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Advice and Trust [NGE]

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grommile said:
Honestly, babymaking is far more common than childrearing in fanfic for most pairings in most fandoms.
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How disgusting! Where are those babymaking fics at?

nvm, I still remember one with a Nerv-brand condom (something something AT-Field) and to be honest nothing I've read afterwards managed to top that.
 
Found it.
Hm, probably shouldn't link it, but you can easily find it by name: Body Heat by Axel Terizaki.

'EVA Brand Condom: When you need protection as good as an A.T. Field.'
 
Leo_Church814 said:
boys you aren't doing enough to protect yourself if you're JUST using nerv branded condoms, EXPERIENCE THE TRUE PEAK OF PROTECTION! AT FIELD UNDERWEAR!
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Somewhere in Gendo's office…

Gendo let out a long sigh as he read the ad copy, newly-printed and slid over his desk by an uncharacteristically nervous Fuyutsuki. The bespectacled man merely looked at his elder subordinate.

"Ibuki tells me that Akagi was put in charge of the promotional and marketing department due to budget cuts." Fuyutsuki sweatdropped and paused before continuing, "this was the result after not having slept for five days."

"Five days," Gendo asked incredulously.

"Between her new duties, ongoing repairs to the Evas, & monitoring sync testing… it seems that's left her no downtime." The former professor held back a chuckle, "Ibuki mentioned something about Akagi wanting to personally model a new plugsuit for adults, but…"

Gendo waved him off, not wanting to hear the rest of that thought. "Someone sedate Akagi for a few hours… and bring the prototype to me."

"Which one: the condom or the plugsuit?"

"Yes."

I don't even wanna know, thought Fuyutsuki, before blandly saying aloud, "I'll have Ibuki send them up, right away." He quickly turned on a heel, and never before had a walk to the doors of Gendo Ikari's office felt so long…
 
Author0fntent said:
If Rei and Asuka were unexpectedly transported back in time...would even they be completely vulnerable to the then-all-encompassing, inescapable pull of...Beatlemania?
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They'd need a lot of willpower to not succumb to such a memetic event :V

On another note (if anyone's asking about where Chronicles is at), will probably be a little bit before the next Chronicles comes out. The last couple months have been really draining for me and I recently had to quit my job because it got too much for me, too much stress and exhaustion and that meant not enough time or energy to focus on writing unfortunately. Still trying to get back in the swing of things but we'll get there :)
Something like that really drains you when you go through it, but rest assured it all gets better. Money comes and goes but it's not as important as your mental health, you gotta take care of yourself and I found that out the hard way.
 
I have a question inspired by Valentines day for the Advice and Trust couples. What would each pair do for a romantic time?

Examples:-Dinner Date.

-Movie night.

-Massaging each other.
 
Vajrei said:
I have a question inspired by Valentines day for the Advice and Trust couples. What would each pair do for a romantic time?

Examples:-Dinner Date.

-Movie night.

-Massaging each other.
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All of them would spend a good amount of time in bed together, either pounding the mattress or simply cuddling each other because they've all practically admitted they LOVE doing so as to not feel alone anymore, while the actual activities would likely vary.

Shinji and Asuka are both hidden savants who are VERY talented. Shinji would likely cook up an extra special dinner for himself and Asuka and either come up with a different musical composition or he might even press gang Tōji, Kensuke and Kaworu into forming a quartet. Asuka…actually I'm not sure. I know she's a genius, but as I recall her degree is in Mathematics which while impressive does NOT exactly lend itself to many social activities. In hindsight, we don't really GET a lot about Asuka's casual interests. What we DO know about her can be summed up in:
Dead mom, neglectful stepmother and dick father resulting in an intense craving for the approval of adult figures in her life and a deep disturbance towards dolls.
A tsundere with genuine anger issues who truly WANTS to be close to people but finds it EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to get close.
Child prodigy with a Math degree and impressive Pilot training.

All this said, my vision of Asuka's gift is something low-maintenance but deeply thoughtful in gratitude for Shinji.

Rei and Kaworu would likely engage in more of their characteristic introspection on Angels and Humans. The two Nephilim would probably combine their AT Fields in order to experience a merging of souls that humans can't quite comprehend but the intimacy of it would be profound and deeply comforting to their lonely natures.

Misato and Kaji might try and beat their College record (HEYO!!! 😂😜) but more seriously they'd likely share a good drink (hopefully something fancier than cans of Yebisu) and take a moonlit stroll in reminiscence of when they truly decided to rekindle their romance.

Tōji and Hikari would INSIST that they engaged in perfectly chaste activities, but Hikari would DEFINITELY be experimenting with her boyfriend. Asuka would tease her without mercy.

Ken, Sayaka and Kyoko would probably spend the evening sandwiching each other while Kyoto's parents remain unawares. The next morning Kensuke tries and fails to hide the marks. Tōji teases him mercilessly, Ken fires back regarding Hikari and Shinji surprises everyone by reminding how sharp his tongue can be getting a few good digs in at both of them.

Ritsuko and Maya would probably enjoy a nice special on TV with a couple glasses of wine and Ritsuko's cat curled up beside them.

The nicest thing anyone would do for Gendo's grave is NOT pissing on it. Though Shinji would definitely leave flowers at his mother's grave. Fuyutsuki would also, if he's still around.
Shinji, Asuka and Hikari would spend a good few hours talking with their mothers' spirits, cherishing whatever time together they have.
 
Next question. If the couples/groups were to try giving each other massages, how do you think it would go?
 
So now that I once again have an idea of what Ritsuko's takes on recent works in Chronicles might be, it's time for another index update, now featuring worlds from Rei and Kaworu's projections! With that in mind, let's hop right into this fustercluck of a multiverse list!

And only just over 3 and a half years after the last update. :p


As with v1.1, I've continued in my quest of giving all universes featured in Chronicles identifying numbers/names based on a system of checks. Though the index exists in Chronicles, the system for deciding numbers does not, as all reality numbers are determined using a cipher that looks mostly at work titles. In-universe, I imagine these as numbers Ritsuko had the MAGI churn out at random using certain parameters (such as each universe being labelled as 'Sphere-xxxx' rather than Earth/Universe/Reality, because it sounds vaguely Biblical, being shortened to 'S-xxxx' in practise), to document each universe when it became clear labels listing a work's medium would become confusing as more came through.

Out of universe, the system's details are as follows:
  • Any universe tied to a base work (Neon Geneis Evangelion, Madoka Magica, Franxx, etc.) has a number derived from converting its initials using the A1Z26 cipher (A=1, B=2, etc.) and then lining them up side by side to create a number, with any numbers already there using the first digit only. For example: Neon Genesis Evangelion becomes NGE, or 14-7-5, giving the universe code S-1475.
  • Any universe tied to a fanfic or spin-off (Rebuild, etc.) has a slightly different system. All numbers from these, with any words that exist in the base work's name removed (Rebuild is just 'Rebuild of'), are added up rather than lined up, then get added to the base work's number to give their own (Rebuild's number is S-1508), so derived numbers are in the same region as the base universe, to keep them reasonable.
  • Works that spin off from a spin-off use the same rules but with the initial spin-off as the base.
  • To the same effect of keeping numbers reasonable (and so they aren't a mouthful), works with names that'd stretch beyond the 3-4 digit range i've opted to stay within are either abbreviated for 5+ digits (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Darling in the Franxx, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, etc.) or use additional letters from the work title for 1-2 digits (usually the last letter), whilst still keeping the identity in the numbers. Numbers outside of 3-4 digits may be allowed as exceptions if they'd thematically fit a work, though, and other special cases, such as choosing to have a negative or decimal placed sphere, may be allowed for the same reasons.
  • Songs and albums don't really have much "setting", normally. Due to that, they don't get universe numbers unless they are something like a concept album with a distinct story that could reasonably be construed as an alternate universe and not just music.
  • If a work appears to have multiple, distinct universes, and this is pretty explicit, they'll be counted as seperate, with each subsequent universe being one number higher than the last, though only realities that have significant focus and are real will be listed. There's been mixed necessity for this, as Madoka Magica is likely the same universe repeatedly, The Second Try could be the same universe reverted to a prior point, and Pacific Rim's precursor world isn't clear on whether it's another reality or just very far away from Earth. Works that have multiple distinct, in-focus universes so far include Re-Take, Half-Life/Portal and Megas XLR.
    [*}The +1 rule also applies to adaptations, such as a book into a show or a manga into an anime, and works that would mathematically share a number despite being entirely seperate.
  • Final detail: If a crossover occurs, usually a fanfic, it will fall under one setting's numbers unless the focus versions of each work are in seperate realities. At that point two seperate universe entries are added - one under each number set.

Anyway, as usual, onto the meat of this thing! I give you, with special thanks to BG for approving all this, and to Strypgia as OP for being our gracious host...

...Version 1.2 of the Akagi Multiversal Index (AMI)!


MAGI Interface Server 2018.1

USER: StarOfNight
PASS: *************

Access Granted. Welcome back Dr. Akagi.

> cd \ResearchDocs\AkagiR\2018

> more mvDatabase.txt

Accesing...


AKAGI MULTIVERSAL INDEX (AMI) DATABASE:
This archive lists data collated and stored based on information collected from items of extraversal origin - books, films, television shows and computer games, amongst other mediums - designated 'Rift Material', supplemented by related local references from Pilots Ayanami and Nagisa, as well as Pilots Zero Two and Hiro, themselves noted as extraversal visitors.

All universes are designated as 'Spheres' per NERV naming convention ['S-' for brevity].

The below logs give cursory information on each reality for summarised reading, clarifying specific factors for later investigation, such as the potential for cross-universal visitation, though all notation on this topic is purely theoretical at this time, as no line of research has been officially proposed to Commander Katsuragi or UN Oversight.

As of ██/██/2018, this list has been ammended to better account for realities discovered by Pilots Ayanami and Nagisa via 'astral projection', though documentation on these encounters has continued to be difficult to piece together from the details provided.

Further information on all Spheres can be found in additional labelled files external to this document. To reiterate, this database is first and foremost meant as a provisional summary of thoughts for quick and informal reading.

All information regarding this reality comes from the associated piece of media, Wall-E [see 'RM-235-1'].

This sphere, for most of its contributing factors, could be considered a dead Earth, if not for the note the associated material appeared to end on. Environmental factors aside, however, the advances in space travel, artificial intelligence and other such matters may be worth looking into.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: No.
Worth Visiting?: Pending. Though - given the general outlook of the local population - we could probably expect a friendly welcome if we were to select this as a target Sphere, we might be obligated to provide humanitarian aid. While that isn't necessarily bad in and of itself, it could lead to the population developing an unnecessary reliance on us, which would not be ideal, especially as we still have our own problems to deal with.
All reliable information regarding this reality comes from projection reports from Pilots Ayanami and Nagisa, these being brief glimpses at best. Research has, however, resulted in a description match to the 20th century British television serial Doctor Who [see 'Ref-423-A'].

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: No, though an analogous force may exist in UNIT.
Worth Visiting?: Not enough information available for a consensus at this time.
The universe of origin for Pilots Zero Two and Hiro. The majority of information regarding this reality comes from them and the associated piece of media, Darling in the Franxx [see 'RM-496-1 through 5'].

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: No.
Worth Visiting?: Pending. Whilst returning our visiting Nephilim to their home would no doubt make them happy, I do not want to get their hopes up unnecessarily. One way or another, I imagine our first attempt to bridge to another universe, if we even reach that point, will not be to here, even if all immediate local threats appear to have passed.

UPDATE - ██/██/2018: Given recent developments regarding VIRM's possible involvement with our own reality, the Pending rating for potential visitation may need to be reconsidered and/or defined, depending on how much of a threat this is to be viewed as.
All information regarding this reality comes from the associated piece of media, Elfen Lied [see 'RM-513-1 through 4'].

Words do not do justice to describe the distaste we have for this world, especially given the noted... 'similarities' between Nephilim and Diclonii. Rest assured a full report noting everything to be despised about the ones pulling the strings in this Sphere is on record for all authorised to read it.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: No, though the DRI facility bears some striking similarities to NERV, even though we really wish it didn't.
Worth Visiting?: FUCK NO. Not with a 10-foot Dirac pole. As much as we can be sympathetic towards the plight of the individuals here, this is not a situation we need or even want to get ourselves involved with.
All information regarding this reality comes from the associated piece of media, FLCL [see 'RM-612-1'].

As of now, we are limited to that, and no further information relevant to our immediate needs appears to be forthcoming.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: No.
Worth Visiting?: No. To keep it brief, this world bears a similar level of high energy activity to worlds containing 'spiral power', though perhaps to a lesser degree. That aside, the sheer level of inanity is best steered clear of lest we be dragged into proceedings.
All information regarding this reality comes from the associated piece of media, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann [see 'RM-712-1 through 5'].

As of now, we are limited to that, though it is worth noting that, even if only in physical appearance, doppelgangers of Pilots Soryu and Ayanami appear to exist in this Sphere.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: No.
Worth Visiting?: Unlikely. This Sphere appears to be heavily subject to highly energetic events beyond what our world is presently capable of mustering, tied to something referred to as 'spiral power'. It is unknown just how our local laws would react to such output, so we feel that, at least to begin with, it is worth erring on the side of caution.
Most information regarding the Sphere "Lambda Prime" (S-812) comes from the associated pieces of media, Portal [see 'RM-812-1'] and Portal 2 ['RM-812-2'], as well as Half-Life 2 ['RM-812-3 through 6'].

Apprentice Aida also suggested consulting the preceding 1998 title Half-Life, which does exist in our universe, for context [see 'Ref-812-A'], and Pilots Hiro and Zero Two were debriefed on completion of this exercise.

As yet, no individuals who exist in our own Sphere appear to exist in this one, though The GLaDOS mainframe appears, on a conceptual level at least, to bear some similarities to the MAGI, whilst Commander Katsuragi has noted that said AI's voice is familiar to her (the MAGI indicated a tonal match to the announcer from the Pacific Rim films, and the use of the same voice actress for both works is considered likely). The potential existence of other individuals from the Black Mesa region of the Sphere is an ongoing investigation.

Additionally, a certain entity appears to have gifted Maya with a plush doll of one of Aperture's standing turrets. As cute as it is, I find it worth noting that this likely didn't originate in the same Sphere, and instead in whatever Sphere the depicting works originated from. This may or may not require further investigation.

UPDATE - ██/██/2018: This Sphere was originally designated "Aperture", but the recent expansion in the amount of available material has required a more encompassing designation, hence "Lambda Prime".

Additionally, the Half-Life 2 material set has, in conjunction with it's local predecessor, confirmed the existence of, at minimum, two additional Spheres, henceforth designated as "Lambda Xen" (S-812.5) and "Lambda Combine" (S-813).

The former appears to be a membrane reality between more significant Spheres, a nexus point that serves as a crossroads between realities and may not even constitute a fully complete universe in and of itself. It is for this reason that Xen has been denoted with a .5, relative to "Lambda Prime", and will likely require further, if cautious, theoretical investigation going forward.

The latter, "Lambda Combine", is the likely home universe of the Combine/CMB/Universal Union. At this time, no investigation is to be attempted in this regard. If the post-incident testimony, Lilith's second hand awareness, and the visible fear reaction of Pilot Ayanami is to be believed, the last thing we want is the Combine turning up at our doorstep.

The prior noted persons investigation into potential doppelgangers has so far turned up matches in Dr. Isaac Kleiner and Dr. Eli Vance - NERV staff, both lost in the Nevada Incident - as well as Alyx Vance - currently MIA - and Dr. Wallace Breen - GEHIRN staff, lost in the Quebec Incident - among others.

Additionally, the plush turret Maya was gifted has now been joined by a plush headcrab. The note of apology for the lack of her preferred plush has implications about both the intelligence behind material delivery and its abilities not including the fabrication of new matter that should be investigated.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: No, though the Aperture and Black Mesa facilities bear some striking similarities to the Geofront in terms of depth and/or operations.
Worth Visiting?: Unlikely. As of present, we know barely anything about this Sphere beyond the confines of the Aperture Science facility, which on its own I have no desire to be subject to. So, until we have more detailed intel (which Kensuke has hinted that Half-Life may assist us with), this reality is best steered clear of. FUCK NO. On all accounts. I will go into further detail in other documentation, but I don't need to explain just why visiting any reality where we might catch the attention of a multiverse spanning fascist alien regime is a terrible idea for the survival of our species.
All information regarding this reality comes from the associated piece of media, Kill la Kill [see 'RM-1111-1'].

As of now, we are limited to that, though elements such as the power of Life Fibers and the ultimate intent of REVOCS bear striking similarities to some realities close to our own - as well as to "Spiral" - and may be a point for academic research, if nothing else.

Given the noted likeness to "Spiral" and the implied presence of something adjacent to 'spiral power', however, such research should be carried out carefully.

A persons investigation into potential doppelgangers has turned up matches in Ryuko Matoi and Mako Mankanshoku - both JASSDF personnel - the latter also being a former classmate and partner of Lieutenant Ibuki.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: No.
Worth Visiting?: Pending. Like "Spiral", this Sphere is to subject to energetic events, though they exist closer to a baseline of output we can measure. Thus, while erring on the side of caution is warranted, an expedition would ultimately depend on whether the timelines of our worlds aligned during or after the events of the associated media.
All reliable information regarding this reality comes from projection reports from Pilots Nagisa and Ayanami, these being brief glimpses at best. Research has, however, resulted in a description match to the Japanese/Nintendo video game series The Legend of Zelda [see 'Ref-1226-A'].

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: No.
Worth Visiting?: Not enough information available for a consensus at this time.
The majority of information regarding this reality comes from the associated piece of media, Puella Magi Madoka Magica [see 'RM-1313-1 through 3'], as well as Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Rebellion ['RM-1313-4'].

The bulk of the central cast of this work are doppelgangers of individuals that exist in our own reality, all of whom know one another to some degree, and two of whom, Sayaka Miki and Kyoko Sakura, are acquaintaces of the Pilots through Apprentice Aida. In fact, this trio were responsible for recovering the initial associated media. All of this has ramifications, both on the idea of alternate selves, as further seen in other Spheres, as well as the active intent of the being responsible for depositing these works into our local reality.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: No.
Worth Visiting?: No. Whilst there would be many arguments against this decision, giving this world's Incubators potential access to the wider multiverse, if they do not have it already, is not something I am willing to entertain. This matter is closed unless otherwise stated by Commander Katsuragi.

UPDATE - ██/██/2018: Even more so now that they both aren't the biggest fish in the pond there - as unlikely as it is that the local incarnation of Homura Akemi will have much opposition to world where she and Madoka Kaname are already living a peaceful life together - and have an existing alternate presence in our own Sphere with strong hostile ties to the First Ancestral Race.
All information regarding this set of realities comes from the associated piece of media, Megas XLR [see 'RM-513-1 through 6'].

Three distinct realities can be documented here, one appearing to be the central reality of this cluster and the main focus of the associated media (S-1324 "XLR Prime"), one seeming to be a dark, near-future version of the central reality (S-1325 "XLR Dark"), and one final reality being distinct in content from the prior two by its native inhabitants (S-1326 "XLR Gnome"). This group of realities exhibits physical laws, general approaches to danger and palpable amounts of individually focused sheer luck, particularly that of the individuals Coop Cooplowski, Jamie, Kiva, and the future mech MEGAS, that would not pan out as well as they seem to there in our own reality. Quite honestly, it's enough to give someone a headache when carrying out repeat viewings for the sake of research.

As it happens, however, the takes on Dirac Seas, multiversal transit and other such phenomenon - though brushed over with the level of detail one would expect from an American cartoon channeling the same energy as Gurren Lagann - are worth bearing the inanity of that world to look into.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: No.
Worth Visiting?: Unlikely ("XLR Prime"), No ("XLR Dark/Gnome"). Due to their natures and general unpredictability combined with lack of intel, two of these realities are complete no-gos, whilst the central reality is probably best steered clear of initially for reasons similar to worlds touting 'spiral power'. We have no way of knowing how the sort of approach Coop and the rest of his universe has to situations would translate in our local Sphere.

What could be considered, through logical reasoning rather than any desire on our part to designate it as such, the central branch of our local cluster of Spheres. The majority of information regarding this reality, insofar as it branches from our own, comes from the associated pieces of media, Neon Genesis Evangelion [see 'RM-1475-1 through 5'] and The End of Evangelion ['RM-1475-6'].

The entire central cast of this work are doppelgangers of our own universe's staff and pilots, though outcome details and circumstances differ. The known divergent point, as benign as it may sound, is the instance of Pilots Soryu and Ikari sharing a kiss. In our Sphere, this led to a relationship. In S-1475, it did not, instead leading to a misunderstanding and, eventually, Third Impact. The degree to which the Butterfly Effect came into play here is - quite honestly - terrifying.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: Formerly.
Worth Visiting?: Unlikely/No. Borderline. This universe can be, by and large, considered to be a dead Earth unless the collective inhabitants of Instrumentality were to reemerge as individuals. Otherwise, visitation here might be worth it for the potential recovery of the alternates of Pilots Soryu and Ikari, for the purposes of morality, but nothing else beyond that.
The majority of information regarding this reality came from the associated piece of media, Mobile Fighter Evangelion [media 'RM-1494-1', which has been lost. See recap file 'RM-1494-R' and reconstruction file 'RM-1494-1a'] for more detail.

The entire central cast of this work are doppelgangers of our own universe's staff and pilots, with some additions from this reality and seemingly others, though personality traits, ancient and recent history, event outcomes and even some fundamental laws of nature differ significantly enough that the branching point, if it even exists, is impossible to pin down.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: Formerly, reorganized as WILLE.
Worth Visiting?: Yes. Despite the occurance of Third Impact, the recovery of the world and the subsequent peacetime makes this an ideal candidate for a first contact. Concerns regarding energy highs exist here also, though they are not as insurmountable. Also, if possible, I would like a word with a certain flightless avian about the whereabouts of a certain book.
All information regarding this reality comes from the associated piece of media, After End of Evangelion [see 'RM-1496-1'].

The central cast of this work are doppelgangers of our own universe's Pilots Soryu and Ikari, personality traits, recent history and event outcomes falling in line with a post-Third Impact world branching directly off "Laserdisc", similar to other documented realities.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: Formerly.
Worth Visiting?: Borderline Unlikely. Much like its "Laserdisc" counterpart, this universe can be, by and large, considered as a dead Earth unless the collective inhabitants of Instrumentality were to reemerge as individuals. Otherwise, visitation here might be worth it for potential contact with the alternates of Pilots Soryu and Ikari, though unlike their "Laserdisc" selves the life they've made for themselves may negate needing any manner of recovery beyond said contact, unless they request as such for their family. Beyond that, it may be better to leave them be to let events run their course.
Our own reality. The majority of information regarding this reality comes from us, as should be obvious.

Whether or not an associated piece of media exists for our world is not clear, and discussions to the possibility of such have been headache causing and existential crisis inducing.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: Yes.
Worth Visiting?: Yes. I would say so, for all the flaws this world has.
The majority of information regarding this reality comes from the associated pieces of media, the Rebuild of Evangelion quadrilogy [see 'RM-1508-1 through 4'].

The entire central cast of this work are doppelgangers of our own universe's staff and pilots, with some additions, though as with "MFE", personality traits, ancient and recent history, event outcomes and even some fundamental laws of nature differ enough that the branching point, if it even exists, is impossible to pin down. Unlike "MFE", this universe is closer in overall detail to our own, though also differs even more heavily in some aspects.

UPDATE - ██/██/2018: Apparently not enough, though. I'm taking specific note of the other unique Angels from this reality in case some versions of them also decide to grace the coast of Swan with their presence, courtesy of VIRM.

UPDATE - ██/██/2018: With the arrival of the fourth entry in the associated media series, the state of this Sphere appears to have reached a semi-stable resolution. For better or worse, the file on this world is effectively closed.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: Yes. Formerly, retroactively erased.
Worth Visiting?: HELL NO. I have no desire to visit this universe, nor has anyone else. Not until WILLE cleans up their act. No. WILLE is no longer a factor, but post-Impact, the new form of this Sphere appears to have found a state of relative stability where no metaphysical anomalies appear to visibly exist. Perhaps this is a world best left to enjoy its peace, unburdened by greater multiversal strife.
The majority of information regarding this pair of realities comes from the associated piece of media, Re-Take [see 'RM-1513-1'].

Two realities can be documented here, one functionally identical to the post-Third Impact "Laserdisc" Sphere (S-1513 "Re-Take 1"), whilst one appears to branch heavily from pre-Third Impact (S-1514 "Re-Take 2"), seemingly via a manner of telepathic time travel. These two periods are designated as seperate universes, as both appear to continue existing beyond the past being altered.

Human Life?: Yes (Both).
Does NERV Exist?: Formerly (S-1513), Yes (S-1514).
Worth Visiting?: Pending & Yes. Whilst the post-Impact world falls under the same grey area as its "Laserdisc" cousin, the pre-Impact world created by the actions of the post-Impact incarnations of Pilots Ikari and Soryu may be worth considering, even with our own Pilot Soryu's noted distaste for Re-Take in general.
All information regarding this reality comes from the associated piece of media, Evangelion: The Hangover [see 'RM-1525-1'].

The entire central cast of this work are doppelgangers of our own universe's staff and pilots, potentially being the closest reality to ours' we've yet discoved. The divergent point is the same instance of Pilots Soryu and Ikari sharing a kiss echoed in our reality. In our Sphere, this led to a relationship. In S-1525, it did not, instead leading to a more on-and-off relationship that still led to the aversion of Third Impact.

The Pilot roster, who served as the primary readership of this work, have been less than forthcoming about its further contents whenever prompted, becoming flustered and attempting to change the subject. I have yet to find time to read the work for myself, but already have some suspicions.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: Yes.
Worth Visiting?: Yes. Despite the stubborn refusal to enter a formal debriefing that I suspect will subside once the knee-jerk reactions die down, I have been given every assurance this reality would be a safe visitation candidate, if somewhat chaotic.
The majority of information regarding this reality comes from the associated pieces of media, The Second Try [see 'RM-1534-1'] and Aki-chan's Life ['RM-1534-2'], with gaps filled in by projections from Pilots Ayanami and Nagisa.

Whilst this can be considered similar to "Re-Take" in some respects, this is a single Sphere, as all time travel, enacted by the local Pilot Nagisa and afflicted upon the local Pilots Soryu and Ikari, as well their daughter - one Aki Ikari - would appear to be limited to within the same universe in some manner, new events overwriting prior ones.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: Yes.
Worth Visiting?: Yes. Another 'safe world', for lack of a better term, we can be assured that the local versions of ourselves will likely be friendly, though the jury is out on how they might react to the presence of Pilot Nagisa in our midst.

The majority of information regarding this reality comes from the associated pieces of media, the Pacific Rim film series [see 'RM-1534-1 through 2'].

The sole live-action work encountered thus far. Along with "Franxx", the information gleaned from the mech piloting systems in this universe provides the basis of our development of the NACSS.

Human Life?: Yes.
Does NERV Exist?: No, though an analogous force exists in the PPDC.
Worth Visiting?: Pending. Given how different this reality is, whilst humanity would likely be friendly, intervening may or may not be a good idea with how Kaiju appear to enter local reality. Further Rift Material for research would be ideal, but has not been forthcoming.
All reliable information regarding this reality comes from projection reports from Pilots Nagisa and Ayanami, these being brief glimpses at best. Research has yet to find an exact description match, though the concept of sapient equines seems to tie this Sphere to the US/Hasbro toy line My Little Pony [see 'Ref-6913-A'].

Human Life?: Unknown.
Does NERV Exist?: Unknown, but presumed No.
Worth Visiting?: Not enough information available for a consensus at this time.


And that's all. Almost.

Technically, I have other numbers - a lot of other numbers - but they're largely universes that no-one would know exist in the first place (Advice and Trust and its other omake spin-offs, among others). If you're interested in all of those numbers collected together, see the list below.

All in all, I hope you like how Chronicles is going.

Enjoy! :D

  • S-133: "MC Nether" - The original Minecraft Nether world. Nether first as dimension ID's -1. Currently unknown to "Baseline" proper, but that could change in future.
  • S-134: "MC Overworld" - The original Minecraft Overworld world. Overworld second as dimension ID's 0. Currently unknown to "Baseline" proper, but that could change in future.
  • S-135: "MC End" - The original Minecraft End world. End third as dimension ID's 1. Currently unknown to "Baseline" proper, but that could change in future.
  • S-213: "Bee" - The original The Bee Movie world. Abbreviated to 'Bee Movie'. Currently unknown to "Baseline" proper, but encountered by "Onion".
  • S-235: "Buy N' Large" - The original Wall-E world.
  • S-423: "Who" - The original Doctor Who world. Kaworu encountered the TARDIS whilst projecting.
  • S-496: "Franxx" - The original Darling in the Franxx world. Abbreviated to 'Darling in Franxx'.
  • S-512: "Diclonii M" - The original Elfen Lied world, from the manga. Currently unknown to "Baseline", so wasn't in Ritsuko's log files. Listed because I was curious.
  • S-513: "Diclonii A"/"Diclonii" - The version of the Elfen Lied world from the anime, that "Baseline" actually know about.
  • S-612: "Mabase" - The original FLCL world. Abbreviated to 'FL'. Letters counted individually.
  • S-712: "Spiral" - The original Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann world. Abbreviated to 'Gurren Lagann'.
  • S-812: "Lambda Prime" - The original Half-Life and Portal world. PeTI irrelevant unless played. Originally called "Aperture".
  • S-812.5: "Lambda Xen" - The Xen world from Half-Life. .5 because it's explicitly an overlapping dimension between universes.
  • S-813: "Lambda Combine" - The Combine overworld from Half-Life 2.
  • S-1111: "Honnoji" - The original Kill la Kill world. Abbreviated to 'Kill Kill'.
  • S-1226: "Zelda" - The original The Legend of Zelda world (no timelines defined). Kaworu encountered Link whilst projecting. Used 'Legend Zelda'.
  • S-1313: "Madoka" - The original Puella Magi Madoka Magica world. Abbreviated to 'Madoka Magica'.
  • S-1324: "XLR Prime" - The original Megas XLR world.
  • S-1325: "XLR Dark" - The evil world from Megas XLR.
  • S-1326: "XLR Gnome" - The faux-cutesy world from Megas XLR that the evil versions of the cast get trapped in.
  • S-1415: "Ninjas" - The original Naruto world. Number elongated by using 'N' and 'o'. Currently unknown to "Baseline" proper, but encountered by "Onion".

  • S-1475: "Laserdisc" - The original Neon Genesis Evangelion world.
  • S-1494: "MFE" - Mobile Fighter Evangelion's world. Abbreviated to 'Mobile Fighter'. Spins off from "Laserdisc".
  • S-1496: "Epilogue" - After End of Evangelion's world. Abbreviated to 'After End of'. Spins off from "Laserdisc".
  • S-1497: "A&T" - The main Advice and Trust fanfic's world. Spins off from "Laserdisc". Currently unknown to "Baseline", so wasn't listed in Ritsuko's log files.
  • S-1499: "Backstage" - The Backstage version of the "A&T" world. Spins off from "A&T". Currently unknown to "Baseline", so wasn't listed in Ritsuko's log files.
  • S-1500: "Baseline" - The Chronicles version of the "A&T" world. Spins off from "A&T".
  • S-1501: "Onion" - The Onion Chronicles and Bhe Bee Bhronicles' version of the Chronicles world. Spins off from "Baseline". Currently unknown to "Baseline" proper.
  • S-1506: "Inheritance" - The Inheritance version of the "A&T" world. Spins off from "A&T". Currently unknown to "Baseline", so wasn't listed in Ritsuko's log files.
  • S-1508: "Theatrical" - The Rebuild of Evangelion world. Abbreviated to 'Rebuild of'. Spins off from "Laserdisc".
  • S-1513: "Re-Take 1" - The post-Impact universe from Re-Take. Spins off from "Laserdisc".
  • S-1514: "Re-Take 2" - The pre-Impact universe from Re-Take. Spins off from "Laserdisc".
  • S-1525: "Hangover" - The Hangover's version of the "A&T" world. Spins off from "A&T".
  • S-1534: "Aki" - The Second Try and Aki-Chan's Life's world. Spins off from "Laserdisc". Future & past considered same reality, given how things seem to be depicted.
  • S-1543: "Butterfly" - The University Years/Consultant version of the "A&T" world. Spins off from "A&T". Currently unknown to "Baseline", so wasn't listed in Ritsuko's log files.

  • S-1618: "Jaeger" - The original Pacific Rim world.
  • S-1911: "Ogre" - The original Shrek world. Number elongated using 'S' and 'k'. Currently unknown to "Baseline" proper, but encountered by "Onion".
  • S-1922: "SV" - Our universe, listed slightly as a joke. Asuka wanted to attack ARMS over Elfen Lied & Kaworu said she'd need find the right universe. In reality unknown to "Baseline".
  • S-6913: "Ponies" - G4 My Little Pony's world. Rei and Kaworu encountered Celestia & Luna while projecting. Used "FiM".
 
Wixelt said:
So now that I once again have an idea of what Ritsuko's takes on recent works in Chronicles might be, it's time for another index update, now featuring worlds from Rei and Kaworu's projections! With that in mind, let's hop right into this fustercluck of a multiverse list!
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
There is no way I have a time for this now, but I have to bookmark, so I will check this in the future.
 
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Comedy Omake #202 - Manga Chronicles 3
  • Apocrypha
    • It's been a while coming, but we have new Chronicles today!

    A few things are found out, Eliza continues to struggle with the Magi, and we continue running through the Evangelion manga!

    "I am not driving with Anne again!"

    "Oh what's so bad about her, Derek?" Shoved Trixie. "She's a gal out for my own heart! If she wasn't already taken twice over…"

    "I doubt you could win them over."

    "The charismatic and loveable Trixie could win over anyone with their wit and charm!"

    "And you say I'm the problem one, Yomiko."

    "Shut up Derek."

    "And what's bad about her is she doesn't see any issue with driving that freakin' minivan like she in a jet fighter!" He'd exclaim.

    "Well what else are you meant to do with a minivan?"

    "Not that!"

    "Bah, that's beside the point anyway." Trixie would change the subject. "Now, what was I saying… oh yeah, that joke I was saying to Luz… now, I once walked into a brothel with a jackass and a honeycomb…"

    Derek and Yomiko were barely listening as they were walking back home. "Did we have NERV or school tomorrow?"

    "I think they said we had tomorrow off."

    "Oh, they're treating us after a sortie!" Jabbed Derek. "What the hell are we gonna do?"

    "Is your friend group going to be at school?"

    "Doy, why do you think I'm asking you that?"

    "Do you really want to spend the day with Trixie?"

    A glance to her. "And then the second wish was that she had the nicest ass in all the land, so he gave her this damn donkey!"

    "Not really."

    "Thought so." Huffed Yomiko. "I am not so bad in comparison, hmm?"

    "Hmpf, barely…"

    Trixie would slam the door to their home open. "And then I said to Luz: 'Are you kidding me?! I used to be six foot three!'" And she was absolutely losing it! "She got it, Gus di-"

    "Y'know you shouldn't be rough with the door like that, Trix."

    All three turned in shock to their guardian, who wasn't supposed to be there at the moment. "Wait Wendy? I thought you were on assignment!"

    "Mhm, still am, and I still ain't telling you guys much about it! But…

    She'd soften. "Well, we might've found something that's relevant to one of you."

    Judging by where she looked, it was for Trixie in particular. "Thought it'd be best if I told you myself."

    Derek and Yomiko shared a look, one of sympathy for the poor girl. "This does not appear to involve us, Derek."

    "Mhm…"

    They'd make their way upstairs, into their room. The boy flopping down on his bed. "Gah… I am not a speedster, Yomiko."

    "I wouldn't have thought them to be interested in such thing." Sat on her own bed. "But people can be interesting in how they can surprise you."

    "Feh… tell me about it."

    A beat.

    "So… what did you want to do tomorrow then?"

    "We are not going to McDonalds."

    "I'm not that cheap, Yomiko." With an eye roll. "We could just explore the city I guess. You've seen the USS Constitution?" Perking himself up.

    She'd shake her head.

    "Oldest active military ship in the world, a beautiful old frigate." He'd snicker. "Launched in 1797, almost as old as this whole country. Might be good photography for you at least."

    "Mhm… maybe."

    The boy would sigh. "One of the few constants in this town… I quite like it."

    "What for?"

    Another beat.

    "…Let's just say it holds special meaning to me." Turning himself over. "And we'll leave it at that."

    That was a response she didn't expect… it was something sensitive. "Okay, Derek."
    ~

    "What do you mean they fudged the diagnosis?!" Mabel almost hissed over the phone. "You're telling me-"

    "You don't have to repeat what I just said Mabel, yes they forged the diagnosis."

    "But that means they were trying to- Oh." A blink. "Ohhh… Oh that's messed up!"

    "Hence why we need to tell her." Ritsuko would affirm. "I've sent you the files for your viewing, but it's pretty clear what they were intending to do when they made that claim."

    Mabel would click through them… "Sheesh… yeah, sounded like they were almost trying to force her into a core position." Her disgust was evident. "Feh… never really knew her other than what Mari said, but it sounded like she'd do anything for her."

    "Most mothers would, at the end of the day. Seele would've gotten her hook line and sinker with that."

    "Okay… you're heading out tomorrow morning, right?"

    "Unless something else comes up, yes."

    "Okay, I'll tell her when I can. But she's not gonna take it well!"

    "I didn't expect that." With a sigh. "Have a good night, Commander."

    The line would drop.

    "Bet my father approved that." Pacifica would spit, hovering over Mabel. "Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest."

    Mabel brought up a written approval. "Yep that's his signature alright." Much to her irritation. "God why are my parents so awful?!"

    "Hey…" Holding her hand to calm her. "At least we're sorting something out with them."

    A beat, and a sigh, letting her hand wrap around Mabel's. "Yeah… I shouldn't worry." She blinked. "I mean I will…"

    "Mhm, I know." As Mabel rubbed her thumb on Pacifica's hand… a bit of a comfort, she'd hope.

    Another quiet moment.

    Mabel's eyes glanced to the clock. "Eh… I don't have that much paperwork left. You wanna call it a night, Paz?"

    She looked at the two foot high pile of papers on her desk. "You don't have to make an excuse, Mabel."

    "No I'm serious, that's not that much paperwork by my standards." She'd snicker. "Like, that's probably around an hour's work at most. That stack was six yards high this morning!"

    Pacifica was rather flummoxed by this. "How is your writing hand still attached?"

    "By sinew and prayer at this point." With a pained grin. "We did used to have a secretary doing this sort of stuff, but they were outed as Seele during the whole Incursion thing and we haven't had anyone pass the security clearance for that job since… honestly a lot of people we try to get on don't pass security."

    "You'd think more people would."

    "We are pretty strict with it, like you can't even google anything untoward in the past ten years or you'd get pinged for it."

    "Makes me wonder how you guys got on."

    "Well for one it was nepotism, and two do you really think we had a computer when we lived in Bend?"

    Much to her snicker. "Honestly my folks didn't keep computers in our mansion either, they told me they didn't trust them. Always thought it was weird, but I suppose it makes sense in retrospect."

    "I mean they were right, I know for a fact Grunkle Stan had Dipper's cellphone bugged."

    "WHAT?!"

    "Don't worry! He didn't say anything to anyone!" Hands up in defence. "And I only found that one out when I got the big job, you better believe I went off at him when I found that out!"

    "So… you knew of our arrangement, right?"

    "Dip told me about it after the Incursion was done and over, yeah."

    "Well… I suppose he would've had to tell you about it sometime…" With a glance downward. "I still don't think my folks know I'm, well, not straight."

    "I think they have other concerns with you other than your straightness, Paz." Flat in tone. "But… yeah. I understand why he kept that under wraps. He wanted to protect you."

    To her nod. "I… didn't have anything to offer him in return and yet he still did it."

    "Well you don't need to offer something in return." Mabel giggled. "That's your posh attitude there eh? Some folks just want what's best for you, and Dipper's one of those people. And take it from me, I'd know."

    That got her thinking. "…I guess that's the same for you, then."

    She'd snicker, leaning her head on her arm. "I thought that would've been obvious by now gal."

    Prodding her cheek. "Poke."

    "H-Hey!"

    "C'mon, no sulking!" Giving her a toothy grin. "I don't pay you to sulk! That's my job!"

    "…Y'know, I don't even think I'm being paid."

    "Technically it's a form of indenturing, so no you wouldn't be paid. Another good thing you have me!"

    "I mean I'd rather I'd have some sort of money to myself."

    "I don't even think you're allowed to spend cash."

    "Well what the heck can I do then?"

    "Do you wanna watch a movie and chill out or something?"

    "Oh." She blinked. "Yeah I'd like that actually!"

    "Good, cause I'm sick of looking at these papers."

    They'd finally leave the office. "Soos can you do my paperwork for me?"

    "I mean I could but I can't promise it'd be legible!"

    "Can he actually do that?"

    "Nah, unfortunately." Forlorn.

    "Mabes only pays me enough to change the lightbulbs anyway."

    Pacifica looked up to the ceiling, all the lights were on. "What are you here for then?"

    "Oh the HVAC in her office has been broken for months now, I finally found some time to look into it!"

    "Bit more than changing a lightbulb huh?"

    "Look I've been trying to get him a raise for ages but the UN are really stubborn when it comes to giving non-Hakone branches more money."

    "Can't you just put him on Hakone's books?" Thought Pacifica. "My dad used to cook the books a lot, even outside of a Seele context."

    "I really don't want to be audited by the IRS for a seventh time, Paz…" In a sidewards glance. "Anyway, good luck Soos! I'm watching a movie with Paz!"

    "I'd implore you to wear protection but I don't think that's necessary for you two."

    "IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!"
    ~~

    Hikari would knock on a door, which would open in short order. "Suzuhara resi- Hikari?!"

    She'd immediately grapple him in a hug. "…hey. Sorry, I-"

    "Another hard day at NERV?"

    All she gave was a slight nod.

    "Ah… come here." Pulling her in.

    "She may as well move in with us at this rate." Sakura would snark, sat on the couch watching some sort of drama.

    "Yeah yeah…"

    The bedroom would provide some well needed privacy, the girl almost immediately crashing onto his chest. "So what the heck has been going on at NERV anyway?" All the while playing with her hair. "You're not usually this taken aback at all that stuff."

    "Mmgh…" Her glance was elsewhere. "Ahh… fine I think I can tell you. Pretty sure you're gonna be my pilot in the future anyway."

    "Oh it's one of those things isn't it…"

    "It's not even the material, though. It's… more the stories they have associated with it. They've… they've all had terrible lives and it makes me feel awful."

    "I mean it would."

    "Not just because of that, but I feel like I'm-"

    "Missing out on that?" Barking a laugh. "Hikari, I doubt they'd wish you to have the same trauma they do. I bet they're celebrating the fact you had a better run than they did."

    "…I mean… they were."

    "So what's the issue?" With defusing smile. "It's no contest, y'know? I've heard some of the stories from Shinji, he had a fucked up life and so has everyone else! Pretty sure Rei said she's died twice; I don't know how that works but I trust her when she says that. Compared to your innings, I'd say that yours was pretty good, eh?"

    A moment of quiet. "I just…"

    And a sigh. "I don't know what to think, Toji."

    "Well I'm guessing you came here because you didn't wanna think, eh?" In a snicker. "Get some of my mindlessness to infect ya a bit."

    "Oh you're not mindless, Toji… I've always said you were bright, you just apply it in a different way."

    "Yeah, well according to the school I'm not that bright, and that's all most folks care for so-" He'd shrug. "It's alright though. Maybe if NERV do net me they could give me something to do that'll let me use my brain and all that. They don't have a sports team do they?"

    "Not exactly, no."

    "Dang." In a huff. "Still, bet you don't wanna think right now, eh?"

    "Kinda… yeah."

    "Thought so." Pulling her closer. "C'mere then…"
    ~

    Rei would find herself in a country landscape… the red sun was high in the sky at this point. At this point Rei knew enough of their calendar to realise they were midway through their day cycle.

    "The plants appear the same?" She'd query, as they 'travelled' in the back of what Rei would have called a pickup truck. Only this pickup truck was perhaps four times the size of a half ton truck and ran on steam.

    "Some things naturally appear no matter the situation." Lilith would begin her explanation. "Grass is green in our world, despite the celestial differences, because it is more efficient to absorb light in that manner."

    "The green only reflects because it is not absorbed, and that's what results in the colour."

    "I'm glad I didn't have to teach you that."

    "Our school isn't that great but it's not that bad."

    The pickup pulled to a stop, outside of a farmhouse.

    Out would come [Jebediah], taking in the sights… well, sight. Unless you wanted to count the individual stalks of… well, it kinda looked like wheat, if wheat was red, and twelve feet tall.

    "Okay some things are different of course…"

    "I'm honestly impressed."

    "Oi!"

    [Jebediah] and company would turn over.

    And would see a rather fit looking girl, standing on top of a silo. "This the new blood?"

    "Sure is!" The pickup driver replied with enthusiasm.

    "Hmpf…" Scanning him. "Can you work, boy?"

    "I can definitely give it a go!"

    "Hah! I like your moxie!"

    Jumping off, and approaching. "The name's [Dash]. All the [Wheat]'s ready for harvest, get yourself one of those [scythes] and make a start on getting them cut down!"

    She'd kick up one of the… well, scythe was the closest thing Rei thought of, even if it was taller than any of them… [Dash] kicked it up, caught it, and ran into the field. "You got until sundown! Whoever gets the least is paying for [Beer] tonight!"

    A beat, and a blink, and a determined look. "Oh no you don't!" As he picked up one, and chased after her.

    Lilith could only snicker. "This was his second partner. After he graduated his studies, he and [Twilight] mutually parted ways. [Twilight] didn't want to keep him tied to her, and he wanted to experience life outside of the city."

    Rei looked around. "What is there to experience?"

    Much to Lilith's amusement. "Fresh air? Healthy living? Sure there aren't any services for hundreds of miles but that just encourages you to make do!"

    "Oh we got a tryhard here!" [Dash] would snark, as she was trying even harder than he was. "C'mon, keep up dummy!"

    "And it served as a perfect environment for their relationship."

    "I was gonna ask about that… but they are the only people for hundreds of miles."

    Lilith could only roll her eyes. "You have the pickup driver…"

    They were nowhere to be seen.

    "Occasionally."

    Despite the magnitude of work that was ahead of them, they were making quick work of the field. "This is typical of farming at the time. Mechanisation was still in its infancy; I think this farm in particular had a few steam powered mechanisms to aide with processing, but it was a very manual process. Farming had been this way for billions of years."

    Another look around. "Is there even electricity?"

    Lilith shook her head.

    "And… how many people were on this farm?"

    "Two."

    "…Two."

    "[Dash] and [Jebediah]. The driver of the pickup, [Job], he had a few more farms that he orbits around."

    "Even compared to our farms of old, that seems… low."

    To Lilith's shrug. "There's a lot of time in the day."

    At this point, half the field had been felled, and there was a lull in activity. "Come…"

    Into the field, [Dash] and [Jebediah] were sat on opposite bundles of this 'wheat', eating out of a metal lunch box. "So what brings you out here buddy? Not many folks flow the other way."

    "Wonder why's that…" In a snicker. "Nah, I wanted to try something different."

    "There's different, and then there's throwing yourself into the sticks!" She'd sharply laugh. "We don't even have [Spark] out here, the nearest town is a hundred [miles] away, and we only get a visit from [Job] every other [Day]!" As she chomped down on a 'cake' of sorts.

    "Well I'm sure you wouldn't be complaining, I'm guessing you don't wanna be alone out here?"

    "Eh it's not so bad, you get used to it out here."

    "She's putting on a brave face here."

    "I thought so." Quipped Rei. "With how necessary it sounds."

    "But if you think you're just gonna get in my pants out of necessity, you got another thing coming!" With brash grin. "You're gonna have to work for it buddy!"

    Picking herself up and picking up the bundle of 'wheat' that she was sat on. "C'mon! We can't have these sitting on the ground too long! Get them to the mill!"

    The sun drifted across the sky as time flashed forward once more on Lilith's behest, eventually settling above the horizon.

    Steam and wood smoke emanated from the top of the mill, as they sat around a campfire. "And it's important we get it going before [sundown] because this is what also provides heat for us. Usually how we go about it is we stay out and tend to it until it becomes too cold, and then just let it run until the fire goes out."

    "See i've heard some stories about [Steam] and how explosive it can be."

    "Bah, it's only blown up twice!" [Dash] shrugged off. "And you'll know if it blows up!"

    "Cause it'll blow up the house as well?"

    "That's only happened once!"

    Rei turned and gave a look to Lilith. "Was this typical of the country back then?"

    "Indeed." She was just as unamused at the irreverence towards heavy machinery. "Doesn't help this is my ancestor we're talking about."

    "At least we know he makes it out of this one unscathed."

    "That's a positive at least."

    The time would tick forward once more, days and nights flashing by in an instant. "But they'd eventually warm up to each other. Not like they had much of a choice, of course."

    "Oh yeah like you can do better you [Egghead]!"

    "Are you sure, [Mother]?"

    "I'll have you know I got excellent feedback from my previous partners!"

    "This may as well be flirting by her standards." Lilith would snicker in an aside to Rei.

    "The tension between them must have been palpable as the days went by."

    "Well lemme see your [CV] then!" [Dash] fired back. "Do you have a character reference I might be able to refer to?!"

    "I would but the nearest [Telephone] is fifty [miles] away!"

    "Ya should've prepared it earlier then! I would've taken a notarised statement!"

    "Oh for goodness sake…" Rei couldn't help but draw comparisons between how Shinji and Asuka were. "Just get with each other already!"

    "How about I show you empirically then?!"

    "Yeah like I'm just gonna open my legs for someone like you!"

    "Well I don't see any other options around here! Unless you modify that [steam] machine into something more suitable for you!"

    That got Rei to giggle. "Asuka would be absolutely livid if you suggested that."

    "I bet it'd do better than you!" [Dash] immediately snarked back. "[Steam] works as long as you give it heat, bet you wouldn't even last five [minutes]!"

    "Wanna bet?"

    [Dash] stopped, and furrowed her brow in an absolutely determined look. "Oh it is on, [Jeb]!"

    Charging him, knocking him down, and grabbing him by the collar, dragging him to the home.

    "One thing you don't do is challenge her." Lilith snickered. "Should we follow along?"

    "I thought you didn't like us to see their… private times, so to speak."

    "Hmm… you'd be surprised as to what happens here."

    Following them up to the bedroom, [Dash] threw him to the floor and stood at the base of the bed. "Feh, eager are we?" Standing up, and approaching. "Well-"

    She'd turn around, and wrap him in a hug.

    "…Oh?" Was all Rei thought.

    "…[Dash]?"

    "Okay… okay…" Breathing hard, barely keeping her composed. "I… like you, [Jeb]."

    "…Really?" His skepticism was quite evident. "So why the-"

    "Let me finish." She'd quell. "I don't like opening up to people. Even all this… I'm pretty much forcing myself to because… I'm tired of being alone."

    A long beat… and a sigh from [Jebediah], before he pulled [Dash] in, returning her hug. "Well you could've said that earlier, dummy."

    "Heh…" With a sniffle. "N… no I couldn't."

    She'd lose her footing, her entire weight settling into [Jebediah]. A few sobs would escape her, the boy responding by holding her even closer.

    "She's… I'd be interested to see how her life lead up to this moment. For your standards, she seems rather closed off."

    "Indeed… and her life before was one of challenge."

    Forward a few moments, they were now in the bed together, [Dash] settled on his chest.

    "…Suppose I should explain myself huh."

    "You don't need to, [Dash]."

    "No… I need to." In a sigh. "For my own mind."

    He couldn't argue that, giving her the attention she needed.

    "So… I'm one of seven children. I don't know how my folks were able to have that many, the [Guardian] must've smiled on them. But I found out the hard way through my life that… y'know, maybe we weren't supposed to have families that big."

    Her head craned up to look at [Jeb]. "You have any [siblings]?"

    "I have an older sister."

    "Heh, that's good. See, that's a good size I think… you get equal amounts of attention, and you get the attention from your sister as well."

    A gruff sigh. "I was the fourth kid. Very much stuck in the middle. And I never quite got the amount of love and affection that I think I needed…"

    "Suppose that explains the attitude."

    "Well I had to put myself out there, didn't I?" In a single snicker. "Make myself bold and brash, draw more attention to myself y'know? It definitely worked… but means I'm hiding my true self. Even when I'm with someone it feels like I can't really be myself, and I'm tired of that."

    Another pause for thought.

    "…don't hate me."

    He blinked. "Why would I hate you, [Dash]?"

    "It was all a lie! I'm not that person, it's just a character! I'm just a spineless and shy girl who never had a ch-"

    [Jeb] couldn't stand to hear her flagellate herself any more. "Huh-"

    Hands on both of her cheeks, he pulled her in for a kiss.

    Eyes wide… softening… closing with tears flowing from them.

    Their lips parted, the couple resting forehead to forehead. "I like you too, [Dash]. I know that's probably hard for you to consider, but I do. I like your fire and your tenacity, and even this, your bravery in confronting those internal [demons] of yours… I like that. I want to help you. And I hope you accept that."

    "…[Jeb]." Eyes locked. "You…"

    "Dummy?"

    "Heh… yeah."

    Pulling herself in for the kiss this time around… this time a rather persistent one.

    "We should leave them here, Rei."

    All Rei could do was sigh, as reality shifted back to that of the Astral. "Their relationship was an interesting one, if you'd like to explore more of it at a later time."

    "I would like that." With a slight smile. "They… [Das]… they remind me of     Asuka."

    "If you've been that     damaged by your upbringing… it really is difficult to open up like that. Even for us."

    Her melancholy would become apparent to Rei. "When we reach [Esther]'s side of the story… you will realise how bad it can get."

    Ducking down to her level. "But we will get there when we get there. We will leave it there for now."

    Rei's eyes would open to the dimly sun lit room.

    Still… more questions than she had answers for. "When I have a minute… I need to ask her about G-"

    The word caught in her throat. "Easier to think the word than it is to say it…"
    ~

    "Damn it Kensuke can you stop tapping that spoon?!"

    "Sheesh sorry Asuka!" He'd snark back from his own table. "You still have that sensory issue?"

    "No shit I do Kensuke, and it's been annoying the hell out of me since I wired my brain that way!"

    Turning back over to her table and slumping onto it. "Okay this synethesia was kinda cool to start with but it's really starting to annoy me now…"

    "I am sure you feel for the people born with such a condition." Rei would note, in-between her bento. "I believe we have our next tests over the weekend; they've dropped back on them since we have the exams coming up."

    "D'oh that's still ages away…" Muffled into the table. "Feh, fine… I'll put up with it. Some of the things I see are cool, I guess."

    "Wonder what you see when I make you make those kinds of noises!" Shinji suggested.

    She'd give an eye roll, before shoving Shinji from the table. "Now that was a pleasant sight!"

    Rei couldn't help but snicker at the gesture. "And so is that! So there's some sensations that are good! But some like hitting a spoon on a metal table!"

    "Oi I've stopped that!"

    Shinji drew himself back up. "How about the sounds I make? Those little murmurs into your ear?"

    "Eheh, now that's also a lovely sight!"

    Asuka half expected to hear someone complaining about her lewd comments… "Hey where's Hikari at?"

    "I think I saw her and Toji go up to the roof today."

    "Huh…" In thought. "Say, we aren't being too much on her, are we? Girl looks like she's struggling."

    "I mean… it's mostly been the truth so far." Shinji shrugged. "We've protected her from it this long."

    "Really it was only a matter of time before we decided to tell her."

    "Still… we aren't overwhelming her, right?"

    "Perhaps… but she's strong, Asuka. She'll get through it." Giving a glance to the roof. "And perhaps the next volume will be okay, relatively speaking."

    "Wouldn't Ramiel be next?"

    Rei blinked. "She will get through it." As she went back to her bento box.

    …Though she would notice another detail. "Asuka? Is my chewing disturbing you?"

    "W-What? Of course not!"

    "She can tell by your field, Asuka." Flatly remarked Shinji.

    "Indeed, you seem to recoil as I chew." All she could do was sigh. "I will strive to keep my volume down as I eat."

    "It's really not that bad Rei!"

    Rei would flatly stare at her, and take a big mouthful of rice, chewing it very loudly with her mouth open, throwing every rule of etiquette out the window to prove the point.

    "Okay okay I don't like it!" She'd admit. "It makes these really weird splotches in my mind and it's awful!"

    "I thought so." Taking a gulp, before taking a much more reasonable sized serving. "I strive for your comfort, Asuka. You don't have to worry about hurting me if you are uncomfortable with a situation."

    Asuka didn't really have much to say, other than a bristling blush.

    Meanwhile Shinji was snickering. "Imagine what Hikari would have to say about that behaviour, Rei!"
    ~

    A sharp breath in, and out, before she stepped through the door.

    "Heh, was wondering when you'd be getting in!" Playfully acknowledged Misato. "Keeping us waiting like that! Not like you!"

    "Maybe she had to psych herself up for this."

    "Oh I haven't been struggling that much with this!" Sitting herself down, and tossing her hair back. "I'm assuming we're ready then?"

    "Are you?"

    "I am!" She'd defend. "Don't worry about me!"

    "We'll worry about you all we want Hikari!"

    "Alright alright, let's just make a start before we lose our voices…"
    ~~~
    Character Key:
    Shinji (S) Asuka (A)
    Rei (R) Kaworu (K) Mari (Mar) Hikari (Hik)
    Misato (Mi) Maya (May) Eliza (E)
    Hiro (Hir) Zero Two (Z)

    Note: This uses the Viz Comics English adaptation of the manga.
    Double spread pages are indicated with dashes: '4-5'.
    If multiple pages are referenced in a block, it will be indicated with commas: '6, 7, 8'

    Belt (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
    Hikari couldn't help the snickering. "Oh jeez, that's him alright!"
    S: "I should've just done that honestly."
    Mar: "Oh it's nice having friends that o-owe you favors... actually now I think about it I think I have one that still owes me…"
    R: "Even going so far as to skip class to meet back up with you."
    A: "Not like we need an excuse, bet teach didn't even notice it."
    Hik: "Bet I noticed though… I better be giving them a talking to once they get back!"
    E: "You think they'll come back today?"
    Hik: "They better!"
    Z: "Is Kensuke right about that?"
    Hik: "Oh yeah he only says sorry if his life is in danger."
    May: "So anything to do with you."
    Hik: "Essentially yeah, or if Asuka threatens it."
    A: "I don't think I've ever heard an apology from him."
    Mi: "Even when he pulled his pants down?"
    A: "Well even though he didn't, I forced his recompense for that, so I consider it square."
    Hik: "You kicked him in the gentlemen's region."
    Hir: "I like how you don't even question it."
    Hik: "I know Asuka by now."
    A: "And if we're lucky you might even see it!"
    K: "I get the impression she may rather not."
    Hik: "I mean I've already seen a lot of things in this I wouldn't have preferred to have seen, that would be a breath of fresh air at this point!"
    … (7, 8, 9, 10)
    R: "Even before this, I had smiled. But only in the presence of Gendo."
    Mi: "He was essentially your father figure back then, wasn't he?"
    E: "No wonder you never smiled…"
    That got a laugh out of the girl. "Yeah, well, if you had him constantly in your life, you wouldn't be smiling as well."
    S: "It was almost a blessing when he was out of it…" He'd grumble. "I still can't believe he treated you better than me sometimes."
    R: "By the slimmest of margins, maybe. I would not exactly call drugging me to a stupor and not taking no for an answer to be good parenting."
    A: "Still, that was the impression he got at first. Would've been real hurtful to see that."
    K: "Something Gendo was all too good at."
    E: "Though I sense a bit of pushback in that attitude, Rei."
    R: "Oh I definitely pushed back on Shinji at times. I outright slapped him when he insulted his father."
    Z: "Out of all things girl!"
    A: "And not even when he stumbled all over you!"
    R: "In retrospect perhaps I should have attempted to reclaim my honour when he threw my naked body to the ground and started touching me while throwing my underwear everywhere."
    Hik: "SHINJI!"
    S: "You made that sound a lot worse than it did!"
    R: "Do you deny that's how it happened?"
    S: "I mean- it was an accident! Don't give Hikari the wrong idea!"
    Hik: "Never would I ever-"
    Hir: "Think you're too late buddy."
    Rei leaned over to Hikari. "It really wasn't that bad despite how I make it sound like, it was a misunderstanding."
    Hik: "I'd be absolutely mortified if that happened to me."
    R: "My secret is having no understanding as to how much of a faux pas it was."
    Hik: "That's more than a faux pas, that's a social misdemeanour!"
    Mar: "I think it's technically a felony in some places…"
    A: "Thing is nowadays you probably wouldn't even be averse to it."
    R: "I wouldn't."
    Hik: "REI!"
    Mi: "Important thing to know about all of them, Hikari, is they have absolutely no concept of TMI."
    Hik: "Yeah I'm learning that the hard way lately ain't I!"
    May: "You get used to it."
    S: "You really think I'm cute Misato?"
    Mi: "I mean you are."
    A: "And I think so too!" Nuzzling up close to him. "Your cute face and the cute way you get mad at minor annoyances and-"
    S: "Eheh alright I'm cute I'm cute!"

    601 (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
    This one was more than a minor annoyance for Shinji. "Should've never asked about those hands."
    May: "I'm sure they thought it was to help portray him in a better light."
    Mi: "Well now we know we shouldn't have done that, eh?"
    E: "Not like you really knew, I suppose."
    Mi: "I mean I knew he was a bit of a hardass but I didn't know it was to that extent… though he really started getting bad after Bardiel."
    A: "He was bad with Bardiel, he was outright willing to kill Hikari with what he planned."
    Hik: "Well I wouldn't have liked that…"
    S: "If things went the way it did with the Laserdiscs… well, I hope you weren't to attached to one of your legs."
    Hikari blinked. "Well I'd rather keep both of my legs, thank you very much…"
    Z: "I think most of us would prefer that." Before a snicker. "If you were a pilot in the Franxx corps, you'd be considered lucky if all you lost was a leg!"
    A: "They wouldn't have been much use for piloting after that though, right?"
    Z: "Oh yeah they were usually disposed of." She'd flippantly shrug off.
    Mi: "I still find it concerning how offhand you are about that."
    Z: "Eh, it comes with the environment. If you had disposable pilots you'd be the same."
    May: "I like to think we wouldn't!"
    Z: "They literally had like a hundred new pilots coming out a day. They had a three month life span on average."
    K: "That could be more training, though."
    H: "Judging by how some of the regular Franxx pilots were… yeah I can see that."
    A: "It looked like they just taught them one strategy! And if that failed they were screwed!"
    Z: "I mean you're not wrong."
    Shinji grumbled. "…I still can't get over how he did that for you, Rei."
    R: "Believe me, he only did that because of his ulterior motives. If it weren't for that, he would not have put in the effort."
    Mar: "And I think the fact he put in t-that effort for you is a bad thing. Obviously meant he had a use for you as a tool."
    R: "Indeed he did…"
    … (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
    Being reminded of this only caused Shinji pain. "…You don't know how annoying it was to know he'd do that for you and not for me, Rei."
    R: "I can imagine… and I understand that. Rest assured, he only treated me like that because of my importance to him."
    S: "And guess I wasn't that important to him, was I?"
    A long quiet.
    Rei would move closer to him, a comforting hand on his shoulder. "With how he was like… you were lucky. I feared that he would kill me if I went against him."
    S: "But you still understand if I felt… well, abandoned by him. Even if it would've been worse, not like I knew that. I just wanted someone."
    A: "You found that in the end, at least. Misato's been more of a mom to you than even your own mother, not like that was saying much."
    K: "And that was the same for you as well, Asuka."
    A: "Well yeah, and I'd readily admit that. Heck, even mama would admit that. Even now it's not like we'd have the same relationship if the Evangelion didn't exist. Don't get me wrong it's nice having her back, having someone to speak with… but really, she hasn't been the one raising me."
    Mar: "You guys have been mostly raising y-yourselves, by the sounds of it."
    Mi: "Heh, and I've helped them out a bit in that regard."
    A: "You helped us out a lot, Misato! Don't undersell yourself!"
    Z: "We know that quite well, family is what you make it. Doesn't matter what your biology looks like; I'm not related to anyone at all!"
    Hir: "Some of the best families are made when you have a lot of different people like that. Look at what we had."
    E: "Even us now. Two Nephilim, a computer and a tagalong." In a snicker. "Ain't that a concoction."
    Mar: "I'm a bit more than a t-tagalong at this point, dear Eliza!"
    Hik: "And I suppose there's me as well…"
    A: "Don't feel left out! You're part of this too, despite you being normal!"
    R: "Debatably is anyone normal if they are a pilot?"
    S: "Probably not…" He'd sigh. "And what's worse, I think, I don't really have any closure with him too. He just, y'know, dropped dead. I thought that'd be okay, save me the pain from having to close things off with him… but I don't know. I wouldn't have minded being able to just throw it all back in his face, tell him that he didn't break me. But now… well, it's just emptiness, isn't it."
    A: "Heh, how do you think I felt when I found out my old man was dead? It's awful… but hey, we'll get through it, Shin-chan. That's hotcakes compared to what we've been through!" She'd beam. "Still sucks though, I'll accept that."
    R: "I suppose we can just hold onto that hatred until our dying breath."
    May: "That sounds like something a therapist might tell you to avoid…"
    Mi: "Maybe we should get you trained as one, Maya."

    "So more or less the same as our world." Kaworu thought. "They must've thought repositioning your discussion with Kensuke and Toji fit better here."

    "I still find it weird when you talk about our world like it's a story."

    "Pfft, who the heck would write something like our world?!"

    "Asuka we've had several authors do that so far." Flatly mused Shinji. "Still, I find it interesting how similar this has been to the Laserdiscs."

    "Some anime have a companion manga to go with it." Thought Hikari. "Noz was more interested in Pokemon manga instead of the anime, even if it was more or less the same story. Could this be that?"

    "It's always hard to tell with these works, given there are so many universes…" Rued Kaworu. "Did this share a universe with the Laserdiscs? Or was this from a world where there was only a manga of our lives? Are the Theatricals from another world as well?"

    "Questions we'll never know unless we figure out a way to get there."

    "And at that point, we'll have bigger fish to fry! Like finding the bastards that did this to us! Believe me I still have a bone to pick with Kimigabuchi!"

    "You have a bone to pick with them." Rei would imply. "I believe Kaworu would have words for the creators of that doujin too."

    "And the Anno of the Theatricals at that."

    "I don't mind him!"

    "Of course you don't, Mari!" Asuka would wryly prod. "You won! I was left with Kensuke and Rei was left dead! Which I think I'd prefer over being with him!"

    "Out of the two outcomes… it is a tossup." Rei would admit.

    "I mean… by the sounds of it, whoever made the Laserdiscs have done a lot to get on my bad side, if they hurt Toji like that…"

    "Maybe- uhh…" Asuka flipping to the cover of this volume. "Sadamoto, maybe they do something to get on your bad side!"

    "They probably will." Shinji would helpfully tack on.

    "Oh boy. I can't wait." Hikari's intonation indicated she could, very well indeed, wait.
    ~
    The Case of Rei Ayanami (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
    R: "Now that I think about it, I do not think I have ever been on a swings."
    A: "Eh, you're not missing out on much. I never really likes them, always wanted to break down crying seeing something swing so listlessly like that… lifeless, hanging from a rail… eh, couldn't be anything wrong with me or anything!"
    Mi: "We're working on it! You don't need to shame us for not getting you therapy!"
    A: "I'll shame you everyday until I'm speaking with a shrink that isn't something shrink-wrapped!"
    S: "We don't even use shrink-wrap anymore…"
    Hikari stammered at just how much of a ricochet that conversation was. "Y-You went from that to a sex joke?!"
    Mar: "Eh that's light for these g-guys."
    E: "I've heard worse."
    Z: "I've said worse, hey have I told you guys about Squad 27?"
    May: "Let me guess, they died brutally?"
    Z: "Oh no no no, only half of them died brutally this time around!"
    May: "Oh good, there's a silver lining…"
    K: "I can only presume it is related to what was being discussed."
    Z: "I'll talk about the swimsuit looking Klaxosaur another time if you remind me, but the swing reminded me of one that pretty much was a giant swing."
    A: "I'm guessing it wasn't the fun sort of swing."
    Z: "It was more like a hammer, it pounded a lot of the squad to viscera."
    May: "But the rest of the squad survived at least?"
    Z: "I mean one of them threw themselves off the gantry after they returned to their plantation and the rest were so broken that they were decommissioned, so I suppose they survived if the old man was able to get them frozen before they were thrown in the grinder."
    Hik: "I can't even tell if that grinder is a euphemism."
    Z: "Oh it's not, I've seen it. That's how they made the installation rations."
    Mi: "God damn you must've thought you came to heaven coming here."
    Hir: "Well we haven't had nearly as many attempts on our lives so far. Or on our freedom as well!"
    Hik: "I think I prefer the sex jokes… speaking of which, of course Toji ogles at us like that, good job getting back at him for that Shinji!"
    S: "I wish I had the guts to do that back then, he would've been so mad!"
    A: "And you did it all to try getting a laugh out of her! You feeling something for her, Shin-chan?" With a cheeky nudge of her elbow.
    To his slight blush, scratching the back of his head. "M-Maybe I'm just testing the waters a bit, seeing if she has something."
    R: "Good luck, I'd say. I was very much robotic back then."
    Hik: "How much of what they said is accurate, if you don't mind me asking?"
    R: "Well my past was not so much erased, it did not exist. It's all a cover story."
    A: "The real story is much more interesting, if you ask me!"
    R: "And traumatising. Perhaps I will save you that for later, Hikari."
    Hik: "Yeah thanks for that…"
    … (8, 9, 10)
    R: "I always wondered how you pictured that conversation, Shinji. I only realised you saw us conversing when I saw the Laserdiscs."
    S: "Seems like it was a lot more business, huh…"
    E: "Needless to say, he was only concerned about Rei's welfare because of how important she was."
    R: "Indeed, I was a tool to be used, and this was one of his tactics to keep me in line."
    A huff from Shinji. "In retrospect it makes it look better… but you know at time I really felt bad about it. And those thoughts are accurate, I was left wondering why he paid more attention to you than his own son."
    A: "The wonders of parental neglect, huh?" With a nudge.
    S: "Not the only one here, eh?" In slight snicker. "Ahh… I suppose it's no matter now. He's gone, he can't hurt me anymore."
    Mi: "I mean… it looks like his memory is still haunting you."
    A beat.
    And a sigh. "It will. Especially with these reminders. Even the works that show him in a better light, it just reminds me how much better he could've been… and it's like why couldn't that have been me? And not like I can even speak with him and make my peace with him, officially cut him from my life. Now it just feels like he's just gonna haunt me, no matter how much I try to distance myself. I'll always have those little reminders."
    Asuka nudged closer, offering her comfort. "It'll get easier with time, Shin-chan." And a soft smile. "Believe me."
    S: "Heh… I can try."
    A bit of a look from Asuka, Shinji simply offering a small smile towards her… she'll save her questions for later.

    Little Devil (11, 12, 13)
    Whatever thoughts were swirling in Shinji's mind were derailed. "Oh… oh no we're getting to this!"
    Hik: "What's this?"
    Mi: "Eheh, just you wait Hikari!"
    A: "Was Pen-Pen staring at your breasts Misato?!"
    Mi: "Eh he's a little pervert, you've never noticed that?"
    A: "He's a penguin! He shouldn't be into humans!"
    Misato shrugged. "Not like he's been around other penguins."
    Hik: "I definitely have my concerns about how immodest you're being, Misato…"
    Mi: "What a girl does in her own home is none of your concern, Horaki!"
    E: "What if it's in front of Shinji?"
    Mi: "Eh he doesn't mind."
    Mar: "He very c-clearly does."
    Z: "Nah I think he's just more interested in another girl!" With a nudge. "And her name starts with an R!"
    S: "Admittedly I did have those feelings from back then…" With a sheepish grin.
    A: "And you still do! Not that any of us minds of course!"
    May: "Do you two still make out for Asuka's birthday?"
    R: "Yes." Rei readily admitted, with a smile.
    K: "Makes for a good show." Snickered Kaworu.
    Hik: "Also what that where you lived, Rei? The projects?"
    R: "Not the ideal accommodation."
    Hik: "They were slums! I'm almost glad that an Angel knocked them down!"
    R: "Perhaps I should have realised Gendo did not genuinely care for me, given this was the accommodation he assigned to me."
    A: "You were drugged out of your gills during this time, so it's understandable if you didn't realise it."
    … (14, 15, 16, 17)
    Mar: "Damn girl y-you lived like this?!"
    R: "Unfortunately."
    Hik: "Did- did he just let you live like this?!"
    R: "Yes."
    Hik: "That's no place for a girl like you! You know the homicide rate in those slums is 50% higher than the rest of the country right?!"
    R: "I did not know that."
    Misato cringed. "Yeah as soon as I realised she was living like that, I got her moved to the apartments."
    Hir: "You didn't know?"
    Mi: "Gendo was managing her."
    S: "Wonder if that's how he would've treated me if he cared about me…"
    E: "I doubt you could call this care, Shinji."
    Hik: "The door lock didn't even work, what's stopping anyone from just entering your room and having their way with you?!"
    R: "Probably the several Section 2 agents I had on me at any one time."
    A: "You'd think he'd keep several Section 2 agents out there?"
    R: "I was key to his plans." She'd shrug. "Then again, if I did die, he could just clone me."
    Mar: "Hell of a cost/b-benefit analysis right there…"
    Hik: "You can be cloned?"
    R: "We all could, technically speaking. It's trivial to emplant a soul in another shell, and that is what happened to me. Twice, actually."
    Hik: "Wait because you died that many times?" A thought, and a shocked look. "That battle against Armisael, was that one of them?!
    R: "Yes." She blinked. "It was a difficult story to believe, the fact I was okay despite everything."
    Hik: "Yeah that makes sense… horrifying it is."
    Rei shrugged again. "It was quick and relatively painless. The first death wasn't, it was slow and painful, but I get the feeling you don't want me to elaborate on that."
    Hikari was pale. "No probably not."
    R: "Thought so."
    May: "You alright Horaki-chan?"
    Hik: "I-I'm fine!" She lied, playing it off with a half hearted giggle. "Anyone else here that died?"
    Z: "Technically we did as well, but it was in another universe and I think that's technically reincarnation, not cloning."
    Hir: "I still don't understand how that works."
    Mi: "Neither do we, but that's the name of the game for us." In a mutter. "No matter how we try to understand it."
    Hik: "Gods I'm hoping whatever's gonna happen to Shinji next is at least amusing enough to make me forget about all that…"

    Murphy Is A Bitch (18, 19, 20, 21-22)
    Shinji hid his face behind his hands. "Awwoh…"
    Rei had a small smirk, Asuka playfully nudging him. "Heh, what a player, eh Hikari?"
    Meanwhile Hikari was in a full fluster. "SHINJI IKARI!"
    S: "Oh here we go…"
    R: "You do not have to slap him, Hikari. I already had."
    Hik: "Well at least you got him back for that comedy of errors…" Turning away in a pout. "I never thought you were capable of that, Shinji… I'm disappointed."
    Meanwhile Mari was losing her shit over the phone. "Oh my God that's even better than I thought!"
    R: "It was a lot worse for real life." Rei would start. "When he tripped, he put his hand forward in order to not land on his face… but this resulted in him placing a hand quite firmly on my breast."
    Hik: "SHINJI!"
    Despite Rei's dismissal earlier that was enough for her to slap him. "Ow…"
    A: "Heh, well deserved for a pervert like Shin-chan!"
    S: "You don't seem to complain when I do that."
    E: "Rei didn't seem to either."
    R: "I admit it was an interesting sensation."
    Hik: "REI!"
    A: "Oh let's be honest she wouldn't complain if baka did that nowadays."
    R: "…I would not."
    Hik: "ASUKA! Wait what-"
    Mar: "And baka wouldn't complain if her angel d-did anything to him!"
    That just confused Hikari even more. "I- I don't understand the dynamic of you four sometimes…"
    K: "When you have been piloting together for so long, you tend to have a unique way of interacting with your compatriots."
    Mi: "You guys are literally called a tumbleweed sometimes."
    A: "Do you want us to start tumbleweeding again?" Asuka would query with a smirk. "Cause I can do that!"
    Asuka would pull Rei in by her collar and give her a peck on her lips, much to her shock and blush. And Hikari's shock and blush. "A-ASUKA?! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"
    Mi: "I mean she can…" Muttered Misato, before sighing. "As long as you guys are all on board with whatever you get up to… you know my concerns over it."
    A: "Look… we have thought about it. And if we do start that sorta thing again, we're gonna be careful not to leave any of us left out of that."
    A beat, and a concerned look by Misato. "I…" And another sigh. "I just don't want you to do anything that could break what you guys have. Adding more people to the mix can do that, so… just be careful, okay?"
    A: "You know us, Misato!" Boldly and brashly. "We will!"
    Rei and Shinji blushed at the implications over that statement, while Kaworu snickered over the line. "That is definitely a way of breaking the news, Asuka."
    … (23, 24, 25)
    Mar: "Wow you really didn't c-care about that!"
    R: "Why should I?" She'd flatly query. "Even now, I would not bat an eye at it."
    Hik: "He walked in on you naked!"
    R: "What's wrong with that?"
    Hik: "Ah- buh- there's everything wrong with that! It's immodest! What about the impression you give off others?!"
    R: "Why should I care about what others think about me?"
    A: "Hikari don't bother." As Asuka snickered at the budding argument. "Rei will be Rei. You should see what she was doing with Kensuke when they were becoming friends."
    R: "I pulled up my skirt and asked him to comment on my underwear."
    Hik: "KENSUKE OF ALL PEOPLE?!"
    Mi: "I like how that's your concern."
    K: "Thing is she knows nowadays. Now she does it to get a rise out of people."
    R: "Obviously it works." In a quiet snicker.
    May: "Oh stop teasing her Rei, you know how Hikari's like when it comes to that kinda stuff!"
    R: "I do." Turning to the phone. "Kaworu, could you please elaborate about our mating rituals?"
    K: "Do you mean the throwing me into a tree and the masochistic complex I developed over that?"
    Hikari merely quivered in a heavy blush. "None of you are without sin!"
    A: "And that's how we like it!" Blowing her a raspberry. "You should open yourself up to Toji a bit more, it's liberating!"
    Hik: "What I do with Toji is our business alone!" But she'd slightly pout. "Though it's not nearly as extreme as you guys… I just want him to cuddle me, is that too little to ask as a pilot?! Do I need to want to be thrown through a wall to get my kicks off?!"
    Mar: "Nah that's just Ash."
    Z: "Ah we're a bit alike in that regard, Hikari!" In a cheer. "I can be pretty vanilla with my darling right here- that's the term you guys use right?"
    Rei would nod.
    Hikari sighed in relief. "Finally, someone talking sense!"
    Hir: "Though it is more we are rather ignorant of what things you could do in the bedroom. Weren't we going to try a few things later?"
    Z: "Oh yeah, were we gonna try the mouth tonight? Or was it the a-"
    Hikari desperately turned to Eliza. "Please tell me you aren't a horndog as well, Eliza?! I need someone that can back me on this!"
    E: "Believe me, this is as weird to me as it is to you."
    Hik: "Oh thank the Gods, so you'd just want someone to do it normally right?"
    E: "I don't want anyone to do it with me at all." She'd flatly state. "I don't have a sexual drive. I'm a computer."
    Hikari blinked. "…Really?"
    Eliza would nod. "You don't see your computer want to get it on with your phone, do you?"
    Hik: "I mean… no…" That got her curious. "Really? Nothing at all?"
    E: "No ma'am."
    Hik: "Huh… I… huh…" She wasn't sure what to think of that. "Not even any that your body gave you?"
    E: "None I could garnish so far. Which is interesting because I still have the anatomy required. Just no drive to use it. Again, computers aren't programmed for sexual intercourse!"
    A: "Nothing stopping you from programming that in."
    Much to Eliza's unamused look. "I don't see much point. Even if I did, think about it from a logistical standpoint. Who amongst this crowd could I even engage in that with? Everyone is unsuitable or taken; I would have to go out and source this myself and that seems like a lot of work for something I don't have any initial interest in!"
    Hikari seemed like she was struggling with that more than the idea everyone was engaging in sin. "But… I… huh…"
    E: "Take your time Hikari, it's an interesting situation ain't it…"
    May: "Nothing wrong with that!" She'd defend her daughter. "So what if she can't experience that?!"
    E: "Thanks ma… and yeah, I really don't have a problem with it. Hard to have a problem with something when you're just not interested in it, huh?"
    Hikari was still thinking about it. "I- I mean… it does make things a bit easier, I suppose… believe me, it can be hard keeping up with Toji when he really wants to get going…"
    E: "Not so bad in comparison, isn't it?"
    Hik: "No… not really."

    With that, the chapter was at an end. "Now let's never speak of that again!"

    "You can touch my breast again if you wanted to."

    Shinji practically collapsed off his seat at that statement, Asuka and Mari losing it while Hikari and Maya had their mouths gaping aghast.

    "Yeah that's just Rei guys…" Sighed Misato. "Don't let her get under your skin."

    "Oh that ship has sailed Commander." Flatly remarked Hikari. "I agree with Shinji! Let's move on and never speak of this again!"

    "I hope the next c-chapter is hornier."

    "I don't…" Rued Shinji.
    ~
    Faith (4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
    S: "At least that went better than our world…"
    Hik: "What happened in our world?"
    R: "I slapped him after he suggested to not have faith in Gendo."
    Hik: "You slap him for that but you don't for him groping you?!"
    R: "That was not a priority for me at the time."
    E: "Probably still isn't a priority for you."
    R: "It was very clearly accidental, even I realised that at the time. But Gendo was everything to me in that point in time."
    A: "Obviously that's changed."
    R: "I do have a few more things that mean that to me."
    Z: "And now that bastard means nothing to you!"
    R: "Indeed he does not." With a slight smirk.
    Hik: "I still would've preferred any reaction to that to save face. Even if a boy tripped up and toppled over me, I'd still slap him!"
    A: "And I'd do worse but that's just desserts at that point! They shouldn't have been clumsy in the first place!"
    S: "And the wind shouldn't have blown in just the right spot…"
    Much to her snicker. "Yeah but I was asking for the wind to do that, Shin-chan! God it's like you don't understand girls or something!" All the while rubbing that head of his.
    S: "I've been around them for so long and yet they are still a mystery to me…"
    Mi: "Yeah well get used to it, there's some things that you really have to be a woman to experience. And last I checked, you're a boy."
    Mar: "Of course if you wanted to b-be a woman I'm sure we wouldn't say no!"
    That got Shinji blushing. "W-When did I say that?!"
    A: "Oh c'mon Shinji you've never thought about having these eh?" While, *ahem*, showcasing her stuff. Much to the snicker of her guardian in the background.
    S: "I-I have not!"
    Hik: "Good!"
    A: "Oh don't be a prude Hikari, men obviously love them that much. Why I bet if you ended up stuffed in my body, first thing you'd do is feel it up eh? Pervert!"
    E: "Sounds like he does anyway."
    That got the adults laughing. "E-Eliza!"
    E: "Well I don't hear the men denying it!"
    Indeed, it was crickets from the other side of the fence. "Heh, I trained him well if that's the case!" All the while Zero Two held her darling close… much to his heavy blush. Especially where she was holding him.
    Mi: "Ahh alright alright, let's keep going…"
    … (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
    R: "I am glad that went well in this universe."
    May: "Were you worried they'd react like they did again?"
    R: "It was a possibility I had thought about, yes. The presence within Unit-00 and I were not on the best of terms."
    K: "It was a surprise you were able to corral it at all.
    R: "Indeed, but I managed. You made a much better partner, Eliza." She'd snicker.
    E: "Aww thanks Rei!"
    Hik: "With how your first Evangelion was like I would have hoped she was better…"
    E: "I'd hope that as well or I might still be in the Evangelion."
    A: "Ah so was that why they didn't have Unit-00 out alongside Unit-01 in that first sortie against Ramiel?"
    Mi: "It was still too risky to send out Rei without knowing 100% how they would function. Not sure if this will explain it but we didn't have the time to carry out our standard function tests."
    May: "Normally we'd still have to send Rei out anyway but since Unit-01 has a pilot, we thought it better to send something we knew worked."
    S: "And we know how that ended… but with Ramiel, it would've done that whether it was Unit-00 or Unit-01."
    R: "That is something I do appreciate in retrospect."
    A: "I'd hope you would, he put his butt on the line for that!"
    Mar: "It's starting to sound like y-you're learning to appreciate her as well, Shinji!"
    S: "W-Well when you end up in such an awkward situation with someone your mind tends to stick with it!"
    R: "Mine did not."
    Hir: "You get used to it."
    Z: "Darling our first encounter I was naked, and I didn't give a damn!"
    E: "You barely gave a damn about keeping folks alive let alone being modest."
    Z: "Eh modesty's such a stupid concept anyway, why can't I do everything naked?"
    Hik: "Because it's improper!"
    Z: "Yeah and who says it's improper? It's all the people up top!" She'd snicker. "It's my body, something I'm proud of. Why shouldn't I flaunt it?!"
    Hik: "What if someone would wanna touch you?"
    A: "They touch us anyway Hikari, you've ever been on a packed train? Men grope all the time, I've had that happen to me a few times. That's why I don't like going on packed out trains here unless I'm sitting somewhere or with my friends!"
    Mi: "You didn't tell me about that!"
    A: "Oh I punched his lights out for doing that, trust me. And for some reason that got both of us kicked off the train!"
    Mar: "Well what did you do afterwards?"
    A: "I threw him in a trash bin and walked the rest of the way."
    Hik: "Good." Before grumbling. "One of the good things about getting with Toji is I can just bud up with him and no one seems to bother me… that happened more than a few times to me but I didn't wanna make a scene or anything."
    A: "And that's why they do it, because they can get away with it!" Irately thought Asuka. "You're just letting some weird ass man grope your body because you're too afraid to speak up! There's laws against that y'know!"
    Mi: "Maybe we ought to up the Section 2 presence on the subways…" She'd think to herself. "I'm sorry that happened, Hikari."
    Hikari shrugged it off. "Eh, it all happened before I was a pilot anyway, once I started going to school with you guys they seemed to stay away."
    A: "Maybe because I not only made my stance on that behaviour clear, but because Section 2 would come down on them like a guillotine for groping a pilot."
    R: "That was also something I did not understand at the time, living out in that apartment I took the standard trains to the Geofront."
    Mi: "Oh for fuck sake not you too Rei!"
    Z: "At the very least that gives you something t-to campaign about, Misato."
    Mi: "Feh, might have to at this point… the lecherous freaks in this country I swear to God…"

    Diamond Drilling (14, 15, 16, 17)
    S: "Oh boy here we go…"
    Hik: "Yeah the after-action report didn't make it sound too great for you…"
    K: "I imagine the report grossly underestimated the extent Shinji was injured."
    Mi: "Oh it called it a serious injury."
    A: "Breaking a leg is a serious injury, Shinji almost died!"
    Mar: "And I can probably guess who d-didn't care about that."
    S: "Gendo, yeah." In a huff. "The more I try to forget about him the more the world tries to remind me of him…"
    May: "Don't think it'll stop doing that anytime soon."
    E: "Much to his annoyance I'm sure."
    S: "I've got several words for my annoyance at that at this point…"
    Z: "Y'know that kinda reminds me of that square bastard Klaxosaur we faced in our world."
    R: "Just because Ramiel was also a geometric shape…"
    Hir: "You know maybe our world was a variant of this world…"
    Z: "Oh that wasn't obvious by how similar both our shows were?"
    Mi: "You're the one saying it…"
    … (18, 19, 20, 21)
    Hikari furrowed her brow. "I think that's gonna cause more than serious injury Misato!"
    S: "Thing is I couldn't even do anything because I was still locked to the elevator. I was a sitting duck!"
    Mi: "That's on us for not probing what it could do first, but the other Angels didn't do that before. We had no idea Ramiel could do that!"
    E: "You found out the hard way."
    A: "As we tend to do, it seems."
    Mar: "Sheesh it completely m-melted that building! How the heck did you survive that Shinji?!"
    S: "Barely."
    Hir: "Was that the closest you've been to death?"
    Shinji thought back. "Y'know now that I think about it, I think it was. It wouldn't be for my Laserdisc self but for me I think it was."
    A: "Abstractly I think we've been closer, but definitely physically it would've been closer. I'd argue that me getting trapped in Leliel would have been closer."
    R: "And I can argue that I have actually died."
    A: "That's not even an argument at this point, you actually died."
    R: "You can still say that is the closest I have ever been to death. Actually being dead."
    Z: "Well more than a few of us can related to that at least."
    Hik: "A fact I personally find concerning…"
    Mar: "Ah pish posh death isn't that b-bad!"
    R: "It is actually."
    Mar: "Well as long as you can c-come back."
    R: "Even with coming back you tend to have psychological issues, because you died."
    Mar: "Eh I think I'm o-okay despite that."
    R: "You still have that verbal hitch of yours."
    Mar: "Mah! Nothing that's g-gonna stop me!"
    … (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
    Hir: "That looked painful."
    S: "I almost died!"
    K: "Goes to show just how connected you are to the Evangelion, even at low sync rates."
    Hik: "…At least Rei didn't have to find out the hard way."
    S: "That's the only silver lining out of all that."
    A: "Another silver lining is you didn't die!"
    E: "Wonder if Shinji would have debated that at the time."
    S: "Depends how much I had to deal with my father…"
    Z: "I suppose that's another positive, you didn't have to deal with your father while you were knocked out!"
    That got Shinji laughing. "Gee thanks Ramiel! Who knew that'd be a good thing!"
    Hir: "They really dedicate a lot of space to your suffering don't they?"
    Mi: "The whole damn show was pretty much the suffering of Shinji."
    A: "And the suffering of us to make Shinji suffer in turn."
    Mar: "Gee almost like it was m-mostly set up to destroy him or something!"
    S: "I mean Gendo almost deliberately set things up to weaken me mentally. So I could be more pliable for what he wanted."
    A: "A shame he didn't catch on the fact that I somehow managed to patch you up a bit!"
    K: "You did rather well considering how damaged you appeared to be."
    S: "Well we know what would have happened if I didn't get with Asuka. The world would've ended."
    Hik: "I still can't believe the whole existence of everything relied on you two getting together…"
    R: "It's interesting how the butterflies work like that. Even the smallest of details can affect what happens."
    May: "That and we were almost directly responsible for protecting the world. We still are, actually. Anything that affects us could cause damage to the world."
    Mi: "Even more of a concern when all of us were getting close to our breaking points near the end of the Angel War…"
    K: "We made it, in the end. And that's what matters."

    All Shinji could do was sigh. "Well, I didn't wanna be reminded of that again."

    "I figured." Flatly thought Misato. "So should we just get straight to the next chapter?"

    "Please."

    A moment of quiet as the next chapter was prepared.

    "And yes that includes the incident I had with Rei."

    "I really don't think it was that big a deal." Rei defended. "In retrospect it was actually rather comfortable."

    "REI!" Hikari would very loudly castigate. "HAVE YOU NO SHAME?!"

    "No." In brisk reply. And fox-like smirk.

    Much to Misato's eye roll. "Good Lord let's just ignore that…"
    ~
    Emergency Procedures (2, 3, 4, 5)
    S: "Well so much for not being reminded of all that!"
    A: "At least you would've been unconscious for all of that!"
    Mi: "Kinda wish I was… it's never a good day when we have to pull you out like that."
    R: "At least you were able to pull him out. I was not quite as lucky with Armisael."
    Z: "Was there even anything of you left to pull out?"
    R: "I would not have thought so, and the way it was depicted in the Laserdiscs was dire to say the least."
    Mi: "I had a look at the un-redacted report on your 'recovery' once I got the big job and… yeah, there was barely anything left in there."
    R: "Mercifully it was quick at least."
    E: "Hate to be the guys that found you though…"
    Mi: "Thing is I don't even know who they are, they were struck from the record."
    May: "Doubt they got the therapy for seeing that then…"
    A: "At least they can relate to us!"
    Hik: "Jeez I wasn't ever that bad…"
    K: "For our standards, this is rather bad. Even in the other sorties where Evangelion had been disabled, they had not been so thoroughly damaging to us."
    R: "Asuka is lucky, I do not think she has been injured as we had."
    A: "I mean you can call the mental scarring from Leliel my sorta 'rite of passage' when it comes to almost dying at the helm, that and the whole volcano I guess but that would've been a quick crush to death so-" She shrugged.
    Hik: "Should almost thank Bardiel for how light they went on me…"
    A: "Oh Gendo wanted us to tear you to shreds."
    S: "And outright fired us when we didn't, because we prioritised recovering the Evangelion and the pilot over what he wanted."
    Hir: "Didn't he get chewed out by Seele for doing that?"
    A: "Yeah because the very next Angel was Zeruel and he only had our Evas running on the Dummy Plug and Rei! And that was never gonna work!"
    R: "It was a miracle we did not perish that day."
    Mi: "We're lucky he didn't get perished by Seele! We might've gotten someone a bit more competent at the helm!"
    K: "And that wouldn't have been good for what we had planned."
    … (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
    K: "Given Ramiel's nature, it was good fortune we had access to appropriate weaponry for her."
    E: "Seems we had a lot of that with the Angels…"
    A: "Do we even know if it could attack from directly beneath itself?"
    Mi: "We never got close enough to test that, but it wouldn't surprise me if it had some other localised defence for around there."
    S: "I know in the simulator you eventually added that in."
    Mi: "Well you figured out a consistent method of defeating them every time so we had to mix things up a bit!"
    R: "Did you say if Kensuke was going to use the engine for Half-Life 2 to recreate the sim?"
    To that Misato shrugged. "Iunno any of that software thing, that'd be Ritsuko's bag."
    E: "Oh and the Magi did wonderfully running those games, imagine how they'd go if they had to run a full blown sim!"
    Mi: "But we really need a better way of running it… we can't just pull Evangelion out of service to run simulations!"
    May: "That and you can't do anything with the Magi when we're running the sims! I can't even check my email!"
    Hik: "What would a replacement sim look like you think?"
    Hir: "Sounds like we can't use the Evangelion."
    Mi: "No, next iteration would have to be separate… hmm…" Putting her brain to use. "Might have to ask her about the NACSS when she gets back. Maybe we can emulate a system that we can interface someone with."
    K: "Ah, so instead of having the soul position seeing what the Evangelion sees, it instead sees whatever the computer outputs?"
    Mi: "Something like that, but no clue if that sorta thing's even possible…"
    R: "I do not see why it couldn't happen. It is just a matter of interfacing the NACSS derivative system with a computer instead of the Evangelion."
    Mar: "I think Misato understands the concept of that, but h-how it'll happen is another story."
    Mi: "Yeah like even the Magi I don't really know how the heck they're gonna do that… but if there's someone that could work it out, it's Ritsuko."
    E: "Of course she could!"
    May: "Thatta girl!"

    Fortress of Solitude (11, 12, 13, 14)
    Hik: "So I know that you couldn't get to it, but theoretically if you could, would attacking the drill bit be viable?"
    Mi: "It'd be a smaller target, and it's definitely possible it wouldn't have been able to attack back, but given we couldn't get anywhere near the drill bit it ended up being a moot thought anyway."
    May: "Though if I remember correctly the drill did stop when it was attacking. And we never really tested if it could do multiple targets at once."
    A: "All we need to know is how to effectively kill a target anyway."
    Mi: "Mhm, we couldn't exactly do in depth analysis on Ramiel while they were actively trying to kill us…"
    Z: "I like that line of yours Misato!" In a cheer.
    Mi: "It's true! There's no harm in trying everything, because worst case scenario in all of them is still the same."
    S: "They were quick to give up though."
    Mi: "Oh he was a lot more sarcastic in person, kinda hard to capture that in manga form huh?" With a cheeky grin.
    … (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
    Shinji had read through all this with a furrowed brow. "Hmm."
    A: "Shinji?"
    S: "It's close. I found the bike, the policeman still dragged me to the station. But it was my uncle that came by. And he chewed out the policeman for wasting the station's time and making me feel bad for recycling."
    R: "I'm sure the damage to your psyche would have been done."
    S: "It didn't help, no. But I did appreciate having him stick up for me… even if I was a bit quiet about it."
    Mi: "Your uncle's the chief over there isn't he?"
    S: "Yeah…" He'd sigh. "Y'know, looking back, they didn't treat me badly. I think I was just that shaken from what Gendo did to me that I couldn't even see that."
    Mar: "Jeez that cop must've had a s-stick up his ass that day."
    Hir: "What about that little room they built for you?"
    S: "Mhm, they did that as well. Used it for a little bit, but then I got sent to Tokyo-3… wonder what they did with it?"
    E: "Was it like a shed?"
    S: "It had electricity and climate control in it! Like it could've been a small house!" A moment of thought. "Jeez I really should've seen what they were doing for me earlier…"
    Hik: "You better give them a call today Shinji!"
    A: "He will, I'll make sure of it!"
    Mi: "You kept the bike right?"
    S: "Mhm, and uncle showed me how to take care of it as well. He wanted me to learn how to restore it, but never really got around to it. I just used it as trashed it was." In a snicker. "It got me around. And I was more interested in my cello than working with tools and all that."
    K: "It's a tool of a different sort."
    That got another snicker out of Shinji. "In a way, yeah. Pretty sure they kept the bike, not sure if they kept the study space as it was."
    May: "Sounds like it could be another house."
    S: "Wouldn't surprise me if they let Annette use it, she was trying to convince them to have us share that space." Chuckling as he recalled. "And uncle said she could use it when she starts middle school! Jeez she was not happy about that… bet a part of her didn't mind I was out of the house, at least until they started hearing about how I was going over in Tokyo-3…"
    Mar: "Makes me wonder why you e-even bothered going back to your old man."
    S: "Because despite everything, I still believed if I did the right thing he'd love me. I didn't see the love that was right in front of me…"
    Another quiet. "…Yeah I do need to call them tonight."
    … (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
    R: "At the very least, you did not call me mom when you woke up."
    S: "As if I hadn't been embarrassed enough that day…"
    Mar: "Wait that all h-happened in the same day?"
    S: "And in what I thought were my final moments I was still kicking myself over how I fumbled that!"
    R: "It really wasn't that bad."
    Hik: "Yes it was!"
    A: "You are kinda being a mom to him, telling him to eat something like that!"
    R: "It was what I was told to tell him." She'd shrug.
    E: "But I can understand if he didn't want to eat. He literally just came out of a near death experience, I probably wouldn't be hungry after that."
    Hik: "Can't say I was ever interested in eating after my sorties…"
    A: "Almost dying sure makes you work up an appetite I find! Like, I'd just crave something real meaty y'know, like a ste- don't give me that look Hikari."
    She meanwhile had a bristled look. "Not boy meat?"
    A: "I mean yes I'd crave a certain brand of that too, but no I wasn't gonna mention that!"
    Before growing a foxy look. "But since you let the cat out of the bag, yes I did crave that! I almost died God damn it of course I'd throw myself onto Shinji and let him absolutely ravage me! I'd want him just about everywhere!"
    May: "I think you proved your point Asuka."
    Meanwhile Hikari had hidden her face behind her arms. "Okay okay I'm sorry!"
    Asuka blew a raspberry. "And don't act high and mighty about that, I know what you do with Toji in the locker rooms because it's exactly what we do too!"
    Much to Hikari's bewail.
    E: "I find it interesting how quickly you were able to requisition all of that."
    Mi: "Oh this actually glosses over a lot of the detail around that! Heck even the Laserdiscs showed more of the process."
    K: "It does seem a bit interesting they only mentioned it in a single page."
    A: "Well something had to go to fit in Shinji's little flashback! You didn't have that flashback for real, did you?"
    S: "I was out cold Asuka, I wouldn't remember regardless!"
    Mar: "And they really only g-gave you an hour to get your shit together, eh?"
    S: "Inconsiderate, I know…" In a sigh. "But I understand why, given they pretty much needed me."

    "Heh, and so Operation Yashima is born!" Cheered Misato. "Haven't mentioned the name yet."

    "Would you call it the same?"

    "This universe doesn't seem that far removed from our own, so probably. I named it after the battle of Yashima so I probably still had that in mind."

    "Why did you name it after the Battle of Yashima anyway?"

    "Heh, I think I told you about that Maya."

    "That was when Nasu no Yoichi shot a fan off a pole, right?"

    "Well when you explain it that way it sounds a bit dull."

    "That was from the Heike story, eh?"

    "Ah, you know your history, Hikari!"

    "Well someone needs to."

    "What's that meant to imply?!"

    "You got a D in Japanese History, Asuka." Flatly remarked Misato.

    "I'm German!"

    "Excuses excuses-WAH-"

    Asuka kicked Shinji's chair out from under him, the boy landing flat on his butt. "Next chapter!"
    ~
    Magnolia (2, 3, 4, 5)
    Z: "I like how the schedule assumed Shinji would be out of his coma in time for the operation."
    Mi: "It was a bit of a hopeful schedule admittedly."
    S: "I was definitely reluctant to get back in Unit-01 after all that."
    Mar: "Nooo really?"
    R: "I would have understood if you did not want to operate after that."
    S: "I feel like Gendo wouldn't."
    A: "Yeah well fuck him, at least Rei would understand."
    Hir: "Though it seems like you knew you got under his skin with that comment."
    R: "It is a good way of doing so." Giving Shinji a small smile.
    He'd simply scratch the back of his head. "Heh, you're not wrong."
    Hik: "Jeez he doesn't have much modesty either…"
    A: "He's in the hospital!"
    K: "Again, something I doubt Rei would mind."
    R: "Nudity does not matter to me at all."
    E: "Didn't you say you'd prefer to be like that all the time?"
    R: "Practicality and societal expectations restrict that unfortunately."
    Hik: "And thank the Gods for that…"
    R: "Do you not think I am pretty, Hikari?"
    Hikari immediately became a tomato. "I didn't mean it like that Rei!"
    A: "Heh, are you sure? She is a beauty ain't she Kaworu?"
    K: "I can attest to that." He'd smirk.
    Hikari merely pursed her lips, refusing to respond to that (her blush gave away a lot of what she felt about that however!)
    Mi: "Alright alright let's look at the next few pages…"
    … (6, 7, 8)
    Mi: "Mmgh I can't believe they were still out around that time… did they not learn?!"
    Hik: "Obviously not… can't say I'm surprised." She'd harrumph. "I told him it was stupid!"
    Z: "Can't deny it would've been interesting!"
    E: "It's probably all normalised for Hikari anyway."
    Hik: "It's starting to get normalised for Toji at that." In a thought. "Sounds like we're getting close to bringing him onboard anyway."
    Mi: "It's still officially in a trial stage but eventually when we migrate your system from a standard core to a NACSS, we will be getting him officially on board."
    Hik: "Nothing bad better happen to him like what's been implied in this!"
    A: "Wouldn't that also be up to you? If you're his partner and all that?"
    Hik: "That's a good point actually, what position would he be in? Would it be like how we were testing it?"
    Mi: "Yeah most likely, you have the experience to handle a core position. Wouldn't wanna throw someone green in that position until they get some experience at least."
    R: "It sounded like you did not mind the position anyway, Hikari."
    Hik: "I mean I know how it feels anyway, I've piloted the dang thing for that long… and I like the idea of being able to protect Toji."
    A: "Heh, that's why I like being the core! Even if I screw up myself every now and then…"
    Mi: "You still have that synethesia?"
    A: "Yeah and it's stupid! Like some of it is cool but anything loud and sharp I can't handle it! Like lightning!"
    R: "She does not like chewing."
    A: "D'oh why'd you tell her that she's gonna use that to bug me now!"
    Mi: "Oy, maybe we should bring forward another sim…" In a mutter to herself.
    A: "And that's a lesson for you as well Hikari, what you modify with the Evangelion can affect you as well! I'm lucky I didn't blind myself!"
    Hik: "Duly noted…"

    Preparations (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
    K: "It's frankly a miracle this operation went as well as it did."
    Mi: "Oh my God we threw everything at it. Like, if this didn't work we would've been toast!"
    S: "I feel like a lot of our sorties were like that…"
    A: "Oh what like all of them?"
    May: "Hey some of them weren't that dire…" As she thought. "…Okay maybe all of them were like that."
    R: "Sandalphon only became dire when it woke up."
    A: "Oh it was dire alright!"
    E: "The logistics of this operation are something to behold…"
    Mi: "That's the best part about us, we're allowed to do anything as long as it's in defence of the world. That's why we were able to get the entire power grid on our side to help us!"
    Hik: "Wonder if you could even do that in other countries… can't imagine an American would do that."
    Mar: "Oi!" In offence. "I mean you're n-not wrong but c'mon!"
    Hir: "What were your armed forces developing a positron rifle for anyway?"
    Mi: "Duh, for war." With an eye roll. "I think it was gonna go on a satellite of some sort."
    A: "Well I'd call it a good thing we requisitioned that thing then!"
    Mi: "Oh we have satellite weapons in orbit already, we tried to use them against Angels!"
    Hik: "Did they work?"
    Mi: "Of course they didn't." She'd flatly mutter.
    Hik: "I don't know what I expected."
    Mi: "Still, one of our projects was getting a positron rifle of sorts up in orbit, because it's one of the few things that could defend against the Angels."
    E: "Good luck getting the appropriate amount of power up there."
    Mi: "Oh it'd use a whole heap of supercapacitors and would take a month to recharge but it's better than nothing!"
    Z: "Could just put several of them in orbit and use them one after another."
    Mi: "Now that's the type of thinking I like!"
    … (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
    S: "What I liked about the Laserdiscs was it actually showed how it looked like from above. All the lights going out in Japan."
    May: "Our space agency actually managed to capture what it looked like from one of their weather satellites… yeah it was stunning."
    Mi: "Made front page news on the papers I remember."
    Hik: "You really had nothing other than the Evangelion, Rei?"
    R: "Indeed, and I was essentially born to pilot the Evangelion. Do you know much about my origins, Hikari?"
    She'd briefly think… "I know you were made instead of born… was that what you were made for?"
    R: "More or less… I was made to be a cog in Gendo's plan. He would use me to get his wife back. Looking back, I understand that all the affection and attention he afforded me was simply part of that plan, a manipulation to keep me on side."
    A: "And as soon as you realised it was that…"
    R: "I was not the same. And looking back on me as I was, I feel… strange. Like I want to tell myself that she does have other things to live for. They may not be apparent now, but they will show themselves in time I'm sure…"
    S: "I think that's something we all had in common. Evangelion was really the only thing keeping us going."
    A: "Probably because they wanted it like that." In a scoff. "I'm pretty much the poster child of that, and you saw what happened to me in the Laserdiscs when I had that taken away from me."
    R: "They did want us like that. Easier to manipulate. And yet somehow we dragged ourselves out of that."
    Z: "Looks like the world would've ended if you didn't do that, so thanks for that."
    Hikari looked pale again. "You okay girl?"
    Hik: "I- I will be… gods I have a lot to catch up on…"
    Mi: "Call it us inducting you to be like the rest of our pilots." In a snicker. "They went through all of that shit, so it only makes sense we get you on the same page."
    Hik: "I dunno if I want to be on that same page…"
    Mi: "Well too bad, we learned the hard way so hopefully you don't have to!"
    A: "Gave you something to relate to, eh Shinji?"
    S: "I think Rei was the first person I could relate to in that regard… it felt good having someone that I could speak with about that feeling."
    R: "And then you met Asuka, and we both felt that again."
    S: "Heh, yeah." With a small smile. "A very good feeling that, eh?"
    … (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
    R: "I kept good on that promise, didn't I?"
    S: "But you could have worded your goodbye a bit better! Making it sound like you would die!"
    R: "I didn't though." Giving him a small smile.
    A: "Heh, she wasn't just gonna abandon you like that Shinji! She's not that kinda person!"
    E: "I'd be interested to see the diagrams for how everything was connected."
    Mi: "Well you can't, we didn't make any."
    Eliza gave a pout.
    Mi: "Oh don't give me that, we literally threw it together in a few hours! There's no time for drawing a diagram out!"
    E: "Well what about what's shown there?"
    May: "That was a Magi automated print-out."
    E: "Oh I'm never gonna get it out of them…"
    May: "They aren't that bad! You just don't like them cause they snitched on you!"
    E: "Throwing a fellow computer under the bus!"
    That got the cohort snickering. "Betrayed by your fellow Unix system! Oh the humanity!"
    Misato rolled her eyes. "Oh it wasn't that bad."
    Z: "How long did it take all up to get all that ready?"
    Mi: "No more than like eight hours once we got the plan ready. And even that was cutting it fine; there were a lot of moving parts that had to line up perfectly."
    Mar: "But you guys g-got there in the end!"
    K: "Not that they had a choice, they had to get there in the end."
    Mi: "Story of our lives huh?" In a snicker. "Makes what's going on now seem like child's play, huh?"
    A: "Well probably wouldn't call it that easy, but it's definitely relaxed a bit since then."

    "Well, almost there with Yashima, huh?" Cheered Misato. "Hopefully it goes better!"

    "It probably won't." Rei admitted.

    "Oh be positive for once!"

    "Even from a literary standpoint, she would not have been given that shield if she was not expected to use it."

    "Our lives aren't a story Kaworu! We made that shield because it was a last resort, we would've been perfectly happy if we didn't have to use it!"

    "We're literally reading our story now Misato."

    "Mmgh I know but we didn't know they were gonna be made into stories! We just lived life like we would've normally!"

    "Well as normal as you could in our position." Snarked Asuka. "And honestly with what we all went through you could make it into a movie!"

    "Heh, maybe you should make a fictionalised version of those Laserdiscs." Zero Two would snicker. "Make it into a documentary!"

    "It'll take us ages to trawl through and remove everything that's classified." Thought Misato. "We'd be better off just using the rough storyline and giving it to some random company to make."

    "You know the odds of this being in a story is pretty high as well, right?" Pointed out Kaworu.

    "Yeah but I don't wanna think about that, it gives me a migraine…" Misato would admit. "Next chapter damn it!"
    ~
    Blood Battle (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
    Hik: "Wait that can happen?"
    Mi: "I think Ritsuko described those beams as being 'opposingly charged' or something of the sort, they pretty much bounced around each other like they were the same poles a magnet."
    E: "That analogy doesn't work."
    Mi: "D'oh you know what I mean! They were like matter and anti-matter and they mutually excluded each other!"
    A: "Matter and anti-matter annihilate each other."
    Mi: "Okay what would it be like then?!"
    A: "If they were magnetised they would have cancelled themselves out, them wrapping around like that is more like they had the same energy profile. So positron against positron; if one was the opposite charge that's position against electron and that would have just annihilated itself."
    Misato merely pouted at Asuka. "That's my fault for trying to go up against a computer and a university graduate…"
    A: "That's not even my bachelor Misato, I did mine in computers!"
    Z: "Either way, that's why it missed eh?"
    Mi: "Yeah Ramiel got a shot out and it caused our shot to get all messed up."
    Mar: "Bit of a bastard that A-Angel."
    K: "Indeed they were, but they were just doing what they were programmed to do."
    R: "Almost a shame we did not have a chance to get to them, like we did with you."
    K: "It would have been nice, but alas it was not meant to be… and even getting to me seems to be a rarity."
    S: "But we're glad our universe has been an exception."
    K: "I'm quite happy about that as well, it's a nice change not dying."
    Hik: "You make it sound like you've experienced it."
    K: "I have."
    Hikari blinked. "I don't think I'm ready to be told that…"
    Kaworu merely chuckled. "That's fair enough."
    … (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
    Hik: "…You actually put yourself out there like that, Rei?"
    R: "What other choice did I have? I promised Shinji I would protect him, didn't I?"
    A: "Any one of us would do the same, eh?" In a snicker. "Heck, if Toji was the one piloting, you wouldn't even think twice!"
    Z: "It would've been painful."
    R: "Oh it was, but it was worth it in the end."
    Mi: "Ramiel actually caught us off guard with how quickly they recharged for another shot, it was a lot quicker than we had anticipated."
    R: "A good thing I was quick to protect Shinji. If he fell the operation would have failed, if I fell it may at least give him a chance to succeed."
    K: "A rather dire equation…"
    E: "One that seems to have been made a few times in this war though…"
    May: "Pretty much every battle was like that. And even now, we send you guys out with the thought that you might get hurt or even die."
    Mi: "All we can rely on is your training and that God doesn't decide to fuck us over that day." In a brisk snicker. "If he decides that, well we're up shit creek unfortunately."
    A: "Bah, we spit in God's face all the time anyway! We'll just do it again and get out of shit creek!"
    Mar: "And that's why y-you're a pilot!"

    The Moon Inside The Darkness (18, 19, 20, 21, 22-23, 24, 25)
    Z: "Ooh a double feature!"
    R: "That cover is… quite stunning."
    Mar: "Heh, you wouldn't mind if h-he held you like that eh?"
    R: "I would prefer to be less injured but yes, I would not mind."
    A: "Well he's right there y'know!"
    Misato merely rolled her eyes. "Even after we defeated Ramiel it was still chaos, you can see the damage it did when it fell down."
    S: "Didn't it take you guys weeks to clear them out?"
    Mi: "Oh it was close to a month! We kept everything from them, idea was we could use the crystalline substrate of theirs for something. Initially it was gonna be shielding of some sort."
    E: "Now it's going to be Ultradisc compound, isn't it?"
    Mi: "Once we get that off the ground, yeah…" With an aside glance.
    Hik: "The heck's an Ultradisc? Is it like a Laserdisc of some sorts?"
    Mi: "Kinda, but it's the size of a CD and can store like thirty CDs on one disc."
    Hik: "Oh that'd be cool! I could use something like that if it's affordable enough."
    A: "I didn't think you had Laserdiscs Hikari?"
    Hik: "Nah our family couldn't afford them, we use Video-CDs instead."
    R: "My apologies."
    Hik: "Oh they aren't that bad… other than the four CDs to watch one movie, and how they look on the television…"
    Hir: "You know you're a pilot now right?"
    Hik: "Oh I know but Laserdisc players still look so expensive and the discs are so much larger as well, I'd have to find somewhere to put them!"
    May: "Well the Ultradisc sounds like it could be for you then!"
    E: "That's still a lot of data for what amounts to a movie, if it could fit on a few CDs it won't max out the capacity at all!"
    A: "The resolution of those blue ray things we got sent over was frankly absurd, but that does kinda imply other worlds had developed higher resolution video."
    Mar: "You guys don't have HD video? Our major broadcasters m-moved to HD like ten years ago."
    A: "Yeah well this is Japan and they're always two decades behind the eight ball Mari!"
    Mi: "It hasn't exactly been a priority for us."
    R: "I do think a lot of Japan's development had been very NERV focused."
    Mi: "Well the powers that be knew that the Angels would be attacking here, so they would have pulled the strings to influence that."
    S: "And we're still feeling the consequences of that."
    Mar: "Like it's frankly amazing how much stuck in t-the 90s this place feels! You guys still use floppy disks for God's sake!"
    May: "Much to Sempai's chagrin…"
    Mi: "Yeah well maybe we'll be dragged into the 21st century now that we have less crap on our plate to deal with!"
    … (26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
    R: "…I was quite flattered when you went out of your way to rescue me, Shinji."
    S: "I had to make sure you were okay, Rei."
    Mar: "Heh, he cares for you g-girl!"
    R: "Mhm, I know that now…" With a slight smile.
    Z: "That's exactly what your dad did, eh?"
    S: "Pretty much, I didn't even think of that comparison at the time."
    Z: "Oh yeah, if you're trying to get someone out of danger, you don't think about that kinda thing."
    Mi: "I'm glad you did that, Shinji. It would've taken us at least another hour to get her out of there with how damaged her Evangelion was."
    E: "It looks like her armour was almost melted, you can see the sheer heat coming off the entry plug…"
    May: "She took the brunt of Ramiel's blast, that would have superheated Unit-00… Shinji's lucky he didn't burn himself."
    S: "Good thing the plugsuits have some sort of thermal rating, eh?"
    A: "Not that you would've cared if they hadn't."
    S: "Mhm, I'd still get her out even if my hands got burnt. That wouldn't have mattered to me."
    K: "I suppose this is where your friendship with him started in earnest, Rei."
    R: "He went out of his way to rescue me, of course I liked him after this." With another smile.
    Z: "It's a good way of endearing yourself to someone, huh?"
    Hik: "I'm surprised you look alright there, Rei."
    R: "I was not feeling alright, but physically I was uninjured."
    Mi: "But with Shinji it really fried your brain a bit, you were in the ward for a few days after that."
    R: "I had been there longer."
    Mar: "Heh, worth it in the end, eh?"
    R: "Indeed it was, Mari."

    When She Smiles (31, 32, 33, 34)
    A: "Oh you were adorable when you smiled like that in the Laserdiscs, Rei."
    R: "I am sure this will meet your expectations too." As she wore a small smile.
    Hik: "Jeez… you were that closed off you didn't know?"
    R: "Gendo did not raise me with anything that wasn't necessary for his plan. Hence why I was awkward at times at school."
    S: "You only really started learning that when we started teaching you, eh?"
    R: "Indeed." Before an aside glance. "…Sorry I saw Gendo at first."
    S: "Oh that's not your fault, he's all you knew eh?"
    E: "Needless to say I'd prefer seeing Shinji than him."
    Mar: "You didn't even k-know him."
    E: "So didn't you, but I bet you're the same."
    She'd blink. "With all I k-know of him, yeah you're not wrong…"
    K: "It was even worse dealing with him. It eventually got to the point where we agreed Rei was to… deal with him."
    R: "It would not have been killing. It would have been more satisfactory if he could be tried and convicted for what he had done, and then the state could have done with him what they did to Fuyutsuki."
    A: "I'm not complaining about what happened though." She'd scoff. "Good riddance to him."
    Shinji still seemed unsure. "I still wouldn't have minded some closure from him… but can't complain about the outcome."
    Maya was very uneasy about it. "…I know you guys don't like him, but it was still awful I had to do that."
    Mi: "You did it in self defence, if anything you're a hero for that, Maya."
    May: "Didn't make me feel like a hero…"
    A: "I would've paid you a lot of money to be the one to do that, Maya." She'd snicker.
    Mi: "Now now, no trauma olympics…"
    Hir: "Kinda sounds like she needs therapy as well."
    May: "I think I do…"
    Hik: "Sounds like an ever expanding club at this point… I think I'll need therapy after all this."
    A: "Pfft, imagine living through it Hikari!"
    E: "That'll make it worse."
    … (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
    Asuka couldn't help the giggling. "You're right about it meeting my expectations, Rei!"
    May: "Heh, still adorable eh?"
    Much to Rei's blush. "It… felt good to smile as well."
    K: "If only you knew surviving was never in the plan."
    S: "Not that we could've known that of course…"
    Mi: "I don't think any of us outside of Gendo and Fuyutsuki knew that."
    Hik: "So what, they'd just end the world like Seele was planning?"
    May: "Precisely."
    Hik: "What reason did he have? I know Seele wanted to make themselves gods or something like that, and I knew Gendo was a bit of a control freak but I didn't take him for that…"
    K: "He wanted to get his wife back, Yui Ikari, who was trapped in Unit-01."
    That still didn't make sense in Hikari's mind. "Well we didn't have to end the world to get her out, what the hell was he thinking of then?!"
    R: "He would start Instrumentality with Unit-01 and having taken control of the process, he would have used that to recover Yui Ikari."
    Hik: "And what of the rest of the world?"
    R: "That was not considered."
    Hik: "What the hell?!"
    A: "Yeah what do you think we thought of that?!"
    E: "Not positively, that's certain."
    Hik: "Like I'd be upset if Toji died or something, but I wouldn't go that far!"
    S: "Well Gendo was never the best at handling grief… that's why he abandoned me, he couldn't even have any reminder of my existence apparently."
    R: "And that is why I was created in the first place, I was intended to be a clone of Yui Ikari. Obviously that did not amount to anything."
    A: "Hey it amounted to you!"
    R: "From Gendo's perspective."
    Mar: "Jeez Stanley always s-said he was an asshole but that's next level…"
    Mi: "There aren't very many people that could match him."
    Z: "I dunno, I have a few candidates from my universe."
    K: "I'm sure there'd be plenty of candidates from all the materials we've seen so far."
    A: "Oh Ragyo is somehow worse than Gendo ever could be! And she was actually present!"
    Mar: "Yeah too present…"
    E: "I still don't remember that episode because of the sheer amount of errors I had to process trying to understand all of it!"
    S: "I'd call that a blessing…"
    Mi: "Do we wanna know?"
    A: "Let's just say at least Gendo wasn't incestuous."
    Mi: "Oh for fuck's sake… I mean if we're lowering the bar to the floor!"
    ~

    "Okay, we survived Ramiel again!" Misato cheered. "Looks like it went better than the Theatricals too!"

    "It appeared more or less the same as the Laserdiscs however." Rei thought. "I suppose this captures our thoughts better."

    "For better or worse…"

    "Oh we've already figured out a lot more about you from all these works, Shinji." Asuka snickered. "At least that applies to all of us!"

    They'd all start making moves to get out of there. "Same time tomorrow Misato?"

    "Yeah I've deliberately scheduled this as a 'meeting' so I should be free."

    "Alrighty!"

    The pilots would depart together. "…I don't understand how you can be so cheerful after all that, Asuka."

    "Ahh Hikari, it's all in the past at this point." Asuka snickered. "No point holding onto it."

    "Even if it is an unpleasant reminder, all it does is tell us how lucky we are at the present day." Rei would add on. "Perhaps you can use it as that."

    "Oh it's definitely been showing me how bad things can be…"

    "Rest assured Hikari…" Shinji would start. "They're gonna get worse."

    "Ooh yeah." Asuka added on.

    "I still have not died yet."

    "Mmgh…" Was all Hikari murmured.
    ~~~
    Meanwhile, Eliza was almost immediately looking into what was discussed during the read through… namely the sim alternatives. "D'oh come on you obstinate mules!"

    "Hey that's not what you should call your elders!"

    The Magi were outright refusing to run the Half-Life 2 program. "Well maybe if they stopped doing that I might have better things to say about them, Ma!"

    "Maybe they were traumatised from what happened?"

    Much to Eliza's flat look. "Okay, what should I do in order to get them to run it?"

    "Maybe ask them nicely?"

    Eliza still looked unamused, before turning back to the terminal screen. "Can you please run this program for me?"

    It refused. "Bastards!"

    "Oi!"

    "Sorry…" As she started typing a bit more. "Okay, what if we convince them it's not a video game?"

    "What do you mean?"

    "Part of me thinks that the Magi refuses to run it because it's a video game, and given how mama seemed averse to the idea of running video games on the Magi, I'm thinking her mama would be averse to such thing too!"

    Maya thought for a minute. "So… we make it not a video game?"

    "Well we have this Hammer program… what if I use that to build a map, then I strip out the engine and use that in lieu of the engine the sim runs on? Because by all rights that uses the same logic and all that as this video game, right? And we'll be using it as a tool at that point, so maybe the Magi would prefer that instead!"

    "Hmm… I mean we'd still need to set up the Evangelion in simulator mode."

    "Did we have that scheduled for some time?"

    "Uhh…" Bringing up the calendar. "We had sims scheduled for Saturday?"

    "I'll have a substitute engine ready by then. It won't be parity with the current sim environment but it should at least allow us to test it. Hopefully the Magi will be a lot happier with that…"

    "I'd be interested to see the resource usage of the alternative engine, right now we need all the Magi working in sync to run the sims."

    "Ma we literally ran this on a scrap computer running Windows 2000, the Magi can handle it." She'd scoff. "I think they were just throwing a fit because they did not want to stoop down to running video games."

    "Naoko could be a bit obstinate at times, if Sempai was anyone to believe…" Before sighing in concession. "Alright, see how you go Eliza. But let Ritsuko know when she gets back."

    "I get the impression she'd be interested in this as well. And maybe if we can get this going, it might give the Magi more resources to allow for that NACSS substitute for interfacing with the sims, instead of having to take the Evangelion out of service to run sims."

    "That would be ideal…" She'd admit. "Well, I can't wait to see how you go, Eliza!"

    A quick hug, and nearing the door. "You want anything from the cafeteria?"

    "Uhh I'll just get a hot noodle box, thanks."

    A nod, and she left.

    Eliza attempted to run the game again, once again the Magi flatly denied the request.

    To which Eliza slammed her head on the keyboard (again the Magi didn't seem too happy about that either). "What did I get myself into…"
    ~

    Meanwhile Misato had returned to her office (there was still paperwork to be done, yes even this late in the evening). "I wonder if Commander Asshole just got Fuyutsuki to do all this…"

    Only there was a note on her desk. "…Hmpf, speaking of."

    The 'janitor' must have been by, as there was a note on her desk. With an 'Essendon Holden' calling card.

    "What did you find out today, Kaji…" As she sat down, opening the note and giving it a read… "'A few more names to be aware of, American ex-pats that were on the Blight payroll'… feh, we're still dealing with her are we?"

    Scanning the names… none of them seemed familiar to her. "Hopefully they're all in relatively low security roles." Not to cast judgement on them before they had proof they were up to something… but it never hurt to be aware. Especially in their line of work.

    She would be in the middle of adding their names to the Magi's surveillance register when she received a phone call. "Hello?"

    "Commander, it's Kensuke Aida, apologies for calling you this late."

    "Oh nothing wrong with that, though I'm guessing you have a favour to ask me?" In a snicker. "I'm guessing you got my number from Shinji and I doubt you'd be calling me to say hi?"

    "You saw right through me…" In a sigh. "I was gonna ask Akagi about it but she's not there at the moment and I'm not due back into NERV until after exams… Look, my partners have a friend and she's going through a few things at the moment… was just wondering what you could do to help her out?"

    "Mhm? What's going on with her?"

    "It's her younger sister. Their… their folks passed away a while ago and she got caught up in the foster system. She doesn't know what happened to her and the government won't help her so… so she wanted to see if you could do anything."

    A beat as Misato thought… she knew the system had been under pressure since Second Impact, not that the government was exactly transparent on it, wanting to keep the image squeaky clean. "What's her name?"

    "The friend's name is Mami Tomoe, and her sister is Nagisa Tomoe."

    Misato would write those names down. "I'll see what I can do, Kensuke. Just… just remember we have a lot of things going on, so I might not be able to get to it immediately."

    "That's okay, it's better than dealing with the government…" A sigh over the line. "Thank you, Commander Katsuragi. You don't know how much this means to us."

    "You're all good, you know I like to help you guys out." She'd give a single snicker. "You have a good night okay Ken?"

    "I will. Good night Commander."

    The line went dead. And the phone went down. "Cuh… well, that's something I'll have to look into."

    Back to the computer, and to her original task. "…Can't help but get emotionally invested in this sorta thing, eh girl?"
    ~~

    The town of Labrador City had seen better days, any of their 1500 residents would admit. Still, being such a quiet and frankly forgotten town had its advantages for certain people…

    A snowy owl would fly in from the forests, landing in front of a door.

    Which was promptly opened. "You're late."

    A flat look back from the bisected woman. "You don't have to remind me, Cadence."

    Now at the dinner table, eating an absolute spread of meat and other high energy foods and drinks. Meanwhile the younger of the two stood over her with a bit of an upset look to her. "You could've at least called, eh?! I didn't know where you were for those days!"

    "Look you know I had that appointment in Massachusetts." In an eye roll. "And… well, something else came up."

    "…Oh?"

    She pulled up a seat. "Spill the beans Chryssi! It wasn't anything wrong with your pack or anything eh?"

    "Nah nah, was a struggle for food but I got them fed in the end… no, it's something else that concerned me."

    A pause in eating, as she took a breath in and out. "GEHIRN are back in Quebec."

    "Oh for the love of- what are they doing back there?!"

    "From what I could gleam, looks like they're interested in getting as much info out of it as they can."

    "Well you still have all those bits you took a while ago, eh?"

    "Still up in that shelf, yeah." Before she grumbled. "I should've known that girl meant trouble…"

    "What girl's that?"

    "Oh this redhead, I spied on her camping in the woods a while ago and she found where Quebec was… thought she was just an idiot like you were but nah, turns out she's from GEHIRN."

    "Well that might be an issue…" In a grumble. "Did she get access to the locked areas?"

    "Yeah she broke that lock… surprisingly Abigail was okay."

    "Who's Abigail?"

    "Oh she was some gosling we did experiments on." Shrugging it off. "What?"

    Cadence didn't seem that pleased about the idea of animal experimentation. "Oh c'mon we treated her well! We gave her super intelligence we weren't just gonna keep her in a cage were we?!"

    "She's been trapped in Quebec for over a decade Chrystine!"

    "Yeah well she's a tough girl, they're one of the most horrifying animals out there y'know." In a blink a gosling replaced where she had been sat. "Honk!"

    "Oh no I'm so scared." About as flat as a pancake. "So what's the plan then?"

    Chrystine blinked back to normal. "Well, I gotta work on flushing them out. God knows what they'll find in the underground sections; I wasn't able to pick them clean. But I can't have them rediscover what we were doing down there. It's too dangerous."

    "They probably know something's up, y'know."

    "Mmgh, I know." In a scoff. "I think the Commander there is already suspicious. All I need to do is freak them out enough so they leave, no biggie."

    "You're not gonna hurt anyone, right?"

    "Depends. If they touch my wolves… well…"

    In a blink, her form shifted again… a red cloak, and equally red eyes, one of which was scarred… they stared through Cadence. "Something wicked may come their way."

    Cadence simply rolled her eyes. "Y'know Wayne's still getting therapy for that."

    "Well maybe he shouldn't have killed Bandit, eh?" Blinking back. "Look, I'll probably be out for an extended period again. Do we have caches around there?"

    "Uhh I think so…"

    Up from the table Cadence pulled out a map. "Yeah you have about four."

    "Alright that'll get me around a week I guess…"

    Much to Cadence's pout.

    "But I'll be back before that."

    "Good." In a harrumph. "Oh yeah before you fly off again, Margaret's asked for your services."

    "Oh what does she need now?"

    "Another breakup."

    "God damn it why can't she work up the balls to do it herself?!"

    "You know how she's like Chryssi!" She tried defending, even if this was the sixth time in as many months she'd requested it…

    "Look if she really wants me to take the fall for her I'm charging her double this time." Opening the door. "Oh yeah speaking of charges, my spy friend should be wiring us some money soon."

    "Oh good, its been a while since we bought out the IGA…"

    "Heh, tell Lizzie I said hi!"

    With that, the snowy owl would fly away.

    "Don't die!" Cadence called out from the doorway.
    ~

    The tarps had been put over the dormitories, a few satellites hastily nailed to the roof. "'Bout damn time we got these back up and running…" Wendy would mutter, as she monitored the data stream back to Massachusetts.

    "Should we worry about getting cameras set up around, Field Commander?"

    "We'd have to get them in from Boston, and it'd be more time we need to take to set them up…" Before she sighed. "But if mother nature is going to play funny buggers with us, we might need to set up a few things to counter them."

    "That bird of yours was found here, what if whatever happened with them made the rest of the animals around here intelligent?"

    "Not that we can prove that, Thunder… though we know weird shit happens here. For now we'll stick with the plan; the whole underground is still unexplored. Hopefully we can get a few things from there."

    "…Do you think we'd find out about all those damages?"

    "I've got some guys lifting fingerprints and DNA from them… whoever it was, they'll be on file."

    Speak of the devil… one of the agents would open the door. "Field Commander Ma'am!" They'd salute.

    "At ease." Turning to face them. "What did we find?"

    "We've analysed that axe we found in the Commander's office. There's two distinct sets of prints on them."

    Wendy furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

    "Where it would have been held, one hand is completely different from the other."

    "That… that doesn't make sense." Trying to think it through. "So two people held onto it with one hand each?"

    "I do not know Ma'am, all I know is the computer threw back two matches for prints on that axe."

    "Show me damn it!" Barging out and following the agent.

    And what the computer showed was… well… "Hmpf. Now this is interesting…"

    Chrystine Quinn, and Trixie Lulamoon Senior.

    "Maybe your mom is alright after all, Junior…"
    ~

    Overhead, an owl would fly circles.

    'I don't know what you guys are planning… but I will not let you hurt Junior again.'
    ~~~

    Well, I have a few things I'd like to say :p but first let's talk about the story itself, because there's quite a few things that happened today!

    Yomiko and Derek continue to get closer and closer it seems... almost like if you mesh someone's brain together, you're gonna have that sorta effect on them! Funny how that works huh :V Consdiering where they started and where they are now, I don't think the brass at Massachusetts would complain!

    What they would complain about is what Seele had been throwing their way! Not just from "Rosemary's" discoveries but from what they found out today! Mari is gonna be going through a rough time this work, believe me this will be the least of her worries!

    Makes what Eliza's trying to do seem easy in comparsion huh? :p Yes the Magi are absolutely aghast at the idea of running a video game, and that was half the reason they didn't react well to the Half-Life games!
    Okay it was a majority of the reason :V But that's no matter! Eliza will get it done!

    Speaking of getting it done though, Wendy's making do over at Quebec... though she may have someone or something standing in her way soon enough. Chrystine, well, she doesn't believe they changed their stripes, so to speak. Not sure what could convince her, but I'm sure there's someone who could, eventually...
    For now, however? There will be a dance between NERV and her, believe me.

    Okay, now it's my turn. I've been through a lot these past few months, like Jesus Christ it's been difficult. Work had me shift to a new roster, 10 hour days combined with two hours of driving to get to and from work... yeah, it really wasn't healthy. I was drifting off on the drive, injuring myself at work, didn't have absolutely any motivation to do anything after it and even during the weekend I just felt drained...

    Combined with a few other things it eventually became too much, so I just quit. I had to put my health first, which is something I really struggled with, because I'm the type of person that puts others before me. And I was doing this to my detriment, which I found out the hard way. Took me ages to get back to the point where I wanted to write again, but here we are. And I have a bit more time to do this sorta thing now, so at the very least that's a benefit while I'm looking for work :D

    Though that does raise the question of what I should do now for money. I'm looking for other jobs at the moment and I have a few assets I can sell in the meantime (doesn't help I have a holiday to America booked for later in the year, I've already put 20 grand into it and I'm not getting that back so I kinda need to go on it anyway :p), but a few people recommended I open a Patreon of sorts, a bit of pocket change per say. I didn't really wanna lock folks into a monthly support thing, so I opted for a Ko-Fi instead. So if you ever wanted to buy me a beer, well I'm not really gonna advertise it much but it's in my signature if you ever wanted to do that :)
    By no means you should feel obliged to do so of course! It's there if you ever wanted to :D

    Anyway, hopefully the next chapter will be out a bit earlier this time around... oh shit it's coming close to April isn't it? I need to figure out something to do for that... wait Mark what are you doing here?
    Yes this is a hint :p
     
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  • Apocrypha
    • I found it hilarious how Hikari was frazzled about certain events in volume 3. Imagine there reactions on volume 4 where Asuka is introduced.
     
    BG_Character_592 said:
    S: "I should've just done that honestly."
    Mar: "Oh it's nice having friends that o-owe you favors... actually now I think about it I think I have one that still owes me…"
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    Manga Shinji knows how to take advantage of a debt.:rofl:



    BG_Character_592 said:
    Hik: "I think I prefer the sex jokes… speaking of which, of course Toji ogles at us like that, good job getting back at him for that Shinji!"
    S: "I wish I had the guts to do that back then, he would've been so mad!"
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    God Manga Shinji is amazing has a lot more personality.




    BG_Character_592 said:
    Rei: "I kept good on that promise, didn't I?"
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    I like Rei resolve to protect Shinji.

    BG_Character_592 said:
    R: "That cover is… quite stunning."
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    Definitely agree Rei.



    Next time CHAOS Comes To Japan.:rofl:
     
    BG_Character_592 said:
    Noz was more interested in Pokemon manga instead of the anime,
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    Huh... Yeah, Pokémon's beginning and the subsequent Pokémania was before 2i, wasn't it? Kinda weird realizing that...

    Hell, remembering it is weird enough and I freaking lived through it.

    BG_Character_592 said:
    "None of you are without sin!"
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    Neither are you, Hikari. You aren't special.

    BG_Character_592 said:
    Mark what are you doing here?
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    "Misato? Why are we in some old-as-balls theatre in the middle of Ottawa?"
     
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