Shinji was more than a bit bored.

He had been idly looking out of the window of his classroom for a while now.

A ancient-looking man that was their homeroom teacher rambled on and on, clearly lost in thoughts, and most of the class were either gossipping or drawing silly pictures on their laptop-computers, which had replaced physical books in the school after it received a hefty NERV funding for some reason.

Shinji knew that it was likely because he and Rei were attending the school, but didn't feel like telling anyone about it. 'Besides, I'd get scolded by Misato for leaking confidential things…'

He glanced behind him.

Rei was sitting behind him, and she was looking out of the window with her usual impassioned, broken-doll-like expression and body language that made Shinji feel oddly protective of her.

It didn't help that she still had her arm in a sling, as it had apparently broken during the Second Angel's attack on Central Dogma, and she was walking around with the help of a crutch as she had apparently badly dislocated her knee. One of her eyes was covered by a bandage, and she had quite few scratches and cuts on her skin which were slowly healing.

The girl was looking idly out of the window and Shinji turned to look out of the window as well before she'd realize that he was staring. 'I wonder what she's thinking about…'

Shinji scrunched his eyebrows in confusion as he saw a black car with NERV's logo and markings come to a stop near the school's gate, and a huge man stepped out of it. 'Huh… Don't tell me that NERV are sending more of their goons to keep an eye on me… Give me a break…'

Shinji wasn't sure if NERV actually wanted to keep an eye on him, though, as he hadn't been invited back into Geofront ever since the Third Angel had appeared, and that Angel had been defeated by luring another Angel into attacking it.

Misato had been apparently part of the operation to lure the Angel, and he had been quite worried that his warden and caretaker would die… But luckily enough, Misato had come back that night with just a few bruises. Although the woman had been so severely confused to the point that she had tried to eat her instant ramen with a spoon.

Shinji had found that to be quite funny, but before he could sink deeper into the memory lane, he saw that Misato had stepped out of the black NERV-car as well. 'Misato-san is here as well? What happened? Is it another Angel attack?'

He felt as his heart-rate increased and face paled over the possibility that he'd have to enter the EVA again, although at the same time, he was feeling quite confused- He hadn't been asked to train with the EVA ever since the First Angel had appeared. 'Misato-san said that Unit-01 is being repaired… But surely it doesn't take this long…'

On one hand Shinji didn't want to pilot the EVA, but on the other… He felt absolutely useless without it.

The fact his father, Gendo, hadn't even bothered to call Shinji didn't help the matters, nor that father hadn't even bothered to visit Shinji when the son had been recovering from the injuries he had suffered during Unit-01's rampage.

The huge man and Misato had entered the school's grounds alongside two men in black suits while Shinji had been thinking his own thoughts, and Shinji saw as they entered the school building.

"Hey, Ayanami…" Shinji turned around to ask Rei if she knew what was going on… And paused as he saw that the girl had scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, and for some reason the girl looked a bit paler than usual. "Rei?"

The girl's expression returned to tranquility and she turned to give Shinji a flat stare.

"Do you know what's going on? That NERV car just now…" Shinji asked and tilted his head towards the car that was parked next to the gate.

"I don't."

"Ah, okay." Shinji turned his attention back to the car… And saw that it had started to drive off. 'Huh, so if the car is going, Misato-san isn't actually here to grab me and Rei?'

Shinji's confused state continued for a while… Until the teacher's cell phone rang.

The old man fumbled with the brand-new tech for a while, until he managed to answer it, exchange a few words with someone, and nodded to air.

"Ah, class. We'll be getting a new student. Please be kind to him. Ah, and I've been asked to remind you that we've increased punishments for any students caught bullying others, specifically new students." The old teacher sent the class a squint through his thick glasses, and then moved over to the classroom's sliding door after someone knocked on it.

"Ah, welcome, welcome…" The old man spoke with someone in the hallway and then exited the room for a while, although Shinji could pick what was said as the class had fallen silent. "I received a message just now. I get that… Hm, would this be him, then? Well met. I'm the class teacher… I must say, this is most unusual, not to mention, ahem… are you really a teenager? I see…"

The teacher spoke with the people in the hallway for a while, and Shinji could pick Misato's voice among the speakers.

Roughly ten minutes later the teacher returned to the classroom. "Class. Please welcome your new classmate, Suzuki Satoru."

The door opened, and an over seven feet tall man entered the room… And hit his forehead in the doorframe.

Which didn't pause him at all, and instead caused a forehead-shaped chunk to break from the top of the door.

"Ah, sorry… Ahem. Indeed, I am Suzuki Satoru. Pleased to meet you all. I hope we'll have a profitable, educational, and enjoyable time together." The man glanced at the broken door frame briefly before beginning his clearly well-rehearsed introduction. "Here is my name, written out…"

Suzuki wrote his name on the chalkboard, although for some reason he wrote 'flying squirrel' first, seemingly realized something, wiped the odd phrase out, and then wrote his name. "Ahem, that would be that… Hm, there seems to be a seat free over there, so do you mind if I take that one, teacher-san?"

The huge man pointed at an empty seat next to Shinji.

"Hm… Certainly." The old man nodded, and the large man walked next to Shinji and sat down.

Shinji stared at the man.

So did the rest of the class.

"Hm… I see." The man nodded a bit as the chair had instantly given under his weight, and had caused the man to sit on the floor with the chair splayed under him like a crushed animal. "I suppose this would be fairly optimal, good."

The man took a laptop from his bag and put it on the table, which seemed to be the perfect height for him when he was sitting on the floor. "Please proceed with the lesson, teacher-san?"

"Hm… Ahem, yes. After the First Impact, the world was engulfed in earthquakes and other natural phenomena with vastly increased scope and scale…" The teacher seemed to gather his wits and returned to his boring monolog. "As a result roughly half of the world's population died due to famines, wars and conflicts that followed. Many countries formed and were broken during that time, fifteen years ago… Tokyo-1 was hit by a nuclear weapon as a result of a conflict that spread across…"

The large man was listening intently, and the rest of the class stared at him as he had tried to almost instinctively stick the other end of a communications cable against the side of his head.

He seemed to realize that the cable was supposed to go from the computer into a portable hard drive, and stuck the cable in it after getting it the wrong way twice.

Shinji was extremely confused, and turned to look at Rei… And saw that Rei was scrunching her face while trying to bore a hole into Suzuki's neck with her eyes, and she had a faint blush on her cheeks for some reason, almost as if he was really interesting for her.

Shinji was well aware that Rei, as far as he knows, had never looked at someone as intensely as she was looking at Suzuki now.

'Does she like that big jerk?' Shinji felt jealous before he got himself under control. 'Erm… I think… um…'.

He glanced to the side to see that Kensuke had brought out his camera, and the military-otaku was seemingly looking at something in the camera while Toji leaned to look over Kensuke's shoulder.

The two then turned to stare at the large man sitting on the floor.

They then stared at the camera for a while, almost as if they were comparing something.

A weak whimper came from Kensuke's mouth.

It looked like Suzuki heard it as he turned his head towards Kensuke and put a finger on his lips.

Shinji stared at Kensuke as he heard something dripping, and realized that Kensuke had pissed himself and Toji looked like he'd throw up while his face was utterly pale.

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'It's rude to make noise when the teacher is talking…' Momonga resisted the urge to sigh as he turned back towards the teacher after signaling the noisy student to quiet down. But it hadn't gone exactly as planned. 'Hm, then again, these are teenages, I think… I shouldn't be too harsh. Although wetting one's pants is a bit of a… overreaction.'

'Hm, anyway… It looks like this world shared history with what I knew of Neo-Japan, at least to the extent that I know of… But this 'First Impact' and 'Second Impact' events caused the timeline to seperate, I think? The fact that I actually ended somewhere when I tried to teleport to my old apartment more or less confirms that the 'split timelines' is true… But the magic part doesn't quite make sense, unless it is somehow connected to the 'Impacts'...' Momonga analyzed the teacher's words, ignoring the boring monotone voice. 'Fascinating… I'm pretty sure I'm being watched though, so I disabled my counter-kill spells for now... It wouldn't do if my warden did her job and kept an eye on me, and got a [Fireball] shot at her because of it.'

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The class continued for the rest of it's duration with some of the students clearly wanting to gossip, but were confused and a bit cowed by the odd student.

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"What is it doing?" Misato asked as she had moved herself to the school's CCTV-center, where fifty or so CRT televisions were showing video feeds of the entire building's camera network.

"Studying, ma'am." A black-clad Section-02 agent spoke as the two black-clad men had quite unceremoniously kicked the school's guards out of the room and established a link from the camera feeds to MAGI.

"What else?"

"It attempted to connect the data-jack to it's head. Can it hear data streams?" The agent asked a bit sarcastically. "It also seemed to signal 'be quiet' to one of the students."

"Right… Keep observing it. I'll just go and stay close to the classroom, just in case." Misato sighed.

The woman exited the room, and the two Section-02 agents turned back towards the screens.

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"The implants are recording, as you ordered." Ritsuko told Gendo as the latter had come to visit Ritsuko's lab. "Systems are reading green, and Second's every move is being tracked and recorded through the implants I placed in it's flesh coating, alongside roughly ten kilograms of C4 explosives."

"Good."

"...I'm not sure how wise it is to do that, since Second may react negatively if it finds out that it's very flesh is spying on it. Even more so when I seriously doubt ten kilograms of C4 succeeds in penetrating it's AT field."

"My deal with Second is only temporary, and I doubt it'll last for longer than a month. It is wise to prepare. What's the status of the EVA's?" Gendo asked as he looked at the data-stream coming from the implants in Second's fleshy 'skin-suit'.

"Unit-00 has been dug out of bakelite, into which it was buried during that mishap when Rei's synch-test caused Unit-00 to rampage." Ritsuko sighed and reminded the man. "Rei's injuries haven't healed yet, though. She almost died when the Pilot Plug was ejected during the rampage and it hit the wall of the synch room."

"I know. I pulled Rei out of that plug." Gendo briefly showed his palms which had third-degree burns after the commander had charged to open Rei's pilot-plug's emergency hatch to let Rei out of the near-boiling LCL, in turn searing his hands on the near-red hot metal of the hatch. "But since Unit-00 is out of bakelite, we can attempt to re-synch Rei with Unit-00. We just have to ensure Rei is properly sedated."

"So the last rampage was caused by the pilot's unstable mood?" Ritsuko noted. "I thought that was still under debate."

"Rei's mood has calmed down significantly after I rescued her. Some medicine would help her further, even if it would reduce her synch rate. But we need the EVA's to walk, even if they are not at their best." Gendo noted and he returned his hands behind his back and put them together, as was his usual 'contemplative' stance.

"Hm." Ritsuko turned back towards the datastream, letting Gendo's words linger in the air. 'Pampering Rei won't bring Yui back, we both know that… And we both also know that you don't actually care about the second Rei. You cared about the first, maybe even too much… But after she was choked to death by dr. Akagi, before she took her own life… Did a part of you die with the two of them, Gendo?'

Nonetheless, Ritsuko knew that Gendo would not answer if she asked, so she returned to her work.

"And Unit-01?" Gendo asked after a moment.

"I tried to re-make a Solenoid organ for it, but I doubt it'll be a perfect fit without Yui's expertise." Ritsuko sighed while keeping her eyes strictly on the monitor. "And even if I made a perfect copy of the Solenoid Organ… It won't be Yui."

Ritsuko heard tightening sounds, and knew that Gendo's grip on his hands behind his back had tightened to a point it was almost crushing bone.

"I see." Gendo's words were simple. "I've underestimated Second."

"I've started manufacturing a surrogate Solenoid Organ, but…"

"Cancel that program. I have some things to take care of."

"Unit-01 won't walk without a Solenoid Organ-" Ritsuko turned back towards her screen after sending Gendo a glance, and seeing that the man had an emotionless, cold expression like a man who had nothing to lose. "...Hm. Very well. I'll send the word."

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Gendo was standing in a empty, dark room roughly thirty minutes later.

"Your toys have failed you, Gendo." A large monolith-like circle formed around Gendo as the room's holographic projectors activated.

Each of the monoliths had the words SEELE, alongside a number, inscribed into their surface in glowing runes, to a total of fifteen monoliths.

"The Angels were repelled. The Human Instrumentality Project proceeds as you have planned." Gendo answered while his pose was carefully relaxed to the point of being nearly uncaring.

"Using an Angel against another Angel… I must commend your creativity, but such tricks will not work against them again. Angels may be predictable, as their approach is prophesied in the Dead Sea Scrolls, but they are not foolish.' A monolith with '02' spoke with a dubious voice. "The Third, Fourth and Fifth appeared faster than we expected. The Sixth won't be far from now. Your cards are on the table, Gendo. Can you still deliver?"

"I have other cards up my sleeve… But I must confess that Geofront's defenses are currently in need of reinforcements." Gendo concessed.

"You have failed, and you have come to beg us for our support, then?" A monolith with "05" spoke with an almost furious voice. "Tokyo-3 was supposed to be an impenetrable fortress-city. So far it has been breached once, and only by coincidence has it survived two other attackers. Why would we spend more on a failed project?"

"All three Angels that have attacked us have been slain or forced back. At relatively minimal cost, outside of rebuilding Tokyo-3's surface-elevator system and reinforcing Geofront's ceiling. It would be foolish to presume that even a fortress would stay unweathered in a storm." Gendo noted. 'So they know Geofront was breached… In which case, they have a mole inside that I don't know of. That 'forced back' should serve to put them at ease if they don't know about Second…'

"What would you have us do, then? Our funding as is should be enough to fortify Tokyo-3 until the promised day, so you have called us for some other reason. What is it, Gendo?" A monolith with "00" spoke with a calm voice.

"I need the Second Child and her EVA transferred to Japan… Alongside IT. Now."

A chorus of voices formed a cacophony as SEELE's monoliths spoke at once.

Finally they all fell quiet and "00" spoke once more. "It is not yet time, Gendo. You ask us for what we cannot give."

"I am aware. Yet I ask again. The enemy has proven themselves much more cunning than I anticipated. In counter, I have let them breach Geofront, as you have pointed out." Gendo kept his pose in perfect calmness. "You may not be aware that I let the Angel that penetrated the surface to also invade Central Dogma, and reach Terminal Dogma, while we were putting on an appropriate amount of resistance…"

Another chorus of voices, some more panicked than others, echoed in the room.

Once more, "00" spoke and the others fell quiet.

"Yet we are, and are not one. Speak, Gendo. Why would you do such a thing?"

"IT is not here yet. The Fortress is built, but the Treasure is not yet within. I allowed the Angel to see that we had nothing but death for them in Tokyo-3." Gendo spoke. "Moreover, while Unit-02 may not be in optimal condition, a mostly-working EVA is better than no EVA at all. A fortress without a guard is like a lock with its keys left beside it."

"So you are saying you have opened your coffers to show them empty… In which case, the thief would not return to search for the treasure, until it ran out of others to pilfer." The monolith "00" spoke again. "You are bolder than we expected, Gendo. Your tools were broken, so you bought yourself a moment to breathe and repair them, at the expense of the rest of the world. How many millions will die because of that? Tokyo-3 was not supposed to be a coffer, but both a lure and a trap, and now it serves as neither."

The room fell quiet for minutes, and Gendo waited.

"Very well. Unit-02 will be transferred to Japan. Ahead of schedule, alongside IT. The coffer must be filled, for the lure to work. Expect the Angels to take notice, so prepare your defenses well." The monolith "00" spoke once again. "However, Unit-03 and Unit-04 have run into severe problems. This is the last EVA you can expect for a long while."

"And Unit-05?"

"Problematic." The monolith seemed to sigh.

"I understand." Gendo bowed his head just minutely, and the room's lights turned on and the SEELE-monoliths flickered out.

'Your move, Second…'

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Momonga was resisting the urge to bang his head against the computer. 'Ghaaa… High-school mathematics, my old arch-enemy, we meet again… No, I need to focus, I need to learn so I can decipher those S2 engines…'

Momonga squinted his eyes at the chalkboard, his determination rekindled even if some part of him was quite exasperated.

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Rei was staring at the odd large man's neck.

She had squinted her eyes as the form looked familiar, somehow… Before something clicked.

She poked her own left breast.

Rei's eyes widened in shock as she connected the dots.

She turned her head… And noticed that Shinji had turned his head away to look out of the window as he had likely been looking at Rei.

And Shinji had a raging blush on his cheeks for some reason.

Nonetheless, everything connected inside Rei's head.

'Misato Katsuragi entered the school with the Angel… So she knows who he is, which means Commander Gendo Ikari knows who he is, and without EVA's, NERV is powerless to do anything but go with the Angel's whims.' Rei deduced and realized what she needed to do as she looked at the humanoid Angel.

'I can be replaced, which means ...I need to protect the Third Child.' Rei drew a conclusion from the fact an Angel had enrolled in the school, and had sat next to Shinji.

She turned her unwavering gaze towards Shinji, whose neck turned even more red somehow.

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Kensuke was trying his hardest to look casual even while he had urine dripping down his legs.

He had compared the photo he had taken of the Angel from before, and compared it to the large man.

The skeletal structure matched, and the behavior he showed was definitely not normal.

Kensuke knew he had only one thing he could do. But he could do that only when he was out of direct eyesight.

'I need to warn everyone!'