Neon Senshi Evangelion
Twenty Eight
"Well, they did it," Naoko Akagi noted, shaking her head in disbelief as they saw the footage of the Angel's capture.
Kodama Horaki brought her boss more coffee as she said, "You did calculate the odds at about one in three to succeed."
"Which means there were two thirds chance of it ending horribly," Naoko pointed out to her minion sarcastically.
(Kodama had recently switched over to Naoko's R&D department full time. They got along well, mostly, though Naoko didn't like Kodama's tendency to try to keep her from overworking. On the other hand, everyone else appreciated it.)
"And here's hoping it doesn't break loose during testing," Naoko added darkly.
"Is that likely?" Kodama asked.
"We really still have no idea of an Angel's actual capabilities. Who knows?" Naoko said to her with a shrug.
Changing the subject Kodama said, "We've got the new Pilot Chamber ready for testing. Should we begin manned tests?"
"We're going to run Mana though a few stationary tests first," Naoko said. "I know Cave is pushing, but safety first."
Kodama nodded grimly. A bit plaintively she wondered, "WHY is he pushing getting Jet Alone running so much?"
Naoko sighed as she explained, "Jet Alone, USA I presume. Knowing him he'd name it 'Liberty' something."
Kodama had the strange mental image of a Jet Alone in an Uncle Sam outfit, probably yelling something about democracy.
Both women visibly shuddered.
"We'll need to fit Mana for the new wet suit/plug suit too," Kodama mused. She added, "It's... a little revealing."
"It NEEDS to be for medical monitoring," Naoko noted. "If, god forbid, something happens to the pilot I want to know immediately."
"Point. But I bet Mana will have issues wearing it" Kodama pointed out.
"Well, yes," Naoko admitted.
"Who gets to talk Mana into actually wearing it?" Kodoma asked, sighing.
Both women just looked uncomfortable.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"You BOTH need to take a break, ma'am," Asuka ordered her bosses firmly.
Both Yui and Ritsuko looked at her, blinking tiredly. "What?" Yui asked.
"The Angel isn't going anywhere," Asuka reminded both women, "and you've been at this for nearly twelve hours straight."
"I..." Ritsuko started.
"And the chance of making an minor error due to lack of sleep goes up too," Asuka continued on relentlessly.
"She has a point," Maya added.
Yui opened her mouth to argue, then closed it with a sigh. Both she and Ritsuko had been running on just Redbull and coffee for the last few hours. "All right, I let my enthusiasm get the best of me," she admitted.
"We're not going to crack the mysteries in a day," Asuka shrugged. "Besides, Shinji tells me he hasn't seen you in days."
Yui looked even more guilty, if that was possible.
Ritsuko nodded, "Okay, okay. We're going." She quickly assigned staffers to monitor the Angel, then the four left the remote lab.
"Okay, I'm heading home," Asuka waved, "can I get a ride, Doctor Ikari?"
"Certainly," Yui agreed.
Both of them took Yui's little car back to the apartment building/NERV housing that had both Misato and the Ikari's suites. It was a quiet ride, as Yui was fairly tired and Asuka was just not really in the mood to chat, much.
"Thanks," a yawning Asuka said as they headed in.
"You're welcome," Yui said.
"I'm home," Asuka called as she entered the suite she shared with Misato.
"Hey, have you finally escaped from Yui's clutches?" Misato joked, the older woman puttering around in the kitchen.
"I talked her and Ritsuko into going home," Asuka yawned. "Mind if I heat up something?" she asked her.
"Sure, go ahead," Misato agreed, getting a can of beer out.
Asuka took out two packets of instant food as she asked, "Did you eat already?"
"Yeah, I had something when I got home," Misato reassured her.
"Just checking," Asuka shrugged.
"So how's studying the Angel going?" Misato asked curiously.
"A mystery wrapped in an enigma and sprinkled with confusion," Asuka noted as she microwaved the food.
"THAT bad?" Misato asked.
"I think we're generating more questions than answers at this point," Asuka said.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The next day, Setsuna stopped in at NERV in her role as UN observer.
"Miss Meiou," Gendo nodded respectfully, leading her through the security procedures.
"Director Ikari," Setsuna nodded. "Congradulations on capturing an Angel. I don't think it has ever been attempted before."
(Neither brought up Lilith, the life form NERV had recovered that was deep in the basement under NERV. It hadn't really been 'captured' so much as been recovered while near death.)
"You sound dubious," Gendo noted.
"It was a huge gamble," Setsuna pointed out mildly.
"Conceded. But it worked," Gendo shrugged.
They went up a lift, then onto the bridge were Misato was overseeing operations. In addition to monitoring for Angels, two screens were now devoted to watching the remote lab, outside and inside.
"What happens if something happens?" Setsuna asked.
Misato turned, smiling a bit grimly, "Emergency procedures. The scientists from the lab are immediately cocooned in a safely chamber and ejected."
"That sounds unpleasant," Setsuna blinked.
"It'll be rough, but it'll hopefully save their lives," Misato nodded before adding, "minus some broken bones."
"We think the crash foam will prevent that," Gendo added.
"Then we mobilize the Evangelions to go stop it," Misato finished.
"How fast can they deploy?" Setsuna checked.
"Fifteen to twenty minutes," Misato admitted. She added, "We could keep a pilot on standby here at NERV twenty-four hours a day, but we want to try to maintain something like a normal life for the kids."
"Fair enough," Setsuna agreed.
Setsuna wondered who had pushed for the pilots to be treated like kids and not military assets. She suspected it was Misato herself... Yui was sort of maternal, but not heavily so.
"How is the study of the Angel going?" Setsuna wondered.
Gendo and Misato exchanged a look, as if wondering who should answer her.
"We're discovering whole new vistas of ignorance," Gendo admitted. "Last night Yui told me she may have to completely rethink her existing theories on Angel biology."
Setsuna looked surprised, "Really?"
"This is the first time we've studied a live Angel in close quarters," Misato pointed out. "Previously we mostly were working from crispy bits."
"And they ARE making progress," Gendo added loyally.
Setsuna nodded to Misato, "Not going to faint on me again?"
Misato looked sheepish, "I STILL think you hit me with a concealed taser."
"Alas, no," Setsuna shook her head. She added, "You're okay?"
"No ill effects, other than Yui making me take a few days off," Misato noted.
Setsuna noted that Misato was avoiding touching her, now. Well, understandable since lass time they touched, the shock knocked her over in a dead faint.
"Poor you," Setsuna teased mildly.
"Come up to my office," Gendo addressed Setsuna, "I've set up a teleconference with Yui and Dr Akagi."
"Let's go," Setsuna agreed.
To be continued...
Notes: I need to decide how they found Lilith in this canon.