It was not until nearly seven the following morning when Patrick found his way back to his apartment. Walking slowly through the residential district of the university, he spotted a familiar face some hundred yards away and moved towards him.
Dylan McCabe was an American-born Marine who had once served under Patrick's former commander and still foster-father Admiral Vinson, and when Patrick was enrolled along with Erin at The New Institute McCabe, being one of the admirals more trusted operatives, was assigned to the security detail for the pilots. Given as Dylan and Patrick both were raised in rural environments, Dylan came from Wyoming while Patrick grew up in the California Sierra Nevadas, they had similar backgrounds and therefore hit it off immediately. Patrick considered Dylan a friend as well as a guardian, and Dylan was happy to further the relationship with one of his charges.
"Good morning!" Patrick called out to the security man, dressed in a blue and black track suit. While Patrick was nearly six foot by now, Dylan was six foot four and very full of muscle and managed to make Patrick look short compared to him. "Top o'the morning to you, kid!"
The two linked up for the walk back to Patrick's apartment. "How long have you been on shift?" Patrick asked. The security bodyguards in the pilots' protection detail usually did twelve-hour shifts.
"I took over around 0500," Dylan replied. "Just outside of ANGEL's NEST." The guard used the code name for Rei's apartment.
"Uh, yeah," Patrick confirmed with a little embarrassment. "Did anyone confirm with Erin I was there?"
"I don't know. She was posted back to your guys' pad around 2400 along with your guest – and no one else I might add."
"Good," Patrick said under his breath.
"What, you don't like your sister's new boyfriend?"
"Do you?"
"Well, it's not really for us to say," Dylan answered. "We're your security detail, but we can only protect your body, we can't protect your heart I'm afraid."
"I don't know, he just gives me a bad feeling."
"In what way?"
"He seems fake to me."
"Lots of boys try to put on airs to impress a girl they like," Dylan told Patrick. "So, he might come off as a bit pretentious. But if anything's really dangerous about Senor Diego we'll find out about it."
"Alright," and Patrick resigned himself to leaving the matter unsettled for the moment.
It took only a few more minutes to reach Patrick's apartment, a two-bedroom suite at the top floor of student housing. It had been his home since September when he and Erin had moved in before the beginning of the school term. The apartments, like most of the New Institute, had been remodeled from their prior function as personnel barracks for NERV's First Branch, but still retained a semi-military look about them in their tan and grey color scheme and squared designs. It was already seeming drab to him, Patrick noted mentally.
Dylan followed Patrick in the elevator but remained in the hallway as the boy made his way to his front door. He would be doing his job, Patrick knew, shadowing him throughout the day as he always did, protecting against the curious and the malicious, although in the years since the wars ended Patrick and Erin had been lucky to not ever encounter the latter and he hoped it would stay that way. Fumbling for his key the door opened while he had his hands in his pockets. Erin was standing in front of him.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in!" she said with a smirk. Erin was already dressed for the day, wearing a blue jean jacket over a black top along with a denim miniskirt. "Morning, bro."
"'Morning," he said and stepped inside, removing his shoes. Despite that they now lived in the USA again Patrick and Erin kept the Japanese practice of not wearing shoes inside of the house.
Their apartment had a small living room and dining area, bordered by a kitchen on one side, and the hallway leading to the bedrooms on the other. It was spacious as student housing went, and Patrick was always thankful they could afford the largest student suite available in the complex. Sitting at the dining room table and quietly sipping her tea from a plastic teacup was Mari, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and wearing a top that said "Killer Kitty" with a cartoon cat clutching a six-shooter printed on the front.
"Good morning, Pats," she greeted him cheerfully. "Sleep well last night?"
"I guess so," he replied as he made his way to the refrigerator, pulling out a Japanese iced coffee. Erin sat down at the table next to Mari, as Patrick got his drink and sat down across from them. Parched and still sleepy, Patrick rapidly gulped down the coffee as the two girls looked on silently, and it wasn't until he finished the can when he noticed both of their expectant stares.
"What?" he said with an annoyed voice.
Both Erin and Mari looked at him with their chins resting on their right hand. "So?" Erin asked him.
"So…"
"So," Mari joined her, "How did things go last night?"
"Well, the usual. I mean, I just went to Rei's place and then crashed there for the night, then woke up and now I'm here."
"So, then nothing happened between you two then?" Mari pried.
Patrick recoiled at the suspicion of the two girls. Damn they are so nosy. "Well, not really, I mean…"
"He seems flustered," Erin said to Mari.
"He certainly does, and I do think I detect a bit of nervousness in him."
"Why the hell do I gotta tell the two of you what happens with her anyway?" protested Patrick.
"We're your sisters," Mari declared, "we get to find out everything you've been up to."
"Oh, and I suppose that works the other way around too!"
"Nope," Erin said. "Remember, chivalry and all that."
"Hey, turnabout is fair play," Patrick argued. "How about you and Don Diego last night?"
"I should have you know that Diego was quite the gentleman, and despite Lusty's joining us at the last minute he was quite tolerant of the company. I think you two got along well, yeah?" she said to Mari.
"Oh, he's a charmer that one," Mari declared. "I suppose everyone should have a Latin lover at least once in their life."
"So, did Valentino do a Don Juan on you then?" Patrick asked Erin.
"I safely slid into second base, and then the inning was over," his sister said with a smug face. "Besides I'm not that kind of girl, and he knows and is okay with it. But what about you, dear brother? Your game went into extra innings. You didn't get tagged out, did you?"
Resigned to give up his secret, Patrick slumped down on the table surface as the two girls eyed him anxiously. "All right, all right. I see you won't give this up so easily. Third Base."
"Oooohh! Really?" Erin exclaimed.
"Just a little. Don't expect details."
"I was wondering how long it would take you two," said Mari.
"Hey, you know how it is with her. Even this is sort of pushing it. But last night was kind of…"
"Yeah, we get it," Erin concluded. "Don't forget I was on that stage too. I know how she looked. At least the Swan got her prince in the end." She got up from the table and found her bookbag on the couch behind them. "Anyway, I've got class and need to get out of here. Lusty, are you staying with us tonight too?"'
"Afraid not, Tigress," Mari replied. "But I'll be around for the day before I head back. I'm sure Pats wants to catch up and I'd like to see Angel too while I'm here."
"Well then toodles, I'll catch you again before you get out of here" she said, giving Mari a hug and then passing Patrick towards the door. "Hey, Bro?"
"Yeah,"
"Don't forget to go to class today. I mean that."
"I won't, I won't, don't worry so much." Patrick said in an annoyed voice.
"It's not my grades that are on the line," she quipped back. "Bye."
"Bye," both Patrick and Mari said to Erin as she went out the door and shut it behind her. Patrick waited a full minute to be sure Erin was clear of the area before speaking to Mari.
"You wanna go somewhere?" he asked her.
Mari cocked her head in curiosity. "What did you have in mind?"
After a short motorcycle trip, the two of them ended up at a large arcade near campus named "Floston's Paradise." As they walked inside Mari looked around at the very spacious interior, colorfully decorated like something between a Polynesian Island setting and an alien invasion.
"Your hiding place," Mari quipped at Patrick.
"This used to be the tactical training center for the armed security staff at NERV First Branch," Patrick explained. "When NERV sold off the facility some guys picked it up and redecorated it but kept a lot of the combat simulations going." He pointed towards a large LED scoreboard mounted high on one wall. Mari noticed at the very top of the scoreboard were the initials "PHF," and she knew immediately that they stood for Patrick Henry Forrestal.
"I see you're on top."
"Yeah," Patrick confirmed with some embarrassment. "They opened this place when school started, and I put myself at the top of the leaderboard. I've never been lower than 2nd ever since."
Floston's Paradise was now a collection of various types of video games plus the tactical training areas in the rear of the building, which were the more challenging of the simulations presented by the shop. A beginner's track worked more like traditional "laser-tag" games where players armed with low-powered lasers and sensor vests would shoot at each over through a maze. But the master's level of simulations was taken straight from small arms combat simulators, featuring actual pistols and rifles armed with paint-ball ammo, and robotic and holographic opponents moving in a randomized pattern through a complex environment of rooms, hiding places, and obstacles. There were also robotic gunner stations that could fire back at players who were challenging the course, making it a very difficult run for the inexperienced.
Patrick went to the front desk where the clerk, a heavy-set man in his forties with long hair, greeted him with a friendly smile. "Hi, Boss!" he said.
"Hey, Markie. Can you set up my guest here for the DangerMax Course?"
"Sure thing, boss." Markie then turned to Mari and asked "Miss, have you ever done a combat simulator before?"
Mari looked at him with a grin. "You could say that, I think."
"What you like? We got a snub pistol, you should be able to handle that I think."
"How 'bout a MP-5K?" Mari quickly replied.
"Ohhh, she's got taste, she does!" the clerk said and went to the back. "Hey, Boss, your usual?"
"Yeah, three clips please."
The clerk retrieved the weapons from a storage closet behind him and then returned to the front desk. He handed Patrick a SIG-Sauer 9mm automatic pistol and three clips loaded with paintball ammo and gave Mari the black short-barreled submachine gun along with her own ammo. He then gave both of them vests and helmets for the course. The challenge course wasn't "laser tag" and so the protective gear was used to absorb the impact of hits by other shooters.
After checking in the two of them went to the course run, donning their armor and methodically checking their weapons. Patrick had run through the shooting course enough times to where it was truly second-nature to him, and with his routine before every combat run he made sure his pistol clips were loaded correctly (and not somehow loaded with live ammo by mistake), and that the safety on the pistol was on. He also noticed that Mari did much the same, and at an equally confident and quick manner. Patrick thought that whatever Mari filled her time with after leaving Japan last summer had certainly improved her firearms skills.
With armor, clear eye shields, and hearing plugs all donned, the two of them stood at the ready at the starting line of the combat course. Each would run on their own track, and the objective was to be first in points, which relied on being both fast and accurate with the bias on accurate shooting. Unlike lower-tech combat courses, here the targets occasionally shot back with paint bullets of their own.
The pair watched the starting clock and waited for the buzzer. Counting down to five…four…three…two...one…GO!
Patrick sprinted forward, both hands on his pistol grip and immediately went to a wall on his right seeking cover. He rolled against the wall and saw two black silhouette targets and got shots on one of them before rolling back as the second target returned fire through a hidden gun, its paint round striking the wall he hid behind. Patrick quickly rolled again, and this time moved out in the open, putting a single round in the center of the target and sprinting forward.
The second zone featured several obstacles including low barriers that had to be hurdled, and provided only partial cover, which could either force the shooter to go low and take cover or try and run and jump it and shoot while on the move, a tricky proposition. Patrick knew how to do it both ways, but as he pushed forward he saw to his right that Mari had already figured out the course and flung herself high in the air, bringing down her MP5 and giving two more targets quick bursts on her way down.
Damn, she's already ahead of me! Patrick jumped on one berm and pushed himself into the air, putting two bullets into one target, and another two on another before hitting the ground. He rolled over and then jumped up again, now sprinting towards the third area.
With tall cylindrical barriers spread throughout the third zone resembled a giant forest of blue tubes. Here some of the targets at the end were stationary, but another two were on tracks that put them behind random "trees," and like the others these targets also shot back. Patrick weaved his way through the barriers getting off one shot and then another at the forest targets, and then putting two rounds in a third target at the end. He couldn't spot Mari to his right and figured that she had already bounded to the fourth zone.
The next zone featured an obstacle hazard, with a three-foot wide chasm filled with a shallow amount of water. On the other side were several silhouette targets, most of which were moving and now in addition there were different silhouettes that were not targets: these were simulated civilians that were mixed in among the enemies. As Patrick ran into the zone he heard a splash and saw that Mari had jumped into the stream, to use the cover its banks afforded. Smart move, he noted to himself, as nearly all beginners in the zone try to jump the stream instead, instantly exposing themselves to enemy fire.
Patrick slid into the riverbank and pressed himself against the far side, keeping his body out of sight as he ejected one clip and slid in another. He then popped upward and put four hits on four successive targets, and then went rapidly back down as the remaining targets pelted the ground with paint bullets. Mari was doing much the same, using short, controlled bursts from her MP5 to strike down targets. Patrick did the pop-up attack again, knocking down another two. He didn't wait to check for any remaining targets as Mari had already jumped out of the river bank and sprinted forward a second ahead of him, but instead leaped out and ran to the final zone.
The last zone was naturally the most challenging, as it consisted of about a dozen moving silhouette targets that were intermingled with civilian non-targets. There was also painfully little cover for the shooters running the course, consisting only of a single bench and a post. In this case with only two things to hide behind, both shooters had to decide quickly which cover was theirs before targets opened fire. If they ran for the same piece of cover, there wasn't enough space for both and one shooter, or perhaps even both, would be exposed to fire.
Figuring that he knew the course better, Patrick dove for the ground first while Mari jumped for the post as cover. Patrick then rapidly rolled to the bench and put his back to it. He could hear the impacts of several paint bullets against it as he looked to his right and saw Mari. She winked at him, MP5 at the ready.
Ah, I miss the old days. Patrick grinned back at her and together they swung outside and in the open, firing their weapons at the targets. Mari struck several in quick succession, careful to control her submachine gun's bursts to avoid innocents, while Patrick made several hits all in dead center or in the forehead.
Just as Mari thought everything in the course was cleared, one of the civilian targets flipped over, revealing it was a hostile one in disguise complete with paint-bullet gun. She brought up her SMG to bear but the target put two rounds dead center on her chest. Patrick promptly took the target down. A buzzer sounded, and a voice called out "TIME." The course was finished.
"Bloody hell!" Mari protested. "That was bollocks there at the end!"
Patrick was grinning from ear to ear. "Yeah, that little surprise at the end gets everyone. Messed me up the first few times on the course."
"Well, at least this way I can still live and learn. How'd I do?"
Patrick looked up on the scoreboard and saw both his and Mari's scores. Patrick had 834 points while Mari had 829, a very close finish.
"Off by 5 from me," said Patrick. "A perfect run is 1,000."
"Not bad for a first timer."
"Not bad at all, Lusty. You've been practicing again."
She cocked her head in feint modesty. "Does it show?" Patrick grinned at her.
"Let's dry off and get some lunch and you can tell me all about it."
There was a diner next to the shooting range and the two pilots sat at a booth in an out of the way corner. Patrick noticed that Mari insisted on getting a seat that faced the front door of the restaurant and knew that was a habit of security. He himself sat with a view of the kitchen door, also out of the same exact habit. It had also confirmed his suspicions about her sudden visit.
"I bet you love this place," Mari told Patrick. "The menu's practically carnivorous."
"Meat's the one thing I have to give up for love," he replied. "But I manage to sneak it in from time to time." A waitress came bringing two double cheeseburgers, plus French fries and colas for both kids, and they promptly dove in with their appetites.
"So, "Mari told Patrick in between bites, "considering your skill at that course I'm guessing you probably spend quite a bit of time there."
"Not every day," the boy confessed as he dug into his cheeseburger, "but I probably go there more than school itself."
"Not really fond of school?" Mari said as she munched into a fry.
"Meh, school's…school's okay. I guess." There was a long pause between the two of them as Mari stopped eating and looked straight at Patrick, while he took another bite. Then he put the mostly consumed burger down.
"Okay, okay. School sucks balls."
"Then why are you here?"
"One: it's free. I mean, the New Institute is different from a regular college, there's no tuition. There's no applications, you get nominated to be here, and Erin and I were both nominated by the Admiral."
"And Rei."
"Yes, although she's sort of a special case. But anyway, that's one. The other is that Erin and Rei are here and not somewhere else. So here is where I am too."
"But you don't like it. Is it too difficult?"
Patrick sighed and worked up the best way to explain things to Mari, not sure that he understood it himself. "I'm not sure what it is. I mean, when we were in school back in Japan, I did alright even despite the language barrier. Both Erin and I took the high school equivalency test anyway and nailed it, so I wasn't really worried about my grades. But I get here and it's totally different."
"You mean that it's actually hard?" Mari said with a smirk.
"Oh, that's it," he said with a snarky tone. "Look, I can handle the subject matter, but there's just something…I don't know, missing here for me."
"What's your major?"
"Applied sciences."
Mari was surprised. "Applied sciences? Really? Not something like, say history. I would think that's more in your corner."
"Except that the New Institute has a separate campus for the humanities that's far away from here. This campus is concentrated on the sciences and given that Rei's major is Genetics, and Erin is in Computer and Info Sciences, this is where I gotta be. Also, I figure, mom and dad were both scientists and so it's a family thing."
"You don't sound convinced," Mari quipped.
"Fine," he spat in frustration. "You got me. It sucks here, I don't want to do work. I don't want to do classes. I just want to be here and that's it. I don't even care if I pass."
"But Erin surely does, she was concerned about it enough to mention it over dinner last night."
"Yeah, well I know she's frustrated. God knows she's really helped me along."
"But shouldn't you at least be straightforward about it with them? I mean if you're not happy here…."
"Hey," Patrick defended. "I'm happy here. I've got Rei here. I've got Erin here, and we're back in the good ol' US of A. Nothing could be better. I just need to find my groove, that's all."
They went back to eating, and Mari started perusing the desert menu on the table, while it was Patrick's turn to give her that stare that meant "there's something you're not telling me." The two of them, despite the distances of time and location, were still partners in a bond forged by war and trial.
Mari knew the glance and looked back at him, straightening her red-rimmed glasses. "You're wondering why I'm really here, aren't you?"
"I know it wasn't just to see Rei dance last night."
"Not that it wasn't worth the trip. She's beautiful! I can't imagine how jealous you must have been just watching her do all that on stage with some other boy."
"It's okay," Patrick said with a smile. "I got my own Pas de deux later that night."
"But don't you want to live up to what you're really capable of? I sure you don't want your Angel disappointed in you."
"Why would she be?"
"Don't take her for granted, Patrick."
"I don't!"
"But If I know her like I do," Mari continued, "I know that she won't always state what's on her mind. If she's concerned about you she might still hold back until it's too late. You know that too."
"I think we get along well enough to where we pretty much accept each other the way we are. Besides, honestly, she's so busy not only with studies and ballet and working then all that time she spends with Dr. Foch at the lab, I doubt she has a lot of time to think much."
"Hmmm," Mari said, finishing up her fries. "Let's change the subject. What if I gave you a new, opportunity shall we say?"
Patrick knew where this was leading, as the clues had been dropped all this morning. "No."
"You haven't even heard what I've had to say!"
"It's about piloting, isn't it?"
"No, it's not."
"But it is about something dangerous."
Mari smiled. "Yes, it is."
"Then no."
"Do you even know what I'm going to say?"
Patrick leaned forward on the table. "First, I saw you with that MP-5 this morning and you were taking down targets like they were strawberry jello. That's better than I've ever seen you before and that sort of training doesn't come cheap or easy. Secondly, a year and a half ago you could barely walk and now you're jumping through obstacle courses fast as a bandit, which means you've had some work done on you and anyone willing to give you that kind of 'enhancement' usually has an objective in mind. Finally, you're now traveling a lot more but you're coy about what it is you're up to, which means it's secret and its secret for a reason. And that's a reason that I want to get the hell away from."
"Are you really happy here?"
"Yeah, yes of course."
"How many pounds have you gained in three months?"
The boy was becoming increasingly flustered. "It's not about the weight! Damn, I'm in good shape still, you know that, but I just…just don't want to deal with this shit any longer. I finally got it good," He told her with as much cheer as he could muster up. "I'm stable and I've got something like a future in a respectable field that doesn't involve killing things or people or getting my face melted off!" At the end of the sentence Patrick was practically shouting, enough that heads turned among other customers in the diner. He then sheepishly muttered "Sorry," and continued with Mari in hushed tones, huddling across the table.
"Hey, I'm not dumb. It's not that I wouldn't normally at least consider doing what you're doing but…"
"But…"
Patrick paused and then spoke quietly. "There's one more thing to this. I have family, with all of you. Meaning all of us pilots and Misato and the Vinsons and everyone else. But Erin…"
"What about her?"
"She's still fearful something's going to happen to me and then she's all alone," Patrick told Mari. "Let's say this all worked out, and then I get to be Secret Agent Double-O Four or something. That leaves Erin, and Rei worried sick about me that I'm not coming home one day. We've already been through so much of that, and I don't want to do that to them. I want to be there for them, all the time. No more long-distance relationships. No more adventures. Just stable. Normal. Is that too much to ask for?"
"Do you know what I think?"
"What?"
"You're bored out of your mind because you're hooked. Just like I am."
"Hooked on what? LCL?"
"Danger," Mari clarified. "You can't live without it. That's why you go shooting every other day. That's why you push the envelope with whatever you can in your wreckage of an academic career. That's why you'd rather get caught goofing off then being a good boy and sitting in the front of the class and taking pages of notes and reading and reading and reading because you can't stand it. You need to get dirty."
"And playing spy is the way to do that."
"It's not 'playing spy.' The Director has a different role for you in mind."
"Like what?"
"Counter-intelligence."
"Against who?" asked Patrick. "SEELE's gone, they're all buried under that volcano."
"That doesn't mean there won't be others, and that's what were out to prevent."
"And so, you want me to do what, exactly?"
Mari leaned toward Patrick over the table, to where she was almost touching his nose. "Do what you do very best…solve puzzles."
Patrick tried to say something in return but found that he couldn't: Mari had gotten through his AT Field, and reached his core in an unexpected way.
"I'm sorry," he finally said, "but still no. I'm not just here for myself anymore, and I don't want them to have to be afraid every day of their lives."
"Pats," said Mari, "they can't be themselves unless you're able to be yourself too, and this person you're becoming is not you, not the real you."
Patrick just shrugged his shoulders, defeated but not seeing how he could move on. "I just can't do it."
The New Institute Cambridge branch was a sprawling campus covering several square miles of buildings, composed of classrooms, laboratories for research, and support facilities for them. Built from the former campus of NERV First Branch (which itself was constructed on top of what was once known as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or M.I.T.) the New Institute was, as its name suggested, a new attempt at reinventing higher education with a novel methodology in both how it obtained students and how it educated them.
To begin with, the New Institute didn't accept applications. There was a board of governors that hired a much larger advisory board that was made up of one thousand members from all over the world and from all types of fields, including the sciences, government, literature and the media. Each member was permitted to sponsor at least one incoming student per year, a student that they would nominate. Student Candidates then had to take a single, two-hour long test to ascertain basic abilities in math, English (the common language of instruction at the New Institute), logic, and ethics. Students who passed were accepted, and the Institute through very generous financial backing from the Alliance of Free Nations paid all room, board, and tuition fees for the one thousand students accepted into each class year.
The methodology of the education program at The New Institute was also radically different. Incoming students were tasked with planning for a four-year program by requesting all their courses in advance and filling out a questionnaire filled with random, unusual questions. Both were fed into a computer (a copy of NERV's MAGI system that was operating at First Branch and was still being used by the New Institute) which then provided the students with a schedule of classes each semester. Some classes were not on the student's request list, but instead covered some subject that the Institute's computer thought the student needed additional study in, or perhaps had some yet unfound skill or proficiency. So, while some students had a clear path on their academic journey, others may have been provided more challenges to study in areas that they were either weak in or needed exposure to. In Patrick's case, most of his assigned first semester coursework was very heavy on the physical sciences and considering most of his initial education was done in the California Mountains and nowhere near a high school science lab, it had proved to be a very significant challenge indeed.
Additionally, each student at The New Institute was required to do two things: take a class in some type of art and perform some sort of work for the institute. The work requirement was usually something involving either student services or facilities maintenance, and that usually meant cleaning up the campus in some way. In that regard The New Institute was not unlike Japanese schools where the students were tasked with cleaning up the classroom themselves. Most of the part-time positions in the university campus from food service to bookstore cashiers to library clerks were held by students.
The art requirement was something very different. The Institute's chancellor Dr. Gallatner (a former Yale scientist and one-time anti-UN activist) had stated that every student should have some experience in the classical arts no matter their actual major. So, every student was required to enroll into one art program, which included anything from painting, handcrafting, music and drama, to performing arts like ballet. The New Institute didn't have a sports program set up as of the first year, so artistic expression served as something of an outlet for stress for most of the students, and it wasn't before long when some students started organizing events to display their learned talents. Thus Rei, who took two years of intensive ballet in Japan, was part of the campus dance company's production.
Patrick, however, found himself out of scope in the arts as the closest he'd ever gotten to this was carving small figures out of wood up in his mountain cabin home. With no sports programs and with a load of remedial science instruction, nothing the New Institute currently had given him for classes was anything he was remotely interested in. As art was a requirement, Patrick took a drawing class and found that he hated it after a week of struggling, but he did little to change his schedule and many times simply didn't show up to class.
At the center of The New Institute's campus was a large building that served as a student support center, and that included bookstores and food outlets. It had been remodeled from the earlier cafeteria at NERV First Branch and was now quite presentable, with small cafes and boutique shops focused on student's shopping needs.
Rei Ayanami's daily schedule typically started at the school's swimming pool, and while there were no aquatic classes the physical training facilities on the campus were still well-kept and well-attended. On any given weekday she would swim early in the morning when the pool was nearly empty of students. After having a very light breakfast that she brought with her, consisting of tea and natto toast, Rei would change and go to her first round of classes. On Mondays she would attend Calculus and then Molecular Chemistry, and then usually meet with Patrick and/or Erin for lunch at one of the student cafes in the center court.
Before the day began Patrick had already told her that he'd be spending the morning with Mari and that he'd catch lunch with her as well. Rei knew lunch with Mari would likely involve meat, so she suggested they get lunch on their own, and that they'd touch base later that day. It was fine for her if Patrick wanted to take his time to see her again, the previous night had been something of an intensive experience between them and Rei felt that she needed time to process this in her mind.
As Erin Forrestal had an exam to study for that afternoon she proved unavailable for lunch, so Rei instead went alone to the campus's coffee and tea house.
Since her piloting days Rei's outward appearance had changed considerably: she now grew her hair long, flowing down to below her shoulders when she didn't put it up. She also normally wore eyeglasses most of the time and took care to dress herself well compared to her old days of simply wearing her school uniform and cheap sneakers every day and everywhere. Because it had become trendy in the years after Third Impact to color hair and eyes in many ways, Rei's Azure blue hair color and deep red eye color were attention getting but not highly unusual and in America most students went out of their way to look "different." As a result, she didn't look like her old self much and wasn't well recognized in public, although she was still very petite and slim in figure, and most of all still maintained a very mysterious quality about herself.
From the counter Rei ordered green tea and a bowl of vegetable soup, and then sat herself down with a book and read after quickly finishing her soup. She had about a half-hour to pass before her work study and so spent the time quietly reading the next semester's textbook for Genetics (as she had already finished this semester's) while sipping her tea. She was very presentable that day, wearing a white long-sleeved blouse and a matching calf-length skirt, with matching white hose and pumps.
"E…E…Excuse me?" Rei lifted her head and saw a male student standing next to the table. He was of short height and had brown hair, wore glasses over grey-colored eyes and on first appearance seemed to be either of European or Asian heritage, or perhaps a bit of both.
"Are you Reiko?" he asked Rei. To keep her actual identity as the First Child hidden, Rei used the alias "Reiko Kaji" as a student. She wasn't the only one of the EVA pilots to follow this practice either.
"Yes?"
"Uh, Hi! I'm David, David Zumwalt!" Rei drew a blank stare as she couldn't remember the boy initially.
"From Calculus class?"
With that prompt Rei now remembered the face, one of the students who frequented the front row of the mathematics class. Most students avoided the front row, as it made being asked a question by the teaching professor that much riskier. But Zumwalt wasn't afraid of that, instead he seemed afraid of something very different.
"Oh, yes!"
"May I sit here?" Rei didn't say anything but just nodded slightly and Zumwalt promptly sat down, shoving his book bag on the seat next to him
"I'm sorry to interrupt you but I saw you there and wanted to ask if you, if um…" The boy struggled to get out what he wanted to say as Rei stared at him unemotionally.
Why is he so nervous? This isn't about math class, is it?
"…did you have a partner for the math lab project?"
Rei looked at him further, blinking slightly as she recalled what was meant. "I've already finished the project," she told him.
"Really?!" Zumwalt said, surprised. "But that's not due until end of term?"
"I have an overloaded schedule, so I try to work in advance as much as possible," Rei told him flatly. This was a true statement, as Rei needed as much time in the Artificial Evolution Laboratory as she could get and doing schoolwork in advance of the deadlines was one way to use time more efficiently.
"Oh, I see," the boy chuckled. "I…I was just going to ask if I could be your partner, that's all."
And now I know why you're here, Rei thought to herself.
"Anyway, um, I see you around campus but I just never, you know, met you before. That's all." Rei didn't reply, but instead took a sip of her tea and then returned to gazing at the boy across from her.
"Was that you last night?" David Zumwalt continued. "You know, at Swan Lake?"
"Yes," Rei replied.
"Wow. You're good. I mean you're really good! Where did you learn to dance like that?"
"I studied in Japan for two years before I came here."
"Oh, you're from Japan. Well, of course you are, you've got a Japanese name and all," Zumwalt said nervously. "That's not always true but anyway…Why did you come here?"
"I'm involved in research."
"You're a researcher then?"
"No. I am a test subject."
"A test subject? You mean, like you're being experimented on?"
"Yes."
That was unexpected, the boy thought. "What, for like a medical trial?"
"It is a scientific matter but I cannot comment on it further," she said to him.
"I see. Well, that's kind of different. I mean, all of us are on scholarship and all and you're here for something else. Well, um…" The boy started stammering again as Rei continued to observe him silently from across the table.
"Um, anyway do you like it here?" he asked Rei.
"Yes. Very much."
"I do too. I'm from Wisconsin originally. Not many scientists from there, really, but I got lucky and got picked for this place. It's kind of nice here during the fall, when the leaves turned color and all. Not that we get much chance to do things apart from studying. Um, what book is that?" Zumwalt pointed at Rei's textbook.
"It's Biostatistical Genetics and Genetic Epidemiology, Volume 2," she told him. "It's next semester's textbook."
"Next semester?! You're already reading next semester's work? Wow, you really are working in advance."
"I had read this semester's textbook while in high school, so I knew the material already."
"Next year maybe you'll be teaching the class," David quipped.
"Perhaps," Rei said without a shred of irony.
At this point in the conversation David Zumwalt had to admit to himself that he was vastly outgunned, as not only was "Reiko" quite pretty in his opinion, but also extremely intelligent as well. He had never quite encountered someone wrapped up in such a package. Yet she seemed alone, and strangely unemotional. Maybe there was a chance after all? Time to roll the dice?
"Are you going to the Fall Dance?" he blurted out suddenly.
"Probably," Rei replied.
"Do you need a date?"
"No."
"Oh, you're going alone then."
"No," Rei clarified. "My boyfriend would be taking me." Rei then observed that David Zumwalt's face became about two shades paler than just a moment earlier.
"Oh, um, okay. I'm sorry, I didn't know. I guess I figured you didn't have one because I never see you with someone while you're around campus."
"He's a student," Rei told him. "But unfortunately, he doesn't go to classes very much."
"Well, his loss," Zumwalt replied. "Anyway, you seem like you're really smart. You're welcome to sit with us on the front row in Calculus anytime, you'd probably hold your own there." Rei didn't reply but simply slightly nodded her head in affirmation.
"It's good that we can be friends at least, don't you think so? Reiko?"
"Yes, it is, David Zumwalt."
"Actually," he smiled, the first time he seemed relaxed to Rei within the entire conversation, "just call me Zummy. All my friends call me that."
Rei gave him just the slightest smile. "Okay, Zummy-kun."
Patrick spent more time with Mari as they walked across campus and he gave her a short tour of the facilities, and then the two linked up with Erin that afternoon after her test. By this time, it was late afternoon, the sun was going down and the weather became just a bit breezier.
"So, how did your test go," Mari asked Erin as she put together her backpack just outside the classroom door.
"It felt okay. It's NeoAIDA programming so it's a new language for me, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Hey, Lusty, when do you have to head back to the UK?"
"Right after dinner, I'm afraid. I was only able to squeeze this trip in because of a pause in work, so I've got to jump back on a plane and rush to London-2 tonight."
"Too bad," Patrick said. "Would have loved to have you the whole week."
"I wouldn't want to cut into your studies, Pats," Mari told him. "And depending how things go back home I might enroll later, if I can find a sponsor. That is if you're still here next term."
Patrick looked puzzled. "Um, why wouldn't I still be here?"
"Never mind that. By the way, where is your Angel girl? Is she getting out of class also?"
"Not class," Patrick told Mari. "She has work this afternoon."
"Can we still go see her? I haven't had the chance since last night."
"Sure, she's only a bit of a walk away."
The group of the three of them walked towards the Staff Services building which was just a few hundred meters from the center of the campus. This was a medium sized building that comprised of various offices supporting faculty and administrators at the New Institute and was where Rei worked three days a week as part of her work-study.
They entered the building and went into a courtyard that was in the center of the five-story complex, there was a glass ceiling atop a spacious atrium where adult staff milled about on breaks or as they walked in between offices. Once they were inside the building however the group could hear the faint sound of the singing of children.
"What is that?" Mari asked, "That song is vaguely familiar."
"You'll see," Patrick said with a smile.
"It's about the cutest thing ever, I think," Erin added.
The trio approached one large window facing the courtyard and spotted the façade of a day care center run by the Institute for pre-school children. The window allowed a good view inside of the center and inside one could see a large classroom with a chalkboard and video screens presenting education programs running for very young learners, as well as small seats and lots of toys and arts and craft materials along storage bins built into to the walls. About a dozen or so small children, between the ages of three and five, were seated in a circle on the floor.
Dressed with headbands of animal ears that the students had crafted themselves, the small children were being led in singing a song. At the head of the circle, sitting cross-legged like the students themselves, was Rei. She too wore a set of animal-ears made from paper crafts, only hers were much more neatly constructed than those of the children, and over her blouse and skirt she wore a yellow apron. Rei led the children in song, clapping her hands and singing along herself in a soft, sweetly high-pitched tone. The song was in Japanese and went like this:
Sho Sho Shojoji, Shojoji no niwa wa,
tsu tsu tsuki-yo da, minna dete koi, koi, koi!
Oira no tomodacha, pon poko pon no pon.
Mari gasped in recognition. "I know this one! It's the Racoon song!" Then she immediately spouted a broad smile and started clapping herself, singing along with Rei and the children.
Makeru na, makeru na, osho-san ni makeru na!
Koi, koi, koi, koi, koi, koi!
Minna dete koi, koi, koi!
As Rei continued teaching the children the song she looked up to her right and saw Mari entering the child care center, happily clapping her hands and singing along with the others. An older woman who was the center's lead teacher and also dressed in a yellow apron looked on approvingly at the whole bunch, including the newcomer.
Still standing outside and watching from the window were Patrick and Rei, both of whom couldn't help but be happy at the entire episode. Rei looked out the window briefly and Patrick gave her a broad smile. Rei just looked back at him, smiled a little more, and then turned again to the group as Mari found herself a place among the children to continue the song.
Sho Sho Shojoji, Shojoji no hagi wa,
tsu tsu tsuki-yo ni hanazakari.
Oira wa ukarete, pon poko pon no pon.
Erin couldn't help but start laughing. "I can't believe she just did that!"
"Of course she did," said Patrick. "This is Lusty we're talking about. I guess some people never grow up."
At the end of the song all the students clapped in applause. The clock struck 5:00 and Rei gathered up the students plus Mari up off the classroom floor to prepare them to go home. Shortly thereafter a steady stream of parents lined up at the care center doors to collect their children. Patrick and Erin continued to wait outside to not crowd everything but watched as Rei presented each student to their parent along with any crafts that were made by them that day. One student, a young boy with brown hair, quickly hugged Rei tightly just before going to his mother. She reciprocated, holding him and closing her eyes just a bit as she did so. It was a moment Patrick knew he would himself savor.
She's really attached to the children. It just goes to show what she's really looking forward to in life.
Rei returned the boy to his mother, who promptly gathered him up in her arms and thanked Rei then left the care center. As the two of them walked out Patrick could overhear the boy talk to his mother.
"Mommy! You know Big Sister Reiko? She's an Angel!"
His mother giggled and smiled. "Of course she is."
"No, Mommy! I mean REALLY!"
"Oh, Yoshi, you're so funny!"
The two of them left along with the other parents until it was only the childcare center director, Rei and Mari left. Rei then removed her apron and took her bookbag and walked out along with Mari after bidding goodbye to her supervisor. They met Patrick and Erin just outside the doorway.
"Hi there," Patrick said to Rei. Rei didn't say anything but waved her hand.
"How was everything?"
"Good," she told him. "Johnson-san told us Lusty could come again any time she wanted."
"As a teacher or a student?" Erin quipped half-seriously.
"That was really delightful," Mari told them. "If your Angel here ever gets bored of science she'll be a natural running this place."
"Perhaps I could do both?" Rei said.
"Science and children don't always mix nicely," Erin told her.
"Don't we all know it," Patrick continued. "Shall we all go home?"
"Hey, Rei?" Erin asked. "Who was that boy I saw you with in the café today?" The comment caused Patrick's eyebrows to shoot wide up in surprise. What boy?
"That was Zummy-kun," Rei told her. "He's someone I met in math class."
Patrick turned to Rei and asked. "Should I be worried?"
Rei looked up at him. "Not yet," she told him. Rei then started the walk to their apartment with Patrick following and wondering what he had missed that day on campus.
The group had a very light dinner in the Forrestal place, as Erin cooked up a quick meal of teriyaki chicken on rice while Rei made her (now quite famous) Miso soup. They spent the next hour reminiscing about the Japan days, chatting and laughing about times spent the previous year when they attended school in Hakone. No one said anything about EVA, as it was a subject avoided in light conversation by all the pilots in moments such as this. Finally, Rei stood up to go, quickly cleaning up her tableware and then going for her things before Patrick stopped her at the door.
"Hey," he asked her softly, "You got time later tonight?"
"No," she said. "Dr Foch has a lengthy schedule tonight so I will be very late coming back."
"How about tomorrow?"
"I'm free in the evening, after class and dance. Dinner?" she told him without emotion.
"Great," he replied, sneaking in a kiss. "I'll see you then." Rei nodded and then turned to go outside. "Forri-kun?" she said to him, "Please don't forget your test tomorrow."
"Don't worry, I won't!" he told her. Rei then left to go without saying another word. As he watched her go Patrick felt bothered by what he felt was Rei's seemingly sudden distance from him. What happened today? He wondered.
A half-hour later Rei arrived at a non-descript laboratory within the New Institute's campus. On the outside the six-story building sign said only "FERMI 2600." It was already past seven, and Rei passed by other researchers or staff that were heading home for the night as she walked through the front door.
Briskly walking a path through the labyrinth of hallways, Rei arrived at what appeared to be an unmarked door painted red. While the doorknob had no visible lock, it still had one and Rei pulled out a small key fob from her purse and presented it to the door. A slight click was heard and the door was unlocked, and Rei turned the handle and opened it.
A narrow, dimly-lit passageway led to a bank of two elevators, and Rei again used the same key fob to open the doors of one of them. She then promptly stepped inside. There was just an UP and DOWN button, and Rei pushed DOWN once.
The ride took about a minute down the elevator car, itself simply four fabric-covered walls and a steel floor and ceiling. There was a very faint ambient music in the background that played soft jazz, but Rei took no note of it as she was already used to the entire pathway.
Reaching the bottom, the car doors open and Rei quickly walked out, making a straight path down a lighted hallway with no accommodating doors except for two glass doors at the end. The corridor was deathly quiet, with only the clicks of Rei's heels audible as she walked towards the doors. Only then was there a sign indicating the subterranean area's true purpose: "ARTIFICIAL EVOLUTION LABORATORY." This time Rei didn't need a key fob, the portals' sensor already knew her from a biometric camera mounted at the top and opened the twin doors and allowed her inside.
The layers of security were troublesome, she knew, but necessary as much of what she worked on with Doctor Foch was still quite secret from the outside world. While many of the Evangelion's secrets had been revealed to the public in the months after the end of the conflict with both the Angels and SEELE, the core knowledge of what made EVA work, and the realities of the project were still heavily shrouded from view. Even more so, that the work started two decades earlier was now continuing albeit in a new direction was an even deeper secret.
Doctor Bernard Foch was bent over one of his workstations while on the phone as Rei entered the laboratory. French, portly with round spectacles, a bushy moustache, and balding hair that was widening with age along with his waistline, Foch had been the one to take the mantle of the deepest scientific matters of Evangelion since the deaths of Ritsuko Agaki and Kozou Fuyutsuki and through that experience had established a close working relationship over the years with his primary test subject.
"Oh, yes, Dr. Hyuga. Do you have the material sample ready?" Foch paused for the answer and then replied back. "Very good. Yes, please have it sent here and I'll keep you informed to how we progress. Very well. Thank you, doctor." He then hung up the phone and greeted Rei without getting up from his chair.
"Bon soir, mademoiselle,"
"Bon soir," Rei replied in her whisper-like voice.
"How was your day today?"
"It went well," she replied briefly, removing her jacket and hanging it on a nearby coat rack.
"That was NERV," he told her. "They've agreed to give us a material sample of stem cells from Unit 01." Rei didn't express any outward emotion but listened as Dr. Foch explained further. "If we can apply what we've learned about cellular morphology in phase-shifted matter and if we can work out a way to increase it's compatibility with your own unique physiology, I think we might have a good pathway to the next phase."
Foch stood up out of the chair using a cane to support himself, the need for which had come from a stroke suffered at the height of the war with SEELE over two years earlier. "I've been studying the growth factor pathways since the last treatment, I believe we'll need to do a further adjustment in your hormonal levels but this and with the new genetic material we are perhaps getting closer to where we can embark on Phase III." Rei didn't reply but just nodded as she put her purse at her desk, which was right next to Foch's.
"Are you free for the scanner tonight?" he asked her. "This time might take a few hours as I want to be very careful we set the new hormone levels correctly."
"Of course."
"Very well. We can proceed when you're ready."
Without any further word Rei moved from her desk to the laboratory's main apparatus, a sub-atomic multi-phase quantum scanner and emitter which was a copy of the original device still present at Tokyo-3's GeoFront, the home location of NERV. Rei knew the original device well, having spent much of her earlier life, or was it lives, inside of the narrow plexiglass tube of the scanner.
The new machine had improvements from the earlier one: the scan tube itself was larger in diameter, allowing Rei better freedom of movement inside. There was also a better heater, so LCL used in the device now felt much warmer and more comfortable, enough to where Rei often took naps as she floated freely during scan sessions. Finally, the new scan tube had a control panel for use on the inside, a modification Rei asked for. This allowed her to see a display of any scan results or even to access the terminal while inside of the tube as by now Rei wasn't merely a subject of the study done here, but also a researcher herself.
But as before use of the body scanner required the inside subject to be completely naked, and Rei began undressing in a corner of the laboratory while Foch prepared the unit for that evening's session. Within a moment she removed her shoes, then blouse, skirt, pantyhose and then underwear, and then carefully removed her earrings. Foch indicated that the unit was ready and Rei walked nonchalantly towards the scanner position completely naked. She had done this hundreds of times, both here and at the GeoFront, and it was beyond routine for her. She also trusted Foch after working with him for some time, perhaps as much as she had trusted Gendo Ikari earlier, only now her trust was much more informed.
Foch hit a switch and a transparent plexiglass tube came down from the ceiling, encasing Rei as it reached the floor. A red light came on indicating the tube was sealed, and orange-colored LCL started to flow in from the bottom. It took only a few seconds for Rei to become completely immersed, and she was once again in her most familiar element. To increase the comfort level the LCL was put in at some higher degree of pressure, allowing her to gently float off the surface of the floor.
"Let's begin, shall we?" Foch said, and started to run his first sensor operation. Inside of the plexiglass Rei could see the sensor feedback on her monitor and now knew enough about the insides of her unique body to understand much of what she was reading.
"Estrogen reaction levels are up considerably since the last scan," she said out loud. Foch's voice came in from a speaker at the top of the tube.
"I saw that. Very good. We need to see a bit more improvement in IGF and TGF Beta 1 tonight and if we get it I think we can start looking at promoting the progesterone again. It will take some time my dear, so please relax for a bit and I'll wake you when we've got a full result." Rei didn't reply but instead nodded her head, and then closed her eyes and let herself float in the LCL as the scanner did its work.
As she relaxed in the warm liquid Rei let her mind drift among the thoughts and concerns of the day, but it didn't take long for one topic to make its way to the fore of her consciousness. Something is wrong with Patrick, she knew, something that's not easy to counteract.
I know that he wants me, all of me, body and soul. But at the same time, he is not progressing as he should and is losing focus again. The concern is now becoming a worry. But I still don't know what to do or say. She let her mind work on the topic as she felt sleep overcome here in the warm and comforting artificial womb of the laboratory.
Thanks for coming to the next installment of Never Jet Alone. That first chapter proved to be pretty popular so I'm hopefully to keep the flow going with quite a bit more about Rei and the Forrestal Twins' new college life, and in this chapter we see a lot more about how our protags go about their academic careers (or lack thereof).
I normally don't like to do a lot of exposition, always feeling that the story should give the background details within dialogue and plot as much possible but being as we're going to be in Cambridge for a few chapters I felt it was worth a few paragraphs to go into what sort of a novel place The New Institute is. By my thinking, the post-Third Impact, post-UN world is going to be different in a lot of ways and once place that's felt strongly is in education as young people will be living in a new world with new frontiers. Children saved the world after all, so how one sees young people and their place in society is changing. Students have a lot more responsibility at New Institute and while it's a science-heavy school, there's a deliberate mixture of science and arts to broaden out learner's minds. But our Patrick is just a bit resistant to all of this.
Please give this chapter a good read and we'll continue with another chapter within a couple of weeks. Thanks.