Nothingness. The whole world around Rei Ayanami was nothingness.

The EVA's sensors couldn't see or detect anything outside it. Sonar and radar waves didn't return; the space around it seemed to be far too big. And visually, all Rei could see was a vague, nondescript grey, with no patterns or other objects visible.

There were not many emotions breaking through Rei's mind – regardless of who this "Rei" really was. She couldn't remember strong emotions from the First, from the Rei in the EVA, from the Second or now from herself. Only one strong memory burned through all the fog in her mind, the memory of warmth and care that she associated with Ikari and Asuka. As a result, even now, she did not panic, did not fear, did only rationally evaluate the situation. And for the first time ever, this appeared odd to her.

Humans fear the dark. It is why they invented fire, the city, Evangelions. I am surrounded by darkness. Why do I not fear?

Of course, she was not fully human. She was… but her mind strained against going that way. She was Rei Ayanami, nothing and nobody else.

And I should feel fear.

She knew her chances were bad. She had no idea how she even had gotten here; so she could not even guess how to get out of this place yet. She was truly and utterly lost.

How will this affect the scenario?

Without EVA-01, did the Commander's plans even still make sense? The unit was not strictly needed as an Impact catalyst; NERV HQ had all the parts needed for Impact control. Rei was chief among them; in fact that was pretty much her definition. But without EVA-01, would there still be any motivation for the plan?

And what about herself? She was replaceable… or was she? If she were lost here, could she come back? Or was this a long awaited window of opportunity towards oblivion? But then, did she deserve oblivion, could she afford it, while the Scenario was still unfinished?

And did she even still want oblivion at all?

Rei felt a certain anger rising in her. A rebellion against looking at things this way. She had felt that anger a lot since awakening at the hospital. Something in her that was just fed up with being treated as a tool, something that desired to be respected as a person, something that desired… destruction. What did the Scenario matter still? What about herself? Shouldn't she care about herself, about her own survival?

And those were not the ways of thinking Rei remembered. Then again, the anger felt familiar. Somehow. The Second never had them, and yet…

My memories still don't fit together. Who am I?

That was the question that could drive her to despair. She was Rei Ayanami… but was she the same as the Rei Ayanami before her? That Rei Ayanami had died, so why was she still here? What exactly was she? She couldn't just be a continuation of the previous Rei Ayanami, because there were more memories inside her. Memories that just didn't fit together.

I'm a tool remade. But no… not only was there that part of her that was repulsed by that thought, there were also Asuka and Shinji. Their compassion. Their care. Their care for both her predecessor and for her. Not for a tool.

The world simply didn't make any sense to Rei anymore. Or rather, never had made sense to this Rei. If there was a difference – which was exactly part of the problem.

Rei tried to breathe evenly and looked at the clock. She had been in this strange nothingness for nearly two hours now. In fourteen hours, everything would be over.

Ritsuko looked at the sheets of paper unorderly strewn all across the portable table and sighed. This was absolutely no environment to process complicated mathematical formulas in. Sure, she still had MAGI access, but she'd rather be in her nice, secluded and decidedly non-windy office in the Geofront. Instead, Misato had ordered the establishment of an observation post on the roof of one of the broadest highrise buildings in the inner city.

It made sense, of course. They had to react fast if the angel appeared again. And right now, its shadow was still prowling the skies above Tokyo-3, having grown to a radius of an impressive 300m. One could put an EVA inside there. One could put four to five units stacked above each other inside there.

And EVA-01 was still inside the angel proper.

You're still too nice, Misato. Your job still hasn't ruined you as mine has me. Maybe it's time that a tainted woman takes over, and does what needs to be done. We can't just sit here and wait. With a groan, Ritsuko picked up two sheets of paper and walked over to the Captain.

Misato was looking through binoculars at something in the distance. Ritsuko furrowed her brows and could discern some khaki. Without greeting, she asked, "Was it really necessary to call in all those JSSDF units?"

Misato lowed her binoculars and looked at the faux-blonde. "I know they haven't much chance against angels, but what other choice do we have? It's not like the Evangelion sortie was very successful."

"I doubt they will be, either," Ritsuko remarked. "And it will undermine NERV's public position. The Vice Commander would disagree with the decision."

"The Commander and the Vice Commander aren't here," Misato pointed out. "They're still on that expedition you don't want to tell any details about. And I have promised the JSSDF to cooperate with them, without regards to… other considerations. At worst, their units will have no effect, no negative one, either. But maybe they can affect something."

"Was that also your rationale for deploying EVA-03?" Ritsuko asked.

Misato's grip around her binoculars became tighter, and her gaze somewhat lower. "Yes. I know Touji is injured and completely untrained. But at worst, he'd be unable to do anything. A net value of zero, as if he hadn't been deployed. But there was always the chance he could do some good. A lucky shot, helping to erode an enemy AT Field… I just didn't feel safe about the notion of sending merely two units against such an enigmatic enemy."

"Hm," Ritsuko answered ambiguously. "The ability EVA-03 has shown was remarkable, in any case. We should do tests regarding that."

"It seemed to have been intensely painful for Touji," Misato pointed out.

"Yes, but it saved him, didn't it?" Ritsuko argued. "Having such an ability under complete control might come in really handy in future fights." Misato remained quiet at that, until Ritsuko continued: "And no matter your sentimentalities, we need the pilots to fight those fights."

"I know that," Misato answered, almost growled. "Don't you have anything new to tell to me?"

Ritsuko shrugged. "I have cross-referenced our observations with findings from the NERV labs in Germany. I'm completely sure now that the angel is the Dirac Sea. It operates as a sort of circuit. Whenever that circuit is closed, we see a three-dimensional reflection of it in the sky. Whenever it is open, the Sea of Dirac interacts with our physical world. And while we don't fully understand S2 engines yet, the mechanism of the circuit is remarkably similar to some of its mechanics. I think the whole Sea of Dirac circuit is a large, diffused S2 mechanism. Which would confirm it as the angel."

"Great," Misato now definitely growled. "I can tell you I have no clue about Dirac Seas or circuits or S2 engines or whatever. So all we can for now is to wait until the experts arrive?"

Ritsuko shook her head. "They got ready as soon as possible, but it will still take them a further six hours until they arrive here. We don't have the luxury to simply do nothing during those six hours."

"That makes sense, but what do you propose we can do?" Misato asked.

"There might be a way to salvage EVA-01," Ritsuko claimed. "It's a dangerous one, but we can at least use the time to prepare for it already."

"I'm all ears," Misato told her.

"NERV has the authority to requisition all 992 N2 mines in existence in the world," Ritsuko explained to her. "If we drop them all at the same time, and use EVA-02's and EVA-03's AT fields to concentrate the blast, we can force open the conduit. If we concentrate enough firepower at the same microsecond, we would even be able to kill the angel and its Dirac Sea. That would allow us to recover EVA-01."

"I can see how, but such enormous destructive potential would surely destroy EVA-01 as well!" Misato pointed out. She sounded aghast.

"The damage sustained by the unit would most likely not be regenerated for months, but the unit itself could survive it," Ritsuko argued.

"And what about Rei?" Misato shouted. "What kind of rescue operation would that be?"

"It would be a salvage operation, not a rescue operation," Ritsuko pointed out. "The life of the pilot isn't our concern."

If the Dirac Sea was force-opened like that, it would be possible to recover Rei's soul, after all. Most likely this time, Ritsuko wouldn't get away with a "she survived after all" explanation, but that was still better than to lose her soul. Or even worse, lose EVA-01.

"Isn't your concern?" Misato echoed through clenched teeth. Suddenly, she grabbed Ritsuko at the collar. "We're talking about a fourteen year old girl who has helped to save the world half a dozen times over!"

A ten year old construct, Ritsuko mentally sneered. She remained silent.

"Why are you so concerned about EVA-01?" Misato shouted in her face. "Just what are those Evangelions?"

"That is not something you need to know, Misato," Ritsuko said silently and looked sidewards, away from the Captain's close-up face. "Just… trust me."

"You want to sacrifice a fourteen year old girl and then tell me to trust you?" Misato shouted again.

Now Ritsuko had had enough. She grabbed Misato by the shoulders and faced her. "And who sent that fourteen year old girl into battle? If we lose her, it's your fault. You ordered Asuka to engage the angel!"

Misato let go of her, but kept her angry face. "And what other choice do we have? Only those kids can pilot Evangelions. We have to send them into battle. And that is why we owe it to them to always prioritize them in rescue missions, you heartless bitch!"

Ritsuko wore her most relaxed and calm face, but that was a show. It hurt to be accused like that by her former closest friend. Misato was a woman who was in fact sending children into battle, but who still had maintained a certain form of innocence. That was why she was kept outside all of NERV's secrets. She was too innocent, too naive, to get to know what was really going on.

Ritsuko had lost all of her innocence. She knew. Oh, by the gods, she knew. And it was a knowledge that burdened her down. She was a guilty, a condemned, a sullied woman. Still, that knowledge came with a responsibility. Only she knew the course to take now.

"And why do we have to send them into battle?" she argued. "Because of the angels. It is NERV's job to stop the angels. And believe me, whatever I do, it serves that goal. We can't always prioritize the survival of the soldiers fighting this war."

"So you'll kill Rei," Misato accused her with the utmost scorn in her face and voice.

"I hope the expert team will have a different solution once they get here," Ritsuko told her. "The mine drop will only happen shortly before EVA-01's energy reserves are used up. So in… thirteen hours, by now. But I'll see to it everything is in place."

She set into motion, to pass by Misato and do what needed to be done, when Misato told her: "One more thing. It's Soryu for you."

Ritsuko stopped. "Really now? I'll call her that when she's around, but..."

"We send that girl out to fight for our survival," Misato reminded her. "You're even willing to sacrifice the pilots for some nebulous grand aim. The least we can do is give her the level of respect she wants, the level of respect she's owed. And I will enforce that in my section… and in yours."

"Very well," Ritsuko said, venom now creeping into her voice as well. "You do that. Meanwhile, I'll organize what needs to be done."

And with that, she resumed walking, leaving a rigid and fuming Misato behind.

She also heard quick steps walking away from that place, but paid them no heed.

There was a small container brought in place at the impromptu observation outpost that Misato had reserved for the pilots. As Touji had sought medical attention immediately after leaving his EVA and hadn't returned yet, that made the metal box Shinji's and Asuka's little refuge. It was so small that the table inside had to be shoved entirely against a wall, so that only three seats remained on the other side. There were two cups of tea on the table, but they had gone cold already. Shinji and Asuka did not sit at the table. Instead, they had retreated to the corner of the container, sitting on the ground, still in their plugsuits.

Not for the first time today, they sat huddled together, their hands connected to one another and their heads leaned against each other. Something that Asuka noted. "And again we're like this."

Shinji nodded slowly. "Again we've lost Ayanami."

Asuka jerked her head upright and looked at him. "No. Rei is still alive in there. And we will save her!"

"But you told me what Akagi has said," Shinji reminded her.

"To hell with Akagi," Asuka said. "She only cares about her precious Evangelion unit. She can't force us to go along with that plan."

Shinji stiffened. "What are you saying?"

"I will not have Evangelion Unit 02, my unit, and myself, be complicit in Rei's murder!" Asuka proclaimed. "And as for Touji… he owes his life to Rei."

Shinji nodded. "And he seems to take that pretty seriously."

"I'm just holding out for those experts Akagi spoke of," Asuka continued. "They gotta have a plan. Something to do. And if not… well then we better tell Akagi that we won't carry out her plan. That we'll only go along with plans that prioritize Rei over EVA-01."

"Do you think that's wise?" Shinji asked quietly. "I mean… it seems like Akagi thinks that can salvage the Evangelion. And maybe… maybe Rei can survive the bombardment. But if we do nothing… she'll just asphyxiate."

Asuka jumped up angrily and growled. "No she won't! I won't allow this! Those experts will have to have something. And I'll take even the most outrageous and unlikely plan over that abomination that Akagi is thinking of!"

Shinji slowly stood up as well. "I wish I could help you. But right now I'm a pilot… no, a reserve pilot even without a unit."

Asuka looked at him and furrowed her brows. Then she spoke, "Come with me then."

"Uh… what?" Shinji reacted.

"Get into the damn robot with me," Asuka explained. "We can… what did Akagi call it… dual synch."

"Oh," Shinji voiced. "Yeah. We can do that. They said that did boost our synch-rates. So maybe that'll help in rescuing Ayanami."

Asuka nodded, fully displaying confidence. "It will."

Trying to display confidence himself, Shinji tried, "That angel will give us Ayanami back."

Suprisingly, Asuka looked down now. Finally, she said, "And then, we'll finally clear up that… mess between us."

"Mess? What do you mean?" Shinji asked.

Asuka looked up again and smirked. "I should be jealous of you. You got to kiss both of us."

"Ah… well… you know..." Shinji tried to defend himself. "I mean, Ayanami, she..."

"I'm just jealous I didn't have the chance," Asuka told him. "It's her and my turn now to kiss."

"Ah… oh," Shinji voiced. He tried his best not to visualize that… tried and failed. Horribly. He could just barely avoid tilting his head. "But… uh… surely… we must find a solution to that… mess, as you've called it."

Asuka sighed. "Yeah, eventually. It's just gonna suck that one of us will be excluded."

"Yeah," Shinji agreed.

And saying that, he was already pretty sure that it would be him. Okay, so Asuka liked him. So did Ayanami. But clearly, either of them were so much better than him. There wouldn't be much of a contest. And he would be glad if the two found happiness in each other. He hadn't really thought about girls… liking each other that way. It was a bit immature, after all, and to him Asuka was the very antithesis of immature. But apparently, she would disagree with that notion, and that quite forcefully so.

"Of course, right now, there's nothing we can do," Asuka growled. "Damnit, but I hate all this useless waiting."

Quietly, Shinji took the single step necessary to reach the table, got Asuka's cup, and held it to her. "We can't do anything now. But… I'm sure you'll think of something when the time comes."

Asuka looked at the cup now in her hands. "Four hours until those experts arrive. Eleven hours until Rei's reserves run out." Then she placed it back on the table, returned to Shinji, and put her hands on his shoulder. "I will do something. Together with you."

Her face came closer. Shinji smirked, slightly nervous. He had kissed Asuka before, but… "You know I'm not Ayanami, right?"

"Eh, close enough," Asuka stated and moved her face forwards.

Touji hated the black plugsuit he was wearing. It was just embarrassing. It was one thing to wear it in the isolation of the entry-plug, but to have to walk around as a boy in such a skin-tight body suit was just demeaning. But Misato had insisted that all pilots remain ready for immediate launch, so he had been wearing this flimsy mark of shame for hours now.

At least he was wearing a jacket over it now. He would have preferred something like a long coat, something that would go all the way down to his knees or maybe even feet, but it seemed he had to take what he could get. He had needed to beg for even that much for hours… not that he would publicly call it 'begging', of course. More like, insisting on a reasonable demand. But yeah, it had pretty much been begging until Misato and Akagi had relented.

It's easy for them to not care about this. Akagi had even dismissed it as oversensitivity. They don't need to walk around like this, after all.

It was more than just the humiliation, though. Walking around in a plugsuit marked Touji as a pilot. And he didn't like that. Piloting was something he did, not something he was. In fact, he hated the thought of that. He would do the job for the sake of his sister, but he wasn't truly a pilot. Or at least, that was what he was thinking about himself.

He sighed and looked further out over the city below him. There wasn't much the medical section had been able to do about his pain. It was "just" feedback pain from the EVA, they had said. Apparently, that was considered normal and acceptable around here. Somebody had even remarked that maybe his EVA's special ability, the trick to double and triple its arms' lengths, should be properly trained. She had apparently not cared that this trick had pained Touji to the breaking point.

Touji now could surely understand why Shinji had always been that mopey. He kinda was himself now. Faced with the prospect that this would be his life now… In his first fight, his unit had been taken over by an angel, and he got punched so hard that the sympathetic reaction had required medical treatment of his skull. They had sent him into his second battle still in bandages, only for him to suffer even more pain just to save his own life. And he doubted his third battle would get any better. In fact, at that point they would maybe demand his pain in order to do his arms trick. From here on, it would only be ever more pain.

I need to find a way to end this. But he couldn't just quit. Then his sister would lose her medical treatment by NERV. So what else could he do…

His father had been against the whole thing from the beginning, of course. Touji had been surprised when he had learned that his father hadn't even been informed by NERV. That seemed like reckless arrogance to him. But maybe it was for the better. His father had to be presented with done deeds; otherwise he would never have agreed. He had to now; now that his son was involved in the defence of Tokyo-3 trying to stop this would mean losing face. And face was particularly important in his line of work.

There would be consequences, though. His father had friends. Like in most Japanese cities, those 'friends' had good contacts to the local administration and police, and in Tokyo-3 this meant NERV, but that mutual understanding would only go so far. But things were as they were. It just couldn't be helped. Even if Touji's father was too stubborn to admit it, his daughter needed help. Better medical care than what the regular hospital could offer. And only NERV could provide that.

And hey, now I can also protect them both. Both my sister and my father… But Touji couldn't really convince himself of that. After all, so far he had had no problem with leaving the business of protecting the city to NERV. Just as everyone else in Tokyo-3, really. For the citizens of Tokyo-3, angel attacks were alerts, evacuations to the bunkers, and then coming out of them again and repairing the damage. That was all. Life always went on. He had known that Shinji had been fighting for them all, but he had never really appreciated that. And even now, he kinda wished he could leave fighting to him.

Pathetic. Maybe that was why he deserved to have to pilot now. He had never regarded Shinji's plights as a pilot, so now he had to suffer them for himself. But if it weren't for his sister, he would run away from them.

He was interrupted in his thoughts when a helicopter approached a landing pad close to his position. He turned around to watch it. So far, he had stayed far apart from everyone else in this 'observation post'. Partly it had been on account of his state of clothing, and partly because he really didn't want company right now. Also, it was obvious that Soryu and Shinji preferred some alone time right now.

And I thought Shinji and Ayanami would hit it off. Meh, who can claim to understand girl issues? Though it was a bit of a pity. Shinji had been the first person able to get Ayanami out of her shell at least a bit. And he had always seemed calmer and more collected in her presence. The two quiet loners, Shinji and Ayanami, would have made a cute couple. Instead he goes for attractive and exotic. Meh. Sure, Soryu had an amazing body, but she more than made up for that in personality…

The helicopter was coming down on the landing pad. Touji decided to take a look at the new arrivals. He could watch from a distance, maybe, where he wouldn't stand out. Bah, fat chance in that ridiculous suit. But truth be told, he was bored. Even self-pity was only so entertaining after a while. So he took the risk and came closer to the landing pad.

Akagi and Misato were already standing there to await the helicopter's arrival, though the latter stood several metres behind the former. She had her arms crossed in that peculiar way of hers, holding her her elbows, and had a serious frown on her face. Shinji and Soryu were standing next to her. Nobody regarded Touji; the landing pad had everybody's full attention.

A middle-aged man in an immaculate black business suit, but with long and unkempt hair, was the first to leave the helicopter. He walked over to Akagi and shook her hand.

"Good day," he said. His Japanese was slow and deliberate and with a heavy accent. "You must be Dr Akagi? I have heard so much about you."

Akagi nodded and returned the handshake. "Dr Steven Heck, I presume?" The man nodded. "This incident gave me an opportunity to read up on your work concerning Dirac mechanisms. No wonder you are considered the world's foremost mind on that topic."

"You're too kind, Dr Akagi," Heck answered.

Akagi looked into the helicopter and furrowed her brows. "And if I may ask, who is that?"

"Ah, I can understand the surprise," Heck replied. "Trust me, he is a kid genius. My apprentice, assistant, and if need be translator."

A boy of the same age as Touji and the pilots stepped down the stairs from the helicopter. He wore black trousers and a white shirt, but while his clothing was unassuming, his face certainly wasn't: It sported grey hair and red eyes. Just… like Ayanami… He seemed to sport a constant faint smile.

"Hello," the boy spoke up. "My name is Nagisa. Kaworu Nagisa. I'm very glad to meet you, Dr Akagi." Then he waved to Misato, Shinji and Soryu. And then he turned around and smiled at Touji.

What the hell?