Hey-yo, everyone! As yesterday was my 21st birthday, DOUBLE CHAPTER! Next chapter is about 60% complete and is coming within the week, introducing a certain redhead... Hope you're enjoying the story so far.

CHAPTER 8
DOPPEL / GÄNGER

Shinji sighed at yet another boring-as-hell lecture from the old geezer who was supposed to be their teacher yet never did anything but drone on and on about Second Impact.

Over and over again.

It was irritating like few could believe.

Still, she still found it preferable to risking her life in combat against... what were the Angels, anyway? They always appeared out of nowhere without warning, coming without an apparent purpose. Shinji had no answer to the latter question; as of the former, she had her own theory but as she was no physicist, she had no way of verifying it.

Plus she had a hunch her father wouldn't like her snooping around that topic.

She sighed again as she adjusted her shades. Her eyes were almost back to 20/20 and after she explained the situation to Hikari, the class rep allowed her to leave them on. Less than a week and she could finally dump them; they drew too much attention to her.

Fortunately, Misato didn't go all mother-hen on her as Shinji feared. She didn't like being pitied for such a trivial reason.

Another matter was Kensuke's father.

It appeared her bluff was a success. Shinji didn't know the man but she was satisfied she managed to fix the problem before Section 2 got involved; she didn't want NERV to make an example of him after unknowingly committing an information leak. If he did it knowingly, though... all bets were off and NERV was free to do what they wanted with the dumbass, as far as she was concerned. When it came to morality, Shinji regarded herself as light gray: generally good but not a charity for just anyone. She had better things to do with her life than play the good Samaritanian. She had only gone out of her way this time because a friend of hers was involved.

She didn't even tell Kensuke about the contents of the letter; why bother him? They were friends, true; but at the end, he was completely irrelevant in the larger scheme of things.

The next morning, Shinji was doing her usual kitchen activities when the door of Misato's room opened. The first thing Shinji noticed was the lack of sleepy groans and yawns from the woman's general direction; the next was the lack of footsteps towards the fridge's beer supply. But it was Pen-Pen's surprised squawk that made her turn around.

Gone was the Misato who had slow and torturous mornings until Beer Mother kickstarted her brain cells. Instead was a crisp and fully awake Misato in dress uniform. – "I'm going to a presentation with Ritsuko today." – she announced as she confidently marched to the entrance corridor to put on her high-heels. – "I'll be coming late so don't wait up for me. Oh, and try not to blow up the house, okay?"

The girl smirked. – "You need to ask?" – she remarked as she laid a finger on her shades and nudged them a bit higher in a gesture almost identical to her father's.

Misato found that thought unendingly disturbing.

"That concludes my report. If no further complications occur, the Third Child will be combat-ready in two days." – Ritsuko announced in the Commander's office.

"Anything else?" – Gendo asked, mouth hid behind his gloved hands as always.

The woman swapped out the paper in her hand with another. – "I have the results of the Third Child's full physical examination, as you ordered."

"I am listening."

"All values are within acceptable bounds. Blood work is normal, no allergies or autoimmune diseases. Hormone levels are mostly normal, with a slight deficiency in estrogen levels."

"Any consequence we should know about?"

She shrugged. – "None. Regular menstrual cycle, fully intact hymen, no physical signs of the subject being sexually active." – she listed off in a clinical tone. – "She resisted the gynecological exam but only initially."

"Be certain to confirm the first signs of change." – Gendo warned. – "We cannot afford the pilots to involve themselves with anyone. The plan would be negatively hindered by a failed relationship's emotional impact."

"Could." – Fuyutsuki corrected.

Gendo slightly turned to look into the eyes of the older man above the upper rim of his glasses. – "We cannot take that gamble. Do not become sentimental on this matter, Fuyutsuki." – He turned back to the woman. – "If you do not have anything else to report, you are dismissed."

Ritsuko was still thinking about the man's coldness when she and Misato were sitting at the table. No one else was invited so the enormous round table was otherwise empty, the drinks piled in the middle where no one could reach them without climbing onto the table itself.

It was a clear sign of mockery.

Fortunately, Misato managed to temper herself rather than attacking the stash of liquor with a running leap as Ritsuko feared when she saw it. Now the operations director was idly playing with a straw as the representative of their inviter started his spiel to the audience.

Ritsuko only listened to him with one ear as she already knew marketing bullshit when she heard it. This man looked like a typical office rat as well: crisply ironed suit, ugly tie, hair waxed to such extent she could tell every groove left by the comb even from this distance... and that shit-eating expression which infuriated her to no extent.

Therefore, when she raised the microphone to her lips, even Misato perked up. – "Oh, this is gonna be good..."

"Ahem... May I ask a question?"

"Certainly. That is what I am here for, after all."

"The presentational materials claimed the Seiten NF-01 operates from an onboard nuclear reactor, is that correct?"

"Indeed. It is designed specifically for extended combat operations."

"Isn't putting such a device on a vehicle designed for frontline combat dangerous?"

The man smirked. – "Better than a weapon system relying on solar power."

"And what about operator safety?"

"The reactor is located in the most heavily armored part of the body to minimize the risk of battle damage. Additionally, the multiple bulkheads between the cockpit and the reactor chamber have heavy-duty radiation shielding. Your concern about the pilot growing a third arm is entirely unfounded." – A wave of chuckling rolled across the gathered audience.

Ritsuko ignored the obvious jab at the fact that nuclear physics wasn't her primary field at the college. – "Let's move onto the next matter at hand. While I understand larger physical size allows for a larger and more varied payload, your proposed design of the NF-01 is far too large for practicality. Aside from the more complex and maintenance-hungry propulsion system, it is practically a sitting target for enemy artillery and close air support."

"Oh, the Seiten is far too mobile to be hit by artillery. As for enemy air attacks..." – He spread his arms. – "I believe that is what combined arms operations are for."

"I can't help but think your designers are trying to compensate for something." – Ritsuko jabbed, causing a roar of laughter that visibly made the man pause.

"It is still better than building midgets even a Sabre tank could turn into roadkill!" – he shot back but he already lost: the audience now knew he was trying to make her look ridiculous and stopped taking him seriously.

Ritsuko smirked to herself and launched a full-blown verbal assault. – "That may be the case, but our Evangelions already conducted no less than three live-fire field tests. In contrast, what does your company have to offer? A unit still in the prototype stage and with numerous irresponsible design errors. One of them being the mere concept of a partially automated combat vehicle with biometal as its primary component. I believe you need to read up what happened when the CCA experimented in that very field."

"That is quite amusing, coming from the head scientist of a company engaged in Strain Five research themselves." – the representative remarked. Ritsuko's eyebrows rose a bit but she showed no further reaction. – "And as I hear, you yourselves had problems with getting your midgets to behave." – he stressed as he presented a folder marked TOP SECRET, its contents being grainy but clearly recognizable pictures of a grinning Unit-01 drenched in the Fourth Angel's blood. – "I have to admit, I'm quite envious of NERV. If I had the AAN covering up all my mistakes, I would sleep much better as well!"

Ritsuko sighed. – "I see we can't come to an agreement like responsible adults. Let us see if your toy can live up to your claims in the demonstration. I eagerly await the results." – With that, she sat down amidst a storm of clapping.

The rest of the gathering was the representative trying to salvage some dignity but ultimately walking off the stage in humiliation.

"Nice going in there, Ritsie." – Misato . – "Showing that smug SOB he's not the top of the world, regardless of what he may think."

"I'm more interested in what he said."

"About Strain Five? Yeah, I noticed it too. He knows about it even though he shouldn't, which means they spied on us." – she reasoned.

Ritsuko held up an index finger. – "Not just that. He said 'coming from a company engaged in S5 research themselves', which means they too are doing it. That's two crimes he admitted in a single sentence: unauthorized research and industrial espionage. I believe the AAN will have a few words to them."

"Whoa... you're pretty sharp!" – Misato complimented

Ritsuko just made a non-committal noise. – "That man's an amateur when it comes to oratory."

The modified hangar separated in the middle, revealing the quadrupedal mecha inside. The torso alone was three times larger than a tank while there was no head at all, only a small cockpit jutting out slightly from the front.

Presently the vehicle was lying on the ground, legs folded and pulled up against its body for easier transportation. Even Ritsuko admitted that was a good idea, although she didn't share that observation with Misato who was looking through her own binoculars.

Then the voice of her verbal victim came through the speakers. – "Please make yourself comfortable. We are starting the demonstration test now."

In the control room, he turned to the technicians. – "Initialize now."

"Roger. Initializing primary coolant system."

"Booting OS in standalone mode. Setting secondary mode to autonomous operation."

"Primary coolant turbines online, reporting normal function. Retracting control rods now."

Outside, outlets on the Seiten's back opened and long rods emerged from the body. – "Control rods have left the active zone. Critical reaction in reactor core confirmed."

"Initializing propulsion system now." – The legs suddenly unfolded themselves and braced against the ground before raising the mecha's bottom above the ground.

"Looks good so far." – the man remarked before giving the final order. – "Begin walk cycle."

"Roger. Begin walk cycle: forward right leg ahead."

"Forward right leg ahead."

Back at the observation deck, Ritsuko watched the expensive machinery walk a few laps around the test area and looked at her watch. At that moment, the Seiten turned towards the control center, approaching it with the intent to provide a closer look for the audience.

That never happened.

Around three hundred meters from the building, the mecha suddenly stopped. She heard the technicians' confused attempts at determining what was wrong but ignored them; she knew what was going on.

Exactly why research into automated weapons platforms made of biometal was discontinued by the ISDF.

The mecha's entire body shook as it seemingly stretched its back like a cat, slowly starting to move forward in an oddly organic motion. After a few paces, it suddenly broke into a feline-like sprint straight at the control building.

She didn't need to hear the other spectators' alarmed cries nor feel the whole building quaking as the Seiten rapidly scaled the concrete dome then jumped off at the other side, breaking out of the test area.

"That thing is as bad behaved as the guy who made it!" – Misato complained as she looked at the control room, the technicians frantically trying to stop their wayward pet.

Ritsuko for her part quickly pulled out her cell and dialled a number. – "This is Akagi. We have a Fury on the loose in the Old Tokyo metropolitan area. Prepare both Evas for launch, authorization code Beta-2."

"A Fury? Where the hell did that thing come from?" – Shinji yelled over the loud engines of the transport plane that was currently ferrying the two Evangelions from Tokyo-3 to the Japanese mainland. Rei was there as well, though she was keeping a sizeable distance between herself and everyone else in general.

"Long story." – Misato replied. – "All you need to know is this: that thing is powered by a nuclear reactor so it's unlikely to stop any time soon. As we might have a chance of stopping it without damaging it, the ISDF is asking us to go at it first."

"'Might'?" – Shinji asked skeptically.

"Don't forget, this is a Fury we're dealing with. We have no way to tell how it will react to the Evas. Still, they want us to take a shot at it; if we fail, they'll shoot it apart and clean up any contamination afterwards."

"What's the urgency in dealing with this matter?" – Rei asked almost inaudibly.

Misato looked at Shinji and visibly gulped before answering. – "The Fury... is heading for Iwaki."

Shinji immediately went whiter than snow. – "Fuck."

"Exactly. I know it's probably close to your heart as you've been living there for years but don't act without thinking!"

"Easy for you to say!" – Shinji grumbled, visibly shaken.

"I shall deploy on my own." – Rei announced. – "Her emotional bias is clear. There is a high probability she will not be able to perform at peak performance."

"What was that?" – Shinji asked dangerously.

Misato shook her head. – "You'll both go, no excuses. Your objective is to stop that Fury by forcibly SCRAMming its reactor. By that end, one of you has to get on its back and forcibly insert the control rods. I'd do it myself but as I'm not cleared to pilot an Evangelion, I'll have to leave it to you girls."

"I will do it." – Rei replied immediately.

"Fine. Shinji, you'll keep it occupied."

"Got it."

The pilot of the transport plane called out over the intercom. – "Captain, the target is in sight."

Shinji gritted her teeth as the vibrations of her rapid descent rattled her bones. Ritsuko wrote her Evangelion a quick field patch that decreased the brightness of her HUD in order to spare her recovering eyes.

"Engage v-thrusters, maximum power." – Rei ordered curtly.

"Got it!" – Shinji hissed through gritted teeth. It took her a few seconds but she finally complied just in time to slow her descent to safe levels. The landing was still hard, though.

"Do not tarry." – the younger girl called out again as Unit-00 shot away on its hoverdrives.

"I know!" – Shinji shot back and followed her, initially wobbling a bit until she got used to hovering over the ground without falling over. It was a very strange feeling; her body felt like being in a freefall but the automatic attitude control took care of her misguided sense of balance. Ritsuko told her she would never become a good pilot unless she learns to control Unit-01 without the automatics preventing her from falling over.

They caught up to the Fury fairly quickly. Unfortunately, it was already less than a kilometer away from the outskirts of the city. – "Ah, shit!" – Shinji swore with panic when she saw just how close they were. She wasted no time in maneuvering ahead of the Fury and firing a burst onto the empty cockpit. In the meantime, Rei pushed Unit-00's hoverdrives to maximum and leaped onto the back of the Fury.

Immediately the machine started throwing itself left and right, trying to shake her off. Rei held on but not for very long: the Fury leaped as high into the air as it could and suddenly twisted its body into a mid-air barrel roll. Rei was completely unprepared for such a move from an automated opponent and fell off, landing with a loud thud.

Shinji was about to ask if she was alright when Unit-00 suddenly shot out of the dust cloud its landing kicked up, seemingly unharmed. The Fury let out a loud, synthetic roar that resonated inside Shinji's skull before charging like a bull at the small entity who dared violate its personal space, firing its main weapon: a pair of autocannons, each composed of a trio of SP-Stabbers wired to fire sequentially for a rate of fire nearing machine gun levels.

The smaller Evangelion effortlessly dodged the bursts of sabot rounds, elegantly flipping out of the way of the charging beast. Immediately after, Unit-00 pulled a very narrow turn and shot towards the Fury which didn't fully turn around yet. With a snarl, Rei swung her hammer at the Fury. – "You shall not pass!" – With a thunderous boom, the hammer connected with the Fury's leg. The limb was instantly pulverized, its parts flying everywhere. The Fury stumbled but briefly managed to regain balance on three legs.

Shinji quickly took advantage of its distraction to jump onto the Fury's back.

Then the Fury started limping forward, albeit slowly. Rei growled and with a swing of her thunderhammer destroyed the other frontal leg as well. This finally did it; the Fury fell onto the ground with no way to keep going.

"Nice one, Rei!" – Misato complimented over radio. – "Wait a bit..." – Shinji heard her talking to someone else. – "Say WHAT?"

Shinji winced. 'That definitely didn't sound good.'

"Girls, you need to get out of there now! The Fury just shut down its coolant systems and is about to undergo a meltdown! Your Evangelions can protect you from the radiation to some extent but you need to get the hell out of there NOW!"

Shinji went even paler than back on the plane. – "A meltdown...? Here?" – She looked at the city nearby. She read one of her guardians' old civil defense handbooks and knew about the effects of a reactor meltdown; even a reactor this small could contaminate a sizeable area. – "Ah, to hell with this!" – she growled and started running towards the immobile Fury.

It didn't take Misato long to notice her. – "Shinji, what are you doing?"

"What do you think?" – she deadpanned as she quickly scaled the Fury, heading for the control rods.

"Shinji, listen to me! That thing locked out all remote access; we can't reengage the coolant system from here! It's far too late to get a technician team on-site to prevent a meltdown! You can't do anything; just forget it and run!"

Shinji grabbed one of the control rods. – "I can still insert the control rods manually to force a subcriticality!" – she groaned as she started pushing the rod into its socket.

"There's no time for that! Get out of there now! That's an order!" – That was the last thing Shinji heard from Misato before she turned the radio off.

"Come... on, you bastard! Move!" – she sneered. Slowly, the rod gave way and she pushed it into the Fury. – "One down..."

Not a minute later, Shinji was cursing whoever built Unit-01 for not including a forehead wiper. The heat haze around her was starting to make her disoriented; or were it those tiny flashes on her vision? She couldn't tell anymore.

She didn't even notice the radiation warning on her HUD.

It happened without warning. Just as she finished inserting the last control rod, Shinji stepped back and sighed, her lips drawing into a tired smile. It was then that the outer hull of the Fury tore in two and Unit-01 took a faceful of highly radioactive steam, the mere pressure sending the multi-ton armor flying back several meters.

Shinji... watashi no...

Shinji distantly remembered being transported on a stretcher. Misato's panicked face however above her own, yelling words she couldn't hear. Her entire body burnt from sweltering heat, yet at the same time she was so cold she couldn't control her trembling. Wheezing coughs left her painfully dry throat between attacks of dry heaving. Her head pounded from within so hard she couldn't form a single thought.

She slipped in and out of consciousness – for how long, she couldn't tell. Her sense of time completely disappeared; there were distant sounds on the edge of perception but she couldn't grasp them before she faded away once more.

"I think she's waking up." – the woozy girl heard from somewhere close. This time, she felt strong enough to kick the embrace of unconsciousness away and cracked her eyes open.

Her blurry vision slowly resolved into a hospital room. Misato was sitting nearby, worry evident on her features. – "Shinji, can you hear me?" – the woman asked quietly.

"'m 'ere..." – Shinji croaked, her sore throat launching her into a coughing fit. Misato immediately moved to help her, offering a glass of water the girl downed as soon as she could. It stirred up her insides so much she almost barfed it right back out but ultimately managed to keep it down for now. – "What happened...?"

"Steam explosion." – Ritsuko answered from the door as she walked in. – "Blew you cleanly off the Fury. Unit-01 was so heavily irradiated we barely managed to get you out of it even with everyone in hazmat suits. We didn't even need a Geiger counter to know why you were out cold or why you were soaked in your own vomit and excrements."

Shinji laid her head back onto the pillow. – "How much did I took?"

"Around seven grays; you were pretty much dead on the spot. We had to resuscitate you several times in the past week but it looks like you'll make it through somehow." – She wiped her forehead. – "I have to admit, you are the luckiest person I've ever seen. I don't think anyone of your age ever suffered such a severe radiation exposure since Nagasaki. At this level, even adults have a fifty percent mortality rate with medical care."

"What about Iwaki...?"

Misato smiled. – "They're OK. You didn't completely prevent a meltdown but it wasn't as severe as it could've been. The IAEA(*) is on-site cleaning up the area now but it looks like the contamination didn't reach the city."

Shinji exhaled with a relieved expression. – "Oh, thank God..."

"Thank Unit-01." – Ritsuko corrected. – "If it weren't for the Evangelion, you'd have taken in so many grays you would've died in less than a day. Speaking of which, we had to dispose of your G-suit so as soon as you are out of bed, we're taking body measures for the new one."

The girl rolled her eyes in exasperation. – "Great... anything else?"

"This is just a small advice, not an order. If I were you, I wouldn't try for a child for the next ten years or so – who knows how many rads your ovaries soaked up."

"Don't mind her. She might look like a cold, hard bitch but she means well. Speaking of which... I should be reprimanding you for insubordination right now. You refused and directly went against a direct order from a superior officer; that is a serious offense grounds for a court-martial. But know this: looking back right now, you are the one who made the right call. If you were to escape as ordered, the Fury would've gone up with a full meltdown and the whole prefecture would be being evacuated right now." – She lowered her head. – "I almost caused a nuclear catastrophe not seen since Chernobyl...goddamnit." – she swore before looking back at Shinji. – "I know what I should be doing right now but you know what? Fuck that!"

Shinji weakly grinned at Misato's cheeky summary of her opinions.

"I don't care what anyone says, you are a goddamn hero. Get well soon; those two boys have been asking about you."

Note: Iwaki is a real Japanese city north of Tokyo, in the Fukushima prefecture. I decided to make it Shinji's home between Gendo's abandonment and recall of her.

*International Atomic Energy Agency, a real-life organization overseeing the non-military use of nuclear energy. They report directly to the UN but are not technically a part of it. In this continuity, they've been assimilated by the AAN which expanded their mandate with several additional objectives, the main one being the cleanup of radiologically contaminated areas - this one was put in due to the limited nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan in the wars following Second Impact.