Chapter XI

The Errors of Man

Misato Katsuragi woke up with a start. The first thing she noticed was that her head hurt. The next thing she noticed was that it was dark. The third thing she noticed was that her head really, really hurt. Fumbling around in the dark, she became aware she was still in bed. Feeble attempts to roll out from under the covers were met with little success.

She decided to just weakly push them away and wriggle out. What happened last night? She stood up, legs shaking, trying to hold balance, if only for a moment. She stumbled over to the sliding door that led out on to her apartment's veranda, pulling away the curtains that obscured it. Morning light poured in and revealed exactly what had happened the previous night.

A bottle of sake, or rather, what had once been a bottle of sake, now merely an eighth or so still full, stood curiously upright in the drunken chaos that was Misato's room. Ah. So she had a hangover. Vague memories tore away at the morning's perceptions in an effort to reveal themselves, unsuccessfully.

Misato really had no clue what had happened. Perhaps if she retraced her steps? She flopped over to the bottle of sake and picked it up, before lurching out of the room and collapsing into a seat in the living room, taking a sip from the bottle, her reasoning being that drinking the hair of the dog would stop her head swimming.

So now to retrace the memories. The Angel was dead. That was a fact. She remembered that as clear as day. There were still bits of corpse scattered around the city that some poor bastard had to go around clean up. But it was dead, and that was the main thing.

But what happened next? There was...she had joined the celebrations at NERV for a while before everyone went home for the day. She stayed later than everyone, even Shinji went home early. Where was he? Still asleep, probably. So where was she? Oh right, going home. It must have been...three in the morning. But then what? She remembered having a very good time. Wait...

Yes, now it was all a bit more clear. She "borrowed" a bottle of sake from the bar. Yes, and then she...she must have gone home with it. Right. But it still felt like she was forgetting something. Misato yawned and swigged back some more sake. Not that it was making her feel any better.

'Misato? Are you up?'

Shinji came into the room to see Misato, head lolling, dried saliva down one side of her face, and what was presumably dried vomit on her jumper. She appeared to still have some of her NERV uniform on. 'What happened to you?'

'Hadda bituva drink lasnight,' Misato slurred.

'But Misato, don't you have to get ready for something with Ritsuko today? It says on the calendar.'

Misato's eyes bulged. There was the missing piece of the puzzle. She glanced at the calendar. "Ritz, 12:00, JA" it ran under the word, "Wednesday".

'Shinji, be a dear and step out of the room, please,' she said, surprisingly lucidly for someone who was not only had a hangover, but was also tipsy.

'Okay, Misato, but I don't really see why—'

'Shinji.'

Shinji obliged. 'Okay, Misato.'

He slunk into his room, leaving Misato alone. Misato paused for a moment. And then the gravity of the situation hit her like a lead brick.

'FFFFFFF-'

The Doctor straightened his bow tie and placed his tweed jacket in a way that was comfortable on his back. His cool NERV uniform had, unfortunately, been partially ignited by an electrical arc. It was frustrating, too, because his plan had only half-worked. The Doctor did not like to do things by halves.

He wasn't complaining, after all, the Angel had been brought down in sheets of white-hot flame. It had tried to kill a young boy named Shinji Ikari with a blast of radiation powerful enough to turn flesh to carbon in milliseconds. That was his motive for destroying it. Really, he was just trying to help.

It had started when he had seen Captain Misato Katsuragi cry. That moment had been a strange one for the Doctor. The Doctor knew, and understood, that people don't just burst into tears and ask for help from strangers, not like that. She cried, and then she sat and explained everything to him, at a great security risk, as if she...she...trusted him. That woman knew something about him, and she barely even knew him. But she cried because she was scared. Fear. That seemed to be all too common in this dark reflection of a world he once thought he knew.

So why, now, was he sitting outside Commander Ikari's office, waiting for him to make the time to talk to him. Shortly after the Angel's destruction, Ikari had called upon the Doctor in his office, but he had been sent away several times. This was the fifth time he had shown up there. What exactly was it Ikari wanted to talk to him about.

Much as he hated to say it, the Doctor did not like Commander Ikari. He was a spiteful, over-empowered seeming man, and, as little as the Doctor knew everyone at the moment, he knew Commander Ikari was not a pleasant character. Still, if he wanted to survive here, that was something he would have to face.

The Doctor reached into his pocket and fumbled about for a bit. He pulled out a wrist-watch. It had stopped. The Doctor tapped it and gave it a shake. Nothing. He put it back in his pocket and sat back, waiting for Ikari to let him in.

'You try our patience, Ikari. Over 300 billion yen spent on repairs to the GeoFront rail system. What is your explanation for this?'

Ikari looked up at the faceless, holographic monolith, the words "SEELE 01" and "SOUND ONLY" adorning it. The booming voice did not stir him.

'I entrusted a new employee at NERV with destroying the latest Angel. His efforts seem to have been...' He paused for a moment to find the right words. '...at least partially successful.'

'A new employee? You know that you are supposed to notify us of any new employees. Who is this new employee?'

'He is a doctor,' Ikari said, matter-of-factly. 'He promised he could help us.'

'Did he?'

'In a way, yes.'

'Very well, Ikari. We shall allow this error, for now. But we will not tolerate this gross misuse of our funds once again.'

With not even a goodbye, but a quiet "whoosh", the monolith and its 11 brethren vanished. Fuyutsuki turned to Ikari.

'You are angering them, Ikari. I think we should be careful.'

'Yes,' Ikari agreed. 'But for now, I must speak to someone. Open the door and let him in.'

'Yes, sir.'

The aging professor opened the door and the Doctor came in swiftly.

'Commander Ikari, you wanted to see me, what is this ab-'

'Be quiet.' The Doctor stopped talking. 'Sit down.' The Doctor sat, and Ikari folded his hands. 'Doctor, I employed you here on the promise of help. And your last effort to defeat the Angel was...unsatisfactory...at best.'

'But it did help a little bit,' The Doctor said.

'Yes, Doctor, but I expect a defeated Angel, not an injured one. Your plan nearly killed us all.'

'So I didn't quite understand the Angel's potential. These things happen.'

'Yes,' Ikari muttered. 'But I warn you now, Doctor, I have my eyes on you. This was not a failure, but if you do fail, I will have no choice but to have you...removed...from the organisation. Is this understood?'

The Doctor did not speak. 'Is this understood, Doctor?'

'Yes,' the Doctor replied, bitterly.

'Good,' Ikari said, flatly. 'You may leave now, Doctor.'

'Thank you,' the Doctor replied, walking away.

The Doctor sincerely did not like Commander Ikari. Closing the door behind him, he wondered what Ikari's agenda was. He seemed deeply unfriendly. He was supposed to be saving people, so why was he so cold?

It had only occurred to him the other day: Shinji was his son, and he was sending him out to die like a faceless and unknown person. Shinji Ikari was a good boy, and his father paid him no attention. This was a matter of concern for the Doctor.

The pilots. Two of them. Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami. The Doctor thought for a moment. And then it suddenly hit him. The girl and the TARDIS. Rei.

'Okay, Ritsuko, sorry I couldn't get to the airport in time. Yeah, well...okay, but...yeah, yeah, yeah, yes, yes, shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP.' Misato pressed the "hang up" button on her mobile phone and wondered just how seriously Commander Ikari was going to chew her ass off.

Still, she'd probably be fine at the Jet Alone exhibition by herself, right?

Author's note: Hello again. Sorry for the short chapter, I'm busy unpacking.

As you may or may not have noticed, I have altered the continuity of this story slightly: It used to be set somewhere specific within the Doctor Who series, but I gave up on that, so now it's set whenever in the series. I don't care. However, it is still set after Episode 1. That is all.

See you whenever I can, and don't forget to review.

All characters, settings, and boxes of a blue time-travelling nature are owned by Studio GAINAX and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other affiliates. I own none of these things. Please don't sue me. I don't like being sued.