Chapter 33: Ingratiating

Unit-02 has been a study of patience over these last few days. I've heard more than a few of the workers that have been around us equating it to 3-D printing an Eva. They aren't entirely wrong.

I'd love to tell them more, especially the more excitable ones among those formerly of the Revival, but with what we've started to do in unraveling the Revival here, I can't help but keep things close to the chest. As excited as they are, there are any number of ways that they can spill secrets, even with Juro's help keeping an eye on things.

I have to trust that our 'field agents' are capable of doing what we hope they can do. And with their track record, for now, that's more than enough.

- From the personal journal of Eleanor Theisman

New Pacifica Agri-Station 052, Outskirts of Burbank

Aang looked at the frankly massive building that looked over the dozens of farm fields and orchards, all of them stretching out into the distance, and couldn't help but be impressed with how far humanity here had come. He could feel the pull and flow of the water around him through his bending, all of it flowing from a river that found its source at the top of a mountain a few miles away.

"I'm guessing you can feel it too," Katara said as they approached the building. "How pure it all is."

Aang nodded, walking into the building and past dozens of farmers, technicians, and logisticians. "Yeah. But there's… something else."

His brow furrowed as his voice became quiet, and Katara followed his lead. "What? Scions?"

"Possibly."

They paused by a window looking out over a vast field of corn. If Aang focused… allowed his sight to slip beyond the physical…

There. Walking amongst the fields, ignored and out of sight of the farmhands working them, strode dozens of spirits in a dizzying array of forms, some pausing and tending to crops in ways that those farmers that had their backs turned to them would have found wondrous, if not miraculous.

And a few of them, close by to the building, might have glanced at him with whatever passed for eyes.

"Yeah. There are spirits in those fields. And based off of one of the people we're tracking…"

Katara nodded. "Well, let's just start by finding Ms. Macey."

Aang nodded, and they began to walk towards the 'command center' of the building as it were, both of them reflecting on what they'd been told about their target.

"Her name is Ms. Maia Macey." Mr. Watanabe had told them when they had first gathered. "She's the current manager of the main agricultural station here. She's one of the two main KREDIT employees that shows up to this meeting point. She's rather social, and seems to be the ringleader, as it were, of the little group of KREDIT workers. Easy mark."

Aang and Katara still felt somewhat out of their depth as they asked for directions to Maia, soon walking into what was labeled a control center that was a wide open space, several screens on the left and right walls flanking a massive window on the far wall that looked out over the many fields.

Standing in the middle of it all, a tanned woman with shoulder-length blonde hair tied up into a smart, severe bun regarded a tablet, directing the people around her with relaxed ease.

Aang still felt uneasy about this whole thing as they approached her. He may have emerged from the Spirit Realm a new person, but he still hated the idea of lying so casually. But Mr. Watanabe had accounted for that, it seemed.

"Kid, there's plenty of top-class spies like you that I've worked with. For them, it isn't a matter of lying. Not at all. You're still becoming their friend, and I think you have a knack for that. It's simply a matter of paying attention and taking note of things that they say."

Even as old and as used to keeping focus as he was, it was still difficult sometimes to make that work. Making friends… that was easy, though.

"Excuse me," he said, causing Ms. Macey to turn around, "are you Director Macey?"

The woman scoffed slightly even as she smiled. "I can tell we haven't met before. Please, just call me Maia."

Katara nodded, returning the smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Maia. I'm Kiana Aanderson. This is my husband Alan."

Aang nodded as he shook a proffered hand. "We're here at dock for the next month or so, and we just wanted to see where we could help out. Keep ourselves busy and all that."

Maia glanced at the armbands that they wore and nodded. "I got it. WILLE. We always appreciate the extra help. What can you two do for us?"

"I'm in logistics right now." Aang nodded over to Katara. "And my lovely wife is head of medical aboard the Wunder."

Maia smiled broadly. "Perfect! We could always use more people with both of your skill sets. Here, give me a second, and I can show you two around."

She turned and walked over to who was presumably a subordinate, and Aang looked over at Katara. "So far, so good," he said quietly.

Katara simply nodded, then her smile returned as she walked to Maia's side. "So, you look like you get out in the sun a lot. Are you out in the fields, or does that tan come from playing as much as working?"

Aang let Katara take the lead and found himself profoundly grateful that he wasn't assigned to the other person that they had to befriend.

. . .

Tyler Pressley, it was immediately apparent to Korra, nearly lived in this gym.

She was no stranger to such a familiarity, what with her experiences training not just to be the Avatar, but also in her early quest to become a pro sports player in the bending arena. From how he interacted with the staff, to the ease with which he flowed through his workout routine, he went from place to place with an ease that belied his importance to her and her company.

"Are you sure we should be disturbing him here?" Suki asked from beside her. "If Sokka's any indication, getting in the way of a man's workout isn't the greatest idea in the world."

"I mean, come on. Interrupting someone's set is the least disruptive thing we've done to save the world." Sokka said it flippantly, but Korra could see the uncertainty even in his eyes. There had to be an opening somewhere…

Then, she noticed the sparring square at the far end of the gym. And she recalled what Mr. Watanabe had told them about the man. "He's a martial artist. And he's been complaining about not having a sparring partner for the last few days, it looks like."

"Don't worry, guys," Korra said as they finished checking in. "I have a plan."

She strode off towards the ring and Pressly, heedless of whatever stifled objections were behind her. It took some time to cross the length of the gym, and she was sure there were at least a few stares that she caught out of the corner of her eye. Not that she'd care, either way.

She stopped in front of the square, a few feet away from Pressley, then looked over at him. "Looking for a sparring partner?" she said as she climbed through the strange ropes, leaning against them as she appraised the man, somewhat wiry but strong with a carefully maintained braid of long brown hair.

Pressley regarded her with somewhat shocked gray eyes that then glittered with interest as he climbed in, the rest of the gym beginning to pause for a second as they regarded what was about to happen for a moment. "You must have read my mind. What do you practice?"

"A little bit of everything. Been doing it since I can walk." Korra tucked the fact that most of her stances and moves usually carried a spicing of elemental power behind the technicality of the truth.

"Oh, good. Maybe I can learn a little something, then. What's your name?"

"Karra. What's yours?"

"Tyler. So, what kind of rules do you want to set?"

"First to three points. Putting the other person on the floor means one point. And… nothing too dirty to start."

Tyler smiled slightly. "Sounds good to me."

They squared off, and Korra found herself in that most wonderful of mindsets; that of the contest. Her mind flashed with possibilities as she started by probing his defenses, perhaps a little more aggressively than he was expecting, and she carefully restrained her might as she blocked his questing jabs and kicks. This was bare-knuckle, barely any protection between either of them. He liked to live dangerously, it seemed. It was a sentiment that they shared.

"You go, Karra! Kick his butt!" she heard Sokka call out from the edge of her perception, and she decided to oblige him by surging forward, water tribe and fire nation forms blending together into a flowing strike that surged through his defenses and took him off his feet, sending him sprawling.

"Alright," Tyler said as he caught his breath. "You're pretty good. Why don't you tell me a little about yourself? Call it loser's consolation."

Korra shrugged. "Country girl. Grew up wanting to fight the good fight, decided to join NERV to do it. Then I joined WILLE after everything went to hell. I'm in security now."

"Wow. Are you on the Wunder then?" Tyler got to his feet, walking over to a bottle he'd set on the edge of the ring and drinking from it as he finished speaking.

"That I am. I work security. It's a decent enough job."

Tyler nodded, and Korra grinned. "Though that's more than a little. I might tell you more if you let me beat you."

"We'll see about that." Tyler grinned as they fell back into position again, the spar returning as the man took the initiative this time, looking to pry apart her defenses. Her training in earth style was good, but he was persistent, chipping away until he finally got a chance to grab her arm, pulling her into an expert throw that came from a martial art she remembered was called judo here. Wherever it came from, it planted her on her back, driving the air from her lungs.

"So, I guess it's my turn," Tyler said as he waited for her to catch her breath and sit back up. "I'm native to here, missed the boat with NERV and all that. After Near-Third, I went into KREDIT to use my skills and help out. Seemed like the right thing to do and all that."

Korra looked at her friends and asked for a water bottle that she took a deep drink from. "So what do you do?"

"I'm a mechanic. Mainly heavy duty equipment."

'How convenient.' Korra might have been brash, but she wasn't dumb. At least all the time. She knew that rather bland statements like that could conceal something just a little more vital to what they needed to do. "What kind of heavy-duty equipment?"

"Big rig trucks, cranes for shipyards and… other stuff."

"Oh?" she stood, setting the bottle down and standing. "What kind of other equipment?"

"I'm…" she had him flustered. For as suave as he at least pretended to be, his concern was rather evident on his face. "Not exactly at liberty to tell right now."

'Then you might be exactly what we're looking for.' she mused.

"Well, I'll find out soon enough. After all, I'm enjoying this."

"Enough to keep doing it without padding?"

"Now, I didn't say I wasn't in the business of being beaten up all the time."

Tyler nodded. "Fair enough. I don't know if you brought pads, but I still have mine at home with how long it's been."

"Alright. Enough talking. Tiebreaker time." Korra said with a smile.

Tyler nodded, and the dance began again. They were both now somewhat cognizant of the abilities of their opponent. Now, it became a dance, seconds stretching into minutes as patience and technique began to supersede pure speed and surprise. A jab there, a kick there. Round and round they stepped, Korra daring to try for a combo that, if Tyler hadn't interrupted it, would have left him in an armlock with his chest on the floor.

"So," she began as she batted away a series of jabs that would have left her heaving for breath otherwise, "sparring with anyone else?"

"Not right now," Tyler replied as she pressed the attack. "They're all at the Island of Change gym that opened up a few years ago."

"Really? Why not join them?"

"Ah, I've just been going to this one for ages. Loyalty and all that, you know? But the manager there treats everyone that goes through those doors like family. All he cares about while he's there is making sure everyone's getting the most out of their time there. He's a big guy, Polynesian if I'd have to guess. Seems like a pretty decent dude anyways."

He shrugged, and she surged forward, trying her former strategy again as she stepped to another side, the one that Tyler seemed to not favor. Now, she had the results she desired, as Tyler ended the match. For as much as she enjoyed the spar, Korra had actually had some fun being a spy. What little she'd talked to Toph and Mako about was, hopefully, paying off.

"Well, not bad," Korra said as she released Tyler, helping him back to his feet. "We should keep doing this. I haven't sparred like that in a minute, and it's hard to find the time on the Wunder."

Tyler nodded. "Sure. Whenever my wife's not here with me, we can go a few rounds."

Korra arched a brow as she nodded. "I see. Well, just to keep things simple so no one's confused, I'll bring my wife along too. Maybe they'll hit it off while we're hitting each other."

Tyler chuckled. "Well, with moves like that, she must have been really good to catch you."

Korra grinned even as she blushed slightly. "What a charmer you are. Must be part of how you caught yours. Catch you later."

Tyler laughed as he exited the ring, going towards a fridge at the front of the gym.

Korra watched him for a moment, leaning on the ropes as she saw him get situated on some machine or another, and looked down at her friends. "So, any of you want to go a round or two with me? That was a nice warm-up for us, but I figure I want to make the most of my time here."

"Sure," Suki said as she climbed into the ring. "So, what do you think of what he said?"

"Interesting," Korra replied as she took a sip of water. "There's more, obviously, but I don't know how long it's going to take to make any progress with him. We need time."

"And spirits know we don't have that much of that." Suki grimaced, even as she and Korra began to exchange blows.

. . .

Back on the Wunder, Eleanor looked intently at a report from the rest of the engineering teams that were getting ready to work on Unit-02 and Unit-08 and sighed quietly as she looked at a weary Ymris sitting across from her at the table in their empty mess hall. Granted, sitting was a rather strong word, her upper half nearly draped across the table as she peered at a similar report at arm's length with narrowed, tired eyes. It was a feeling that Eleanor shared, even if she didn't show it so obviously.

The refitting of Unit-08 was going to be easy enough; simply switch out the armor plates, run some checks, and like that, it would be in its Gamma-type configuration, as many of the techs were calling it.

Unit-02, on the other hand… there was a headache for all of them.

It quite simply came down to a matter of manpower. They only had so many people who were Interfaced and able to manipulate the LCL that came into contact with Unit-02's now nearly complete torso. Even working on a limb, the arm in question now just about halfway done, had taken them the better part of four days. And that was before poor Mayumi nearly passed out from working so hard.

"I can guess what you're thinking about," Ymris said, tiredness flattening her voice to a deadpan tone.

"However did you know I was thinking about Unit-02?" Eleanor replied, her voice only a little more expressive.

"Because I can read minds." this time, the words came with a small, tired grin. "How's Ms. Yamagishi doing?"

"She's doing better now. Mana's been doting on her like an overly concerned older sister. It's kind of cute to see. So, how about we think really hard at each other about our little spy ring?"

Ymris sat up and put her elbows on the table, likely grateful for the change in subject. "Things are doing alright, for such an early start. From what Zuko and I can tell, no one's noticed my spy marbles. Mai and Suki have been champions at scouting and placing marbles in new locations, and we've got eyes on at least two more meeting sites."

"Any appearances by Kauri and Aaminata yet?"

Ymris shook her head. "Not yet. They're probably cycling between meeting sites."

A rueful smile appeared on Ymris. "If Kauri isn't so concerned with his gym. He always had a soft spot for giving those around him the chance to better themselves physically. Even if it did come from deadlifting some of us and chiding us for not eating enough to make it a challenge. Made for a good laugh every now and again."

It was silent for a moment, the two of them contemplating much the same thing; the humanity of those that acted against them.

Then, Eleanor's phone began to ring, and she quickly picked it up as she saw Captain Katsuragi's contact. "Yes, ma'am."

"I'd like you and Ms. Tennison to meet me in my quarters. Ritsuko and I are brainstorming things, and we'd like your input."

That woke them up a little, the two women sitting up straighter to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the person. "We'll be right there, ma'am."

The line dropped, and the two women stood and began the walk toward the captain's quarters. It was a mostly empty ship right now, everyone either out working on the external Eva gantries, or enjoying their shore leave. It gave them space to talk without being overheard.

"So," Ymris said, "have you got any ideas on what they might want to talk to us about?"

"I do." Eleanor was silent for a moment as she thought back to the films. "They might want to start planning out what's going to become Operation Yamato. It wouldn't surprise me if what little satellite coverage there is left up there caught the Black Moon — or whatever it's become — doing something. To say nothing of the other vessels like this one."

"And here I was enjoying spying on my old friends, almost forgetting about the other end-of-the-world scenario we're trying to stop," Ymris said sardonically.

"Well, whatever else," she continued as they paused in front of the captain's quarters, "we'll find out soon enough."

Eleanor nodded as she pressed the doorbell, the door opening only a moment after. "Come in," Katsuragi said.

They wasted no time entering, the door sliding shut behind them as they took a seat in front of Ritsuko and Misato. Ryoji sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees, and regarding the desk in front of him intently.

"How can we help, Captain?" Eleanor asked as she settled in.

"We've caught movement from the three NERV ships that have us worried." Ritsuko began. "They're converging on South America. Not only that, but they're going slow. As if they're aware we can't catch them."

"Well, with the beating we took during Fourth Impact," Ymris said, "I'm not surprised they're taking their sweet time. Anything on the Black Moon, or whatever it's become?"

"Makinami is keeping us apprised through Fuyutsuki," Ryoji spoke up with a slight grin. "It's nice actually, having an inside source that I can count on to be mostly accurate. I guess that's what guilt can do to you in old age."

"And where would the Black Moon be?" Eleanor prodded gently.

"Right now, slowly making its way over the Pacific Ocean. More slowly than the vessels, but still pointed in the general direction of South America. More likely than not, they're going to try something."

"With what, though?" Ritsuko cupped her chin. "The only viable Evangelion that they have not acting as the master of a Vessel is Unit-13. Mr. … Commander Nagisa is dead, and as far as we can tell, there aren't any more cloning facilities in place anywhere, even in South America. And I doubt that the Commander or Fuyutsuki are exactly in any state to get into the Entry Plug."

She paused as they all shuddered at that all-too-disturbing image of either of the old men in Plugsuits. Then, she shook her head slightly. "So, we simply have to confiscate the deactivated Unit-13 and kill the Commander. Then, it's done."

Eleanor raised a finger. "Well, there are two problems with your statement, Doctor. First, there's another Shikinami in the base."

Ritsuko's brow furled slightly. "I was under the impression that Asuka was the last of the Shikinami line."

"So was I, until Daniel introduced me to Shikinami-Bradley. Apparently, she's been in deep storage under Commander Ikari's orders as a backup pilot for Unit-02."

Misato and Ritsuko's eyes both went wide and they, as one, leaned back and took a deep breath. "Then… she has a sister…" Misato nearly whispered.

"Not only that," Ritsuko said ruefully, "but the incident with Unit-03 and the 9th Angel wasn't even enough for him to unveil Bradley's existence. What would have constituted such an emergency as to wake her up?"

"Likely needing a pilot to initiate an Impact," Ymris said darkly. "Anything else would have been an inconvenience to him."

"It figures he'd be proud enough to do that," Ritsuko replied, equally darkly. "But where would he get his second pilot? Unless a corpse can synchronize with Bradley…"

"Consider this for a moment." Eleanor piped up. "He's likely not fully human anymore. Daniel told me he could create his own AT Field."

"His own AT Field?" Misato sat straight, then looked over at Ryoji. "Tell me she's over-exaggerating."

"I wish I could, Misato," Ryoji said, a hard tone almost covering up the unsettled look in his eyes. "But he used the Key of Nebuchadnezzar. Something I stole from Bethany Base when I transferred to Tokyo-3 at Ikari's insistence. If I'd known what it was before I used it to stop Third Impact…"

"What…" Ritsuko was hesitant looking over at the haunted expression that had draped itself across Ryoji's face. "What is the Key of Nebuchadnezzar?"

"It contained a piece of Adam's soul." Ryoji's words were barely a whisper, Misato's hitching breath easily heard after them. "That thing, those things, that caused Second Impact all those years ago. It… Christ, it tried to eat me. If I wasn't fighting it, I probably wouldn't even have a soul for Commander Nagisa to pull me back with."

It was silent in the cabin, an unsettled thing that grated on each of the room's occupants as they comprehended the idea of it.

Then, Misato shook her head slightly. "Alright. We need to stop Ikari from doing whatever he's planning to do. Which means our lynchpin is going to be Unit-13, even more than it was a minute ago. If we don't stop it from activating, we're finished, it looks like."

"To say nothing of these Scion people that could get in our way." Ritsuko cautioned, and Eleanor clenched her jaw at forgetting, even briefly, their other enemy in all this.

"We'll worry about them in a moment," Misato said firmly. "One problem at a time. First things first, can we beat them to the punch, and force a shutdown signal into one of the Entry Plug areas?"

"Too risky," Ritsuko replied. "It would waste precious time to turn it over and try to eject a Plug that might be in there already. The most likely way we could do that would be a direct plugin to the core of the Evangelion. That would require some considerable upgrades to the standard Override Signal Plug."

"Do we have any Plugs like that here in Burbank?" Ymris asked. "It might be difficult to sneak into what's now a massive spaceship to try and maybe grab the one that went into Unit-00."

"We have several here in the NERV storehouse that we can work with, actually," Ritsuko replied. "But that's where the challenge comes in."

"Actually making one that works like we need it to," Ymris said with a quiet sigh. "On top of also finishing the work on Unit-02."

"Do you think your engineers can pull it off?" Ritsuko asked. "I'll be spending most of my time over the next few days setting down a viable redesign, after which we have until whenever Commander Ikari tries something again to build it."

Ymris mulled the question over mostly silently, a few quiet hums escaping before she sighed quietly. "Unit-08's teams should be done within the next few days. I'll have them tasked with your project, ma'am."

"We'll see where the Unit-02 restoration project goes as well," Eleanor interjected. "If I'm available, I'll be able to assist with any mechanical portion of the job."

"If you can make what we saw in Paris work, then this is going to go extremely quickly," Ritsuko said, a still slightly wondrous gleam in her eyes.

Misato nodded. "And how is the project progressing?"

"We should have Unit-02 at least fully reformed and installed with the required plugs in the next one and a half to two weeks, as a generous estimate. Re-armoring it shouldn't take even half as many people as it needs now, which should make the project go much quicker."

"Misato nodded. "Alright. It's a start, at least. Anything else we should be aware of? Especially if it has to do with these Scions."

Eleanor and Ymris looked at each other silently for a moment. "We're currently starting information-gathering efforts," Ymris began. "If something comes of it, we'll let you know."

"See that you do," Misato said firmly. "The last thing I want is the sort of surprise we got back in Paris. Or worse."

"You and me both, ma'am," Eleanor replied.