Ritsuko

"Pattern confirmed: blue."

"Another Angel…" Ritsuko spoke the words with begrudged dread. Murmurs of disbelief rose around her. Some of the brightest and most dedicated minds in the world turned away from their work with open displays of shock.

If the Marduk Report had maintained any credibility to this point, it now vanished. Every prediction and official estimation ceased to be useful. There were supposed to be days between attacks, if not weeks. They watched the video feed. Four sharp, spider-like joints pierced the water on the coast. Ritsuko could almost feel the pent up groans from those around her. Some of these people had been on the same shift for over thirty hours, still working the clean-up from the previous dual-Angel attack. Now, hope of reprieve vanished.

Suddenly, every screen in the room went blank.

The tension spiked. A few members openly groaned or smacked their desk. Ritsuko could hardly blame them.

Maybe she should just move her futon to the office, she wondered.

"We'll have time to complain later, everyone." Ritsuko said. "We are now compromised with an enemy approaching. Everyone to emergency stations."

There was no time for wry commentary. Everyone set to work. The home of the world's most advanced technology set about lighting candles. It wasn't long before all of Nerv bustled, trying to prepare for the Angel and respond to the power outage.

Nobody was even bothered enough to be surprised when they found the source of the power outage. A manmade attack was launched on their system. Some third party had sabotaged them, likely hoping to learn more of Nerv's infrastructure during the rebooting process.

These bastards just happened to perform this stunt during an Angel attack.

"Man is the deadliest animal," Ritsuko muttered.

It wouldn't last long, she reminded herself. The faster the Angels came, the faster they would arrive at the goal. The malicious bastards and ignorant pricks would cease to be a problem. Soon, she reminded herself.

Misato

"What was in the case?" she asked, attempting to pry the elevator doors open. They remained stubbornly shut.

"There's a power outage," Kaji replied, still leaning against the wall and looking pained from the attack on his groin.

"Don't change the subject."

"This seems to be the more pressing issue."

"I don't care. You've withheld information from your superiors. You've actively endangered a pilot who was entrusted to you – a child, in case you've forgotten. You attacked one of the Sla—"

"Give it a rest." Kaji stepped forward, grabbed her wrists, and pressed his face forward until he was inches from her. "You're an intelligent woman. No good will come from taking the side of melodramatic children. The Misato I know is a better woman than this."

"Let go of me," she said.

He glances up and down her face. "Your eyes and your mouth say different things."

"Let go of me!"

He forced his lips on her.

The sensation was familiar. It was warmth and security. It was nostalgia. This was, perhaps, the worst thing about Kaji. In his forceful way, he reminded Misato of the reason she'd kept on returning to him. The world was cruel, bleak, and cold. His arms provided some warmth, security, and kind illusions. There was no fear of death so long as they kept on having those little deaths. There was no fear of intimacy as long as their bodies were close. What other way was there to be close to a person? Misato didn't know.

Kaji was a prick. He was also human.

She wanted to let that be the end of it. But, she couldn't. That conflicted sense of familiar security wasn't good enough. Misato bit him, hard.

Kaji pulled back, and Misato shoved him away. He seemed shocked. "You piece of shit," she mumbled. "Why? You don't even deny you're hiding something. Did you really think I'd just ignore you changing the subject?"

"You bit me," he said.

"You assaulted me!"

Kaji did the most infuriating thing he could have in the moment: he chuckled. "You wanted it."

Misato rolled her eyes. "What was in the case?"

"It doesn't matter."

"What was in the case?"

"We should just wait until the power returns."

Shinji

The monitors had gone blank. Shinji could only stare.

With a near-silent click, the bleeps ended. The small noises and proofs of life vanished. The greatest of the Demon Slayers lay in a deathly sleep. The boy who'd singlehandedly (literally) defeated an Angel now lay useless. For the first time, Shinji saw a child soldier scarred by battle.

Tanjiro, the warrior, lay comatose. Shinji, the pilot, screamed for help. "Hey! Someone… Oi!"

He wailed and yelled, pushing down certain thoughts to focus on others. The source of the power outage was unimportant. The likelihood that there was an Angel stayed just below the conscious surface. He held the thought down, forcing it to stay submerged, as if holding it at a distance would prevent it from being true.

His voice rang out with emotion, but inside, he felt hollow. A frightened voice spoke within him: there's probably another Angel. The attacks were too frequent. There were probably two Angels, maybe even three.

How long would the Evas hold?

What if the Angels never stopped? There might be a never-ending procession. Even the adults seemed scared and exhausted. How could anyone even have time to research when they were attacking like this?

Among the questions, one had an answer. What would happen if Shinji and the pilots were killed. Answer: everyone would die.

The awful simplicity of the answer hit as doctors rushed to Tanjiro. Shinji was pushed out of the room as they set to work.

"Pilot!" one of the doctors said, turning and bowing as she addressed Shinji. "We've received word from Commander Ikari that you are requested in the Evangelion launch bay. There is an Angel. If you know the location of the other pilots, you are to locate them and proceed to your stations."

Why bother? He wanted to ask. The best fighters were out of it. Something would go wrong. He wasn't as strong as them. It seemed hopeless. Even if they defeated this one, wouldn't they just keep coming? He needed to succeed, but there was no reason for him to try.

As his body threatened to freeze up, a memory came to him. After defeating the second Angel, Inosuke had said something. "You cry off the battlefield, so you don't get distracted on it."

In other words, fear was okay. Frustration was okay. Doubt was okay. Not only that, it might be important to get it out of the system. As Shinji thought this, the first tears began to flow. Whatever the situation, Shinji was an Angel Slayer. To ignore his duty while he could fight would be an insult to those who could not. However useless and pathetic he felt, the Third Child was one of the six people in all the world who'd killed an Angel. Right now, Japan needed Angel Slayers.

Shinji ran towards his duty. The tears, confusion, and anger flowed through him. He didn't mind. All that mattered was that his mind be clear by the time he made it to the entry plug.

Asuka

"Miss Perfect?" Asuka passed Rei as they rushed toward Nerv HQ.

"An Angel is coming."

"I know. Inosuke told me. How do you know?"

"I heard from Zenitsu."

"How do they know, anyway?" the question burst out of her. Inosuke was a grand-scale dummy, and Zenitsu wasn't much better. How could these idiots know anything about an Angel before there was official word?

"I don't know. They sense it."

"Come on! Like that's good enough? How can you trust that?"

"This isn't the time for this conversation." Rei turned down a side hall which led to an emergency path to Nerv's main room. "We need to hurry."

Asuka huffed. How could the prototype girl just blow her off like this? It was disrespectful. Sure, she was running because she thought Inosuke was telling the truth, but she wanted some answer. Why was everyone blindly trusting the Slayers, anyway?

"Where is Zenitsu?"

Zenitsu

"Damn broken foot. Stupid Angels. Dumb Inosuke getting skewered on his own swords. This is bull. Why am I the one who can walk? Inosuke's racked with pain and Tanjiro's not even awake, but it's me who's stuck hobbling like a beggar down an empty street."

Zenitsu was grateful for the crutches. The design was sturdier and more comfortable than anything he'd known while recovering with the Corps, but that was a small comfort. His foot still ached. The injury was, by the standards of the Corps, the most annoying kind. It took away most of his ability without reducing his energy.

So, Zenitsu hobbled down the empty street. At first, he'd had the plan of trying to map out what spot was directly above Nerv's main room. Next, he considered trying to pinpoint the spot above the white Angel in the red room. These plans quickly dissipated. Zenitsu could hear the monster approaching. Its steps resounded like thunder from the earth.

"What do I even think I can do here?" he muttered. "Nobody would have blamed me for staying somewhere safe. I could be with Inosuke. Then again, that guy would just be like 'oi, what is this shit? Get out there and fight! I'll kill it myself!'

"Where are the Evas? Why do I think I can do something against an Angel? The last one exploded. Am I just gonna stand in front of it? Pick under its toenails with my sword? 'Hey, monster, go away. You wouldn't harm such a pathetic opponent, would you?' Sure, that'll go over great."

He grumbled, but he kept marching. He didn't consider how much had changed since his first outings with the Corps. The thought of curling into a ball and begging for help never occurred during his handicapped march. As soon as he'd felt the Angel's presence, he'd told Rei to go to her Eva. He would do what he could to stall it.

Why had he said that? More importantly, what had come over Rei recently? He'd done something inexcusable to her. He'd frightened her— no, he'd attempted to traumatize her. Then, in her most vulnerable moment, he said she wasn't even a person. Yet, she seemed to want to help him. Maybe it was revenge. Zenitsu deserved some punishment for it.

"Damn, stupid, moron. I had more tact when I was begging random farmer's daughters to marry me."

He'd hurt her. That was enough of a sin. That sin was compounded by her status as a pilot. After that last battle, they were comrades. They both fell into the ranks of Angel Slayers, as far as he was concerned. Zenitsu had abused the trust of a weaker person in order to make them feel small.

Was there any moral code he hadn't broken in the act?

He marched to the Angel, clacking and complaining as he went. This wasn't an apology. It wasn't 'paying any price'. He just felt strange about the whole thing. He'd gone off on rants and ravings about how this wasn't his Japan, and how it was no business of his whether Angels overtook it. Now, that felt like the talk of a coward.

Sure, Zenitsu distrusted almost every person in Nerv. But he had siblings in arms. It was an old idea, and one he recognized as flawed. Yet, it stuck. Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and even Misato, were comrades in the fight. They all faced an enemy together. If he badmouthed them, it was bad taste. If he turned away and ran, it was cowardice.

What kind of person would he be, anyway, if he left Rei to fight in a battle after what he'd done to her?

"I hate this. I hate this. I hate this."

He grumbled, wishing again to have Nezuko near him. He wanted to be with her, just as he hoped she'd never see this world. That girl had been through enough, losing years of her youth to Muzan. She didn't need to spend any more time in a world of monsters and murderers.

So, until he returned home, he would miss her.

Nobody here was as gentle as her. Her kindness seemed divine, a stark contrast to the obsession with training everybody else held. The young woman was now his dearest confidante. In only a month, he had spoken so much to her.

By the act of listening, she had pierced through him. Nezuko had seen the frightened, unmanly heap that Zenitsu really was. She had seen the scared child who had made himself a brat. He'd disappointed so many people, she said. Nezuko knew that he was scared of disappointing more people. If he was obnoxious, nobody would get close to him. The more he played a coward and a brat, the more people avoided him. If nobody got close to him, they wouldn't be disappointed by him.

Nezuko had called him out. That sweet girl had cut through his confidence with a surer slash than any he'd managed with his blade. Nezuko was a marvel. She was too good for him, yet, she cared for him. Zenitsu hoped she cared for him, at least.

If that incredible woman ever found out that he'd done something so awful to Rei, she'd be disgusted. His old arrogance reared its ugly head. With disgust, Zenitsu realized his first thought was selfish. If Nezuko found out, he wouldn't feel good under her judgment. Her feelings were not his primary concern, but rather her perception of him.

"Ugh…"

How did Inosuke and Tanjiro do it? They just wandered through life with unnatural singlemindedness. Tanjiro had never been selfish. He was infuriatingly close to perfect. Gentle in voice and brutal in battle. That was Tanjiro. Inosuke stood on the other side of the coin. Simple to the point of being stupid, but forever loyal. It was unlikely that pigheaded moron had ever experienced self-doubt in his life.

It was only Zenitsu. He had been the only person of the three who could recognize a train, but he was also the only one who wondered if he should bother being alive. He had no reason to live on his own. Before he met Tanjiro, he'd existed to live up to the expectations of his master. After that, he fought because his friends fought. It culminated in Nezuko.

Zenitsu shuddered as he recalled his first thoughts of her. He'd chased her without knowing a thing about her. The girl had spent years struggling with the desire to feed. Who knew how intense her battles had been with the demonic side, or how blank her mind had been when the hypnosis was in its full effect?

Nezuko was a victim and a survivor.

Zenitsu was a brat.

"Maybe this is why Tanjiro and Inosuke have such hard heads. Maybe I can beat these thoughts out of my head."

Was this the first time he'd fought alone since the spider demons? He tried to remember. There had always been an ally at his side. He'd been near people who wanted to fight with him. Now, for some reason, he hoped he could somehow defeat the Angel before the Evas made it to him. Why?

It wasn't a favour. It wasn't an apology. Whatever it was, it was. Zenitsu accepted it. If nothing else, the time alone gave him the excuse the grumble.

"Maybe this Angel will explode into acid, and all my skin will melt off. No, too obvious. Maybe this one will open a door to another world, where bigger and worse monsters are waiting to attack." He looked around. The glass of the buildings now seemed to be shrapnel in waiting. A little shard would fly and cut the wrong artery. Dead. Or maybe a bit of concrete would launch and embed itself in his brain.

The timing didn't help his mood, either. He'd been about to confront Gendo, that prick. As soon as this Angel was dead, they'd do it. Even if another Angel appeared, he'd put it off. Let the pilots handle it while he held the edge of his sword to Gendo's miserable throat.

Eventually, he saw the Angel. His frustration fell into a deadpan exhaustion. "Seriously?" he muttered.

It looked like a giant, four-legged spider. The body was a flat-topped bowl covered in bright, colourful eyes. It looked like the eyes were painted onto it, rather than a feature of the body.

The body didn't move up and down with the legs. It stayed eerily parallel with the ground as its towering legs carried it. "The gods are real, and they all hate me. That's the only explanation for any of this. The gods are bored of torturing someone else, so they let one of their kids unleash their half-finished doodle. They shut off electricity just so they could see me wander up to it with a broken leg."

He followed the Angel until it stopped. The stupid thing had him hobbling downtown for several blocks, the crutches clacking and tapping in an angry, arrhythmic beat. By the time he caught up, its eyes were weeping orange, acidic tears that melted the asphalt. "Of course it's acid."

He kept on hobbling. What part of Nerv was it above? He made a mental note to compare maps later. If it were located above the red room with the white Angel, that might be worth knowing.

But that could wait. Right now, it was time to battle. The Angel seemed planted in place, so he walked to one of the legs. It didn't move. Its massive tears continued to fall. "That's right. Keep ignoring me," Zenitsu said as he approached one of the legs.

Once he was a few feet from a leg, Zenitsu lowered his crutches, closed his eyes, and exhaled. Electricity began to hum about him. The orange cloak fluttered as his hair rose. Thoughts of his broken leg left him, as did his worries. His mind became void. In the moment, Zenitsu became a warrior in his proper place.

The sword lashed out from its sheath. A flash of lighting outshone the sun. He leapt to the side, barley dodging the shower of blood that sprung from the wound. The leg shifted. The Angel's body tilted and turned, acid tears sputtering in every direction.

"Oh, shit! I didn't think this through!"

Zenitsu grabbed his crutches and clunked away as quickly as he could. The Angel's legs rose and smashed to the ground in rapid, uncertain steps. The newly shortened leg retracted as soon as it touched the street. The body tumbled without direction, spewing deadly rain as it crashed into an office building.

Soon, its body hit the ground. As soon as it did, Zenitsu dropped his crutches. "Thunder Breathing: First Form." A brilliant streak of light whirred down the street. An blade of lightning slashed through the side of the Angel's body. The magnificent bolt ended abruptly. Zenitsu grunted as his foot hit the ground. The thunder warrior ingloriously fell and tumbled across the asphalt, cursing every person, monster, and object he'd ever encountered in his life.

The Angel, meanwhile, erupted into a blinding white flash of light.

Zenitsu barely noticed the harmless lightshow as he clutched his foot. He'd singlehandedly saved the day, but that didn't bring much joy. Instead, the angry teenager vented his frustration.

Misato

There had been no progress. Kaji dodged the question without even the pretense of subtlety. At least he was now focused on trying to escape the elevator. That was productive. She'd even pretended to go along with it. They needed to get out of there somehow. They'd been racking their brains on escape for nearly an hour before Misato decided to strike: "Have you slept with Asuka?"

"No!" his wry façade vanished. "How could you ask something like that? You don't really think I'd—"

For the first time, she had offended him. It was a dirty blow, but he'd been fighting dirty also. She followed through. "Apparently, I don't know who you are. For all I know, you're someone who'd abuse a child."

"I've never—"

"Why should anyone believe you?"

Kaji approached her, she raised her fists. He halted. An unfamiliar anger flashed over him. Every part of his expression screamed, 'Don't pretend you understand the sacrifices I've made.'

It was like all the problems in Nerv. Me, me, me. Mine, mine, mine.

Sometimes, Misato wondered if her co-workers forgot that they were supposed to save humanity. Regardless, Misato continued her attack, "Asuka clearly has a thing for you."

"She's a child! She just latched onto the exotic foreigner because she thinks its cool. There's nothing more to it than that."

"Really? Why is it, then, that every time she does something, she wants you to be present. 'Will Mr. Kaji see me?'. 'I bet Mr. Kaji will love me for this.'"

"That girl has a whole menu of mental problems. I don't know if it's low self-esteem or daddy issues or whatever, but it's all arbitrary! I'm nice to her so she'll pilot."

"Did you just confess to manipulating a child with emotional issues?"

Even in the harsh red tint of the emergency back-up lights, she saw Kaji turn pale. "It's not like that… You can't think that. Misato… We know each other."

Years of unresolved emotions boiled within her. Yet, Misato the person stayed silent. Captain Katsuragi led this situation. There would be no outburst. No revenge. No enjoyment in his discomfort. Her duty took precedent. "I don't know anything about you."

Kaji deflated. For the first time, he appeared ugly to her. His expression formed a pathetic, slackened mask of shock as he stepped back. Misato appraised the man before her. In another world, she knew, it wouldn't take much for her to be in his arms. She missed it. Misato was a human being with needs, after all. Not only that, but she had a feeling that the presence of the Slayers had put an unexpected pressure on him.

How must it look from his perspective? While he'd been working in Germany, his only remaining friends had allied themselves with some teenagers from another world. The colourful adolescents may as well have been sideshow exhibits to him. While she couldn't trust him, Misato recognized a fellow person. She had sworn to protect humanity, therefore, this prick was someone she ought to protect.

Kaji turned away from her, putting his expression back together one muscle at a time. "Both of our lives are at risk if I tell you what was in the case."

"Everyone's life is at risk, in case you've forgotten."

He shook his head. "No. Misato. It's different. You don't know. It's not Angels. People are the threat."

"SEELE?"

Kaji rubbed the bridge of his nose. It wasn't a flinch, but it seemed just as incriminating. "Kaji, do you want to see me dead?"

He turned. A different, new expression changed his feature. Cold anger. "You know I don't want that."

"Then give me a reason to trust you. I'm starting to get ideas."

"What ideas?"

"That you want to start a final fling with me before one or both of us ends up dead."

He shook his head, but the motions was strange. His head moved slower with each turn. His expression became less certain. Misato could still read the man to some extent. He'd never consciously thought of it in the words she'd used, but he wondered if there was truth in it.

Eventually, he sighed. "Misato… The human race is about to end, one way or another."

"Kaji, what was in the case?"

He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He put one in his mouth, brought up a lighter, and hesitated. "It's a bad idea to smoke in an airtight space, isn't it?"

"I don't mind."

Kaji shrugged, then lit up. At some point, both of them sat with their backs to the wall. Neither of them looked to the other.

Suddenly, the red lights were replaced by the proper florescence. The elevator jerked into motion. Quietly, as if he were hiding the word in the smoke he blew, Kaji said, "Adam."

Ritsuko

The power returned. The cameras came back online to show ashes where there had been an Angel. Zenitsu stood near it, using his sheath as a cane and waving a middle finger about. The room let out a collective sigh of relief. Once again, the Slayers saved them.

The relief became uncomfortable. An unspoken thought travelled among the Nerv crowd as clearly as if it had been transmitted from one mind to another. If the Angels could be defeated by injured, nearly incapacitated children, what the hell were they doing?

Whatever the intent of the attack on their system, it had successfully undermined the institution. They might have been able to prove their resilience if they'd had the chance. Plans were already being enacted to prepare the Evangelion without electricity. The efficacy of their back-up measures were seeing validation before the systems miraculously rebooted.

As it was, they had been saved by a boy who nearly qualified as a cripple.

Ritsuko moved to a mic. "Inform the pilots. The Angel is neutralized. Repeat, the Angel is neutralized." The tension didn't matter. The Angel was defeated. That was more important than anything else.

The question that most pronounced in her mind, as she collapsed into a seat, was why the power had returned. It should have taken until dusk, or later. Yet, barely any time at all had passed.

A new window appeared on the main screen. One of the Nerv members yelled, "Oh, come on!" Nobody would reprimand him for the unprofessional behaviour. He'd echoed all their thoughts.

"Pattern recognized," said a dutiful member of the team, fighting the exhaustion and frustration in her voice. "It's blue."

Another Angel.

A door whooshed open behind them. Captain Katsuragi rushed in. "Where's the new threat?"

Multiple screens flashed and beeped. The software had barely rebooted, and now they were searching for another Angel. The result was more salt in the wound. It was an eye with wings. It looked like someone had made a cycloptic eye mask the length of several hills. The Angel was barely within the gravitational field of earth.

Ritsuko felt weak as she read the results. "It's almost directly above Tokyo-3. A series of recently made craters suggests that the Angel has been dropping pieces of itself. The working hypothesis is that the Angel is attempting to locate the best place from which to drop its whole body. An impact of that size from that height could destroy most of the country. The Sea of Japan would join the Pacific."

Misato rushed to a mic and demanded the pilots enter their Evas. Ritsuko was too exhausted. It was becoming hard to care. There was hardly any energy left to be anxious.

There was probably some other new threat or wonder occurring at the same time.

Rei

"You want us to catch the Angel as it falls?" Shinji's voice crackled over the speaker.

"That's right," Misato nodded. They were already in the Evas, ready to launch. They had prepared to fight an Angel, but Misato was requesting something ridiculous.

"The Angel is going to drop soon. We've provided you with an approximate zone of impact."

Asuka groaned, "That's most of Tokyo-3!"

"We work with what we have," Misato nodded with a smile. The smile was forced, even Rei could see that. She should have used an audio-only channel if she wasn't certain of herself. Still, Rei would follow orders.

Follow orders…

Rei watched as her finger fidgeted on the controls. She had never fidgeted. It was as if the muscles were reacting in spite of her. She was transfixed on the small motion. A part of her was moving without her conscious command.

Her focus returned when Misato spoke again.

"Get up there, maximize your AT Fields, and when you're ready—"

"The Target has begun its descent!"

Misato's smile dropped. "Launch all Evas! Now!"

The children were propelled to the surface, each of them too off-guard to brace for the sudden jerk.

They would defeat the Angels. Not only was this their duty, but it was fair. Zenitsu had slain one as they got into the Evas, now they would defeat the other. It seemed silly to her even as she thought it, but the thought gave her energy. She'd defeat the monster as a form of solidarity with a fellow Angel Slayer.

Ritsuko

How'd it happen?

She'd asked the whole team. Nobody knew. There was no reason when there needed to be one. How did the power return? Her attention was needed on the ongoing Angel attack. Dr. Akagi couldn't pursue this other line of thought. As soon as this Angel fell, she would investigate. There was something wrong happening.

As Ritsuko watched the screen, hoping that these problems would not be made moot by a horrific death, Kaji came to her side. "What's happening?"

"We've defeated one Angel only to have another appear. The pilots have roughly fifteen seconds before it crushes all of us."

"The Angel is dead. Long live the Angel."

They watched all three Units converge on a small, grassy hill. The massive eye in the sky fell onto them. Three pairs of mechanized hands reached skyward. AT Fields clashed. The world turned red. It was as if Heaven were trying to crash down onto them. The scene turned a Hellish red as sparks flew and AT energy distorted the light.

While every eye stayed affixed to the screen, Kaji whispered, "Misato's approaching the truth."

Ritsuko was the only person who didn't react as Unit-02 broke through the AT Field. The room broke out in exhausted cheers and relieved cries as the Prog Knife plunged into the Angel. Its body turned limp, folded downward, and exploded.

Within forty-eight hours, they'd defeated four Angels.

Kaji asked, "Where's Commander Ikari?"

Ritsuko opened her mouth to answer, but what came was a silent dread. She didn't know.

Rei

Zenitsu was being wheeled to hospital. She was relieved. He'd wanted to confront Gendo, but he was in pain. Rei had made him promise that he would spend one day in recovery. They would confront him together, with Shinji, Inosuke, and Misato if possible.

She'd made him promise…

But Commander Ikari was the most important person in her life. If anything, the green-haired version of her was the biggest concern to her. Rei would see him alone."

"I don't understand why you seemed so worried about that thunder-headed dummy, Miss Perfect," said Asuka as they'd changed out of their plug suits. "That guy attacked you, didn't he? He's the loudest and most obnoxious of those jerks."

"He did something wrong, yes. I think he might have just atoned for it."

"Seriously, Miss Perfect. That's too naïve. He just did his job."

Rei idly listened to Asuka, not bothering to respond to most of the talk. It didn't seem to matter. What mattered was confronting Gendo.

Zenitsu would hopefully be on painkillers soon. Shinji had rushed out of his plugsuit to go to the hospital. He'd be with him and the other Slayers shortly.

As the girls stepped out of the locker room, nobody stood by to greet them. "Eh?" Asuka asked. "Where's the fanfare? Shouldn't Captain Katsuragi at least be here to debrief us?"

"Yes. This is strange."

"Hey, Miss Perfect, where are you going?"

"I want to speak to Commander Ikari." Then, Rei stopped. An odd impulse came to her. She decided to act on it. "Miss Sohryuu."

"Geez! Call me Asuka."

"Asuka…"

Why did the request feel special? It meant nothing. Not only had she referred to co-workers by their given names before, but Asuka came from a culture where that was normal.

"Yeah, what is it? I've got plans too, you know? I'm gonna be moving into better accommodations. Apparently, Captain Katsuragi wants me to move in with her while I'm in Japan."

"Thank you for your work today," Rei offered a small bow, with her hands demurely folded in front of herself.

Asuka blinked. "What?"

"You dealt the final attack to the Angel. It was well done."

"Well… what can I say?" Asuka flamboyantly raised her chin and pushes away hair that wasn't in her eyes. "I know I'm great, but it's nice to be appreciated."

"Until next time." Rei bowed again and turned away.

"Sure thing."

Rei left. So, that was friendliness. Or was it merely professional courtesy? It didn't matter. She'd done something she never would have done before. Rei had taken a moment, without being ordered to do so, and said something nice. It seemed like a step toward something. Not only was she becoming more of herself, recognizing her own desires rather than blindly following orders, but she was also seeing the people around her. They all seemed equally confused to her. Perhaps she was more human than she'd once thought. Perhaps, she dared, everybody was bumbling around, attempting to recognize their own desires and match it to the world around them.

If so, she wanted to be kind. This new way of thinking was difficult. If others had spent their entire lives like this, she could only imagine the levels of stress it would induce over time.

Rei worked through her own thoughts as she approached Commander Ikari's office. When she entered, the Commander sat behind his desk. "I've been expecting you. Please come in."

"You were expecting me?"

"Yes, Dr. Akagi was to inform you to come here immediately upon your return. Did she not?"

"No. Nobody was there to even debrief us."

Gendo's forehead wrinkled, a sure sign of displeasure. "I will need to look into this. But that must wait. Please, Rei, come forward."

She did so. Each step unsettled her further. Usually, the desk held only documents. Now, there was a glass of water and a pitcher. "I have a question, Commander."

"What is it?"

"What's the green-haired version of me?"

As she asked, the Commander drank from the glass. He showed no surprise. After placing glass down, he used the pitcher to refill the few drops he'd taken. "Did the boar tell you about that?"

Rei nodded. Why was it difficult to look at him? Until recently, his presence had been the only thing which made her smile. "What is that person, Commander Ikari?"

He folded his hands in front of his mouth, as he so often did. His eyes were hidden behind an orange flare on his glasses. "Dr. Akagi has told me about an experiment you two have been conducting."

Rei stiffened.

"You seem frightened."

It was paranoia, certainly. The commander wouldn't hurt her. He cared about her more than anyone. He had many issues, but he cared about her. Whatever was happening was some… misspent ambition, yes. Commander Ikari was a great man. He just needed his energy… redirected.

She wanted to believe it. So, she did.

"I'm proud of you, Rei. You've worked hard these past few days."

"Thank you, Commander."

"You look tired."

"I am." Catching the Angel had taken most of her energy.

"Would you like some water?"

He took the glass and offered it to her. The act of drinking was a distraction. It gave her a moment where she didn't need to look at him. She didn't need to worry about accusing the man she trusted in the few seconds it took to have a drink. "Yes, please."

She took the glass and drank. The liquid caught on the second swallow. Suddenly, it began to burn. Her esophagus tightened. Pain erupted from within her chest. It felt like her heart had slammed against her ribcage. "Commander!" The glass fell, harmlessly landing on the floor and spilling its contents.

Rei braced herself on the desk as her muscles began to fail. "Commander…"

She pulled herself over the desk toward him. She could finally see his eyes behind the lenses. Tears formed in them. "I'm sorry, Rei. I didn't notice. You're no longer the person you were meant to be."

Rei Ayanami was disposable. A disposable person has no need to think beyond the orders they receive.

Her eyes stung. Her vision faded. The poison denied her the ability to cry as the world faded. The man she trusted most turned away from her, unable to look at her. Rei didn't even have the strength to crawl over the desk and confront him. The girl reached toward the person she'd trusted most, but he was too far.

She couldn't even close her eyes. Her eyes slowly became vacant as she offered the final twitches and gasps.

"Gen…do…"