Next chapter. I've been writing it for nearly a week but it's finally done.

Most of this chapter is infodump but not as sloppily done as S2Ch1 of Ascension (I suspected it but thanks anyway, Grimallq).

CHAPTER 02
SECRET/WORLD

Most of the ride was spent in silence. Not long after leaving the battlefield, the Seiche entered a tunnel leading into the depths of the artificial island that was Tokyo-3. Shinji didn't ask questions; she figured she probably wasn't supposed to know anyway. Misato however found the girl's silence uncomfortable. – "You still alive back there? You're pretty quiet."

"Crazy day." – was all the answer she got. Naturally, the woman wasn't satisfied with just that.

"I know but really... I thought you'd be all over me right about now. I know you're probably wondering what's going on but I can't tell you. Not here, anyway."

"Then where?"

"The place where we're going to right now." – the woman replied, seconds before the walls of the tunnel vanished and were replaced by a blue glow. Shinji looked out... and her jaws immediately dropped.

The Seiche was traversing a transparent tube on the underside of the city, providing a breathtaking view of the various aquatic life on and below it. Unlike other permanent aquatic installations like oil rigs, Tokyo-3 wasn't affixed onto the seafloor but was free-floating, granting it a higher structural resistance against large-scale storms and complete immunity against tsunamis since the city could simply ride the tide. In case of a storm front powerful enough to make it run aground, the city's magnetohydrodynamic drives provided it with the ability to move out of the storm's way.

Normally, the city would be subject to the various tides and oceanic currents washing it around but those very same MH drives were also used to keep it in position. Using real-time weather data, buoy data from the nearby Kuroshio ocean current and a constant GPS feed, the state-of-the-art supercomputer built into the innards of Tokyo-3 known as the Avalon System could counter the city's forced movement and keep it at the same location.

Shinji didn't know any of this however as she stared with open wonder at the sea life outside. – "Awesome..." – she breathed.

"Finally you're acting like a real girl." – quipped Misato relieved. – "Anyway, see that?" – She pointed outside, at a dark cone shape that hung from the city like a massive stalactite. – "That's NERV Headquarters; the place where we're going."

"For a place that big, you'd suppose it's somewhere topside. Is this placement serves any purpose or did you build it merely for ominousness' sake?" – queried Shinji dryly.

"Damn this map..." – grumbled Misato as once again she realized they weren't where they were supposed to be.

"I really don't think it's the map's fault..." – whispered Shinji to herself.

"Come on, it's that way." – said Misato as she pointed at a random corridor and attempted to leave but Shinji tugged on her top.

"No, it's not! That route leads us right back to the entrance!"

"How do you know?"

Shinji crossed her arms with a sour look. – "Because we've already been here. Twice, in fact." – As Misato was searching for a suitable excuse, Shinji had enough and snatched the map from the woman's hands. Just one quick look and she took off. – "This way."

Misato had no choice but to follow the girl who led her straight to what she realized was a personnel elevator to the lower levels. 'Eh... oops.'

Just three floors down, the elevator stopped. Shinji was about to groan in exasperation when the doors opened and a blonde woman stepped in. – "You're late, Captain." – she growled in annoyance at an embarrassed Misato.

"Uh, hi Ritsie. Sorry about that, got lost again." – Misato apologized sheepishly.

One of Shinji's eyebrows crept a hairbreadth higher. 'Again?'

"It's not our fault you can't read maps, Misato. I don't think the old man would be happy to assign a permanent escort to you, we're stretched thin enough already. Anyway..." – the woman looked at Shinji. – "Is this the girl?"

"I have a name, you know." – grumbled Shinji but she went unheard.

"Yep. We got into some trouble topside but nothing we couldn't handle."

"Really? Because from what I heard, the Commander dispatched Unit-00 ahead of schedule in order to bail you out. Are you want to get fired years ahead of time, Misato?" – came the piercing question from the blonde.

"Of course not! I can't help it!"

"If that's the excuse you're giving to Ikari, you might as well start packing now." – Shinji's ears instantly perked up at the name. – "You know how much of a hardass he is."

"Yeah, tell me about it..."

"Especially considering what happened, I think you should duck and cover once he looks your way."

"What do you mean, 'considering what happened'?"

The blonde sighed. – "I told you we deployed Unit-00 ahead of time, right? We miscalibrated the LCL charge; it didn't dampen the kinetic shock that occurred when the Angel threw the Eva into that building. As soon as we retrieved it, Rei had to be taken to intensive care."

"Is she alright?"

"Several broken ribs and a dislocated arm, if you can call that 'alright'. She'll live."

Misato let out a relieved sigh. – "Well, that's a relief."

While this conversation was going on, Shinji listened intently and gathered facts. Once she saw it was her time, she butted in. – "Excuse me but I'm still in here too."

The blonde caught herself. – "Oh! I'm sorry. I am Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, head of the NERV Technological Division."

Shinji nodded. – "Pleasure's mine." – Her eyes wandered at the swimsuit the woman was wearing under her lab coat. – "Been taking a dip outside?" – she asked dryly.

"No, I had work to do. Had a pleasant trip?"

The girl scoffed. – "Depends on what you call 'pleasant'. If I'd known there was a kaiju crawling around the city I'd have stayed in Iwaki and damn my old man. Speaking of which, what does he want anyway?"

"You'll find out soon enough." – Ritsuko replied after a heavy silence.

"If you're trying to impress me, hint: it's not working." – grumbled Shinji as the door leading into the hangar-like room sealed behind them, plunging the room in darkness.

"We have no such thing in mind." – came Ritsuko's answer. Then a click sounded and the lights came on, illuminating what looked like a gigantic wall rack. In the center of it hung a massive armored suit similar to the one she saw in battle but while that one was homogenous orange, this one's only unusual color was the purple shoulder plates; every other surface was covered in grey urban camouflage. All across the suit were dozens of cables inserted into various points, making it look like an oversized marionette.

From the way it hung motionlessly, Shinji guessed the suit was unmanned. – "Can I ask what that thing is? Misato wouldn't tell me."

"What you see before you is an Evangelion-class Experimental Powered Exoskeleton. This is Unit-01, the second model ever built and the focus of all our research efforts."

"So this is what my old man's been busy with."

"Correct." – came an answer in a voice Shinji never expected to hear again.

That cold, soul-penetrating stare that still haunted her nightmares.

"It's been a while." – stated Gendo Ikari as he looked down at his daughter.

Shinji's right hand tightened into a fist. – "Kono kusoyarō [You fucking bastard]... you've got a lot of nerve to face me after ten years. What do you want?" – the girl spat.

"I have need of you."

Shinji chuckled coldly. – "So, that's it? You just whistle and expect me to come running like a trained dog?"

"That's what you have done, did you not?"

Shinji had a nigh-irresistible urge to march up there and threw that smug bastard off but decided against it. – "If you're trying to taunt me, don't bother. Did you think I haven't seen the armed guards hiding outside?" – Behind her, she heard Ritsuko angrily whispering to Misato; from the latter's hushed but audible answer, she guessed they didn't expect her perceptiveness. – "Even now there are probably over a dozen guys watching my every move. I'm not stupid enough to try anything. But don't try to stonewall me; what did you call me here for?"

"We need you as Unit-01's pilot."

Shinji just stood motionless for nearly a minute then chuckled. – "You're not serious, are you?" – She looked at the women behind him and the various technicians across the room with an incredulous smirk. – "You can't be serious! I'm not a military pilot nor am I a crazed otaku! I'm a realist! You can't seriously expect ME, an ordinary teenage girl, to pilot this thing!"

"You will be instructed." – stated Ritsuko without any emotion in her voice.

"That's not the point here! Why do you want me in particular?"

"Because no one else can." – came Gendo's answer from above.

"...your hand is in this, isn't it?" – grumbled Shinji. – "You didn't give a rat's ass to me in all my life. You say you need me and expect me to do it without a single word, aren't you? Well, where were YOU when I needed you, huh? When mom died you promptly threw me out into the street like thrash! And now you expect me to just forget all that? Well, FUCK YOU!" – She ignored the shocked gasps all around her as she switched to maximum volume. – "EMPATHY GOES BOTH WAYS AND YOU DIDN'T FULFILL YOUR END OF THE BARGAIN, ASSHOLE! WHAT IN THE WORLD MAKES YOU THINK I HAVE ANY OBLIGATIONS TOWARDS FULFILLING MINE? AND DON'T YOU DARE SAY 'BECAUSE I'M YOUR FATHER' OR I'LL SWEAR TO ALL DEITIES IN THE WORLD THAT YOU WON'T WALK OUT OF THIS ROOM UNSCATHED! YOU LOST EVERY RIGHT TO CALL YOURSELF MY PARENT THE VERY MINUTE YOU THREW ME OUT! I DON'T KNOW WHAT MOM SAW IN YOU BUT MARRYING YOU WAS THE WORST DECISION SHE EVER MADE! I'M ASHAMED TO CALL YOU MY BIOLOGICAL FATHER AND I CAN'T IMAGINE HOW THE WORLD CAN BEAR SCUM LIKE YOU LIVING IN IT!"

Gendo patiently waited until Shinji exhausted herself before answering. – "Are you finished?"

"Yes... yes, I'm done. And my answer is this: Go. To. Hell. Find yourself someone else to mess around with, 'because I'm done with you." – growled Shinji as she started walking towards the door. – "I knew it was a mistake to come here..."

As she was about to leave for good, she heard the man calling after her. – "Are you not even concerned what we need the Evangelions for?"

"I don't care!" – she spat back. – "Even if you do something clichéd like saving the world won't move me. Besides, you already have one of those things running around, why do you need me too?"

"In that case, I will just send out your sister."

Shinji instantly stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly. – "...what in the blazes are you talking about now? I don't have a sister!"

"You will learn that in life, ignorance and denial are two separate things."

"What's she talking about?" – Misato asked Ritsuko who just gave her a telltale look. – "You mean... she didn't know? Oh, fuck." – she swore loudly.

"Captain Katsuragi, I expect you to refrain from using such language on the premises in the future." – Gendo warned the woman casually. – "Otherwise, there will be consequences."

"I am terribly sorry, sir. It won't happen again."

"See that it do not." – He then turned back to the silent Shinji. – "Since you haven't left I assume I have your undivided attention now, haven't I?"

"Everyone seems to know something I don't." – the girl growled.

The man made a cold smirk. – "Ignorance is a thing to be feared."

"Explain."

"You were never told how your mother died, am I correct?"

"Thanks to you deciding to get rid of me, yes."

"Birth complications."

Shinji waited for more but when none came, she spoke up. – "That's it?"

"That is all you need to know." – He then turned to leave. – "I have better things to do than give you historical lessons, gaki [brat]. Make your decision; do it or leave."

"Are you alright?" – asked Misato as she offered a cup of coffee to Shinji who took it silently. They were in the facility's cafeteria which was currently devoid of people. – "Come on, cheer up."

"What's the point in that?" – asked the girl bitterly. – "First he thinks I'm his slave then he tries to bluff me by saying I have a sister."

"Unfortunately, that was no bluff." – the woman admitted. – "I don't know why you didn't know about her but I'm sorry you had to learn it this way."

"Yeah, right... Look, I remember back to when mom died and I never had a sibling." – declared Shinji with a tone of sureness.

"Well... I heard a rumor that the Commander's wife died of birth complications."

"...maybe that's why I can't remember it. I don't remember her being pregnant but he sent me away right after she died; he never told me why or how she did." – She buried her face in her hands. – "Oh, this just keeps getting better and better..." – She finally looked at the woman. – "Do you know her? That sister, I mean."

"Actually... she was the pilot who saved us out there." – Misato admitted sheepishly.

She fully expected Shinji to have another temper tantrum, only to be proven wrong when the girl just shook her head. – "Based on when I was sent away, she can't be more than ten years old. Using his own child as a lab rat... why am I not surprised he can sink so low?" – she whispered.

"Well, you see... Rei is a rather... special girl. Ritsuko can explain better."

"Special how?"

"She looks about as old as you; I don't know how's that possible."

'A ten year old that looks like a fourteen year old? That's definitely not natural. What the hell did that bastard do to her?' "What's she like?"

"She's not exactly the social type and usually keeps to herself. Probably because she's really not the friendly type."

"So she's like him?"

"Uh, no. It's more like..." – Misato paused in search of the correct expression – "as if she's constantly angry at something."

"How long was she a pilot?"

"I don't know. She was here before I started working for NERV and I wasn't going to ask the Commander, you know?"

"I just don't get it. How do you guys bear him lording over you anyway?"

Misato shrugged. – "We don't really have a choice. He's got connections in the AAN at very high levels. Also..." – she beckoned at Shinji to lean closer as she switched to whispering – "There are rumors that he's got most of Section 2 – that's our internal security division – on his personal payroll as insurance."

"No one can upset the status quo or else his goons will take care of the opposition." – grumbled Shinji. – "What a sneaky bastard..."

"Anyway..." – Misato went back to her normal voice – "I imagine you're probably confused about what's going on."

"Well... yeah. I mean, what was that monster?"

Misato sent a long look at the girl before continuing. – "If you want to know, I can tell you. But be warned: this knowledge will probably shake your worldview to pieces."

"I can take it, thank you very much." – came the deadpan reply.

"In that case..." – the woman dug into her satchel and extracted a thick pile of paper she slid across the table.

Shinji glanced at the pile. – "What's this?"

"Non-disclosure agreement. I can't tell you anything if you don't sign that."

"Do I absolutely have to read all of it?"

"The gist of it is this: whatever you see or hear in this facility stays here. We will be monitoring your phone calls, your letters, your e-mails, your chatroom conversations, everything. If you don't keep your mouth shut, the AAN will be breathing down on your neck before you know it. There's a reason this wasn't revealed to the public and we intend to keep it that way."

"Is it really that bad?"

"You decide, once you sign it."

"First matter are the Evangelions. You see, they're not just machines. Rather, they're composed of a special material we call 'biometal'."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. – "Biometal?"

"Yes. We know that it's artificial in origin but we've never seen anything like it."

"Then how did you guys make it?"

"We didn't." – At the girl's confused face, Misato elaborated. – "We only found and used it."

"If you didn't make it then who did? Aliens?" – asked Shinji skeptically.

"This'll take a bit to explain. Do you know about the Space Race?"

"You mean the contest between the US and the Soviets back in the past century? Everyone does."

"What if I were to tell you that it was only a cover-up for something else?"

"You mean those conspiracy theorist idiots who insist there never was a manned mission to the Moon? It's a load of bu-"

Misato interrupted. – "What if there was a Moon landing but the landing itself was the cover-up?"

"What are you saying?" – Misato simply slid a photograph across the table as answer. Shinji took a single look... and her jaw almost fell off. – "What the hell?" – The picture was old and grainy but she clearly saw a group of buildings superimposed over a grey horizon and a black sky, with the Earth's clearly identifiable silhouette hanging above them.

"NSDF Moon Base Eagle's Nest One. It was just a couple hundred meters from the place where the first US expedition landed back in 1969."

"This is crazy..."

"That's not all." – She slid two more photos across the table. One was clearly her Seiche but the other... the hull was mostly dark grey aside from the five-pointed white star on the side and there were two gun barrels jutting from the nose but the vehicle itself was bizarrely similar. – "See the similarity? It's an NSDF M580A2 Razor fast attack and reconnaissance vehicle, first put into active service in 1967. My hovercraft is a civilian version built after the AAN released the design to the public." – At Shinji incredulous expression she added. – "Hovertechnology is about half-a-century old and was discovered along with biometal."

"Discovered?"

"They first found biometal in the fifties after a meteor shower in the Bering Strait area up north. It didn't resemble any known Earth materials and gave us some incredible technological advances like hovertechnology, rapid-fabrication using nano-assemblers, rudimentary energy weapons, you name it. It didn't take them long to realize it came from space so they started doing some calculations and bingo: several other bodies in the Solar System were also hit by the same shower. It was only a matter of time until someone in the US government gave the order to harvest the stuff and bring back as much as possible. If it only were that easy..."

"What happened?"

"The Soviets also caught wind of it and started their own program. When both sides realized the other wanted the same thing, Nixon and Brezhnev secretly agreed to put on a good show to misdirect the world's attention from what they were actually doing up in space. Hence came the so-called 'Space Race' which was actually the public face of a full-scale interplanetary war waged for the control of biometal between the American NSDF and the Soviet CCA."

"You're kidding, right? You want me to believe those two went to war with each other and no one ever knew it?"

"Exactly. I know it's hard to believe but that's the truth. They traded blow for blow until..." – Misato trailed off.

"Until what?"

"Let's just say the Soviets went a bit far with their experimentation. They found an ancient databank left behind by a civilization not of this world; we later found out it originated from the race who created the biometal in the first place. Using that device, the CCA created an autonomous hunter-killer drone codenamed Project Fury."

"Wait a minute here, I know where this goes. Those Fury things turned against them, right?"

"How did you know?"

Shinji waved dismissively. – "Call it a hunch. I'm not a fan of sci-fi but that sort of thing always happens."

"Oookay... anyway, the Furies decided not to be anyone's lapdogs and went on a killing spree, routing the CCA so hard they surrendered to the NSDF who were forced to clean up the mess on their own. There was some impressive collateral damage including the destruction of a Uranian moon but eventually, the war ended with the NSDF and the CCA making friends with each other and joining forces as the ISDF."

"I'm not a historian but Americans and Soviets going all buddy-buddy during the Cold War?" – asked Shinji skeptically. – "I just can't see that happening."

"Well, that came after something else. You see, the NSDF did their own Fury research but in a different direction, using human wetware instead of an automated system. These weren't really cooperative either so they laid waste to the research lab and escaped after raising some hell. I don't know how but the lead scientist of the NSDF project, a guy named Armand Braddock managed to twist the story in his favor and got himself promoted to general. Just a few years before Second Impact, these Scions returned with some shiny new toys and raised some hell on Pluto, prompting Braddock to come running with an entire army behind him and push the Scions back to the trans-plutonian planet Tenebrus and the Mire system. Of course, it eventually turned out nothing was what it seemed."

"How?"

"There was some suspicion in the ISDF that Braddock might be hiding something, especially after one of his subordinates who criticized him, Yelena Shabayev, promptly disappeared in an accident. But it was not until the AAN ambassador Kossieh who was about to meet with the Scion leader Frank Burns in order to start peace talks died in an apparent booby-trap incident and Shabayev turned out to have defected to the Scions after the accident which was actually an attempt on her life that shit really hit the fan."

Shinji sighed as she rubbed her forehead. – "Let me guess: Braddock was the bad guy?"

"Yes. He had ties with a rebel Scion faction who staged the attack on the Pluto outpost so that he would have an excuse to start a war and gain control over the Scions' technology and massive biometal supplies he would use to topple the AAN. Not only that but that Voyager probe that went missing in the nineties? Braddock's goons shot it down in order to avoid their bases being discovered by the AAN since said bases were built from smuggled materials." – Misato scoffed. – "Power hunger at its best... anyway, all of his plan came crashing down when one of Shabayev's subordinates deserted and followed her over to the Scions, shortly followed by Braddock's right-hand man staging a mutiny out of loyalty to the AAN. These two joined forces and backed Braddock right into a corner." – Misato smirked triumphantly. – "His remains are currently floating in an acid lake somewhere on the planet Rend in the Mire system."

"Serves him right..." – muttered Shinji. – "But aside from the unusual historical lesson, how do I come into this?"

"Oh, right. You see, the AAN decided to keep biometal and everything related to it a secret since if it came out that governments were lying to the people for decades... it's best not to think about it. NERV is one of the very few civilian agencies with access to biometal but we're the only ones who have unlimited access to the ISDF's primary biometal stockpile on Venus. We have an open-ended contract with the ISDF to create medium-scale powered armor to supplement their peacekeeping forces – those would be the Evangelions."

"Why are there only two?"

"Three." – At Shinji's questioning expression, Misato explained. – "We have three functioning models including Unit-01. Unit-00 is what you saw in the city and Unit-02 will be shipped into the city a few weeks from today."

"Why not now?"

"Red tape." – came the simple answer. – "And it's not like we can build more merely at a moment's notice; ISDF rapid-fabrication tech can assemble a twelve-meter tall Attila battlewalker in twenty seconds flat but Evangelions are too complex for that. If one gets damaged, we can melt down and rebuild the armor plates in a second but if one gets destroyed, it'll take us months to make a new one. Which brings me to the matter at hand..." – Misato said with a tone of finality as she folded her hands. – "Will you pilot Unit-01 or not?"

Shinji was prepared for the question to come at any time but still didn't make up her mind about it. – "How the hell should I know? You tell me so much craziness I don't know where to put it in my head and now this? Look." – she leaned close to Misato with a sudden seriousness that surprised the woman. – "I know this is what he wants and I don't want to give it to him. Call it childish obnoxiousness if you want; I call it revenge with a side order of gratification. In other words, payback out of spite. So you'd better give me a very good reason why I should stay because I won't do it for him."

"Then don't." – answered Misato, just as serious. – "No one said to stay for him. I know what it's like to be on bad terms with your father so hear me out: if you don't like him, don't stay for him because it will only end badly. Instead, stay for yourself. Or rather, for your sister."

"What about her?"

"Think a little: she's heavily injured due to a malfunction in her Evangelion. If another Angel comes, who's going to fight it? If she goes out and her Eva malfunctions again, she's going to die. You are pretty adamant that you are different from your father so let me ask you this: are you willing to live with the knowledge that you sent someone to her death because you didn't take responsibility?"

Shinji scowled. – "This is emotional blackmail." – she said but inside, she was starting to doubt her decision to just walk out and leave this crazyhouse behind her.

"I know and I'm sorry about it, I really am-"

"Yeah, right..."

"-but she's depending on you. You criticized your father for using her like this but are you really different from him if you abandon her for a grudge on someone else?"

A very long silence followed during which Misato was worried the girl might refuse anyway. She hated herself for having resorted to such a dirty trick but she didn't want Rei to get hurt even more if she had to sit in Unit-00 again. Finally, her concern was abated by a quiet voice. – "What do I have to do?"

"Are you sure it's okay?" – asked Shinji as the two left the apartment complex' elevator. As soon as she reluctantly agreed to step in for her newly gained sister, it occurred to her that she didn't have a place to stay. She sure as hell wasn't going to live with her father and she told that to Misato. Luckily for her, the woman offered her own apartment – beats being alone anyway.

So here they were, just a couple meters from Misato's apartment after having visited a small convenience store and stocked up due to what Misato dubbed a 'welcome party for her newest roommate'. The area wasn't exactly high-rise but Shinji couldn't care less; the family she lived with prior to coming to the city wasn't a rich one either. This suited her just fine.

"Hey, I said it's no problem, right?" – answered Misato with a smile.

"Still..." – Shinji studied the woman carefully. – "You can't be more than thirty. Aren't you bringing guys home and... stuff?"

A vein started pulsating on the still smiling Misato's forehead. – "If you're implying I'm a slut, I'll throw you off the balcony and damn what the Commander says. It's just the two of us here."

"I already said I don't roll that way."

The vein grew in size. – "That's not what I meant! You don't have to worry about being in the way, I don't usually bring guys home and I'm definitely not a lolicon."

'What a relief...' Shinji thought sarcastically as they finally arrived to the door bearing M. KATSURAGI on the nameplate. Misato fished an electronic card out of her pocket and swiped it through the reader next to the door; the automated door quickly slid open. Shinji didn't saw an automated door in a private residence before but hoped the rest of the apartment was normal.

It turned out his worry was unfounded, as the interior was pretty much normal. Well, normal in one thing. – "Sorry, it's a bit messy right now." – apologized Misato sheepishly as she went into a side room Shinji guessed was her room.

'Messy. Right. A bit. Like hell.'

It was an absolute wreck: heaps of beer cans laid everywhere as a testament to Misato's heavy drinking habits, surrounded by wrappers and boxes of instant and junk food. Shinji guessed the woman wasn't a good cook which meant she was going to find something edible elsewhere.

"Oh, could you put that stuff in the fridge? Thanks!" – called out Misato as Shinji heard the rustling of clothes. Seeing that she had nothing better to do, the girl growled back an acknowledgement and took their store acquisitions to a fridge. Upon opening it however, she found there wasn't really any free space in it due to two entire shelves being taken up by unopened beer cans.

"Jeez, no wonder she doesn't have a guy... guess her breath doubles as a male repellent..." – Shinji mused to herself as she started creating some order in the fridge.

Misato eventually emerged, wearing a somewhat tight tank top and very tight shorts. Again, Shinji thanked whatever deities are out there that she wasn't a boy; she knew what effect that kind of spectacle had on members of the opposite sex and was repulsed by the mere idea of it. She didn't have anything against boys but she didn't like being viewed as meat.

As the two sat down for dinner, Shinji merely shook her head in exasperation at Misato's enthusiastic yell after downing an entire can of beer. – "What's with the gloomy atmosphere? We're at home. Lighten up and start acting like the girl you are!" – came the woman's mock demand.

"A question: where am I going to sleep?"

Misato scratched her head. - "Well, I have an empty room. Is that good?" – After several seconds of silence, she looked up and saw Shinji staring at the table. – "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just that... I never had my own room before." – confessed the girl.

"How come?"

"The couple I've been living with, they have a girl about my age. We shared a room."

"And...?" – asked Misato, clearly expecting more.

"What 'and'? I didn't mind 'cause she's my best friend. Besides..." – she looked down again – "I don't like being alone."

Another awkward silence passed until Misato once again butted in. – "Well, how 'bout a nice hot bath to wash away your troubles?"

Shinji glanced at the female underwear on the drier hanging from the ceiling. She wasn't unaccustomed to the sight as she was a girl too. It's the open display which grabbed her attention. As she was about to enter the bathroom, she slowly took her hand off the door and walked to the drier, fishing one of the bras off it. She experimentally lifted the piece of clothing to her own naked chest; as expected, she wasn't even close – in fact, she had to press the cups in to even feel her buds touching the interior. Nature didn't really bless her in either height (she was over a head shorter than Misato) or endowment but she didn't mind. She knew from observation that large-breasted women tend to draw attention which was exactly what she wanted to avoid.

One might think the dislike of being alone and the dislike of being the center of attention are mutually exclusive but Shinji didn't think so. She merely liked to determine herself what kind of company she would have and an almost non-existent A-cup gives her ample amounts of stealth. Of course, she wasn't completely satisfied with it either – those physicals with the other girls watching are so damn awkward...

After hanging the bra back to its original place, Shinji walked back to the door and slid open the door. She immediately heard a strange sound and looked down. She stared indifferently for a couple of seconds before releasing a sigh and shaking her head. – "A penguin... now I've seen everything. You should've at least said the bathroom was occupied." – She quickly caught herself. – "On second thought, forget that. You can't talk anyway." – The bird tilted its head to one side as it gazed at her in a weirdly intelligent way. – "Well, off you go. I need the bathtub so shoo." – she said as she stood to the side, allowing the penguin to tip-toe off after it sent a strangely curious look at her naked body. Shinji just shook her head again as she went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. – "Why am I not surprised at this crazyhouse?"

Five minutes later, Shinji was soaking herself in the hot water as her brain took in her recent experiences. 'Man, what a day... I gotta write a letter or something that I'll be here for quite a while. Maybe they'll send the rest of my stuff after me. Still... this Katsuragi woman seems nice. I don't know what she's doing but she can't be a scientist; she's too much of a slob for that. Security, maybe? She said she's a captain so she's probably a low-ranking head honcho.'

She involuntarily went back to her meeting with her father. Apparently, he was a high-ranking member of this NERV organization and was running a tight ship. That didn't surprise her; she figured he probably wasn't a textbook family man. While she didn't know it, Shinji inherited her father's analytical mind with which she deduced he must be using fear to keep his subordinates in line, an approach that - while effective at short-term - causes more harm than good at long-term since it alienates said subordinates.

Therefore, there should be at least one person sympathetic to her plight. Misato seemed like a good place to start.

'Alright, you bastard. Two can play this game.'