Chapter 8: Opening Salvo

And when it all started… well, we were a world away. At least, Asuka, Unit-02, and I were. It was a feeling far different to what I'd first experienced. As for Shinji… he certainly did better than what the world largely expected. But some things, I couldn't prepare him for. And I continue to answer for those things. Even if only to myself.

- Where I've Been, 23rd Entry

Stahlturm, Neuberlin, March 19th, 2015

Daniel Theisman looked intently at the television in his flat, utterly silent as he listened to a news broadcast half a world away at 5 in the morning. He hunched forward, utterly silent as the man spoke at the news desk of the Tokyo-2 News Network.

"And onto our biggest piece of news this afternoon, the Prime Minister of Japan spoke on his decision to declare a national state of emergency in the area in and around Tokyo-3. He thanked the United Nations for their support during what he called a "critical emergency". While no information was forthcoming on why the state of emergency was called during the press conference held in the aftermath, former residents of Tokyo-3 have come forward with what most call unsubstantiated rumors of potentially experimental military hardware. For those, we turn to our street reporter-"

Daniel turned the television off and sighed quietly, rubbing his face. So, it had happened. The war that could truly end the world had begun in earnest.

Then, he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket, pulling it out to reveal the caller ID. It was Shinji.

'This was inevitable, honestly,' he tried to console himself as he gathered the courage to answer the phone. He knew that one of the worst nights of Shinji's life had just happened… and this time, he wasn't even there.

After a little eternity, he accepted the call. "Hey, Shinji," he said. "How are you holding up?"

It was silent for far longer than Daniel could ever feel comfortable with. "I…" Shinji finally said. "I don't know."

"What happened?" Daniel asked in a calming tone.

"I don't even know if I'm supposed to be talking to you about this," Shinji said. "I don't even fully know if I can process what happened."

"Don't worry about it, then," Daniel replied. "Just talk about what you can."

"How did you know?"

Daniel knew exactly what he was talking about. "Know about what?"

"The Angels. The Evangelion. AT Fields. They're secrets to everyone who isn't directly connected to them. So how do you know about them?"

Shinji had the right to know, Daniel thought as he sighed quietly. But even a fraction of what he knew would likely put the boy in indescribable danger.

"I did contract work for NERV while I was in Japan," Daniel began. "And I got curious. I've told Misato this, but I don't get caught sticking my nose in anything. That's true in more than one way. I learned a lot about why NERV exists. What it's meant to protect against, and how it does it."

He paused, sighing heavily. "Just… don't let anyone know about that just yet. NERV keeps its secrets jealously. Jealously enough that I could be in danger. Or even you."

It was silent for a moment. "Alright," Shinji said quietly. "I think I can do that."

Daniel smiled slightly. "Good man. And hey, I'll probably be along at some point to help you guys out. I can tell you what I've been working on now, seeing as you're probably cleared in terms of internal security. I'm the head of engineering for Unit-02, another Evangelion. Asuka is its pilot. And I'd say we're raring to go to help you out when they decide to send us in."

"Oh," Shinji said. "Well, I guess that makes a lot of sense, now. It would be nice to have you back here."

"And hey," Daniel said, having turned his next words in his mind many times over, "I might get to meet your mysterious father when I return."

"Don't bother," Shinji said, suddenly and with a bite of venom that managed to still take Daniel off guard. "I think he'd just be jealous of you. If he could even feel anything at all."

"That bad, huh?" Daniel said sympathetically.

"I'm just a pilot," Shinji said. "I'm just… a tool! Years and years since he'd last seen me, and the only thing he cares about is whether or not I'll pilot Unit-01. Go out and face a giant monster, or he'll send out a girl in no condition to do so instead! He's heartless! He… he doesn't love me."

Daniel listened as Shinji's tone tumbled from indignation down to despair. "He doesn't love me," he repeated nearly in a broken whisper.

"Shinji," Daniel said firmly and with no small amount of concern. "I… I'm sure it hurts. But don't let your father being a fool get to you. You are loved. I love you. That's something that'll never change. Got it?"

It was silent again for long moments. "Thank you, Daniel."

"Of course, Shinji," Daniel replied. "Besides, I've learned, through hard experience, that family doesn't have to be related to you. It only needs the people who care for you."

"I can see how that might work," Shinji said with no small amount of uncertainty.

"It does," Daniel replied. "Better than you might think."

After a moment's contemplative silence, Daniel decided a switch in the topic was in order. "So, have you met Misato yet? She's the operations director there now, so you've at least heard her voice, I might guess."

"More than that," Shinji said with a quiet chuckle. "She kind of saved my life from the Angel stepping on me. And… I'm living with her, too."

Daniel nodded slightly. "I see. It's probably going to take some adjusting, getting used to some of her… let's call them eccentricities."

"You could say that," Shinji replied. "I certainly have a lot of cooking and cleaning ahead of me."

"Have I interrupted lunch?" Daniel asked.

"No, we just got done with it," Shinji said. "Though… I'm starting school in a few days, so I'm going to be cooking ahead."

Daniel could hear the apprehension in the boy's voice. "I hope the school is a good one," Daniel replied. "They'll need to be to keep up with your smarts."

"Oh come on, Daniel," Shinji said rather bashfully, Daniel chuckling.

"I… I don't know about this," Shinji continued quietly. "I'm just… I miss you, Daniel. More than I have before. I hope you get here soon."

Daniel felt the words he wanted to speak catch in his throat. "So do I, Shinji," he said quietly, tears pricking his eyes. "You're not alone. Even if it feels like it. I'll always be there."

"Thank you," Shinji said quietly. "I… I have to go now."

"I won't hold you up then," Daniel said. "Wherever you go, good luck."

The call ended, and Daniel set the phone on the couch beside him, burying his head in his hands as he let the tears flow, memories and nightmares flowing with them as he grappled with the shameful past and an all-too-uncertain future.

He didn't flinch as he heard the door open up, a familiar voice calling out to him. "Daniel? Where are you?"

He heard Asuka's footsteps coming closer, then pause beside him. After long moments, Daniel lifted his head to see Asuka standing in front of him, a rather… conflicted look on her face.

"Are… are you…" Asuka managed as Daniel took a deep breath.

Daniel nodded. "Yeah. Yeah. I will be. I just… I found out Shinji was made the pilot of Unit-01 last night."

"Oh," Asuka said, falling silent for a moment. "How long had he been training for?"

Daniel shook his head slightly. "He hasn't. He got summoned from his home just in time for a deployment and essentially shoved into the Entry Plug."

Asuka's eyes went wide. "You're kidding."

"I wish I were," Daniel said wearily. "But that isn't what shocked you, is it?"

Asuka grimaced slightly as she glanced away. "Well… you're an adult."

"Adult?" Daniel asked.

"You…" Asuka looked down at her feet as she blushed. "Grown-ups don't cry except at funerals. They're strong. They're not kids."

Daniel sighed quietly. "I admire your optimism about growing up. But you'll find that, most times, an adult is just a kid who's gotten older and learned how to do the things they see around them."

He paused for a moment. "You ever study much on C.S. Lewis?"

Asuka rolled her eyes. "Not much. The little I read was honestly just evangelizing wrapped in little kids' stories."

Daniel smiled ruefully. "Then you didn't dig deep enough."

Daniel searched his mind for a moment. "When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up," he said, regarding Asuka intently. "It took a lot of time for me to realize that, and I'll be honest, it's… remarkably liberating. He goes well beyond children's stories, Asuka. Chew on that for a little bit, see what you think."

Asuka nodded as Daniel stood, stepping over to wrap her in a quick hug. "Now, I don't think you're here just to philosophize with me. What's up?"

"I got a call from Commander Löwenherz," Asuka replied. "He asked me to get you, and Mr. Kaji, quietly. You'll need to get the heads of your engineering department. Apparently something big's happened."

"I'm betting it has something to do with Shinji becoming the pilot of Unit-01."

Asuka grimaced. "You're probably right."

. . .

Daniel, Ryoji, and Asuka, along with the leads of the Engineering staff, sat in a conference room, Commander Löwenherz standing in front of them with a screen behind his pack. It showed a cityscape at high noon, a security camera feed that was collected by NERV-HQ's Magi supercomputer.

"I don't think I need to remind you that at the moment, this is to be considered highly classified," Karl began. "We will only hand this information out as and when I allow it. Is that clear?"

The others nodded, and the screen began to show video.

In the center of the feed were two giants, one armored in purple and lime, the other clad in black flesh and bony scales and spikes, standing on the street as, for the briefest of moments, a speck of blue appeared and disappeared from the camera's view behind the armored titan.

After a moment, the pair clashed, the creature fighting viciously in an eerie silence as the shadowy creature slammed its opponent from building to building, into the ground over and over again, until the military began a barrage that drew it away from the obviously reeling knight.

Daniel's eyes were narrowed slightly as he studied the brief, furious duel before Karl spoke. "Yesterday, at 1328 Japanese Standard Time, Evangelion Unit-01, piloted by the First Child, was deployed to intercept an anomalous massive creature on course towards the center of the city. As you can see, Unit-01 was rendered combat ineffective due to exacerbated previous injuries to the pilot."

"Damn," Asuka said under her breath as the view changed to another camera at night. "They were that desperate, huh?"

"With the First Child incapacitated," Karl continued, "the Third Child was called out of reserves and placed into Unit-01 after it was repaired, engaging the creature at 2047 hours."

He fell silent, letting the engagement play out. It was a much more haphazard affair than before, the Eva managing to land a few blows before stumbling towards a weapons building. Daniel smiled slightly for the briefest of moments. 'At least what I taught him went to good use.'

Then the feed cut out as the seemingly limp form of Unit-01 slammed into a building from an attack from the creature. "After that point, all feeds around the conflict lost video due to electromagnetic interference. However, we have reputable reports that Unit-01 finished the fight and eliminated the threat."

'How convenient,' Daniel mused. 'No sign of Unit-01's time in the driver's seat.'

"The threat has been identified and confirmed in connection to the Second Impact. NERV-HQ has classified this threat under the callsign 'Angel'." Karl continued. "We cannot assume by any means that this one is the last of its kind. Until further notice, we are on high alert in case any other creatures, these Angels, make incursions elsewhere around the world."

Karl looked around the room. "Any questions?"

It was silent for a moment before Daniel somewhat discreetly raised a hand. "Not a question so much as an observation, sir."

Karl nodded. "Go ahead, Captain."

"It is by happy coincidence that I know the pilot who is now the Third Child. His name is Shinji Ikari. And yes, he is related to HQ's Commander Gendo Ikari. He lived with his in-laws for the past 6 years before being called into HQ this past week and being introduced to the Evangelion the night that he piloted it. The fact of the matter is that he is not a reservist pilot, he is untrained. And he knows as much as any that an untrained pilot is a danger to himself and others." Daniel said.

It was silent for long moments. "What are you suggesting, Daniel?" Karl asked.

"What I'm suggesting is that, until such time as he begins to receive adequate training from those above him at HQ, Asuka, who has come into contact through my interacting with Shinji over long-distance calls, give him what training we can from here. It may not be much, but it'll at least supplement whatever Shinji gets."

Daniel looked over at Asuka, who held his gaze for a moment before nodding slightly.

"And should I clear that with HQ?" Karl asked. "We wouldn't want to be stepping on command's toes, after all."

"I'm sure that their operations director, one Captain Katsuragi, would be willing to sign off," Daniel replied with a slight smile.

Karl soon had a slight smile of his own. "I think that can be arranged. I'll leave that to Ms. Soryu-Langley and yourself."

Daniel nodded. "Yes, sir."

"I actually have a question, too," Ryoji said his usual unconcerned expression a distant thing compared to the slight crease of his brow. "What happens if these Angels are only attacking one place? Do we transfer Unit-02 to a new location?"

"The possibility exists," Karl replied. "We'll begin drafting transportation plans in the event that we can confirm the location or locations any future Angels may appear in. Anything else?"

The silence was his answer, and Karl nodded curtly. "Alright. Back to work."

As they exited, Asuka looked over at Daniel. "I can't promise much, Daniel," she began. "But I think I can think of something."

"I know you can," Daniel replied. "Just like I know Shinji's going to be a sponge to whatever you decide to teach him."

"He'd better!" she said somewhat haughtily. "He just landed the best job in the world!"

"Much as I don't think he quite sees it that way," Daniel said quietly. "You saw how he got beat up."

"For an untrained pilot," Asuka said, "even I can admit he didn't do half bad. At least he didn't get himself killed."

"He'll probably wonder about that come his first day of school in Tokyo-3," Daniel said with a slight, sympathetic grimace.

"If he can pilot an Evangelion, even a little," Asuka said, "he'll do just fine."

. . .

Shinji Ikari found that he was hating every second of this.

He sat down in a classroom surrounded by strangers, his only comfort thus far that all he had to do was follow the stern instructions of a fellow classmate, a girl with some freckles that framed equally stern brown eyes, with brown hair done up in rather girlish pigtails.

The most interesting part of being a part of Class 2-A, however, was an already familiar face. Though wrapped in a frankly worrying amount of bandages, she was still here, looking out the window.

What was markedly less interesting, however, was their rather old homeroom teacher who had a remarkably calm, droning voice as he taught about world history.

'World history as everyone else knows it,' Shinji reminded himself as he considered the screen of his school laptop, a history textbook across its screen. 'The world history I wish it was.'

He thought back to the training that he'd received two days ago, getting back into the Entry Plug of Unit-01 and putting his learning of the city's layout to the test before a training on using the massive Pallet Rifle.

Daniel had taken him shooting only a few times in the time that they'd been together. But those had been enough to show him that the 'range day' he just had was remarkably simple compared to the situation he'd likely be put in should another Angel show up.

Then, a notification. Shinji opened it to show the instant messaging application, a message from a 'C. Tanaka', short and simple, asking him a question that he was expecting and dreading in equal measure.

'Are you the giant robot pilot? Y/N.'

Shinji's jaw clenched. How many of them had seen something? How many of them jumped to conclusions? How many of them thought they knew… anything?

A second message. 'It's true, isn't it?'. Again, 'Y/N.'

Shinji glanced up at his teacher. He'd gone on another tangent now, looking out the window and talking about his hometown, taken by the waves. He glanced back at the question, then took a somewhat surreptitious look around the class. After a moment, he found who was likely Miss Tanaka, a wavy-haired girl who waved at him with a smile and hazel eyes that glittered with curiosity.

Finally, as he regarded the message one more time, he resolved to answer it as class was getting out. Then he blinked and… their teacher was talking about homework assignments to note down before lunch.

'Well…' he thought as he looked at the chatbox. 'Here it goes, I guess.'

At last, he typed a response. 'Yes.'

As he hit enter, he took a deep breath and braced himself for the inevitable.

And, indeed, the inevitable came, a tide of people washing towards him and surrounding him, pinning him in as a wall of questions and exclamations that made his head spin as he tried to process them crashed down with all the force of a tsunami.

"How were you chosen?"

"Were there any tests?"

"Weren't you scared?"

"What's it look like in the cockpit?"

These and more, Shinji answered with what Doctor Akagi and Misato had drilled into him. "It's classified. I can't really talk about it."

Then, there was the one question he hated most of all. The one that everyone wanted an answer to.

"Is it cool? Isn't it awesome to pilot a giant robot?"

'No,' he thought. 'It hurts and I hate it and I don't want to do it and I'll inevitably hurt someone and I'd give anything in the world to let someone better than me do it.'

But he couldn't say that. Like everything else, that, he thought bitterly, was classified.

Finally, the allure of lunch allowed him to stand from his desk and escape, exiting the classroom to try and find somewhere to be alone. To just… relax for a moment.

He checked his phone, and saw that he had a text message from Daniel. 'Call me when you can. There's something Asuka and I want to talk to you about.'

Daniel, he could talk to about these sorts of things. Asuka, though…

"Hey. You."

He paused, looking back at a boy who was taller than him by no small amount, dressed in a tracksuit, and leering at him from under a head of short, messy black hair with equally black eyes, hard like flint. Trailing behind him was another boy about his height, with longer, but still messy brown hair framing a face with round-rimmed glasses that themselves framed curious blue-green eyes.

"Uh… yes?" Shinji said.

"Come with me," the tall boy replied. "I've got something I want to talk to you about."

Shinji sighed quietly but nodded nonetheless as he began to follow the boy. He wasn't going to get anything that no one else hadn't already heard.

The trio made their way outside, to one a part of the yard that was deserted and out of the way.

Shinji walked past the two for a moment before pausing and beginning to turn around. "I've already told people, there's a lot that's-"

He was cut off as he saw the fist speeding towards his face. He acted on instinct, diverting the punch with a move Daniel had shown him. Here, at least, he had complete control over his limbs.

The move seemed to confuse the taller boy, his frown deepening. "Damn it! Stand still!" he said as he tried for another haymaker.

'Your opponents might have the reach advantage on you more often than not,' Shinji remembered Daniel saying as he stepped inside the blow. 'It's up to you to take it away.'

Shinji grabbed the boy's arm and turned, throwing him with a judo move that sent the boy to the ground with a shout. In a moment, Shinji let go and stepped back. "Why are you doing this?" he asked incredulously.

The shorter boy, his brows raised, hummed softly as the taller boy got to his feet. "Well, his little sister got buried in rubble and injured pretty bad during the giant robot fight last night. So, he needed to get this out of his system. Sorry, but there you have it."

The taller boy stood, ready to go, as Shinji… deflated. "I knew it," he muttered.

"You knew it," the taller boy said with no small amount of venom.

He stepped forward, and Shinji accepted the punch to the face that sent him sprawling. He simply lay there as the taller boy stood over him. "What is it?" he asked as he crouched down over Shinji. "Where's all that fight gone, huh?"

"I wish I didn't pilot that demon," Shinji simply said, meeting the boy's stare.

The taller boy blinked, his eyes narrowing in confusion before he scoffed, standing and walking away. His partner must have followed him, leaving Shinji to lie on the dusty, dirty ground as he contemplated the consequences of his actions.

Finally, someone else approached him, and he turned his head to see Rei, who regarded him with that imperceptible gaze that seemed to define her.

"We have received an emergency call," she said simply. "I will go ahead and meet you at HQ."

With that, she turned and dashed towards the school entrance, leaving Shinji to get to his feet and mentally prepare himself. 'Here we go again.'

. . .

2 Days Later

Daniel grew more and more concerned as every hour passed. Shinji was never late with a call when he was available to talk. Had something happened?

Asuka sat with him in his flat, her own brow creasing slightly. "Shinji strikes me as the punctual type," she said. "Do I have a good guess?"

"Very," Daniel replied, looking down at the phone that sat on the coffee table as he continued to wait.

Finally, the phone rang, and Daniel snatched it up to answer Shinji's call. "Shinji," he said in English with no small amount of relief. "Are you alright?"

"I'm…" Shinji replied. "I think I'll be fine."

"What happened?"

"There was another Angel attack. It hurt. A lot, as usual. I… considered running away."

"I see," Daniel said quietly, glancing over at an Asuka who was out of the loop and clearly somewhat frustrated about it. "Considered or tried?"

"Well…" Shinji said.

"It's okay, Shinji," Daniel said calmingly. "This line's secured. No one's going to be listening in."

Shinji sighed on the other line. "Okay. I tried to run away. Managed to get out into the countryside before Misato, Suzuhara, and Aida found me."

"Suzuhara and Aida?" Daniel asked. "Who are they?"

"They're classmates. And…" Shinji hesitated. "One of them punched me in the face. For a pretty good reason."

Daniel's brows rose. "And why would that be?"

"Would you put it on speaker, Bruder?" Asuka interjected. "I'm dying from the suspense, here."

"Is there someone with you?" Shinji asked.

"Yes," Daniel replied. "Asuka's been waiting by the phone with me since I texted you. Would it be alright if I let her join the conversation?"

Shinji sighed. "Well, I don't think it would hurt."

Daniel nodded and turned the speakerphone on. "Alright," he said for the benefit of all, "you're live."

"Hey there, Shinji," Asuka replied. "We saw you engaged another Angel."

"Yeah," Shinji said. "I guess I did."

"You guess?" Asuka said incredulously. "You just kind of stumbled into the Entry Plug of an Evangelion and deployed?"

"What?" Shinji said, stammering for a moment. "It's not like I had much of a choice!" he finally said, a spark of indignation in his voice. "I only started doing this last week because I was forced to!"

"Which is why I want to make sure that you get the training you need to do your best out there!" Asuka retorted. "Daniel hypes you up as a pretty smart kid! Which gave me the impression that you might be able to actually do this as part of the one in a billion who even can pilot the Eva!"

"But I don't want to pilot the Eva!" Shinji said. "I hate it!"

Asuka's eyes went wide, her mouth hanging open for a moment as she leaned back on the couch in silence.

"I…" Shinji stammered, his fire gone. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't snap like that."

"No, it's fine," Asuka said. "I have thick skin. You didn't faze me at all."

"Somehow, I think you're lying a little," Shinji said.

Asuka was silent for a moment, her brow furrowed in thought. "Alright," she finally said. "What I'm about to tell you is classified info. Top secret above all else. If anyone else hears about this, I will find you."

"Okay, I got it," Shinji said. "What is it?"

Asuka was silent for a moment. "The first time I encountered the Eva, I was pretty scared, too. I wanted to run away. Then I started getting trained. I started to understand the Eva. Got pretty damn good at it."

"I see," Shinji said quietly.

"There isn't much Daniel and I can do from over here," Asuka said, "but if you're going to be piloting the Eva, then I'm going to make sure you're at least almost as awesome as I am."

"Almost?" Shinji said incredulously.

"I am the best Eva pilot in the world, after all," Asuka said with a confident grin. "A girl's got a reputation to uphold. So, are you up for it?"

It was silent for long moments. "Alright," Shinji finally said. "I'll at least give it a try."

Asuka nodded. "Good. From this point forward, I am your Lehrerin. What I say is basically law. And you'd better learn how to pronounce that correctly!"

"Uh…" Shinji said. "Yes… Lehrerin?"

Asuka considered the attempt for a moment. "Good first try," she said. "Now that you've agreed, we'll start thinking of some ways to get data to you and Misato. It won't be more than a few days, alright?"

"Alright," Shinji said. "I'm guessing you'll check in on me every once in a while?"

"I'd be a terrible Lehrerin if I didn't," Asuka replied. "Daniel will keep an eye on things too, I'm sure."

"I will," Daniel said. "Shinji, you're remarkably brave for being willing to do this."

"Doesn't feel like it," Shinji said mullishly.

"Rarely ever does," Daniel said patiently. "Give Misato our regards."

"I will when I get home from the hospital."

Daniel's brow arched slightly. "Are you injured?" he said, concern edging into his voice.

"No, no," Shinji replied. "Suzuhara's little sister was hurt badly during my fight with the first Angel, Sachiel. It's… well, he calls it 'payback' for saving his and Aida's lives."

"How's that?" Asuka asked.

"Well," Shinji said, "during our fight with the second Angel, Aida and Suzuhara snuck out from their bunker to try and catch some footage. We got close. Really close. So, Misato authorized them to enter the Entry Plug so they could be safe when I killed the Angel."

Asuka's eyes went wide as she leaned forward. "Wait a minute! You moved freely, fought and killed an Angel, with two other people in your cockpit? And you just dealt with all that mental noise messing with your connection to the Eva?"

"Mental noise?" Shinji said.

Again, Asuka's eyes widened. "Mein Gott, student of mine… we've got a lot of work to do."

"Sounds like it," Shinji sighed. "Well, I'm about to reach the hospital, so I'll let you go. Thanks for talking with me. I think… I think that helped."

"Mr. Suzuhara's little sister has my regards, Shinji," Daniel said. "We'll be in touch."

The call ended, and Daniel slipped the phone into his pocket as he looked at Asuka. "He was brave," he said. "But you were brave too. Takes guts to admit something like that sometimes."

"I mean, it's a giant robot," Asuka said as flippantly as she could. "I think it scares just about everyone."

Asuka fell silent for a moment. "But… speaking of bravery… there's something I've been thinking about doing since I decided you'd be a big brother."

"And what's that?" Daniel asked.

Asuka stood from the couch. "Well… follow me."

. . .

Daniel followed Asuka through the transit system of the Stahlturm, the pair eventually taking a train outside of the arcology. The weather was overcast, with gray and moody clouds hovering over the city of Neuberlin. He watched out the window of the train car, slowly putting the pieces together as they got off at a station out in a somewhat distant town.

They walked together in silence through the outskirts of the city, coming to a stop in front of a cemetery. It was one of many that they had passed on their way here, distinguished only by its name: Irina Kurtzmann Second Impact Memorial Graveyard.

Finally, Daniel looked over at Asuka. "You don't need to do this if you don't want to," he said quietly. "You haven't said much, but…"
"No, no," Asuka said as she took a still tentative step forward, her hair ruffled by a cool breeze that carried the smell of rain with it. "It's the decent thing to do, to have you two meet, y'know?"

Daniel followed after, the pair alone amongst the headstones and tombs arrayed in neat, orderly lines. Finally, near a far edge, much like any other that surrounded it, was a small rectangle of pale marble with dark lettering on it.

Kyoko Zeppelin-Soryu

1974 - 2005

"Science, in essence, fosters connection. And connected, we can move the whole world."

The pair simply stood there for long moments as scattered drops of rain began to fall around them, intermittently striking them and the stones around them. "Hell of a quote," Daniel said.

"Mama said it in one of the first symposiums on metaphysical biology," Asuka replied. "Her scientific writing has a lot of… hope in it. I gotta admit, it was kinda refreshing to study, sometimes."

It was silent again. "Do you remember what she was like?" Daniel ventured. For all that Asuka had borne to him, she had spoken precious little of who they now stood over.

"I don't remember much," Asuka admitted. "She was… warm when I was little. Kind. She had a nice laugh. Then, something just… snapped in her. And everything went wrong."

Daniel waited for any elaboration he might get, but none came. Asuka instead sighed quietly. "I think you'd like him, Mama," she said quietly. "I think you'd like him a lot."

Daniel pulled Asuka into a side hug, supporting her in silence. 'And I think I'd like you too,' he thought.

Finally, after long moments, and as the rain began to pick up, Asuka sighed and extracted herself from Daniel. "We should get going. We're going to get drenched because I didn't pay attention to the forecast."

As she began to turn away, Daniel lingered. "Do you mind if I have a bit of a conversation, Asuka?" he asked. "Give myself a chance to make a good impression and all?"

Asuka was still for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. I'll be waiting under the roof by the entrance."

Asuka walked away, leaving Daniel with what was, in any way that mattered, an empty grave.

He sighed quietly after a moment to regard it. "I know I'm not exactly talking to anything more than a body bereft of its soul," he began. "But… I also know where your soul actually is."

Daniel grimaced. "There's a lot that's about to go on, Ms. Zeppelin-Soryu. Stuff that your daughter may be training for, but… she won't be fully ready for. Even with what I've been able to do on the down-low. Things that, whether she knows it or not, she will be going through with you."

He paused, then sighed quietly. "I promise, I'll keep your daughter safe. It's the least I could do after… well, the sort of things that I did the last time."

Daniel went silent, then nodded as he turned away. "Rest easy, Kyoko. Honestly… I wish we could do the same."