PART I

ACT IV

SCENE V

(The Geo-Front Gates. CONN stands nearby tapping his walking stick against his foot, his expression half-angry and half-sorry.)

CONN: (To the audience.) Those poor kids. You know, it is a miracle that everything worked out the way it did. Had I read this in a book or seen it performed on some stage, I would find it somewhat contrived. Shinji Ikari is left at his maternal aunt and uncle's house and Asuka Langley Soryu turns out to be his neighbour? I would have had difficulty believing it and yet is life not just like that? Things we would dismiss as only happening in fiction happen everyday… Who would have ever thought we'd have giant monsters and robots though? (He shakes his head.) Life is strange… It can be cruel too. Shinji probably would have thought his aunt and uncle would have been good people but as we know what is and what should be, are as different as a kind word is from the lash of a whip… And yet, I suppose the cruelty is equaled by kindness. Shinji found Asuka, Asuka found Shinji… (He smiles as he realized what he had been saying.) Shinji! Asuka! I've been saying only their given appellations! That is an improvement. Yes, it is well those two had met at so young an age. If they hadn't who knows how messed up that they would have been? You know, I envy them in a way. Together they have risen above the tragedies of their youth while most other people I know are doing it by themselves and in some ways, not exactly succeeding. Maybe that is the answer, not by yourself but with one who has experienced what you have… I don't know. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but somehow these two have found such an answer for when it comes to rising above the tragedies of their youth… They both lost their matriarchs, their patriarchs abandoned them… Yes, it truly is a miracle they found one another. (He coughs for a moment before continuing.) And now there is this Project Germanicus and Project Claudius business… Anglo-Saxon runes? I don't know. For all I know it is written in Elvish, Klingon or some made up language like that! (He furrows his brow.) Elvish or Klingon? Commander Gendo Ikari a fan of either the works of Tolkien or "Star Trek"? Now that is getting too weird! But still… If Project Germanicus truly concerns Asuka then does Project Claudius concern this Mari Makinami Illustrious or does it concern Shinji? Commander Ikari looks somewhat British to me, so if one of his parents were British that would make Shinji… Damn it! Math was never my strong suit. If Commander Ikari is half-British, then that makes Shinji… A quarter British? Yes, I do think that be it. But what is being planned here? Germanicus' death was attributed to poisoning, Claudius was probably poisoned… What if both concern Asuka? After all, Claudius too had the victory title of "Germanicus". Germanicus was intended to become Rome's emperor, but he predeceased his adoptive father and paternal uncle Tiberius as well as his intended co-ruler, his adoptive brother and paternal cousin Drusus Julius Caesar. Claudius, on the other hand, was never intended to ascend to the throne, but with the assassination of his nephew Caligula and his family, he was the only one left. Could Project Germanicus be intended to succeed, but likely fail and Project Claudius something that is not likely to succeed, but very well could? I don't know. Here I am conjecturing rather than translating! I need to get a book on Anglo-Saxon runes! I've got to! I've got to! I've got to! (ENTER FUYUTSUKI.)

FUYUTSUKI: Ah, there you are, Mr. O'Sullivan. I was wondering where you were. It is unlike you to be out here. Is everything alright?

CONN: Deputy Commander Fuyutsuki, what is your ancestry?

FUYUTSUKI: (Confused.) What?

CONN: What is your ancestry?

FUYUTSUKI: What prompted this question?

CONN: Just curiosity.

FUYUTSUKI: My father was Japanese, and my mother was a British woman who came to live here following World War II.

CONN: And what do you know about Commander Ikari's ancestry?

FUYUTSUKI: What concern is that of yours?

CONN: Both of you look rather British, Japanese appellations aside.

FUYUTSUKI: And because of that you see fit to pry into our backgrounds?

CONN: Forgive me, Deputy Commander.

FUYUTSUKI: What is your ethnic background, Mr. O'Sullivan?

CONN: Irish on my father's, Mongolian on my mother's, Deputy Commander.

FUYUTSUKI: Growing up did you know many biracial people of Western European and East Asian descent?

CONN: I did not, sir.

FUYUTSUKI: (He gives an understanding nod.) You should have started there then. Now, I went down to the archives for the budget from two months ago? Could you bring that to my office when you have the time?

CONN: Yes, sir. I'll go and grab that right now. (He begins to make his way through the gates.)

FUYUTSUKI: (Not even turning to look at CONN.) Mr. O'Sullivan?

CONN: (He stops and turns to look at his superior.) Sir?

FUYUTSUKI: I would advise you to not keep the files for Project Germanicus and Project Claudius on the front desk in the archives. If Ikari had seen them things might have ended poorly.

CONN: S-Sir, what are they?

FUYUTSUKI: I cannot say I am certain, and I was not even aware of the existence of Project Claudius until today. Project Germanicus had been written in Kanji last time and had been for an upgrade for Unit-02. I cannot see any reason for Ikari to have changed the text to—

CONN: Chicken scratch, sir?

FUYUTSUKI: (He gives a small smile.) Yes, indeed. (EXEUNT.)