"Nerv claims to be a paramilitary force but its employees aren't highly professional. They lack the training and discipline of our troops, whilst the higher ups are even allowed to observe their own dress code!" Ministry of the Interior report to Marshal Motichka.

XII

The Seraph's shredded and torn corpse crushed the ground it lay on. Royal blue gore was splattered hither and thither, as if a tsunami of ichor had swallowed the ruins of Nakisawame.

Ironically, its torso, the most intact part, had done the least damage. Limbs torn off by the Hotaka's final salvo had demolished a residential district or two that had been unfortunate enough to be in their flight path. Spread from corner to corner of the city, Nerv had to cast a huge net to prevent any unauthorised salvage: a Seraph's toe was probably worth billions of yen on the black market.

Wouldn't put it past some lunatic warlord to try and clone it from that. Through the clear plastic windows of the mobile command unit, a specially built lorry, Misato surveyed the scene with arms folded. Just its death throws were destructive enough. These things are walking natural disasters.

A carpet of ash and rubble stretched out in every direction, permeated by only the occasional ruin. From downtown to the financial centre, Unit 01 and the 4th Seraph had battled, their clash grinding all in their way under foot. In the best-case scenario, the damage was estimated to be in the trillions of yen.

Good thing we're rich. She faintly smiled. None of the damages would come out of substantial her wages. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something that made her smile grow broader.

For heaven's sake, Rits.

Down by a particular blood splatter, was Ritsuko. The hazmat suit she wore failed to hide her excitement as she bounded from gory ruin to gory ruin. Misato herself drew an unpleasant satisfaction from the enemy's destruction, but Ritsuko's glee was different. Unfettered access to an alien lifeform for autopsy must have been like Christmas for a bio scientist.

Can't celebrate just yet, Rits. Misato chuckled under her breath as her best friend leaned over someone taking a sample, as if to hurry them. Need to get it to a lab for study. Then again, who hasn't tried to open their presents on Christmas Eve?

Misato certainly had.

Not that it'll do much good. Her smile dropped. What can we learn from its blood? Unless it's the right genetic sequence for an effective bioweapon, I don't see the point.

Another thought further darkened her mood. Misato fiddled with the cross that hung so heavily around her neck as she thought of Shinji, the boy she'd unwittingly led to his near death the previous day.

Tenka-sensei was blunt. The kid's fine, he just took a knock or two and needs to rest. She tried to tell herself but doubt lingered. A teenage boy's phantom screams and whimpers still echoed through her mind.

Her hand half reached into her red jacket pocket before she stopped herself. She'd called the Convalescent Home a few times that day and got the same answer, the receptionist becoming more irritated with each iteration.

"Status report." She called out. Work, as grim as it was, got her focused.

"Security has successfully quarantined the area, ma'am. Heavy duty lifting and transport gear are deployed and ready to recover the 4th Seraph's body upon completion of preliminary studies." A security guard, one of her own, smartly said.

He was correct. Through the window, Misato could see her cream uniformed guards quietly patrol the perimeter as huge cranes were achingly slowly hauled into position.

"Good work, Hayashi-san. How close is Dr Akagi to finishing?" Misato again felt that slight curl of the lip return.

"I don't know, ma'am. Dr Akagi is not very forthcoming…" The former Imperial Guard looked into the floor.

Misato laughed. "I'll handle that, trooper. It's a bit above your paygrade. Open a radio link to Dr Akagi's hazmat suit, would you?"

"Yes, ma'am." Sergeant Hayashi pulled out his radio, tuned it to the right frequency, then handed it to her. Misato was tempted to suddenly shout into it for a moment but controlled herself.

Come on. Be professional.

"Rits, you receiving?" She said.

"Just about." Ritsuko's voice crackled on the other end. "What is it, Director Katsuragi?"

Oh, Director is it today? Misato's lip curled a little more. She wants me to piss off and let her play.

"Just checking how you're getting along, Doctor."

"It's going well. You could come out and join us for a better look."

"Nah. You're the guys who do all the science stuff about Seraphim. I just blow them up."

Ritsuko sighed. "Very well. We're almost finished. Just need to get another sample and you're good to go."

"Roger that." Misato paused, thinking to end it there, then added "Don't worry, Rits-chan. You'll have plenty of time for play in our laboratories."

"I suppose there is that to it." Ritsuko acknowledged grumpily. "Will report back when we're done. Over and out."

Misato handed the radio back to Hayashi, then watched the "quacks" at work. Although their work was quick, they weren't doing anything by half measures.

First in, last out.

As non-combatants, Nerv's research branch were an oddly brave bunch. Whilst certainly more interested in sample taking, Ritsuko's team had been first on site to assess contamination and toxicity levels. For so mighty an alien creature, it certainly wasn't impossible that the being designated "Sachiel" could kill most of Nakisawame from beyond the grave.

And whatever is hazardous enough for an entire city, would be highly dangerous to even people in hazmat suits. Quacks have got balls, I'll give them that.

Her phone danced in her pocket. Misato pulled it out and immediately recognized the number.

The Convalescent Home.

"I'm stepping outside for a moment." She said to her subordinates, then quickly exited the lorry. The eternal summer sun drenched her in humidity, causing Misato to almost regret wearing her skin-tight dress.

Outside the Nerv perimeter, she could see the denizens of Nakisawame trying to go about their daily lives just beyond an Imperial Army cordon. Clearly manpower had been limited, as among those blue tunics there were a few brown ones.

Misato scowled.

Thugs.

Rail rifle equipped soldiers, and a few Kenpei with hands on sword hilts, shot dirty looks at her, as if she were some misplaced whore from the red-light district. Misato ignored them and flipped the phone to her ear. "Director Katsuragi, speaking."

"Hello, Director." Came the gruff voice of Nerv's chief medical officer.

"Ah, Tenka-sensei." Misato immediately relaxed. "Any news?"

"Yes. All of it good. The lad is up and about. He's already changed out of his hospital gown. We've given him one of our own uniforms for the moment."

"He's alright then…" She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, fit as a fiddle. In very good condition considering what he went through last night. Although…" He trailed off, as if hesitating in what he was about to say. "I did find some curious things in our checkout of him."

"Like what?"

"Did you know he has an old gunshot wound in his right leg?"

Misato's eyes went wide. "What?"

"Yes. Low calibre bullet tore through there the best part of a decade ago. I'd hypothesize that it might have been Chinese in make, but that's just guesswork."

She felt like crushing the phone in her hand. Butchering Chankoro bastards. We should have burned Beijing!

"I'm guessing he hasn't told you much about it?" She asked.

"No. If it's what I think it is, I don't blame him for wanting to forget. The only reason I'm telling you is because you'll be his superior for the foreseeable future. There's more as well." Tenka's tone became worried.

"There's always more." Misato walked into some shade to escape the claustrophobic heat.

"He has no medical history."

"...you're sure?"

"He's not on any medical database in Kure. His last documented appointment was in a Nakisawame GP for a knee scrape when he was four. I've found a few records of checkouts in the refugee camp at Atami during the war, but that's it."

Misato's mind raced. No doctors appointments for twelve years? I mean, by the sounds of it Shinji is a tough one, but that's impossible.

"Have you checked?"

"Multiple times. I'm not new to this game."

"Sorry, Tenka-sensei, I just meant-"

"I know what you meant. It's absurd. I'll speak to the CEO, see if he's got any idea."

"Mhm." Misato frowned, already having a feeling Tenka would be unsuccessful. Gendo Ikari was not a forthcoming man. Still, she knew more about Shinji than before. His file had only said he'd been evacuated.

"You said he'd been in Atami?"

"Yes. In that respect he isn't abnormal. That generation got hit hard by the wars." Tenka's growl softened a little. Children born in the Eruption's shadow had grown up in a vicious world. Some said that made them hard and cold, but Misato disagreed. They seemed far more grateful for what they had than she'd been at their age.

The War affected me enough, but him? He lived in Kure, and the Chinese got a hell of a lot further than that. Momentarily, she thought of a city in flames and half a million of her countrymen slaughtered in a two week long orgy of violence.

Fukuyama…the Chankoro deserved everything they got after that.

Her "war" had been a bit less drastic. She'd spent it in a Hokkaido refuge camp, kept warm by a man's arms.

It could have been a lot worse for me…A pair of ghostly arms wrapped around her waist. She stamped it out immediately. No. That's over. All that matters is the here and now.

"He's been through a lot." Misato mused, then straightened. "When is he fit for discharge?"

"Now. That's why I'm calling. Our poor receptionist could only take so much of you, Misato-chan."

Misato smirked. Badgering people enough can get you almost anything. Wouldn't try it on the CEO though. "I'll be along as soon as possible. Only got one or two things to wrap up here."

"Good. Be gentle with the lad." Tenka's voice softened again. "He's still quite shaken up."

"Understood." Thoughts of Shinji crying after the CEO's naked betrayal came to mind. "Over and out." She hit end call and slid her phone back into her pocket.

Briskly walking back into the lorry, Misato ran through the things she had left to do. The perimeter had been set up, the 4th Seraph's remains were being secured for transport and study, and the heavy cranes had arrived. Misato didn't really need to be here now. Gendo Ikari breathed down their necks, but did allow a certain amount of flexibility in methods and delegation.

"I don't care how. I just care that it is done." His words gave her the shivers.

Glad it's Rits-chan's job to do all the office work with him. The man creeps me out.

Closing the door behind her, she saw Ritsuko had come back in. Hazmat suit discarded and back in her usual clothes, she pouted.

"Hey, Rits-chan." Misato said. "You find anything?"

Ritsuko involuntarily sighed and rolled her eyes, then sheepishly reasserted control. "No, I'm afraid not. There wasn't really any chance of us finding anything concrete right now, even with some samples collected…as I've told you a few times."

"Oh yeah. Sorry, me and science stuff…" she ran a hand over her head and made a "whoosh" sound.

Ritsuko shook her head. "I know, I know. You blow it up, you don't study it."

Misato nodded at that. "I do what I'm good at. Are we done here?"

"There abouts." The faux blonde turned to Sergeant Hayashi. "I presume you can handle the rest?"

"Just a bit of heavy lifting ma'am." He nodded. "We'll manage."

"Good." Ritsuko craned her neck and ran a hand through her hair. "I need a coffee. Want to come with?"

"Afraid not. Got to go and check on Shinji-kun."

"Oh yeah? How is he?" She said as they walked out into the burning sunlight.

"Little bit dazed, but no worse for wear."

"Poor kid." Ritsuko lowered her head. "In more civilised times that would have been a war crime. But it is what is. Mind if I tag along?"

"Huh? Sure, no problem." Misato beckoned her old friend over to her neatly parked car.

"I see you're getting better at that." Ritsuko, brows raised, nodded at the wheels nestled between the white lines.

"I've always been good at it! Just don't always have the time for stupid parking rules." Misato unlocked it, then lowered herself into the driving seat. Ritsuko, who cared far less for the battered relic, plopped herself down without fanfare.

The engine rumbled into life and the car drove off. Air conditioning ramped up to maximum, Nakisawame whipped past the windows. Outside, people crammed the pavements as they went about day-to-day life, but there was an air of unease. Just by looking at the tighter way people walked, how stiff soldiers on guard were, told Misato enough.

"Everything's changed hasn't it?" She mused, as a ruined segment of the downtown came into view.

"Yes." Ritsuko agreed, casting a sad look with her green eyes. "Forty thousand people died yesterday. That's discounting missing, and they haven't even got started on wounded."

They'd prepared for the day for so very long. Simulation after simulation had been run, the orders given and the funds granted. Nerv had known this was coming, prepared for it, and still felt rocked to their core.

So who the hell knows how everyone else feels. Misato mused grimly. Just the day before, the wider human race had learned it wasn't alone and was in existential peril. How long would it take for people to adjust?

"How'd the press conference go?" She asked.

"Well enough." Ritsuko had instinctively reached into her pocket for a cigarette, only to stop via a disarming scowl from Misato. "Not too much point hiding now. After tearing up the Kanto region for several hours straight, it's a bit impossible trying to cover up the Seraphim's existence."

"Eva's still classified to hell though."

"That's for the best, Misato-chan. Our use of children is ethically problematic enough but the rest…" Ritsuko pinched the bridge of her nose, as if suppressing a bad memory. "I envy your ignorance."

They drove on in silence for a little while, Misato feeling her stomach squirm a little. Anyone who saw illegal internet footage of Unt 01 in action would be in the exact same boat as her: war machines do not scream in pain. As curious as she was about Eva's true nature, a part of her felt a bit glad on being in the dark about some of Nerv's darker secrets.

"So, what's brought you along for the ride?" She said, eager to change topic to something a bit more cheerful.

"I have some business your way."

"Awww, mama Ritsuko wants to see her baby." Misato grinned in realisation, obviously eying Ritsuko's new pair of white gloves. There wasn't just one Marduk Report child in the Convalescent Home.

"Misato…" Ritsuko's voice was stern but Misato carried on.

"Just adopt her already, or something."

"I will get out and walk."

Misato laughed.


Author's note: Sorry about the delay there. Sovvy-chan though it would be a good idea to write a whole bunch of chapters, then release them. Clearly, that hasn't worked out. Should be updating a bit quicker now.