Neon Senshi Evangelion

Twenty

Naoko Akagi nodded to the newly arrived head of security. "I wouldn't normally be meeting with you," she admitted, "but our operations head is over at NERV."

"Not a problem," the boyish blond haired woman smiled charmingly.

Naoko looked down at the papers on her desk. "So, you are Haruka Tenoh. Weren't you a race car driver at one point?" Naoko asked curiously.

"Before Second Impact, yes," Haruka said evenly. "You have my resume..." she started, then continued, "I enlisted in Japan's Self Defence Force after Impact. Served several years. After I left I went into security services on a corporate level."

"Which is why we want to hire you," Naoko agreed. "What's your impression so far?" she asked her curiously.

"Not bad," Haruka answered quite willingly, "Japan Heavy Industries is away from population centers, and has good physical protection." She frowned, "Security check in was a bit lax, but we can work on that."

"We're also concerned with cyber security and hacking attempts, both with Jet Alone and with our main labs," Naoko admitted reluctantly. The computers were her territory, and she hated to admit they could be cracked.

"I'm surprised you'd have issues. I've seen the specs on your machines... they're remarkable," Haruka said calmly.

Naoko fought not to look proud. "Agreed, but we may be facing attacks from Magi-based computers," she told her.

"I'm not a expert on that myself, but I know people," Haruka admitted. "We'll secure the system, along with the facility," she said.

"I'm glad we have someone like you aboard," Naoko admitted.

"There were some requirements I had about being hired here... were there any issues?" Haruka asked her mildly.

"Your wife will be covered by our medical benefits and so on," Naoko agreed wryly. She was looking forward to meeting the woman who tamed the once famous racer...

"Good, good," Haruka said briskly. "Are there any other issues that I need to be concerned about?" she asked.

"There's a representative from the UN in town, too," Naoko noted. "I expect she'll visit us too, so best be ready."

"Setsuna Meiou?" Haruka nodded, "Understood."

Naoko blinked, "You know who...?"

"I have done my research," Haruka waved it off.

"I'm glad," Naoko nodded as they finished up the intake interview. She was glad they were in such good hands...

Later Naoko headed for the Jet Alone hangars, walking briskly. R&D were still working on the re-designed pilot compartment, but that still meant they could work on other things. Plus, the current pilot candidate was training in the main simulator.

(On a basic level, Naoko didn't like that they were getting a pilot from NERV. It just screamed potential security breech. On the other hand she was trained somewhat already, AND they and NERV were now officially allies. So she just had to accept it.)

"How is Mana doing today?" Naoko asked the tech who was supervising.

"She's fighting the Sachiel simulation," Char Harris noted, the American immigrant smiling wryly, "getting beat up a bit too." 'Char' was in fact Charlane, but she was red haired, someone made a 'Gundam' joke and the name stuck.

Naoko winced as Jet Alone tripped. They were still working on the programs to create human-like agility in a huge war machine. They hadn't quite managed it, yet.

Jet Alone struggled to it's feet, then dodged a palm-blast from the Sachiel simulation. It charged forward, tackling the Angel to the ground with a loud thump. A few minutes later, and it successfully put the enemy down.

"Take five, Mana. The boss is here," Char told her teasingly.

Mana Kirishima was nearly half a head taller than Naoko, the gangly teen smiling shyly at the older woman. "I'm sorry I'm not doing better," she apologized.

"I'm sure you're doing your best," Naoko reassured the girl. She smiled wryly, "I'm aware Jet Alone still has issues."

Neither Mana or Char said anything about that, wisely.

"How long have you been training?" Naoko asked, noting that Mana looked kind of tired.

"About three hours or so," Mana admitted.

Naoko frowned, "That's over the recommended limit."

"She looked like she was having fun," Char looked sheepish.

Naoko patted Mana on the arm, "You should probably quit for the day, all right? Over use of the simulator can cause eye strain, headaches and other issues."

"Yes, ma'am," Mana said sheepishly.

"And we're going to talk about proper supervision," Naoko frowned at Char.

"Eeep," Char 'eeped' softly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Haruka Tenoh drove a sports car out from Japan Heavy Industries and into Tokyo-3. YES, in the world after the Impact Wars and so on, it was overly flashy but she loved the feel of the wind in her hair and the powerful engine.

Finding a nice apartment in the city had been surprisingly easy, as there was a lot of surplus residential housing. Really, what city planner assumed that families would WANT to move into a Fortress City intended to defend the world from destruction?

In another part of the city, Yui Ikari sneezed suddenly. However, being a modern woman who didn't believe in 'sneeze when someone talks/thinks about you' she just carried on working.

Haruka parked, locked up then headed to the elevator. She went up several floors, up the hall then unlocked her front door, calling out "I'm home."

"Welcome home," the attractive, light green haired beauty smiled warmly as she stepped into Haruka's arms.

"Hmm. I missed you, Michiru," Haruka sighed as they kissed.

Michiru Kaioh pulled back reluctantly, the loose summer dress swishing around her legs. "How did the interview go?" she asked.

"Better than expected," Haruka noted as they walked together to the living room, "I got interviewed by Dr Akagi herself. It looks like I'm in."

"Yes!" Michiru beamed.

"How did your interview go?" Haruka asked, though she suspected she already knew the answer from her smile.

"Starting next week I will be the new music teacher for Tokyo-3's high school," Michiru said smugly. "They were VERY honored to get a concert violinist."

"Do you ever wonder how far in advance Setsuna planned all this?" Haruka wondered as they sat together. "She was the one that suggested you get the teacher's certification years back..."

"Best not to think too much about it," Michiru sighed.

They both looked up as the door unlocked and their roommate arrived. "I'm home!" Hotaru Tomoe called.

"Welcome back," Haruka called as she shifted a bit apart from Michiru.

"You two are so lovey dovey," Hotaru teased as she went by. "Has Setsuna-sama called yet?" she asked curiously, the goth, black haired young woman lingering in a doorway.

"Not yet," Michiru told her. Teasingly she asked, "How is Misato watching duty going?"

Hotaru laughed, "Not bad. She comes in and plays some every couple of days." She looked at Haruka, "You should come in and try the racing games with her."

"The game physics always throw me off," Haruka waved that off, even as the phone rang.

"Here we go...," Michiru murmured as she answered, "hello?"

"It's me," Setsuna answered calmly, "please put me on speakerphone." Once she did Setsuna addressed the room, "Hello, everyone. It's good to have us all in one place at last."

"Mari too?" Haruka asked.

"She came into town with Setsuna," Hotaru noted quietly.

"I've made contact with Misato, and I feel confident we can awaken her if the situation requires it," Setsuna told them.

"Assuming it's even safe to awaken her," Haruka observed. "I thought her memory was gone?" she asked pointedly.

"It's possible transforming might bring her memory back," Setsuna noted then sighed quietly. "Frankly, we're in unknown territory, medically speaking. As far as I know nothing like this has happened to one of us."

"Do we know if the other Inners and Tuxedo Kamen reincarnated as well?" Michiru skillfully changed the subject.

"They have." Setsuna nodded, "But unlike Sailor Moon, they won't have their memories of their last life. This will all be new to them."

"Hopefully we won't have to actually awaken them," Haruka sighed.

Setsuna sighed. "For now, we also will stay out of the Angel conflict," she said. "Our abilities don't exactly scale well against them..." she added wryly.

"Saturn could probably kill one," Michiru teased mildly.

Hotaru rolled her eyes, "Let's NOT test that out, please."

To be continued...

Notes: I'm assuming that some Sailor Moon stuff either didn't happen or happened wildly different with the Outers handling stuff. As they were kinda more... pragmatic about heroing, expect dark stuff to have gone on.

I also need to sit down and figure out SEELE and what they're doing, now. One assumes instrumentality is gone as a concept with Adam vaporized. So what are they up to, now?