13
The Commander looked up at Ritsuko, "Are the numbers accurate?"
The doctor sighed and nodded, "They are, sir. While Pilot Ikari is capable of activating the Eva… his synch ratio is so low that he might as well not even bother until he's been retrained. It's why we use children in the first place," she went on to explain, her voice taking an odd tone to it. "Their minds are more adaptive-"
"I know, Doctor Akagi," Kozo said, shaking his head again. He leaned back into his chair and frowned, "Can he be retrained quickly?"
"Honestly, sir?"
"Preferably."
"No. We're still not sure about everything that happened to him when he aged, Commander, and I can't give you anything more accurate until we know that."
Kozo sighed and leaned forwards, "So now what? We only have the First Child left and any other Children whom we call will take weeks to train up to acceptable levels."
Ritsuko shrugged, "I'm not sure what else we can do, sir. Pilot Sohryu is not responding to treatments of any kind, so that's out of the question." Ritsuko withdrew a printout from her clipboard and slid it across the desk to the Commander, "We need to talk with the next Child, sir. Quickly."
Kozo looked at the identity of the next Child and sighed, "Do it."
(Elsewhere)
Shinji found himself eye-level with Unit-01, sitting on the catwalk some fifty feet away from it. He knew his mother's soul was in there. He KNEW his father had known about it, the bastard had to have… and did nothing about it. He also knew that he hated the damned thing with every fiber of his being. Oh, sure, he wanted to save mankind as much as the next person, and the only real thing about his new body that disturbed him was that he had to shave every other day or he started looking too much like his deceased yet unlamented father.
Shinji reached up and absently scratched the curve of his jaw, "What do I do now, Misato?"
"Get back in the saddle and ride again, Shinji."
He looked over to his left at his roommate and commanding officer, "What is it with you and these cowboy references recently? Or are they cowboy references?"
Misato gave him a suspicious look, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Shinji shrugged, "Well, Ritsuko was telling me about some of your more… risqué… college adventures…"
Misato snarled, "I'll KILL her!"
Shinji looked at her for a second before he smirked, "I'm kidding, Misato."
Misato's ire turned on him, "That's not funny, Shinji. Rumors like that can ruin a girl's reputation, you know?"
Shinji snorted, "If that's the case, we've been sleeping together since before I moved in with you, I've made my way through thirty percent of the ladies here at NERV and have expanded my throwing net out into the general public to give my mother grandchildren galore."
Unseen to all, deep within Unit-01 Yui's spirit brought out fans of celebration as she started to do the 'grandchildren' dance.
Shinji paused as he felt a cold chill go down his spine but he shook it off, "Either way, I don't put much stock in rumors."
Misato finally calmed down and shrugged, "True." She looked back over at the Eva and frowned, "Shinji?"
"Yeah?"
"Are Unit-01's eyes sparkling?"
AN: Short, yes. About all I could fit in during my time between classes. Reviews, please.