"There is a state of emergency in effect throughout the Tokyo-3 area. For this reason, your call cannot be connected at this time. We are very sorry and recommend you proceed to a shelter immediately."

"So that's why no-one's around", said Shinji. "I wonder if that's why she's late, too..." He clutched a pair of letters and a photograph in his right hand, his other holding a rather heavy bag containing some very important equipment.

A normal boy would be slightly worried in this sort of situation. Since Second Impact, however, there were very few "normal" people left. Shinji wasn't particularly worried about the state of emergency, just so long as he didn't have to talk to people.

He looked around the deserted street, scanning for signs leading to a shelter. It seemed, however, that the designers of this city had figured that people would somehow know where the shelters were by telepathy, as such signs were nowhere to be found. He did, however, see a girl about his age, with blue hair and red eyes, standing across the street from him.

His natural concern for other people momentarily overriding his shyness, he opened his mouth to call out to her. The sound of gunfire distracted him before he could say anything, as he turned to see just what exactly was going on.

A pair of attack VTOLs backed away from a side street, rocket pods and cannons blazing. Shinji was not exactly a student of military tactics, but he was reasonably sure that they didn't normally do that, unless...

A smile spread across his face. It seemed he'd be getting the data he needed a lot earlier than he thought. He blinked, remembering the girl from earlier, and looked around for her.

She had disappeared. Odd.

He put the girl from his mind (that was rather difficult – he was a teenager, after all) and looked back at the street the VTOLs were still firing down. A lance of energy speared one through the cockpit, cooking off its ammo racks. A ball of fire engulfed the craft, and the other moved to evade.

Something strode around the corner, chasing the remaining VTOL.

It wasn't, as Shinji was expecting, an Evangelion. It was vaguely Evangelion-shaped, but was unmistakably alien. Bony ridges protruded from its shoulders and chest, an avian-like skull on its head. Its arms ended in claws, one of which was raised to the other VTOL as he watched. Another energy lance speared out, clipping one of its engines and spinning it into a building. The creature ignored the wreckage, and took a step down the street towards him, its gigantic foot stopping barely in front of him.

He heard the sound of a car pulling up next to him, and a woman shouted "Get in!"

An instinct drilled into every post-Second Impact child forced him to comply. He climbed into the car, and the woman hit the accelerator.

The escape from the creature had passed in silence, the woman – Misato, the one from the photograph – too busy driving to talk. After escaping from the city – the plan was to circle around and come back in through an area that wasn't monster-infested – she'd pulled the car up on a ridgeline and fished out a pair of binoculars from the car's glovebox. Shinji took note of the rather high-caliber pistol that had been beneath the binoculars, and resolved not to annoy his companion.

While she was watching the monster – an Angel, apparently, although Shinji really couldn't see the resemblance – Shinji took a jury-rigged probe from his bag. It took several moments to get it to work, but when it did...

Sound waves probably won't work, he thought, lost in his work, it seems to be able to resize its AT Field at will – I won't be able to get a good resonance working. A laser, then? Same problem, but it should be more responsive... It could work, but it won't be pretty. He put the probe away, and pulled out a meter. The Ultrasound probe had no effect, although considering the distance I'm not surprised. The laser may have had an effect, but that was probably one of those damned VTOLs firing at it. I wish they'd stop for a moment so I could check...

As if on cue, the squadron of VTOLs clustered around the Angel pulled away.

"What are they... N-TWO MINE!" screamed Misato, throwing herself over Shinji. A pressure wave washed over them a second later. Shinji couldn't breathe, pushed against Misato's chest (the teenager part of him began to celebrate, but the rest of him shouted it down), and he was pretty sure his meter was broken and he didn't know where his bag was and they just used a UN-controlled strategic weapon on the Angel and he was pressed up against a woman's chest and -

Misato got up, letting Shinji breathe again. He began hyperventilating, the all-too-familiar panic rising. He reached into his pocket, dropping the wrecked probe, and took out a notebook. Forcing himself to ignore the rest of the world, he wrote his measurements in the notebook, along with a few preliminary calculations. After a while, he realised he was muttering. "It doesn't exist, it doesn't exist, it doesn't exist...". The world beyond the notebook faded back into view as he regained control.

Misato was staring at him, as people normally did after his panic attacks, but unlike the others she just shrugged, and turned to the wreck of her car. Shinji jumped as she shouted, "No no no no no! I only had thirty payments left on this one! My insurance doesn't cover N-Two mines or Angels!"

For the first time since arriving in Tokyo-3, Shinji laughed.

It took them a while to get the car back on its wheels, and even longer to find some batteries that hadn't been damaged in the blast, but they eventually managed to get back on the road.

"So," said Misato, breaking the silence, "You're Shinji Ikari?"

"Yes, ma'am," replied Shinji. "You must be Captain Katsuragi?"

"That's me. Don't call me "Ma'am", it makes me sound old."

"Sorry, miss."

"Just call me Misato. I'm only..." here Misato's face took on the look of someone long accustomed to lying, "twenty-six."

"Yes, miss," said Shinji. Misato sighed, and let an evil grin spread across her face.

"I'll warn you now, Shinji Ikari; don't mess with me. That "quiet and obedient" routine won't work on me. Someone far better at it than you has tried it and failed." That had been a very interesting day, she recalled.

"Sorry, miss." A change of tactics seemed to be in order.

"What's on your mind, Shinji?" she asked. The boy looked at her for the first time since they'd met.

"I'm worried about meeting my father," he said. "It's been... three, four years since I last saw him, and we've never been close. Now, he calls me here? What does he want from me?"

Misato didn't actually have an answer to that question. The Commander never told anyone anything unless he absolutely had to. She'd have to misdirect him a little. "You sound a lot like me when I was your age," she said. "I used to think my dad didn't care for me, too." That drew something approaching a smile. "Besides, you two have a bit in common. I saw that sciencey stuff you were doing earlier, and your dad's supposed to be really into science too." That one had the opposite effect.

"I know he is," Shinji said, quietly. He sighed, and continued. "Please don't watch me when I'm working." Silence pervaded for a few minutes after that. Strangely enough, it was Shinji who broke it this time. "Are you sure this isn't stealing?" he said, pointing to the row of batteries on the car's back seat.

"I'm a NERV officer and it was an emergency. It's totally legitimate," Misato replied, rather nervously. A large tunnel loomed ahead, giving her an escape. "We're here," she said, driving the car onto one of the massive elevators. It started automatically, a reminder that the MAGI supercomputers were watching her. She sat back, and waited.

They dropped out of the tunnel into a massive underground cave. The word "cave" didn't really do it justice; it was more like someone had taken a large area of countryside and built a gigantic roof over it, placing a black pyramid with an inverse-pyramid reflecting pool right in the centre. Shinji's jaw dropped in amazement.

"A real Geofront!" he said in amazement. "I've only heard about the concept, I never thought someone would actually build one! It's even got the solar collector and mirrors!"

"This," Misato said, "Is NERV. We're humanity's last, best hope. This is what your father has built."

It took them another hour to find wherever it was they were supposed to be. Shinji had never been to NERV before – obviously – and Misato kept getting lost. They had, after some time, joined up with some scientist woman, but before Shinji could question her she'd struck up a conversation with Misato. "You're late," said the newcomer as their elevator travelled even further into the bowels of the earth.

"They keep changing the layout around!" replied Misato. Again, Shinji thought she was lying.

"You got lost at Junction Thirty Seven dash C, again, didn't you? They haven't changed that place since it was built back in oh-five..." The scientist (or at least, Shinji assumed she was a scientist – she was wearing a lab coat, after all) turned to look at Shinji. "So this is the Third Child, huh?" she said.

"Yup, Risti," cut in Misato before Shinji could reply. "It seems he's a budding scientist; you two should swap notes or whatever it is scientists do."

"Is that so," said the woman – Ritsuko, probably – giving him that look that all people did when he talked about his work. "Maybe when this is over." Not likely, Shinji thought. You're just like all the others; you won't believe me until I prove it and then you'll be scared of me. Outwardly, he just smiled nervously.

The elevator stopped, the doors opening onto a dark room. Shinji closed his eyes, waiting for the tell-tale click of the lights coming on or for an explanation.

There was a THUNK. Shinji opened his eyes.

"So this is why you called me back, Father?" he asked.

"That would be correct," said a voice from a platform above the gigantic head. "It's been a while, Shinji." The platform's lights came on, revealing the form of his Father staring down at him. He pushed aside the rest of the world, and stared back.

"Three, four years. I take it you want me to pilot this Evangelion – Unit One? and kill that "Angel" who's making a mess up there," Shinji replied. "And, for whatever reason, you can't use Unit Zero. I heard there was an accident a week ago; I hope the pilot's okay." Stay on the offensive, he thought, and we might just get through this without another panic attack.

"She is alive," said his Father. "But she is too injured to pilot. Unless you're thinking of refusing?" And there's his attack. He knows I won't let him use someone hurt that badly.

"No fear there, Father," he said. A sigh of relief came from his left – Misato? "There will, however, be a price."

"Go on."

"I want access to all the data you have on the AT Field and the Evangelions, and I want permission to perform experiments on the Evangelions you have at your disposal. I'll also need a place to stay, especially if I'm going to be a long-term pilot, and a generous salary. Not to mention, an apology." Internally, Shinji was on the verge of collapse. He'd never done anything like this before – the longest talk he'd had with another human had been a rather... unfortunate... meeting with one of his schoolteachers. To bargain with a man some people said was the most powerful man in Japan...

"No," said his Father. What? "Fuyutsuki. Wake up Rei." This is insane! He's not even negotiating! Does he really think he can just brush me off like that?

"Shinji," came the voice from his left, breaking through his thoughts. "Why are you growling?"

The doors at the side of the hangar opened, and a stretcher was wheeled in. Shinji stared at the girl – the exact same girl from earlier, who'd disappeared – and felt his fist clench as she pushed herself up, trembling in pain.

He was about to speak out when an explosion rocked the facility. Shinji was running before his brain even caught up with the explosion, catching the girl – she had to be "Rei" – in his arms and carrying her away from the rubble falling from the roof. He stared into her eye – the other concealed behind a medical patch – as he forced himself to think. Only one thing to do, came the conclusion.

"Misato," he said, his voice cold. "Get her to some proper doctors. Take my bag with you. Make sure she lives, or you won't." He handed Rei over to the Captain before she could object, and turned to the scientist woman. "Get this thing ready for launch. I'm going out there whether he" - Shinji pointed to his Father - "likes it or not. I'll consider the negotiations postponed for now." Without another word, he climbed up to the Evangelion's cockpit and jumped in.

Several minutes later, Shinji was regretting his actions. They are going to kill me when I get out of this thing, he thought. Well, his thoughts were actually closer to Shit shit shit shit shit SHIT shit shit! than anything coherent, but various concepts passed through his mind. So did a picture of Misato's high-caliber pistol, and the damage such a weapon could do without killing someone. At least, not immediately.

Voices filtered in from outside. "LCL lines check clear. Filling plug now." The strange orange fluid began to fill the cockpit – he'd seen it before, and people on the internet had come up with many theories as to what it was for and what the name meant. They all agreed that it was breathable, however, so Shinji forced himself to relax – he'd been doing that a lot recently – and breathed it in when it reached his mouth. For once, the internet was right about something, although they'd left out the part where it tasted exactly like human blood.

"Pilot synchronisation holding at... fifty percent!" came another voice, accompanied by a weird light show on the walls of the cockpit.

"We might actually pull this off," said the scientist – her name was Ritsuko Akagi, he'd learned – and Shinji felt slightly wronged. "LCL charging," she continued, and the walls changed to a view of the hanger bay. So that's how they do it, he realised. The LCL must polarise with a small electric current running through it, and there must be a link to the external cameras...

He was snapped back to reality by Doctor Akagi's voice. "All systems show nominal. We're ready for launch on your order, Commander."

"Launch Unit One," said his Father. Wait, what do they mean by – a sudden acceleration pushed him down into his seat, and within seconds he was back on the surface.

The Angel stood facing him.

Oh shit.