Commander Akagi

by HydrationStation

Gendo Ikari spirals and becomes unfit to command after Yui's experiment. Leaving a certain old hag as next in line. Naoko Akagi looks to a half-sane Kyoko Soryu to fill her vacant role as Chief Scientist. Naturally, a butterfly affect unfolds. But how will Commander Akagi's two sided nature fare when she has a taste of the same power Gendo Ikari had? Not very well.*Asushin*

5. Alone in the Crystal Part I

In waves, the endless roaring cheers of adoration deafened her ears.

Asuka paced back and forth across the stage, to the end of each seventy-five foot tall curtain. Unit-02 awaited beside her, hidden from the audience. The EVA towered over her like a sentry, its bright red amour's gleam blurred her vision, like a crimson sunrise.

She couldn't contain herself, Asuka jumped over the right foot of Unit-02, hid in between the two colossal feet, and peeked through the curtains. She attempted to scan each and identify every single face in the massive stadium's audience. They all seemed to be as eager as her, after all, they travelled all this way to meet their new protector, to see her. But there were so many faces that it covered the corner of her eyes and blurred into one shape, their voices melted in the waves and became unanimous in a deaf, aimless pitch.

Misato's head burst through the curtain. "Showtime!"

Asuka let out a yelp and leapt into a combat pose. She glared at Misato with a look of betrayal, while Misato broke into a fit of snickers. "T-that's not funny!"

"Sorry, I just couldn't help it."

"Well help it next time. I'm trying to get in the zone here."

"Oh, I see." Misato replied, still just a head wrapped in curtains. They both looked up at Unit-02 "Hey, are you sure you don't want to just use the crane?"

Asuka groaned, "Just get in here! You're embarrassing me." Misato raised her hands in defeat, she joined her and Unit-02 behind the curtain. "Yes, I'm sure. I've done this a hundred times, look." She pointed to the grooves on each armor plate, from the sabaton to the greaves. "There's steps I can take. It's easy."

Misato let out a displeased groan.

"It-"

"-I just don't feel good about this. God, you're just a kid- "

"-So easy a kid can do it."

"Well, hang on-"

"And Naoko said I could do it." Asuka looked off in the distance.

"She said you could if you wanted to."

Asuka shrugged, "Well then, I want to."

"It's just my job to make sure you're safe, that's all. You don't need to impress anyone." Misato realized Asuka was miles away and sighed. She looked up at what transfixed Asuka, the Commander waved at them from a railing high above the EVA, around Unit-02's waist. Her Chief Scientist stood by her side. Kyoko leaned on the rail and stared at Asuka. Even as an obscure figure up above, she could feel the look of contempt, and the white soulless shine of her lenses.

Misato gave Asuka's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Forget about her, that's not why you're here."

Asuka looked up at Unit-02. "Maybe it'll change things if they see me… you know."

"Asuka…"

A scratching sound came from the speakers that were attached to the rail. Distorted horns and strings played that turned into a triumphant orchestra. Misato and Asuka looked at each other, "Well, I guess that's your cue."

"No." Asuka shook her head and let out a sharp exhale, "It's my chance."

---

The railings and step-pieces almost felt molded for Asuka's steps as she climbed up with ease, with no mind of the height, she had already scaled to Unit-02's hamstring.

Naoko's booming voice from the microphone got closer and closer. "Our star recruit has been hand picked by the brightest minds behind the Marduk institute. Our choice was simply unanimous, we all agreed, we really did, that without question this was new natural born talent. Her future is to protect humanity from any threat that comes our way and guide us, not just to safety, but as a species. To our destiny." The crowd cheered.

She climbed until she was on the same eye level as the Commander. Kyoko stood beside Naoko as she stared at her and offered a sentimental smile. "But she has just one flaw. Just one little flaw ladies and gentlemen."

Asuka took a deep breath.

"She's a little shy." A few light hearted chuckles came from the audience. "So please, kindly give it up for the pilot of EVA Unit-02, Asuka Langley… Soryu!"

The curtains pulled aside, the orchestra hit its peak and Asuka watched as the crowd roared at the sight of the uncanny giant. Eventually, this turned to gasps as they pointed out the child that scaled up the waist of Unit-02, "Don't worry folks, she's a professional!"

The conductor of the orchestra below the stage sent the band into a performing frenzy with an intense desire to give earth's champion the debut she deserved. Asuka gave one last look over the sea of people, and felt their joy and praise wash away a lifetime of burdens. She let out a sharp exhale and rested her hand on the nape of Unit-02's neck.

Naoko turned to her and lowered the mic, "Keep going!"

"Yes mam!"

---

A stream of air bubbles obscured Asuka's vision the moment she opened her eyes, and she heard nothing of the crowd outside as her ear's adjusted to the sudden change of pressure. And suddenly, the roar of applause returned like a wave. The faces of the delighted crowd that felt like a single blur began to un-strand itself into individual faces, defined and agreed upon one consensus, clear as day.

They loved her.

She spun around to see Misato and Naoko's reaction, they beamed at her and waved, and Unit-02 waved back. Even Kaji was there, and he waved too. Asuka grinned and Unit-02 flashed a colossal middle finger at him in return, which earned a laugh from the crowd.

Kaji chuckled and shook his head. "You got me."

"Heh."

Unit-02 rested her hands on her hips and a strange feeling inked into her bright mood.

Somebody was missing.

Unit-02 scanned the backstage as everything zoomed away from her, and then the rest of the stadium. "Where's my… M-" She coughed and LCL rippled out, the word was stuck in the back of her throat like an eyelash, "My…" The crowd stopped cheering, but the triumphant music still played in the background. "Can you… can you help me find my mother?" They all pointed in unison at Unit-02's feet as Mother strode ahead of her, only one footstep away from the EVA crushing her. "Mother! Did you see!? Did you?" Unit-02's hands fell to her side in defeat. "D-did you?" Mother did not give so much as a backwards glance, even though Asuka's voice was connected to the intercom. "Wait, where are you going?" Her strawberry blonde hair floated in the wind. "Mother?"

The crowd parted ways for Kyoko to disappear within.

"Mama, come back!"

Unit-02 ran after her but stumbled backwards as she realized that she had nearly stepped into the crowd.

Asuka gasped and stumbled backwards, the crowd scrambled away, some cried out in fear and recoiled, some even hurled curses at her.

"It's okay everyone!" Naoko's voice boomed through the intercom, "She wouldn't hurt a soul."

Right, Asuka?

Asuka turned around. "Who said that?" She gulped as she looked down at the crowd, "Can you please move? " The crowd went silent and glared at her, "I need to… just move already!" They stood their ground.

Do it. You know you want to. They're ants. Just do it.

Unit-02 stamped its foot and the earth trembled, "Move, move now! Or I'll… I'll…"

Or what?

"I'll…"

What will you do?

Another tremor shook the ground, but it wasn't from Unit-02, it came from far away and even brought the EVA off of her balance and flinch. The triumphant music screeched, distorted and then twisted into a loud siren. The stage lights blared into a crimson red.

"What… what-'' Unit-02 slouched and turned to her Commander for answers. "-What is that?"

"It's an Angel, Asuka."

"An Angel? But… but-"

"-That's impossible!" Misato's voice boomed so loudly it didn't need Naoko's intercom, "Commander, you said they wouldn't arrive for another four years."

"I know, Misato, but it is here now. You know what has to be done."

"You're right… God, you're right." Misato replied. "Asuka. I'm sorry. But it's time."

"T-time?"

The crowd talked in confused murmurs as they all turned behind them, to where the setting sun hid the approaching giant. Unit-02 turned to see a giant monstrous silhouette march towards her. Asuka attempted to peer through the glare to get a better look at the Angel. It was skeletally thin, and swayed with each stumbled step as though it were asleep.

She gulped, "That's… that's not an EVA, is it?"

"You have to kill it." Naoko's calm tone froze the LCL and made her inhale small shards. "It's time for you to fulfil your duty."

"I.. I can't!" Asuka rasped, "I'm not ready."

The Commander was silent for a moment as the footsteps got closer, "Are you telling me no? After years of preparation you're going to stop now? Don't you remember? We made a deal."

The oxygen supply in the tank grew thin as Asuka drew ragged breaths. She turned to Misato who stared at her blankly, "Tell her! Tell her I just want to go home!"

Misato shook her head, "This is exactly why I left."

"What?"

She didn't reply. Misato walked off the stage and joined the crowd, they began to blur and become merely a shadow behind the sun, until they were nothing to be seen at all.

"Asuka…" Naoko said slowly, "How many people need to walk away from you in order for you to learn?"

The Angel stopped walking.

Naoko sighed, "Well. Alright then. If you don't want to do this then so be it, I'll find somebody else. I suppose I could fly in Rei or Shinji."

"No! No, I'll do it." Unit-02 clenched her fists, "I'll kill the Angel."

"I hope so. I really hope so."

Unit-02 turned backwards, the area was derelict, "...Naoko?" The stage's gigantic red curtains flew in the wind and pushed the seventy-five foot tall EVA forward. "Naoko?"

She stared at the Angel, which held its vigil. She walked far to the right to be clear of the crowd, and the Angel did the same. She stopped and so did the Angel. Its skeletal, emaciated figure walked away from the sun, and was hidden by darkness, save for its glowing yellow eyes.

Unit-02 clenched her fists. The LCL inside the tank boiled so intensely that her hands melted into the control yokes, "What are you looking at? You think I'm afraid of you?"

The Angel continued to stare.

"Well I'm not! Come on!"

Explosive footsteps sprinted towards her like thunder and Unit-02 accepted the challenge. She sprinted endlessly until the Angel finally caught the sunset and was locked in her sights. "You're mine!"

Asuka let loose a battle cry and lunged for the Angel.

Suddenly, she ricocheted backwards and landed on her feet, dazed. Asuka charged again, only to be stopped by an invisible wall, "An AT Field!?" Unit-02's fist slammed against the shimmering barrier, "Come out and fight me!"

The Angel punched the barrier as well, which elicited an annoyed yell from Asuka. She struck the AT Field again and again. Her yells turned into the snarls of the EVA. It's jaw begged to break free from its restraints.

She resorted to crashing her elbow and hammering down with her fists.

The Angel matched her ferocity until the two stopped and gasped for air. Unit-02 leaned against the AT Field and caught her breath as she grew dizzy.

Asuka growled at the Angel, "Don't think this means you win…" She gasped and looked back down.

"Don't think this means you win." The Angel replied.

Asuka gasped and looked back up, across the AT Field. Sunken yellow eyes stared back at her as a fog began to obscure its silhouette, and became only two blurry fog-lights.

Unit-02 tilted her head in confusion, "This can't be me…"

The Angel tilted her head, "This can't be me."

Asuka stumbled backwards, and so did the Angel. Hesitantly Asuka waved her hand, and her reflection mimicked her, and every hand gesture after that. She yelled in frustration and wiped at the barrier between them, but nothing seemed to clear what was on the other side. Her reflection wiped away the fog too, "Come on...come on!"

The Angel made its true form clear with one final swipe.

Asuka screamed. The Angel screamed back at Asuka, like a parrot would. Then it stared at her blankly. It was more of flesh than the mechanical EVA, chitinous red and white armour grew over its emaciated body. The Beast's sanguine skull was adorned with a thorned white diadem.

It's jaw was bone white. An exposed, flesh-less jaw. There was no metal that restrained the maw like Unit-02's did. The teeth were few, rocky, jagged and misshapen. The ivory jaw was made of dense overgrown bone and the sinew that held it together. They gnashed and dripped with saliva, ready to lunge with one sudden move.

But what petrified Asuka the most was the Beast's burning, blank eyes, its gaze was breakable. It's… no, her. Her scorned, bleeding eyes oozed strange molten blood that melted all flesh as it dribbled past and scrunched together in agony..

The Beast stared at her misshapen hands. Her eyes suddenly darted side to side in realization and slowly raised her hands to hide her face. But the eyes still burned through the gaps.

Asuka's vision dimmed, and then looked down and realized Unit-02 had covered her eyes too. Both her and the Beast withdrew their hands.

"That's… that's not me." Asuka stood still. "That isn't the real me."

The Beast gave no reply, instead she paced back and forth, her eyes transfixed on Unit-02's shrunken, paralyzed form.

"G-go away."

The Beast stopped walking and began to pant. It hunched over with each labored pant until it shrieked and threw a feral strike that cracked the AT Field.

Unit-02 began to walk backwards, her hands wrung together as she looked around the void. "Somebody… Somebody help me. Misato?"

Another punch. And then another.

"M…Mama?"

The Beast stopped the next punch and poked its head through the hole it had pierced through the AT Field. The Beast panted as she stared intensely at Asuka. Unit-02 took a tentative step forward and locked eyes with her. The beast's molten eyes began to melt together until it had only a single cyclopean gaze, its skin now a midnight blue.

Massive bat-like wings grew from her back as it shuddered and unfolded.

"Naoko?"

The Beast threw its head back and screamed. It broke through the AT Field, lunging right at Unit-02. The powerful wings forced them airborne and to the lightless sky in seconds.

"Naoko! Naoko, help me!"

Its hands wrapped around Unit-02's throat as Asuka's very own throat was pinched into a vice she was flung about inside the entry pod as they flew beyond the boundaries of the earth.

Nobody was going to come save her.

"Argh- S-stop-" Asuka attempted to hiss out. The Beast didn't relent and her grip only grew tighter around Asuka's throat and vision began to blur. "Stop it! Stop!" She barely managed to hiss out.

Asuka watched the singular eyeball of the beast, transfixed by its endless spiral depth, even as her own vision dimmed, it was Asuka's only source of light as they flew higher into the infinite void. A red stage light ever focused on her every move, the burning primordial blood flicked onto Unit-02 melted her armor and into Asuka's own flesh and it bubbled. The Beast let out a strange shrill cackle that washed away the fear that held Asuka.

It was overtaken by boiling hatred.

Unit-02 gripped the Beast's wrists, The EVA's new found strength pried the hands free from her throat, "I'll kill you!"

Wobbling bolts that held the EVA's muzzle together broke free and allowed for at long last, an unbridled roar.

The EVA whipped her head back and took a large bite of the Beat's fore-wing. With only one wing desperately flapping, they briefly became suspended in the air, and plummeted down to the earth.

The Beast was now a cowardly, wretched thing and could only bat her claws at Unit-02's arm as a flurry of feral strikes were unleashed at her. A unsavory grin grew on Asuka's face as power churned through her veins, unrestrained and infinite as they continued to plummet.

Unit-02 felt the Beast's throat, threw her head back and lunged for one final bite. She snarled as she tried to tear the gurgling tendons. Warm, blue blood flew on her face. The Angel's strikes grew slower and sloppy as life eked out of the body. Asuka reflexively wiped her face as her EVA did the same and leaned back, utterly at peace at the rush of her victory, even as the two free-fell down the sky.

Both of them caught fire as they fell deeper into their descent of the void, where strange lights awaited them.

Asuka reached for the EVA's control panel, off to the side of the yokes and flipped on her com-switch. "Pilot Soryu to HQ, anybody copy? If you can hear me, Angel is dead."

The fire that burned around them from their impending fall began to burn away the corruption that layered the Angel's body.

"I repeat-"

It touched Unit-02's face, which Asuka snatched violently in retaliation. Light gathered around them as the earth awaited them at impact. She inspected the purple gauntlet, and gasped at the sight of lime green streaks. Asuka gasped and let go of the hand, it gently brushed the side of her cheek as it fell limp. "No…no not you." She stared at the lifeless body.

Unit-02 looked upon the falling body of Unit-01 and stared at the gaping hole left inside of its neck, where the half-bitten entry plug and its pilot flew out in space. Asuka caught the pilot in her hand, too terrified to look as the rest scattered into embers. She held that hand and pressed it into Unit-01's neck, "What do I do? Oh God, what do I do?"

Her radio feed buzzed as it picked up a signal and the distorted voice was instantly recognizable, "What did you do!?"

"Naoko!" Asuka's lowering air supply constricted her voice. "I-I didn't know, I didn't know it was him, I swear!"

"Yes you did! Why else would you have…"

"I wouldn't have! I'd never hurt him-"

"Did you just interrupt me!?" The Commander spat spat at her through the speakers and made Asuka flinch as though venom flew through the filters.

"I'm sorry!" Asuka cried out.

"You stupid bitch! Look at what you've done!"

A change in light hit Asuka's eyes, and thousands of distant screams flooded her ears as she fought the urge to look down, past the clouds. A densely populated city was in sight. Her city. Asuka was the meteorite that would smite Tokyo-03.

"Help me! I don't know what to do, please tell me what to do!"

"You did this. You're on your own." The line clicked and went silent. Asuka turned the body of EVA Unit-02 to face the sky, and squeezed Unit-01's body tight until she felt its limp head rest in the crook of her neck.

But no matter how tight she shut her burning eyes, Asuka's stomach dropped as the screams grew louder before the inescapable impact.

---

Alone in the Crystal

---

She fell from a great height.

Asuka landed on her bed and sat up to find herself taken back to reality. When opened her eyes, she was greeted by the severe rays of the morning sun, which even the grey heavy set curtains couldn't shield her from, and a stomach ache.

"What the fuck…"

She attempted to recollect her strange dream, but the details quickly boiled into vapor from the morning heatwave. It wasn't like any other heatwave. it lacked the familiar humidity. Dry, intense, concentrated, it was as though the sun was accompanied by a magnifying glass, which was aimed directly at Tokyo-03. Asuka groaned and shielded her eyes from the burning sun with her forearm "God, give me a break." The three sputtering fans she banked half her paycheck on did not alleviate the burn of the scorching sun, but it did carry a foreign scent that travelled through her apartment. One that was never present throughout the day.

Or at night neither, now that she thought about it.

Someone was cooking?

Even as her mind collected itself, Asuka couldn't help but smirk.

"...Ikari."

Her eyes trailed to the right, She reached for the baseball bat that rested beside her nightstand. "Breaking and entering now, are we?" Asuka tiptoed to the door and slowly slid it open. Someone was in the kitchen, cooking with the lights off. Asuka spun the bat with a flick of the wrist as she stalked the hallway. "This will show you who's boss 'round here, damn kill stealer."

Then she realized the person cooking was far too tall to be Shinji, it was a woman. Asuka froze. It was difficult to make out who the stranger was at first, but the sunray which bled through the curtains showed her bob of burgundy hair to be unmistakable.

Asuka's hand wobbled, she hid the baseball bat behind her back. "Good- good morning, Naoko-''

Suddenly, a startling pop came from the toaster that made the unknown woman yelp. The burgundy haired woman turned to reach for the toast, her hand still fixing the frying pan on the stove. The crack of sunlight that went through the curtains showed her face.

It wasn't Naoko, instead it was her guardian. "... Eh!? Akagi?"

"Hmm?" Ritsuko looked behind and locked eyes with her. "Oh, good morning Asuka."

Asuka peered at Ritsuko suspiciously "Morning? The fuck you doing here?"

"Mother gave me the day off, and then I have important business to attend to in Old Tokyo." Ritsuko peered behind Asuka's back. "Why do you have a bat?"

"Huh?" Asuka glanced at it, then at her, sweat beaded off her brow. "I- I thought you were that pervert Ikari!"

"Oh, did you?" Ritsuko was for once not in her work attire, but in a blue pajamas. She turned her attention back to the frying pan, "Didn't know he had it in him."

"And I'm a potential political target too, you know!"

"Hmm."

"Seriously! It's not funny."

Ritsuko gave her a backwards glance, "Am I really that much of a stranger in my own home?"

Asuka squinted and pointed the baseball bat at Ritsuko. "You haven't taken a day off in six years. Not even a sick day. You have a bunk in your office, so excuse me if I don't find this suspicious."

"Are you hungry? I made breakfast." Ristuko turned and pouted at the dried out pan full of sunny-side eggs. "Or at least… there was an attempt at it." She pointed at the table, which was full of paperwork and bags, "Could you move that?"

Asuka wrinkled her nose at the table. There were plastic bags containing actual groceries, instead of yen bills for take out. "What's all this junk?" She nudged them aside with her baseball bat and found folders underneath.

Ritsuko frowned as she approached the table with two plates, "It's not junk, it's confidential information."

"What kinda confidential?"

"They're…" Ritsuko cleared her throat, "Some paperwork from your parent-teacher conferences."

"Oh wow." Asuka scanned the contents of the table, much like Scientist's desk back at the Geofront, it was cluttered, with the promise to be organized when she had time. "A lot to catch up on, huh?" Asuka looked for Ritsuko's reaction, which she didn't return. "Wait, you're serious?"

"Someone has to discuss your future- " Asuka snatched one of the folders off of the dining table, labelled 'confidential'. "-H-hey, don't touch that!" Ristuko fumbled as she set the plates down. "Asuka!"

"No one needs to discuss my future, I'm an adult!" Asuka avoided Ritsuko's swipe and dashed to the other side of the table. She opened the folder as she walked with one hand and kept her at bay with the bat in her other hand. Asuka stopped at the sight of its contents. "Wha-" Asuka turned to face Ritsuko and pointed at the image of a clunky orange mecha. It looked like it had quills on its back, or multiple exhausts. "...The fucks this?"

Ritsuko reached for the paper and hesitated. "You're not telling anyone about this."

Asuka frowned, the playful lines in her face turned downwards as she held the paper, she sank into her chair and set the bat beside the table." Yeah, what's new…"

Ritsuko sighed. "It's meant to be a response to the EVA. It's called 'Jet Alone'. It's being outsourced in a private company by the JSSDF-"

"-It looks so stupid. I mean, look at it!" Asuka smacked her hand on the paper, "It's got no head! How's the pilot supposed to turn their neck?"

"There is no pilot, it's operated remotely by a computer-"

"Eh!?"

"-And you won't think it's so stupid when the Jet Alone's demonstration goes so well today that the UN pulls out our funding in favor of something more affordable. And-"

Asuka chuckled to herself as she studied the dossiers, like she was reading some morning comic strips. "Stupid… little arms, what's it gonna do, headbutt me to death?

Ritsuko sighed again as Asuka flipped through the folder and discovered another Mecha, something resembling a T-Rex, labelled Project Trident "...As you can see, the JSSDF have been developing their own project; it will be presented alongside the same conference." Ritsuko blinked in realisation and hid her face with her palm, "Oh, Mother's going to kill me…"

The weight of the folder's contents was light, but a nuisance nonetheless. She looked up at Ritsuko. "We're sabotaging the conference, right? To make them look bad?"

"And ruin our reputation? No."

"Then we're gonna beat them in a fight!" Asuka threw the folder onto the table and sat up, "Show them who they're messing with! Right?"

Ritsuko rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Asuka, no one is sabotaging anything, and no one's fighting anyone. Would you just eat before the eggs get cold? I'd like to have a normal breakfast for once."

Asuka eyed it suspiciously as though it were poison. "...Is that real bacon?"

"It's vegetarian."

Asuka grunted and slumped down onto the table across from Ritsuko, the mound of paperwork divided the two. "Is… she coming too?"

"Who, Mother? Of course not, someone has to look after HQ."

"Not her…" Asuka nudged at the eggs with her fork. "You know."

Ritsuko nodded, "Your- Dr. Soryu will be accompanying me and Katsuragi today, yes."

"Today? It's today?"

"I'll be going a few hours after your interview."

The two chewed in silence, save for the occasional crunches from the unsavory bacon. "So? What's the plan then, fearless leader?

"We're going to secure our investors' goodwill with a demonstration of our own."

Asuka crunched on the dry strip of cardboard. "I'm not dancing."

"You don't have to do anything, Shinji will go. Katsuragi will escort him after their parent teacher-interview."

Asuka looked down at her plate. "...Shinji's going." She repeated.

Ritsuko ignored her as she went back to her hidden note. Asuka's chewing intensified as she exhaled sharply through her nostrils. The relentless, concentrated heat from the sun made the kitchen table too hot to rest their arms on.

Asuka slammed her hands on the table, "No way!" She shot up, while Ritsuko kept her attention to the paper. "This is the time to debut your elite Evangelion! Not some-" Asuka squeezed her hands around an invisible neck, "-Spaz-piloted shit box!"

"Somebody needs to be here to help Rei defend against an Angel attack.

Asuka huffed. "Naoko said the window for an attack is starting next week, we're fine, I think they can survive one day without me."

"It's not just that." Ritsuko looked up from her notes, "I don't want you going there."

"So that's what this is about! This is punishment for last time, isn't it?" Asuka stared at her. "Do you know how long I waited for this? When Naoko said the world would be ready to see the first EVA, she said it would be me. Me!"

"I don't want you going there, and that's that. It's for your own good." Ritsuko went back to her food and notes, her brow furrowed and dripped with sweat. "What's more important, getting attention, or doing your job?"

"I can take care of myself. They'll eat that dweeb alive, let me go."

"This isn't a debate, I'm telling you, Shinji is going, you're staying. And don't even think about telling him, Mother is going to debrief him personally."

Asuka snorted at Ritsuko, "What, you're the Commander now?"

Ritsuko pushed up her reading glasses. "I'm representing NERV along with Captain Katsuragi and Dr. Soryu, so no, I'm not the Commander, but you will follow my lead." She motioned to her handwritten note, "I've been preparing to speak on behalf of Evangelion for some time, but private companies completing their projects so soon was not..." Ritsuko noticed Asuka attempting to peer over her shoulder to read the paper and pivoted away. "...What I expected."

"What's that?"

Ritsuko scooted away from Asuka, who leaned further, "It's nothing-" Asuka snatched the paper out of her hand, "-Asuka! That's private"

Asuka held the paper up high and read the dissertation in a haughty voice, "Despite the cost efficient convenience of an internal heat engine-"

"-Give it!"

"-A reactor installed to a ground weapon meant to engage in close quarters combat poses a risk to civilians, blah, blah, blah, deliberate operator malfeasance? Wow. College really didn't do you any favors-"

She dodged a swipe from Ritsuko who chased the speedy pilot.

Asuka continued to read as she nimbly avoided her guardian. "-Regardless, the limitations of a five minute timer and the risks of the EVA's aggressive-" Asuka's guardian grabbed her wrists as she fought to keep the paper in place. "-Nature! Are proven time and time again to be countered by their pilots through the connection of science, and the human… heart."

Asuka slowed down. Ritsuko grabbed hold of the paper, to which Asuka pulled, "Hey, I wanna read that!"

"No, give it back!"

"It was starting to get good!" Asuka barked back-

An audible rip separated the paper and the pair, to which they both stumbled back and stared at their halves.

There was an uncomfortable silence, Ritsuko composed herself and cleared her throat. "I can- I can tape it back together."

Slowly, Asuka handed her half of the paper, the ink was now smeared by her palms, courtesy of the unforgiving heat. "It wasn't a bad speech…"

Ritsuko ignored her as she sat back down on the table. She stared at the paper, Asuka sat down and joined her. After which, the only sounds that came from the apartment were the deafening fans that swiveled back and forth.

Asuka let out a sniff, "Well, you should've made copies-"

"Asuka just… eat your breakfast. Please." Ritsuko lit herself a stashed cigarette, she let out a soft sigh of relief as she blew the smoke out her nostrils. Her eyes turned to an unimpressed Asuka. "I haven't had one in a while, okay?"

"Did I say anything?" Asuka eyed her warily, she shifted in the seat far too small for the teenager. "Are you still gonna come to the teacher meeting?"

"Of course, it's my job."

"Oh, right." Asuka nodded along as she poked at the now luke-warm eggs, "Covers the bills, right?"

"Don't be like that. Your well being is important to me." Ritsuko said.

"Right."

She hesitated. "And… It's important to Misato too. I know what you're going to say, but she wants what's best for you-"

"Are you two in cahoots again?" Asuka stabbed the egg and wolfed it down, "Maybe it's better I don't go to that stupid conference."

Ritsuko tapped her cigarette into her spare mug, much easier to hide than an ashtray. "I don't doubt you can handle yourself there, We just don't want you in that environment. Other than that, I want you to make your own choices. Who you want to be, what you want to wear." Ritsuko searched for Asuka's eyes, "Where you want to live."

Asuka looked up at her, after a moment of eye contact, she scoffed, "Are you kidding? Why would I wanna leave?" She gestured to the sunbathed apartment, coated in dust, free of life and its impending reminders. "I love it here."

---

Gendo rammed the fire exit door open with his shoulder and a labored gargle "-Outta here." He muttered to himself and limped through to the outdoor parking lot. His bathrobe flowed in the wind as he hobbled on his cane. "Gotta get outta here."

On the other hand, he firmly held his grey cat Tadeo in place. On one of his fingers dangled a pair of keys.

He clicked the fob key repeatedly and listened closely for a chime. Gendo bounced on his good leg with anticipation.

Gendo heard the beep off to the right, it was a dingy scooter with a basket on the front. "Ha!" Hastily, Gendo panted heavily as he hobbled to the scooter and stuck his cane through the basket, followed by Tadeo.

With a grunt Gendo swiped the helmet off his seat. He fumbled through his robes pocket and pulled out his cracked sunglasses to shield himself from the open scorched skies.

The fire exit door was kicked open by two nurses. "Mr. Ikari!" Yuma, one of the nurses called out, "Mr. Ikari! You know you can't be driving that, you can hurt yourself!"

"I can handle driving perfectly fine!" Gendo spat back. He ignited the scooter into neutral.

Yuma turned to the other nurse, Osamu, a tall lanky man. "Don't just stand there, he's going to hurt somebody!"

Osama sprinted after him, his long gangly limbs sliced through the air.

Gendo sped up to avoid the younger nurse, who was in hot pursuit, "I am your Commander and you will leave me to my business!"

"Mr. Ikari, you know we can't understand a word you're saying!" Osamu called out, "Come back sir, it's Teriyaki Tuesday!"

"I hate Teriyaki Tuesday!" Gendo stamped on the petal and zoomed down the highway. Gendo's cat glanced back and watched as Osamu rolled his ankle and tumbled down the road.

"Call the chief of security!" Osamu cried out, his skin singed by the scorching concrete, "Ikari's loose!"

Tadeo clung to the basket for dear life as the true Commander zoomed down the highway, his bathrobe billowed back against the wind, "I have deeds to perform!"

---

Nearly every exposed surface since sunrise was too hot to touch, no one dared to even touch the metallic blinds. The students were restricted to pairs and scattered throughout the class, everyone worked through the heat in a unanimous attempt to make their setting immaculate for their impending guests.

All the students held idle conversation to alleviate from their impending delirium, almost like too many instruments playing at once. However, there was one pitch that Shinji attempted to fine tune out.

"And-and then there's Aina, Akahana- we call her Hana, we don't really have a nickname for Aina cause 'Ai-Ai' sound weird to me, I dunno why."

"I see."

Shinji squinted in discomfort as he attempted to find an angle to protect him from sunbeams. Every student in his classroom had tans or sunburns from their walk to school, save for Rei Ayanami. In fact, it seems as though the enigmatic albino was utterly indifferent and absorbed light rather than reflect it.

Two months of synch tests and visits to the hospital had dulled Shinji until he forgot his motivation, why he came to Tokyo-03 in the first place.

He has family, real flesh and blood family in this city. But she is in danger, therefore, he must protect her.

"Then it's me- right there in the middle! After that it's Ena and Morina. My big sister's name is Hana, like Haa-nah. I guess if you can't really hear good it sounds a lot like Maah-naah so we really have to say it clearly or else it gets confusing. "

"That is a lot of Na's."

Every student had their role today in making the classroom immaculate. Rei swept the tiled floor with a broom and as per usual, she held a one sided conversation with Mana Kirishima, who mopped the floors after her.

Mana squinted with one eye as she continued, "I know, right! It's like a family tradition, but you're gonna run out of Na's eventually, so the real question is, how long was the tradition?"

"I do not know."

"Anyways, it sure sucks that we gotta clean this place spotless on such short notice, I mean, my guardian's not even coming today."

"That is unfortunate."

Shinji stepped in place as he thought of a potential segway to approach his co-pilot, but there never seemed to be a moment where he could approach Rei at school, and after their daily synch training, they would be driven home separately by Section 2 escorts.

She doesn't own a mobile phone, and it would be far too rude to follow her after dark, he couldn't do that. And with every failed attempt, the more Rei Ayanami's face would take the place of the photo Shinji had in his velcro wallet. But as a consequence, his mother's radiant smile would fade underneath the sky blue hair and vacant gaze.

"Well, what about you Rei?"

"What about me?"

Mana rubbed the back of her head, her mop long forgotten, "Is anyone going to be here for your review today?"

"Possibly. I do not know."

Shinji set his broom aside and sighed. If Mana could approach her so nonchalantly, how hard could it be? As opposed to travelling all the way here from Atami to become a pilot and train every day to fight Angels?

He sighed to himself. "Just say something, you wimp…"

"What was that?" A voice behind him said. "Who are you calling a wimp?"

Shinji jumped in place and scanned the environment for the voice, before he realized it was the much shorter Keita Asari and remembered to look down. "Oh, hey Keita, I was-"

"-Hey man."

"Hey." Shinji chuckled, "Sorry, I was talking to myself. Don't mind me."

"Oh, sorry." Keita leaned his head to observe the two as well, "Well, we should probably get to work before the Class Rep finds us slacking."

"Sorry." Shinji politely raised his hand and scooted away from Keita, "Could you just give me a second? I'll be right back. I was going to-" He hesitated and turned to Rei and Mana.

"Oh sorry, you're gonna talk to Mana?" Keita said, "What have you got to talk about?"

"N-no not her, I was gonna try to talk to Rei." Shinji nodded and attempt to walk away, "Sorry-"

"-Try to?" Keita scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, I thought you and Ayanami were close."

Shinji gave him a backwards glance, his feet glued to the conversation, "Sorry? What would make you think that?"

"Well you guys are always missing school around the same time. I thought maybe you guys were in a secret club or something."

"Right, that. It's a…" Shinji recollected the rehearsed phrase. "...Extracurricular activity."

"Oh that's cool, what do you do at this 'extracurricular activity'?"

"Ah-" Shinji lost sight of Rei, he bounced in a suppressed anticipation. "It's an intern sort of class, to become NERV technicians."

"Oh, okay." Keita continued moping, his head low, "I dunno why, but I thought you guys were both piloting those robots or something, but nevermind."

He shook his head absentmindedly, "It's not a rob-" Shinji eyes widened, "No? What?" He spun backwards and faced Keita, "Why would we have that in common?"

Keita chuckled and shook his head, "Come on man, everyone knows."

Sweat slowly trickled down Shinji's brow, "...I don't know what to tell you, Keita, it's an extracurricular activity."

"Ah, I shouldn't have said anything…' Keita winced and continued to casually mop, "I probably shouldn't have said that, right? Sorry. We'd get in trouble. Anyways, we should probably get back to work-"

"-Wait. Sorry." Shinji blocked his path. He attempted to find his patience as the sun fried his thoughts and fell off his brow. "Not that I have anything to be in trouble for, but I'd like to know what people are saying about me."

"Well you know, I just heard some things down the grapevine… I don't wanna incriminate you or anything." Keita went back to mopping the floor. "But yeah, I saw that video of that robot fighting the alien thing, the one that looked like a giant weiner, and when apparently the robot talked, it kinda sounded like you were in there; was that you?"

Shinji shushed him loudly and prayed no one overheard, "Who showed you that?"

"Aida and Suzuhara." Keita blurted out. "B-but they didn't just come up and show it to me, I swear! I overheard them watching it, that's all.

"Okay..." Shinji nodded slowly, "You just overheard it, that's all?"

"Oh no, yeah. They still showed it to me after."

They both glanced at a distant Kensuke and Toji, who were bo-staff fighting with their brooms and mops.

Shinji let out a groan and looked back at Rei and Mana who inched more and more to the far side of the class, by the teacher's desk.

"Can we please talk about this later? I really, really need to have this conversation with Rei." As Shinji stepped away, he turned back around to see Keita was following him, "...It's a private conversation. Sorry."

Keita let out a nervous laugh, and leaned on his mop bucket, "Right, sounds good. I'll just be cleaning here." He nodded at Shinji. "Sorry."

"Sor-" Shinji gave up and nodded back, "...It's okay."

The two girls stared out the Teacher's window view of the parking lot. Mana stood on the teacher's wheelie chair to get a better view. "Maybe it's one of the parents?" She asked.

"I do not know."

Shinji tentatively joined the two, Rei would often gaze out of the window during lectures but this time she seemed genuinely intrigued at whoever was down there. Her hands were pressed tightly on windows that were too hot to touch.

He titled his head. "Hey…what are you guys looking at-"

"Be careful, Shinji!" Mana called out, her hands over her brow, "There's a hobo running around the parking lot."

"A hobo?"

Rei didn't acknowledge Shinji, her eyes glued to the stranger.

"You know, a drunkard or, or a drug addict!" Mana pouted, "He might try to stab you with a needle."

"Oh, I see-" Shinji's eyes lit up as he realized his window for opportunity had opened. "Well…that's not good. Someone should call security."

Without hesitation, Mana kicked the wheelie chair towards the teachers desk, "Don't worry, let me do it for you!"

An odd mix of guilt and giddiness ran through Shinji as his obstacle rolled away. He took a tentative step towards his long lost family member. "Hey Rei…" Rei opened the window's metallic handle, unbothered by the red mark it left on her hand afterwards. "H-have you got a minute?" She put her head through the window to get a better look. "What are you-"

There was an angry voice that echoed from down below, "That was you who dented my car, wasn't it!?"

"Corregh." A voice guttered back.

A sandy haired man in a red polo shirt was in a shouting match with the vagrant, who wore a bathrobe and fuzzy slippers. Shinji wiped his eyes to confirm what he saw was delirium, and sadly, he was wrong.

"How are you gonna pay for that?"

"I oo nok haf hime for hissh, I neek hoo finh ma shoh!" Gendo garbled back as he pushed the other man away with his cane.

"Your- your what?"

"Ma shon!""

"Son? You're a… parent? What kind of father comes to his son's parent-teacher conference drunk!?"

Gendo hobbled towards the school's entrance, "I haf a conhishon!"

The realization that he just called security on his own father dawned on Shinji. He spunaround to Mana, who was on the line, still standing on the chair.

"Thank you, sir!"

Shinji waved his hands subtly, yet frantically. "Kirishima, hang up the call!"

"Wait, hold on one second." Mana pitched the corded phone between her neck, "What, why? They're on the way."

Shinji pointed behind him, "That's my-"

"Shih-hee! Shih-hee!"

He shut his eyes in hope that he would disappear. "...That's my father."

"Oh." Mama's eyes widened in realisation "Ooh..." She winced. "Whoops."

"It's… it's fine." Shinji turned back to the window to find Rei's eyes turned to him, her head still out the window and cooked by the sun.

"He is your father?" Rei asked softly

"Yeah." Shinji offered a nervous smile. "And… To tell you the truth, I-I think he might somehow, in someway be-"

"-Who's your father?" Asuka's shrill voice from behind Shinji sent shivers down his spine.

He turned to see that Asuka stared at him with an extreme intensity. Her face grew red. Shinji cleared his throat, "Hi… Langley-"

"-I had a dream I killed you last night."

"W-what?"

"What? Nothing. Mind your own business. Who's your father?"

Shinji suddenly realized he was encircled. "W-well-"

"-Ikari's father is a hobo." Rei clarified.

Shinji stepped closer to the two, "Guys, he's not homeless, he has a condition-"

"-I knew it!" Asuka shoved Shinji aside and stood next to Rei as they stared out the window to see the altercation. Asuka poked her head through the window, "Oh sweet, it's like watching the nature channel!"

"Shih-hee!" Gendo called from down below, he waved with his cane and pointed at a nearby scooter, "Geh on! We're gehing ough of hiss shihohe!" Gendo stumbled backwards.

Shinji joined Asuka and Rei, he leaned his head out the window, "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the hospital!"

Gendo attempted to regain his balance, "Ahm orherin yew!"

More students began to crowd around the window "Move aside, move aside!" Kensuke barked as he worked his way through the growing crowd and pulled out his camera.

Two security guards ran out the door. The sandy haired man in the polo shirt shook his head. "You're gonna make a fool of yourself, man."

"What's going on here?" One of the security guards asked.

The polo man pointed at Gendo, "This drunk dented my car!"

"Fugh off!" Gendo shoved the polo man aside and hobbled back on the scooter. Before one of the guards could lunge at the scooter, he had made his escape, "Ruh away Shih-hee!" Gendo's bathrobe flowed in the wind as he fled the scene. "Ruh away!"

The classroom was so quiet, you could hear the whir of Kensuke's camera as it zoomed back out.

Shinji followed the flowing bathrobe until it disappeared beyond the corner of a building, while security guards lazily jogged after his father. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he felt the entire classroom have a window's eyed view to his life. The glaring sun felt almost like a stagelight, but that was better than looking his audience in the eye.

"Well…" Keita Asari patted him on the back. "At least yours showed up."

---

Gendo panted heavily as he hopped barefoot through empty streets on his cane, the slippers and scooter long abandoned after a traffic pole got in his way. Thankfully, he had managed to catch the cat before the collision. Tadeo bounced in his arm with an annoyed scowl.

When he hobbled through the street of endless cloned skyscrapers, civilians looked out their windows in swaths at him, his presence as unwelcome as an Angel's. This part of the city was meant to be abandoned, derelict, structural fodder to hold the line during Angel attacks.

Why were they all full of people? They must have known that the skyscrapers could not handle Geofront inversion at maximum weight capacity; if there was enough damage to the surface, they'd fall to the depths of the Geofront like brittle icicles.

His cat looked down, eager to get off the ride.

Gendo skidded into a nearby alleyway. There was a secret passage that went underneath, past the walls of Tokyo-03. He did not know where he would go from there, but anywhere was better than here, he would not give that traitor the satisfaction, even if it meant having to bow to the old men and their will.

He felt the roars of motorcycles off to the distance, they echoed off the empty streets.

There it was! The secret exit, the caged door with a metal frame. Gendo's hands felt for the false panel, and just like his old blueprints promised, a green touch screen waited for him.

"Ha!"

The passwords had to be the same. Gendo raised a trembled hand and pointed at the first number. His hand spasmed and hit the wrong button. He growled in frustration and tried again, but his hand shook a second, and third time until he ran out of attempts, the panel turned from green to red.

Gendo let out an anguished cry and slammed the fence. He took a ragged breath and leaned his head on the fence. He hugged Tadeo tightly to his chest.

"Having some trouble?"

He turned to the other side of the alley. A helmeted man in an all black suit waited for him. The stranger approached slowly and removed his helmet, to which loose greasy black hair fell down his shoulders. He offered a sincere smile. "Mr. Ikari, I'm the Chief of Security. You probably don't remember me, but I used to work with you at Gehirn-"

"I know who you are, Yamagishi, and I knew your father, mediocre as he may have been."

Yamagishi laughed in confusion, "What? I'm sorry, can you enunciate a little?"

Gendo pushed up his cracked sunglasses and reached for his bathrobe's inner coat pocket as his cane cluttered to the side. "I have no time for lap dogs. Get out of my way."

"I didn't understand a word of...look, Sir, let me explain. I got a call from your son, Shinji. He was very concerned when he called us. He actually insisted I come find you myself-"

Gendo drew out a scuffed CZ-75 pistol from his bathrobe and aimed it at Yamagishi, whose earnest smile immediately dropped. Gendo pulled the hammer back.

"Where did you-" Yamagishi slowly raised his hands.. "Mr. Ikari, listen to me, you're not at one-hundred percent-"

The gun fired and the bullet, thanks to Gendo's trembled hands, narrowly whirred past Yamagishi's ear. "Okay, maybe you are at one-hundred percent. Please put the gun down, sir. There's civilians nearby, Mr. Ikari- "

"That's Commander!" He pulled the hammer. "Commander Ikari! I built this city, not her!" His arm spasmed.

"What? Say again?"

"I'm Commander!"

"Oh, I see." Yamagishi smiled and pointed at him, "You're the Commander?"

"Correct!"

"Are you sure? From what I see there's only one Commander here. And it's not you." Yamagishi's smile twisted into a sneer, "You're just a pathetic old drunk that can't admit he's been beat."

Click.

Gendo grunted in confusion and shook the pistol. Click.

Yamagishi broke into a mad sprint, click. The only thing Gendo could do in time was toss the hefty handgun, which struck Yamagishi square in his nose. "Son of a bitch!" The chief of security tackled him to the filthy ground. "We're doing this for your own good!"

"Run, Tadeo!" Tadeo wiggled out of Gendo's arm and pawed rapidly at Yamagishi with a garbled growl, to which he got batted away. "Run!"

From the far end of the alley, two Sector 2 agent's half jogged to the scene, their solid black suits weighing them down in the intense heat. One of the taller agents scooped up the cat before it could scurry away, "Got him, sir!" He called out.

Yamagishi attempted to stop the blood from coming out of his nose as he turned to look at the agent, who gently held the cat despite its ferocity. "What are you- help me hold him down!" One of the agents doubled over, his charcoal suit soaked in sweat. "Took you long enough."

The two agent's in sunglasses looked at each other, then at Gendo as he writhed on the floor, "Sir, he outsmarted us."

"...Just get the car ready and contact the Commander. No, I'm gonna tell her. Just take the gun." Yamagishi looked back at the agent, "L-leave the fucking cat!"

"Sir!"

Yamagishi dabbed his bloody nose. He turned to the other agent, "How did he end up on foot?"

"He crashed the bike into a telephone pole, sir." The Section 2 agent got a closer look at Gendo as he gently hid Tadeo under his coat. "He's lucky. Not a scratch on him."

"Right." Yamagashi let out a laugh. "You hear that, Mr. Ikari?" He raised his fist. "You're lucky!"

"Wait! Wait!"

The punch landed squarely on Gendo's sunglasses, which popped one of the lenses out of its frame and made his head bounce against the pavement.

---

Fuyutsuki's leg bounced rapidly inside the classroom desk far too small for adults.

He shared the room with his subordinates and not at all to his surprise, there were no mothers to be found in this school. All of them were fathers, employees of NERV graciously given the afternoon off on the same day, at the same time to all speak on behalf of their children's future. Said children sat in a neat row outside the class, in the hallway. They had a narrow window view of their parent's sitting in their own seats. Fuyutsuki sat in the further corner of the classroom, by the windows which had a perfect view of a massive tree that stood out in the courtyard. All of its leaves had withered dry, it was no surprise to him if the heat could cause the lonesome tower to catch fire.

He had heard of this annual work holiday and thought nothing of it, but to be here in person-

Fuyutsuki suppressed a cough.

It was certainly something you would only see in Tokyo-03.

The cough returned with a vengeance and his lungs seized. Fuyutsuki covered his face in an attempt to get his breathing under control. He hacked again. A few of his fellow employees gave him a side eye, or scooted back into their seats and closer to their conversations.

A napkin was held in front of his face. "Thank you." Fuyutsuki said in between wheezes.

"That's some cough you have there."

He wiped his face with the napkin and nodded, "Comes and goes."

The man had a familiar face, save for the casual attire. He wore a red polo shirt and a cologne that smells like antiseptic. "I see. Haven't I seen you around work before? In Central?"

Fuyutsuki nodded, "Most likely, yes-" He motioned his hand in an attempt to recollect, "You're in data analysis."

"That's right." His subordinate offered his hand, which the older man shook with a firm grip "Hajime Aida."

"Kozo Fuyutsuki."

"Nice to meet you- oh, Sub-Commander!" Hajime attempted to stand up in the cramped desk, "I should've recognized you."

"Please- keep your voice down." Fuyutsuki calmly motioned him to sit back down, "You have me mistaken. That title belongs to Dr. Soryu."

"Right." Aida nodded, "...Well Fuyutsuki, you seem far too old to be having children."

Fuyutsuki responded with a chuckle, "How right you are, I'm merely speaking on one's behalf. They have nobody else, so it is the least I can do."

"I see," Aida leaned in closer and motioned to the hallway window, where all the children were lined up in seats. "Which one's yours?"

"Ah." Fuyutsuki hesitated. His finger hovered over Shinji for a moment, but passed by him until he reached Rei, who sat on the other side of the rectangular window, "Her."

"That one with the blue hair? Ah, one of the… extra curricular trainees?" Aida asked to which Fuyutsuki hummed in confirmation. "Mine's-" Aida hesitated at the sight of his son, who received an earful from a girl with pigtails.

"-The one with the camera?" Fuyutsuki said.

"...Yeah" Aida sighed, "That's Kensuke."

Silence grew between the two, the increasingly louder conversations amongst the other father's brought them both back to their own days as students in a classroom. Evidently, it didn't take long for the adults to go back in packs and return to their juvenile days.

"He looks like you." Fuyutuski offered.

Aida chuckled. "Maybe a little too much."

"That's never a bad thing. It's better he learns from you than somebody else."

"I know, but-" Aida rubbed his stubbled chin, "I'm not worried about the things he isn't learning, it's what I don't want him to pick up from me."

Fuyutsuki hummed softly. "I suppose some things just aren't in our control."

"Maybe. To be honest, I figured that you were that quiet boy's grandfather, the way he greeted you. Ah-" Aida snapped his fingers, "What was his name? He's a friend of my kid's."

"Young Ikari. "

"That's it."

Shinji snuck glances at Rei, who was at the opposite end of the hall. The harsh sunlight fooled Fuyutsuki for a moment. For the slightest moment, their faces shifted to that of their parents- as though Gendo Rokubungi and Yui Ikari never left Professor Fuyutsuki's lecture hall.

"I am… familiar with his family. He's a bright young man, troubled but… bright. He takes after his parents.''

"Hopefully more than his mother than anything. That father of his is one real piece of work." Aida replied.

"He certainly is-" Fuyutsuki turned to Aida, "-You worked with Gendo Ikari in the past, in Gehirn?"

"No? He was at the parking lot half an hour ago, you just missed him."

Fuyutsuki frowned, "You're mistaken."

"Pretty hard guy to be mistaken with. He had a big beard, orange sunglasses? Absolutely drunk out of his mind. He dented my car, assaulted me, made a fool out of his kid. And, well-" Aida shrugged, "-Frankly, I couldn't understand a word the son of a bitch said."

A sinking feeling sweated down Fuyutsuki's spine. "He doesn't have a tongue."

"That would explain it."

The ambient conversations that encircled Fuyutsuki began to dull, "...That's impossible."

"I suppose it's pretty uncommon."

"No. Ikari hasn't left his home in ten years. Nothing would make him want to leave." The intense heat nearly compelled Fuyutsuki to flee the school, as though he was being flushed out by her.

"Not even his son?" Aida offered.

Fuyutsuki slowly shook his head.

"Now that I think of it, he sounded… scared." Aida rubbed his stubbled chin in thought. "I guess it scared him enough to get out of bed, that's it."

The sinking feeling in Fuyutsuki's spine began to spread, a frigid east wind blew through the city's heat wave. "That's not the Ikari I knew."

"People change. I mean, can you blame him?" Aida leaned closer, "This is supposed to be the safest city in the world, right? That's why everybody comes here. But I don't know, after what happened to Kensuke and his friend, how can this be safe? How is any of this safe? If something goes wrong, if one of those… things took one step out of place, it could've been a blood-bath. And that's just gonna keep happening again, and again-"

"Be careful of what you say, Aida." Fuyutsuki said softly.

"How would you feel if Ayanami was put in a situation like that?" Aida didn't get a response. "You know I'm right."

Fuyutsuki's breathing grew ragged, his hands trembled as they rested on the desk, "Please… just be careful of what you say."

Aida frowned, "Why? It's not like anyone can hear what we're talking about, right?"

The classroom full of fathers began to talk louder, as though the heat agitated their conversations.

Fuyutsuki stared at him wearily.

"...Right?"

A car from outside screeched to a sharp stop. A growing group of fathers clambered to the window in curiosity and after a moment, grew excited.

Fuyutsuki and Aida stared at each other and wordlessly agreed to investigate. The two older men struggled to get out of the child sized desks and joined the crowd at the far end of the window.

"She's here!" One of the men called out, "They're both here!" followed by a mix of frantic and confused hollering.

"What is it now, Suzuhara?" Hajime asked as he lowered his sunglasses to get a better look.

"It's Akagi!" The elder Suzuhara hooted, "A-and the Operations Director!"

Fuyutsuki's eyes widened and he leaned closer into the glared window to make out the two silhouettes, he moved to another window and pushed one of the men aside, "Please excuse me."

Out from the Director's prized possession, her blue alpine, was Katsuragi herself and a pale woman with a wide brimmed hat and a blue vest. They emerged from the car to a series of wolf whistles from their co-workers.

In response to the cat calls, the women in the hat pulled the brim down even lower, much to Fuyutsuki's frustration.

In response to her friend's shyness, Misato pulled the hat off to reveal a bob of Burgundy hair.

It was only the younger Akagi, Ritsuko. Fuyutsuki exhaled out a breath of relief. The cheers intensified.

Aida shook his head, "Good grief. This heat drove these lunatics insane."

"I'll say." Kensuke said among the crowd of fathers.

Aida looked down at the boy, who held a camera and documented the new arrivals. "Kensuke!" Aida swiped for his son's camera. "Enough with that! What did we talk about?"

"It's not what it looks like, I swear!" Kensuke hastily switched the camera lens with an intense precision, "Ikari and Langley's guardians sell for over three times my usual rate, Hajime, three times! It's purely business!"

Fuyutsuki's relief was swiftly crushed at the sight of a prototype, albeit modified vintage sports car that cruised into the parking lot, the only one in the world that existed.

It was a ZIS-112 Cyclops, aptly named for its single massive headlight. The Cyclops car had a deep emerald coat, golden trim lined at the ends, and black tinted windows.

Hajime Aida spoke under his breath as he yanked at the camera. "Are you trying to get me fired?"

Kensuke yanked back, and whispered sharply, "Guess what, half these people are my customers!" He ducked out of his father's reach and ran to Fuyutsuki's side, his camera primed.

Naoko stepped out of the car, despite the extreme heat she wore an indigo coat and no sunglasses. "Well, isn't this a coincidence!" She said to Ritsuko and Misato. "Mind if I join you?"

"O-oh, hello Mother!" Ritsuko responded.

"Sure!"

Naoko wrapped her arms around the two women and walked towards the school. She looked up at the window.

The fathers that were hovered over the window instantly backed away and returned to their seats.

"Put the camera down." Fuyutsuki ordered.

Kensuke looked confusingly at him, then at the long gone crowd. "What?"

"Now!" Fuyustuki barked back, he snatched the camera and pressed the reel button to delete the footage. He pressed the playback to be sure.

"Hey what gives old man? That's mine!"

Aida pulled his son back, "Do you know who that is?"

Fuyutsuki's chest sank, it was too late. In the footage, Naoko looked up through the harsh sunlight and locked eyes with the camera.

She beamed at him.

"That's Commander Akagi!"

The three women down below swung the heavy doors open, and Kensuke flinched when it slammed shut. He inspected the clip he recorded of the Commander.

"...Oh."

---

The elevator dinged at the far end of the hallway, followed by the echoed footsteps. The urgent pace set the workers into unease and slowly, a chorus of bouncing legs grew.

The boy got to his better senses and dashed out of the classroom to join his friends. Not for the same reasons Fuyutsuki would've warned the boy if he had the courage to do so but hopefully, Kensuke Aida would disappear among his peers long enough for Naoko to be distracted by some other prospective pet project.

Naoko reached their end of the hallway faster than it naturally should have taken, as evident by how her two followers lagged behind. Thankfully, Fuyutsuki disappeared in the classroom and was unnoticed with his brown coat and cap. Naoko stalked right into the cluster of students that waited outside the hallway to greet her favorites.

If it weren't obvious by now who the pilots were among the students of class 2-A, and likely to the public eye, it was clear by Naoko's behavior that it wasn't a concern for her. Ritsuko and Dr. Katsuragi's daughter followed closely behind Naoko as she greeted Shinji, looking more like siblings about to be left in charge by their mother rather than the two adults responsible for the lives of these children. They allowed her to take the lead.

Naoko gave Shinji's shoulder an affectionate squeeze as she passed by him- and set her sights on Rei.

She locked eyes with Fuyutsuki through the hallway window, all the way to the far end of the classroom where he sat. Naoko smiled, she didn't break eye contact as she leaned down to eye level with Rei and whispered in her ear.

Fuyutsuki's head cooked away at the moisture in his eyes, this whole ordeal felt like a mirage in this torrid spring morning.

The classroom door was pushed open and the NERV workers struggled out of their child-sized desks and stood at attention as their Commander entered the classroom.

Naoko strode to the center with a scowl on her face. "What's going on here? Aren't you all supposed to be at work?" She put her hands on her hips and scanned the classroom.

The workers all side-eyed each other, hoping that someone else would speak up.

The Commander held back a wobbling smile until a stifled giggle cracked out, "I'm joking! I'm joking-" Naoko covered her face, " I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. I just thought I'd pop on by and say hello!"

A few of the parents gasped in astonishment. Some of the eager workers took the opportunity to bow and the rest followed suit. "T-thank you, Commander!"

There were some things about Gendo Ikari's brief tenure as Commander that Fuyutsuki couldn't help but admit that he missed.

Hajime turned his gaze to see that the old man Fuyutsuki stood like a tower at his full height.

A few more quiet 'thank you's' followed.

Naoko nodded and smiled as she locked eyes with Fuyutsuki. "Kozo!" She chirped, "I didn't know you had a little one, who's the lucky lady?"

He stared dully at her.

The Commander giggled. "I'm just kidding, I know who. How are you, you old fox?"

Fuyutsuki cleared his throat and offered a jutted smile, "I'm well. Thank you."

"Good, that's good- Why are you all standing?" Naoko motioned for the other workers to sit, "Please, sit- you're killing me, relax!" She turned to Misato and Ritsuko, who waited by the door frame, "You girls sit, you're a part of this too!"

Hesitantly, they joined in the few empty seats.

"Now, how are you all today?"

Fuyutsuki slowly sat down and lowered his head.

Hajime spoke up, "To be honest, I feel like I'm in detention." The other workers chuckled as they tried to get comfortable in the child sized seats.

Naoko laughed, "Right! I can see how all of this could feel a little silly, but it's good to be in our kids' perspectives, right? They are the future after all."

"We should get our future some better air conditioning."

The classroom was so quiet you could hear the faltering AC in question. The Commander stared at Hajime for a moment, "You know what? You're absolutely right, I'll get someone right on that. What was your name?"

"Aida Hajime, Ma'am."

"Hajime. I like your attitude, Hajime! That's what's going to save us, gentlemen. Not money, not weapons. Initiative."

Naoko allowed for a moment of silence as she scanned the crowd. "Isn't it so lovely to have a tradition like this that brings us all together? I wanted to thank you gentlemen, and ladies, all of you, so… so much for being here. I can't admire enough how you all painstakingly balance two of the most important jobs on the planet." She raised two fingers, "Saving the world, and being a parent. But that's what we do here at NERV, isn't it? We do this to protect our own."

The men looked at each other and murmured in agreement.

"And single parents too, God. I knew what that was like. To add more weight to such a burden. I can't thank you all enough for selflessly toiling and caring for our future. It's been a hard fifteen years… we've all lost people we care about. That pain from being apart from them…is almost unbearable sometimes. But we move on, we learn to surpass our predecessors for the sake of the future."

Naoko pointed to the children outside in the hallway, "To express my gratitude, while me and the girls travel out to deal with some very important business that will benefit NERV, I want you boys to have the day off!" The workers looked at each other excitedly. "Now I know these annual parent-teacher meetings normally follow with you taking your children to work, but do you know what I also know? I know the country we live in demands we put everything we have into our jobs, but we can't forget about family, can we? The way I see it, you're all a part of my family too!"

Fuyutsuki suppressed a groan and looked to the hallway window, Shinji listened closely.

"I truly can't thank you enough for being a part of NERV's family… So please, keep doing what you're doing and hold your head up with pride. I know here at NERV we make Evangelions- and they're the heroes who save the day, but as far as I'm concerned, all of you?" Naoko pointed to the class, "You're the unsung heroes."

Naoko exhaled sharply and stared at her audience. To them, she was now their champion. She let out an embarrassed laugh and wiped her eyes, "I'm sorry, I was just supposed to come and grab the usual suspects. Now here I am giving speeches and getting all emotional."

The men exclaimed in a commotional attempt to reassure her, "No, no, no, it's all right-"

"It's okay to cry!"

"Nobody's ever told me that..."

"I swear I'll hold my head up with pride, Commander!"

Fuyutsuki turned to Aida and stared at him with great weariness. Aida in response, raised his eyebrow.

Class 1-A's teacher opened the door of his office from the far end of the room, having finally noticed the commotion. "Oh, Commander!"

"Ken! So good to see you." Naoko waved to him, "Don't mind me, I'm just here to grab some of the kids. You know the drill." The teacher bowed and retreated back into his office. The Commander exited the classroom, "Shinji, Rei, come along! We all have something very important to discuss."

Misato turned to Ritsuko for answers, but she only shrugged in response.

"Asuka, you rascal, you're coming too-"

"Um- excuse me, Commander?" Misato followed her out of the class. "Aren't they supposed to be with us for the conference?"

Naoko gathered the three children together. "Don't worry, you and Ritsuko are coming too. And I'm sure Ken can reschedule us." She leaned her head back into the classroom. "Isn't that right, Ken?"

"Yes 'mam!" The teacher's voice called back out from his office.

"Commander, is this about… the other conference? I thought we had time today."

"Nope."

"But-"

"No buts! This takes precedence." Naoko strode out of the room, and the rest of its occupants stared at the now vacant spot the Commander had just occupied and looked around the room, as though they had just gotten off a strange roller coaster.

Naoko popped her head back into the classroom. "Oh, you know what? I meant to get you guys some ice cream. It's so hot out here, I'm sorry. Next year, I promise!"

"It's alright!"

"Don't worry about it!"

"Thank you for visiting us, Commander!"

Fuyutski watched as the Commander whisked away the three children. "Oh, Kozo?"

He looked up to see the Commander's head poke out the door frame, "I almost forgot, you need to come with us as well!" She beamed at him, her nails curled around the frame. "There's a lot you should hear. Why don't we all meet at the parking lot?"

Fuyutsuki let out a sharp breath as he rose from the desk, "Of course."

As he passed by Hajime, he found his new friend stare at him and wordlessly ask for an explanation. Fuyustuki only smirked and nodded in response.

Hajime accepted that he wouldn't get one from the melancholic old man and nodded back. He wiped the waterfall of sweat off his forehead and sighed. The irrational fears that sat in his stomach were all but confirmed by the way Fuyutsuki had stared at the beloved Commander with disgust.

"Hajime Aida?" A voice called out, he turned to see the Teacher stare at him from outside the office, "I believe you're up first."

"Right," Hajime stood up and motioned to the students that waited outside my classroom, "I'll just go grab my kid." He walked past the cramped seats of his fellow peers, their spirits were now lifted by their surprise visit. Hajime opened the door and spoke aimlessly. "Kensuke, c'mon, we're up first-" He scanned the classroom, his son was nowhere to be found. "...Kensuke? What-"

Hajime saw Kensuke's friend, Suzuhara's son, lean suspiciously against the wall with another shorter boy. They tried to hide his faces, "Toji, where did Kensuke go?"

"Kensuke? I think he uh-" Toji cleared his throat, "-I think he went to the men's room."

"Huh?" The shorter boy next to Toji spoke up, "No he didn't-"

"Dude, shut up-"

Keita pointed down the hall, "-Pretty sure he went after the Commander."

Hajime saw the doors close at the far end of the hand. "Kensuke- Kensuke!" He broke into a hastened walk, "Godammit!"

Toji elbowed his much shorter companion, "Keita, you damn snitch- we were supposed to cover for him!"

"What? How was I supposed to know? You guys need to communicate better." Keita stared at the doors at the far end of the hall as they swung to a stop. "Man… I would not mess with that lady."

Toji rubbed the back of his head, "I dunno, she seemed pretty nice to me."

---

Naoko hummed as she strolled down the sweltering halls of the school and avoided the cracks in the floor tiles. She looked up at the school's ill-placed sky light that poured directly into the halls with little to no respite. Naoko peered through the glare and imaged what hid in front of the sun to make its rays so abnormally focused. The heat did indeed burn into her as it did everyone else but today, she had a very narrow window.

"Wait!" A young voice cried out. The Commander didn't glance over to the boy as he ran closer. The sandy-haired boy with glasses bowed low with his hands as he attempted to match her pace, "Please pardon my interruption, 'mam." The Commander didn't respond. "...M-mam?"

"Well?" The Commander finally said. "You haven't interrupted me yet."

"O-oh, well." The boy stammered, "I just wanted to say, while you're here, if you're ever looking for another pilot, I'd like to offer myself up. And…I have a lot of knowledge on the field."

"Dear, to be qualified as one of my Evangelion pilots would mean that you were prepared for such a duty since you were a small child, or if you did know much on the field, you were hand picked by the MAGI system. Or you possess the privilege of nepotism. Do you fit in one of those categories?" Naoko finally turned to scan the boy's face and stopped walking as they reached the elevator, "Which one were you again?"

The boy struggled to find the words as he stood still.

"Don't I know you from somewhere?" Naoko looked close at the boy, certainly, he wasn't one of the runt's that Asari had thrown into her little nest to gauge her defenses.

Then it clicked in her head.

"Now I remember-" She playfully wagged her finger at him, "You're that boy with the camera. The one that my pilots rescued last month. But I suppose you already know that it was Shinji who grabbed you there." The Commander smiled at him, "You seem like a smart boy."

"Y-yes. That was me. I'm Kensuke Aida." The boy chuckled nervously and bowed low enough to hide his face, "I swear I deleted that footage by the way."

Naoko waved her hand dismissively, "Don't worry, I can tell that you're very passionate about my work, and I admire that, Kensuke. But maybe watch where you point that camera, hmm? Who knows what kind of trouble that could lead you to."

"Well-"

"That incident with the Angel must have been really scary for you."

"Yeah…"

Naoko squatted down to his eye level. "Good thing Shinji came and saved you boys when he did. I bet you must've been really glad that he was there."

Kensukednodded again, "Yes, I'm grateful to him, and to you- that you're here to protect us. And I see now why we need the EVA's. That's why I want to-"

"No-no-" Naoko shushed him, "Don't tell me why you want to pilot the EVA, tell me, what are you willing to face in return? What are you willing to risk?"

"...I…."

Naoko patted his shoulder, "It's okay, you don't have to tell me now. You know, I'm sorry for my bluntness earlier, genuinely, I thought you were somebody else. I for one think that you're very brave to approach me, I need initiative in my team."

Kensuke's face lit up, "T-thank you Commander! You won't regret this-"

"Slow down, I didn't say yes, and please, call me Naoko." Naoko looked up to see a man whom she assumed to be Kensuke's father hurry towards them and winked at the boy, "If I need to squeeze someone in, I'll be sure to think of you first.

"Thank you, Naoko-" Kensuke bowed eagerly. "-Thank you!"

"But it'll be our little secret…"

"Kensuke!" The boy's father, that blonde man that complained about the AC from earlier, jogged towards them, "Kensuke, what did I tell you?" He turned to Naoko, "I'm sorry if he bothered you, 'mam."

"Oh no bother at all, I have to say-" Naoko attempted to remember the man's name. Hideo? "...Sir, you have a bright young man there. But maybe he should watch it with the…" Naoko mimed taking a photo of the two and playfully clicked twice.

Kensuke proved to be a model of his father as the man nodded in the same rigid, militant manner, "It won't happen again, Ma'am. I'll have the camera taken away."

"What!? Wait, wait, Dad-"

"Oh, so now it's dad?"

"Boys, boys, there's no need to go that far. What are we, the Kempeitai?" Naoko let out a shrill laugh, "I'm just saying be careful for legal reasons, you two seem nice, I wouldn't want you boys to be liable for anything."

"Of course, yes."

"I wouldn't want to deny his talents, they were nice shots after all." Naoko looked down at Kensuke and winked. A small, hopeful smile grew on the boy's face. Naoko let out a sigh as she pushed the elevator's button and walked inside, "Well! It was nice meeting you two, but I do have people waiting for me for an important meeting back at headquarters."

Hajime nodded, "Right, we won't keep you 'mam. Thank you." He bowed low, and after a moment nudged Kensuke to do the same.

Naoko nodded at them as the elevator doors closed.

"See, Hajime? That's how you network."

"I swear to God, Kensuke, not another word…"

[Break]

Naoko trail-blazed through the scorching highway. "Isn't this nice? How long has it been since the three of us went on a drive together? Just like the good old days."

"Well, you've been busy." Asuka offered in a tone friendlier than she would offer to anyone else. "It's understandable."

Rei looked out the window, "I do not recall…"

Naoko looked up through the rearview mirror. "You don't? I used to take you and Asuka for some ice cream whenever I had free time, remember? You were both very little, so I guess it's understandable."

"Y-yeah." Asuka looked at Rei.

Rei nodded, "I see."

After another moment of silence, Naoko sighed, "I'm sorry girls, I know I gave you two a hard time back then. But that was just because I wanted you two to be the best pilots that you could be. I hope you understand."

"We do," Asuka replied, "You were under a lot of stress back then."

She let out a soft laugh, "Oh I still am, I've just learnt how to manage it better." Naoko cleared her throat. "So Rei, did you know that Mr. Fuyutuski would be coming to the conference on your behalf today?"

Rei's head titled, "That is why he was there?"

"I know! How odd. It doesn't make sense to me why he would want to be involved, but I appreciate the effort. I can only assume he had good intentions." Naoko glanced at the reflection of Rei through the rear-view mirror. Her hand rested on her chin, she gazed out the window, miles away.

That same detached, soulless look that her prized pupil possessed ten years ago. A swell of vexation that only Yui could have ever conjured returned to the cool-headed Commander.

"That old coot always did have a soft spot for..."

The sun began to burn into Naoko's eyes and coloured spots obscured her vision. When she wiped her eyes, Yui Ikari had taken Rei's seat and gazed out the window in that very same way. Naoko's breath froze in her lungs as she leaned to take a closer look at the mirror, not paying mind to the road.

"Yu...y-you."

Yui caught Naoko staring from her peripherals and locked eyes. She slowly turned her head and smiled through those green, dull dead-fish eyes.

"She's all alone." Asuka said.

Naoko stared at Asuka, "What?" She glanced at the mirror again, Yui was still smiling.

"That's maybe why Mr. Fuyutuski went to the conference. So she seems normal to Ikari. Normal girl, normal life. Less questions."

"And ah… how do you feel about that?"

Asuka's jaw set tightly as she turned to stare at Yui too, "I don't know if there's a point anymore."

Naoko turned around to see that Yui had returned to her visage as the seemingly empty puppet. The Commander breathed a sigh of relief at the return of Rei and smiled, "Well that's not true, you seem perfectly normal to me, Rei."

The smallest of smiles crept up on her face, "Thank you, Naoko." Rei joined Asuka in staring out the window.

"Of course." Naoko let out a hum, "So! What else is new?"

"I have made a friend at school. She has four sisters."

"Oh, that's nice-" Naoko tilted her head as she registered Rei's response, "...What was that?"

"She has four sisters-"

"Honey. No. Do you remember what we talked about? About who your friends are? You don't need any more friends."

"She ordered me to be her friend."

"She ordered you." Naoko's vice grip strangled the steering wheel, "...I guess you'll just take orders from anyone then."

"I did not know what to do-"

"-Of course not." Naoko's eyes snapped to Asuka's, "Did you know about this?"

Asuka's head remained low as she shook her head.

"...Asuka, are you lying to me?" No response. "Asuka."

She shook her head again.

Naoko exhaled sharply as the silence overtook the car. All you could hear was the guttural growl of the Cyclop's engine. Naoko pressed on the gas pedal.
"Okay." The car picked up speed down the scorching highway. "What's her name?'

The car began to rattle. Asuka instinctively and quietly grabbed a nearby handlebar.

"What's her name?"

"...Mana Kirishima." Rei said softly.

Naoko's body stiffened but she didn't say a word, as Asuka tried to look at Rei without making any sudden movements.

"Wanna know who that is, girls? Hmm?" Naoko turned and faced Rei in the backseat, not minding the road ahead as she maintained her speed. "Rei, your little friend is a JSSDF plant. She and her little group of friends were sent by the Japanese military to spy on us and eventually replace us. But I suppose you already know about all of that, don't you Rei?"

The tires screeched.

Rei's eyes widened slightly. She glanced at Asuka. "I… I did not. She was nice to me."

"Oh, she was nice just for the sake of being nice? Maybe you're right. The spy they sent to sabotage me just wanted to be friends with you cause she's nice, she's just genuinely interested in you. You, of all people." Naoko laughed and shook her head, "How didn't I think of that? You know, this is so classic of you to undermine me."

"I thought it was weird too." Asuka finally uttered, "How she kept trying to hang around her. But we didn't know, no one told us that there were-"

"So you were lying to me." The car increased in speed.

"I-I didn't know they were friends! I swear, I'm gonna make sure they won't be a problem at the con-" Asuka stopped herself.

"At what?" Naoko made a sharp turn down the highway. "...Won't be a problem at 'what', Asuka?"

"...The classroom?"

"Ritsuko told you about the conference, didn't she?" Naoko asked, and Asuka looked down in response.

"She didn't tell me anything, I found out on my own."

Rei tilted her head, "The parent teacher conference?"

"It doesn't concern you, Rei." Naoko sighed and eyed Asuka, she remained silent and allowed the girl to stew in her guilt. "I suppose you would've found out eventually. You're a smart girl."

Asuka uncurled as a hopeful smile came to her eyes, "That's what I said! I mean, about-"

"And you've been working so hard training our little team, and look how you helped Shinji kill his first angel." Naoko noticed Asuka frown, "But let's face it, you practically carried that fight."

"I know! So where's Ritsuko's head at with bringing in Ikari? I mean, he's not… terrible, but I was telling her, 'mam, if I may-"

"Of course."

"If we're competing for our place in the food chain with these guys, we can't play fair, we have to come out swinging!"

Naoko nodded, "Absolutely. I need my star player." Asuka leaned excitedly, the prior fears evaporated with the praise, as expected. "But I still need to decide who that's gonna be. You did throw a big fit at that fight too."

"R-right. Of course."

"But, maybe young Shinji still needs more… exposure before he's ready for something like that." Naoko glanced again at Rei and smiled. On their right, a car horn honked beside them. Naoko turned and smiled, "Well, speak of the devil, look who it is!"

Misato's blue Alpine had finally caught up with them.

Naoko waved excitedly, "Hi!"

Ritsuko hastily unrolled her passenger-side window and tossed something out the speeding vehicle.

Misato motioned for the Commander to unroll her windows and did the same for hers, she stuck her head out through the window, "Are we racing or what!?" Misato called out.

Naoko let out a shrill laugh, "On a Sunday? Daylight's burning!"

"My point exactly!" Misato rolled back her window. The wheels screeched, and the alpine propelled past of the Commander, the smoke obscured their vision as the sun-rays bled through it.

The Commander let out a low chuckle, "Oh, so that's how it is."

Naoko shifted the gears on her car, the unsuspecting cyclops pierced through the smoke like a bullet and zoomed ahead of the Alpine within seconds.

Naoko turned back to look at Misato's passengers, Shinji in particular, "Oh look, Asuka, I think he's waving at you!" Cheerfully, Asuka waved back. "Oh I'm so glad the two of you are getting along again. But not too well I hope."

Asuka closed her eyes and beamed at the Commander, "Just the right amount."

"Attagirl."

---

Asuka's full handed wave dropped down to middle finger, which returned to a wave again as soon as the Commander looked at her. Shinji lowered down his arm and deflated in the backseat.

He immediately regretted that as the hot leather singed his skin, he sat straight with the little room he had, as the older and far taller Fuyutsuki occupied most of the space in the backseat, despite his best efforts. Fuyutsuki had refused to roll up his sleeves and kept his jacket neatly folded over his lap.

Misato watched as Asuka disappeared into the smoke trail left behind by Naoko's car. The forest green cyclops zoomed ahead of them and swept her away.

"...Guess we're both in the doghouse now." Misato smiled and looked at Shinji through the rear mirror, "Amirite?"

Shinji's brow furrowed, he looked out the window, but the smoke concealed the road ahead.

Misato grunted in displeasure as she sat up for a better view of the highway, she let out a cough "What kind of gas does that thing use?"

"Shit." Ritsuko hissed to herself. "Shit!" She turned to Misato for reassurance, "Do you think she saw the cigarette?"

"She definitely won't now-" Misato was cut off as the car jumped suddenly, "Eh?" The Alpine rattled, as though they drove through a field of potholes, "What the hell?" She rolled down her window and looked at the road as they drove. "Are you kidding me!?" Fissure's were lashed all around the surrounding road.

Shinji scanned the road around them, his hand on the car's ceiling. "Wait, I know this place… this is where me and Asuka fought the fourth Angel, why would Ms. Naoko bring us here?"

"Odawara? I knew it!" Misato stuck her head out the window, "Some detour!"

"Misato!" Ritsuko hissed, "What if she hears?"

"Oh whatever, she's way ahead of us!"

The car sagged on one side and bounced in a way that sounded very expensive to Shinji's ears.

Misato ducked her head back into the car and gripped the steering wheel. "And I just got my alignment all done, great. That's just great. Now I gotta take it to the-" Misato punched the wheel. "-Goddamn. Mother-fucking shop!"

"Misato, get a grip, look at yourself."

"No, you look! You still worry about your mom catching you smoking!"

Fuyutsuki leaned in between the catfight. "Let's all relax here. Everybody is under a lot of stress today, and I am sure this weather hasn't been helping."

"Y-yeah." Shinji chuckled, "The heat is just getting to us, that's all."

The two glanced back at their backseat passengers. They looked back at each other. Misato sighed, "You're right, I'm- I don't know what came over me. You're right, this heat is just getting to me. I'm… uh, I shouldn't have said that to you?"

Ritsuko clicked her tongue, "Still can't say sorry."

"It's just-" Misato gestured to the treacherous road that the Commander led them on, which Naoko swerved and swayed around with ease, "Why hasn't this been fixed yet? It's been over a month, where's all that UN money even going?"

"Preaching to the choir." Fuyutsuki replied.

Ritsuko turned to her, "Do you even know how much operational upkeep of an EVA costs daily, not to mention repairs?"

"A lot." Misato replied.

Ritsuko continued. "Don't even get me started on the deal we're making with the JSSDF to loan out their positron rifle to us. Or increasing battery times. You have no idea."

"Actually, I do know-"

"-Now add running a city to that-"

"-I know because you deliver me the quotes everyday. I'm the Operations Director." Misato jabbed a thumb at herself, then pointed at Ritsuko, her eyes still glued on the highway to hell. "You're the operations assistant. Assistant."

Ritsuko pulled something out of her pocket, two torn pieces of paper. "I never questioned that. All I'm saying is Mother has a lot on her plate with-" She lifted her head up to see Shinji watch their conversation through the rearview mirror. She hid her face behind the brim of her hat. "-You know. Also, I'm the assistant head scientist as well."

Shinji leaned in between the two, "Is that why we're having a meeting, because something's happening?"

Misato side-eyed Ritsuko, "And you don't think two full time jobs is a lot on your plate?"

"I don't mind."

Shinji blinked, "D-did you guys hear what I said?"

"I can't believe what I'm hearing." Misato looked up at the rearview mirror where Shinji waited expectantly for a response, "You know what's crazy Shinji? Ritsuko used to be the coolest chick in college."

Ritsuko covered her face, "Oh god, not this again…"

Misato leaned back and drove with one hand, "I'm serious. Total prodigy. Top grades in all our classes, took shit from no one, you had all these crazy ideas. I thought you'd be running a NERV branch up in the states with me at this point."

"And you were a mute for two years, what does it even matter? I barely even remember those days, don't even remind me. I'd just rather focus on my work. And anyway, somebody had to stay behind to look after Asuka-"

"-Right, and the hair!" Misato nodded at Shinji, "She used to bleach her hair, I know you kids do it all the time, but back in the day? Took a lot of guts." Misato glanced at Fuyutsuki, who looked out his window "Right, old timer? Hair dye was crazy back in the day."

"Hm."

"It looked ridiculous and you know it." Ritsuko pressed her hat down to completely cover her dull burgundy hair. "No one would've taken me seriously at a real job."

"I've seen a few of the technicians at headquarters with it, and Rei has it too, right?" Shinji offered.

Ritsuko attempted to turn to face Shinji, but the brim of her sunhat was too wide. "That's not hair dye, Shinji. Rei has a melanin deficiency."

Misato tilted her head. "Oh, like an albino?"

"No Misato, she's a…hm. I don't know what the exact term is. Mother told me a long time ago."

Shinji nodded, "Oh, okay. Well, anyways, I was asking earlier-"

"Well, what about that radio-op, Midori?" Misato offered. "She's got pink hair."

"...I'm getting really tired of being kept in the dark." Shinji said boldly.

"My point exactly. Everybody thinks Midori looks like a clown."

Shinji slumped onto the singing leather seats, the sensation was a welcome distraction from the migraine that contorted in his temple.

He felt Fuyutsuki stare at him with the corner of his eyes. His right hand held up his head and covered his mouth, as though he hid a guilty expression. When Shinji turned to engage Fuyutsuki, the old man's gaze had retreated to the road.

---

Kyoko patiently stood alone inside the NERV conference room, the massive monitor behind her blared a neutral white light.

The cool, conditioned halls of the Geofront provided a hollow sanctuary from the fever of the outside world. The intense heat that all of the crew complained about was not present in these metallic walls. Not that she would have known the difference either way.

She unglued her eyes from her watch. Footsteps, many footsteps approached the doorway. She glanced at the observation window, and the sight of red hair among the crowd shot a crack through her collected demeanour as her mind played tricks on her. She suddenly felt the cool air sting her neck. Her heart contorted as she gasped for air and stopped herself from leaning on the desk.

The two of them locked eyes through the door's fogged glass panel. Her mind's eye held back an image that demanded to be seen. Small feet suspended in the air, hanging from a light fixture.

Kyoko shut her eyes. "That is not her. It is not her. It is only…"

The doors slid open as the group entered. Kyoko opened her eyes, she locked them with- "...Langley. Commander. I have been waiting."

Langley avoided Kyoko's gaze and hugged her arms. Naoko pushed through, "I hope not for too long!"

"Thirty-five minutes to be exact. I was told time is precious."

"Yes, so sorry, I had to make a little detour." Naoko walked up to Kyoko and smiled, "Why don't you let me take it from here?"

Kyoko blinked, she bit back the instinct to protest and nodded, "Yes, Commander." She walked towards the seating area where a walkway divided two sections. Everyone had made themselves comfortable on either end.

Langley sat at the very front of the left section, her normally proud posture deflated as the two avoided eye contact. Katsuragi sat at the row behind her, arms crossed as she glared daggers at Kyoko. Akagi's daughter sat beside her and winced apologetically.

She turned to the right section of the seats, Fuyutsuki seemed to be miles away…and sat next to him was the younger Ikari. He too avoided her gaze. Clearly, the boy had heard plenty of gossip from Katsuragi.

In the furthest seat from everybody, in the far right was the latest in the Ayanami series.

Kyoko opted to sit in the far left corner.

Naoko moved aside all of Kyoko's notes, the table now bare, everyone in the room waited patiently for her to speak.

"It just… shocks me. It shocks me that I have such an incredible team alongside me. Just look at you. Thank you all so much for being a part of our little family. Really, I couldn't do it all without you. You all deserve a pat on the back." Naoko nodded to the assembly. "Go on."

After the group exchanged some confused glances, they all hesitantly patted themselves on the back.

Naoko let out a satisfied hum. "Now that that's out of the way, you might notice there are some orientation packages on top of your desks, that's to help you follow along. Be sure to thank Kyoko for that, she was up all morning making them!"

Everyone stared quietly at her.

"Well then, there's a lot of ground to cover today. so please don't hesitate to raise your hand if there's any questions."

The Commander reached for a remote and clicked it, then the empty white background changed to a blueprint of EVA sized weaponry. "First off, I am so proud to show you all what Kyoko and the engineers have been working on over on R & D!"

Misato discreetly leaned over to Ritsuko, who despite being right beside her, was miles away and whispered so the Commander wouldn't hear. "Do you really think we have time for this? We have to be in old Tokyo in less than four hours."

"I didn't see a hand, Misato." Naoko said. "Page five please." She notes a raised hand, "Yes, Shinji?"

"Is that a shot-gun?"

"No Shinji. It's a grenade launcher. See Misato? That's how it's done."

Ritsuko rested her fist on her chin, "I made that blueprint…"

---

Shinji blinked in and out of consciousness as slide after slide came and went before he could even register what was on the screen.

"Oh, now this one I am very excited for you all to see, hope you're keeping up!"

He hastily flipped through the orientation package, and none of the pages seemed to match Despite the air conditioning, Shinji began to sweat. He glanced at Fuyutsuki, who was still on page five, a homemade sudoku board drawn on the blank part of the page. He turned to Asuka where an idea popped in his head. Shinji pulled out his new phone that he hardly understood how to operate and stealthily texted her.

Hey Asuka, can you please tell me what page we are on? :)

He snuck a glance at Asuka's side of the room, where she responded with almost lighting speed. Shinji looked back down at his phone half a minute later to realize she was still typing and titled his head in confusion. Then his phone vibrated.

…./´¯/)

…./…./

…./'/…/…./…./¨¯\

…\…..'…../

…\…..(
…..\….\…

Shinji let out a sigh of defeat.

Naoko cleared her throat. "Asuka, are you paying attention?"

"Yes, mam-" She looked up to the display monitor and froze at the sight of the image.

"Oh, that caught your eye, did it?" Naoko looked back at the screen with a proud smirk. The Commander blocked the center part of the screen for Asuka. Behind her, two large mechanical wings sprouted on either side.

The Commander walked away from the line of sight and revealed a white and silver stand-in Evangelion at the center of the image.

Asuka studied the EVA and her eyes widened as images of her night terror manifested itself within the outlines of the prototype's elongated, skeletal jaw.

"It's a support unit. A propulsion guided harness that can be connected to the power cable's outlet seamlessly. I call it: The UX-9 Aeronautica." Naoko let out a giggle, "It's going to change the game."

Misato raised an eyebrow, "This is my first time hearing about it."

"Well, have you been reading all your memos?" Naoko said.

"Of course."

Naoko smiled, "Then you'll know to be sure to thank Dr. Soryu for the cutting edge design."

"It's sort of like a… jetpack with wings?" Shinji offered.

The Commander nodded, "You could say that. I know it looks rather crude right now, but when is it in its final stage? They'll be about as light and delicate as feathers."

Asuka gulped, "Why… why would we even need that?"

Shinji turned her way, "Maybe there will be flying Angels one day, and we have to fight in the sky?"

"An interesting possibility, Shinji." Naoko offered, "But think bigger than Angels."

Shinji rubbed his chin, and then tented his hands without knowing.

Asuka took the opportunity and hurryingly raised her hand up while Shinji thought aimlessly about what could be bigger than Angels.

"Yes?"

"What seems more likely, Commander, is that we are going to be taking fights outside of the home base. Something smaller, but we shouldn't underestimate them."

Shinji considered for a moment, "I guess the Angels usually do come to us, maybe if we can find out where they're coming from… less people will be hurt?"

Naoko weighed between her two pupils back and forth, until she smiled at Asuka. "An interesting possibility Shinji, but wouldn't it be better to beat the enemy to the punch?"

"I guess if it's bigger than an Angel, it would be better to take the fight away from the city. Is it a… devil? There's ah- there's no messing around if it's a devil. I'll do whatever you guys think is best."

The Commander hid her disappointment with an amused chuckle, "But that sentiment has its merit, yes." She looked down for a moment, "Shinji, do you know anything about the possibility of another organization that would attempt to overthrow NERV and disband the Evangelion program?" Naoko looked at Shinji intensely.

Shinji stared blankly at Naoko and stammered, "Uh, not really? Wait, I thought we were with the UN? Is there something going on?"

"Asuka?" Naoko called out, and her pupil stood up to attention.

"D-does that mean I'd lose my insurance?" Shinji stammered out.

Fuyutsuki tapped his shoulder as though he were Shinji's legal aid, "It won't come to that."

"The same question, Asuka." The Commander repeated.

Asuka's posture stiffened, as though she were a soldier giving orders. Shinji turned his head towards her mother, the Chief Scientist, and their demeanors were identical.

"Yes, Commander. During breakfast today I found reports of two assets being built by ACE chemicals. Corporations outsourced by the Strategic Self Defence Force. They are to be showcased at a Conference located on the outskirts of Tokyo-01 and as you suggested, I suspect they intend to overthrow NERV."

"And these reports were… confidential?" Naoko shot a glance at Ritsuko, who hesitated.

Her daughter nodded, "That's right, I can confirm what she said is true, and I take full-responsibility."

Naoko smiled at Ritsuko, "Thank you for your honesty." She turned to Misato whose arms were crossed, "And thank you for your discretion."

"I told Shinji too." Misato bluffed.

"No you didn't-" Shinji could feel Misato's laser eyes from across the room and stammered, "-Didn't, didn't tell me… there were two assets being built?"

Naoko raised her eyebrow, "Oh, she did?" She clicked for the next slide, "She showed you these?"

Two massive mechas blared on the screen and flooded the blue meeting room with flashes of orange. On either side were comparisons of Evangelion Unit-01 to scale, and both were nearly double their height.

The Commander pointed to the more humanoid looking one, with orange armor, lanky springy limbs and black quills protruded from its back. "Did Misato show you this one, Shinji?"

He nodded in response. "Yes, I know all about them."

Naoko covered the title underneath the mecha with her hand. "What's the name?"

Shinji tucked in his white shirt as he stood up and stated with the utmost confidence: "The Hedgehogotron 5000."

Naoko moved her hand and the text simply said, "Jet Alone".

Asuka suppressed the faintest of snickers. She bit back the rare laugh and froze when she felt Naoko's eyes shine widely at her.

"Oh. Misato, I coulda sworn you said the Hedgehogotron-"

Misato groaned, "Shinji, sit down."

"Commander, he is clearly attempting to cover for Langley and your daughter." Kyoko declared from the back of the conference room.

"I know, Kyoko, thank you."

Ritsuko leaned closer to expect the details of the two mechas, and the dates they were printed with. "These designs are more up to date than what we have, and more advanced…"

"Which means that our provider has been feeding us irrelevant intel…" Kyoko added.

Naoko began to pace side to side, "You see why I told you two not to tell the kids? Who knows who or what we can even trust right now. Not to mention…" The Commander clicked on the next slide, three resembling faces appeared on the screen, but not in the standard uniform you would wear for a school picture. The three all wore camo and posed for what appeared to be mug-shots, "Some of your friends aren't who they appeared to be."

"The MARDUK institute has been bought out- there are infiltrators within class 2-A, rogue pilots." Kyoko said.

"Yes, I was getting to that." Naoko turned back to the children, "Jet Alone may be controlled by an on-board computer but make no mistake, the Trident Land Cruiser is piloted by three children in your class."

Shinji gasped at the sight of Keita Asari and his sunken, dull eyed expression.

Asuka squinted at the grinning, purple haired boy in the bottom of the lineup, he stuck his tongue out and struck a pose for his mugshot. "Augh, gross, it's that weird german kid who tried to hit on me!" She turned to see if she elicited a reaction from Shinji, but he was still transfixed at the sight of that short weirdo that hangs out with him and the stooges all the time. She crossed her arms and let out a sizzled grunt. "I didn't tell him a thing, Commander."

"I know."

Rei stared silently at Mana Kirishima's mugshot. Kirishima's eyes were sharp as steel, and the faint smirk was anticipation of weakness, not the warmth and innocent curiosity that Rei had seen this morning. The warmth quickly faded and left a cold spot in her stomach, which quickly travelled to her skull where she felt a burning sensation like never before. Her fists tightened reflexively.

"I imagine you all feel shocked, confused, maybe even a little betrayed." Naoko offered.

Shinji looked down and frowned, "I thought Keita was my friend."

Misato turned to him, "Shinji, did you tell him anything?"

"No, I thought it was strange how he would ask so many questions, but this doesn't make any sense. He's so… quiet and normal. He wouldn't hurt anybody."

"Don't underestimate him, Shinji." Naoko warned, "Keita Asari's family had their hands in the Japanese military since before the Second Great War."

Asuka snorted and leaned back in her chair. "Please, the guy is a lump of soy sauce."

"Naoko, what should we do?" Shinji asked.

"For now, nothing. The three of you will carry on with any social interactions you have with our guests as if this conversation never happened."

"Commander-" Misato got no response so she sighed and raised her hand, "We should evict these Trident Pilots from the city immediately after the conference has ended."

Naoko waved a dismissive hand, "That won't be necessary, besides, Keita Asari's father is one of the highest authorities in the JSSDF, he's practically their Commander. So I don't want any unnecessary tension at the conference today. To all of our sponsors this is merely a friendly forum to best decide where the world's resources will go. For Humanity's best interest of course."

"The tightrope of diplomacy…" Fuyutsuki muttered to himself.

Misato rested her head on her desk table, "I hate politics." She said quietly. "Why can't we just do our job in peace?"

"Because as always, whenever a new big fish is in town, the rest of the pod would rather flap their fins and worry about their little breadcrumbs, rather than unite the school."

"So they're trying to upstage us?" Shinji asked.

And Naoko nodded. "If it's a show they want, then we're going to give them a show they will never forget."

"A show? What kind of show?"

The Commander stared evenly at Shinji, "What do you think we should do?"

"S-speak from the heart?"

"...Asuka?"

Asuka shot to attention, "Use whatever trick in the book we have to, Commander." Naoko smiled in approval of Asuka's answer, and a swell of joy rushed through her. Asuka smirked smugly at Shinji.

"If this conference doesn't help us turn the UN in our favor, everything we have will be taken from us, everything. And then who will defend humanity when the angels seek what's hidden below this city? Who will defend humanity from Third Impact? These three brats?"

"Wait.." Shinji raised his hand, "Third Impact?"

"Oh." The Commander said softly. "Nobody told you?"

"Nobody tells me anything around here, I mean-"

"-Then it's time for you to know Shinji, like we all do." Naoko approached his table, the white light of the screen blinded him. "The public believes a meteor caused the Second Impact, but the truth is…Angels, Shinji. They caused the Second Impact."

"R-really?"

The Commander nodded. "And if one of them pierces the Tokyo-03's Geofront and reaches the depths of Terminal Dogma, it will happen again. Humanity will not be prepared, it will be the end."

"Oh man…"

Naoko nodded sympathetically, "I'm sure that's a lot to process for you."

"But I don't understand, if that much is at stake," Shinji pointed to the two mechas, "Why can't the others be sent here to help us? Why must it only be one group or the other? "

"You'll be surprised with what people will do to have things go their way."

"But-"

"-But?"

Shinji stood up, "I may not have known about Keita, but I know he's not a bad guy, maybe he could talk to his father-"

"General Asari is not somebody you reason with easily." Fuyutsuki explained to Shinji, "Whenever an exchange is made, he expects something in return. And it is nearly impossible to persuade him of anything."

"Oh…"

Naoko sighed, "Abe is a dear friend of mine, but Kozo is right, he is very persistent." She turned to Misato, "He was the one who funded your father's expedition to Antarctica, they were good friends."

Misato scowled. "I remember."

Shinji looked at the two confusingly, "Misato?"

She turned to Shinji. From across the room Misato regarded him, but she did not look at his face. "When the Second Impact happened in Antarctica, it was because my father discovered something there fifteen years ago. I don't know what, or how, but I know my father unearthed an Angel that day, I was the only one to-" Misato gently weighed the cross that dangled on her neck. "So many people died that day, Shinji. We can't let it happen again, not for the sake of discovery, or for anything."

Asuka frowned as she quietly listened.

"Misato, I'm so sorry."

"Yes, it was very tragic. And your father was a great man…" Naoko looked down and sighed, "Anyways, Shinji?" She called out, and he lifted his solemn head up, "How do you feel about holding down the fort for a day or two?"

"H-hold down the fort?"

"Well, you and Rei."

Shinji tugged at his collar, "I don't, wouldn't Asuka be more suited for that?"

Naoko shrugged, "I disagree, because I couldn't imagine anyone other than Asuka presenting the world to Evangelion today."

Everyone turned to Asuka as she lifted her head in realization of what she just said. "Me?"

"Of course, you are my star player after all."

"She is indeed our most considerable candidate." Kyoko affirmed from the back of the room, and Asuka had to suppress her shock.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Naoko said, "What do you say, Asuka? Like we always talked about? You and I will show Evangelion to the world and define their future. By the end of this year we will have nearly a dozen EVA units. And you…"

Naoko clicked on one final slide that showed a rough concept of a large party of silver EVA's that flew airborne.

And in the center, they were led by a red-winged Unit-02.

"You will be their captain."

Shinji looked amazed at the idea of an army of EVA's, "This is great! This way, no Angel would be able to beat us, right?" He looked at Fuyutsuki, who turned away from Shinji, to hide his expression once again. Shinji looked at Asuka, and his smile dropped as he noticed Asuka's smile was gone too, in fact, she covered her mouth as if she were about to be sick.

"Langley?" Shinji asked gently, "Are you okay?"

"So?" Naoko beamed, "What do you say, 'Captain'?"

Asuka looked her way and shrugged off whatever she felt, "I had a big breakfast that's all." She cleared her throat, thumped her chest. Asuka grinned at Shinji, "And that's Captain Langley to you now, scrub."

Shinji shook his head.

Misato didn't seem to notice her nausea the way Shinji did and chuckled at the first sign of happiness she had seen in Asuka for a long time, "Don't get too cocky kid, congratulations."

"Yeah, yeah…" Asuka stood up and bowed, "Thank you, Naoko. I won't let you down."

"Oh, I know you won't."

Ritsuko frowned, she had still been focused on a certain detail. "Mother?"

"Yes?"

"You said… 'You and I.' Are you coming to the conference with us?"

Naoko looked down, "Oh yes. I think the direness of this situation requires… a more qualified set of hands."

"But what about HQ? Who will run NERV while everyone is gone?" Ritsuko replied.

"Well, you of course." Naoko said plain as day. She watched as her daughter attempted to stammer through a reply, "Cat got your tongue? Don't be so shocked, I always said you would be a leader one day."

Misato stood up, "What about me? I'm the Operations Director, no offence to you, Ritsuko, but I'm more qualified for this situation."

"I picked her for a reason, Misato. You have a very important job with me today. Ritsuko will be fine, our projected Angel arrival isn't due for another week, you will plan for the occasion while Fuyutsuki provides you with counsel. Although I really doubt it will come to that, all parents have the day off today so it'll just be a skeleton crew at HQ."

"Unless of course, you think my daughter isn't capable." Naoko challenged.

"Of course not. It's in good hands." A small smile was shared between the two. Misato gently patted Ritsuko's shoulder and she flinched involuntarily.

"Rits, we'll talk more shop later when we- oh." Also Sprach Zarathustra played from Naoko's phone, "Sorry, that's me. Hello? Yes?" Naoko turned away from the others and looked down, "He's what?" She looked at Shinji and covered her mouth, her eyes wrinkled. "Oh no, is he alright?"

Shinji's chest tightened as he looked desperately at Fuyutsuki, who didn't look away this time, they shared the same confusion.

"I see. I'll have someone escort him there immediately. Thank you." She hung up the phone. "Shinji, I have some bad news, you may need to brace yourself."

"W-why, whats-"

"Your father, Gendo, he's in the hospital. He's in very bad shape, they said something about a-"

"-Motorcycle crash…"

Naoko stared at Shinji, "How did you know that?"

Shinji shot out of his chair and nearly tripped on it as made his way to the exit.

Misato looked at Naoko, "Well is he okay?"

"He came by the school earlier-" Shinji replied hastily as he ran up the stairs, "I'm sorry but I have to go!"

"Why am I only hearing this now?" Naoko stared at Asuka and Rei. "Shinji, I asked you a question." Naoko said sharply.

He ignored her.

"Shinji!" Naoko called out to him and he froze at the door.

Misato stared at Ritsuko at the sudden outburst, who looked down.

"How exactly do you plan on getting to the surface? Misato will drive you. You know on second thought, I'll come to. I've been meaning to pay your father a visit for years."

"I… I don't know what to say-"

"-How about thank you?"

"Commander." Kyoko interjected, "Time is of the essence today, surely someone else can be bothered with this."

"Nonsense, I'll make time. Besides what Shinji needs right now is support from his friends. You and Ritsuko stay here and oversee preparations." Naoko thought for a moment, "Asuka, you'll come with us too. It's better if we're all in one place."

Asuka gestured to her school uniform, "Shouldn't I wear something more… formal?"

"Don't worry, I have something picked out for you already. We'll drop you kids off at the hospital, finish business here at headquarters and pick you up in an hour, sounds good?"

Fuyutsuki stood up and followed Shinji, "It's best Gendo doesn't see me, but I'll come with you."

He smiled, "Thank you, Mr. Fuyutsuki."

The Commander clapped her hands together, "Great! Back in the cars-"

"-Wait!" Shinji yelped out. Naoko zeroed in on Shinji, her smile strained at the interruption. "Shouldn't Rei come with us too then?"

"Oh. I don't see why that's necessary."

"W-well it's like you said, it's better if we're all in one place, right?"

"I disagree-"

"-We really don't have time for this debate, Naoko." Misato stood up as well and followed Shinji out the door. "With all due respect, let's just support Shinji however we can."

The Commander's hands gripped tightly around the edges of her coat, as though she were about to rip off its seams. A contorted smile grew on her face as she stared at Misato. "Sure. Why not? Lets just… you hear that 'Rei'?" The girl's head perked up at the sound of her name.

The others couldn't see as they made their way out the door, but Naoko's entire body shook as she forced out a sharp exhale, her jaw clenched. "You're gonna meet Gendo."

---

End of Part One.