching up to the heavens through the haze of pain. But, there is no heaven; only the dark stone ceiling of my room. My tears won't stop. The blood from my nose and lip is trickling down my throat and the side of my face. My body is so cold from laying on the floor and it aches from all the times they hit me. I'm so weak. I just can't hold my hand up any longer. I give up and let it fall to the floor as I stare at the dim, flickering, white light in my room that's been blurred by the tears pooling in my eyes.

Heaven, I think to myself. How I wish I could go there.

Heaven… How would I get there?

From now to the future, how would I get there?

Let me show you.

I am Asuka Langley Shikinami.

This is my story.

-SHIKINAMI-

.

THE
DESPAIR
OF
CRASHING WAVES

"How could I ever hurt her? But I didn't understand then. That I could hurt somebody so badly she would never recover. That a person can, just by living, damage another human being beyond repair."- Haruki Murakami, South of the Border, West of the Sun

Asuka groaned as she tilted her head to the side. There on her bed, she saw it through her tear blurred vision. Ritsuko had left Asuka her most precious possession in the entire cursed world, the only light in her life, her dear doll, Evangeline.

The ragged little thing had been through hell with her and it was her only friend in the entire world. Its purest blue buttons for eyes and its soft red hair that she loved to stroke oh so much, the treasured little smile stitched in black on its face, its soft pudgy hands, and the adorable, homely, red dress it wore; Evangeline was the only thing that brought joy to Asuka's awful and damned life and she swore to never leave her behind.

When the men came into her previous room to relocate her into her current one, Evangeline had been the first thing she'd reached for. And when she had failed to claim her before the men began hauling her off, she feared she would never see Evangeline again.

Thankfully, Ritsuko had retrieved her in Asuka's place. But, even so, it had still terrified her that she might never see her dearest friend again.

Finally, Shikinami's brain was starting to communicate with her muscles again and the shock Ritsuko had given her from the stungun was starting to wear off, though the place it had made contact with her was still burning and sensitive.

She finally managed to prop herself up on her arm and she felt the blood trickle out of her nose from where the men had beaten and punched her for daring to fight back against their vile and vulgar hands.

"Mmmmgh," the girl groaned again.

She put one of her hands over the place under her ribs where Ritsuko had shocked her before letting out a pained sigh.

"I hate them. I hate them all…" she said through her tears as she let out a wavering groan.

On trembling legs, the girl shakily found her footing. Even more blood began seeping out of her nose as she stood up. Some of it fell off of her chin before dripping to the floor while the rest of it made its way down her throat before leaving rivers of red trailing down her breasts. One of the men had given her a nasty hit based off how much she was bleeding. Even so though, she didn't wipe away any of the blood. She didn't want to get it on her hands or Evangeline.

She swayed back and forth as she took one slow deliberate step after another, just simply trying to reach the bed Ritsuko had left Evangeline on. It was a trying task though. Asuka's entire neck and head hurt and she could hardly see straight due to her tears and the beating she'd received.

"Evangeline! My baby!" Asuka choked out in a whisper as she reached her hand out for the doll.

Finally, she could reach the doll and took it in her hand before hugging it to her face, being careful not to get any blood on it, though she did end up soaking the doll's dress with her tears.

"I'm so happy you're okay! I love you so much! I couldn't live without you! I just-"

The girl suddenly choked up and began wailing as a wave of emotion came over her. Her legs too became weak and she kneeled down on the rough, cold, stone floor next to her bed, unable to stand anymore as crying took up too much of her energy.

The girl's shoulders began trembling as she held the little doll close. She let our a wretched and heartbreaking scream and soon, all of her crying devolved into sad piteous screams of despair. The pain she felt was completely incomprehensible to most people. Every day was as uncertain as the next. But the pain; the pain was always certain to be there. And sometimes, she couldn't hold it inside her anymore.

And so she screamed.

And she screamed.

She screamed until her head hurt.

She screamed until there was no breath left in her lungs.

She screamed until she fell asleep.

She screamed as soon as she woke up.

It never mattered. No one ever heard her.

How she hoped she could laugh.

And laugh.

Laugh until her head hurt.

Laugh until there was no breath left in her lungs.

Laugh until she fell asleep.

Laugh as soon as she woke up.

Maybe in another life, she could laugh and smile and cheer and everyone would hear her.

But not in this life. Not in this world. Not in this room.

The girl's screams finally started to quiet themselves before turning into quiet mewling.

"I'm just-" the girl tried to say before being interrupted by her own sobbing.

"I'm just so happy you're okay. I was so… so scared I'd never see you again… I can't live without you, Evangeline! You're everything to me," the girl said with a sniffle, stroking the doll's hair as she held it close.

Asuka then glanced at the pink tank-top Ritsuko had brought for her to change into. She grabbed it, but, instead of putting it on, she used it to wipe the blood off of her lips and dry her tears from her cheeks before discarding it and throwing it back onto the bed. And, after she had wiped the blood away, she then gave Evangeline a long and gentle kiss on her forehead, whereupon Asuka began gently crying and trembling again. She could feel the blood starting to seep out of her nose again soon enough though and she pulled the doll away so she wouldn't get any on her. She then ran her finger through the doll's hair lovingly as she tried her best to give a sad smile.

"I love you so much. I love you more than anything."

Asuka loved Evangeline's smile more than life itself. Of course, the doll had no choice but to smile; it was stitched on her face. But Evangeline's smile was the only thing in the world that gave her any joy, so perhaps it was for the best the doll was forced to smile, because anyone else would frown at the conditions Asuka Shikinami existed in.

The girl tried to find the strength to stand again and, miraculously, she did still have strength in her. Where it came from, no one knew. But, she always seemed to find some more somewhere inside her without fail. Even though Asuka wasn't aware of it, this was a blessing. She would indeed need all of her strength before her time was spent.

For everything she had lost in the past, and for everything in the future she could yet save, she would be forced to go past her limit and exhaust all of her strength.

"Evangeline, do you… Do think anyone will ever save us?" Asuka asked the doll as she finally stood up.

Asuka waited patiently for the doll to respond, and no one besides Asuka would ever know if she'd answered back.

"Yeah… I hope so too."

The girl then looked around the room, taking stock of what was available to occupy her time. Whatever was there to help her pass the time would be short lived, no matter what it would be. And, after searching for anything that could possible help alleviate the monotony, she found precious little.

A small shower, toilet, a sink, a water fountain, a bed, a chair, and a C.R.T. television on a table with no DVD's. That was everything besides the walls that contained her. At least her last room had some books and movies that Ritsuko had occasionally brought her.

"What should we watch tonight, Evangeline?" Asuka asked the doll as she weakly walked over to the television and turned it on.

There was practically no hope in hell the television would catch a signal this far underground being shielded by NERV's infrastructure. And, unfortunately, upon turning on the T.V., all Asuka saw was static and a small notification window saying "no signal."

"Oh…" she said brokenheartedly.

She looked back over her shoulder, hoping to have overlooked something that could at least mildly entertain her. But, there was nothing. She then looked at the bed, noticing the white skirt Ritsuko had brought her along with a pair of plain white panties, a white bra, a pair of short black socks with holes in them, and the now bloodstained pink tank-top.

Her tired legs barely managed to carry her back to her bed where she grabbed the white skirt. After picking it up, she then turned around and just seemed to stare at the wall on the opposite side of the room.

She could feel her eyelid twitching from the pain of being punched in the face earlier. She was probably going to have a black eye later.

After a few more moments of simply standing there, she suddenly began lifelessly walking straight towards the wall on the other side of the room. And, after crossing the distance, she threw the white skirt on the floor before taking a seat on it, trying her best to get comfy as she wrapped her arms around her legs, pulled her knees into her chest, and tenderly gazed at Evangeline as she held her in front of her.

There was nothing for her to do besides what she could do by herself, which wasn't much.

There was one thing though. Granted, it still wasn't much. But, she could sing. It was only one song; the only one she knew by heart. One that she'd learned from a disk Ritsuko had brought her for her C.D. player, which was currently in the room she'd just been vacated from.

And, as she sat there, staring at Evangeline, tears once more began flooding out of her eyes and blood continued to drip from her nose and onto her legs as she caressed Evangeline's hair and sobbed quietly. It took her a moment to find her voice, but she finally did.

"What did you do to that girl?
What did you do to her?
I wanted to kiss her.
But I was hurt.
She brought pain to my heart.
Even so,
I hurt that girl's heart as well.
I inflicted the worst despair on her.
I destroyed her life with love.
Did hurting her bring you sorrow?
Did hurting her bring you pain?
No.
Hurting her gave me pleasure.
Hurting her gave me delight.
Because she wouldn't accept me.
I don't even accept myself.
I haven't ever since I felt that pain in my heart.
If that's so, why do you live?
If only I would die.
Die, die, die, die."

The girl's singing voice suddenly failed as she choked up and began sobbing instead.

"Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die! Die! I WANT TO DIE! I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE! PLEASE, JUST LET ME DIE! I CAN'T DO IT ANYMORE!" the girl wailed as she let her head fall onto her knees, screaming sorrowfully the whole time.

After taking a moment to calm herself, she raised her head back up and stared at the cold wall beyond Evangeline with a blank look as tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

"Please… I just want to die."

.

"That's the thing about depression: A human being can survive almost anything, as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it's impossible to ever see the end."- Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation

.

In Monochrome Melodies
Our Tales Are Painted In Red
Bleeding To The Edge
Deep Inside
We're Nothing More Than Scions And Sinners
In The Rain, Do Light And Darkness Fade

Yes, Time Circles Endlessly
The Hands of Fate Trained Ahead
Pointing To The Edge
All Things Change
Drawn To The Flame To Rise From The Ashes
To Begin, We First Must See The End


*Eva credits roll and Fly Me to the Moon plays*

.

"Well, that was just sad as fuck, wasn't it? Poor Shikinami. I wonder what role she could play in this story.

As many of you already guessed, next chapter doesn't start off on a happy note. And it may not even end on one either. Shocking, I know! In the next chapter, Rei explores her feelings and what it means to be left alone again in a world that she'd gotten so used to sharing with people she cared for. Asuka is still in the hospital, Shinji has been detained, and Rei just won't stop crying after realizing just how much Asuka and Shinji mean to her now that they're gone! Truly, a heartbreaking sight to behold. Will Rei fall into the dark pits of despair or will she rise up from the ashes? That question will be answered in the next chapter of Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love; Rei, Our Sadness of the Heart.

And, there may or may not be fanservice next time. Though, between you and me, I already saw the script. So, that may or may not be is more for you than it is me. See you in the next chapter!"