A discovery of fire importance summons Asuka, Shinji, and thier Evangelions to America on a critical mission of defense. On the western edge of the continent, at the city on the bay, Asuka, Shinji, Misato, and Kaji try to functiin on strange shoes far from home.


I.

The humming of the aircraft's engines was constant. It was a sound Misato hadn't heard in a while, not since her days in Germany. She was bundled up at least because she already knew the Big Wing stratobombers offered little in the way of creature comforts- especially for mere passengers. Being this high up, it was cold.

Several seats down with a blanket thrown over his head, Shinji was sleeping. He dressed in sweatpants and a sweater after being told to make himself as comfortable as he could. It was going to be a long flight.

"All right," Misato grunted, "You got us up on the middle of the night with no brief. Why are two of my Evangelions taken from the most sensitive spot on the planet, to fly halfway across the world to a nation which already has two of their own?"

Ritsuko finished tapping on her tablet and handed it to Misato. "Look familiar?" She asked flippantly.

Misato stared at it, wincing heavily. "What the hell is this." She asked coldly.

"That," Ritsuko said, "Is what the committee is classifying as unidentified biological Object… three. It's located at the bottom of the San Francisco Bay, in America."

On the screen in Misato's hands, the lower part of the San Francisco Bay was displayed, demonstrating the depth of the water. Outlined in yellow was a large humanoid figure nearly three the size of an Evangelion.

"Is it an Angel?"

"Inconclusive." Ritsuko replied, "The first branch has a team there that has been analyzing it since it was first discovered. A dredging crew was found dead after the rake struck the thing's exposed hand. For whatever reason, the committee is treating this a lot more seriously than defending Tokyo-3. Enough to pull three Evangelion units to deal with it."

Misato looked up at Ritsuko. "The Americans are sending one of theirs to join us?"

Ritsuko nodded. "Unit 04 is being fast tracked to operational status and flown there to assist. If you can believe it, they have a pilot already brought up and synchronized. We'll have particulars in a few hours."

"What about unit 03?"

"Still having problems, I'm told."

Misato continued staring at the object displayed on screen. With the size and general shape, she recalled a similar form from the depths of her memories… And her nightmares.

The giant of light from the south pole.

—--

Fuyutsuki contemplated the hologram displaying the travel of both big wing bombers across the globe. "Was this wise, Ikari? A jaunt across Japan is one matter. The entire ocean is another."

Gendo was quiet while he sat in his usual contemplative pose. Then he said, "the old men panicked. This development was completely outside of any of their predictions."

Fuyutsuki stared. Then lifted his face. "And yours, too."

"If the committee has another path to instrumentality, then it must be thwarted. We must return to the planned course."

"That's why you sent both units, and him." Fuyutsuki said. "Holding unit 01 here would be too suspicious, I take it."

"The committee was insistent." Gendo replied, and winced, "it reveals the depth of their fear. While their attention is elsewhere, we have work to do."

Fuyutsuki grunted an affirmative and looked back to the screen.


The Bay

Norsehound


The two bombers arrived at 8pm local time, but it was only noon in Tokyo 3. Shinji was awake now and looking out the windows as they closed in on their destination. Asuka, with Kaji, was on the second bomber containing unit 02.

"That's America?" Shinji asked as he looked out the pothole.

"That's America." Misato affirmed, "The city of San Francisco."

Gliding below were the red rims of the Golden Gate Bridge. Beyond it, the lights of San Francisco were starting to gleam in the evening light. The two watched the city wheel by as they cruised over the water.

"Misato… why are we here?" Shinji asked.

Misato looked through the pothole, then pointed. "Do you see those lights to the left of the city?"

"Yes."

"Something was found underwater there, Shinji. We're protecting the salvage operation."

Shinji swallowed. "Is… is it… an Angel?"

The stratobombers, one at a time, touched down at Alameda Naval Air Station. In the dark, lights illuminated the bay hangar constructed months ago to house unit 03 and 04. Those facilities were online already, and this was where the Evangelions were unloaded.

The pilots and their support personnel, however, were quartered on the base.

In family housing.

"This is RIDICULOUS!" Asuka raged, "even across the Pacific Ocean im supposed to room In with you two?!"

She, Misato, and Shinji were standing in the living room of the apartment they had been given. With them was Captain Adrian Kearsarge, a westerner in a crisp olive uniform and cap under his arm. He seemed in his early thirties, sharp features but a level tone as he spoke in passable Japanese. "I'm sorry if this arrangement won't work for you, Major, but these are the nicest on the base that will keep you all together."

Misato waved him off, "It's fine Captain, she just likes to complain."

Asuka responded, "my complaints are legitimate! This place is tiny!"

Adrian smirked. "If it makes you feel better, my quarters aren't much bigger. The US Military knows it can stuff us bachelors wherever they need to."

Shinji, ignoring Asuka, considered their guide. "Excuse me for asking sir… you're a westerner, but your Japanese is pretty good."

Adrian smiled. "My japanophile father fell into the clutches of a very proper Japanese woman, who became my stepmother when I was three. She insisted I learned how to speak her language, and my father saw value in it."

Asuka, hands on hips, asked, "Why is Misato here then? Why did she fly out all this way if you're taking charge?"

"I'm not. Not Evangelion operations, anyway. I'm responsible for the base and support operations. Major Katsuragi," Adrian nodded to Misato, "will retain tactical control over the Evas for any action that happens here."

Misato crossed her arms. "I'm surprised you Americans didn't put one of your own people in charge."

"Not from lack of trying." Adrian answered. "But then the very practical need to get this base operational within 48 hours was passed down from command, and they promoted me out of my advisory position at Black Mesa." It shrugged, "it seems I'm one of the handful in the Entire Evangelion operations branch that did his homework." He nodded to Misato, "which, by the way, is why you're here Major. I recommended your presence because I figured your experience trumps every theory here."

Misato beamed. "Good to know I'm appreciated around here."

Adrian continued smiling. "Believe me when I say every one of your personnel who accompanied you is worth thier weight in gold. We desperately need the experience."

The man checked his watch and then said, "on that note, I need to go butt heads with provisioning. There's a staff breakfast at 0600 if you happen to be awake and interested."

Misato glanced at the clock, did some mental calculations and said, "That will be 10 at night for us, sorry."

"You're not missing anything, except watching me play lion tamer to our base department heads." The man straightened a little and said, "around noon our time, unit 04 and its pilot will have arrived and we'll be breaking for lunch. Let's meet then."

"Okay, sounds great! Thanks!" Misato waved. After the lieutenant was gone Misato slumped. "God, he sure was dolled up wasn't he?"

Shinji said, "I thought he was nice. He wasn't what I expected of an American."

Misato raised a finger. "Don't let one man fool you. As a whole Americans are a loud and selfish people. You'll see it if you step off this base."

Asuka crossed her arms. "That's just the stereotype. That's like saying the Japanese people are quiet and unassertive."

Asuka and Misato both looked at Shinji, who looked between them. "What?"

Asuka sighed. "Anyway, how long are we going to be here Misato? You told us to pack for a week."

"That's the estimate." Misato replied.

Shinji asked then, "Was Kaji supposed to join us?"

Asuka perked up, but then realized, this was a three bedroom ensemble. Kaji would have been bunking with Misato.

"Yes." Misato grunted, holding his room key. "The jerk disappeared after we got into the building. Typical, he flakes whenever it's important."


Kaji knew a lit cigarette was a dead giveaway in the dim evening light, but he didn't care. Beside the tied up hulls of merchant vessels, Kaji looked out at the distant lights.

A woman's voice in English broke the quiet. "Our wonderful city is dazzling, isn't it?"

Kaji turned to see the speaker approach in a large overcoat. Her short blond hair was curled around her temples, her high heels clopping in the evening light. "A real captivating view."

Kaji blinked with surprise. "You're not who I expected." He said, "I take it Henry was busy?"

"Henry is dead." The woman said. "Shot dead by your employers. Or, at least, one of them. Got a light?" The woman had fished a cigarette out of her pocket. Kaji passed over his lighter, and after two clicks she handed it back. "Thanks." She said with a puff.

Kaji cautiously assessed the woman, then asked, almost hesitantly, "is it always this cold by the water?"

"Usually, though in Tokyo they say the water is like death." She smiled at him, like a femme fatale out of old noir film. "Yeah, I got you, Ryoji."

Kaji sighed. "Sorry," he said, "when I don't meet who I'm expecting, I get nervous."

"Not the trusting type. That's fine, Henry was, and look where it got him."

Kaji smirked. "You're not giving me a lot of confidence here."

"But I'm the best contact you have. You're not going to develop any better in the time you've got."

"I can take my chances. Put my ear to the ground and listen in."

"Hah! You? A non-native speaker? You know how much of our job relies on precise information. Your English is passable but you're not a local. That's why people like you come to people like me. Let's skip the back and forth and cut to the chase, shall we? You want info on what's going on out there, and I get some Intel from your end of the Pacific. Deal?"

Kaji looked at the lights on the water, then to the woman. "Yes."

"All right. You're being a good boy, so I'll put up first. Some background; here in the States there's an inferiority complex about anything and everything connected to the Second Impact. The climate disaster, Evangelions, everything. America is jealous it doesn't have NERV HQ and all the answers. The only reason NERV has the budget that it does is because the Americans were bought off with two branches, two Evas, and two MAGI clusters so they at least have an in on this esoteric Evangelion magic. With me so far?"

Kaji blinked. "Esoteric? What is that word?

"Hikyō." The woman replied flawlessly.

Kaji blinked. "If you can speak Japanese, then why-"

"You're on my turf Ryoji, do you want this information or not?"

Kaji glared, then, "Go on."

The woman dragged on her cigarette again, then went on, "Work on reinforcing the bay's flood protection countermeasures suddenly dredged up something. Kills the crew mysteriously. Weird shit is fast-tracked to the First Branch, they investigate. Find a copy of the thing that wiped out the south pole. Suddenly the US has a hot commodity really important to NERV. Now it's gotten very real for America. Care to guess why we didn't just keep it to ourselves?"

Kaji paused, then said, "Were they over their heads?"

"Close. Before I tell you the rest, let's have your half of this deal."

"What do you want to know?"

"The human instrumentality project. Big name, really vague brief."

Kaji sighed. "I can't give you that one. I don't have all the pieces yet."

"I just gave you a minute long tour of the intelligence situation with insight on the American psyche, and that's how you respond to my very reasonable ask?"

"I can't give you what I don't have."

She stepped closer as she said, "I don't need everything Ryoji, just what you have. At least enough that I can write a passable high school essay the night before it's due. Come on."

"I'm sorry. Try again."

"All right, let's try something smaller. Gendo Ikari ignores his son for a decade, then summons him back out of the blue to pilot Evangelion 01 without utilizing the Marduk Institute. Why?"

Kaji shook his head, "I don't have that one either. The man's moves are mysterious."

The woman stared evenly at Kaji, then dropped her cigarette and stamped it out with the point of her high heel. "I'm disappointed in you Ryoji, I didn't have you figured as a penny ante operator. Especially when you can make high value items disappear out of SEELE without anyone over there noticing. That's not small."

Kaji flinched in spite of himself. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do. They call it Over the Rainbow now to make kumbaya vibes with the international community, but it was always the Harry s. Truman. So, Let's do some math." She held out fingers as she counted, "You were aboard on a two month voyage. America is envious. You're employed by NERV. The suitcase was noticed, Ryoji, and very few items can fit those dimensions. I even know it went to Ikari personally. So." She put her hands on her hips, the sleeves fanning out under her arms like spreading wings. "Are you going to play fair and trade, or are you going to pull out and disappoint a very nice lady? I don't need to remind you, either, that Intel is time sensitive."

Kaji said nothing, but agonized over what he should betray; his secrets on the instrumentality program? Or Shinji and Gendo. He shook his head slowly, then dropped his head. Finally, he said. "The human instrumentality project is a giant that has two feet. The first is in something called the Dead Sea Scrolls. The second is the Antarctic expedition and the white giant the Katsuragi expedition found there. Those two things are what inspired the Instrumentality project. The only other thing I can confirm now is that the Evangelions are essential to this plan, and at least four are needed for whatever they intend to do. The more, the better."

The woman nodded. "Very interesting buzzwords. All right, that's something I can use. So," the woman crossed her arms, "here's the rest. Washington doesn't understand how the giant is important to NERV, but they do know it is important. So why not keep it under wraps as some kind of hidden secret to exploit on our own?"

She halted, keeping Kaji in suspense.

"Because," the woman said, "US policy makers are dumbasses. Instead of the subtle approach, our President decided to turn this crisis into a national dick waving contest by deliberately inviting the German Evangelion, and one of the Japanese ones, to America to measure them up against our unit 04. Considering that one is the most advanced robot of the two that were made here, he hopes to be immensely proud of showing off."

Kaji sighed and rubbed a hand against his face.

"This is only the beginning of the stupidity, I'll warn you. Because you'll be tickled to know that since the details of the Katsuragi expedition are still classified to Washington, including the parts about what went wrong, the current plan to excavate the White giant is… brace yourself… to cut it up into sections and transport it by road to the first branch."

"...you can't be serious."

"There are high level shouting matches still ongoing at this very moment about what to do with the giant. Fortunately, someone was smart enough to actually contact NERV about it, leading to our present situation. That's why Doctor Akagi is part of your little tour group. They want to make sure the third impact doesn't touch off in our proverbial back yard. Right now most of what's going on out there is done with robots and even then, some have shorted out. That's why it's taking so long."

"I see." Kaji said. "So… there is no plan."

"Oh there's a plan." The woman said, "just the kind of plan concocted by ivory tower academics who tend to overthink themselves into trouble. As with so much else going on at the moment, the plan is in progress. Now," she leaned forward on her hips, "Is that useful to you, Ryoji?"

Kaji took a moment to digest all that he had heard. "It's a start. Thank you for the road map."

"I gave a lot more than I got. Consider it a welcome gift from a generous hostess. Since Henry is dead and his lines of contact are being monitored, I'll leave you," She fished a hand into her coat and pulled out a card. "With this!"

She stepped forward into his personal space to slide it into his shirt pocket. As she did, she said, "The part I know about the Human Instrumentality project is that it's a gambit by the old to outlast death. It's a project to elevate themselves to Godhood."

She stepped back from him then, smiling.

Kaji stared at her, a mind full of questions. "How did you come by this information?"

"Let's pick this up tomorrow night. Sleep well, Ryoji." She turned then and walked into the rapidly escalating night.

Kaji reached into his pocket and pulled out the white, featureless card. On it were three markings, two were written in pen. The first was a phone number, the second was a name: Daisy.

The third was a kiss print.


II.

This was the first time Shinji had ever experienced jet lag. Grunting, he blinked at the light streaming through the windows and groggily looked at the time. 10am. Sighing he got himself up. Last night he had gone to bed around 2am, after taking some time to read quietly like Misato had advised him to. Eventually the darkness had gotten to him.

Today was going to be rough on 6 hours of sleep.

He creaked off the spring mattress and stretched in the little green-walled cubicle room. Living in Misato's place had gotten him accustomed to waking to no light, so it was a nice change to welcome the sun. Decent already, he opened the door into the hallway and then trudged into the kitchen.

Misato was already up with a pot of coffee on. "Morning Misato." Shinji grunted.

Misato turned and managed to affect a small smile. "Good morning Shinji."

Shinji blinked out his surprise and tiredness to ask, "How are you this awake already?"

"I can't sleep after long flights." Misato said as she poured herself coffee. "You can think of my sleep schedule last night like a marathon." She looked at him, "How are you doing?"

"I think I need some time to wake up."

"Asuka isn't up either, if that helps."

Shinji trudged to the refrigerator. "Do I need to cook breakfast?"

"You don't have to if you want to just go to the mess hall." Misato replied. "Remember, we were invited to breakfast. Do you want to go?"


Once Asuka waa up, a short phone call and a jeep ride later the three of them appeared at the officers mess under the shadow of the base command center. As they disembarked, Shinji suddenly realized, "Kaji never joined us, did he?"

"Probably got his own room." Misato grumbled. She still had the man's keycard in her jacket.

They passed through the sturdy wooden doors to a large room that was unexpectedly quiet. The lounge looked large enough to fit almost a hundred people, but only a handful of people resided in the room.

One of them was Ritsuko, hunched over a laptop. She wasn't in her usual one piece outfit- this time she had a sleeveless white top over a long navy blue skirt. It moved as the woman bounced her foot idly.

Misato said as she approached, "well, look at you all dressed up. I haven't seen you in a skirt that long in ages."

Ritsuko waved off her friend, saying, "I thought for once I would go casual. Don't let it go to your head." Turning her side glance into a full look, she asked, "Ryoji isn't with you?"

Misato grunted. "He was supposed to be. You haven't seen him?"

"No. Admittedly I've been swamped since we got in last night. The American technical division is… how shall I say… Ass backwards."

"That bad?" Misato asked with a cocked eyebrow. The kids already seated themselves. Just then Misato noticed three more people enter the lounge, two of which she recognized. "There you are. Where where you last night?"

Kaji was approaching with two others. The first was Adrian again, this time his olive jacket was off and he held it over his shoulder, revealing the khaki undershirt and tie. The other was a teenager with light brown hair cut short and freckles dashed across his face. He wore a track suit, and held his hands in his pockets.

Kaji had a hand behind his neck as apology. "Sorry Katsuragi, I ended up with my own billet. I'll be travelling a lot while we're here."

Asuka pouted. "You mean you're not rooming in with us after all?"

"Nope. Sorry kiddo." Kaji said.

Misato pulled his room card out of her pocket and tossing it at him. It bounced off his chest. She huffed, "Last time I do you any favors, mister inspector."

Kaji gave a small shrug, but retrieved the room card.

Ritsuko, observing the newcomers, spoke in English then to the youth that just arrived, "Are you the pilot of unit 04?"

The boy was caught off guard. "Er… y-yes Ma'am! Max Holland, ma'am!"

Misato laughed, then said in English, "Any more formal and you'll beat Shinji for being the most modest pilot."

Max blinked and reddened a little. "R-really? I… I just wanted to… be polite."

Misato, smiling, said, "I didn't say that was a problem."

Introductions were made before Misato invited Max to their side of the table, between herself and Shinji.

As Max slid into the chair beside Shinji, he greeted, "H-hello."

"Hello." Shinji replied. Now was the chance to practice his English. He smiled at the newcomer.

Max smiled back, but he didn't look at Shinji at first. Then, as the rest of the table got into a conversation, Max turned to Shinji. "You're really the pilot of unit 01?"

Shinji blinked as a tinge of amusement struck him. He had never experienced someone being bashful when meeting him. "Y-yeah, I am!"

Max laughed. "S-sorry…" he said and took a breath. "I-i just… this is a big deal, you're one of the children from Japan. A real Eva pilot! I… I never imagined meeting either of you this soon! It's an honor!"

Shinji laughed in spite of himself. "Th-thank you! But.., im not that special, I'm just a pilot."

"But you have the most sorties. And…" max halted as he realized Asuka was staring at him. His eyes widened, "and you're Asuka Langley?"

"Uh-huh." Asuka replied. Leering at Max she asked, "so what's My reputation?"

"I mean…" Max said, "you wrote the book on Evangelion training. The stuff im supposed to study is all based on the work you did in Germany with unit 02!"

"I wrote the book, huh?" Asuka mused, "I like the sound of that."

Max looked to Shinji. "How long are you two staying here?"

Shinji nodded to Misato. "We were told a week."

Max's eyes lit up. "While you're here I can show you both around! I grew up around here, even though I was assigned to Nevada at first."

Shinji smiled. "That would be great!" He looked from Misato, who was involved in another conversation, to Asuka.

The girl made a dismissive gesture. "It's better than just sitting around, IIguess. guess."

Just then menus arrived.


While the children talked between themselves, another conversation was going on at the adult level. Adrian said, "You have great timing. You've arrived just before the lunch crowd crash."

Ritsuko asked, "I was wondering how we got food."

Adrian said, "you flag down a waiter." Adrian gestured to someone across the room. That man made a gesture in return and went to the register in the large space. Adrian continued, "the officers lounge is the finest place to eat on base. It isn't as good as places in the city, but it will do. I hope you all had a good night?"

Misato side-eyed Kaji as she said, "About as good as can be expected."

Ritsuko closed her laptop. "Not me. I spent all night fighting your technical divisions before our Evangelions could be docked properly."

Adrian nodded. "I heard a bit about that this morning. My apologies, he's what passes for an Evangelion expert until you arrived. If you have any more disagreements, take them to me or Captain Katsuragi."


a/n: almost missed this one. technically Leaving is the more sentimental draft but this one, the Bay, is one of the most important to me personally,

I grew up just outside the San Francisco Bay in California. About a year after becoming parents during a global pandemic we were forced to move across the country without the time and focus to say goodbye to the world we knew as our norm. It still smarts to the day, over a year later.

writing this was a way to bring me back to that microcosim of the San Francisco Bay and allow the Eva kids to visit places I took for granted to be able to see, but now can't. the characters and author could go back there.

this fix presents a number of challenges as well that I want to do right, and is part of the reason for its stalling. First, half the cast will be OCs to introduce the American branch and new unit 04 pilot. The story will still be told ib the POV of the original cast, but it still needs to be done well to be palatable.

the next challenge is testing Kaji and Misato's relationship when they both meet other people they find attractive and enticing. Pairing characters with OCs usually is a self indulgent tract, but here I wanted it to mean something as a legitimate character challenge.

A final challenge wasxShinji and Asuka interacting with a younger peer. Shinji doesn't have anyone really looking up to,him like an,older brother, but it's something I wanted to do with Max.

I want to find the energy to repair and post tgis fix, but so much is going on.