Matters of Faith Chapter 7, an evangelion fanfic

Deep inside the Geo-Front, deep within the bowels of NERV's secret headquarters, there is a vast cavern, filled with hundreds of red spheres, each resting in a depression in the floor. This was the core room, and if one had sufficient security clearance, one would be told this was where the spare cores for the Evangelion units were kept. This, of course, was a lie. There had only ever been one spare core, and it had been used a long time ago. These cores would only work for specific people, specific children, should they ever be unlucky enough to be called upon to serve in the war.

In another room, deeper down in the complex than the core room, was another core. This one did not rest in a half sphere in the floor, however. This one sat emplaced in a large rig of cables and sensors. It glowed slightly in the dark.

The room was otherwise empty, save for a single folding metal chair facing it.

Gendo Ikari sat in the chair, watching the core. The core, having no eyes, was incapable of watching him.

He spoke suddenly, shattering the silence. "He certainly is quite the trooper, Shinji. He's been undergoing almost a week's worth of harmonics tests, every day, back to back, without any problems. They're running sleep deprivation tests on him. He shows up, suits up, enters the test plug, and leaves almost twenty hours later. No complaints, ever. He doesn't know why these tests are being done, and even if he did I doubt he would understand the reasoning behind them."

There was no response from the core, no change in the hum of the electronics, no flicker in the red light emanating from the core. There never was.

"I think he's adjusted well. He has some friends now, and I think Rei is showing an actual interest in him. You'll get to meet her eventually. I've had to make some adjustments to the scenario for them. To be allowed to return to nothingness might be all that she wants right now, but when the time comes I hope she will make the choice you failed to."

He shifted in the seat. This room was the only room in which the mask was complexly removed. Where he did not show the stoic, unflinching exterior he displayed to the rest of the world. Thus, what he felt on the inside now raged across his features.

He exploded into a stream of profanity, venting anger, fear, and frustration at the unresponsive red core. It accepted it as it would his tears later on during the visit, silently. His anger spent for the moment, he continued.

"He's turning into a handsome young man. He still looks a lot like you, but around the edges, I see more of myself creeping in. In another world, another life, I could see him having to beat the girls off with a stick. He's too broken right now, though, to attract their attention. That's one of the reasons I decided to change things. He was quite taken with Rei when I introduced them. He was so angry with me, Yui. It was good to see him again. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" His last comment dripped with scorn.

"I've finally found where your father is hiding his sorry self. He's been hanging out in France, of all places. I have men around him twenty-four hours a day now. I think he'll be the first to die when I make my move. I think you would appreciate that."

If Yui cared at all that her husband was discussing the casual murder of her father, she gave no sign.

Gendo talked to her long into the night, relating a month's worth of news and information to her as it came to him. He did not write out scripts for his chats with her. He talked as things came to him. At some points, he would explode with anger, at others, he would sob, telling her he missed her so much. There was no way for them to know if any of it got through to her, if her mind was even awake inside the core and the mock-up of the Evangelion chest socket, but there was no way he was going to chance having her absorb Shinji into the core with her. If that happened, he would do something drastic.

Kozo Fuyutsuki was waiting outside the room when Gendo eventually emerged, hours later. He handed him a cup of tea. "How is she?"

"The same as always. Not very talkative."

Kozo was unsure if Gendo was being serious or not. He sometimes was a little strange after his monthly visits to his wife's prison. "Well, it's to be expected."

"Perhaps. Is there any news?"

"Our agent handling the Jet Alone issue reports all is in readiness for the demonstration in two days."

"Good. When do Dr. Akagi and Captain Katsuragi leave?"

"They left a few hours ago. They should touch down later today."

"Then all we need to do is wait and watch. Once this irritation is removed, we can again focus on the larger issues facing us."

"I take it SEELE is blocking requests for Unit-02 to be accompanied with the E-Type load-out then."

"Indeed. They do so behind their UN pawn, the navel commander of the task group that has been tasked with transporting the unit and the Child. He states that under no circumstances would it be activated, and as such there is no need for equipment suited for underwater actions."

"And since it is the regular UN Forces the Committee tasked with this mission, we have no jurisdiction."

"Correct. Our hands are tied, and we cannot take action. Or, that is what they believe. I will see to it the Third Child is delivered to the convoy as soon as reasonably possible. If anything happens, he will be on hand to deal with it."

Kozo was taken aback. That was a bold move, considering the state of the game board. "Do you think it wise? I don't know if we want to draw such attention to him yet. Besides, is it even possible with Unit-02?"

"He will merely boost and amplify the girl's connection. There is no way in the event of a battle, she would let someone else pilot her Evangelion, but she will be driven by the need to show off, and she will bring him along to watch how effortlessly she handles the Angels. She is proficient, according to all reports. We should not need him there, but his presence will be a precautionary measure."

"Has she been as diligent about studying the Third Child's combat sorties as Rei?"

"That and more. She apparently was incensed that his initial synchronization score was so high."

"Hmm. If they are shipping us the unit with the B-Type equipment, what else is being brought over?"

"Only the onboard weapons systems, as well as some small, trivial accessories. Spare plug-suits for the Child, and whatnot."

Kozo nodded. "When do they leave?"

"The last report was they depart Kiel tomorrow. I have not heard anything to suggest the departure time has changed."

"It will be comforting to have all three battle-ready units under our control. The Americans are nowhere near completion with Units 04 and 05, so we will not need to worry about them for some time."

"Yes. A trump card does you little good if you are unable to use it, after all. Is there anything else? I have paperwork to catch up on before my flight to Nevada."

"No, nothing else."

Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!

Hikari sighed as she glanced at Shinji's empty seat. He had been at NERV for a week straight now, doing whatever it was he did there when not in combat. If Rei had not assured her it was official NERV business, she would have suspected him of just ditching school, even if he wasn't the sort of person to do such things. He did hang out with two somewhat disreputable guys, after all.

Official NERV business or not, his paperwork is piling up. I'll have to make sure someone gets it to him. I suppose Toji or Ken could do it, but... She chewed on her lower lip, thinking. I'll ask Rei to take it to him! That way he gets his homework, and she has an excuse to go talk to him.

With Shinji's absence from school this past week and Rei's shyness, she doubted that Rei had spoken to the boy at all. This would kill two birds with one stone. Ikari would get his papers, and Rei could talk to him. Of course, she thought with mild annoyance, that's assuming she doesn't just silently hand him the paperwork. How do I make sure they at least speak to each other?

"Ayanami?"

Slowly, she turned from the window to Hikari. She looked at the class representative, not questioningly or attentively, but rather with a look that merely noted she was standing there.

"Ikari's paperwork is piling up since he hasn't been here for a few days. Can you take it to him after school today?"

"I am not scheduled to be on duty, Class Representative."

Hikari gave a short, nervous chuckle. "Yes, I know, but I figured since you, you know, work with him and all, it would be better than sending someone else there."

I see. She wishes to help maintain the security and secrecy situation. Another person might attempt to obtain information they should not have from his home, despite the lack of such information actually being there, and the Section-2 personnel.

"Will this preclude me from attending the Book Club meeting today?"

"What? Oh, no! Just make sure you hand the paperwork to Ikari himself. Make sure he understands that the school's not going to cut him any slack just because he's with NERV."

The only reason we attend this school is due to the socialization requirements of the Evangelion Project. It does not matter if he maintains a perfect grade average or if he fails all of his classes.

"I will inform him of this."

"OK, then! Tell me how it went tomorrow, alright?"

"Yes." Confused now, Rei turned back to the window, watching the other girl retreat to speak to students Suzahara and Aida. I do not see how she can expect more than one possible outcome from this event. I will deliver the papers to him and impress on him the school's expectation that he continues to complete all assignments without regard to the fact he is one of the only people who stands between them and extinction.

"So what's up Hikari? What'd you talk to Ayanami about?"

Hikari looked smug. "I'm having her deliver Shinji's paperwork to him after school today. You two won't have to worry about it."

Kensuke sighed. "We're on duty today? When did that happen?"

"This isn't as punishment. This is your actual scheduled duty rotation."

Toji laughed. "I forgot all about that. Eh, it's not like it'll take long, Kensuke. We'll still be able to hit up the shop before it closes."

Hikari's eye twitched. "What shop? If this is for another of those stupid spy cameras-"

Kensuke shook his head. "No, no, it's for another project. Completely unrelated to cameras, I promise."

She narrowed her her eyes as she gazed at him, in the manner of a cat watching a mouse. "What project that's completely unrelated to cameras?"

He shrugged. "Models. I build models, remember? That's all."

"Don't let me find out otherwise, Ken. I'm not going to go easy on you because you're a friend."

He shrugged again. "Hey, I only sold the guy the thing. I didn't ask what he was going to use it for. Not my business if he wants to stick it in the girl's locker room."

"Well, it's my business. Be glad it was me who found it, and not someone else. Besides, what did you think he was going to use it for? What does a teenager do with a security camera?"

Quickly losing interest in their conversation, Rei's gaze wandered over the other reflections in the glass. Why is it that he takes up so much of my attention? I have lost interest in many subjects I previously spent much time observing and testing. Unfortunately, the information I gathered from them does not help me with Ikari. He is... difficult. This entire situation is difficult. I will need to take advantage of my task this afternoon, but what should I do? I am to deliver papers and instructions; there is no reason for me to stay longer at his residence.

A faint, almost imperceptible pinkish tint graced her features with that thought. Based on observed data during our last encounter, he is attracted to me. He is, however, unsure as to how to broach the subject. He refuses to bring up our meeting at my apartment at all. He is... embarrassed about it. It is true most subjects in our age group do not engage in such behavior. She sighed quietly, eliciting a sidelong glance from the girl sitting next to her. Rei did not notice the look, as she was now actually staring out the window into the rain.

Sakura poked her friend, Akio in the shoulder. Pointing to Rei, she whispered to her friend. "What was that all about?"

Akio glanced at the silent girl staring out the window. Matching Akura's whisper, "What? What'd she do?"

"She sighed. Like, you know, a sigh, sigh."

"Maybe Ikari's melting the ice around her heart. You know-" her voice taking on a conspiratorial tone, "-I heard that he visited her home. Like, the home she has, without parents?"

The fact that Ayanami lived on her own for unspecified reasons was old news. It had merely added to her mystique. But for Sakura, the news that Ikari had been over to see her at her home, well, that was new news.

"He visited her at home? Really? When was this?"

"Oh, like two weeks ago. It was the day neither of them showed up for school, remember? Well, my older brother works with one of the construction agencies here, and he said he saw him going to that hovel of an apartment building she lives in."

Sakura's jaw dropped. "What? For real?" She shot another glance at the girl sitting next to her. "Say, do you think that they're an item? I mean, I don't see Ikari as the type to ask anyone out, you know? Going over to her place and them playing hooky together... that's a bold move for him."

"Maybe that's why he's with her? I mean, if she said no, it's not like she would tell anyone else. She's kinda nonthreatening in that way. Besides, he does pilot a giant robot. Maybe she's just nerdy and that's enough for her to get past how... meh he is."

Both girls turned to look at Rei, who quietly sighed again, still oblivious to the world around her, lost in her own thoughts.

Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!

Rei looked at the door. There was a nameplate bearing the Captain's name, but there was nothing to suggest Pilot Ikari also resided here. She knocked on the door.

There was no answer.

Of course. Ikari is at NERV Central performing the tests. Captain Katsuragi has left to attend some sort of meeting. No one is home. I will need to wait until Ikari returns for the evening. She glanced around the corridor. It will be several hours until the tests are complete for the day. It would be better to obtain entry to one of the Section 2 stations in this building. In my apartment building, they have stations on the ground floor, basement, roof and the same floor as my apartment. Thus, I they should have a similar setup here, if not more, to account for the security complement for both the Operations Director and the Third Child.

As she turned to begin her search for the Section 2 men, the door behind her opened. Turning back, she saw a most curious creature standing in the doorway. The large bird cocked its head to one side as it looked at her, a move she mirrored, tilting her head slightly to one side. The penguin warked at her and turned to move back inside, leaving the door open. Feeling somewhat absurd, Rei followed the bird, closing the door behind her.

The apartment was much larger than her own, and despite the abundance of items present, it was still more neatly kept than hers. Placing her bag on the table in the kitchen, she watched the bird move back to the television show it apparently had been watching before her arrival. She watched it for a few moments, but it seemed to be ignoring her. Apparently, it is at least semi-sentient, but obviously, it is some sort of pet. I will need to learn more about it later, but for now I should see what information there is to be gathered from his living quarters.

Moving around in the kitchen, she found the refrigerator that had food in it, well stocked with both a variety of items and alcohol. Closing the door, a note taped to the front caught her eye. It appears to be a list of chores to be done on specific days. Ikari seems to be responsible for mainly cooking and cleaning the apartment. She thought back to their chance encounter in her own home; before the failed experiment. He was obviously unhappy with the state of cleanliness of her home. Is this because he is responsible for cleaning this place? Does a level of cleanliness that does not meet his standards bother him, even if it does not affect him?

Still mulling that over, she moved down the hall. One room had a small heart-shaped sign taped to the door. Shinji's Lovely Suite. This is obviously his room. Her hand hesitated for a moment over the sliding door, and then she opened it to peer into his room.

It was almost as spartan as her own home, having only a Western-style bed, a desk, a chair, and a dresser. No decorations, no knick-knacks, no souvenirs. His school books were there, as was his bag and laptop. His bed was rumpled, and it looked like he had thrown the blankets over the bed when he had woken up. Inside his closet were several school uniforms. Like her, it seemed to be the only clothing he had. A cello case sat in one corner of the closet. She ran a hand over the cheap leather exterior, before turning to the dresser. Her eyes widened slightly. Atop the dresser lay his SDAT. Strange, she thought, picking up the music player, that he would not have it with him now. I do not think I have ever seen him without it for a prolonged period of time. However, he will be immersed in LCL for the majority of his time at NERV. He would have little use of it there.

Slowly, she tentatively placed the headphones in her ears and activated the player. As the sounds of his music filled her ears, she trembled with shock. This is... this is beautiful. Is this what he listens to constantly? Rei had observed people listening to music before, but the music favored by her classmates was nothing like this. Pocketing the player, she perused the drawers of the dresser whilst listening to the music, slightly swaying in time with the notes as the waltz played.

Moving back to the desk, she slid open the drawer and found the first items of real interest other than the cello and SDAT. There was a picture of Captain Katsuragi in civilian clothing, and Rei noted with a twitching eye the sheer level of indecency of her garments. There is even an arrow pointing to her breasts! She is attempting to draw his attention to her... but she obviously is not engaged in the sort of relationship with him where such attention would be appropriate... I am confused. Putting the photo back, she lifted a very crumpled piece of paper up out of the drawer. In the exact center of the paper was a single word: 'Come.'. The wrinkles suggested to her the paper had been discarded and recovered. Perhaps it is a message from the Commander, instructing him to come to Tokyo-3. She carefully put it back in place and removed the third item of interest, another plain sheet of paper, but this one was a note written in a crisp and careful script, which she immediately recognized as being the Commander's handwriting. Her hands shook slightly as she read the note detailing the replacement of his music player, the tape, and his clothing. She flipped the paper over, looking for more, but that seemed to be the end of it.

It is not signed. Does Ikari know it is from the Commander? Why would he not communicate praise to him for successfully defeating the Angel? There is nothing there of the things we speak of when we converse. Chewing on the inside of her bottom lip, she searched the rest of the room for additional pages to the note but found none. She put the room back to the way she found it, sans the SDAT, which she was still listening to, and moved on to the rest of the apartment.

Captain Katsuragi's room was a mess, looking as if someone had dumped all the contents of her drawers out on the floor, in addition to several discarded beer cans. A calendar on the wall marked the upcoming Friday with a reminder to fill out Shinji's evaluation sheets.

It must have to do with keeping track of his socialization, as she mentioned before. It is unfortunate the sheets are undoubtedly electronic in nature and she would not have them here for study. It would be interesting to see what she has to say about him to the higher echelon commanders, namely, Commander Ikari.

Finding nothing more noteworthy in the apartment, she returned to the main room, where the penguin was still watching the television. She retrieved the new book from the school's library she had selected that day during her visit to the book club, a psychology reference book, which was not the normal fare for the more literature-minded club. The club president had long ago given up on trying to get her to select literature pieces for reading and discussion. He had also long ago given up on trying to get her to discuss the books she did read.

She settled down to read the book and listen to his music. After an hour of reading, the bird began to slowly slide closer and closer to her, stopping whenever she lowered the book to stare at it. By the second hour, it was sitting in her lap, apparently reading with her. It was not, as she would later reflect, unpleasant.

During the third hour, it began to warble and squawk at her, moving off of her lap and disappearing to the kitchen, only to come back. She watched it perform this ritual several times, not understanding. Why is it doing this? Is there something it wishes from me? Pushing off the couch, she followed it into the kitchen, where it stared at an upper cabinet intently, shifting its head to stare at her occasionally. Rei opened the cabinet, recalling the presence of tins of sardines from her previous inspection. Looking around for the bowel she had seen previously, she located the dish on the floor, marked as Pen^2, and filled it with the canned fish. The bird warbled again and began to eat. Rei's stomach growled as she watched him.

He will not be back for another four hours. I should obtain sustenance. She looked around the kitchen. The question is whether I should obtain it from the items here or from an outside source. While I doubt Ikari would be unhappy if I consumed some of the food present in the apartment, there is a chance for the social stigma concerning theft. I passed several convince stores and small food stands on my way here. It will take a negligible amount of time to obtain a meal from any of them.

Removing the SDAT and returning it to his room, as she did not want it to get wet on her trip to get food, she was putting on her shoes when the front door opened, and to her surprise, Shinji stood there in the doorway staring at her.

He is home early. Why?

He rubbed his eyes, not believing the information they relayed to his brain. She noted he looked very worn out and tired, with deep circles under his eyes. He still smelled slightly of LCL, the metallic smell of blood hanging in the air, a scent which she knew all too well was almost impossible to get out, as it seeped into one's pores, in addition to being inhaled, and occasionally swallowed while immersed in it.

"Ayanami?"

"Ikari." She took off her shoes again and waited for him to come in.

Cautiously, he shot a look down the hall back towards the stairwell, where one of his escorts was smoking a cigarette. It was plain, even to Shinji, that he was ignoring them. Muttering something under his breath that Rei did not catch, he stepped inside and removed his shoes.

"Um... why are you here? How did you even get in?" As he questioned the girl, she noted that his voice sounded dead and empty. The sleep deprivation tests were certainly taking a toll on him.

"I was instructed to bring you your assignments and papers from class and to inform you that the school administrators will not accept the fact you are entrusted with protecting the human race from extinction for failure to complete the assignments within the allotted make-up time." She paused, studying his face as he moved into the kitchen. "I was let in by the penguin."

"Pen-Pen?"

Ah. Pen-Pen. Pen^2. Pen to the second power. Of course. "Yes." She watched him open the cabinet with the fish. "I have already fed him." Seeing his confused look, she added "He was asking for me to feed him. It was an easy enough task."

"H-how long have you been here?"

"Four hours. I arrived here after my work at school was completed."

"Four hours?" Why has she been waiting here for so long? Did she want to talk to me?

"Yes." Why does he repeat what I say and state the obvious?

"Er... why? I mean, um, you didn't have to hang around until I got back, I mean, I'm home early today because of some technical problems at HQ, I wasn't going to be home until much later, and with Miss Misato gone, there wouldn't have been anything for you to do..."

"I was instructed to deliver the papers to you."

"But you didn't have to waste your time waiting here; you could have left them on the table."

"You did not leave my NERV Identification Card at my apartment when it seemed I was not home."

Shinji was at a loss for words to respond to that, but his body once again betrayed him by blushing, despite how bone-tired he was. The awkwardness of the situation was furthered by the fact his stomach, having not been fed since he had woken up that morning, growled loudly.

"Um... I'm going to make something to eat. If... if you've been here since school let out, you haven't had anything to eat either, right?"

"Correct. I have not eaten since the midday meal." Interesting. It appears he will offer me sustenance next. This is... nice.

"Well, it's too easy to make something for two people instead of only one. I mean, it's the least I can do since you had to waste your time just waiting here."

Thinking of the SDAT player sitting in its spot on his dresser, a faint pink tinge spread across her features, unnoticed by the tired and hungry boy. "It was not a waste of time."

What does she mean by that? It would be a question he would soon forget, however. He began pulling various items out from the cabinets and refrigerator and setting them up on the counter.

"Does soup sound good? I only want something simple tonight." Hah. I wasn't even going to eat. I was going to collapse on my bed.

Rei blinked. "If you desire something simple, there is instant soup in the lower cabinets."

He shook his head. "I couldn't make you eat that; I mean, that stuff's terrible. Besides, soup's real easy to make, plus I'm going to cheat a little."

She watched as he began heating up some vegetable broth and dumped some leftover rice into it. As he stirred it, he turned back to her. "Umm... if you want, you can cut up some of the vegetables. There's some knives in the drawer over there."

Suddenly self-conscious as she watched him move about the kitchen, Rei hesitated before speaking. "I... I do not know how to prepare food for a meal."

Tired as he was, that got through his sleep-deprived brain. "But... don't you live on your own?"

"I obtain sufficient sustenance from instant food and delivery. I... I do not know how to cook." Why does it bother me so much to admit this to him? This has never been an issue before.

"Oh. Well, if you want, you can just watch." He motioned to one of the chairs. She's just like Misato! How can she live like that?

"Umm... so what I'm doing is rinsing off the vegetables. I'm going to chop them up and put them in the broth and rice mix. I'm using some leftover rice, so it won't take long for it to soften up, but the veggies are still going to be sort of crunchy when it's done."

She watched without comment as he diced the carrots and celery and slid them into the soup, which he then stirred. He yawned and then blushed. "I'm sorry, I'm just really tired from the tests."

"The tests at NERV."

"Yeah... They're doing something that has to do with me not sleeping... I'm not sure why. They tried to explain it to me before but I didn't understand." He yawned again.

"You said they let you go early today."

"Yeah, something went wrong with some of the sensor equipment. They didn't say much about it to me, but they called Lieutenant Ibuki back in to take a look at it. She sent me home because they needed to check some things out."

Interesting. I wonder if there was an actual equipment issue or if there was a breakthrough. She watched him as he turned back to the soup. He seems... more at ease with the stove than speaking with me.

"You enjoy cooking."

He let out a nervous chuckle. "It's... yeah. I like cooking. Taking the ingredients and making something new with them. It's also... calming, I guess." He continued stirring for a few minutes.

He pulled two bowls from the cabinet and poured an equal measure of soup into each. He set one down in front of Rei. "Here. Nothing fancy, but it's good."

They ate the soup in silence. While Rei was no stranger to some of the fare of the finer restaurants of Tokyo-03, as the periodic meals she shared with the Commander were catered by a variety of five-star restaurants, the simple soup that sat in front of her commanded her attention far more than any of the food of those dinners. Does this meal tie in with what Captain Katsuragi said about things tasting good in addition to being sufficient? Perhaps I should perform some research into the field of cooking. The process he used to create this soup did not seem to be very complex. I should be able to replicate it easily.

After finishing her soup, Rei watched Shinji as he continued to eat. He looked up from his bowl.

"So... um, how was it?"

"It tasted nice."

He finished his own bowl and rose to put it into the sink, more for something to do than out of a burning need to clean up. He yawned again, rubbing at his eyes.

"Umm... So..." Oh man... all I want to do is go to sleep but I can't tell her to leave... What do I do?

"You should take advantage of your extra time to sleep. There is no telling how long it will take them to resolve whatever error they encountered today."

"Yeah... you're right, Ayanami. I hope I'm not being rude or anything, but-"

"It is of no import. Go to sleep. I will clean the dishes used for our meal before I go."

What? "A-Ayanami, you don't need to worry about that, I-I can-"

Rei held up a hand, silencing his protests. "Go to sleep Ikari. I will ensure the dishes are properly sanitized before I leave."

He yawned again, despite his best efforts to the contrary. "A-are you sure? I-I mean, I can take-"

She stood up and grabbed his arm and half drug, half guided him to his room, pushing him inside. "I will take care of it." She shut the door on the startled boy, whispering, "I will take care of you.", slightly echoing the trail end of their conversation high in the mountains before the commencement of Operation Yashima.

She turned and went back to the kitchen. She had seen the cleaning supplies underneath the sink before. Obtaining soap and a scrub pad, she went to work on the pot he had used for the soup, mechanically and systematically making her way to the bowls, and then the knife and spoons. Selecting one of the small towels hanging on a rack near the door, she proceeded to dry them.

She idly wished for the refurbished autoclave sitting in her lab. Whenever she decided to clean what non-disposable dishes she had, she would run them through the super-heated steam to truly sterilize them. Drying her own hands now she was finished, she decided that the boiling water and soap would have to do in this instance.

Moving as silently as she always did back down the hall, she stopped outside his room door, listening for any sounds that he might be still awake. She could not discern any sounds, and when she slid the door open, she was rewarded by the soft, even sounds of his breathing.

Creeping into his room, she noted he had only removed his button-up shirt and had untucked the t-shirt he wore underneath it. He was otherwise dressed and lay sprawled out on top of his sheets, fast asleep and making no sign of waking as she watched him. He has performed well during this course of tests. Unfortunately, there has been no sign whatsoever of the infinite synchronization score he displayed during the fight with the Third Angel entity. It will be interesting to see what sensor error was detected today during the tests.

Despite a distinct lack of the infinite synchronization that he had shown during his first battle being shown in any of his following engagements and tests with either the test plug or the Evangelion, Rei had discarded the displayed score of 00% as an infinite synchronization. However, it was becoming clear to her that she would need to figure out some other way to induce a replication of the event, but she was at a loss as to how exactly to do this.

Perhaps I should shelve this idea, and work on another hypothesis in the meantime. I could follow up on remote synchronization. Tech Division 1 has yet to come up with a satisfactory explanation for the Evangelion's 'impossible' action that day inside the cage. Granted, they have been working on other issues, but the fact remains that Unit-01 did something by all rights it should not have done.

As she stood there, his phone, causally tossed on the desk, began to ring. Quickly, she grabbed it and answered the call.

"Pilot Ikari's Phone."

Lieutenant Ibuki's confused voice came over the line. "Rei? Is that you?"

"Yes. Pilot Ikari is indisposed at the moment, and is not capable of responding to this call."

Semi-unintelligible sounds were audible. Lieutenant Ibuki is most likely conferring with the other technicians present. She is wasting time by not relaying to me her message for Ikari.

"Um, okay... Rei, can you let him know he doesn't need to show up until about three in the afternoon tomorrow? We think we've fixed the issue, but the MAGI are withholding judgment right now, so we're not going to begin the tests again until then, regardless of whether they give us a response or not."

"I will inform him of this, Lieutenant."

"Okay. Good night, Rei."

Rei ended the call without a parting salutation, which did not surprise or bother Maya. She turned to Aoba and Makato, having called both of them back in after she arrived on-site.

Aoba spoke up first. "Did she say why she was answering his phone?"

Maya shook her head. "No, she just said that he was 'indisposed' at the moment."

Spinning around slowly in his chair, Makato shook his head. "You know, I would have pegged him to try and get some extra sleep with being released early from the tests. He's a wreck."

Aoba grinned. "I think that during our time at the range, some of me must have rubbed off on him."

Maya snorted. "Somehow, I doubt anything he might have learned from you wouldn't impress Rei that much."

Rei, still holding his phone, watched Shinji as he slept. I am faced with two options. I can remain here, or I can return home and connect to the MAGI to see what happened with today's test.

He twitched slightly, his head tilted at a slight angle. Once again, she was struck at how... much more relaxed he looked when asleep as opposed to when awake. Watching his eyes flutter behind his eyelids, caught in the grip of REM sleep, she made up her mind. Scientific curiosity would have to wait for tomorrow. She would talk to the MAGI later.

Rei flipped through the phone's utilities, looking to see if he had set the alarm function. Sure enough, there it was, set for six in the morning. She canceled the alarm, and folded the phone shut, placing it back onto the desk. She stiffened slightly as he twitched again, and then rolled over onto his side.

Relaxing, she resisted the urge to sit on the bed next to him. If he were to wake next to me, based on his previous reactions to extreme close physical contact of that nature, his immediate reaction would not be conducive to further research.

Instead, she picked up his SDAT player and slipped from his room back to the main area after retrieving a folded and, thus, presumably, clean blanket from the washroom. Stripping down, she neatly folded her clothing and placed it on the floor next to the couch. Slipping the headphones back into her ears and wrapped up in the blanket, she settled down to listen to the music until she fell asleep.

Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!

Gendo sat at his desk, reading the report in his hands for the twentieth time. It had been submitted by Lieutenant Ibuki, who was running the in-depth consciousness tests on his son. Some of the sensors during the test today had reported random, highly fluctuating synchronization scores, while at the same time, other sensors were reporting that synchronization was lost between the pilot and the Evangelion.

They stopped the tests after being unable to resolve the issue and sent Shinji home as they attempted to determine the cause. Self diagnostics came back as clean, and tests run with the data collected showed a complete systems failure. The MAGI refused to return a judgment on the issue. Lieutenant Ibuki decided to replace the sensor equipment completely, in both Unit-01 and the sensor feeds to the control room. She submitted the preliminary report to his office, along with the projected timeline for the sensor replacement. It would be done by mid-morning.

Gendo, however, was not looking at the timeline for the sensor replacement. What he was looking at was the graph readouts of the synchronization score and the map of neural activity within the pilot. He would recognize that pattern anywhere.

It was the same when Yui decided to go into the Evangelion, that day. How this was possible, he wasn't sure. The safeguards were all there, all in place. Besides, with this core, it wasn't even supposed to be possible for this to happen. They had seen to that, when they pulled Yui's core out from Unit-01. She had resisted all attempts of salvage, and so he had moved on to his backup plan. It had taken the three of them over a year to create the spare, but they had done it.

Kozo stepped into the office, unannounced and bearing a coffee pot. "I see you've read the report then," he said with a nod to the paperwork in Gendo's hand.

"How is this possible? The safeguards-"

"The safeguards worked, Ikari. Your son is still here. He has not been taken into the Evangelion. He sat there while the waveform patterns merged for ten minutes. Yui was taken seconds after they merged. His ego border was not compromised. Calm down."

Gendo threw the papers onto the desk. "The safeguards should have kept the waveform patterns from even merging in the first place. How? How, Fuyutsuki? We had to have missed something. What about the other pilots? I don't want anyone else going off half-cocked and getting absorbed into the damn things. Kyoko thought she knew what she was doing, and look what happened to her."

"While she should have waited, she was still taken in seconds after the patterns merged. It's just that she wasn't physically absorbed as well."

"For all the good that did. It didn't make salvage any more successful."

"One has to want to be salvaged in order to return. She didn't want to come back."

"And I was forced to order an image download from Unit-02 into her body, and we all know how spectacularly that failed."

"But your son is still here, Gendo. You can see that for yourself."

"I'm canceling this course of tests with the actual Evangelions. Sleep deprivation tests will only be done with the test bodies from now on. They have no cores, so there won't be any chance for assimilation."

Kozo shook his head. "It's your prerogative, of course. I'm just saying the safeguards worked. If anything, we should be overjoyed to have solid concrete proof that they do."

"It's not solid enough. What if the only reason he wasn't taken in was because of the core? Unit-01's core is different from all other cores. There's still a chance the other pilots could be absorbed into their Units. I will not make unnecessary sacrifices."

How calmly you say that, Ikari. How calmly you discuss the breaking of children, claiming the necessity of torturing them mentally and emotionally. How you build them up, and then how neatly you knock them back down. How can you live with yourself?

As if hearing what his old professor was thinking, Gendo turned from him to stare out the window. "Don't look at me like that. Instrumentality will not, must not, come to pass. I will not see mankind enslaved to the will of a group of power-mad old men, no matter the cost. To live forever with no choice, no will but that which is given to you by another... there is no future in that."

Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!

Gendo Ikari Fact # 75: Despite any evidence to the contrary, Gendo Ikari is not, in fact, a vampire. That would suggest that, at some point, a vampire fed on him. Gendo Ikari is an apex predator.

Maya Ibuki silently cursed Aoba and his ridiculous page on the NERVnet. Standing in the Supreme Commander's darkened office as he looked through her test report was unpleasant enough, but she couldn't get those 'facts' out of her mind as she focused all of her willpower into standing still without trembling underneath that cold, implacable gaze.

Gendo Ikari Fact #53: Gendo Ikari watched Samara's video. Twice. Eight days apart. Last month.

"Lieutenant Ibuki."

"Yes Sir?"

"As of this moment, altered consciousness harmonics and synchronization tests will only be conducted with the test bodies. The Evangelion Units themselves will not be used. A repeat accident of the Unit-00 Activation Test will not be tolerated."

"Y-Yes sir!" Maya watched as her ultimate superior shifted his attention to another report. "Sir?"

Not bothering to look up the man shuffled through more papers as he answered. "Lieutenant."

"Sir, at this point we've gotten about all we can get with the test bodies for these tests."

"Then this iteration of tests is concluded. Finalize your findings and submit your report."

"Yes sir."

She watched him for a few moments longer, growing ever more uncomfortable, unsure if she should take the silence as permission to leave or not.

Without looking up from his ever-diminishing pile of papers, Gendo spoke again, no trace of any amusement or irritation present in his voice. "You may leave now, lieutenant."

"Yes Sir." Maya fled his office as quickly as she could without it being glaringly obvious that she was fleeing. It did not work.

Gendo addressed his second in command, whose presence today, like in so many other meetings before this one, had gone unnoticed by the Lieutenant. "My plane leaves in an hour. I leave the rest of this to you."

"Will you be long in the United States? I would not put it past the old men to attempt something while we are 'distracted' by the Jet Alone project, and with Unit-02 being shipped with only the B-Type equipment."

"I'll be back in a few days. I will be touring the S2 Engine development labs officially. While it is possible for them to decide to do something brash, it won't get them very far. Unless they have decided to abandon their own designs, there is nothing they can do right now to hurt my scenario."

The bespectacled man rose, his knees popping after having been still for hours on end. Placing his hands in his pockets, Gendo stalked from the room and into the corridor.

Kozo smiled as he, too, left the room, the automated security system locking the door behind him. Such confidence can be a flaw, Gendo. Do not put so much faith into the infallibility of your plans. Sometimes the smallest of things can have disastrous aftereffects. Will your kingdom be lost for want of a nail?

Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!

Rei's eyes snapped open as a ringing sound was heard emanating from Ikari's room. Throwing aside the blanket, she moved quickly but silently down the hall and into his room, noting that he was still asleep. Securing the phone, she noted the number was the same as last night's caller.

"Yes."

"Rei? This is Lieutenant Ibuki."

"Yes."

Maya rolled her eyes good-naturedly. While she found the taciturn girl somewhat off-putting, she knew it was just that the girl was the shy and quiet type, much as she was when she was younger and, to a much lesser degree, now. It helped her talk to the girl today in that she was half expecting the girl to answer Shinji's phone again.

"You can tell Shinji the tests have been canceled indefinitely for the time being, so he doesn't need to come into NERV later. Also, the harmonics tests this weekend have been canceled by the Sub-Commander, so you're both free. Just remember to keep your phones on you, OK?"

"Yes."

"Umm... well, goodbye then, Rei."

"Yes."

Rei hung up, holding the folded phone in her hand as she watched Shinji sleeping. A small trickle of drool had crept out the corner of his mouth and run down his chin. He mumbled something, and rolled over onto his side, facing away from her. There was a low rumbling, mechanical sound, and the air conditioning kicked on. Rei shivered underneath the cool air as she thought.

I do not see the need to awaken him in order to tell him he does not need to return to NERV. However, should he awaken later, he will immediately think himself late for the tests, and waste energy and effort in an attempt to get to NERV. I doubt he would see a note on his desk in his panicked rush; in the past, he has focused on one task to the exclusion of everything else, including personal harm when upset or worried.

Therefore, I should stay here to ensure he does not mistakenly rush to NERV when he is not needed there.

She smiled and placed the phone back on his desk. As she was about to leave his room to return to the couch, she paused in the doorway, looking back at his still form. Biting her lip, she looked back down the hall to the main room.

If he slept through the phone's ringer, he is in a deep sleep. He should not wake up for some time. Time enough for me to conduct research? She cocked her head to one side, debating internally. I should obtain some sort of garment to sleep in if I am to sleep next to him. This would perhaps reduce his negative reactions to close proximity with my nude form.

Moving to his closet, she pulled down one of the white shirts from it's hanger, putting it on. The fabric was soft, as he did not starch his uniform's shirts as the school required. Of course, neither did she. No one had bothered him about it, being who he was (a pilot), and no one had bothered her about her similarly unstarched shirts, being who she was (Rei).

Buttoning the middle few buttons, she looked at herself in the mirror. As she was a little shorter than Shinji, she noted the shirt draped down and hid from view the normal anatomical features that social customs deemed to be inappropriate for public display. Pleased with her new garment, she didn't quite skip over to his bed, only to stop just before lying down.

Lying with both of us exposed to the air over the top of his sheets would not be conducive to proper sleep. Forced removal of the sheets below him would most likely result in his waking up. I should obtain the blanket I used during the night on the couch.

Quickly fetching her blanket, she stretched out next to him, covering them both. She closed her eyes and prepared to fall asleep.

A few minutes later, she opened them again, frowning. This is not going at all as my hypothesis suggested. Sleep is neither coming nor do I feel particularly warm and fuzzy, as in our previous close proximity encounters. Is this not how people sleep together? Are we not sharing the same bed?

The ceiling refused to give her the answers she sought. This was perfectly fine with her, however. Of course, if the ceiling suddenly had spoken to her, she probably would have forgotten all about her current research project in lieu of investigating the sapient architecture.

Hypothesis: Subjects should have a shared level of dress. Ikari is more clothed than I am. Perhaps removing more of his clothing would result in a more favorable outcome.

Hypothesis: Subjects do more than share a common sleeping area. Perhaps there is an emphasis on physical contact? It would also increase the efficiency of shared body heat with increased surface contact, as well as make better use of the limited space constraints of the sleeping area.

Disrobing Ikari is not likely to be the more advisable experiment at this time due to the possibility of him waking up. While there is that same chance of increasing our shared body heat via much closer physical proximity, it should be less due to the lack of specific repeated contact actions.

Rolling over onto her side so she was facing his back, she scooted over to Shinji, wrapping her arms around him, and her eyes widened as one of his legs intertwined with hers. Resting her forehead on the base of her neck, she wrinkled her nose as she breathed in the faint coppery smell of LCL. It would soon fade into the background, as she knew from experience. When it was like this, after the mandatory scrub-down showers and a few hours, it was barely perceivable, and that was only when you hadn't been near it for a while it caught your attention. Still, Rei had noted in the past an unconscious stigma associated with the smell of blood. It was more than likely a defensive mechanism, she had reasoned back in the early days of wider socialization, against things that made you bleed. Blood was supposed to stay on the inside, after all. If something were making you bleed, the correct response would be to end the event, either by running away or by killing the offending party.

This was all old news to the girl, however. However, the fact Ikari had killed three things that had made him bleed, or at the very least, caused him severe sympathetic pain and injuries due to inflicting wounds to Unit-01, but had neither killed nor run away from a third being to do so (and this one had actually caused him physical damage!) had not escaped her notice. Her confusion and interest in him was only heightened by this fact, and by the fact he had assaulted that same third being when it had appeared he had been ready to do the same harm to her.

He was a very intriguing research subject, all for a variety of reasons. He was also very warm. This experiment, so far, has provided empirical evidence supporting her physical contact with him, equating to the fluttering of her heart in droves.

It was with this thought that she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, unconsciously drawing him closer to her.

Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!

Ritsuko smiled halfheartedly as Misato vented her anger on the non-offending locker.

"You know, if you keep doing that, you're probably going to break your foot."

Misato paused in her assault on the now severely dented door. Sighing in frustration, she smoothed out her dress uniform's skirt. "What about you? You were pretty mad in there. Why aren't you breaking down a locker?"

The doctor smiled grimly, her eyes shining underneath her glasses. "Because when I get back to Central, I'm going to be asking the MAGI to find out how those bastards know about the AT-Field. If they want to play at industrial espionage, well, just wait until I unleash the MAGI on them."

Misato slammed a fist into her other hand. "Yeah, how the hell did they know about that? What is Section 2 doing, if stuff like that is getting out to the public?" She snorted. "That silly thing doesn't even look like it could fend off an N2 mine. How do they think that it'll do against an Angel?"

"Without an AT-Field, it can't hope to survive an engagement. That armor might be fine against terrestrial foes, but even it will fail against the Angels. It's not even up to spec of the Evangelion's armor standards. Of course," she said with a smile, "Our armor is very advanced."

Misato's frown grew deeper. "Yeah, but just because the Evangelions can survive N2 blasts doesn't mean we should send untrained pilots up to act as bait in them."

Ritsuko rolled her eyes. "Are you still harping on about that? Please, Misato. I thought you were out for blood where the Angels were concerned."

"... Well, we could have told him that was the plan from the get-go. Hell, you didn't even tell me about it until you dropped that bomb on us in the cage."

"Commander Ikari's idea, not mine. If it had been up to me, we would have had him there as soon as possible for training. I don't know what the Commander's deal is."

"Well, I guess we're lucky that he was able to deal with the Angel without any training. Imagine trying to explain to him afterward we sent him up as bait for a concentrated N2 attack. If my commanders had used me like that during the wars, I'd have wanted to kill them."

"It's a moot point now, anyway. He's come a long way from being an untested rookie. Well, in the Entry Plug at any rate. Outside it, he's still just a shy little boy with an inferiority complex."

Misato, now examining her makeup in the mirror, turned to look at the doctor, who was straitening out the lines of her own skirt. "A what? I thought those made people overcompensate and overdo things."

"They can, but in some cases, like Shinji's, it leads to a low self-esteem, social withdrawal, and, in his case, a predisposition to apologizing for everything."

Misato sighed. "Yes, he does do that a lot." She looked at the time on her phone and then groaned. "We need to get going. Otherwise, we'll miss the big demonstration."

"As if having that oversized toy of theirs walk around in a circle is much of a demonstration."

Misato shrugged. "It's more than what Shinji was able to do in Unit-01."

"Hey, I thought that you were on our side!"

Misato chuckled as they left the washroom that had been set aside for the NERV visiting party. "Oh, I'm on our side alright. I'm just saying that if their toy takes more than four steps it's got us beat on initial openings."

"No, they won't. They don't have an Extinction Level Event causing alien organism waiting to get, and I'm quoting Aoba here, mind you, 'it's shit ruined'."

"He does have a way with words, doesn't he?" Misato said in a thoughtful tone of voice.

"It must come from writing songs for that band of his. It's certainly a visceral enough image."

"Yeah... So I suppose even if they can walk around some, and pick up a tank or whatever else they've got planned, we're still ahead of them." As they entered the main conference room, from where the gigantic robot would be operated and show off on the huge display screen, Misato pointed to the 'command center'. "They can't honestly be running this thing from a few laptops. I mean, I know it doesn't take one of the MAGI's full attention to monitor the linkups and everything with the Evangelions, but it seems like it'd take more than just a couple of laptops."

"So you do pay attention during our briefs! And here I thought you sleep through them all." Ritsuko smiled at the frowning captain. "I highly doubt those laptops are controlling the Jet Alone. They have to be remote terminals to the servers running the AI for the robot." She laughed, the sound harsh and ugly. "As if you can substitute a person like that. I mean, the MAGI are as close to true AI as anything out there, but they are learning computers. Heuristic machines. This thing's just been programmed to deal with different circumstances. 'Every possibility or situation that could take place', my ass. You can't program for everything, because there will always be something that surprises you. That robot is not a god."

Misato, neatly arranging the beers that had been delivered by a most helpful waiter into a semi-circle in front of her, shushed the chattering doctor with a wave of her hand. "Look, I think they're about to start."

Indeed, the chairman for the NHIS Jet Alone Prime project had taken to the raised dais again. Tapping the microphone twice to gather the assembled scientists, researchers, military representatives, and assorted press, he cleared his throat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, in a few moments we will be beginning the first public demonstration of the Jet Alone Prime system. While the technicians are finalizing the system checks, I'll take this time to go over the planned activities. If you wish, you may also take a look at your programs, and you'll see them listed on page fifty-six.

First, the Jet Alone Prime will be taken out of its standby mode. Then, it will walk, then run, along a five-mile track, avoiding obstacles. We wouldn't want to damage the cities we're protecting, now do we?" A small tittering of laughter accompanied this second jab to the Evangelion Project, as the self-inflicted damage to Tokyo-3 was a matter of public record. Both women seethed silently at their table, each glad that an Ikari wasn't here.

Misato, glad Shinji wasn't here, as he was all too aware of the damage he had done to the city and felt horrible for it, sometimes prone to staring at pictures of the damaged buildings for hours on end, and Ritsuko, glad Gendo wasn't there, because he would just sit there silently and stare at the man, and not do anything to defend his project. Sometimes she felt he cared too little about the reputation the Evangelion Project and NERV had.

To him, as long as they were hailed as the only ones capable of dealing with the Angelic threat, it did not matter how anyone else viewed them. Feared, loved, hated, or ridiculed, it was all the same to him. It was all beneath his notice. Hell, he did nothing to stop the proliferation of that ridiculous page on NERV's own internal network, openly mocking him with over-the-top 'facts' about his habits and daily life. She had never seen him eat baby seals for dinner, nor had she ever noticed him having a devil's tail in any state of undress. And she knew for a fact his tongue was not forked, or made of silver.

"After the track, Jet Alone Prime will pick up and move several objects, ranging from a tank all the way down to a small wooden box. This will demonstrate its ability to treat different objects with different levels of care. Finally, it will move out to the firing range, where it will demonstrate the laser cannons built into the arms. We, of course, do not believe in having weapons that can be dropped or lost during combat." There was a much smaller amount of laughter accompanying this jab, mostly from the military representatives. They were the only other ones who should even have clearance allowing them near battle footage from the encounters.

That this smarmy man was even alluding to weapons being dropped or lost was a grave breach of security. Misato shifted her head slightly to the wall she had seen their 'uniformed' S2 escort standing at. Still wearing his sunglasses, his expression was still easy to see. If looks could kill, the man's frown would have incinerated the Jet Alone chairman.

Ducking her head in close to a completely still Ritsuko, her own drink stuck halfway to her lips, she whispered softly into the other woman's ear. "I think he might be getting a visit from our S2 man. He looks ready to kill."

With great effort, the blond placed her glass down on the table. "This is terrible. We need to let Central know someone is leaking out information like a sieve. What else is being leaked from our offices and the MAGI?"

"Well, we can't leave yet. We need to watch this damn thing at least do its little walk around; they've got the airfield closed down for the duration of the demonstration."

Ritsuko crossed her arms, glaring at the chairman who was now speaking with one of the techs by the table with their laptops. "I'll find out everything he knows, even if I have to wring it out of him myself," she muttered darkly.

"And now, if you'll turn your attention to the screen, you'll be the first to see Jet Alone Prime 'wake up' in a public demonstration!" Waving his arm to the screen like an overpaid actor to the impressively large display, the image of the rotating NHIS logo snapped to several live feeds of the Jet Alone Prime. The chairman nodded to the waiting technicians, and then stepped off the stage, taking the microphone with him.

There was a deep rumble, heard through the walls of the building, as the slouched robot rightened itself, standing up, as several long rods pulled out of it's back, being the graphite control rods for the on-board nuclear reactor that powered the massive weapons platform. Ritsuko shook her head in disgust at the moronic design.

The assembled guests clapped politely as the robot took its first public steps, with the chairman grinning like a proud parent. "And there you have, Ladies and Gentlemen, the first public activation! Alright, go ahead and start it on the track."

On the screen, Jet Alone Prime moved its arms around in circles and then began walking towards the beginning of the circular track, eating up the distance with ease.

Misato poked her friend in the shoulder. "Well, it's walking."

Before the outraged woman could respond to the obvious jab, the hall was suddenly filled with a fast-paced beeping coming from one of the laptops. Most of the people looked over to the techs, who were frantically typing commands, with one on his cell phone, talking hurriedly with someone.

Jet Alone Prime had reached the beginning of the track, and had passed it, continuing on a straight line.

The chairman laughed nervously. "Hey, guys, it's pretty impressive, but can we move the robot onto the track? No need for improv here."

The tech on the phone hung up and made a cutting motion at his neck. "It's not responding to the command signals! We're locked out of the interface!"

"What? What's going on?"

"It's gone rogue sir. We're attempting to access the secondary remotes now, from the main server site."

Another tech suddenly shouted, his voice thick with fear. "I've got abnormal readings in the reactor! It's heating up! The cooling system's not functioning!"

The chairman dropped the microphone and rushed over to the laptops. Throughout the room, people began to trade nervous looks.

Pulling at the collar of his shirt, the chairman retrieved his microphone and coughed. "Well, we are having a slight technical difficulty. The... ah... the... well, the fact of the matter is that we've lost all communication with the command module for the unit, and the onboard reactor is currently heating up as the cooling system appears to be malfunctioning. Now, this is not great news, but once a certain temperature is reached in the reactor, the control rods will automatically be released back into position inside, in order to bring the fission reaction down. Once the rods are automatically released, the system is designed to go into an emergency stand-down mode. So, we're still getting a demonstration today, but not the one we had planned!"

"An emergency shutdown sounds like a good idea," Misato whispered in Ritsuko's ear. "Do we have one for the Evangelions? Besides popping the power plug and waiting for five minutes, that is."

Her eyes not moving from the screen, Ritsuko nodded. "We're working on one. Right now the best we have is to knock the pilot out by suddenly increasing the pressure in the Entry Plug via the LCL. It's not perfect, but it works."

The same tech who had been on the phone with the server-side operators suddenly ran up to the chairman and handed him the phone. All color drained from the man, his face openly showing shocked horror.

Misato raised her eyebrows. "I think that someone just got some bad news," she said in a sing-song tone, much to Ritsuko's irritation.

"Oh, grow up, will you? I'm trying to figure out what's going on."

Handing the phone off to the tech, who scurried back to his laptop, the chairman cleared his throat as the main screen went dark. "I apologize to you all, but it the control rods are not dropping back into place. Jet Alone Prime will not be stopping. Its headed course will take it through the city of Toyota." He swallowed hard, sweat glistening on his face. "I'm told that the Jet Alone's reactor will experience a total meltdown sometime shortly after entering the city if it maintains this speed. That will be in..." he looked back to the technician, who spoke up, his voice hushed and fearful.

"Three hours."

No one spoke in the hall. One of the generals present from the UN raised a hand, beckoning for a microphone.

"Well, let's stop this thing. What are our options as far as air strikes or ground forces?"

"Ground forces won't be here in time to do anything."

"I can have bombers from the 8th Bomber Wing down here in one hour."

"How about a missile strike? We can drop an N2 on it's head."

"No good! It's much too near a populated area for that!"

Misato grumbled under her breath. "Didn't stop them from dropping one almost on top of me." She suddenly stood up, much to Ritsuko's dismay. Shouting, not waiting for a microphone, she called out the rest of the room.

"I can have an Evangelion here in no more than thirty minutes. NERV will stop this walking disaster and move its radioactive corpse to a safe location."

Pulling down on her arm, Ritsuko hissed at the suddenly insane Operations Director. "Are you insane? You don't have the authority to deploy one of the Evangelions! Besides, the risk is too great! What happens if something goes wrong? We'll be down a unit and a pilot!"

Misato shook her head. "We need to do this, Rits. It's a chance to smash this silly thing into the ground, save a bunch of people, and nab some good PR for once. We'd be fools not to take it." She pulled some of the pins out of her hair, tossing her head back and letting her long, purple locks cascade down her back. "Besides, I always wanted to see a real giant robot fight!"

Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!

Shinji woke up suddenly to the sound of his phone ringing. Rolling out of bed with a burst of energy that he hadn't felt since the beginning of the tests, he picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Shinji! It's Lieutenant Ibuki. Listen, I need you to get to NERV as soon as possible; there's an emergency! You'll be rolling out in thirty minutes. Section 2 will bring you in."

"An emergency? I'm on my way!"

Hanging up, he dashed through the apartment, fear and adrenaline pumping through him as he shoved his feet into his shoes, which, for some reason, felt way too small. This fact, however, was not on his mind. What could have happened? I don't think it's an Angel or anything. What else could they want an Evangelion for? Is this another test? Why didn't they call me earlier for tests, it's almost three in the afternoon! Throwing the door open, he dashed down the hall just as Section 2 men poured out of a room near the stairwell, forming up around him in a protective shield.

Back in the apartment, Rei stepped out of the shower, still wet, just in time to see Shinji disappear out the door.

What manner of emergency is this? Perhaps I should return to NERV.

She quickly dried herself off and dressed, checking her phone. There were no missed calls.

Odd. It is not an Angel then, if they do not summon me as well. I could return to my home and see what it is the MAGI have to say, or I could go to NERV and attempt to find out firsthand.

She stood there in the doorway staring at the floor, puzzled. But... why did he take my shoes?

Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!

Shinji stared at the gray wall of the Entry Plug, going over the hurried briefing he had received before loading up into the massive plane that was carrying the Evangelion towards the out-of-control robot. This should be easy. It's not like the thing is an Angel or anything. It was just a giant robot that some companies had built to try to replace the Evangelions. To replace me.

He wasn't quite sure how he felt about that. He found himself conflicted and unsure, and so he tried to focus on the battle plan. It seemed simple enough.

Originally, Miss Misato had wanted to board the robot and try to use the manual override system. Unfortunately, the internal temperatures and radiation were far past anything a person could safely be exposed to with any of the current protection suits available. So his job was simplified to just smashing the thing without cracking open the main body like some noxious egg and dragging it to a safe location, where they would do whatever it was they had planned to clean up the radioactive mess. Since that part didn't concern him, they hadn't told him what they had planned. He didn't mind, though, as he knew he probably wouldn't understand it anyway. He was glad that they were able to tell him that the reactor wasn't going to explode like a bomb. Wasn't that how they always showed these things in movies and stuff?

Dr. Akagi had thrown her hands up in the air and complained about the lack of proper education in today's youth when he had asked about that. It's not my fault that I'm not a nuclear engineer. I'm still in school! They don't teach that stuff there. And when would I have the time outside of school or NERV to learn these things?

So, the plan was for him to be air-dropped out of the massive carrier plane, break the robot's legs, and drag it as close to the drop-off site as he could in five minutes. Right now, a second plane, a regular cargo jet was landing at the main site to deliver a power cable and adapter assembly. They would link up with him after his internal power was drained, to allow him to finish moving the robot.

Then they would all go home. Misato promised a party, but he had his doubts about that. She normally used parties as an excuse to invite a bunch of people over, all get drunk, and make a mess of the apartment. Which he had to clean up the next day.

Shinji did not like parties. Of course, he disliked being around large groups of people in non-party environments as well, but he really didn't like parties.

White light replaced the red standby lights as the techs on the plane activated Unit-01. The kaleidoscope of color and sensation of synchronization was second hat to him now, and as he rolled his head around in a circle to stretch his neck, he felt the resistance of the travel locks against the Evangelion's head and heard the protests of strained metal.

Lieutenant Aoba's voice filled his ears. "We're releasing you now, Shinji. Good Luck!" And with that, he was free.

Shinji reveled in the sensation of free fall. Despite the warmth of the LCL, he could feel the cool rush of air over his skin under the plug suit. It was all over in a moment, as he impacted with the ground, rolling across the terrain and coming into a crouch facing the oncoming robot, which marched onward, oblivious of the new obstacle in its path.

Mindful of the counter ticking down the five minutes of independent power he had, Shinji charged straight for the robot, eating up the meager distance (for the towering Evangelion) quickly, he dove to hit the gangly legs, arms wrapping around empty air as the robot deftly side-stepped to avoid it's attacker.

"What?" he shouted in adrenaline-fueled excitement and confusion as he tumbled to a stop, only to feel a searing pain across his back as the robot opened fire on him. Shouting incoherently in pain and surprise, he twisted around, sending Unit-01 scrambling on all fours to catch another blast, this one to the face.

Hissing in anger now, but otherwise ignoring the feeling, he slammed into his foe, making contact this time, smashing it to the ground. Jet Alone wasn't finished yet, wrapping its surprisingly flexible arms around the Evangelion in a grotesque parody of a hug, trying to squeeze the life out of it.

Misato, standing on one of the tall observation platforms with Ritsuko and the Jet Alone chairman, wheeled to the ashen-faced man.

"What the hell is that? It's trying to hug him to death!"

He only nodded in response, never taking his eyes off the titanic struggle taking place before them, as Unit-01 pushed back with one hand and landed devastating punches with the other. Even from this distance, the 'face' of Jet Alone was visibly dented and misshapen, taking on a semblance of a hideous grinning face.

He swallowed before speaking. "I wonder if it will use the self-defense electric field."

Ritsuko, who had been chain-smoking ever since the Sub-Commander had green-lighted Misato's insane plan, dropped her spent cigarette and put a new one in its place. "It's what?"

"Jet Alone's self-defense against grappling targets is to electrify its hull. If it's grappling with him now, it should be activating it." He shrugged. "Maybe there's something wrong with that too, in addition to the controls and the reactor safeties."

Struggling with the robot, Shinji could feel the warmth of the target, and with a thought he flipped to infrared visuals, and he was rewarded with a brightly glowing orb in the center of his enemy. The reactor. This thing is definitely getting hotter!

Just then, he threw his head back and screamed in pain as he was electrocuted, as thousands of amps poured into him from the robot's metal hide. Changing his target from the demented thing's face to one of the shoulder sockets, he smashed a smoking fist through the armor.

Misato stared in open horror as the bestial howl echoed across the plain. She was only dimly aware of the panicked screams of the other observers, who now were fleeing as fast as they could from the battle. Ritsuko, forgotten cigarette in hand, whispered something under her breath as she also stared out towards the Evangelion and Jet Alone. The Chairman, knuckles white as he held onto the railing as if it were a lifeline keeping him tethered to sanity, looked to the women.

"Did...did it just... open its mouth and scream? WHAT IS THAT THING?"

Coming back to her senses, Ritsuko took a long drag on her cigarette before pitching it over the side. "That's a trade secret."

Misato jumped and punched the air. "YES! Haha, look at that!"

She pointed to Unit-01, which was holding a still sparking arm over its head, cables and hydraulics trailing out from where it had wrenched it from Jet Alone. Standing up now, it used the dismembered arm as a club; it rained down blows once more upon the Jet Alone, which had its remaining arm raised over it, vainly attempting to shield itself from the awesome punishment it was receiving. Bits and pieces of metal went flying all over the place, becoming deadly shrapnel as Unit-01's club shed its components.

Throwing aside the ruined arm, which slammed into the unused firing range with a thunderous impact, the Evangelion reached down with both arms, grabbing one of the thing's legs. Bracing a leg against Jet Alone's 'crotch', Shinji ripped the leg off with a growl that rumbled and echoed in the hot, heavy air.

Tossing aside the leg, he grabbed the other, and began to spin, dragging Jet Alone at first, then as he picked up speed, swinging it around in the air.

If there had been any hope of getting the control rods back into the reactor, that hope was dashed as it was clear to all that they had been broken off long ago, leaving only stubby protrusions on the robot's back.

Jet Alone wasn't done yet, however, despite the massive amounts of damage it had taken. Reaching out with its reaming arm, even though it was moving with none of the fluidity it originally had, it tried to grasp Unit-01. The mighty Evangelion was having none of it and released its grip on the leg, sending the robot flying after its lost arm.

Charging after its foe, Shinji leaped atop the fallen robot, smashing down onto it, feet slamming through its back and out its front. Great amounts of super-heated steam billowed up, cloaking the Evangelion from view as it roared in victory. It came walking out of the cloud, each thudding step growing slower and slower until it came to a halt halfway to the presentation building.

Kneeling down, the light faded from Unit-01's eyes, and all sounds ceased on the battlefield.

Misato turned back and forth, trying to build a good memory of the sheer devastation visited here by the shy, introverted boy in her care and command. Great grooves lay gouged in the earth, and there were pieces of Jet Alone Prime scattered far and wide. On the vast tarmac, where there had been numerous planes and helicopters that belonged to the myriad guests and attendees of the public demonstration, there were now only burning, broken shells, along with scattered remnants of what no longer looked like a giant robot's leg.

Alone, in the center of this vista of destruction, knelt the Evangelion Unit-01, like a faithful knight awaiting the order to go forth once more and bring doom to the enemies of its king. Smoke still curled up from it in spots, and the armor in some places was cracked and warped. The horn had been snapped in half, where the other piece lay, Misato had no idea. That great mouth hung open, boulder like teeth of metal and actual tooth dripping with spit.

Misato turned to Ritsuko. "You think anyone got any of that on camera?"

Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!

Gendo Ikari sat in the large room afforded to him as his accommodations for the duration of his stay at NERV-Nevada. The tour of the facilities had gone well, and at any time now, he should be receiving notification from Fuyutsuki that the Jet Alone Prime robot had suffered some tragic accident and had gone rogue, only to suffer a fatal malfunction before entering Toyota.

It would not do for him to be seen behaving abnormally on the spy cameras that undoubtedly were hidden all over the room, so he busied himself with reading a book he had brought along for exactly this purpose. It was a hardbound book, with no dust jacket, and no title or author written on the binding. No title or author appeared on the pages of the book either, nor was any page numbered. The actual story of the book was intermixed amongst random pages of poetry, passages from other stories, and other books, all put together with no overlying pattern. If anyone were trying to figure out what he was reading, well, they would be occupied for quite some time.

It was Gendo's favorite book in the world. The story it told was one he knew by heart, being an old story, but not one native to Japan.

His phone rang.

"Yes?"

"Commander Ikari, you have an incoming transmission from NERV-Central, Tokyo-3. Do you wish to take this call?"

Cradling the book in one hand, he straightened up in his chair. "Yes."

"Opening the line."

"This is an automated message. Commander Ikari, please contact NERV Central, sub-location Central Dogma on a secure line. This is a Gamma Level message."

Frowning, he marked his spot in the book and set it down on the table. This was not how this was supposed to go. There should be no reason why he needed to contact Fuyutsuki on a secured line about the Jet Alone issue. The matter was not a security issue.

It was a trivial issue for him to gain access to one of the red phones in the secure communications hub of NERV-Nevada. Swiping his NERV ID card, he was rewarded with a dial tone. Punching in the number for his Sub-Commander's office, he waited.

"Please state your name."

"Gendo Ikari."

"Name and voice patterns recognized. Hello, Commander Ikari. Please state your Phase I crypto key."

"Swansong"

"The number is nine."

"Four."

"Please state your Phase II password."

"Genesis."

"Connecting your call."

"Gendo, there was an issue with the Jet Alone demonstration today."

"What issue? How does this matter to us?" Even though no one was supposed to be able to listen in on this, or record it, the part had to be played. To Commander Ikari of NERV, Jet Alone was a minor issue, almost beneath his notice. If something happened to it, it was of no consequence to him.

"The robot went rogue and suffered some breakdown in the cooling and emergency shutdown systems. It started to make its way towards the city of Toyota."

"Rogue AI? Sounds like a bad movie plot. Who did we have attend the demonstration? Dr. Akagi and Captain Katsuragi, yes? Were they injured during this... escapade?"

He heard his elderly mentor sigh on the other end. "No, they were not hurt."

"Then why contact me about this at all? This certainly didn't require a secure line."

"Well, Captain Katsuragi deployed Unit-01 in order to stop the robot before it could reach Toyota, where the reactor meltdown could have caused horrific amounts of causalities."

Gendo felt a ball of ice form in his stomach. Forcing his voice to remain calm and level, he only briefly paused before speaking again. "I see. Did Unit-01 sustain any major damage while dealing with this... rogue robot?"

He could swear that there was a breath of relief coming from the speaker. "No, only some minor damage. Decontamination should be complete in a few hours, and I'm told that complete repairs to the armor casings will be done before the day is out."

"The Third Child was undergoing sleep deprivation tests prior to this. Did these tests negatively affect the pilot's performance in dealing with this threat?"

"No. If anything, he threw himself into battle with little restraint. Of course, it might be that it was easier for him, as this was just a robot. After the Angels, I doubt that a simple robot could summon up any fear in him."

"Then everything is well. I am scheduled to depart here in the morning. I will speak with you then if there is nothing else."

There was a pause, a slight hesitation on Kozo's part. Gendo wondered what he was hiding. "Well, there is something else. Shin- ahem. The Third Child, well, he went berserk again."

"Really."

"Yes. Like with the Third Angel."

"I see. Have all precautions been taken?"

"Initial scans show no signs of mental contamination. Internal log records show his highest synchronization score at fifty-seven percent. Section 2 has obtained all video documentation of the fight, outside of satellite data. However, it seems some stills of Unit-01 were released to the press. Section 2 is investigating, but the pictures are not high quality."

"Very well. I leave it in your hands. I will see you when I return."

"Of course."

Hanging up the phone, Gendo's eye twitched as he resisted the urge to take the phone and smash it into oblivion. He would see Kozo once he was back in Tokyo-3, yes, he would see him, and if he didn't have a damned good excuse for this mess, he would he him nailed up on the giant cross sitting in Terminal Dogma.