Misato sat up, reading the outline of the procedure that had taken Ritsuko and Kozo months to develop. Her tablet barely illuminated her bedroom and didn't bother the sleeping scientist who cuddled beside her.
She didn't pretend to understand even a quarter of the procedure, except that it was heavily modified from the original attempts to recover Yui Ikari and Dr. Sohryu.
Ritsuko had been a mess when she had come around to see her. She looked like she hadn't slept in days. But they had figured out a way to bring the boy back. That's what mattered, she told herself. It was risky and wasn't guaranteed to work, but it was all they could offer.
How many other risky, uncertain ventures had the pilots been party to? Almost every Angel fight had been dangerous from the get-go, and the ones that were supposed to have been sure things had gone sideways soon enough.
This was just one more hurdle for them to jump, the latest in many such hurdles. Just one more impossibility.
Dropping the tablet to the floor, where it landed in a heap of dirty laundry next to her bed. Ritsuko muttered something and rolled over, taking the sheets with her.
Grumbling, the woman tugged back on the blanket before sliding down to rest on her back, staring up at the bare metal ceiling.
They would start work tomorrow, building the components required for the operation. She would tell the girls before their next run of the auto-pilot tests. It should cheer them up, she thought. They all needed some cheering up.
Gendo said they were drawing near the end and that the sample of ADAM growing inside his body would soon be ready for Third Impact, where everything, all of the terrible costs they had paid along the way, would be worth it.
She wasn't sure that any new world could repay them for all the pain and loss they had endured since Second Impact. Third Impact could not bring back the dead. Could it heal the scars, both the physical and the mental?
All the other senior staff, the inner circle, all looked to that day. Their hopes and dreams were pinned on it, although they said it wasn't some magical cure-all. It would be better after their Third Impact.
She wasn't sure what she thought. It was easy to be caught up in the Commander's words and want to follow his plans, but she had doubts at times like this when she lay in the dark, sleepless and tired. His dogmatic faith in his Scenario was infectious, but these long weeks of hopelessness had taken a toll, not only on her but on everyone.
Well, almost everyone, she corrected herself, turning on her side to stare at the wall. Rei was still the same, faithfully following every order, waiting for the word from the Commander, his carefully groomed key to success. But perhaps even Rei was feeling the stress that bore down on them. She seemed more out of it than usual, as if her attention was elsewhere. Of course, with Rei, it was hard to tell for sure, but there did seem to be a sort of backsliding on the girl's part, sinking back to her old ways, her isolation, her unresponsive, inexpressive gaze.
The girl's only friend still here was Asuka, and their friendship had always been shaky, mostly bound together by Shinji. Misato scowled in the darkness, her brow furrowed in anger. Shinji had always been Rei's door to social interaction – if not for her interest and connection with him, she would never have been friends with the Horakis or Suzahara and the other boy.
But that had always been the plan. The Commander's plan. Gendo Ikari's precious Scenario.
Misato stared at the wall for a long time before falling asleep.
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Both girls stared at Misato. Neither one moved or spoke, but there was a change in the air. The attitude in the room seemed almost hopeful. Finally, Asuka nodded before flipping her hair back over her shoulder and closing the pursuit around her neck.
"Well, I'm sure they'll tell us all about it after our mission. C'mon, Rei. Let's go."
Both pilots left the locker room in silence, sparing neither a glance to each other nor back at the Sub-Commander, who in turn watched them go without a word.
Sighing, Misato went and closed Asuka's locker before leaving. Her brisk steps slowly became a morose shuffle as she headed for her office. Waiting for her was a stack of reports, all of them bad. Most were incident reports concerning the continued attacks on NERV installations around the world, some by the direct action of that nation's government, and others by 'local riots.' Section 2 believed most of the latter was a cover for governments that wanted plausible deniability.
Most incidents were minor and had negligible effects on NERV operations worldwide. Others, however, continued to further reduce the productivity of the multinational company. It drained NERV's resources, forcing them to quietly subcontract work to third parties that their factories would typically have taken care of.
Other reports were coded briefs from Section 2, relaying the current results of their intense background screening project, working to hunt down, interrogate, and liquidate any SEELE moles as they hunted for the missing Ryouji Kaji. So far, there was still no lead on the man, which was the most suspicious thing.
Ritsuko had left early in the morning but had left breakfast on the table for her, along with a note. It was almost like back in their college days.
Misato shoved her fists into her jacket's pockets and scowled as she waited for the elevator. Even with the wars looming on the horizon, those had been happier days. Happier, better days… but those days were long gone.
She wondered if there would be any carefree days ever again.
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Kensuke stared at his monitor, squinting through bloodshot eyes as his fingers flew across the keyboard, dissecting his way through computer code and decompiling device drivers, trying to break his way through the latest assignment from Asuka.
Out here in the boondocks, it was just him and his dad's cousin's family. None of them were very technically inclined and, as such, were more than a little in awe of him and the way he could make technology dance to his tune. This was good, as they usually left him alone and didn't care he had dropped out going to the classes at the local high school instead of working on his own projects. However, it was bad because they often brought him things to fix, such as old computers, radios, or even tractors. Anything with a circuit board and didn't do what it was supposed to, really. It usually didn't take long, and admittedly, it was a small price to pay for the freedom he had. There was a small stack of things to take care of for them off to one side of the desks he had set up in their garage, a constant reminder he would need to get started on them soon, but the boy was confident that a breakthrough was near.
His mutterings were interrupted as the door to the house banged open, letting in bright sunlight and three smaller cousins, each of them chattering at a mile a minute.
"Kensuke! Kensuke! You got mail!"
"From Tokyo-3!"
Looking up from the monitor, he saw the three kids were laden with boxes. The mailman must have just come. When he was in the zone, it was easy to miss things like ringing doorbells.
Wincing as he stood up, Kensuke yawned. He had been awake for 36 hours, burning his way through NERV code. He was sore from sitting hunched over in his chair and needed to sleep or eat.
Taking the first of the offered boxes, he flipped it around, looking for the label. If it was from Tokyo-3, there were only two people it could be from – his father, which was unlikely, or Asuka, which was risky. Either would be interesting, especially if all of them were from them.
The bespectacled boy frowned as he found the shipping label – it was from Dr. Akagi. Tearing it open, his jaw dropped. Inside the box was a smooth spherical component with several sockets for cables and plugs. He recognized it instantly, although he had only seen it in magazines and on the internet.
He was holding part of a MAGI cluster.
Looking at the excited children, all gathered around, looking at the technological marvel, he spoke with growing excitement.
"How many packages are there for me?"
"Lots!"
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Asuka grinned as she read the carefully worded email to her publicly known "private" account from Kensuke, glad he had finally gotten the packages. He had been grousing in some of their latest correspondence about the difficulties he had been having in getting hardware powerful enough to handle the work they were doing.
Surprisingly, she hadn't thought of it earlier, but there was no point in crying over spilled milk. What was important was that he would, within the day, be set up with a rig that was up to the task of crunching through the amounts and types of data they were working with. This was now more important than ever, with the announcement they had a plan to retrieve Shinji if he was retrievable. She wanted to send him whatever she could find on their plan. Dr. Akagi said it would take place in three weeks, which wasn't enough time for a thorough data analysis. She, of course, remained unconvinced they would be able to get Shinji back, but she would wait and see. Regardless of the boy's ultimate fate, this was a chance to unlock some of the secrets about the Evangelions and Unit-01 that they had been lying about and hiding from her. If she could prove they were lying, especially where Shinji was concerned, she might be able to bring Rei back to her side.
In the meantime, she would continue her preparations for her own experiments. Kensuke had come through with some additions to the subroutines for her experiment, updating the code that operated some of the sensors and control components that relayed information back to Central and Terminal Dogma. She wanted to be sure as little could go wrong as possible during the experiment, which meant, amongst other things, removing the ability of the technicians to interfere.
Once he assembled the cluster node, the nerd would rerun the same simulations and comb back through the code for her. It would be interesting to see what he came up with and get his perspective. Apart from that, she was waiting on his report of his findings from the last few data streams she had the MAGI send his way.
Leaning back in her seat, Asuka watched as her Unit-02 danced to the puppet strings of the control crew in Terminal Dogma, moving through the city and continuing the reclamation works. She hated these tests because she was stuck in the Entry Plug, not doing anything other than being a warm body, and she wasn't in control of herself or her actions.
Even with her extra access to the MAGI, it wasn't wise to do anything with her projects while in the Evangelion. The data streams would be scrutinized, so her work would have to wait until later.
It was nice having someone she could depend on, even though he was so far away. Much like Toji, Kensuke had turned out to be someone she could trust. While neither boy had been very fond of her at first, and she of them, both boys had, in their own way, grown on her. Toji, as a fellow pilot and warrior, and Kensuke, as a fellow researcher.
Glancing at the mission clock, Asuka groaned. Three more hours.
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Shinji was cold, through to his core, having watched and relived the titanic battles he had been party to, but his tears had long since dried on his face.
His talk with Lilith, the Angel that Misato had called the Mother of Mankind, had been short and raised more questions than it had answered. But the brief interaction with the otherworldly being showed him he had some power here. She had said he was broken and needed to be healed.
His behavior while fighting the Angels, the uncontrollable rage and apparent bloodlust were sure signs of the truth behind her statements. While he had never heard them utter the things they did, they were mostly coherent in their words, even if what they had said made no sense.
He didn't know why he felt so bad about the fights now. True, he had never really wanted to fight, and if he never had to again, he would be fine with it, but…
Shinji waved a hand at the world, blurring it into a featureless orange fog. Among all their shouted boastings, a common question burned its way into his mind.
Why did he fight?
He would always fight the Angels if he had to. These things meant the literal end of the world. He knew that if he didn't fight, Rei would. She would always fight at his father's command. Even if she was alone, even if he wasn't there or Asuka wasn't there. Rei would fight if she was half dead, even if it should cost her her last breath.
A grim look of determination crossed over his features, and he stood up straighter, squaring his shoulders.
She would always fight for his father and for the world. She had fought because of the bond she had with the world. Now, he was sure she fought just as much because of their bond to each other.
And so, Shinji reasoned, fists balled and held at his sides; he would always fight.
Not for the world. Not for his father. Not even for the small collection of his friends. But for her. For Rei.
"I'll always fight. I'll fight through anything for her." Shinji whispered to himself at first and then shouted it at the top of his lungs.
"I'll fight! I'll fight anything! I'll fight anyone!" the boy screamed, his voice cracking. Out of the orange mist, the towering figures of the Angels surrounded him in a circle, staring down at him.
"I am not afraid! I am not going to run away!" Shinji roared up at them, and he felt himself begin to grow, stretching up and out. He became as tall as the angels, and a new, powerful warmth grew in his chest.
"I FIGHT FOR HER! I FIGHT FOR REI AYANAMI!"
Lashing out at the nearest of the Angels, the first one he had ever battled, he grabbed the immense being's shoulders and head-butted it straight in the bird skull mask.
"I AM SHINJI IKARI, AND I'LL NEVER STOP FIGHTING!"
Dropping the stunned Angel, he turned to the shifting geometric form of the Fifth Angel, his eyes two pinpricks of burning starfire as his hair blew back in an invisible wind, a bloodthirsty grin on his face.
"I KILLED YOU BEFORE! I'LL KILL YOU AGAIN!"
The golden light of an AT-Field flashed into existence as light from the Fifth Angel's energy weapon splashed out over him. Shinji recoiled initially, but his smile intensified as the blue-white fire rolled off the golden field.
"AHAHAHA!" the boy screamed joyously, power flowing through his body, leaving him feeling refreshed and excited. Heart pounding in his chest, he leaped atop the prone Third Angel, deftly avoiding the blows of the others. Words could not describe the power and strength coursing through his body, nor could they express the sense of rightness that stemmed from fighting.
Shinji punched his fists into the green flesh, taking hold of the crimson orb and ripping it free. "CENTER THE TARGET!" Shinji howled with bloodthirsty delight, holding aloft the gristly prize. He then smashed the core on the ground, where it detonated with the familiar crucifix of fire. Leaping back into the fray, his AT-Field flashed again as the Angels lashed at him with energy weapons and physical blows.
"PULL THE SWITCH!"
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Rei watched her double struggle against the handcuffs and manacles that kept it bound to the steel chair.
Kaji sighed and gave up its struggles, shooting Rei a look of incredulous disdain. The expression was one the girl was not used to seeing on her own face, which was most often a placid mask hiding her thoughts and feelings. To see her features twisted into such emotional displays as the test subject had been doing ever since the successful upload was… disquieting, to say the least.
Rei looked down at her notebook and began writing, jotting down several quick paragraphs, looking up every few moments to assess Kaji II. She had observed early on the original Kaji exhibited signs of increased anxiety when she made notations and recorded information, either spoken or written.
As she had hypothesized, the clone showed increased nervousness, and tiny beads of sweat began forming across Kaji's forehead. Rei resumed writing but looked up as an alarm on one of the terminals started to flash, demanding her attention.
"What's that?" Kaji II asked, trying to twist to get a better look as Rei stood up and moved over to the computer bank, typing in a series of commands and tapping into the security camera feed from the Evangelion cages. Rei, ignoring her captive, frowned as she looked over the data stream coming off from Unit-01. Blinking rapidly, she gasped softly as a disaster scene appeared on the screen.
Unit-01's cage was drenched in flame, and the shimmering field of golden hexagons of the Evangelion's AT-Field flashed in and out of existence every few milliseconds. Bright streams of electricity were pouring off the titan, blue actinic flashes that made a strange counterpoint to the red and orange glow of the fire.
Rei instantly focused her consciousness on the drone body sitting in Unit-00, sitting upright in the throne seat of the Entry Plug, just as frantic calls came in over the communications net.
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Asuka and Rei exchanged sideways glances at each other and then looked back into the wreckage of Unit-01's cage. It looked as if a bomb had gone off inside the cavernous room, the walls charred black, paint burned off the metal surfaces. It stank of burned electronics, ozone, and undertones of the unique smell of boiled LCL. Standing in the center of the destruction was Unit-01, looking completely untouched by the disaster it had caused.
"What does it mean?" Asuka asked, watching the teams of technicians bustling to and fro. "Why did Unit-01 do this?" She leaned against the wall, ignoring the burnt paint rubbing off her plugsuit and LCL-soaked hair.
"I… I do not know." Rei answered softly, her voice barely audible over the din of the repair crews. "Dr. Akagi has not released information concerning the telemetry from the moments preceding the event."
"This is more than some power surge from the S2 organ, Rei! This is something else, something big! It took both of us focusing our AT-Fields into the room to erode Unit-01's before control could be reestablished, and it's not as if that was particularly easy! We're lucky it just stood there doing nothing!"
Rei stood at the catwalk railing, hands down at her side, motionless except for her eyes. She turned back to look at her captain, her face as unreadable as ever.
"I do not know. This is unlike any previously observed behavior before."
"No shit, Rei. I'm not asking for a report; I'm asking for what you think."
Rei stared blankly at Asuka for a moment before responding. "I think this is unlike any previously observed behavior."
Asuka, starting to lose her patience with the conversation in particular and Rei in general, shook her head, scowling at the girl.
"Fine! Fine!"
She turned and left, marching off to take a shower and change. Once again, her overtures had been spurned. Once again, she was shown she couldn't trust anyone here. The only other person she could count on was half a country away, and he didn't have the experience with the Evangelions that she needed in a compatriot. He was a quick learner and definitely no slouch regarding technical matters, but he was still years behind anyone at NERV who worked on the war machines.
Kensuke was eager, but eagerness wasn't enough. The best he could do was help her find discrepancies in the code and raw data, find things that didn't do what she had been told they were supposed to do. It was hard for him because he didn't understand much of the primary subject material at all. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack without knowing what a needle was.
Kicking the door to their locker room open, her reflection in one of the mirrors caught her eye. Her hair was drenched in LCL, unkempt, and longer than she usually liked keeping it. She had bags under her eyes, not as bad as Misato's had been the other day, but that was only due to her constant exposure to LCL. Were it not for her almost daily immersion in the fluid, she was sure she would look much worse than her commanding officer. Her skin was paler than it had been in a long time, and the slight healthy tan she used to have was long gone. Her eyes were bloodshot.
Glaring at her reflection, Asuka punched the mirror, sending spider web cracks out from the center. Punching it again, she grinned at the pain as broken glass cut through the gloves of the plugsuit and sliced open the skin of her knuckles. The sharp pain felt good.
Whistling a jaunty tune, Asuka stripped off her uniform, kicking it over by the lockers. She walked into one of the shower stalls, turning the water to as hot as she could stand, and stood under the running water, feeling the thick liquid slowly leave her hair, running down her body. She lifted her wounded hand up to the showerhead, relishing the stinging pain as the water hit the cuts. As bloody water flowed down her arm, she licked at it, filling her mouth with the coppery taste.
Spitting the blood out to the floor, she stood under the hot water, trying to think, trying to plan.
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
"So you have no idea what happened or caused the incident?" Gendo asked his two top scientists, his tone flatter than was usual. Light reflected off his glasses, making his expression an inscrutable, intimidating wall. It had been a long time since either Kozo Fuyutsuki or Ritsuko Akagi had been on the receiving side of the imposing glare, and while they both knew how much of it was carefully constructed to be so, it didn't really help.
"The MAGI are still reviewing the data, and my teams are running their own analysis. So far, no one has any idea."
"How far back has this pushed our efforts towards the recovery operation?"
"About three days," Kozo answered. "All that is simply repairs to the facility to set up the experiment. None of the hardware used in the operation has been installed just yet."
"Encase Unit-01 in Bakelite before any more repairs take place. I do not want this incident to be repeated. Time is not a resource we have in abundance."
"Very well."
"What do we tell the others?" Ritsuko asked, uneasy under her lover's scrutiny. "What do we tell the pilots, I mean."
"Tell them whatever you want," Gendo replied dismissively. "Or tell them nothing. I don't care."
He hissed in pain and clutched at his face, knocking his glasses off as he slumped back in his seat. Kozo and Ritsuko rushed across the room to him, the older man wrestling his hands back while Ritsuko checked his face.
She let out a small involuntary gasp before pulling a small flashlight from her lab coat. Shining the light on Gendo's face, she moved it back and forth over his eyes, checking for dilation.
One of the Commander's eyes was the same blue it had always been. The other was a brilliant mix of green and blue, the color of ADAM's eyes. The lightly bruised skin around the eye itself was puffy and slightly inflamed.
"When did this happen?" she demanded, gingerly testing the skin on his face with her fingers. She cursed as small amounts of pus seeped up from under his lower eyelid.
"It pushed my eye out sometime this morning," Gendo replied, finally batting away the two people who could be called his friends. "I was working when the pain kicked in, and it popped out my eye with a tentacle and pinched off the optic nerve. It then grew a new eye and settled in the socket."
"Why didn't you say something?" She shrieked, gripping one of his shoulders hard. "Why-"
"You are working on something more important. Besides, I can see through the eye."
The others stopped still, staring at him with fresh horror.
"That means that-"
"It means that the embryo has expanded into my brain. Yes, I know what that means, Ritsuko."
"You need to have an MRI and a CAT scan." Kozo said, "To say nothing of starting antibiotics or at least an anti-inflammatory."
Gendo shook his head again, frowning at them. "You are the only ones who could do it, and you're both needed for the salvage operation. That takes precedence over any other considerations right now. Nothing can stand in the way of that."
"We aren't needed for all the aspects of preparation, you idiot." Ritsuko hissed. "Come on, let's go. We can get this started right now."
"No."
"Gendo, be reasonable. We need to make sure that you're not in any danger. Go with Ritsuko. I will handle things here, as that's my job." Kozo ordered, his voice filled with an authority that was expected to be obeyed. "You're the one who keeps the plates spinning; you're the one that keeps the Scenario on track. You are NERV."
"Kozo, I said no. I want you to focus on the recovery operations."
"Gendo, if you don't cooperate, I'll taze you when you don't expect it," Ritsuko interjected, arms crossed. "Or I'll drug you. Or something else. You need to do this, even if it is just for us to check on the embryo's development. You'd be almost due for one anyway."
The bearded man scowled at the pair but relented. "Fine. I'll let you run the tests – but as soon as they are complete, you are back on the salvage project."
"Then we need to get moving to my labs, shouldn't we?"
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Gendo stared up at the inside of the MRI tube, listening to the machine hum as it applied the electromagnetic field to his body. The growing embryo inside of him seemed to like the sensation, as it had ceased its restless movement and started to pulse in time with magnets. The sound was somewhat soothing, and combined with the smells of cleaning agents and leftover cigarette smoke, it soon put him to sleep.
When he opened his eyes, it wasn't to the sounds of the medical machinery but to the ringing impacts and explosions of titanic combat.
The world was dull light and orange mist, much like the one he sometimes dreamed of when ADAM's dreams and thoughts leaked into his own. The embryo was silent now, the constant whispers that had become the background noise of his thoughts these past two months missing from his mind.
Up ahead, through the fog and mist, Gendo could see flashes of bright light casting huge shadows upon the clouds, outlining the belligerents of the battle he was hearing. He instantly recognized the silhouettes of Unit-01 and the Angels.
"Why am I here?" he asked himself aloud, wonder and doubt in his voice. The dreams of ADAM had often been nonsensical, strange visions of different places, events, and people. He had long since given up on gleaning helpful information from the embryo. The altered fragment of the First Angel was even less helpful than Lilith was, but none of the previous dreams had been like this.
Carefully approaching the fight, he swore as the clouds above parted to give way to a massive body flying overhead. The Fourth Angel landed behind him in a heap of limbs, screaming in a strange chittering voice.
Another blast of light, this one much closer, nearly blinded him as Unit-01 charged after the Angel, eyes glowing red underneath a battle-scarred helmet. The colossus gracefully leaped over him and landed with a brutal kick to the still-rising Angel.
Far overhead, the screeching hum of the Fifth Angel sounded as a ray of light burned through the clouds after the Evangelion. The heat as the beam passed overhead was intense, though it was nowhere near Gendo.
"Why am I seeing this?" he asked again, trying to think. The images of his son fighting often figured in his dreams, but never like this. The boy had never fought a fight such as this against multiple Angels. This dreaming world could not be the product of his guilt and doubts, although he was just as powerless here as a witness to this fight as he was in the waking world.
Around him, the fight continued, with the twins of the Seventh Angel springing out in perfect unison. Another blast of energy passed overhead, and he could see the massive, shifting form of the jewel-like Angel off in the distance.
Until the arrival of the Fourteenth Angel, the Fifth Angel had been the closest to breaching the Geo-Front, and indeed had been one of the most dangerous foes the Children had faced. This version maintained its distance, lashing out at the Evangelion without regard for the other Angels, further highlighting to Gendo the apparent incapability of the otherworldly creatures to work together.
He watched the bloody melee continue and slowly realized that Unit-01 was winning. Blast after blast of energy washed over the struggling giants, but each time, the destructive waves were shunted aside by the shield of glowing hexagons. One by one, the Angels fell to the brutal blows of Unit-01, bodies torn asunder, rent from limb to limb, cores smashed apart.
As the last of the twined Angels fell to the vicious onslaught, the hulking form of the Fourteenth Angel came flying out from behind the purple Evangelion. Gendo reflexively shouted a warning to his son, but the giant spun around, roaring a challenge at the deadly creature.
A halo of light burned into existence above Unit-01 as they traded blows, each one thrown by the Angel becoming weaker and more desperate as each one of the Evangelion's was becoming more potent and more devastating. The leering Angel reeled with each blow, knocked back repeatedly, giving up ground to the unrelenting titan.
Unit-01 landed a tremendous blow, sending an armored fist straight through the Angel's core and out its back. The resulting explosion rocked Unit-01 back onto the balls of its feet but otherwise did nothing to harm it. Unperturbed, the Evangelion cocked a finger at the still-distant Fifth Angel and mimed shooting a pistol.
A brilliant spear of light shot forth from the outstretched digit and blew a hole through the crystalline structure. The Angel sank to the ground, smoke billowing out of the horrific wound before detonating. Alone now, except for Gendo, Unit-01 threw its arms up to the sky and bellowed in exultant victory.
Around them, the fog rippled again as the forms of the Angels reappeared.
His mouth dropped in surprise; Gendo could only stare as the fight was joined again.
The unsettling dream abruptly ended as Ritsuko shook him awake.
"You're free to go. I'll let you know what the tests show," she said, passing him two small bags, each filled with pills. "One's an antibiotic, and the other is for the inflammation. You know what to do."
He nodded as he sat up on the gurney, clenching the fist that used to hold an eye. After ADAM had replaced his with a new one, the eye embedded in his palm had vanished, leaving only a soft and tender circular indent in his skin.
"When do you expect to be done?" he asked as he dressed.
"In time to actually get started on the preparations. The scans and sample collection took a little longer than I had originally anticipated, but I'll be done processing them by the time they have the cage prepared for me and my team."
Ritsuko watched him finish dressing, watching ADAM's tendrils move back and forth under his skin. The sight made her flesh crawl. As he pulled his jacket on top of the red sweater, she turned and left the room, headed for her office. The MAGI had been processing the first blood work samples during his MRI, and if they weren't done with it yet, they would be soon.
She was as concerned for his health as ADAM's development, although she wasn't sure which one she was more worried about. So far, the embryo had more or less taken care of itself, although to the detriment of its host, even though they had anticipated the issue. Gendo was not concerned about himself at all, at least not yet. But if their Impact was not going to be soon, he would be running on borrowed time, and then they would have to deal with a fully gestated ADAM/human.
What such a thing would be like, they had no idea. What its capabilities would be was unknown and could only be theorized. The plan was to only let enough of a sample develop so they could initiate Impact on their own terms, not let it grow to complete fruition.
Looking back through her notes as she walked through the empty halls, Ritsuko sighed. They would have to decide if they were going to try to remove the growing embryo from him and implant it in someone else. As it was, she could keep him alive with some specialized equipment and LCL, but he would never again be able to even pretend to be a normal, healthy human.
Sighing again as she entered the dimly lit office, she sat at her desk. Her hand went for her cigarettes as she scrolled through a report on the repairs to Unit-01's cage, but when her fingers closed around the package, the empty carton collapsed. Looking up from the computer screen, she frowned, pursing her lips in irritation. She threw the crumpled box away and scooted in her chair across the room to her coffee pot.
The last three months had been nothing but long days that stretched into the night, and that wouldn't be changing anytime soon.
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Kensuke woke to the buzzing sound of his phone, its vibrations knocking against a half-empty energy drink. Picking his head up from his desk, the boy grabbed the phone with a groaning mutter of exhaustion.
"Hello?"
"Aida. Are you alone?"
He blinked rapidly as Asuka repeated her question. Despite constant contact over the past few months, they hadn't spoken due to security concerns.
"Yes, I'm alone. But this isn't a secured line!" he hissed. "What do you want?" There was silence on the line, stretching on for over a minute. The boy would have thought the call had been dropped if he couldn't hear her breathing. "Asuka?"
"Do you trust me?"
"Asuka?" he asked again, confused.
"Do you trust me?"
"Yeah… sure." He stared at the newly installed MAGI node, humming away on an old workbench. The small blinking lights indicated the advanced supercomputers were busy crunching data on the last assignment he had given the pair of cybernetic processors. "Yeah, I trust you. I don't understand much of what we're working on, but I trust you."
There was more silence from the girl, the only sound on the phone being her soft breathing. "Asuka, what's this about?"
"You're the only one." She replied, disconnecting from the call. Kensuke put the phone back on the desk and grabbed the forgotten can, knocking back the last dregs of the sweetened drink and trying to wake up. He hadn't understood what that had been about, but he wasn't sure there was anything to understand.
Apart from his father, Asuka was his only link to the things happening back in Tokyo-3. Before, his father had indulged him with scraps of information about the Evangelion Project, but now that he was in the countryside, that had become a thing of the past. Of course, they still stayed in touch, but the man was very evasive about how bad things were in the city. Without Asuka, he wouldn't have known about the current situation with Shinji or the desperate fight with the last Angel.
He wondered if he was, in turn, Asuka's only contact outside of the city. While their correspondence was usually strictly business, Kensuke couldn't recall her mentioning talking to either of their other friends, not even in passing. Still watching the supercomputers blink as they burned through data, he chewed on his bottom lip, thinking.
Turning back to his desktop, he pulled up his email client. The strange phone call worried him, and he wanted a second opinion.
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Frowning, Asuka reread the last section of the status report, going over the problem the tech crew had encountered while installing part of the new control system they would use to rescue Shinji. After removing the armored hatch covering the Entry Plug, they found a growth of new flesh, much like what had occurred with Unit-04 and Toji. Thick tendons and ropey flesh had to be cut away to access the top access panels on the Entry Plug housing. While Unit-01 made no effort to stop them, energy output from the core increased, and the wounds began to heal and regrow. The tech crews had to cut away regenerated material every quarter-hour to keep the new linkages in place and undamaged.
Leaning back in her seat, the pilot called up an older report from the autopsy of Unit-04, scanning through it. Asuka thought she remembered something else from that report but wanted to be sure. When she had forcibly removed the Entry Plug from the hijacked Evangelion, there had been other tendrils of flesh that kept the armored tube anchored in place. Part of the Salvage Operation called for slowly backing the Entry Plug out from Unit-01 while trying to reestablish the waveform analogous to Shinji's ego border. The recovery operation would be at risk if they had to fight against more regenerating flesh. Asuka still thought the whole thing was a lost cause, but even so, it needed to be attempted. If it didn't work, they would have to face the facts and admit that Shinji was gone. If it did work, then…
Then Shinji would be back.
A case of hopeless optimism, if she had ever heard of one. On the other hand, there was Rei's suspicious attitude towards the whole thing. Asuka was sure the younger girl knew something she wasn't sharing, either out of distrust or spite. Whatever the reason, the result remained the same. It seemed that the bond the pilots had developed over their struggles against both the Angels and the authorities had been too fragile to withstand the loss of Shinji. Watching as her Unit-02 was tearing down the ruins of a building at the command of the command crew deep inside the Geo-Front, she wondered if Rei's commitment to the team of pilots had only ever been for Shinji's sake.
Despite their ups and downs, the past year hadn't been too bad. Rei and Shinji had started to come out of their shells and not be entirely useless. Yes, some issues still needed to be resolved, some puzzles to be solved, but…
Asuka missed the way things had been before. There had been the warm camaraderie of the pilot corps, the thrill of unlocking the mysteries behind Shinji's abilities with the AT-Field, and, of course, the glory of defeating the Angels.
Now, there was no camaraderie; Shinji was gone, and the last Angel, well, if it had just been herself and Rei, then they would all be dead.
Asuka's musings were interrupted as alarms began to sound, control of the Evangelion being transferred abruptly back to her. Looking around, she saw Unit-00 returning to Rei's command, standing straight. Opening a line to Terminal Dogma, she flexed her back, trying to get stretched out.
"What's going on? What's wrong?"
"We have a Code Blue. An Angel has been detected, in high orbit over the planet, and approaching."
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Misato paced back and forth on the central command platform, switching her gaze between the recently repaired main screens and the smaller screens that showed the vital signs of the two pilots. Both girls had been outfitted with MK.8 AP rifles, the particle rifles having the most extended range of NERV's weaponry, but the Angel was still well outside their effective reach and seemed content to sit there and wait.
What it was waiting for was unknown. It had already broken from the past behavior of the Angels by not immediately making its way towards the fortress city far below it, instead electing to hang there in space, suspended above them like a Damoclean sword.
The Commander, as had his primary Sub-Commander, had been in meetings all afternoon. Gendo with SEELE and the United Nations, Kozo with the JSSDF and the Diet. Both were assuring that NERV had everything under control and well in hand.
Misato wasn't convinced they should have even bothered responding to the different groups' calls. Hadn't they just been the ones attacking NERV in the recent past, seizing assets and stealing NERV property? Hadn't their activities put NERV in a bind, limiting research and development and manufacturing efforts for spare components and weapons?
They should have let them hang out to dry, as far as she was concerned. Sure, they would stop the Angel, but that was no reason to try and allay any fears of those two-faced bastards.
"Any changes?"
"Nothing at all," Maya reported, filling in for Ritsuko and overseeing the careful removal of the currently installed components of the salvage operation. They did not know if Unit-01 would react to the Angel and what that reaction would be if it did. The last thing they needed was for Unit-01 to destroy their hard work in a breakout attempt to go and fight. They couldn't do anything about the Evangelion being sealed up in Bakelite, but they wanted everything else to be clear in that event.
"The Angel remains in a Medium Earth Orbit, at fifteen hundred kilometers over Tokyo-3. No anomalous energy readings from the Angel suggest it has a directed energy weapon like the Fifth Angel. No activity similar to the Tenth Angel has been detected. No change has been observed in its physical appearance." Maya looked over at the Sub-Commander, concerned. "It's still just waiting."
It had been waiting for the last three hours, sitting in geosynchronous orbit, visible from the ground as a bright dot in the sky. The Angel appeared suddenly in High Earth Orbit, roughly halfway between the Earth and the Moon. It had closed the distance quickly, traveling at an estimated speed of three kilometers a second until it had halted its advance.
Misato looked up as Gendo strode into the room far above them, headed for his seat on the observation platform. Settling down into his chair, he regarded the command and technical crews with his usual stare before addressing the room.
"The United Nations informed me that if we do not take action against the Angel within the next hour, they will try their hand at dealing with it themselves."
There was a smattering of sharply drawn breaths from the crewmembers, and more than one face twisted in outraged surprise.
"I, of course, informed them that they are more than welcome to attempt to deal with the Angel. I also informed them any attempted use of material or technologies related to NERV properties by national governments would tacitly admit their theft and thus open themselves to punitive actions."
NERV-Central was one of the few NERV installations left in the world, with most of the others shut down and decommissioned, and others moved to countries that had remained friendly to the multinational company. Logistics and security teams were still trying to catalog what exactly had been lost, what had been destroyed, and what was recovered by the host nation governments from the ashes. Until this point, there had been no official recognition of the thefts, with Gendo content to wait and continue to play the game with SEELE.
Leaning forward, hands held in front of his face, he smiled into his gloves. Shifting so the light reflected off his glasses, he looked up at the main information displays. "They did not care to comment. We shall see what they choose to do."
Misato turned around, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth despite the seriousness of the situation. She tapped a button on her headset and filled the two pilots in on the latest developments.
"Those swine!" Asuka swore, her voice more bitter than angry. "How dare they!"
Rei merely watched the Angel high overhead, offering no comment. Whatever the Commander deemed the best course of action was fine with her. Her thoughts would have no bearing on anything.
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Half a world away, in the unbroken plains of Siberia, once a frozen wasteland, now a valuable breadbasket for the world, three huge doors in the ground yawned open, letting the waning sunlight into the artificial caverns beneath.
Fire and smoke poured out beneath great rockets as their primary boosters lifted them from subterranean cradles. The three RT-2PM2 Topol-MICBMs quickly cleared Earth's atmosphere, headed for the small glowing dot that hung in the sky. The primary boosters burned out, prompting the second stage to kick in as they carried their deadly payloads out. Instead of turning to close in on some terrestrial target, the three missiles continued out into space as the third and final stage boosters ignited.
Far below, under the waves of the North and Arctic Seas, submarine missile bays opened, the ships shuddering as more missiles spit forth, carrying deadly cargo heavenward.
As the warheads closed the distance between them and their target, the Angel gave no indication of noticing the attack. Boosters wholly spent, the missiles cleared the border of Medium Earth Orbit. Two of the warheads deployed in the MIRV modulation, launching several independent missiles out at the Angel. Some missiles were decoys, while others carried the combined destructive force of two thousand kilotons of TNT. The last warhead was a single, colossal warhead rating eight hundred kilotons of the benchmark explosive.
These missiles were not originally designed for space combat. While the option for high-altitude detonation existed to use the resulting EMP disruption, the current mission was beyond the original scope of the devastating weapons. No course corrections could be made now, so there would be no pursuit if the Angel moved to escape.
The warheads spread as they continued to close, eating up the distance at a rate of over seven thousand meters a second. The Angel still gave no sign that it had noticed.
The second wave of ICBMs burned past the Hubble Telescope, which was turning to bring its cameras to bear on the assault. Other satellites in the area relayed what data they could back home.
Men and women in command centers around the world held their breath, some watching dots on screens closing in while others prepared to launch more nuclear-tipped missiles.
A glowing field of hexagons flashed as the atomic fire burned in space, the detonations rolling off the AT-Field, the devastating energy turned back into the void.
The glowing bubble vanished, and then a lance of light swept out from the Angel, flashing in an arc, seeking the second and newly launched third waves of missiles. Explosions followed the beam of light as it intercepted each missile, and sensor information vanished in the wake of the EMP interference.
Snorting at the static on the main screens, Misato looked over at Maya. "What was the last we had on the Angel's location?"
"It was still holding the same position. No movement, nothing. We only registered a slight change in our readings – that light wasn't an energy weapon. That was its AT-Field, used as a weapon."
"So it used it like Shinji can?" Asuka cut in, staring up at the glowing dot. "That means it's defenseless when attacking with it," she said, her voice calculating. "A two-pronged assault seems like the best choice."
"The Enemy remains outside our effective range, however." Rei commented, "Even the modified particle rifle used against the Fifth Angel would not have the range necessary."
"Let alone powering two of those beasts." Asuka agreed, nodding as she tried to think. "Do we have any sort of orbital deployment system for the Evangelions? I know NERV-Munich had been working on a sub-orbital deployment system for the planned Mass-Production line, but I haven't kept up with it."
"Even if we did, you would still only have five minutes of full power," Misato said as Maya leaned down to whisper in another technician's ear. "And you'd either be on an impact course with Earth or getting lost into space."
"We've dealt with Angels on the five-minute timer before, Misato." Asuka objected, "We've defeated several of them."
"But what about recovery, Asuka? I can't afford to lose you girls."
"If the Evangelions can be placed into a stable orbit, even for a short time, the Entry Plugs could be launched back to Earth to land in the ocean for pilot recovery." Asuka retorted, a plan beginning to take shape in her mind. "Recovery spacecraft could then be launched to return the Evangelions home."
"Sensors restored!" Aoba called out as they regained sight of the Angel, still sitting out in space. "No movement from the Angel! All readings are the same as before the attack."
Maya approached Misato, motioning to the woman to mute her microphone. "We have a test-bed launch system recovered from NERV-Canaveral before we abandoned that facility. But it's not assembled, and we only have one."
"What about recovery?" Misato asked, glancing up at Gendo, who hadn't visibly reacted at all during the fruitless assault by the UN. "Even if we can only send one up, I don't like being dependent on other people to recover the Evangelions."
"It has an independent on-board power supply system, although it isn't much more powerful than what the Evangelions already have. It can offer an additional ten minutes at full gain, but that's it."
"It's longer than five minutes, Lieutenant," Misato observed, returning to the main screen and watching the Angel. "And they have killed Angels within the five-minute timeline; she's not wrong about that. However, the recovery portion of the plan needs to be more than just ejecting the Entry Plug. Whichever one gets sent up – if we send one up – will be a sitting duck if the Angel isn't defeated. This brings us back to the fact that we need at least a two-pronged attack and have only one delivery system."
"The system called for incorporating a parachute similar to those used in stratospheric jumps. I don't know where it was in the development stage, if it was made, or if we recovered it."
Still watching the Angel as it sat unmoving from its position in orbit, Misato shook her head. "Well, you better get someone to start looking through boxes for it." Unmuting her headset, she addressed the pilots. "We may have something of use, but the techs need to dig it out and assess the situation. Until then, we're going to sit in a waiting pattern. One Evangelion is on duty, and the other is on standby. Who's going to be on shift first?"
"I am." Asuka quickly announced. "Misato, what do they have for us?"
"I'll let you know once they can tell me if we even have it, and it's not a complete answer anyway. We'll still have to work up a solid plan of attack."
"Alright." Asuka stretched out in her seat, lacing her fingers together and pushing her arms away from her core, trying to limber up inside the Entry Plug. "What about secondary plans? Obviously, what the UN decided to try didn't work out very well. Has any retaliatory action been taken against launch sites, like during the Fifth Angel?"
"No, nothing yet. Look, Asuka, just sit tight and keep an eye on the Angel, okay?" Misato asked, starting to run through inventory lists of material recovered from other facilities. "We're working on it on this end. We'll have Rei swap out with you in about three hours."
"Sure," Asuka muttered back into the radio, glowering at the screens. It was obvious they didn't want her help. She would have to try and figure something else out by herself. As always.
Pulling up a remote console connection to the MAGI, she poured over the sensor data they had on the Angel, which currently was not much.
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Kaji and Kaji exchanged glances at the Rei drone at the table with them, gazing off into space with an empty, mindless look on its face.
"Well, no matter what, she'll be listening to us, so we might as well talk. hope she's too preoccupied with the Angel to pay us much mind." Kaji began, pulling idly at the manacles that kept it chained to the table. "I don't know how she does it, but I haven't been able to control any of her drones. It must be something more than just a physical ability."
"We know that she's a hybrid. Whatever she does to control them must be linked to the Angelic part of her makeup. I also overheard her recording some notes that once the upload process started into the previous test drones, she couldn't feel them in the background like the others."
"Then our soul must be the broken link then." Kaji made a disgusted sound, yanking on the manacles again. "It would have been nice to get those clones to get the keys to these chains."
"As it is, we must determine our next course of action. At least one of us needs to escape before she gets bored of this and liquidates us."
"Especially since I don't have clear memories of what we were up to. I've got some stuff, but most of it's hazy. It's like being in a fog, trying to remember specific things."
"Fortunately, she hasn't had any real time to interrogate you. As worked up as she is, she won't wait to get rid of you as a liability if she thinks you're not worth keeping alive."
"It's strange, though. I always expected it to be one of Gendo's agents who would finally kill me, but not for her own reasons."
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Sub-Commander Katsuragi, Dr. Akagi, and the central command staff were clustered in the main conference room just off the primary command bridge. Technical readouts on the Evangelion Orbital Deployment, Combat, and Recovery System were displayed on the holographic interface, along with the components they had on hand and the missing parts. The missing components list was concise – precisely two items, to be exact. The problem was that they were incredibly vital components. However, neither one could be manufactured onsite in the time needed.
One was a launch vehicle capable of delivering an Evangelion-sized payload into orbit. The other was a launch site for a rocket of that size. With the current state of the political landscape, it was considered unlikely they could use UN Directive Z387 again. To further complicate the issue, there were only three such locations near Tokyo-3 that would fit the bill. There was the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan, the Naro Space Center in the Republic of Korea, and the Svobodny Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. These were the only facilities near enough for quick transport of the Evangelion that could handle the launch. According to the latest information, none of them had any rockets on hand, and the Svobodny Cosmodrome area was experiencing poor weather, which was forecasted to last another three days.
Neither the government of Japan nor the Republic of Korea was currently on friendly terms with NERV. Gendo, Misato, and Ritsuko knew and were presently meeting with SEELE. As far as the rest of the command crew knew, their Commander was meeting with leadership from both nations. In the meantime, they were trying to figure out other options and how to initiate a two-pronged attack when they only had enough to send one Evangelion into space.
Staring at the lists of available resources, Misato held up a hand, prompting two arguing bridge bunnies to stop talking. Looking up at the group, the tired woman typed in a new command to the MAGI, bringing up another option they hadn't considered using.
"Why don't we use Unit-01?" she asked, glancing around. "Don't get me wrong, I know that it's not ideal and potentially dangerous, but we might be able to get Unit-01 to engage with the Angel on its own if it senses it. And while they are fighting, we could have another Evangelion use the deployment system to nail it with a particle rifle."
"I don't think the Commander would go for that idea," Ritsuko warned with a frown. "Besides, Unit-01's been isolated for the salvage process. We'd have to cut it loose from the Bakelite, move it to one of the catapults, and then hope that it figures out there's an Angel around while it sits on the surface."
"We don't know the current capabilities of Unit-01 right now anyway," Lieutenant Aoba said, calling up the current sensor readings from the Evangelion on his screen. "We know it's capable of atmospheric flight, but achieving escape velocity? Would it be able to maneuver in a vacuum?"
"And even if it can, how do we convince it to return home and ensure it lands where it needs to?" Lieutenant Hyuga asked, bringing up a three-dimensional model of the planet and the Angel. "The Angel is keeping a geosynchronous orbit right now, but once the fight starts, who knows? The time window for the launched Evangelion to fight and defeat the Angel is pretty short to get back to the right spot for an orbital drop onto the recovery zone." The bespectacled tech typed in a few new commands, and the glowing planet began to rotate, with a new glowing dot representing a space-faring Evangelion trying to reach a highlighted area above Tokyo-3. "Unit-01's not under any sort of control. Who knows what it might do if it lands in the ocean, let alone another country?"
"Like I said, it's not ideal." Misato rebutted. "But it might be a viable option. Otherwise, the only other course of action for a two-pronged attack is having the UN organize another series of missile launches. Nothing we have in our stores comes close to being able to deal with the ranges we're dealing with."
"Why do we need to attack the Angel so far out?"
The rest of the room turned to look at Lieutenant Ibuki, who colored slightly but asked her question again. "Why do we need to attack it so far out? It's not going to leave. We know it will have to come here sooner or later, right? It has to breach the Geo-Front and reach Terminal Dogma, and it can't do it from out there."
"Observed data from the Angel's AT-Field attack is inconclusive for determining if it has the range and power to sustain a penetrative assault on the Geo-Front from its current location," Ritsuko said, considering her senior lieutenant's idea. "Waiting allows us time to make another orbital deployment system and solidify an agreement to use a launch site."
"Still, we must develop options to engage the Angel at the current range." Misato countered. "We can't simply hope it'll sit there until we're ready to attack it. Creating a long-term plan to kill it is fine, but if it can attack us from outside our current defensive umbrella, I want to be able to counter it as soon as possible. Everything we have is hypothetical, so using Unit-01 isn't entirely out of the question. Recovery problems exist with using either of the other Evangelions in orbital combat, so our recovery of Unit-01 is only a little complicated because it's not under our direct control."
"We will not be using Unit-01," Gendo announced, walking into the room and taking his place at the head of the table. "I have secured a launch site, a launch vehicle, and full cooperation from onsite technical staff. Sub-Commander Katsuragi began preparing to transport an Evangelion, the pilot, the delivery system, and the technical teams at once. Dr. Akagi, coordinate with NERV-New Delhi to prepare Evangelion Unit-07, as it is now, for delivery to a third party."
"Sir?" Ritsuko asked, her tablet already out to send instructions, but uncertain why they were preparing to deliver the next most completed Evangelion while it was in the middle of construction.
"The cost of cooperation was a trade. A trade of highly advanced technology, for using a site and material." Light reflected off his glasses as he folded his hands before his face, studying the holographic display. "We are going to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Asuka stared at her commanding officer, mouth agape. "We're trading North Korea an Evangelion?" she asked, completely flabbergasted. "Wir sollen eine der fortschrittlichsten Kampfmaschinen der Menschheit einer drittklassigen Diktatur im Austausch für ein Startgelände und eine passende Trägerrakete überlassen, wenn bisher alles, was sie in den Weltraum schießen wollten, explodiert ist? Seid ihr bekloppt?"
"For one," Misato replied while shaking her head, "I don't like it any more than you do. Two, it's an incomplete Evangelion, and they're getting it as-is. Three, we're sending our own technical teams to inspect and check out the rocket. If they find any problems, Ritsuko's confident that the fabrication team that's going along will be able to build something to correct it. Four, if you don't want to be the first Evangelion Pilot to conduct orbital combat, I'll be happy to keep you on the ground as backup and send Rei in Unit-00."
"I never said that I wouldn't go!" Asuka said shrilly, almost shouting. "I was just saying that it's completely insane." She looked around the Evangelion cage as workers swarmed over the crimson giant, already making the initial checks before installing the EODCRS components. "Who's leading up the technical teams?"
"Lieutenant Ibuki. She'll have overall command of the detachment's mission, although it's a purely technical one. Tactical operations will still be commanded from here."
"I'll have a higher amount of personal latitude, right? Because of the time lag in communication."
"Well, the communication lag won't be much, but yes. You'll have more leeway in on-the-spot decisions. We won't have very much in the way of quick response countermeasures to help out, and if the Angel stays at the range it's at, nothing we have will be able to reach it, of course. Any help would have to come from outside of NERV."
"So what's the plan? I thought we were aiming for a two-pronged attack."
"The plan is to handle the Angel yourself if you have to. You'll be armed with the positron rifle, plus a progressive knife, and the spike thrower is being retrofitted for use with a series of self-guided missiles capable of spaceflight. If the Angel moves into a range where we can have Rei engage it from the ground, she'll provide assistance."
"So why the rush? Why are we moving so fast on this? Why not fabricate another deployment system and send up Rei as well? I mean, not that I'm not confident I'll be able to handle the Angel by myself, but usually more firepower is better, right?"
"The Commander wants us to move on this as quickly as possible. There were… issues… with the negotiations with the UN. That's one of the reasons we're working with the DPRK on this. He also doesn't want a lucky shot by another country to get through and kill the Angel. He wants us to move on the Angel and kill it quickly. Look, there's going to be an official brief this evening. We'll go through all of this and more. Just get a shower and some food, and then pack a bag."
"How many days should I pack for?"
"Plan on at least a week, but don't take anything you wouldn't want to lose. You won't be going back there, and if we have to pull our team out in a hurry, they won't stop to grab your stuff."
Asuka silently nodded. "Alright, fine. I'll see you there." The teenager turned and started for the door at the far end of the cage leading to the locker room and showers. Part of her was excited, but another part still seethed at the casual dismissal from the other day, in addition to the other issues she had with NERV's attitude towards the pilots in general and her in particular. That was also to say nothing of the general attitude of High Command towards the Shinji situation and, of course, Rei's attitude.
She couldn't work on her projects while traveling or in the DPRK, so she'd have to send Kensuke a message. It would have to be carefully coded for security reasons, in case it was found. She trusted him more than anybody else but still couldn't tell him what the next operation entailed. This was too big to risk letting it get out if what she surmised was correct.
As Misato watched the girl leave, she felt conflicted. There were issues with the negotiations, which was true, but this was more than snubbing the United Nations. Gendo had warned them open warfare was likely just around the corner. Things were quickly coming to a head, and if they weren't careful, it could mean the end of everything they had accomplished thus far and the end of everything that they had been working towards.
All new development and fabrication operations had ceased in the Geo-Front, with new orders to prepare to dismantle and move everything out to a new location to establish a new base of operations. It wouldn't be as secure as the Geo-Front, but it wouldn't have to be. ADAM was not yet ready for them to initiate Third Impact on their own terms, so they would prepare to activate the Revelations Protocol, the Commander's ultimate denial of SEELE, his scorched earth plan.
If they proved to be incapable of holding the Geo-Front secure against outside forces serving SEELE, then the Commander would give the order to activate the weapons which would destroy Terminal Dogma and the lower levels of Central Dogma, including the antimatter storage site, which was part of the plan they expected to destroy the Second Angel, along with the entire Geo-Front and most of the surrounding area. The devastation would be massive and ensure nothing remained that could allow Instrumentality to occur.
With the current stores of antimatter dedicated to the Revelations Protocol and the antimatter stores comprising the Armageddon Protocol, the resulting explosion would equal over 5 tetratons of TNT. It would trigger worldwide devastation in the form of earthquakes and tsunamis. A genuine risk existed of it plunging the world into an ice age, with the amount of particulate that would be thrown into the atmosphere.
And NERV would face the blame for it all.