Chapter 2.
NERV Headquarters, below Tokyo-III. 7:05 P.M.
'Hungry' and 'worried' was a very, very unpleasant combination.
Asuka Langley Sōryū stood just alongside Misato as they watched the video clip on Dr. Akagi's laptop screen. A security camera near an empty alley had clearly caught the events on tape despite some visual noise. At just a few seconds past 5:43 P.M., Shinji had been casually walking through the alleyway when an unmarked white van pulled up next to him. The door slid open, Shinji was knocked to the ground with what appeared to be a high-voltage taser, and a figure clad in black from head to toe forced him into the back before the vehicle drove away.
NERV's head scientist Ritsuko Akagi, seated at her sleek and immaculate office's equally spotless desk, scrolled backward in the video to the moment where the van first arrived.
"This street camera didn't have the best resolution," she explained, "but we were able to zoom in on the license plate number. It doesn't have any matches in the public record. Not to mention, there's a possibility that whoever these people are, they knew to switch vehicles in an out-of-sight location. Section 2 is doing what it can, but..."
The tall, shapely blonde, wearing her usual white lab coat, rubbed her unusually dulled green eyes with just her perfectly-manicured thumb and pointer finger, barely brushing over the small mole on her left cheek as she did so.
"...No one's taken credit or made any demands, and the forensics team hasn't found evidence. For now, we're 'stuck,' for lack of a better term."
Misato closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay, so, what are our options?"
"We could wait and see if the kidnappers contact us," Ritsuko answered, "but who knows how long that could take. Another option would be to physically search every building and under every rock in the city, but you don't need me to tell you that that will take weeks."
"Any chance that we could monitor for particular transmissions?" Misato suggested to her old college friend. "Radio waves, cellular signals?"
"I thought about that, but there's a lot of noise in Tokyo-III," Ritsuko said. "As advanced as our tech is, we don't have a big enough magnet to find the needle in that haystack."
"Damn it," Misato cursed under her breath.
"Now, what we do have is an exhaustive biological profile of Shinji," Ritsuko continued, offering a glimmer of hope to the situation. "His exact height and weight, blood type, body fat percentage, medical conditions... Even allergies. Theoretically, we could engineer some kind of device that could scan specifically for Shinji's 'signature.' If it wouldn't find Shinji outright, it'd narrow our search by a wide margin."
"How long would it take to have a fully-functioning device like that?" Misato asked.
Ritsuko inhaled. "With me, about twenty technicians, and the MAGI working on it non-stop, with no sleep... I'd say, four or five days at least."
"So, really," Misato said, "no matter which option, it'll involve a wait."
"I'm afraid so," Ritsuko replied.
Asuka grunted in frustration. Normally, she would blame Shinji for being stupid and careless, but there was no good reason to blame him this time. None. This could've happened to anyone. It could've happened to her.
She might be able to handle herself better under the same circumstances, yes, but no one would have seen this coming.
The lack of food in her stomach coupled with the dreadful anxiety about Shinji (she wouldn't admit it publicly, but yes, she did care about his well-being) made the twin-tailed redhead feel physically ill. The smell of Dr. Akagi's half-full ashtray certainly didn't help matters, either.
Misato quickly noticed Asuka's normally bright eyes glazing over, almost changing from blue to a sickly shade of gray.
"You okay, Asuka?" she asked.
The Second Child was silent for a few seconds. There was still a lingering feeling of shock — of 'Why did this happen?'
All she could say in response was, "We have to find him."
"We will," Misato assured her. "We'll find him." She then refocused her attention on Ritsuko.
"If nothing else, the 'bio-signature' scanner idea is a good start. I say, go for it; however quickly you can pull it together without running yourself too ragged. In the meantime, we'll begin conducting searches around the city. Anywhere a person can fit. We have to try even if we have abysmal odds."
Ritsuko stood up from her seat. "This time, I agree."
Misato nodded. "Let's get him back."
7:15 P.M.
The break room door slid open with a hiss, and Pen Pen perked up mid-bite to see Rei entering. Asuka, who sat on a nearby beige sofa with her head hung low, didn't bother to greet or even acknowledge the other pilot.
Rei didn't pay any mind to the lack of a warm welcome, and took a seat in a black chair on the other side of the room, next to a small circular table. Pen Pen looked back and forth between the two girls a few times, but soon went back to the small plate of sardines that Misato had left him.
Aside from the occasional clatter of the penguin's beak, and the hum of the overhead fluorescent lights that accentuated the walls' particular shade of sterile off-white paint, the room was quiet. Uncomfortably quiet.
"So," Asuka said after nearly a minute, looking up slightly at Rei, "you know why we're on standby, right?"
"Yes," Rei replied, directing her attention to Asuka.
More silence followed.
"Stupid Shinji," Asuka muttered to herself.
"Why do you call him 'stupid'?" Rei asked. It was impossible for her to not have heard the other girl.
Asuka shot Rei a venomous glare. "What's it to you?"
"How can he be stupid," Rei said, matter-of-factly, "when he couldn't possibly have known what was going to happen?"
Asuka scoffed.
"See, this—"
She gestured between herself and Rei.
"—This right here is why you and I don't talk, First Child."
Rei narrowed her eyes almost imperceptibly. "I don't understand your meaning."
"Of course you don't," Asuka responded, "dolly."
"'Dolly'?" Rei repeated, slightly tilting her head to the side in confusion.
"How dense are you?" Asuka snapped as she suddenly sat upright — in the process nearly sending the red, triangular A-10 Nerve Clips that she never took off in public flying off of her head. "'Dolly.' You're a puppet on strings, doing whatever anyone tells you to do. A suck-up who everyone likes just because you can't talk back... because you don't feel anything."
A short pause followed.
"I have feelings," Rei said.
"Oh, yeah?" Asuka growled. "Like what? Please, tell me what feelings you could possibly have."
"Ikari."
Asuka glared, crinkling her nose. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Ikari," Rei repeated. "Today, earlier, he was walking by. He stopped to talk with me." She shifted her gaze downward a bit, which Asuka noted was unusual. "He sat with me on a bench in the park. We just sat there, together."
She took a moment to look back up, meeting Asuka's gaze once more. "It felt... nice."
Asuka felt a twitch at the corner of her eye.
"I want him to return," Rei continued, "so I can see him again. We have to help. I have to- no, I want to help him."
Asuka felt the tension in her facial muscles slowly, but surely, fade. She took a deep breath inward.
"Tell me something. What is he to you, First Child?"
Her tone of voice was much gentler and less accusatory.
Rei took a moment to respond. "A friend. Someone I care about. And I think you feel the same way."
Asuka closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. "You don't know anything about me. You don't know how I feel."
A pause followed.
"Then," Rei finally said, "I would like to learn."
Asuka rubbed her forehead, then let out a noise that was some combination of a groan and a heavy sigh.
"...Talk to me about it later, okay? I'm tired, I'm hungry, my head hurts, and I feel like I'm going to puke. I need to get some food, and then a good night's sleep — and then we can figure out whatever Scheiße we need to figure out. Alright?"
Rei nodded. "I'll leave you be."
Asuka stood up from the couch and headed over to one of the vending machines that lined the wall furthest from the door, passing Pen Pen on her way. She swiped her NERV I.D. card and made a selection, and the machine hummed to life before a strawberry-flavored fruit bar came down with a loud 'ga-SHUNK.'
She reached down to retrieve her 'dinner' and then dig in, but paused after standing back upright.
"Hey, Fir-..." She stopped to correct herself. "Ayanami."
Rei turned her head Asuka's way. "Yes?"
Asuka re-entered her selection, picked up the second bar after its fall from the dispenser, then made her way over to Rei and held the snack forward for her to take.
"Here," she said, not looking Rei in the eye.
Rei gingerly took the offered treat with a look on her face that Asuka recognized, vaguely, as 'surprise.'
"...Thank you, Sōryū."
Asuka snorted in amusement after a pause, and glanced at Rei with the smallest of small smiles. "Don't mention it."
