Gendo Ikari was alone in his dark office, sitting with his hands clasped in front of his face, a gesture he did often. NERV's commander had remained there for the last few minutes, waiting for someone else to join him. Eventually, the door to his office opened, letting a scientist with dyed blonde hair enter inside.
"Good morning, commander" the woman greeted, closing the door behind her, immediately changing her formal tone of voice to a more casual one "Did you want to see me?"
Gendo didn't answer anything, he just waited for the doctor to approach his office table. Once the woman was standing still before it, he spoke "Have you noticed any changes in Rei lately?" he asked keeping her face serious.
The doctor raised an eyebrow "Of course. Sooner or later he would notice… though I hoped for later..." the blonde thought, crossing her arms "Actually, yes. She has improved her sync rates substantially in the last few days"
"I don't mean that kind of changes" the man interrupted "I'm referring to changes in her behavior"
The scientist had suppress a smug smile from forming on her lips. Of course she had noticed changes in her behavior "Yes, I have also noticed some changes. It seems that she and the Third Child have become… closer"
Gendo looked at her coldly for a few moments "When were you intending to inform me of this development?"
"Ideally, never" Ritsuko thought "I didn't consider it worth mentioning" she replied instead.
"You didn't consider it worth mentioning?" the commander questioned, his tone of voice making his opinion on the matter painfully clear "Do you know what this could mean for our plans?" the man asked severely.
"For yours, a complete annihilation, I hope" the woman thought to herself again before answering something completely different "Honestly, commander, probably nothing"
"Probably nothing?" the commander repeated, once again revealing his disagreement "Should I remind you how important it is that Rei remains loyal to our cause?"
"No, commander, you don't have to remind me of that, I know it perfectly well" the woman replied, being completely sincere on that point "I also know that Rei is absolutely loyal to NERV and you. I don't think a distraction like this is going to change that"
The commander was silent for a few moments, keeping his gaze fixed on the doctor's eyes. After that, he spoke again "Find out which is the most recent copy of Rei's memory in which she is not involved with the Third Child and replace her current memory with said copy"
Ritsuko had to suppress a new smile. Gendo was reacting exactly as she had expected "About that, commander, there is something I discovered this morning, just before coming here" the woman said, feigning displeasure "Most of the copies of Rei's memories have been deleted, I suspect that during the attack of the Eleventh Angel to the MAGI. We currently only have one copy of her memory, the one I saved last Thursday"
For the first time during the entire conversation, concern broke through Gendo Ikari's face. It was only for a second, but enough for Ritsuko to notice it. The scientist experienced great satisfaction. She knew that all this was problematic for the commander, but seeing it reflected in his perpetually stoic face, even for just a moment, was delicious.
The commander soon regained his composure and remained silent for several seconds, reflecting. This changed things completely. The only remaining solution was…
"This afternoon, when Rei finishes with the tests, tell her to come to my office" the man indicated severely "You can leave"
"Understood" was Ritsuko's brief reply before she turned around and headed for the exit. This time, however, she allowed herself to smile. Her plan was unfolding perfectly. Now all that was missing was for Rei to also do what she expected.
Far from there, in the school attended by the three Evangelion pilots, the long-awaited lunchtime had finally arrived, so the students began to leave the classrooms and walking towards the cafeteria or the courtyard, depending on whether they had brought lunches for themselves or not. Class 2-A's representative, Hikari Horaki, took out a package with two lunches from her backpack with a big smile on her lips. After a long time of going back and forth, Touji had finally asked her on a date a few days ago, and in said social event they had finally managed to consolidate their relationship. That morning, they had revealed the fact to their friends separately, who had taken the news with diverse levels of approval.
On one hand, Shinji and Kensuke were clearly pleased to know about their new relationship. Both boys were acutely aware that their friend liked the class representative and they suspected that the feeling was mutual, so they were very happy for both of them. Rei, who was also with them at that time Touji revealed the big news, as was usual since Shinji had become her boyfriend, had expressed her satisfaction too, even going as far as congratulating Touji, despite maintaining her usual stoic face during the whole conversation. Hikari, respectively had only told Asuka, who received the news without much enthusiasm. The freckled girl didn't know if it was because the redhead's opinion of her new boyfriend was already not the best to begin with, or because of the bad mood that the girl had been on for several days at that time. Probably both.
Be that as it may, Hikari really wanted to openly have lunch with Touji that day, without having to be embarrassed about him, his presence or how she felt about him anymore. The girl stood up from her chair, and directed her attention to her red-haired friend "Asuka... today I would really like to have lunch with Touji and the others... do you want to join us?"
Asuka gave the pig-tailed girl a narrow look. Sharing lunchtime with the troglodyte that was Touji would already be an unpleasant prospect for her, but, as Asuka knew well, the aforementioned troglodyte always ate lunch accompanied by the other two idiots he had as friends. To make matters worse, since idiot Shinji had hooked up with the doll, she had also joined the group at lunchtime every single time she assisted to school.
"Do you want me to have lunch with the three idiots and the doll?" Asuka asked, clearly displeased "I'll cut off an arm before I'll do that"
"Oh..." Hikari looked disappointed by her friend's reply. She had hoped Asuka would want to share the moment of happiness that she was going to experiment. She had also hoped that the company would do something to improve the bad mood that the German girl had been on lately. The freckled girl directed a longing glance towards Touji, who along with Shinji, Rei and Kensuke, were getting ready to go outside to have lunch. Hikari didn't want to leave her friend alone, but she didn't want to miss that opportunity either.
Asuka quickly guessed what Hikari was thinking "Don't worry about me. I can eat alone today, I'm not going to die because of that" the girl said with resignation. Hikari directed her a surprised look, which soon turned into a radiant smile.
"Thank you, Asuka" said the class representative "Next time we'll definitely eat together, alright?"
"I hope so" the redhead replied with a half smile that she didn't really felt.
Hikari hurriedly joined Touji and the others, after which they all left the classroom together, looking infuriatingly happy while doing so. Asuka watched them for a few moments, frowning, as she opened the lunchbox Shinji had cooked for her. The girl took a spoonful and chewed. The food was cooked as well as usual, but for some reason the redhead wasn't able to enjoy it that day.
She was the best Evangelion pilot. She was a prodigy who had already graduated from college even though she was only fourteen years old. She was also a beautiful girl, who dazzled with her beauty any of their classmates.
And she was alone.
Hours later, the three pilots were submerged in LCL inside their Entry-Plugs, performing harmonics tests. As was usual in such situation, Misato walked around the control room very casually, waiting to hear about the results. To her left, Ritsuko was taking notes on a piece of paper, while Maya and Makoto were typing on their respective terminals. This continued for a while, until the terminals indicated that the tests were complete.
"And... ready" Maya stated after the test results appeared in her screen "Oh, interesting"
"How did they do?" Misato asked approaching the terminal.
"Asuka has slightly decreased her sync rate, it's just over 73%" Maya informed "But Rei and Shinji continue to improve. Rei is now almost at 70%, and Shinji has surpassed Asuka, he's at almost 76%"
"Not bad. It's the highest we've recorded so far, right?" asked a smiling Misato.
"Indeed, it is 2% higher than Asuka's sync rate from last week" Ritsuko confirmed, while taking more notes.
The image of a smiling Misato materialized inside the Entry-Plugs, courtesy of NERV's intercom system "Alright guys, good job. Especially you, Shinji, you just broke Asuka's record" the woman said, winking an eye at him "You are number one!"
Minutes later, in the girls' locker room, an angry redhead was putting on her school uniform while fuming "I can't believe it. It's impossible" repeated itself over and over in Asuka's mind. Idiot Shinji, surpassing her? Impossible. A person who had boarded an Evangelion for the first time in his life just a few months ago? Impossible. Even more, that had not had any prior piloting training? Impossible. To make matters worse, the stupid idiot had received the news without giving it much importance. That was the what infuriated Asuka the most, it was as if he thought that she was so beneath him that it was the most natural thing in the world that he would end up surpassing her eventually and, therefore, it was unimportant that he had actually done it.
Asuka finished dressing, closing the door of her locker forcefully, making a loud sound, which caused Rei, who was also dressing a few steps away from her, to glance in her direction, her face still stoic as usual. Asuka was very touchy at that moment, and she didn't take that gesture well.
"What the hell are you looking at, doll?" Asuka asked, practically growling the words "Do you have something to say for a change?"
"No" was the brief response from the blue-haired girl, who returned her gaze to the front. That sat even worse with Asuka, who interpreted Rei's indifference as her being condescending.
"Of course not, what could a doll like you have to say?" the German girl spatted "I bet you're thrilled that your asshole boyfriend surpassed me, aren't you?"
"Not particularly" Rei replied without returning her eyes to the Second Child. This ticked Asuka off even more.
"What is that supposed to mean?! Do you think I'm so worthless that there's no merit in surpassing me?!" roared the redhead.
"No. I just don't care who has the highest synchronization rate. And I know Shinji doesn't care either" Rei said, finishing dressing and promptly heading out of the locker room "Goodbye" the girl said before the door and leaving.
Asuka was silent, the anger inside her not letting her think clearly enough to express any more words. She suddenly slammed her right hand on the door of her locker "Idiots" the redhead muttered with a disgusted grimace on her face.
As soon as she left the women's locker room, Rei saw Shinji, waiting for her outside. The girl smiled gently and started approaching him, when she realized that Dr. Akagi was also a few steps away.
"Rei, come with me" the woman said "The commander wants to speak with you"
Rei and Ritsuko entered inside Commander Ikari's office. The aforementioned, as expected, was already there, sitting behind his desk in his typical pose with his hands clasped in front of his face. Both of them advanced until they were in front of said desk.
"Good afternoon, commander" the bluenette greeted.
"Good afternoon, Rei" the man greeted back, then turned his attention to Ritsuko "Doctor Akagi, you may leave"
"Understood, commander" the blonde replied, avoiding showing her disagreement with that order before turning around and leaving the office.
Once the woman left the room, Gendo turned his gaze back to the scarlet-eyed girl, remaining silent for a few seconds. Rei held the man's gaze, waiting for him to speak, unaware for what would come next.
"Rei, what is your current relationship with the Third Child?" the commander asked severely.
The girl's eyes widened slightly, the question taking her by surprise. It was the first time the commander had asked her a question of such personal nature. Still, she quickly composed herself and replied with complete honesty "Shinji and I are currently a couple, sir"
Gendo was silent for a few moments, his face remaining stoic. Rei, for some reason, began to feel nervous. The commander was a person of few words, but between the unexpected topic of conversation and the serious look he was giving her, the girl began to suspect that something was not right. Finally, Gendo broke the silence again.
"Rei, I order you to immediately end that relationship" the man said without hesitation.
Rei's eyes widened and she felt a cold shiver run down her back. For a moment she doubted if she had heard him right, but the commander's serious look left no room for debate. She felt her stomach turn. That couldn't be happening. The girl opened her mouth, barely managing to find her voice "Commander...? What do you mean by that...?"
"Project Eva requires your relationship with him to be strictly professional" the man indicated.
Rei felt the rapid beating of her heart in her temples. Her head was spinning. Serving the commander's job was the purpose of her life, her reason for existing. She had risked her life countless times, she had faced countless unpleasant situations for that sole purpose. Rei knew she had to obey. If Project Eva needed it, she would do it. It had always been like that.
But recently... things had changed. The Rei Ayanami of that moment was no longer the same as the one of a few months ago, despite being the same person. Project Eva and the commander were still important to her, of course, but they were no longer what the girl held most dear in her heart. Shinji, and what he made her feel, had become her reason for going forward. It was the first thing she thought about when she woke up and the last thing she thought about before falling asleep. With him she had experienced for the first time in her life what it meant to be happy. She couldn't give that up. She didn't understand the reason for giving that up, either. The girl directed a conflicted look at the commander and she spoke "Why?"
Gendo Ikari's eyes widened considerably, now he was the one who had been taken by surprise. Rei had never questioned a direct order. The man's face soon regained its usual stoicism, but inside he was still stunned "Are you refusing to obey my order, Rei?"
The girl hesitated for a few moments, clearly taking great effort for her not to give in. But she remained firm "I need to know the reason for this order, commander"
Gendo was starting to worry, things were getting more complicated than he thought possible. If Rei didn't relent, he would have to replace her with one of her clones, which could end up being a disaster in battles against future angels, considering that he would have to use one without any memories. On the other hand, he also couldn't give the girl a direct answer without revealing his plans, which in these circumstances would be just as bad or worse for their success.
"We can't afford distractions" was the best answer the man could come up with.
"Commander, I assure you that my relationship with Shinji will not affect my obligations as an Evangelion pilot" the girl replied immediately, still nervous, but determined that her point would come across. The serious and cold look the commander directed to her, however caused the girl's resolve to start breaking. She didn't understand why the man was doing this. She remembered the signs of concern and attention the commander had shown for her well-being in the past. Didn't he care about her well-being now? Shinji was the reason for her well-being "Commander... don't force me to break up with Shinji, please... I love him" the girl said with obvious anguish, her voice breaking "I'm happy when I'm with him, don't take that away from me..."
Gendo was hit hard by the image in front of him. It was the first time in his life that he saw Rei express grief in any way. Immediately, something stirred inside the man. For an instant, the sad face of the First Child was replaced in his mind by that of his wife, Yui Ikari. Gendo couldn't fight against that.
"...Understood" the man finally said, barely audible "You can continue your relationship with the Third Child"
Rei felt relief like she had never felt in her life when she heard those words, an immense weight was lifted off her shoulders "Thank you, Commander..." the girl murmured.
"But don't ever forget who your loyalty should lie with, Rei" the man added, gazing severely at her once again "You may leave"
Those last words confused the girl again "Why so much emphasis on my loyalty and on not being distracted?" Rei wondered. Either way, the girl decided that it was not the place to think about that, and she did not want to risk staying more time there after having managed to ensure that her relationship with Shinji was not in danger "Understood, commander" she said before leaving the man's office at a quick pace.
Gendo watched the door of his office close, deep in thought.
Shinji was in front of the entrance of NERV closest to Rei's apartment, waiting for her to finish whatever conversation she was having with his father. The boy wanted to spend some time with her before returning to Misato's apartment, since judging by the glare that Asuka gave him when she left NERV without saying a word, things were still tense with her. Considering that and the fact that Misato was going out that night for a drink, perhaps it was a good opportunity to ask Rei if he could spend another night with her at the girl's apartment, thus killing two birds with one stone. Shinji was reflecting about this possibility when he saw his girlfriend emerge from the entrance gate.
The Third Child approached the blue-haired girl, who upon noticing his presence gave him an intense look, which he didn't quite know how to interpret. He was about to ask her if something was wrong, when the girl quickly closed the distance between them and hugged him tightly. Shinji was caught off guard by the suddenness of the embrace, bur reciprocated the gesture shortly after.
"Are you okay?" the boy asked, confused and worried in equal measure.
"...I am now" Rei whispered in his ear, barely audible. That eased Shinji's worries a little, although it didn't explain what was going on. After a moment, Rei finally separated slightly from the boy, who gave her a questioning look, which the bluenette easily understood.
"Shinji... I think you were right about your father" the girl said.
Minutes later, once what happened in his father's office had been explained, and he had enough time to process it, Shinji still didn't know if he should feel angry or disappointed. Probably both, considering the past few days. That his father had even considered forcing Rei to break up her relationship with him seemed petty even for him. He was very thankful that the girl had managed to make him reconsider, but he still felt like crap about the whole ordeal "And I considered trusting him again so little ago. Asuka is right, I'm an idiot" thought the Third Child bitterly.
"Are you alright?" Rei asked, walking beside him on the way to her apartment.
"I'm… disappointed. After yesterday I was thinking that perhaps I could trust my father again… I guess I was wrong" Shinji replied, glancing at his girlfriend afterwards "...How are you?" he asked back, knowing well how much Rei appreciated his father.
"I... I don't know" said the blue-haired girl, lost in thought "I had always believed that Commander Ikari cared about my well-being, but... now I'm not so sure..."
"I... I'm sorry, Rei… but I can't bring myself to believe that he does" Shinji said, a stroke of resentment in his voice "I don't think my father cares about anyone"
The scarlet-eyed girl was silent, her face serious. Deep down, a part of her knew that what Shinji was saying was true. The boy had shown her what it was like to have a genuine interest in another person's well-being. The commander had occasionally shown signs of concern towards her, that was true, and he had reconsidered his stance about her relationship with Shinji when she told him that he made her happy, that was also true. But comparing how the Third Child and the commander behaved towards her… the difference was night and day.
"You might be right..." Rei admitted, staring at the floor beneath her.
Shinji looked at her. Even though her face was stoic as usual, he could notice a hint of sadness in he demeanor. He stopped walking and hold one of her hands gently "I'm sorry, Rei" Shinji said, guessing what the girl was going through at that moment. He himself had gone through that many times because of his father.
Rei intertwined her fingers with the boy's, and smiled slightly "Thank you, Shinji," she whispered "But don't worry. As long as you're with me I'll be fine"
"Always" the boy said, wrapping his arms around her.
Misato was sitting inside one of the city's nightclubs. She had arrived a few minutes ago, accompanied by a man with a slightly unkempt beard and a ponytail. They had both decided to take advantage of the fact that the next day would be a holiday to go out and have fun.
"I haven't been here in a while" Kaji commented, looking at the place "I like how they've redecorated"
"Did you bring any of your conquests here?" Misato asked with some passive-aggressiveness.
"Jealous, are we?" the man replied, giving him a mischievous smile.
"You wish" the woman replied not very convincingly. At that moment the woman's cellphone rang. Misato took the device out of her handbag and raised an eyebrow when she saw who was calling.
"Hi, Shinji. Everything okay?" Misato replied, picking up the call. The woman listened for a few seconds before speaking again "Oh, I see... no, there's no problem. So, where are you going to stay the night?" she asked before listening in silence again for a few seconds. She then smiled very mischievously "Ohhh, you don't say... well, say hi to her for me then... and don't forget our conversation about using protection" the woman added before bursting out laughing "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I can't help it, it's just that you're adorable when you're embarrassed. Yeah, okay. See you tomorrow, Shinji" the woman finally said before hanging up the call and putting her cellphone back in his handbag.
"Everything in order?" Kaji asked.
"Yeah, Shinji was just informing me that he was going to stay the night away from home, no big deal" the woman explained. A few seconds later, one of the employees of the establishment approached their table, bringing their order. Misato and Kaji spent the next few minutes enjoying food, drink, and conversation. It wasn't until later in the night, however, that Misato approached the topic she was most interested in discussing with the man.
"There's something about this whole Dummy Plug System thing that bugs me" said the woman, whose voice was beginning to be slightly distorted by the alcohol "An Eva is a potentially very dangerous weapon to allow something artificial to control it completely"
"So you're saying that Evas should be piloted exclusively by humans?" Kaji replied, after taking a sip of his drink "It's a lot of weight to put on your young pilots' shoulders"
"Probably, but I prefer that to leaving the fate of the world in the hands of a machine with no moral compass" Misato replied "Regardless..." the woman murmured, lowering the tone of her voice "Could you give me some information about SEELE?"
Kaji stared at her seriously before speaking again "If I were you I wouldn't try to stick my nose into that kind of stuff"
"Enough with all this secrecy" the woman said, frowning "You know as well as I do that there is more to this whole Eva thing than simply destroying the angels. What do you know?"
"Actually, not much more than you" the man whispered "SEELE is planning something called the Human Instrumentality Project. What exactly this is, I still don't know. But I know that they need the Second Angel that you guys are keeping inside the Geo-Front"
"Is anyone at NERV aware of this?" the woman then asked.
"Your commander, at least" Kaji replied "SEELE contacts him regularly, so I assume he knows about their plans. Furthermore... I suspect he also has plans of his own related to the Second Angel"
The next morning, a sunny day dawned in Tokyo-3, which was welcomed with open arms by its inhabitants, eager to take advantage of the holiday they had ahead of them. The citizens' plans were quickly cut short, however, when a gigantic sphere with black and white patterns appeared over the city, slowly levitating hundreds of meters above the ground.
A hurried Misato entered through the automatic door of NERV's command center.
"You're late," commented a serious Ritsuko Akagi.
"I'm sorry" Misato apologized. Going out for drinks the day before with Kaji had taken its toll on her when she waked up "How come the angel is already over the city? What were they doing at the Fuji observation post?"
"They didn't detect anything, it suddenly appeared over the city" Aoba reported.
"Orange pattern for now. No AT field detected yet" Makoto, to his right, did the same.
"How strange. Is this a new type of angel?" Ritsuko wondered aloud, a hint of concern on her voice.
"The MAGI haven't concluded anything yet" Maya reported.
"Well, in that case it's better to proceed with caution" Misato deduced. She opened communication with the three pilots, who were already moving the Evangelions through the streets of the city "Guys, approach the target carefully, observe its behavior and, if possible, lure it outside of the city"
"Alright" was the reply of the pilots.
"One of the units will go ahead the other two to approach the target, the other two will cover it, understood?" the woman explained.
"Oh, in that case it's better that the one going ahead is Unit 01, isn't it, invincible Shinji?" Asuka asked, her voice exuding false innocence "As the pilot with the best sync rate, it's best for you to lead the operation... or are you not confident enough?" she added with obvious sarcasm in her voice.
Shinji frowned. Asuka had been more unpleasant to him than usual for several days. The Third Child was a patient person, but all patience had a limit "You know what, Asuka? Very well, I'll go ahead. You and Rei can cover me" the boy suddenly said.
Asuka frowned, she didn't expect Shinji to take the proposal seriously. However, it was too late to back down from it, even more so when Rei agreed, unsurprisingly "Of course the doll will do what the idiot says" the girl thought bitterly.
The Evas crossed the city as carefully as they could, until they were quite close to the floating sphere "Rei, Asuka, are you in position?" Shinji asked his companions.
"Yes" was the brief response from the blue-haired girl, who had positioned herself behind a building with a huge sniper rifle ready to fire.
"Yes, idiot" replied the redhead respectively, armed with a rifle a short distance away.
"Well, in that case I'll go ahead" Shinji said as he advanced towards the angel.
Unit 01 approached the target another hundred meters, apparently without it noticing its presence. Seeing that the angel was not paying attention to him, Shinji decided to try his luck and open fire on it. He aimed his rifle at the angel and fired three times. Before the bullets reached their target, however, the angel's spherical form vanished into thin air completely, much to everyone's surprise. Not a second later, a warning signal appeared on the command center screens.
"Blue pattern detected directly under unit 01!" a worried Makoto exclaimed.
Shinji looked at the ground behind him upon hearing this, only to come across a huge spherical shadow growing on the ground around him. A second later, he could notice how the feet of unit 01 began to sink into the shadow, as if it were standing over quicksand. The boy pointed the rifle at the ground and fired, the bullets penetrating it as if it were a liquid substance, making the attempt completely ineffective.
"What is this?!" the boy exclaimed, panicking. Then he realized that the angel's body had reappeared above him, ominously.
"Shinji, get out of there, quickly!" Misato exclaimed.
The boy tried to move to get out of the shadow that was swallowing him, but his movements were in vain, the Evangelion continued sinking into the blackness.
"Shinji!" exclaimed a worried Rei, who began running towards him. Next to her, Eva 02 was doing the same. As soon as they began to approach Unit 01, the shadow increased the speed whit which it was swallowing it.
"Rei! Asuka! Help!" Shinji shouted in despair as the blackness swallowed him completely, Unit 01 disappearing from sight. After that, the shadow vanished and communication with Shinji's Entry-Plug was cut off.
"No" Rei thought desperately as she watched the events unfolding in front of her. The girl aimed the sniper rifle at the angel and fired, but it vanished again as soon as the projectile approached it. Once again the shadow began to manifest, this time under Eva 02, which had continued running towards the angel. Luckily for Asuka, now that she had seen what happened with Unit 01, she managed to jump over a building in time, avoiding being swallowed. After jumping onto the roof of several skyscrapers, she reached safety, outside the radius of the shadow.
"Asuka, Rei, retreat" Misato ordered, her voice grim.
"Wait, Major, Shinji and Unit 01 are still there" replied a visibly worried Rei.
"I know, Rei. It's an order, retreat" the woman repeated with a trembling voice.
To be continued...