NERV Facility on outskirts of Tokyo-3...

The scientists were busy.

In the past week since the pilot of Unit 01 had killed Shamshel, the Fourth Angel, there had been a golden opportunity for scientific study. The Angels were organisms seemingly not of this earth, and to defeat one's enemies, one must study them. The Angel's carcass was quite a prize.

In an office down the hallway from the main analysis chamber, Ritsuko sat, typing furiously at a medical computer, analyzing DNA extracted from the Angel. Misato and Shinji were off to the side, staring into space. Shinji reached over to a nearby minifridge and pulled out another soda. The fridge had been filled with drinks, but after two hours, Shinji had nearly emptied it. He had been released from the hospital several days before, but his throat was still raw. His voice was coming back, and he could breathe on his own, but there was still considerable pain. The drinks helped dull the burning sensation he felt every time he tried to draw a breath.

Another one bites the dust. Shinji tossed the empty can in the trash.

He cleared his throat. "Learn anything interesting, Doctor?" He had been pulled along this trip by Misato, and after two hours he was bored.

Ritsuko finished tapping at the keyboard, and a genetic diagram popped up on the screen. "Simply amazing."

"What?" Misato asked. She seemed bored too. But she was required to come to the analysis, as Operations Director. She had dragged Shinji with her because he had been in the house for three days since getting out of the hospital. He needed to get up and be about again.

"There is a 99.89 percent correlation between human DNA and Angel DNA patterns. Such a similarity...is simply amazing."

"I fought that thing and killed it, doctor. I looked into it's eyes. There was nothing remotely human about the way it looked at me. It looked at me as if I was some kind of bug, not worth it's time." Shinji's voice grew distant for a second, remembering engaging the creature. It had been...intense.

"The genetic similarity...there have been several theories regarding this." Ritsuko continued. "It has been hypothesized that the Angels are divergent evolutionary offshoots. What humanity could have been. There are the obvious differences between us and them, but the fact that we are so closely related genetically is something that warrants further investigation."

Shinji and Misato both shrugged their shoulders. They just had to kill the Angels. That was the limit to their responsibilities. Theorizing about them was better left up to the scientists.

A sudden commotion in the hallway outside of the office drew Shinji's attention. A group of several military officers and aides, all with ranks above Captain, were walking around a central figure in dark clothes. They stopped in the main analysis chamber and spread out, conferencing with several scientists and examining readings from the scanners that had been set up to probe the Angel's remains.

The central figure was his father. Shinji recognized him because he was the only one who constantly seemed to be giving off an aura of aloofness. His uncle had told him once that his brother was the only person who seemed to make a constant, conscious effort to stick out in a crowd. How trur that statement was did not matter to Shinji.

Shinji popped back into Ritsuko's office and sat back down. He popped open another soda.

"Misato," she looked at Shinji. "Why's my father wearing gloves? Just curious."

"Before you came, several months ago there was an accident during the activation test of Unit 00, Rei's unit. There was some sort of mental feedback, and Unit 00 went beserk. Rei was ejected from Unit 00 in her entry Plug, but it had become superheated. Your father rushed to the recovery area and opened the entry port of Unit 00 with his bare hands, severely burning his hands. He has worn those gloves ever since."

Both women snapped their attention to where Shinji was sitting as first a giggle, then a burst of barely restrained laughter erupted from him. Tears were coming from his eyes, and he seemed to be shifting between extreme amusement and insanity. Ritsuko and Misato looked at one another.

Finally Shinji was able to regain his composure. "Heh---he-heh...he burned up his hands...for a girl I barely know..." he began laughing again for a second. "I-I was unaware the Commander was such...a..." he began laughing a third time. "Who knew the old man had it in him? She must be quite a girl..." Misato noticed Ritsuko stiffen slightly when Shinji said that. He wiped his face and cracked his neck. "I'm cool. I'm cool. God, I needed that."

A look of concern passed over Misato's face for a second. "I think that's enough of hanging down here for today. You have to be at NERV for your training later."

"My training?"

"Yes. Everyone employed at NERV must go through military basic training. You are fit enough to pass the physicals, and you know martial arts, so we know you can handle yourself, so you'll be recieving weapons training."

"Weapons training?" his eyes lit up. "Guns, explosives, the whole nine yards?"

"I think we'll just stick with small arms and personal defense weapons for now."

"You're no fun. Will you be training me?"

"No, but I'll be there observing your progress. Be at the NERV training course and firing range at 1540."

"Well I'm off. Is there anything else?" Shinji was halfway down the door. "Wait!" Ritsuko called. She hastily wrote down something on a sheet of paper and then pulled out a NERV ID from her lab coat pocket.

"Can you make a stop at Ayanami's place and give this to her? This is her updated NERV ID. Here's her address." She handed Shinji the paper. "Sure. See you later." He walked down the hallway and entered an elevator which would take him outside.

Both women looked at one another for a moment. What had been funny to him? That Re had been hurt? That his father had injured himself for a girl that was a stranger to him? Only Shinji knew.

This place looks like shit.

This was the only response Shinji could come up with. He followed the directions to teh address Ritsuko had given him, a small apartment complex on the edge of town. There was construction all over the place, new high rises going up, Tokyo-3 being reinforced and restructured for the next Angel attack. But rei's building looked sadly neglected.

He really wasn't surprised to see that the building's elevator was broken when he entered her building. The entire place had a sense of 'who gives a shit' about it. Climbing up the stairs to her place, Shinji saw that all of the other apartments on the floor were deserted. He came to a stop in front of Ayanami's door. One knock sent the door flying open. Apparently her lock was also broken.

"It's Shinji Ikari! I work with you at NERV! I'm coming in!" the echo from his yelling made him feel a bit foolish. He stepped in and closed the door.

The entire apartment classified as barely habitable. In one corner, upon closer inspection, Shinji saw a cardboard box covered with bloody bandages. The sheets on the nearby bed also had some old bloodstains. There was a fine layer of dust on a lot of stuff. The small fridge in the corner was empty, and all that was in the cupboards were boxes of instant ramen. Those were good for a meal in a pinch, but that shit had way too much sodium and salt to eat every day.

A door down a short hallway opened, and Shinji turned around to see Rei in a towel, dripping water. Her face had no readable expression, but Shinji still felt like an invader.

"Why are you here, Pilot Ikari?"

He fished out Rei's new ID out of his back pocket. "Dr. Akagi said she forgot to give this to you. She asked me to stop by on my way to NERV. Don't you have an appointment there today?"

"I do. Dr. Akagi is often...forgetful in regards to me." She sounded slightly angry at that, if only for a second.

As Shinji handed the card to Rei, his eye was caught by something on a small table near her. Stacked on the table were several books, but resting on top of them were a pair of glasses. He walked over to the table and picked them up. Something...distant in him brought up the fact that these had been his father's glasses. When he was younger, Shinji had dimly remembered his father wearing glasses with normal lenses. It was only after Gendo had sent him away after his mother's death that he began wearing his current glasses with the orange colored lenses.

He looked at her, glasses in hand. "He...gave these to you?"

Rei stepped foward. "Please give those back to me."

"Who are you for him to be giving things to?! Who are the hell are you for him to burn his hands over?! Who are you for him to give me away but not you?!" Shinji's voice grew louder and more laced with venom with each question.

Rei stepped foward and tried to snatch the glasses away. Shinji resisted, and Rei inadvertedly fell backwards, pulling Shinji on top of her.

The first thing Shinji saw were red eyes, staring up at him. There seemed to be a...blankness behind them that startled him. Suddenly something sparked up to life in them again.

"Please get off of me."

Reis' request seemed to hang in the air for a moment before Shinji got to his feet. He offered Rei a hand, but she stood up on her own, seemingly oblivious to the fact that her towel had fallen to her feet.

The idea of perfect came to mind in looking at her. It could have also been because Shinji had not seen many naked women in his life, so what he did see he would classify as perfect. What ended the moment was again looking into her eyes. She seemed beyond caring, one way or the other, if he or anyone looked at her. There seemed to be no emotional input from her, in a positive or negative way, about being looked at. That seemed to shift any sense of enjoyment that Shinji might have had to nil.

"I..I- am beyond sorry." Shinji grabbed a hearby hanger that had Rei's school clothes on it and handed it to her. She grabbed it, and began dressing. Shinji turned around. "Again, I deeply apologize..." He did'nt really feel sorry, but it seemed like the only thing to say. Absolutely no reaction. She had just stood there naked, alone. She had looked at him as if he had'nt even been there, if only for a moment.

"The glasses." she said, hand outstretched for them. He handed them over. She turned and left the apartment, closing the door. It took a second to register to Shinji that he had to go too, as he had his own training today.

Suffice to say, the trip to NERV was quite uncomfortable, and quiet.

Shinji had tried to speak to Rei on the elevator down to NERV. They were now ten floors from the Geofront.

"They're going to re-test you back in Unit 00 today, huh?"

"Yes."

"Aren't you worried?"

"Worried?"

"Unit 00 could go apeshit a second time. You gould get hurt again."

"I have been told that the proper adjustments have been made. The..incident will not happen again. Do you not have faith in your father's work?"

Shinji's response was nearly automatic. "Faith? In my father? The man's a snake. I don't trust him."

Shini heard a SLAP which was loud in the confined space of the elevator. His brain then registered slight pain and a tight feeling in his face. The glass of the elevator reflected a slight redness on his cheek.

"I have faith in the Commander. He is all I can believe in this world." The doors opened, and Rei Ayanami stepped out and walked away, leaving Shinji alone with his thoughts.

"Look at the screen, and follow the instructions for assembling and loading the weapon. I will be alongside you to monitor your progress."

That was what the instructor in charge of NERV's firing range and armory said, handing Shinji a kit with pistol parts and one full clip. He wore sound dampening earmuffs to protect from the loud sounds of bullets being fired. Shinji walked over to an open kiosk on the range and opened the kit. He then looked at the PDA the instructor had given him. He initialized it and graphics began to run down how to assemble a UN standard pistol, circa 2009, maintain it, and load it. He looked down the range, at a nearby control and monitoring room. Here, accuracy, number of hits, how many bullets used, and more could be measured and analyzed. He saw Misato waving at him through the glass.

He tried assembling the gun a first time. It took him thirty seconds to put the pieces together. His hands moved at a blurred speed. His mind seemed to be shifting into a relaxed state, as it did whenever he became focused. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was the instructor. Shinji took off the earmuffs.

"Good. You're a quick study. But you forgot something. The locking mechanism. The gun will fall apart with one good hit." The instructor demonstrated this by tapping the gun against a nearby surface. The pieces fell apart. "You need the locking mechanism to hold all the parts together. Try again."

Focus. Shinji remembered his uncle saying. In all of his training, his aunt nor his uncle had ever trained him in weapons. Every martial art they knew, they passed on to him. But they refused to train him with weapons. Shinji knew that whatever former jobs they had, they were very familiar with weapons. But they were a wall in teaching him. He remembered something his uncle had said.

It is useless for us to school you in weapons. As time passes, weapons will change. What we are trying to teach you is disciplne, focus. Mastering yourself. You master yourself, and you will master any weapon on your own. You will teach yourself, and teaching you how to teach yourself is what we are ultimately trying to do.

Focus. It sounded so simple, but was so difficult. He dissasembled the weapon again. He ran his hands over every part, studying them intimately. He began again. It was an effort to bring keep himself focused, totally alert and in control, resisting an automatic movement. He dinished assembing the weapon. It had taken 21.4 seconds for him to assemble it and load it.

"Impressive." the instructor said. He genuinely sounded surprised. He was even more so when he directed Shinji to take aim at some targets on the firing range and shoot them. The Third Child had an almost frightening level of concentation. He nailed every target.

"I'm done with this." Shinji said, handing the empty weapon to the instructor. "I want to try out some other hardware. Shotguns, machine guns, the works."

The instructor looked at him a second, and then aqquiesced. "All right. Captain Katsurigi told me you would ask about that. The limit for you is explosives. I can show you our sniper rifles, light machine guns and everything else, but don't ask me about grenade launchers or rockets. Don't even start about C4. The Captain will have my ass if I get the Third Child hurt while messing around with explosives."

Shinji grinned. "You know man, you're all right. Fine. No explosives. But I'm always wanted to shoot off a machine gun. They say it makes a man out of you. Is that true?"

The instructor, who later introduced himself to Shinji as Koba, spent the next hour showing Shinji the finer points of A-16s, the UN's standard combat rifles. The fun and games were broken however, by the flashing lights and klaxons and alarms alerting everyone to an Angel attack.

Shinji shook Koba's hand. "Gotta go, man. Goddamm Angels! I'll come back sometime soon. You still have to show me those Striker shotguns. Those are cool. See you around!" Shinji ran towards the elevators. He still had to suit up and fight. Looked like the end of his day.