Cheyenne Mountains...
It's been another week since the last battle. NERV's technical division was examining the remains of the Angel, analyzing them for valuable data.
"It looks like unit-02 was able to penetrate the core without igniting its energy," stated Dr. Sumire as she looked at the data.
"Not to mention that this is the same source of power that generated its light whips" added Dr. Corman. "If I could just-
"Don't you dare touch it, Corman" commanded Dr. Ackerman. "If the core cracks, it will be useless for us".
"But... it's an intact angel core!" Whined the Corman.
"Quit your whining and act like an adult!" Ordered Sumire.
Erika and Susan were visiting the site to meet up with Ackerman and check on what was happening.
"From what we've gathered, the Angels take their form based on whatever their core came in contact with before," she stated while looking at the data. "Meaning that this one could have made contact with some sort of insect, judging from its appearance".
"What about the previous angels?" Asks Erika.
"The other one you defeated must have been in contact with a carcass of some sort, but the ones the first child fought against also had somewhat of the same appearance as well".
While they were talking, Erika noticed her father was at the site. He was talking with sub-commander Chandler near the angel core. She's rarely seen him around NERV's headquarters, always staying in his office. She couldn't care less about that man, yet she couldn't help but wonder what he's been up to since he abandoned her those years ago.
"Another thing we found intriguing was its genetic code," added Ackerman.
"What about it?" Asked Whitehall.
"It's unlike anything we've seen before," she explained.
The third child turns to stare at the monster she had just killed in combat, now wondering how and where they come from.
At School...
Erika was able to adjust to her school life. Although her celebrity status somewhat died off, people still gossiped and talked about her role as the pilot of the Evangelion.
Ramon and Wesley, on the other hand, wanted to apologize firsthand for the trouble they gave her in the previous angel attack.
"Hit me!" Ramon asked when Erika returned to school.
"What?" She asks out of confusion.
"An eye for an eye," he explains. "It's my way of apologizing for what I did."
"You're an idiot if you think she's going to do that!" exclaimed Zoe as she saw what he was doing. "Why can't you just apologize like a normal person?".
"I'm not going to hit you, Ramon," Erika adds. Look, you guys gave me a hard time out there. You made it hard for me to kill that monster. However, I need to apologize for what happened to your brother. I should have been careful. "
Ramon stares down, remembering what he said about her.
"Well...I still want to apologize," He continues. "What you did over there, that wasn't easy. It takes guts and grit to pull that off. In my book, that means a lot. So hit me!"
Zoe just stands baffled at what she claims to be stupidity at its finest.
Without thinking twice, Erika Langford threw a punch that left a bright red mark on Ramon's cheek.
"I guess...now we're even?" She asks confused.
"I didn't expect you to hit that hard" Ramon would mutter as he covered his mouth in pain.
Later that day...
The day went by, with Erika and Zoe sharing their gym period, running laps around the football field.
"So, Ken's also a pilot?" Zoe inquires upon learning about it.
"Yeah, but I barely know much about him," the third child explains. "The first time I met him was at the hospital, right after my first fight against the angel. It felt cold meeting him".
"I think he's always been that way," Zoe adds. "When he first got here, we all got the chills. However, some of the girls found him attractive; they even tried to ask him out".
"Did he accept?" was the question Erika seemed more curious about.
"He rejected them," Zoe states simply. "Every time someone would strike a conversation with him, he'd either ignore it or shrug them off wrong. It's almost as if he hates interacting with people".
As they head back to the gym, the girls spot Kenichiro entering with the boys. He makes eye contact with Erika as they cross paths. The first child's eyes locked in coldly towards hers. It was a glare that came off like a knife being pierced straight onto her soul. It made her feel uneasy.
"What was that about?" Zoe comments.
"I...don't know" Erika responds.
At NERV HQ...
Erika was in the simulation room, finishing her synchronization tests. Dr. Ackerman and the rest of the NERV scientists were on the monitors measuring her sync levels.
"That's it for today, Erika" ordered Dr. Ackerman. "You may leave".
As she stepped out of her training capsule, she noticed the first child conversing with her father, Commander Gerald Langford.
As she watched these two interact, Gerald Langford did something she'd never seen him do before, he was smiling.
"Smiling?" the third child thought as her eyes widened in shock. "He's smiling...how?"
Kenichiro also had a smile on his face. The silent and cold first child was smiling with the commander.
As she heads down to the locker rooms, her head turns to take one more glimpse at the first child and the commander.
"If he's like that with him, then why wasn't he like that with me?"
Later that evening...
Erika and Ozzie waited at the kitchen table, while Susan pulled out their dinner from the microwave. It was a precooked meal that consisted of what appeared to be meatloaf, mashed potatoes, asparagus, and corn.
'Dinner is served!' the captain announced as she placed the meals on the table.
Erika poked the piece of meat with her fork, examining the edibility of such a thing.
"Susan, you think we can someday get actual food?" she comments.
"What do you mean? This is food, the Captain responds while pulling out a beer can.
"I don't think microwaved food can be compared to a cooked meal," refuted the third child as she poked the grease out of the meatloaf.
"Well, it's the only food we have for today, so don't complain," The captain assures her as she zips her beer can. "Maybe next time, you'll decide on what to eat".
Ozzie jumped up from the chair and began taking bites out of her plate.
"Is it okay for a penguin to be eating human food?" Erika brings up. "Doesn't he have a diet or something?".
"Well, one time I fed him beef jerky, and nothing happened" the captain explains as she carved into the meatloaf. "I'm sure he'll be fine".
Erika can't help but be astounded or disgusted at the sight of Ozzie pecking at such disgusting food.
So, how's the stalking going?" Susan inquires.
"What do you mean?" the third child fires back.
"Come on, I saw you stalking Ken back at HQ," She recalls.
"Susan, I have no interest in Ken Murasame!" she blurts out as her face turns red, slamming her hands onto the table.
Oh really?" The captain coyly with amusement. "And what about all those video recordings you've been recompiling?"
"That was research" Erika affirms glaringly. "By the way, how long has my dad known Kenji?".
"Well, the commander knew Ken about 2 years ago, in Matsushiro, Japan, "Susan starts recalling, glazing up to the ceiling. "The day Unit-01 went beserk".
"What happened that day?" Erika asked.
"It was its first test," She recalled staring down at the table. "Unit-01 was ready for pilot interface. All of a sudden, Ken's brainwaves flared up and the EVA went haywire. The technicians had to freeze the test room to stop it from tearing down the place. That's when Commander Langford rushed out of the control room, walked to the ejected entry plug and with his bare hands, forced open the door to get him out".
"He saved his life," Erika came to realize as she glared down at the table. "He owes his life to him".
"So you do like him!" teases Susan.
"No I don't!" Erika fights back. "I mean, we're both pilots! All I'm doing is just inquiring about who he his...as a pilot".
"Sure" the captain jokingly smirked as she took a sip from her can. "By the way, Dr. Ackerman forgot to give him his new ID card".
From her jacket, she pulls out Ken Murasame's NERV ID card. "Maybe you could give it to him tomorrow," she suggests.
"W-why would I do that?" the third child questions.
"I could help you with the "research" you're doing on him," the captain mockingly quotes; poking fun at what she views as "teenage love".
Erika grabs the card from her hand. Not wanting to further hear such jokes and intuition from her superior, she heads towards her room.
The next day...
Erika went her way towards Kenichiro Mursame's residence. From what Captain Whitehall informed her, he lived in a Simple suburban house with his Godmother, Doctor Sora Miura, a research scientist who worked under Ackerman's division at NERV.
Upon arriving, she caught a glimpse of his residence. It was a two-story modern home. It looked cold, cubic, and colored with a black solar roof and grey walls. It looked out of place, not because of the design of the house, but the feeling it invoked. It looked lonely.
As Erika walked towards the front porch, she rang the doorbell. No Response.
She ranged again, and no response.
Observing her surroundings, Erika then spots a home camera just above her, waving at it to signal who was at the door.
Suddenly, the door unlocked by itself.
"Should I step inside?" Erika began to wonder.
She couldn't help but enter into the house. Once inside, she got a view of just how simple yet cold this residence was. It had white walls all around the house, black symmetric furniture in the hall and the dining room, with no pictures in sight.
As she walked around quietly, the third child found a room with a door open. She went inside and took a look at it. This room had a single bed, a black desk, shelves, and a mirror standing up to a wall. Opposite side of the bed was a drawer, which had pictures and origami figures on the top. The shelves were filled with books, with one carrying a model of an Evangelion.
"This must be Ken's room," The third child began to realize as they inspected the room.
She then grabbed one of the pictures by the drawer. One of them featured what appeared to be a young Kenichiro Murasame with a woman. Noticing the picture was accompanied by an origami crane, the third child couldn't help but grasp the small crane as well.
"Who is she?" Erika asked herself while examining the picture.
"You should have waited by the door," said a voice.
Erika turned around, she saw Kenichiro Murasame, the first child, face to face. His face was as pale and cold as the room, with a glare of ice locked onto the third child.