Two Years Later

The rain came down hard on Patrick's vehicle as he waited curbside next to the main building of TNI's laboratory complex. Rei was still finishing up on the day's preparations, so he just ran the Mazda SUV off its battery as he waited inside. He eyed the umbrella sitting on the passenger seat, just to make sure it was ready for use as in this weather it would certainly be needed.

A call came into his mobile and he quickly mashed the pick-up button, but the caller wasn't Rei. Instead it was Erin.

"Hey, Bro!"

"Hi," he said to her. "How is everything?"

"Well," Erin said with some nervousness. "Got some big news for you." Patrick turned up the volume on the call. "Alright, lay it on me."

"I'm gonna send a photo, can you see this?" A few seconds later the Mazda's digital display showed a medical ultrasound scanner image, which caught Patrick's attention immediately.

"Hey, sis. You're preggers!"

"That's not all," Erin told him. "Take a really good look at that image."

Patrick studied the ultrasound image carefully, looking beyond the shadowy image of a very small unborn child to reveal the outline behind it, of another one.

"Whoa, double trouble!"

"That's right."

"Hey, congratulations! How is Zummy taking it?"

"Zee? Oh, geez he practically fainted. We're barely married a year and then this happened."

"You're gonna need a new wardrobe," quipped Patrick.

"With twins in there I'm going to be the size of a small whale!" replied Erin. "Not exactly crazy about that part but excited all the same."

"You'll do great, and I guess the tradition continues."

"Yeah and then we can all get together and let our kids play with each other while we kick back and tell all these stories about EVA and what happened that none of them will believe," said Erin. "Speaking about that, how is it going with Rei? Are you guys ready?"

"We are almost there," Patrick explained. "Today they're finishing the birthing chamber. They'll do a rehearsal and then it's just a few days more if old Bernard's projection is right."

"How are they going to deliver the baby? This is going to be difficult, isn't it?"

Patrick leaned back in this seat, checking once more to see if Rei had tried to contact him as he spoke to Erin. "We knew from the beginning that we'd have this to get through. When she comes out she'll likely put up an AT Field. I mean, if you were suddenly birthed out after nine months inside of mom, wouldn't you be a bit scared?"

"Right, so how do they deal with that? I mean if Uncle Bernard tries to deliver won't he get hurt?"

"That's what the chamber is for. Basically they'll fill it with synthetic LCL and then lower Rei inside when she breaks water. Hopefully once she pushes downward the baby sort of swims out."

"And then what? She catches her?"

"It's going to be a bit like a dolphin giving birth," Patrick described. "So Rei has to push her out and then we bring her to the surface, and then if the child comes up with an AT Field Rei will have to use her own to negate it. Only she can do that."

"Holy crap, that sounds dangerous!" Erin exclaimed.

"All of this assumes that the baby has that ability in the first place. Of course, she may not be able to generate an AT Field at all. We really don't know and it's difficult for Rei to both give birth and to help out once she's done that. But I'll be there along with Beatrix inside the tank, and Bernard will be there monitoring everything from the outside."

"Seems like so much trouble, are you sure this is going to work?"

Patrick let out a sigh. "Rei insisted on a live birth, none of this being grown in a vat or a plastic tube sort of thing. Can't say I blame her, but it does have its challenges."

"I hope it all works out okay," said Erin. "At least I'll be doing this the old-fashioned way."

The phone buzzed and Patrick saw the screen for the message he was waiting for. "Hey, Rei's done. I need to go get her and bring her home."

"Alright, Bro. Tootles and I'll call both of you later tonight. Still excited for me and for her!"

"So am I. That's great news, sis! Talk at you soon, bye!" Patrick then hung up the phone, grabbed his umbrella, and dove out into the rain from the car.

He bolted up from the curbside and up the steps to the front of the laboratory, where Rei was waiting for him inside. Even being exposed for a minute in the heavy rain left Patrick drenched, but dutifully he made it to the top of the steps and unfurled his umbrella and motioned for Rei to come out. She waddled out of the front doors as quickly as she could and joined him outside.

Nine months of pregnancy had dramatically transformed her appearance, as she had gained forty pounds of weight and her normally lithe dancer's body was now heavily bloated. Her ankles were swollen and her face was too. Even a heavy raincoat and sweater over her maternity dress couldn't hide just how large she had become. But to Patrick it was beautiful to see her even like this, as it was part of the burden she was more than willing to carry to come to this end. Rei grabbed onto the umbrella handle and then they slowly walked down the steps back to the vehicle. Patrick then opened the door and guided her into the front passenger's seat, then shut it and went to the driver's side.

Once in the car he upped the heat to make her feel comfortable. She looked at him and smiled, and Patrick reached over to kiss her on the cheek.

"How are you?"

"I'm so big now," she said with some embarrassment.

"It wont' be for much longer, will it?"

"No," she said as she still smiled at him and put her hands on her giant belly.

"How is she doing?"

"She is good, very active today," Rei replied as she felt her tummy. "I think she is ready to come out."

"That makes three of us. Is the birthing chamber ready?"

"We test-filled with LCL today. We would have finished all of the work by today but Foch-sensei had to go outside for a meeting. We will be complete tomorrow and then go for a dress rehearsal. You'll be available?"

"Nothing's going to stop me from being there," declared Patrick. "Still I think this whole thing is jury-rigged scary."

Rei's expression became more serious. "I considered C-section, but was afraid that she could manifest an AT Field during extraction," Rei said. "This is the safest way."

"I want to right next to you when she actually comes," he told her. "I know that it could be dangerous, but I don't feel that you should have to do this alone. "

"Forri, if she comes out and…"

"I know Angel, I could get hurt. But you're the mom and I'm the dad, and I'd think that by now she's going to know that too. I'm no doctor or midwife but I'd feel better being right there next to you and not waiting for something to go wrong."

Rei considered what Patrick said. "I understand. Tomorrow we can see how this can be done. It is difficult, isn't it."

"We're trailblazing here," he told her. "But we knew this wouldn't be easy from the start."

"Correct."

"Oh, before I forget." Patrick pulled out his mobile phone and showed Rei some photos. "From Shinji this morning. Hikari and Toji were in Salzburg visiting them and brought Mizuho with them." He showed a photo with two infants, one black-haired Japanese girl and one blondish red-haired boy of mixed ancestry. "That's Hans on the right."

"His eyes are so blue now," observed Rei. "They're both beautiful." The two of them paged through several more photos, as Hikari and Toji posed with Shinji and Asuka as they toured around the Austrian music capital together along with their children. Hikari was noticeably pregnant, her second child already on the way. All of them seemed quite happy.

"He asked how you were doing, I told him nervous but good."

"I'll call him tonight," Rei told Patrick. "I'm sure he's worried like everyone else."

"Are you worried? Really?"

She took his hand. "I want this to be right. I want what's best for her, and I don't want for her what I had to endure. She should know who she is from where she starts, and this way she will. She will be connected to us from the beginning."

"But it's risky."

"Conceiving her was risky," she answered. "This pregnancy has been risky. And even if the birth is successful, we will be facing challenges we don't yet know about. She may be a normal child, or she may not. It's impossible to tell without experiencing it."

Patrick smirked at her. "If anyone can pull this off, it's you," he told her.

"There's an expression," Rei said. "Be careful what you wish for. I wished for this, and now I do just need to be careful." She looked at him. "Is it too early to think of a name?"

"Did you have any ideas?"

"I did," said Rei. "I like Madoka."

"Madoka, that's sort of an old-fashioned name for a girl, isn't it?"

"It seems appropriate," Rei told him. "Can you think of an English name that would match well with it?"

Patrick leaned his head against the seat and though about it. "Hmm. Madoka. Starts with 'M.' Marjorie, Mary, Margaret. My mother was named Margaret."

"We could name her that?" Rei offered.

"It would be a nice sentiment, but, maybe not this time. Need a better match. Has to sound right."

Rei picked up on the idea. "So anything with a 'Ma' sound in front?"

Patrick kept at it. "Names with Ma…Matilda, Maurice, Makenzie, Madeline. Wait a minute, how about Madeline?"

"Any significance to the name?"

"I don't really know but its got 'Mad' in it and so does Madoka, so they sing together pretty well."

Rei tried the sound. "Ma-do-ka…Ma-de-li-ne. There's a symmetry."

"Plus," Patrick suggested, "From both Madoka and Madeline you get Maddie, which makes for a really cute nickname. What do you think?

She felt a slight nudge inside of her and reactively moved her hand to her belly. Mother and child were already in sync in so many ways during this pregnancy, Rei knew. The name would need to reflect that, something perfectly in sync.

"Madoka Madeline…Maddie," Rei said. She glanced up at Patrick and nodded, smiling every slightly. She felt her belly with both hands, and Patrick reached out and touched it as well. Rei looked down at her soon-to-be child and smiled wider. "Welcome to the world…Maddie-chan."

Not far from The New Institute campus, across the James river was the rebuilt area of old Boston. While the old city was no longer considered suitable for people to live there, the area had been remodeled into a giant park space, memorial, and recreation area as well as a new transportation complex for air, sea, and even space. The city's old giant park, the Boston Commons, had been rebuilt as part of urban renewal and development and it looked similar to what it once had before, with large ponds filled with geese and ducks, statues large and small, and a number of city memorials dedicated to its long-standing history.

Bernard Foch, in his old age, couldn't necessarily move well and stepped carefully in the rain as he walked through the park. He had on a beige raincoat and a fedora, and held an umbrella in one hand and a regular-sized black briefcase in the other. He knew both the original park and it's replacement version well as he had spent significant time in the old park in his academic days, and favored the new one for holidays in good weather. Today was not necessarily good weather, but as he walked through to his meeting place the rain did finally abate to a sprinkle, much to Foch's relief.

It took him another two minutes of walking down a pathway lined with maple trees for Foch to see a familiar face. A tall Japanese man was standing at the edge of an interior pond. There were several white swans swimming nearby, a once very rare sight but one that had become more frequent as the Earth's ecology finally bounced back from the recent cataclysms. Foch approached the Japanese man.

"Good afternoon, Mister Kikuchi," he greeted him. "It's been some time."

"It's good to see you, doctor," the tall man said in a gruffy, raspy voice. He then nudged his head to his left. "He's over there, waiting for you." Foch tipped his hat to the agent and then walked over to a bench facing the pond.

Seated at the bench was another familiar face, and one that Foch intended to settle affairs with this day. An Englishman with balding hair and a neat, military-style trimmed moustache, dressed in a black raincoat and smoking a pipe, greeted him.

"Ah, Bernard, it's good to see you!"

"Hello, Sir John," said Foch as she sat down.

"How is everything at TNI? I hear you've made quite the breakthrough over there."

"If you mean about the girl I suppose you'd be right. And in the process we now have enough information to revolutionize fertility treatments for a whole new generation of women."

"I've heard word that you're even being considered for a Nobel out of this," said Sir John.

Foch was not so easily flattered. "I'll believe that when I see it," he told the general. "Not that it matters."

"Don't sell yourself short," Sheffield told him. "A breakthrough like this is very significant. It's perhaps too bad that you can't disclose to the rest of the world just how you got there."

"Can we just get on with this?" Foch asked him in irritation.

"Very well," said the general. Foch then handed him the briefcase.

"This," he described, "is final payment for services rendered. As agreed in our bargain."

Sheffield examined the briefcase. "Anything special about opening it?" he asked.

"The codes are 783 on the right, and 632 on the left," Foch told him. Sheffield promptly keyed the two numbers into a small lock on either side and flicked open the briefcase.

Inside were a variety of electronic monitors and a small power supply, but most notable were three amber-colored blocks holding embryos in suspended animation. All three embryos appeared human and in all characteristics they were, save for one other feature as each of them had large, deep red eyes.

Satisfied, Sheffield closed the briefcase. "Well done," he told Foch.

"And," the old scientist told him, "this represents the complete end of our relationship, general."

"Oh come now," Sir John smiled thinly at him, "People like us, with all of our secret knowledge, are always connected to each other. I doubt you can just walk away from the potential of this."

"I assure you that I can," Foch told him.

"It's not so easy," warned the general, "and not without consequences."

Foch suddenly stood up from the bench. "There a time not long ago when I was in significant trouble, and yes it's true that I was saved from that trouble by you, Sir John. Without your help I might have disappeared in whatever happened to NERV Second Branch with all of the others. And, at that time I promised you I would help you achieve your goals in this regard. Here, now, I have done so and I have paid my bill in full to you. Now we call it a day and go our separate ways."

"You can't escape from this," said Sheffield, "from EVA and all that it represents."

"EVA, ha!" the professor laughed. "You know nothing about the true nature of Evangelion, nothing at all! Go ahead," Foch taunted. "Use what I gave you, do with them as you like. But you find that God has little mercy for those that try to take His place." Foch looked around to see if anyone else was listening close by, then again turned to Sheffield.

"I gave you the thing of what you asked for, but you asked for the wrong thing, Sir John. The path you've chosen is a well-worn one of misery and regret. You can't achieve a new world without wondering what the old one was really all about, yes? As for myself, I accept the meaning of honor, even to the point of agreeing to your despicable bargain. You'll find no satisfaction in where this takes you, where at least I can suit myself with the knowledge that heaven is what I make of it, it's providence is sufficient in spite of a wretch like myself. I only pray that in whatever you eventually attempt with this," Foch pointed at the briefcase, "that you'll at least make an effort to keep the collateral damage lower this time. I have nothing further for you, Sir John, except adieu." After making this final statement and scuffing the dirt under his shoes, Foch turned and walked away, silently passing Kikuchi on his way out of the park. Sheffield watched him leave, then returned his attention to the briefcase. He once again opened up the case to see the three embryos, all newly fabricated clones of Yui Ikari, and smiled.

"The game goes on."

THE END

And there it is. There's going to be one additional parting word in the next chapter and then I'll do some commentary on the story once I'm up to speed again. I really hoped everyone enjoyed this.