Apotheosis Echo: Re(verb - it)erations

by StriderInCosmos

The end has passed, and a storm looms over a broken world. At its edge, a Captain who cannot fully chart her course plunges in regardless. Within the lightning, a Priest sees his gods, and hopes to draw them to the dying Earth he wishes to gift to them. Against the rain, a Soldier and his family seek to dispel the tempest. The storm looms, and the End is nigh. But what End?

34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Stealing Away With Eternity

Things are getting close. Call it a feeling, having been to so many worlds I'm familiar with.

The village has been good to everyone here. Better than good. I like to think that we helped out with that a lot. But now, the storm clouds are starting to gather. Eleanor filled me in on the movement of Ikari's little fleet, along with the Shutdown Plug they've started building. We'll be seeing them soon enough.

But where's Tavis? Where is the Hollow Saint of War?

And where could we even stand against him without losing?

I don't know. And I don't know how much longer I have to think about it.

- From the personal journal of Daniel Theisman

Village-3, April 15th, 2028

Young Shinji Ikari walked alone today. All too often before, that fact would have been accompanied by a quiet, yet gnawing sense of loneliness, even amongst the bustling populace of Tokyo-3.

Now, though, it was a somewhat comfortable, if not still conscientious, ease with which he made his way through the village away from Kensuke's house, answering waves and greeting with a slight smile and wave of his own. It was still somewhat nerve-wracking, and he sometimes stumbled over his words. But that, he felt, was a fair step above where he had been back in Tokyo-3.

Was that all there was to it? 'No, not really', he mused as he paused for a moment. There was Daniel, of course. There was Asuka, to some extent. And then there was Gendo Ikari.

The man who looked like his father, and yet felt so different from the man he was familiar with, was stuck in Shinji's mind. Somehow, this Gendo felt almost… right. Like a look into the sort of man that his father could have been. It made his heart ache, thinking of the things that he'd done with, or at least alongside, this man.

He still remembered the little private concert that they'd put on three days ago as if it had just happened. It was still a small thing, really, confined to the rather large backyard that was connected to Nozomi's house. There were relatively few people, and he was, for lack of a better term, 'on stage' with the same people that had been there before.

The biggest difference was his audience. Not that there were more of them, at least to start, but in who was there. And Gendo and Yui, the people who were his father and mother in another world, were front and center, watching him attentively.

"Alright," Daniel had said, "let's try to not get interrupted by anything trying to kill us this time."

A few people in the audience chuckled, mainly the other versions of him and his friends along with Mr. Takao, while most simply looked confused. That must have been how soldiers were, he decided. If making a joke about nearly dying was better than agonizing over the event for them… there wasn't much he could do about that.

"Alright, Shinji," Daniel said, drawing his attention fully to the man. "Thanatos, right? We'll play what you ask."

Shinji nodded after a moment to consider the fact that Daniel trusted him to lead out. "Yeah."

Daniel looked at Midori and this world's Maya, nodding. "Alright, on Shinji's go."

Shinji took a deep breath, put bow to strings, and played the first note. And the others came in like they'd never fallen out of practice.

For a few bars, he focused on making sure he got the notes that they'd practiced right, then, as the music continued, he began to relax, the music taking him as it filled the air. His eyes slowly drifted shut as he focused as his fingers danced up and down the bridge of his cello, the idea of the music, bittersweet, speaking to him on a level that none of his father's songs ever had.

Then, suddenly, it was over, and he opened his eyes to clapping. A lot of clapping. More than there should have been…

He looked around and found that there were people on top of the fences watching them as well. There were probably a few people behind the fences as well. The thought of so many people watching him, even if they enjoyed him, made Shinji want to shrink into his chair, hide behind the body of his cello…

Then he saw his father and mother, and at that moment they truly were that, nearly beaming. It was such a small thing compared to the rest of the congratulations that were being heaped on him, but it was a shining jewel of a gesture.

"Well, Shinji," Daniel said, breaking the boy's reverie, "I guess we attracted a larger audience than we bargained for, didn't we?"

"I guess we did," Shinji replied bashfully.

"Don't worry about playing any more than you want to," Daniel said with a smile. "Unless you want to follow up Thanatos with something else?"

Shinji thought about it for a moment, then shook his head slightly as he stood. "Thank you, Daniel, but I'm good."

"Good job, Shinji!" Midori said, her smile almost infectious as she gave him a thumbs up. "That was beautiful!"

Shinji looked over at Maya, sitting behind her keyboard as she smiled and nodded. "Yes. You did well, Shinji."

Shinji picked up his cello, put it away in his case, and walked away as Daniel spoke again. "So, Mrs. Akagi, want to try a piano duel with yourself?"

He pulled himself from his thoughts as he came to a stop in front of the door of the house where the other world's Gendo and Yui Ikari resided, along with most of the other adults that had come with Daniel. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" an older woman's voice, one that sounded almost familiar, called out.

He opened the door and stepped in, taking off his shoes in the entryway before he looked up and realized how big the space he was in actually was. It defied all physics. But then again, breaking the laws of reality was just another science for these people, wasn't it?

"Hello, Shinji," Gendo called, drawing Shinji's eye to a bank of what he assumed were computers where he and Yui sat. "What brings you around here?"

"A couple of things," he said as he scanned the room. There were the Akagis, along with the Fuyutsukis (a concept he was still struggling to get his head around), sitting around a long table with Athena, another woman he'd never seen before sitting beside her. In a corner that was a lot farther away than the outside walls made it to be, Daniel sat with a book and what he assumed was a cup of tea. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, one of several things, really," Yui replied as she fully turned to face him, Shinji catching a glimpse of the translucent red core material.

Before she continued, Yui hesitated for a moment. "We'd be willing to explain, but only if you'd like to listen. It's rather technical research, even with a simplified explanation."

Shinji thought for a moment. He could hear his parents, however distant the relationship actually was, talk to him about something that interested them. Like so many things surrounding these two, it felt like the opportunity of a lifetime. "Sure."

He walked over to their bench, looking down at the core material that had several different nodules attached to it. "What are you working on with this?"

The way their eyes lit up as they began was nothing short of wondrous. "Well, Shinji," Gendo began, "what we're studying is the transformative properties of core material. Where we're from, it's known as Corite. Somewhat on the nose, I know, but that's Ms. Katsuragi for you."

"Anyway," Yui interjected, "what we're trying to find right now is the point at which a formation of crystal grows most reliably. The only way we've seen it done so far is in the wake of an Impact event, which we have no desire of fully replicating."

"Okay…" Shinji saw what looked like pockmarks and bulges on the surface of the crystal. "Have you been making it disappear?"

"That seems to be the easier of the ways to manipulate it," Gendo replied. "Even still, the Pneumaic architecture, the frequency if you will, is such that the ACC Pillars can use it. We might not be hitting our desired goal, but even this will help clear out land around the pillars instead of simply acting like a barrier."

"There is the matter of the Corite that we haven't sampled being active, dear," Yui interjected. "We'll have to take that into consideration."

"A fair point." Gendo conceded.

"So what is your desired goal, then?" Shinji asked.

"Well, we're trying to find the point at which Corite transforms into another element." Gendo began. "As easy as it is to not make the connection with how it flash-forms, Corite is simply the solid form of LCL. As such, it can, theoretically at least, transform into any inorganic material."

Gendo paused for a moment as Shinji took in the implications, then Yui picked up where Gendo left off. "Right now, the most prominent use would be transforming into the armor plating for the Frame Titans, GEIST's Evangelions, saving a significant amount of time and energy that they could then use. Right now, we have to go through the much more tedious process of turning synthetic LCL into Corite, then into the armor plates. Cutting out the middle-man, as it were, would be a monumental leap forward. To say nothing of the countless other potential applications in places like the civilian sector."

It was silent for a moment as Shinji took in not only the information presented to him but the fact that Gendo and Yui were so excited to take a moment and teach him about it. He wondered if his own mother would be like this Yui.

"Now," Gendo said, shaking Shinji out of his reverie, "I doubt you came all the way out here just to talk to us about our little science experiments. What brings you to our little lab?"

"A couple of things, really," Shinji replied as he looked back at Athena, who had several translucent patches on her arms, neck, and head, with a white-haired Rei (the Akagis' daughter Kyu, from what he'd been told), Doctor Akagi, and Maya looking down at clear pads while prodding at her with strange tools.

He walked over to them, crossing around to come into Athena's field of view. "Hey, Athena."

Before he could continue, he saw her eyes light up, and a smile that almost felt too big for her face stretched across it as she waved in an entirely too girlish manner for her. "Hello, Shinji!" she said with more giddiness than he thought he'd ever heard from any version of Rei. "I am currently undergoing calibrations of my Framework so that I can have a standard range of emotions! It's quite the experience, being this happy!"

Shinji blinked rather owlishly, then waved back slowly. "I see. Is this just… how it is now?"

"Her Frames pertaining to this particular emotion are slightly overtuned," Kyu replied. "Here, Doctor Mother. Help me adjust the sensitivity down."

Athena nodded, her smile shrinking to something at least somewhat within the realms of sanity. "Yes. It's been a rather… fascinating process, feeling all these emotions so strongly."

"I can only imagine," Shinji replied. "I, uh… hate to think of what it's going to feel like when you get to the more negative emotions."

"We made sure to get those out of the way first." the older woman whose voice he'd heard call him in replied. "No sense in letting her stew in those after we get done."

Shinji looked over to the woman, who sat next to a young Deputy-Commander Fuyutsuki, and furrowed his brow slightly as he remembered who this woman was. "I would assume that you're Mrs. Fuyutsuki. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Mrs. Fuyutsuki smiled as she glanced over at him for a moment, an unexpectedly warm thing. "It's nice to meet this version of you properly too, Shinji. I'm Naoko. Ritsuko's mother."

Shinji nodded, quickly realizing the family resemblance. "I see."

Then he looked over at the other woman who sat across from Athena. She could have been from somewhere like India, with skin the color of wet clay and eyes that were a shade of green he wasn't sure was entirely natural. On her left ear was a rather intricate piece of wire-worked metal, a small circular purple jewel laying over her earlobe as four smaller clear crystals in the shape of diamonds went up the outer helix.

A loose bright blue shirt that left her arms mostly bare betrayed a well-muscled physique, and she had a somewhat alert posture about her even as she appeared mostly relaxed. "I don't think I've ever seen you before, ma'am," Shinji asked. "Who are you?"

The woman smiled, somewhat full lips turning up slightly within a sharply defined almond-shaped face. "My name is Nynrya, young man. I am currently a soul residing in Daniel's Grip. We're… old acquaintances, one might say."

Shinji glanced over at Daniel, and all too briefly caught the dark look in his eyes before they disappeared behind the teacup.

His focus returned to Nynrya, who regarded him intently. "So are you… waiting for a body, then? It wouldn't surprise me if they can make that happen."

"For the moment. The time for me to return to my physical form, much to Daniel's chagrin, I'm sure, hasn't come yet. But by my ancestors, it's close. I can feel it."

Shinji nodded slightly. "I see. Do you want to… stay here for right now? Because I kind of need Daniel and Ms. Kyu for something."

Before Nynrya could reply, Daniel perked up, draining the last of his tea and setting the cup aside as he stood. "I see. Thank you, Shinji. Yes, I do need to get to that."

Daniel walked over to Nyrya's side. "I can ensure that you can stay and continue to regale the others with your stories if you want."

"You know," Nynrya said with a warm smile, "I've actually enjoyed talking about my people. It honors their memories and their souls."

"I thoroughly agree," Fuyutsuki said, several pads of paper surrounding him. "It's been fascinating to hear tell of a human culture so divorced from our world as Ms. Nynrya's is, and I'm honored to help her people's memory persist. My sociology minor seems to be bearing yet more unexpected fruit."

Daniel chuckled. "Alright. Kyu, give me a moment and we can both go to Ms. Nozomi's house and get things straightened out."

Kyu nodded, setting her tools aside. "Very well. Mothers, do you think you can finish your work today without me?"

"Certainly." Maya Akagi replied. "Go and help Daniel and the Horakis."

Shinji regarded Daniel as he took out what must have been his Grip, a crystalline handle, and held out a hand, a small purple and blue gem forming in it that flashed with light before softly glowing, Nynrya's form fuzzing for a moment in time with the gem. Daniel set it down on the table, and his Grip vanished.

"I'll see you around, Shinji," Daniel said with a smile as he and Kyu went out the door.

Shinji looked after them for a moment before looking over to the Akagis. "So, what are Daniel and Kyu doing?"

"That's a good question, Shinji." Athena, of all people, replied, her brow deeply furrowed in thought as she cupped her chin. "There's clearly some operation that we haven't been informed of. One that likely has to do with the elder Horaki sister. How are they going to get to Matsushiro? What will be her reaction to the news? And how will it work next to the operation to retrieve a soul for me?"

Shinji blinked again. "Wait a minute. I thought you already had a soul. You couldn't pilot an Eva otherwise, right?"

"Normally you'd be correct." Naoko began. "However, Athena here, who needs that curiosity tuned down a little more, technically only has a simulacrum of a soul. Useful, but still finite. Before we caught her, she was on the verge of disintegrating entirely."

Shinji felt a pinprick of fear at the thought. "So… how does getting her a new soul even work? Was it one of Daniel's ideas?"

"No, actually." Doctor Akagi replied. "It was Kyu's idea. Take a seat, and we'll explain."

. . .

Daniel, Kyu at his side, walked into Nozomi's house, the gathered Horakis waiting for him in the small living room. "Alright, then," he said, a serious look on his face as he sat down on one of the free seats. "Let's finish laying this out."

He looked over at Kyu, who took a seat next to him. "Ready with the map?"

Kyu simply nodded as she pulled out her clear pad, tapping on its screen for a few seconds before she set it on the coffee table they surrounded. In a moment, a disk of land, surrounded by massive spires of slate-gray stone that rose up like incisors from the ground, bloomed into existence above the tabletop, expanding to show a town that was bustling within the ruins of Matsushiro.

"Here's what little we know about Kodama Horaki's movements." Kyu began as she zoomed into a portion that contained a small cluster of buildings. "These are the architecture and engineering headquarters of the town. Kodama seems to be in a position of authority, likely in charge of efforts to expand the town's infrastructure and vehicle production capabilities."

Hikari nodded. "She'd likely be putting her mechanical engineering major to work, then," she said quietly.

Kyu nodded in turn. "Based on our observations, she is among the first to enter these buildings in the morning and is the last to leave when evening falls. She is dedicated to her work."

"She always was trying to take care of us like that when she was home," Nozomi said with a soft chuckle as she looked over at Hikari. "Drove you insane, didn't it?"

Hikari smiled slightly, noticing Natsumi hanging silently on their every word about her mother. "Yeah. I'll admit, it kind of did."

"It'll be about a day and a half's drive across the country to get there if we're following the roads." Daniel began. "After we reach the edge of the settlement, and I'll remind you all when we get there, no letting go of each other's hands, and we proceed through in as straight a line as we can possibly make it."

Hikari nodded slightly as she returned her focus to Daniel. "So, when do you actually want to go to her once we get through?"

"Sometime in the evening." Daniel began. "After everyone else has gone home for the night. It might be a tight window, so we'll have to act quickly."

He paused for a moment as he sighed. "I have to warn you… your sister has spent nearly a decade and a half around Tavis and his teachings. She might… be resistant to the idea of coming to Village-3."

"That's why I'm coming," Natsumi said firmly. "If she won't leave for her own daughter, then I don't even want her here."

Daniel nodded slowly. "Alright."

"And we're getting out with that necklace you're making, right?" Hikari asked.

She spoke of one of Daniel's more recent projects that was still in the works. "Yes. It should cut through the core material's interference using the Errant's scanners and teleport anyone within its radius safely home. I still need a few more days to get it fully tuned and ready for us to use."

Daniel glanced over at Kyu. "We'll be ready to go then, right after I do something else today."

"What would that be?" Nozomi said as the display of Matsushiro disappeared.

"I have asked Daniel and the other pilots to assist myself and the other scientists in keeping Athena from disintegrating," Kyu said simply as Daniel sat back, tenting his fingers and furrowing his brow. "We have a potential solution to attempt."

"And I'll admit, I have my reservations," Daniel said frankly.

"What kind of solution is it?" Natsumi asked, concern for her friend evident in her expression.

"Well, the least dicey part of the whole thing is us going up to Hokkaido and trashing the NERV Eva production plant that they have up there." Daniel began. "We're experienced enough to make even an army of Evas a breeze. It's what comes after we retrieve the blank soul that's apparently there that has me worried."

"A blank soul?" Hikari asked. "What's the difference between that and a… regular soul, I guess?"

Kyu leaned forward slightly. "In our universe, Lilith, the creator of all life on earth, was host to several souls that sacrificed everything, even their personality and memories, in order to provide what could be equated to greater processing power as in that of computers. These kinds of souls are what mine first was before it escaped and took up residence in a clone body of Rei Ayanami's."

Daniel could see the cogs turning in the Horaki's minds as they did their best to wrap their heads around the subject. At least in Hikari's case, he could almost hear the dial-up tone as she failed to do so.

"Disregarding the universe-shaking truths we just put in your laps as a matter of course," Kyu continued, "these sorts of blank souls are often used as templates for the Frame Knots, the simulacrum that is driving Athena. We've deduced that at least one such soul resides somewhere in the Evangelion production plant in Hokkaido."

"Even still," Daniel interjected pointedly, "the blank soul is just that: blank. You made your memories after waking up and haven't tried to add anything else to that. What you're proposing is a transplant of a Frame Knot's memories and personality onto a blank soul. And while I'm not saying it's impossible — hell, I've seen enough of Reality to know not to do that — I am saying that it's probably going to be extremely difficult. Something that Eleanor would probably agree with."

"I believe that the potential risks are acceptable," Kyu said surely. "For Athena's sake, we have to at least try."

"On that, we can agree," Daniel said as he stood. He paused for a moment before chuckling. "I'll give you this, Kyu. You pull this off, and it'll be the talk of medical journals across Reality for months to come."

"Well, it's not as though we're not accustomed to doing the rather insane," Kyu said with a slight smile. "I wouldn't be surprised if we get several requests to speak in the immediate aftermath."

"Well, they'll have to wait until after we stop the end of the world," Daniel said flippantly. "Anyway, I'll see you all later today, after our trip to Hokkaido."

"Good luck to you all," Hikari said as Kyu rose with him and they prepared to leave.

"Heaven knows we'll need it," Daniel said quietly as they went out the door.

. . .

Daniel waited patiently at the Suzuhara residence, empty for now as the heads of the household went about their day helping around the village, as the Ikari-Soryus and Nagisas made their way in, carrying their shoes. "So," Asuka began as they stood in the living room, "what's this about a day trip to Hokkaido?"

"We're going to be going out and doing two things," Daniel said, smiling slightly. "Both of which I'm sure you're going to enjoy. But first off…"

He pulled out his clear pad, and tapped out a familiar contact, waiting for the Spirit on the other end to pick up.

He did not have to wait long at all. "Well," a deep, clearly spoken voice answered, "I must say it's been some time since you've called on me."

Daniel's smile grew. "It has been a while hasn't it, Percival? I've got 5 to board at the call's location."

"One moment." Percival went silent as he likely locked onto them. "Got you all. Prepare to board."

Daniel ended the call, managing to slip the phone into his pocket as the world around them disappeared, replaced with the warmly lit, slate-gray walls of the Errant.

"Ah," Kaworu said as he, like the others, began to put his shoes back on. "As always, it seems, your oddities are wisdom, Daniel."

Daniel chuckled softly. "That's awfully generous of you, Kaworu."

"Welcome aboard the Errant, ladies and gentlemen." Percival's deep voice came from the walls of the transporter room. "In this case, I should say welcome back aboard, Daniel. Your presence, and your singing voice, have been missed aboard."

"This is Eleanor's vessel," Rei said as they began to walk out of the transport room. "I suppose it makes sense that it would welcome you back aboard."

"Well, it's been Ellie's vessel for the last while," Daniel replied, looking around the vessel's halls with a nostalgic gleam in his eyes. "But before the war… it was ours. Our first, actually."

The last words came out quietly, and the rest of their walk was taken largely in silence.

They came to what was likely a central command room, a wide teardrop-shaped thing that tapered as it stretched away from them. In the center was a massive display sitting on a slightly raised platform, a hologram of the form of the ship itself currently displayed there.

It was a striking design, a long body that, much like the room they stood in, tapered as it got toward what the Children likely presumed was the front, two wide wings emerging from the front of the ship and sweeping back across a flat bottom that played host to a curving dome of a hull.

Daniel stepped up onto the platform, making his way to a central console and beginning to type on it. "Percival?"

A luminous human appeared, dressed smartly in what likely passed for a suit wherever the person originated from, his features mostly sharp with an out-of-place button nose from over which solid gray eyes regarded Daniel. "Yes, sir?"

"Have you managed to get a scan of Hokkaido's Eva production facility?"

"One moment," Percival replied as the ship disappeared, the Children stepping up to the platform as a top-down, satellite view of a mass of buildings that were a slate grey, square and rectangular industrial construction connected with scaffolding and pipes surrounding a massive dome with Neo-NERV's nonsensical logo emblazoned on it.

"I will have to warn you, there are examples of what are likely heavily armed defensive emplacements at these locations," Percival said as he flashed up to the platform opposite of the Children, sweeping his arm out as several dozen diamonds outlined towers with spheres atop them.

"In addition," he continued as several rectangular buildings flashed with highlights, many of them tightly packed around the dome almost like spokes on a gear, "these buildings are most likely 'garrisons' for the Evangelions that Eleanor had me designate as Mark.06H. The likely strength of this garrison is around 150."

"Well," Asuka said, "I guess Commander Ikari learned his lesson from when Shikinami and Mari went and trashed Shanghai," Asuka said, her brow arched.

"That's… a lot for us to fight through," Shinji said, his gaze sweeping across the defenses. "I don't think we're going to be able to approach it safely from… any direction on the ground."

His gaze landed on Daniel. "Which is why I'm assuming you brought us up here."

"Among other things." Daniel nodded. "It's a heavy defense. But the point isn't to destroy it. At least, not outright at the moment."

He glanced over at Percival again. "Do you have a scan for any souls located within the facility?"

"There are six souls within this central dome," Percival replied. His expression became serious. "I will warn you, readings do indicate that 5 of the six souls are contained within bodies."

Rei's hands clenched into fists; the others, Daniel included, regarded Percival with no small amount of shock. "Commander Ikari's likely not even bothered to separate them from their bodies for use in templating the Frame Knots. If they are in any sort of pain…"

"What about the sixth soul?" Kaworu asked. "What is it currently being used for?"

"As far as I can tell, Mr. Nagisa," Percival replied, "it is acting as the equivalent of a central processing unit, acting in tandem with two highly advanced virtual intelligences."

"They made a cute little copy of the Magi," Asuka said, her mouth twisted into a sneer. "Man, I want to knee Ikari in the balls."

"Yeah," Shinji said as he took Asuka's hand, his own expression hard. "You'll probably have to get in line."

It was silent for a moment before Kaworu nodded slightly, looking over at Daniel. "So, what is our plan to free these souls?"

Daniel smiled slightly. It looked like Athena might have some sisters soon enough. "The towers, the visible ones at least, we can deal with in orbit with some missile strikes. If we deploy outside the base afterward though, the garrison will likely have time to deploy and group up wherever we are. And there's every chance that they're hardened structures as well, which would make an orbital strike too questionable in its effectiveness to make me comfortable."

"So we need to deal with the garrisons before they can deploy." Asuka hummed as she leaned on the railing that separated them from the hologram. "But I imagine we can't risk damage to the dome by just blowing up the buildings closest to it from up here as well."

"So we need a way to get into the base from a direction that they aren't expecting and strike these outlying garrison buildings first in order to keep the number of Evas we're fighting at a minimum," Shinji said, cupping his chin as he regarded the base.

Daniel regarded the base before them equally intently, humming quietly. "Well… the timing on destroying the towers would have to be precise in order to make it work… but…"

The Children looked at Daniel as his eyes glittered with excitement, and he began to grin. "So…" Asuka began. "What are you thinking?"

Daniel leaned back from the railing, grabbing it to keep himself from falling back as his grin widened. "We're going to pull off an Adama maneuver," he said, his voice bubbling with barely contained excitement as he chuckled. "I've been wanting to do one of these for ages."

The Children exchanged glances with each other before noticing Percival's confusion turn into wide-eyed shock. "Oh, dear."

"Daniel…" Shinji asked. "What is an Adama maneuver?"

. . .

Shinji got his answer soon enough as he sat in Unit=01, hanging on desperately to one of the wings of the Errant, Asuka by his side and facing the back of the ship in Unit=02, Rei and Kaworu on the other wing as Daniel rode atop the main hull of the ship. Shinji did not like how it felt as his stomach leaped into his throat with the ship accelerating into the atmosphere, right on top of the base. It was not a graceful dive down, simply a drop with the ship perfectly level with the ground that made the edges of the wings and the ship glow, then flare as their ship tore through the rapidly thickening air.

"Daniel!" Asuka shouted, no small amount of fear in her voice as she saw the flames springing into existence around the edges of the ship as the plating glowed prismatically. "I've come to the conclusion that you're officially more insane than Misato!"

"Oh, come on!" Daniel was positively giddy, and Shinji could have sworn that he heard a giggle escape him. "You and I both know that Misato could come up with something like this easily."

"Yeah, but you're mad enough to actually do it!" Asuka shot back.

"Focus up!" Daniel's smile didn't disappear, but his tone was still far more serious than it was before. "We'll be in the tower's sensor envelopes in… 10 seconds. Percival!"

"Missiles firing up… now," Percival said, his calmness a somewhat assuring thing even as the last word was punctuated by several cross-shaped explosions beginning to go off around them.

With that, the missiles that they'd left in orbit, keyed to the towers' positions, kicked on their engines, and passed the speed of sound in an instant.

"As nice as it is that we won't deal with the towers on the ground," Kaworu said, anxiety readily evident on his face on the comm screen, "I don't quite appreciate our role as bait."

"It'll pass," Daniel assured them. "Once the missiles destroy the towers, get ready."

Shinji's muscles tensed slightly as he dared try and look over the side, spinning up an AT Field around Unit=01's face in order to protect it from the flames licking up over the edge of the wing. Looking past it made the edges of his AT Field sprout flames of their own, but he still managed to maintain a clear view of the rapidly approaching complex, the 35 towers reminding him of flashbulbs from the seemingly distant past after their first time preventing the end of the world. At least those flashes were only trying to capture their image then, instead of trying to kill them. 'Well… this ought to be different.'

In a brilliant flash, 35 towers were obliterated as swirling pillars of baleful light consumed them, then dissipated as they left the space around the sites in shambles, where the towers had stood little more than blackened, smoking craters.

"Alright, kids!" Daniel said as he stood from laying flat into a crouch. "Prepare to jump clear on my mark!"

Shinji's muscles, relaxed somewhat from the still turbulent ride, clenched again as his Eva got ready, holding onto the edge of the wing, finely shaped AT Fields protecting fingers from the heat. Seconds now seemed to stretch into minutes as he waited for the signal.

"Jump!"

With that, he propelled himself forward, watching as Rei and Daniel flew forward with him, then glanced down Unit=01's body as a Dip Drive portal tore open under the Errant, the ship disappearing into it in seconds before the portal closed, leaving them alone as they fell towards the base.

Looking down at it now as he engaged his AT Field to act as a parachute, he could see several of the garrison buildings spitting out their troops, arming themselves with Pallet Rifles that had the pink-white glow of Prog-bayonets. If nothing else, they were going to be busy.

"Alright," Daniel said, a shield of clear crystal springing up beneath Unit=00 as Pallet Rifle rounds began to spray up towards them as he floated away from Shinji, "we have our sections. Make sure that the garrison buildings are completely locked down, not even a chance of reinforcements from them."

Shinji's AT Field shifted down to act like a shield as Daniel spoke, his descent speeding up as he found himself about to land on a gathering squad of . "Got it," he said, hearing his words echo thrice over as the others prepared to land.

His AT Field slammed into the combined AT Fields of four , leaving him standing on top of his Field. Looking down as a rifle of solid prismatic flames formed in Unit=01's hands, he wove an Expression that saw four pinpricks of flame appear above the Mark's heads, guttering for the briefest of seconds before a thin beam of flame lanced down into the cores of the off-guard, unshielded Evas, their AT Fields flickering out as he landed deftly on the ground, sighting a garrison building that was several dozen meters away through the nearly Eva-hight jungle of scaffolding and pipes.

He made his way quickly towards it, cutting through whatever was in his way with a cutter torch-like jet of flame from the end of his weapon. The pipes spilled LCL more often than not, making the ground beneath Shinji's feet slick as he continued towards the garrison, watching one Mark after another step out of the building, going to a nearby weapon's building, drum-like with a rotating magazine of rifles for their weapons.

On instinct, his rifle snapped up as he sent several shots downrange, slamming into a rifle that one of the Marks was picking up and cooking off the ammunition inside, the explosion rippling into the rest of the rifles left in the building and making a massive conflagration that Shinji put up an AT Field for as something hit it and dropped to the ground.

As the smoke cleared, Shinji scanned the area with his rifle, finding the mangled and charred corpses of the Evas either completely dead or twitching ineffectually as he stepped over a torso that must have been what slammed into his Field and approached the garrison building.

The blast had wrecked a significant portion of the opening, sending rubble down on where the Marks had been emerging. Aiming his rifle down, he tried something he'd been practicing on a smaller scale as he set up an Expression around his Eva's head, then sent several clicking pulses of sound down through the rubble.

Shinji smiled slightly as he perceived a faint outline of the facility below. The elevator up to the former entrance was wrecked as well. Nothing would be coming up there any time soon. He saw that the ductwork surrounding the elevator led to something that looked like another one and got to work.

"Was that explosion you, Shinji?" Rei asked as Shinji aimed down at the pile of rubble, a cone of white-hot flames melting it into a single solid lump.

"Yeah," Shinji replied as he sent a wall of sound into the building's wall, causing more rubble to cover the other elevator before proceeding to fuse it into another cap. "It looks like these buildings have at least two surface exits. We'll have to nearly demolish the buildings in order to stop the flow."

"That should be easy enough," Asuka said confidently as what was likely another armory building exploded in her sector. "We're in Evas, after all."

"Then again," Kaworu interjected as Shinji saw a squad of Marks bounding towards him, taking cover as they began to shoot, "so are they."

Shinji cast his AT Field out to smother those of his enemies as he ducked out of cover, snapping off a few shots that he augmented with rippling soundwaves, sending the Marks that he hit stumbling back.

A beeping sound from his right, the proximity alarm, drew Shinji's attention to the trio of Marks that were charging him, stifling a yelp as his rifle flowed into a bident, swiping away the bayonets that threatened to skewer him, a few brief moments all he needed to overpower the three Marks and either run through their cores or cut them down.

Shinji looked around, spotting another garrison building as crackles of lighting arced into the air and the sound of shattering glass reached him. "Just another day at work," Shinji said quietly, only partially griping as he advanced towards the garrison building.

. . .

Daniel's focus was laser-sharp as he put a shell of gemstone over the entrances of the second to last garrison building in his sector. It still didn't interfere with his satisfaction at how well things had gone to this point. Eleanor was going to hear all about this when they got back, though he wondered what her reaction was going to be to the fact that he'd used their ship as a glorified heat shield.

Worries for later. All that was left was the garrison building that was right up against the central dome. There were half a dozen Marks drawing a bead on him, a problem that he initially solved by throwing up a barrier of solid sapphire that the rounds slammed into. With the few seconds that it brought him, Daniel created an Expression that he was still testing, a shoulder pad of crystal forming on Unit=00's left shoulder before a pillar of a tube grew down the Eva's back, stopping at the Unit's hip.

As the Expression finished forming, Daniel grabbed a handle near the top of the newly formed shoulder cannon, pulling it up and out into firing position as an utterly tiny star flashed to life at the back of the barrel.

With that, Unit=00 stepped out of cover, leveling the cannon at two Marks standing together and firing, the star ripping out at them with a tearing roar. The Marks barely had time to react, just beginning to dodge as the star exploded between them, what hasty AT Fields could be raised torn apart as strands of plasma cut through the Marks like butter.

The other Marks, quite wisely, dived for cover, Daniel turning his focus to the garrison building and firing three more shots as he approached. The first shot tore the outer structure of the building apart, collapsing the walls and roof on the elevators. The next two mangled the elevator shafts themselves, sealing whatever Marks were left inside.

"Alright," Daniel said into his comm link to the other pilots, "all the garrisons in my sector are neutralized. I'm going in."

"I'm on my way to help Shinji mop up," Asuka said. "We should be done soon."

Daniel turned his focus away for a moment as he approached the wall of the central dome, a semicircle of crystal rising up around his Eva to protect him as he infiltrated. "Sounds good."

He paused briefly to scan the compound with his sight as he heard 330-millimeter shells slamming into the barrier behind him. The souls, as they had been on the map in orbit, were clustered near the center of the complex. Working as quickly and gently as he could, a slender blade, more of a pick really, formed in Unit=00's hand, the tip of the blade pressed against, then slightly through the wall before it was retracted.

The crystalline armaments on the Eva disappeared as Daniel began the shutdown process. "I've made a hole, and I'm going in. I'll be on comms, so let me know if anything changes and I need to hurry."

"Will do," Rei replied as Unit=00 dissolved into SLCL, the teal liquid returning to the reservoirs on the Frame Plug. "We'll ensure you have the time to complete your task."

"Thank you kindly," Daniel replied with a smile as he brought the Plug, now hovering in the air, to the edge of the hole before lifting the control console off and floating out the hatch on top of the Plug.

He stepped off the edge of the Plug and onto a ledge newly made from the rubble of the building. The 'little hole', he soon realized, stretched across two or three stories of the building. 'Wow. What a way to remind me about the scale of these things.' he mused as he made his way inside. It was surprisingly easy to forget when it was usually experienced in the pilot's seat.

Either way, the walls between him and the innermost corridor he could get to from this hole were nonexistent, allowing him to get in and start walking to the right, down a tight corridor he had to crouch in somewhat. It was utterly dark, a tiny star floating off his shoulder flickering to life and providing light as he continued. The sounds of the battle outside faded slowly away until there was only a mechanical near-silence, machinery and pipeworks providing a soft yet omnipresent white noise.

Daniel's confusion only grew as he ran into pipes he had to duck under or step over, the hallways randomly tightening in every dimension, sometimes enough that even crawling as he now was, he had to stretch the space around him just to get through. 'Whatever designed this place,' he thought, they weren't thinking about regular use by… most humans.'

"How's it going, Daniel?" Asuka chimed in, and he almost expected her voice to echo slightly. "Need some help?"

"I'm fine for now," Daniel replied as he emerged from the squeeze of the crawlspace, turning down a hallway that thankfully allowed him to walk at least relatively normally again. "This place just wasn't made for visitors."

"Turrets? Traps? Perhaps even automated sentries?" Kaworu asked. "It would not surprise me if Commander Ikari put those in place within as well as without."

"Those would at least be familiar if they were here," Daniel said, his voice echoing in the hallway. He wasn't fully able to shake the sense of unease that had settled over him as he continued further in, and his light got just a little brighter without him fully willing it to. "No, the very architecture of this place is… hostile, almost. Whatever mind made it, it wasn't fully sane. At least, not by most human standards."

He activated his Sight, scanning around the area and finding the first soul, a body, or at least the Frames for such, surrounding it. "I've found the first soul they're using for template work," Daniel said as he took in the area around him, hoping that the pipes around him weren't carrying anything more dangerous than LCL. "Time for a little creative remodeling."

Gemstone, like liquid, flowed up his Plugsuit's arms from wrist to elbow, seams forming in them until they split into three broad claws that floated off his arms and forward, stopping just short of passing his hands.

Daniel wasted no time putting the claws to work, tearing up the floor and tossing the pieces down the hallway, the banging adding to the echoing din as he worked. It was down further than he'd expected, and as enviro-sealed as the suit was, he still found himself hesitant to put his foot into the pool of liquids, chief of which was LCL, that was forming.

Sealing off the pipes as he went took a little more time, time that allowed his mind to get even more wound up than it already was. Old memories kept stirring, and he looked up from time to time, pausing to stare into the dark in front of and behind him to make sure that his imagination remained just that. He wasn't sure if the scar above his sternum itching was just his mind playing tricks, or if some ephemeral Apostle from the distant past had decided to follow him around in secret. It had happened to Guts, after all…

He shook his head as he drew close to the soul, hitting what looked like a sealed pod. Before he cut it open, he paused. What was waiting on the other side? Tubes and IV sticks? Missing limbs? Missing flesh? Was there even a body left for him to save in there?

Either way, he had to find out. He wasn't going to risk leaving behind someone he could save. Carefully as he could, he sliced open the pod, the claws coming back slick with LCL as it flowed out from the cuts. Finally, he lifted the lid and threw it behind him with some stretching of space.

Looking down, Daniel saw, floating in LCL that was now cascading down the sides of the pod, an Ayanami clone, an intubation tube in her mouth, and not a thread of clothing to cover her. Other than that, she seemed whole.

Daniel breathed what was at once a sigh of relief and exasperation, as he considered how to get the girl out of this hellhole of a complex.

After a moment's consideration, and a check of the Ayanami clone's vital functions, he focussed on his comms. "Asuka? Are you guys finished up out there?"

"You mean you couldn't hear us kicking ass?" Asuka replied.

"As deep as I am in here… no."

"Well, yeah, we are. You need help?"

"I'd appreciate it. This is going to be a lot more involved, and a lot slower going on my own, than I expected. I'll send something out to lead you to me. Come over to the hole I made, and it'll lead you true."

"Will do."

"And Asuka?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful in here. But not too careful. We don't need to keep this place standing once we're done."

"On our way."

With that, Daniel focused on creating another little star, sending it shooting back from whence he came, trailing behind it a string of starlight that shifted and twisted in a nonexistent breeze. Now, he waited, making sure to keep an eye on the Ayanami clone.

Time slipped by mostly unnoticed, at least until he heard a series of crunching sounds in the distance, slowly growing closer and closer. Daniel smiled slightly as he got to work, enveloping the floating Ayanami clone in a thin layer of crystal that covered up all but her face before bending down and gently extracting the intubation tube.

After a few more minutes of waiting, the star turned around the corner, a series of loud crunching and creaking sounds preceding all four Children rounding the corner, Asuka in the lead and sporting an exasperated look on her face, damp as it was with what he dearly hoped with LCL.

"You weren't wrong, Bruder." Asuka began, exasperation dripping from her voice. "These halls really weren't designed to be walked in."

The Children took stock of the unconscious Ayanami clone before them, Shinji sighing quietly after a moment. "There's never just one of you in any given universe, is there, Rei?" he said with a tired grin.

"Of course not." Rei's grin matched Shinji's. "That would make things easy."

"Alright, loves," Kaworu said gently, "how do we help this Ayanami in particular?"

"First things first," Daniel began, "I make sure you're here in case plan A doesn't work."

"Well, that's done and dusted." Asuka said matter-of-factly. "So, what's plan A?"

"See if the Errant is catching any flak from the Scion fleet, or if our little stunt went unnoticed," Daniel replied as he pulled up the Plugsuits communicator on the inside of his wrist.

"I'll be impressed if that's the case." Asuka snorted. "We weren't exactly subtle."

Daniel nodded as he linked up to the Errant, patiently waiting to see if the call would go through. "No. But it's a big solar system, and everyone's pretty spread out if Eleanor's scan with the Errant is any indication. Likely to avoid any advanced detection planetside."

Daniel went silent as he waited, then let out a small breath he hadn't realized he was holding when Percival answered. "Yes, sir?"

"I'm going to assume that you don't have any Scion ships hot on your tail," Daniel said with a slight grin.

"Not at all, sir. I imagine you're asking for my services to teleport those embodied souls aboard?"

"If the maneuver didn't do any damage that would make it too risky, then I'm all for that."

"You're in luck then." Percival had a small smile that colored his tone. "Mark the transport target, and I'll scan and have them aboard in a few moments."

"Have some clothes printed up for them," Daniel said. "Commander Ikari didn't even bother issuing jumpsuits."

"Will do, sir. Waiting for your mark."

Daniel retrieved his clear pad, tapping out an application that marked the crystalline 'sleeping bag' that held the Ayanami clone and transmitted the location data to the Errant. "Here's number one."

In a moment, the clone vanished. "Oh, dear," Percival said. "Daniel, are you absolutely sure that was the only way to extricate them?"

"I'll crack them out and wake them up once we've got all of them aboard. I'm dropping the call for now. I'll get back in touch when we have our bodiless blank soul. Watch for our other marks."

"Will do. See you soon."

Daniel ended the call, scanning around with his sight until he found the next nearest soul. "Asuka, set your Sight on there."

Asuka followed his gaze, nodding. "I see her."

Daniel grinned as he stepped aside. "Would you care to lead the way?"

Asuka grinned in turn. "Oh, you know me too well."

. . .

Daniel was completely content to let Asuka forge a destructive path through the base, slow going though it still was sometimes. He could tell how tired of the crawlspaces she was. It was a feeling he shared.

The first crawlspace all of them encountered, Rei gave Asuka a tap. "Are you," she began with a knowing grin, "absolutely sure you don't want us to relive Matarael for a moment, for nostalgia's sake? I'm sure Shinji would be perfectly fine with being behind you this time."

Asuka glanced back, her expression unamused as she purposefully widened the crawlspace into something they could walk through. "Another time, maybe."

The next two Ayanami clones went about as well as one could ask for, Asuka's Interfacing specialty making things much quicker as she peeled the pods open like a can. It was the next pod they went to afterward that made things… interesting.

It was going more and more quickly now, Asuka having established a pattern to how she cleared away the machinery above the pod before cracking it open, with Daniel and Rei to quickly seal any pipes that her careless digging might burst. As the pod peeled open, it revealed…

"My god…" Asuka said as she stared down at a girl with strawberry-blonde hair and a terribly familiar face. "I thought Langley and Bradley were the last Shikinamis."

"As far as I can tell, they were. At least, of the line that was meant to pilot Unit-02." Daniel replied. "These… these are just in the image of you. I can't even tell if having a template based on Shikinami would have done anything remarkably different."

"Perhaps it explains the more aggressive, melee-prone Marks? The 04As and alike?" Kaworu postulated. "Though I imagine it also would have changed the behavior of some of the 06Hs we fought outside."

"Whatever the reason is, the list of things I want to do to Commander Ikari just grew by several pages." Asuka bit out. "Go on, Daniel. Let's get her safe."

This Shikinami clone was teleported away in quick order. As were the other two copies of Shikinami.

At last, they made their way towards the center of the dome, to the processing core that held their ultimate prize. Asuka, Daniel noticed, was putting far more effort into tearing a path through the base than before, each discovery of a Shikinami clone adding a little more ferocity to her methods. He'd probably need to talk to her, and let her get the chance to vent her feelings before she could bottle them up for another time.

Finally, though, they tore through one last wall into a room that was barely bigger than the rectangular pillar that it housed. Held within the center, a little over head height from them, was their soul. The soul that would, with any luck, soon be Athena's.

Daniel created a small, bright blue crystal, holding up to the level the soul was at and beginning the extraction process. As he did, he continued to glance back every so often.

"Something got you scared?" Asuka asked. "As far as I can tell, there isn't anything in the dark here with us. And besides, if there was, we could beat it, easily." she paused as she chuckled softly. "And here to think my big strong Bruder is scared of the dark."

"Yeah…" Daniel's expression was far less amused than Asuka's. "When you've been around as long as I have, and you go where I have, you learn that some things that hide in the dark, you just can't fight. Sometimes, even the dark itself is alive. Unkillable. Utterly patient. Sometimes, the only option for you to live is to run."

The silence, sober and more than a little frightened, made the sputtering clunking of the soul being extracted a little louder than they expected. And made the silence that came afterward deafening.

Daniel wasted no time calling up the Errant. "Percival, we have the package. You can extract us now."

"Give me a moment to lock onto your signals."

"And I assume that you're overhead again? Can you see us?"

"In roughly geosynchronous orbit with the facility, yes. I have an eye on the facility."

"Well, I don't want to see this place anymore. Once we're out, glass it. We don't need it, and I don't want Ikari to restore it."

"Will do. Prepare to extract."

. . .

Village-3

Kyu Akagi waited patiently outside the little home that she and the rest of the science team now occupied as the sun began to set. She couldn't help but wonder how the operation to retrieve their prize was going.

She looked over at the door as it opened, Athena stepping out and shutting it behind her. "Hello. How are you feeling, Athena?"

"I feel…" Athena trailed off, then shook her head as she regarded the sunset. "I feel. That is remarkable in and of itself. This sunset…"

Before she could continue any further, Kyu heard something in the far-off distance. Muted booms, the drumroll of explosives going off one after another. They kept going. And going. And going. Soon enough, the whole village, usually alive with a quiet noise, fell silent as the sound continued.

Her mothers, the Ikaris, and the Fuyutsukis soon stepped out the door, puzzlement painted on their faces. "What is going on?" Kozo asked.

Before anyone could reply, five people appeared in front of them. It was Mr. Theisman and the other Children. All of them had dark expressions on their faces.

"Mr. Theisman?" Kyu asked. "Do you know what that sound is?"

"A missile barrage aimed at leveling the plant." Mr. Theisman replied levelly, looking down at his wrist as a clock face sprang to life on it. "It should be done in the next… 20 minutes or so."

"That seems a bit… extreme," Yui said, her confusion transformed into concern.

"After what we saw there, Mother…" Shinji said. "No. It isn't."

Mr. Theisman looked over at Athena, his shadowed expression broken up by a smile. "Congratulations, Athena. In addition to getting your own soul, you now also have 3 other sisters."

He paused for a moment as Athena's eyes went wide. "As does Shikinami."

"How is that possible?" Ritsuko asked. "If they closed the program after Langley, they'd need a significant amount of tissue samples from either her or… Ms. Bradley."

"I wouldn't care," Gendo said darkly. "If I didn't have someone to pull me down to earth, then I'd take whatever samples were needed to continue the Shikinami line, whatever ephemeral advantage that might give the Marks."

Mr. Theisman took a deep, long breath, the darkness dispersing from his face as he stepped forward and presented to Kyu a palm-sized disk of swirling purple and bright blue. "Here it is. Whenever you're ready, you can try your operation."

Kyu accepted the gemstone, regarding it for a moment before looking back at Athena. "When do you want to attempt this? We've gone over what the operation might entail, but the choice of when to try is yours."

Athena considered the question for a moment, cupping her chin in thought before she looked back up at Kyu. "I would like to attempt it now if you are ready. And… I would like my friends by my side."

Kyu smiled slightly as she nodded. "Let's get set up, then."

. . .

Daniel watched from a little ways away as Gendo and Kozo lifted a bed into the main living space, Athena walking over and lying down on it as several Pneumaic medical devices surrounded her in short order.

He stood by young Shinji, Kaworu, Ryoji Jr., and Natsumi, and glanced at the door, wondering if they would arrive.

Surely enough, the door opened, and Asuka Shikinami-Langley and Bradley stepped through, regarding the sight with somewhat wary eyes as they came to a stop at Daniel's side. "So… what are they doing to her?" young Asuka asked, her tone cautious.

"They're giving Athena a soul," Daniel replied quietly, smiling slightly as the sisters' eyes widened. "We went to the Mark plant in Hokkaido and got it before we flattened the place."

"Gotcha," Bradley said with a grin. "So that's the sound we just stopped hearing a few minutes ago."

"That it is." Daniel paused for a moment, watching as Kyu, Naoko, Ritsuko, and Yui surrounded Athena, lowering a panel that would allow them to see their patient's Frames without needing to waste Flux, however little it might produce, on the Sight.

His smile turned into a grin of his own. "We also managed to snag you two three more sisters. They're in our ship's medbay for the moment."

Young Asuka and Bradley both sputtered for a moment. "What?" Asuka said incredulously.

"Quiet, please," Ritsuko said. "We're about to begin."

Daniel threw a Frame over to Asuka Langley and Bradley. "I'll explain this way." he began as tools slipped under the screen, a flexible Pneumaic Bridge settling over Athena's chest as Frame Cutters and Weavers followed after it. "Commander Ikari likely took tissue samples from one or both of you and continued the Shikinami line without anyone knowing."

"Damn. That's what those 'personal checkups' were for?"

Bradley said, her words carrying a low and dangerous tone. "He didn't even trust anyone else with knowing my existence. Just let some machines lower into my tank and take blood and skin. The LCL fixed it right back up afterward."

"So…"

Asuka Langley began, the tone of her voice hesitant even as she kept an eye on the procedure. She paused as she smiled slightly at the still-conscious Athena, who smiled back. "What happens to them?"

"Likely, we leave them in your care here in the village once things settle down. We're already juggling enough here as is. With how fast the next big events are likely approaching…"

Daniel trailed off as he watched Kyu gently place the gemstone containing the blank soul on top of the Frame Knot.

"What do you mean by that? Do you know the future, somehow?" Asuka Langley asked.

"To a certain extent," Daniel admitted. He went silent for a moment as he focused on the operation. "I'll explain afterward."

Kyu hooked a Frame Weaver's tendrils, sinking past the physical, under the gemstone, slowly spinning up Frames that connected to the soul, then down towards the Frame Knot. "How do you feel, Athena?" Kyu, thus far silent, asked.

"I feel… strange," Athena replied, her expression as unsure as her tone of voice. "Almost like my mind is in starting to go somewhere else while still fully conscious. It is not an unfamiliar sensation, with my apparent connection to this world's Rei Ayanami."

"I see," Kyu replied. "Interesting, that there's a mental connection between Ayanami clones here. But I digress."

She looked over at her fellow 'surgeons', the four of them silently deliberating something, likely over a soul link before Kyu's focus returned to Athena. "We have two options on where to progress from here. Either we can attempt to 'upload' your memory and personality to the soul core, or we can try to implant it immediately and monitor it for any aberrations. The choice is yours."

Athena was silent for a moment. "Try to upload my memories to the soul." she finally said.

"We'll need to be careful," Yui said aloud, "or might run the risk of inducing mental trauma."

"That is true," Kyu replied. "What would be the best course of action, do you think?"

"Probably putting her to sleep," Ritsuko said. "From what I've read, there's a significant mitigation of risk if doing anything mental when the brain and mind are in a rest state."

"Sounds good to me," Naoko said. "Let's not waste any more time. Kyu, if you could?"

"Take a deep breath, Athena," Kyu said as she placed a hand on Athena's head. "When you wake up, this will be done, and you'll no longer have anything to worry about. I promise."

Athena took a deep breath, and her eyes slowly closed.

"Alright," Kyu said as Athena began to take more deep, steady breaths. "Mother, Grandmother, go ahead and set up connections to the brain so we can monitor what memories there are. Mrs. Ikari and I will begin the transfer once you're done."

It went silent again, and time seemed to at once stretch and fly as all around watched the operation continue. Frames, like scaffolding, stretched up towards Athena's head from Ritsuko and Naoko's weavers. As they finished, the Frames began to glow with energy, data, and memory, Kyu and Yui monitoring things closely. If something was going wrong at any point, or if things were tense, their faces barely showed it, pictures of focus and professionalism.

Then, the flow of light stopped from the Frames that Ritsuko and Naoko had created, the two doctors cutting the Frames and beginning to guide them toward the soul core. Finally, Kyu grabbed hold of the soul core, bringing it slowly into Athena's body. As she did, the other three began to pick apart the Frame Knot, connecting what they could to the soul as it slowly lowered into place.

Finally, the soul was in place, and Kyu removed the gemstone that had held it and set it aside on the table as all four women took a deep breath.

"So, doctors," Daniel said, finally breaking the silence, "what's the prognosis?"

"As of this moment?" Kyu replied as the doctors began to deactivate machinery and remove it from off of or over Athena. "Her vital signs are holding steady on all levels, and it looks as though she's accepted the transplant."

"We'll need to keep an eye on her," Naoko replied. "Likely over an extended period of time, to make sure that there aren't any future complications."

"How long do you think that might take?" Natsumi asked, clearly worried for her friend. "Is she going to need to stay isolated at all?"

"Not at all," Yui said assuringly. "She'll be able to do everything she's been doing up until now. We'll just need to check up on her every few weeks if symptoms don't pop up. As for how long that's going to last…"

Yui looked over at Naoko as Kyu woke Athena from her brief sleep. "How long should we keep an eye on her?"

"I'd probably recommend an extended period. A year, just to be sure, if not more." Naoko replied frankly. "This is, after all, a completely novel operation that we've just pulled off, so I want to be absolutely sure."

As the adults continued to talk with each other about future treatment plans, Athena walked over to Natsumi and Ryoji Jr., smiling slightly. "So," Natsumi said slowly. "Feel any different?"

"Well…" Athena replied. "I imagine we'll find out together, shall we?"