Apotheosis Echo: Beyond the Gates of Heaven [NGE/Worldsea OC]

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 20: Relation and Revelation​

The last subject that was accepted by the Committee is, perhaps, some of our finest work. Selected due to a condition that would generally mask any changes made, Subject #1522 is perhaps the pinnacle of our work, intricately cutting away subsections of the soul we previously had to remove entirely, thus making her able to blend in almost anywhere without ever questioning her loyalty to the Committee. Though this subject is the last for the pilot program, we are turning over the method and tools, the future of this project, to the Committee as well, to use at their discretion and our suggestion.

- Confidential Report on the Theory and Application of Long-term AT-Field Manipulation, Section 4, "The AT-Edit System and Its Successes"

The Val, High Earth Orbit

Asuka slowly opened her eyes as she groaned. The darkness became a white light and then resolved into… someplace… familiar.

It was the medical wing of the Val. Or, at least, the ceiling looked like it. The rest of the view was somewhat blocked by familiar faces she was more than happy to see. Daniel was there, along with Shinji, who was holding her hand as he sat by her side.

As she sat up, she finally became aware of something that felt like it encased her forearm. She looked over, and indeed, a vambrace of white, smooth and rounded, was clamped around her arm, from just above her wrist to just below her elbow. Tubes protruded from it, carrying out a strange substance that gave off a cool glow, shifting from one muted or deep color to the next.

Asuka narrowed her eyes. "Is that… Flux?" she muttered, somewhat entranced by the sight.

"Yes, actually." Asuka looked up at Daniel, who smiled slightly as he continued. "Heaven knows you've got enough of it to have knocked you out cold for a good little while."

Asuka narrowed her eyes on Daniel. "How long have I been out of it?" she asked slowly.

Daniel looked over at Shinji, and Asuka followed his lead.

"It's been almost three days straight." Shinji said quietly after a moment.

Asuka's eyes widened. "Three days?" she said incredulously. "Do I really have that much running through me compared to when Daniel did it?"

Shinji nodded. "Yeah, actually. You blew past the day and a half that Daniel spent here, and that's with the advanced medical equipment you both used and are using right now."

A look of pleading gleamed in Shinji's eyes as he continued. "So, please. Don't push yourself too hard like that." He smiled slightly and chuckled. "You know how much I can worry sometimes."

Asuka rolled her eyes as she put her hand on Shinji's and smiled slightly. "Alright. I'll try. But you'd better try not to do anything too stupid either. I worry too, you know."

It was quiet as they took each other in for a moment. Then, Daniel gave a somewhat pointed cough that drew their attention to him. "Well, much as I hate to ruin the moment you two have going on, you'd probably rather have it somewhere a little more romantic than a hospital area. If you'll give your arm to me, Asuka, I can get that brace off and give you a Vent Cuff or two to let you get out of here."

Asuka nodded emphatically. "Yes, please. I would rather spend as little time in a hospital as I can, thank you very much."

Shinji winced slightly as she said this, and Asuka fought to keep a level face as annoyance flared up within her. 'Damn it, I'd almost forgotten about that stupid movie. Damn you… what? Alternate Shinji? Hideaki Anno? Reality? I don't even know at this point.'

She reached out with her soul and connected to Shinji as Daniel opened the clamshell vambrace. "Hey. Sorry about reminding you of… that."

"No, no, it's fine." Shinji replied. "It's just… not difficult to think about it. I mean, that was us, in a sense. What else might be out there for Shinji Ikari and Asuka Soryu-Langley?"

"Honestly, dear," Asuka said, "I'm pretty sure I don't want to find out. At least any time soon."

"So," she said aloud as she stood up from the gurney, taking the two rather sporting little bracelets and putting them on, "what did I miss?"

Daniel and Shinji looked at each other knowingly for a moment before Daniel puffed out his cheeks. "Well… a fair amount. Let's start with the experiment. That'll be the part that makes the most sense at first."

- - -

Tokyo-2, 2 and Half Days Earlier

Shinji Ikari had An Idea. They were rare things, reserved usually for someone far less, well, reserved than he was. Misato had them a lot. Asuka too. Granted, many of them were duds, but Shinji Ikari was a considerate sort. He had taken this Idea and examined it quite closely. He was confident that, if nothing else, he, and the friends that were coming along with him, wouldn't be in too terribly much danger.

Which was why they were waiting patiently for Daniel to get ready and drive them to the airport. They were, after all, still minors, without even a learner's permit between them.

'It's ironic.' Shinji thought with a small, wry smile. 'All our experience piloting the most dangerous war machines in the world, and we can't even drive an automatic yet. Oh, well. Misato might be able to start teaching us soon. Then again...'

As Daniel emerged into the lobby and walked over to Shinji, Kaworu, Toji, and Hikari, he looked at all of them critically. "I've got to say," he began, "I'm not exactly comfortable with this."

"Maybe." Shinji replied. "But we're probably some of the only people able to test the theory that I've come up with in a safe manner."

"Even so," Daniel continued, "you're going to want as wide a safety net as possible."

As he finished, the elevator behind him dinged, and the Children looked behind him to see Ritsuko, Maya, and Misato emerge and come to a stop by Daniel's side.

"Which is why we're coming with you." Misato said. "You'll want at least some sort of chain of command to help pull you out of whatever fire you might start."

"And a scientist who at least has some idea of what the general properties of… Corite are." Ritsuko continued. "Along with someone to study the effects of long-term activation on-site."

"Corite?" Toji asked, tilting his head.

"It's the name for it that we're going with." Maya replied with a slight shrug. "Now, we've got a whole day ahead of us, so let's not waste any more time."

Ritsuko sighed quietly. "Let's go to the edge of the Corite zone."

. . .

They all filed into a van and began their drive towards the airport. It was a rather casual drive, Daniel focusing on the road as Misato, Maya, and Ritsuko looked intently at Shinji while he laid out his idea.

"So, we were protected by the AT Fields of our Units, which are simply an extension of one's soul." Shinji began. "If I'm right, we're essentially able to generate our own AT Fields due to being Interfaced. That's likely going to be vital if we're going to extract anyone from ground zero of that Corite. What I want to do is test how much exposure we can safely take before we need to personally pull back, with Hikari, Toji and Kaworu acting as a power boost to make sure I can get out."

It was silent for a moment as the adults contemplated what Shinji had told them.

"It's risky, no doubt about it." Misato finally said. "But it has some merit."

"Of course." Ritsuko interjected. "Frankly, it sounds like something you'd cook up. I'd feel safer sending someone in one of the Units and projecting an AT Field over whatever party we send out."

"Well, that sort of coverage is going to be rather… delicate." Kaworu said. "A field with enough power to protect from whatever the Corite might try to do, yet manipulated in such a way that it does not crush whoever it is supposed to protect… that requires a degree of familiarity in AT Fields that only I am currently able to use."

Maya opened her mouth to reply, but Daniel's hum drew her gaze towards the intersection they were coming up on. And the people that were marching across the street.

"Well, that's somewhat concerning." Misato said as Daniel pulled into a parking lot and turned on the radio, switching through channels for a moment before pausing on a news report.

"-demonstration that is gathering steam, and a steady supply of people, heading towards the New National Diet building. These protests are apparently being led by members of the Lone World movement, spurred on by the events of the last several days, which scientists are terming 'the worst ecological disaster since Second Impact'. Though League and NERV spokespeople are certain that the active core material will not continue to spread, a 10-kilometer exclusion zone has been put into effect, further displacing thousands, if not millions. For more, we-"

Daniel turned the radio off as he sighed quietly, taking the phone that had been acting as the GPS as the others in the car looked over at the march with new eyes.

"I hope your sister isn't in any danger from this." Toji said quietly as he looked over at Hikari, taking her hand.

Hikari shook her head. "No, she isn't, thankfully. It's just… hard for Kodama, having so many people she knows to be a part of this. Even if she doesn't say it." she sighed. "I just don't get it. Why are so many people who are so smart backing something this… reactionary?"

"I can imagine the reason." Daniel interjected as he selected a new route and started driving again. "As a wise man once said, 'a person can be smart. People are dumb, panicky animals'. These people have been swept up by rhetoric, a rhetoric that promises a world that won't change in ways that frighten people."

"And what, exactly, does that entail?" Maya asked as the demonstration passed out of sight.

"Good question. I never read the manifesto." Daniel replied. "Ryoji might have. Kodama might have skimmed it. But I have my guesses as to what it contains."

. . .

They reached the airport with only a little more delay, climbing into the ready transport craft. It was a quiet flight over, filled with contemplation.

The city turned to suburbia, then to the countryside as they passed over into the exclusion zone, the land becoming quiet and barren as they touched down on a hill about 50 or 60 meters from the wall of red crystals that glowed with a dimly suffused inner light, and stretched out of sight in both directions.

The group looked at it as the engines of the tilt-jet aircraft began to go silent, then Shinji took a deep breath. "Well," he said quietly, "no real sense in standing around now."

It was still a moment more before he took a step towards the wall, the others beginning to follow after as if he'd broken some spell that the crystal had cast on them.

As they progressed down the hill, Ritsuko grabbed her clear-pad from her lab coat and activated a built-in scanner, holding the pad up as if she were taking a picture. Maya followed her lead, and they swept the view one way then the other.

After a moment, her brow furrowed, and she shook her head in disgust as she squinted slightly at the pad. "There's some sort of interference coming from the crystals. Probably what turns people into LCL. Even still, it seems below what we know is able to instantly convert matter into LCL. For now. I'll keep an eye on it while we're here, see what it does."

Maya nodded. "There's also something else that the pad's sensor is picking up. But it's hidden behind the interference. Whatever it is, I'd be careful getting close to it."

Daniel nodded, then looked over at Shinji. "So, what, exactly, are you planning on doing to test your hypothesis?"

"Well, I was going to go out into the field of Corite and… stand there until I couldn't?" Shinji replied slowly.

Daniel stared somewhat pointedly at Shinji as they came up to a point where Ritsuko told them it would potentially be dangerous to continue. "Well," Daniel finally said as he looked at a cleft in the crystals, "if nothing else, I'll do my best to keep you safe. Don't go too far. I can't promise I'll be able to teleport you if things go sideways, even with the others boosting my power."

"I'll stay within sight." Shinji replied firmly.

"Good." Daniel said as he smiled slightly and put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "I'll keep the stopwatch handy. Good luck."

Daniel stepped back, and for a moment, Shinji stood alone in front of a gap in the sanguine palisade. At the edge of his perception, Shinji felt... something. Something off.

He sharpened his senses, his Sight showing Frames writhing and twisting out from the Corite, seeming to crumble away as soon as they appeared. But that was the outer layer. Behind it...

"Alright," he said as he took a deep breath, "I'm going in."

He took a few cautious steps forward until he was only inches away from stepping into the crystals themselves. He strengthened his soul as best he could, his own Frames a bulwark against the now reaching tendrils, the places they brushed his skin becoming a familiar orange for just a moment.

Shinji took another deep breath, then stepped over the threshold.

Immediately, the sound behind him seemed to fall away, and Shinji tried to take a deep breath. But there was nothing. No air to try and suck in desperately as his eyes bulged and his knees trembled.

All legible thought fled as he kept trying to take a breath that wouldn't come, slowly sinking to the ground. He had to get out. But where was the way out? Was it behind him still? How far had he walked? Had he actually lost the exit, or was his head simply spinning along with everything else?

'This is it.' Shinji finally thought as he hit his knees, watching as orange began to tint his vision. 'Man, Asuka's going to be really mad at me, isn't she?'

Then, he felt a firm hand grasp his shoulder yank him out, and he coughed as he took heaving gasps of precious air again, his vision fuzzing as someone stood over him, being quickly joined by others. The person said something, but their voice was distant, muffled.

"Shinji… Shinji! Can you hear me?"

Shinji blinked, and Daniel finally came into focus, along with Misato, the other Children, Ritsuko, and Maya, all blocking out the sky as they cast their worried looks down on him.

"I'm okay… I think." Shinji replied as he tried to sit up.

Immediately, two pads were shoved in his face, then lifted away moments later by Misato's guiding grip on Ritsuko and Maya's hands. "They don't have to be that close, ladies." Misato said patiently.

The pads were still pointed in his general direction as the group stood back and Daniel guided Shinji to his feet. "Well, it looks like you've stabilized yourself." Ritsuko said, Maya nodding in corroboration.

Shinji nodded. "Yeah. It helps when there's air to breathe." he replied wearily.

"There's no oxygen over there?" Hikari asked with wide, worrying eyes.

"Really?" Maya said as she walked over towards the Corite, her brow furrowed in concentration as she fiddled with the scanner. She stood mere meters away for a moment tapping on the pad, then turned back to look at the group as she walked back. "It looks like it, at least from what I can tell from the scanner, but I'd need a better read to be sure."

Ritsuko nodded. "Maybe we should send a drone in first with a sensor package, see what the lay of the land is." she said, glancing over at Misato, who nodded slowly.

"Why waste the time and resources?" Daniel replied as he began to walk back towards the aircraft. "Worldstrider combat armor is environmentally sealed. I'll pop back and get mine and Shinji's, then link our feeds to yours while we go trekking."

Ritsuko's mouth hung open for a moment as she turned to watch a familiar doorway appear on the side of the aircraft, then closed it as Daniel disappeared into the Infinity Box. "Or, you know, we could do that, too." she said as she shrugged.

It was a few moments before Daniel reappeared, the suit of armor appearing around him as he walked down the hill, coming to a stop in front of the group as his helmet flashed into existence around his head.

Toji hummed as he nodded. "Nifty." he said, at least somewhat impressed.

"That it is." Daniel replied as he walked over to Ritsuko. "Very handy when you're trying not to be killed. Ritsuko, your pad?" he said as he offered an open hand.

Ritsuko handed over her clear-pad, and Daniel tapped it twice against his helmet before handing it back to her. "There. You should be able to see everything I see, in just about every spectrum."

"Wow…" Maya said with wide eyes as she offered her own pad. "Is there anything it can't do?" she asked wonderingly.

"Well, it's not going to stop a tank shell on its own." Daniel replied as he linked Maya in. "That takes a far heavier suit than this. And the survival kit doesn't go much further than a cup of water and a baked potato for a meal. But it works." he ended with a shrug.

"Now, go ahead and suit up, Shinji," Daniel continued as he held out a pair of bracelets to Shinji, "and let's get this show on the road."

. . .

Daniel and Shinji stepped through the cleft once again, far more prepared now as they looked around themselves with wide, wondering eyes.

"Man, it's what it must be like being in space." Shinji said offhandedly as they clambered over and around the tall gemstones, reaching almost three times his height. "Somewhat." he added after a moment.

"Somewhat is about right." Ritsuko said, her voice surprisingly clear inside their helmets. "We're reading zero atmosphere within the radius so far, and…" she trailed off for a moment. "Oh, what does it take to make sense of some of these readings?" she muttered in frustration. "You've got a wave of… something heading towards you."

The pair looked around, and Shinji jumped, boosted by the suit, clearing the tops of the crystals, and looked the wave, marked a translucent blue color, right in the face.

Then, he kept going up. And up. And up. As Shinji flailed his arms and looked down, he saw Daniel calmly floating up towards him.

"Looks like a traveling field of null gravity." Daniel said equally calmly as he started to go faster. "Calm down, Shinji. We could actually make this work for all of us." he continued, and Shinji heard the slight smile in his voice.

Daniel was by his side in moments, taking his shoulder as they soon made it to the top of the massive wave. "Well, would you look at that?" Daniel said as he touched Shinji's arm with his elbow. "We have the best view of the area we could possibly get. Now, we just… follow the wave."

"Without going too far." Misato said pointedly into their comms.

"Yes, Misato." Shinji replied reassuringly. "Not too far. We've got it."

Shinji began to look around the rolling hills of what was once a town. They were very high up. Higher even than the Evangelions stood, which offered a view that stretched for kilometers in every direction except behind them. The sight was… otherworldly. "This is…" he began, trailing off as he tried to find the words.

"Beautiful?" Daniel asked.

Shinji took a moment before he replied. "In a sense. It's like we have our own portal to another planet in our backyards. Relatively speaking."

"So it would seem." Maya interjected, spooking the two boys slightly. "We've gathered a ton of data thanks to the errant gravitic anomaly that we'll need time to parse. You can come down now if you'd like."

"Will do." Daniel replied. "Alright," he said to Shinji, "let's just glide on down to the ground."

As he said this, a line of stars glimmered into existence on his back, and Daniel took Shinji in a side hug as they gently flew towards the ground, out of the field.

As they got close to the ground, Shinji looked over at Daniel. "There's still one thing I want to try." He said, drawing Daniel's helmeted gaze to him.

"You still want to do this?" Daniel asked as they paused in the air, and their comms erupted for a moment before Daniel muted them.

"Yeah." Shinji replied, his tone still somewhat unsure. "I'd rather be ready just in case something happens. And so I can teach the others." he said, becoming more firm.

Daniel, or at least the helmet that stood in for his face, looked at him for a long moment, then tilted his head to the side. If he was talking to the others, Shinji couldn't hear it. It was a long moment before he saw the helmet tilt back towards him. "Alright." he sighed as they finally touched the ground. "We'll try it. But not before I prepare you as best I can."

Shinji felt Daniel's soul link to his, then he saw in his mind a particular Framework. "It's a Frame helmet." Daniel said after a moment. "Keeps air and pressure in, vacuum out. Nice to know when you're tumbling into the depths of space without a nice suit. I'm also slaving your suit's controls to mine, just in case you pass out."

Shinji nodded as he breathed deeply, creating the Expression and activating it before strengthening the Frames that connected to his body. "Alright." he said after a moment. "Let's try again."

The helmet around Shinji's head disappeared, and he took an involuntary breath. Then another. Pleasantly surprised, he let the rest of his armor disappear. He looked down at his arms. They were still whole after a few moment's examination, but he felt that presence again. Something trying to worm its way in. Turn his bare skin into LCL. But he resisted. For now.

'You know,' Shinji suddenly thought, 'Asuka's going to be really ticked off. However long you stay out here.'

"Alright. I'm satisfied." Shinji finally said. "We can survive if our suits get compromised. It's not ideal though."

"You're telling me." Daniel replied as Shinji's armor reappeared around him. "Alright. Let's go get an earful from the others."

- - -

The Val

Asuka glared at Shinji as they finished their story walking through the halls of the ship. "Earful is almost too little for what you deserve. Didn't we just talk about staying safe?" she said pointedly.

Shinji blushed deeply. "That we did." he replied slowly. "But I would never have done something that risky without a support net to catch me. Or a back up plan."

Asuka continued to glare silently. Then she sighed explosively. "Fine." she said dramatically. "A little too much of me rubbed off on you, I think." she muttered with a wry smile.

"Maybe we can shift the topic to something less… dangerous?" Daniel interjected. "Such as getting the Numberless Children closer to being normal again?"

- - -

Numberless Children's Residence, 1 Day Earlier

The door to their apartment opened, and Marah, Mana, and Mayumi all looked over to see Daniel enter, along with a small group of unfamiliar people.

"Well hello, Danny boy." Mariah began. "I uh…" she trailed off as she looked over at a woman wearing a lab coat. "I didn't know we were getting our checkups."

"In a sense, you are." the woman replied as she set aside a slab of what looked like glass and something that looked like someone had chopped a conductor's baton in half on an end table. "Allow me to introduce myself."

She walked around the living room and politely shook each child's hand. "My name is Doctor Ritsuko Akagi. This is my assistant, Captain Ibuki."

The woman in question waved at them as she smiled somewhat sheepishly. "Hello. Pleasure to meet you."

A few replies were exchanged, and Mariah blinked as Mayumi spoke next. "Who are the others?" she asked quietly.

Ritsuko blinked, then smiled slightly as she looked over at the two children that had accompanied them. "Well, how about I allow them to introduce themselves?" she asked.

The girl, dressed simply in jeans and a t-shirt that had a few stray paint stains, brushed a lock of deep green hair aside from her startling red eyes. "Hello." the girl said quietly. "I am Ichigo Ayanami. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Pleasure to meet ya." Mariah replied. "And who might my brother in spectacles be?"

The boy in question waved. "Hi. I'm Kensuke. I'm one of Doctor Akagi's research assistants." he said, an odd wondering in his expression.

Mariah smiled. "Good to meet you as well."

Ritsuko stepped between them. "Alright, now that introductions are out of the way, we're going to begin your preliminary scan. Daniel, if you'd like to explain what we're going to do?"

Daniel nodded as he sat down on the coffee table. "So, if you'll recall, I said that there was something that we needed to fix a few days ago?"

The three girls nodded slowly. "Yeah." Mariah replied. "What of it?"

Daniel sighed quietly as he closed his eyes for a moment. "What do you know about how souls work?" he asked quietly.

The girls blinked. "Uh… do they actually exist?" Mariah asked.

Daniel's face grew a resigned expression. "Alright, then. Let's take this from the top."

. . .

The three girls sat in silence as Daniel finished his explanation, and the others who had come with him stood by.

"You're telling me someone messed with our heads by… going through our souls?" Mariah asked quietly.

"Unfortunately so." Ritsuko replied, glancing down at the rectangle of glass as she tapped on its surface, then somehow impossibly stretched it into a far larger frame before turning it around to show the three.

On the screen, four holographic diagrams of human heads, crisscrossed with what Daniel had explained to be Frames, slowly spun around. "This," Ritsuko said as she pointed to the one on the top right, "is what a baseline soul, with all the Frames pertaining to normal functions, looks like. These…" she said, gesturing to the other three as the baseline head disappeared. "Are yours."

The girls watched, some with mounting dread, as voids, some far larger than others, were highlighted in blue, and the Frames that should have filled those voids capped off by something glowing purple.

"What we plan to do is to remove these Flux caps around the Frames connected to your brains." Ritsuko said quietly. "After that, we begin the process of regrowing said Frames to allow you to get at least somewhat closer to being normal again."

"I'm not going to lie, it's going to be a long process after that." Ritsuko admitted. "But we'll make it as easy as we can for you."

It was silent as they all processed this. Mariah's head spun. Was this real? Had they really been under someone's thumb, dancing to another tune this whole time? Was she really even who she thought she was?

She looked down at herself. Then, she heard movement and looked up to see the green-haired chick, Ichigo, get up and walk over to the couch, sitting on the arm next to poor Mayumi, who seemed on the verge of breaking down into tears as she shuddered slightly.

She put a hand on Mayumi's shoulder, and Mayumi looked into Ichigo's patient gaze. "I understand the feelings you're experiencing right now." she said quietly. "What you all, to one degree or another, are experiencing. I have gone through something like this myself. I may still be figuring things out myself, trying to understand who I really am, but I will help you do the same." she said with a quiet surety.

Mayumi looked up at her with wide eyes. "Thank you." she whispered.

Ichigo smiled slightly. "Of course, Ms. Mayumi."

Ritsuko stood. "Alright. We'll get things prepared so that you can begin the operation." she paused as she sighed quietly. "We would try and do it here on the planet, but the facilities and equipment are only available onboard one of the Seabreakers in orbit, so you'll have to come with us there."

"You mean we get to see Daniel's spaceship?" Mariah asked, barely able to contain her excitement as she leaned forward with a gleam in her eyes.

Ritsuko shook her head. "Not exactly. We're going to the Sonne, the Tellan science ship in orbit. It has the equipment for the process."

"We could, however, arrange for it to be done on the Val." Daniel said slowly, drawing Ritsuko's attention to him. "It would take two or three days, but it could be done if Mariah and the others are intent on seeing my ship." he looked over at the girls. "It would be your choice."

Mariah looked over at Mana and Mayumi, who both shrugged. "I am not averse to any decision made." Mana replied levelly.

"And it's still a spaceship, either way." Mayumi said with a nod. "Whatever makes you happy, I guess."

Mariah looked back at Daniel and Ritsuko silently, a massive smile on her face all but shouting her question.

Ritsuko sighed quietly. "Fine." she said patiently. "I'll make the arrangements. Maya, if you'll accompany me."

As the two doctors began to take their leave, Mariah stretched a hand towards them. "Oh, Doc…"

As Ritsuko turned, Mariah's manic grin eased into a grateful smile. "Thanks for the sanity meds. It's been nice being able to not bounce everywhere." she said earnestly.

Ritsuko paused, then smiled slightly. "I'm glad I can help. Let me know when you need a refill."

With that, Ritsuko and Maya departed, and Mariah's gaze turned to Ichigo. "So. What have you done to help build a better you, as it were?" she asked.

Ichigo smiled slightly as she took a seat next to Daniel on the coffee table and pulled out a smartphone. "A number of things, all of them creative in some way." Ichigo replied. "I'm most proud of this."

She showed them the screen of the phone, and all three girls leaned in to see a painted model of a robot, deep browns contrasting with bright blues and greens and yellows.

"What is it?" Mana asked.

"That," Kensuke said as he walked over to stand beside Ichigo, "is the RX-78-2 Gundam mecha. Every model builder's first real kit."

"Well, I'd prefer to be putting together something a little more tactical, but hey. Robots work." Mariah said with a shrug as they all regarded the picture.

"You mean like assembling a gun?" Kensuke asked, looking at Mariah with a peculiar look.

Mariah looked at Kensuke with a small grin. "Oh yeah. Having an ex-military dad helps. I've stripped down and put back together tons of different guns."

"So have I, actually." Kensuke said, somewhat more reserved than Mariah was expecting. "Dad and I used to do it, but… that was before dad died. I don't really do it that much, anymore."

"Well…" Mariah said slowly. "Maybe I could scrounge up something, we could sit down and build some?"

Kensuke opened his mouth for a moment, then shut it, then nodded and shrugged after a moment. "You know what, sure. Why not? Maybe after your operation?"

"Sure. call it a date." Mariah shrugged.

"Maybe not a date, but yeah. I look forward to it." Kensuke chuckled.

Daniel stood, and made his way back to his room. "Alright kids. I'm in my apartment if you need anything." he called back as he walked out the now guardless door.

'They'll be good for each other.' he thought, as he closed the door on the now chattering kids.

- - -

The Infinity Box

"And Ichigo and Kensuke are going to work with them to find creative outlets like her?" Asuka said. She nodded after a moment's thought. "Good on them."

"That it is." Shinji replied. "I'm glad we could start helping them."

"Yeah." Daniel said as the trio emerged into Daniel's apartment, leaving the blue room of stacked boxes behind them. "In the meantime, I'll gather the rest of the Children tomorrow, and call my contact. In the meantime, rest up. We'll be getting started on putting together a retrieval mission tomorrow as well."

"Oh, no, Daniel." Asuka replied. "No rest tonight. Shinji and I are going to get the sound canceller for our room that we packed up."

"And when were you planning on informing me of this?" Shinji asked patiently, a good idea of what her answer would be as he observed the hungry gleam in her eyes.

"Right now." Asuka shot back. "It's been three days. And I'm restless."

Daniel nodded as he took the cue. "You should know where you put it. Asuka's is on my right, Shinji's is across from me, whichever you two decide to shack up in tonight. Have fun."

Asuka grinned as she took Shinji's hand and dashed back into the Infinity Box, dragging Shinji along. Daniel simply sighed and chuckled slightly as he walked over to the couch and sat down, turning it on to watch… something before he actually went to sleep.

'Like this won't be happening when we get Eleanor back.' he thought with a wry smile as he caught the sound of an excited couple rushing out his door. 'I'll need to find my noise dampener. And I'm going to make sure that moment comes sooner rather than later.'

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 21: Specters of Past and Present

It has long been a truth in this world that one will want power over others. Such has led to countless sufferings, wars, and strifes. Perhaps the most damaging, long term, to any people who suffer from such in this world, is the specter of colonialism, the sometimes subtle, sometimes violent invasion of one people's homes by another, an outsider, who try to tide the indigenous people over with promises of riches of power, of statehood in a vast, beautiful empire. But all too often, these have been lies. Lies which only erode and eventually destroy their environments and peoples.

- 'To Stand Apart', a manifesto collated from the post chain of 'Providence' on an online forum site, Post 1

The Infinity Box, Early September 2016

The sun rose on a day that had become filled with anticipation. All of the Children had converged on the Infinity Box early in the morning, those that needed what Daniel, and this other 'contact' he'd been so damnably mysterious about, had to offer carried precious trinkets with them. Trinkets that carried the souls of their parents.

As they emerged into the bare room, Kensuke, Ichigo, Misato, Ritsuko, and Maya in tow, Daniel stood from kneeling over a glowing blue and white circle and turned to look at them.

"So, what's the setup?" Asuka asked as she walked to the edge of the intricate circle, filled with sweeping curves and lines that seemed to make up an elegant constellation.

"This is a Containment Inscription, a sort of landing pad for our contact." Daniel replied as he turned back to the circle, kneeling as his Grip appeared in his hand, humming slightly as he regarded it for a moment. "Kensuke and Ichigo will likely become somewhat familiar with this sort of setup, as it allows for contacting and containing Spirits that exist beyond one's Grip."

"Wait a minute." Misato said with no small amount of alarm. "Contain? Is this contact dangerous?"

"Potentially." Daniel replied as he looked over his shoulder at Misato, catching Kensuke and Ichigo inspecting the circle out of the corner of his eye. "Then again, all Spirits are potentially dangerous. It's just a difference of how much so. Most have so little potential as to only be dangerous in extreme corner cases. But they still need someplace with the requisite Metos to manifest into the physical world." he smiled slightly. "It's the same sort of phenomenon that creates haunted houses, under the right conditions."

Misato nodded slowly as Daniel looked back to the circle, the hum of his Grip changing in pitch and tone until it settled on a low thrum. Then he set it into a small opening in the circle in front of him.

The Inscription began to glow, and the thrum grew deeper and louder, seeming to seep into everyone's bones as Daniel stood and stepped back. "Now," he said, "we wait for a moment."

They all stood there, none daring to break the silence that fell on them as they watched the center of the Inscription intently, waiting for… something.

After what felt like ages, something flickered just above the center of the circle, a dot of pale light that expanded into a colorless hole in the fabric of space only a little wider than a man. From that space, a hand, pale blue, thin and with long, similarly thin fingers, reached out, grasping at the side of the hole, another following its lead as it reached for the opposite end. Then, the two hands were followed by long, toned arms, then another pair of hands presaged a head, sleek and cat-like with far too many eyes, that swept the room as its body emerged in short order, floating in the air above the hole for a moment as it disappeared.

Its body was sleek, snake-like with patterns of bright color that rippled and shifted across its body as four of its eight limbs touched down on the Inscription, and it steepled the fingers on its two sets of forelimbs and looked down at Daniel as it towered above him, easily 3 or 4 meters long from head to flicking tail tip, and a predatory grin stretched across a face with 12 eyes.

"Well, well," the Spirit said, its voice a deep purr not unlike the tone that Daniel had used to call it, "why am I not surprised, Daniel?"

Daniel sighed quietly. "Hello, Dham. You know, generally, at least, why I called you."

"Why else do you ask for my services?" the Spirit replied with a chuckle. "After all, you are, perhaps, one of my most… reliable clients."

"And who might you be?" Kensuke asked, trying to mask his uncertainty with bravery.

The Spirit's head whipped over to regard the boy, who stepped back and cringed slightly as the Spirit drew itself up to its full height. "I, my dear boy, am Dhamadren, the Dream-Smith." it replied with aplomb. "I take the elements of the ethereal and, through expert ministration, craft them into physical forms. I have created many diverse wares, including, as it seems is most pertinent when Mr. Theisman calls for me, new bodies for wandering souls."

"How does that work?" Shinji asked as he stepped up, the gem that contained his father's soul clutched in his hand.

"It's quite simple, really." Dhamadren replied as he looked over at Shinji, his body seeming to be dragged behind his head. "You and I will be linked, in one form or another. I will extract the needed resources to fulfill your request." he paused for a moment. "May I assume that you are one of my prospective clients, as judged by the soul held within your grasp?"

Shinji nodded, and brought his hand up, and opened his palm, looking down at the gemstone that glowed within. "Yes." he replied as he looked back up into one pair of Dhamadren's 12 eyes. "But I'm not the only one whose parent needs a new body."

Dhamadren looked at the Children, then the adults who stood behind them, then back at Daniel. "Ah. A batch order." Dhamadren finally said after a moment with a toothy grin. "How many souls will I be working on?"

"Four. All of them are the children's parents." Daniel replied levelly.

"Ah." Dhamadren said as he nodded slowly, the motion undulating through his upper half. "I see. A rare job indeed. But not one without the necessary components."

"What kind of components will you need?" Misato spoke up, stepping forward from Ritsuko and Maya, whose faces were glued to their pads as they studied the Spirit intently.

Dhamadren didn't respond, looking at the four Children, and the souls that they carried, with narrowed eyes, his humming a deep rumble. "Their dreams and nightmares will be particularly potent, with the bonds that they have with my work." he finally said, nodding slowly as he regarded the Children with a critical cluster of eyes.

"Now, hold on, Dham." Daniel interjected. "Their dreams can be yours, but all I'll ask is that you use my nightmares." he said firmly.

Dhamadren sighed. "Such a trite material to work with. I have seen your nightmares before. I seek something new and exciting to fashion these bodies with." he said tartly.

"I haven't called on you in quite some time, Dham." Daniel retorted calmly. "I've accrued quite the store for you to tap into."

Dhamadren regarded Daniel for a moment. "Perhaps." he finally said. "I will see what I have to work with. Your nightmares are, after all, a familiar medium. Though I cannot promise that I will not have to dip into these children's nightmares."

"I can ask that you keep such intrusions to a minimum, however." Daniel said. "I am familiar with your process. They are not as of yet."

Daniel and Dhamadren regarded each other for a moment, neither giving any sign of backing down. Or, at least, any sign that they others could readily interpret.

At last, though, Dhamadren sighed again. "Very well. I agree to your terms." he said, his deep voice laced with resignation. He straightened himself up, extending a hand that all others suddenly realized had two too many fingers on it. "Shall we begin?"

Daniel nodded as he reached into the circle, an invisible wall becoming opaque as his hand passed through it and grasped Dhamadren's. The rest of the group leaned forward as the back of Daniel's hand began to glow a bright green, then faded after a moment as Daniel broke contact, then crouched down to pick up his Grip.

As he lifted it from the circle, the Inscription vanished, and Dhamadren shuddered slightly as he looked around. "I assume you'll create my usual abode when you task me on something?"

Daniel nodded, and a hollow opened up in one wall, two slabs on each side of the cave-like opening. "There you go. One of the kids will deliver their soul so you can begin your work. Can I expect your usual turnaround time?"

Dhamadren nodded. "3 days per soul. No more, no less." he replied.

"Good." Asuka said as she stepped forward. Then, she turned back and looked at the other Children with an uncertain expression. "Do... do any of you mind if I go first?" she asked quietly.

They all shook their heads, and Shinji stepped forward to put a hand on her shoulder. "Asuka," he said, equally quietly, "if there's anyone I'm excited to meet, it's Ms. Kyoko. I'm willing to wait a little while longer for my father."

"Yeah, Asuka." Toji replied. "We're this close. If it's a matter of a couple of days, then go for it."

Hikari stepped forward and wrapped Asuka in a hug. "I'm looking forward to meeting Ms. Soryu as well." she said simply.

"Guys…" Asuka whispered, tears flowing freely. "Thank you."

She took a deep breath, then turned to regard Dhamadren. "So, how is this going to work? Do I shake your hand too, get…" she glanced down at Daniel's hand, now adorned with what looked like a tattoo of a hammer set within an anvil, waves emanating from the top. "Whatever that is?"

"Not at all." Daniel said. "This," he continued as he raised his hand to show everyone the mark on it, "is a Judicator Seal. It allows him to use me as an anchor to the physical world, and is a sign of the contract we've made. I can get three uses out of it to do something that ensures that the contract we've made is maintained, after which time, Dham is free to drop the contract and return to Mentality."

Dhamadren sniffed. "Not that you've ever needed to use it. I pride myself on being a reliable contractor. No, our connection, young miss, will be less formal, and will allow me to work while you sleep, bringing your dreams to the surface and harvesting them."

"Now," Dhamadren continued as he stretched his hand toward Asuka, "may I see the souls, so that I may begin my work?"

Asuka slowly reached out and put the gleaming pill of bronzed metal in Dhamadren's hand. He looked at the other Children. "Come now. I shall need all of them, either now or later." he said.

As one, the three stepped forward, and soon, two of Dhamadren's hands were filled with the vessels for their parent's souls. "Thank you, young ones. I shall proceed to work as the day finishes." he said with a smile. "Thank you for… engaging in my services."

"Thank you for being willing to offer them." Shinji replied.

Dhamadren offered a toothy grin as he turned away. "It is my pleasure to work, young man. Now, leave me, if you would, so I may prepare my workspace."

"We'll leave you to it, then." Daniel said as he began ushering the others out of the Infinity Box, some more willingly than others.

As the door to the Infinity Box closed behind them, Ritsuko, Maya, Kensuke, and Ichigo all turned to Daniel. "So, do you know how his process works?" Ritsuko asked. "To take a mental image, a concept, and turn it into a physical substance of any kind…"

"Is somewhat beyond me. You've described the process about as well as I understand it." Daniel replied. "Spirits, being creatures of Mentality and Pneumaity, are able to bend and sometimes break the rules far more easily than us Interfacers originating from Physicality. There's a reason that many rely on Spirits if they don't learn more than the basics of Interfacing."

He looked over at Kensuke and Ichigo, whose own Grips were now in their hands as they studied it intently. "How long would it take for a Spirit to become that intelligent?" Kensuke asked.

"It depends." Daniel said with a shrug. "Dhamadren is far older than most anything alive here, save maybe Lilith and Adam. How long it took to get to where he is now, I'm not sure. I've seen some Spirits mature more quickly, and more slowly. So… just keep an eye on them."

Kensuke and Ichigo both nodded, and Daniel looked over at the other adults. "So, we'll be planning out the retrieval mission tonight, then?"

Misato nodded. "We've put it off long enough." she replied firmly. "We're getting Eleanor and Rei back."

"And securing the other Units, if we possibly can." Ritsuko added meaningfully.

"Alright, then." Daniel said. "I'll see you three tonight. As for the rest of you," he continued, looking at the children, "go and relax. He's quick, and I've never known him to run late on a task."

"So, quick question before we go." Asuka said. "How does the whole 'extracting dreams' work?" she asked.

"Well, he brings the dreams to the surface of your mind and you'll experience them as he extracts them." Daniel said simply. "It's part of why he works while we're asleep. It's easier on both parties than trying to drag them out during the day."

"Wait, so…" Shinji interjected with a worried look in his eyes. "You're going to be having nightmares for the next week? And that's all?"

Daniel sighed quietly and smiled slightly as he stepped forward and put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "For you guys getting the chance to see your parents again, it's worth it. I'll survive."

"Thank you." Shinji said quietly. "From all of us."

- - -

5 Hours Later

Daniel Theisman was up on the rooftop of the apartment building again, pondering what was to come as he looked into the distance towards Tokyo-3.

It wouldn't be long now. A few days, then everything would at least be… more to his liking. 'Normal is asking a bit much these days, really.' he thought with a chuckle.

As he looked out and took a deep breath, he could smell the fresh open sea in the air. 'Eleanor…' he thought fondly before his brow furrowed in confusion, then concern. 'Wait a minute.'

He looked behind him and saw four figures in Worldstrider armor, two men and two women, their helmets off as they gazed back at him.

Daniel panicked for a moment, then the panic subsided as he recognized the figures. He stood and turned to face them, walking towards them before stopping a few meters away.

"I see you've decided to grow out a beard, Manny." one of the men said in a carefully measured tenor after a moment, a tall, olive-skinned figure with a mop of black hair who spoke English.

"And it looks like I'm not the only one, Baywatch." Daniel replied as he slipped into English as well, nodding at the man's similarly full beard. "Taking after your father more and more, I see. Nice tan by the way."

"Oh, come on." the man replied as he rolled his eyes. "We both went through Tartarus. That sort of heat will give anyone a tan for multiple lifetimes."

They stared at each other silently for a moment. Then, they both slowly began to smile. Daniel chuckled, and they took each other in an embrace. "Oh, it's good to see you, Percy." Daniel said quietly.

"You too, Dan." Percy Jackson replied as they parted from the embrace and regarded each other for a moment.

Daniel sighed as he looked over at the woman at Percy's side, a fair face and blond hair accentuated by piercing grey eyes and a light dusting of freckles on her cheeks. "Hey, Annabeth." Daniel said as he walked over to embrace her.

"Hello, Uncle Dan." Annabeth replied. "How is Eleanor?"

Daniel opened his mouth, then closed it as he stepped back, glancing over his shoulder at the horizon. "She's elsewhere right now, Wise Girl. We're going to go get her soon." he replied quietly.

It was silent for a moment as Daniel continued to look out, then he looked over at the other man and woman. The man had a fair complexion and electric blue eyes, topped by a shock of blond hair, while the woman had a deeper tone to her skin, like red clay, with eyes that at times shifted from color to color. "Jason, Piper. Good to see you as well." Daniel said with a slight smile. "Where are the others?"

"They're back up on the Festus, sorting things out." Jason replied with a slight smile. "Piper should be there helping, but she wanted to come and say hi. Can't say that I blame her."

Piper punched Jason's shoulder lightly. "They'll be fine. The Outriders are just getting their legs under them, is all. They'll figure it out."

"Outriders?" Daniel asked, a puzzled look on his face.

"Well, before Sovereign Chandra told us you were here and that we needed to get to you as soon as possible, she had us tasked with overseeing the training of the first League Outriders, an organization started by, well, the League of Independent Echoes." Percy explained. "They're kind of like us, but they're fresh to this sort of stuff. Not that they aren't experienced as lone wolves or in twos and threes, but the whole working together as a big team thing has been a… challenge." he settled on with a sigh.

"Interesting." Daniel said with a slow nod. "Well, maybe shaking up where they are might help settle things for a moment. I'll be on my ship this afternoon if the others and the Outriders want to stretch their legs. I imagine the journey here was fairly long."

"You don't know the half of it." Annabeth said with a sigh. "It'll be nice to see your ship. I wonder if you might have a wall of wonders like the one that you've got going on back at home." she said with a smile.

"One with enough to keep you occupied for a while at least." Daniel replied with a chuckle. "And the stories that go along with them will keep you there for even longer."

"Well, I'll let the others know." Percy replied. "And, Colonel Theisman, Chandra did put us under your command when she tasked us with going here. We'll follow your orders. And I'm betting the Outriders will too."

Daniel blinked, mouth slightly open, then chuckled. "Alright. I'll see you in 2 hours then."

"We'll be there." Percy replied. And with that, the four demigods disappeared, leaving Daniel alone on the rooftop once again.

Daniel pulled out his phone and dialed Misato. As she picked up, he fell back into Japanese. "Hey, Misato. Have you and Ritsuko got anything going on in the next 2 hours? If you do, you might want to get Fuyutsuki to do it."

A pause as Misato replied, and Daniel smiled slightly. "Well, some more Worldstriders arrived, along with a group from the League. I'd like you, Ritsuko, and the Children to be present when we greet them aboard my ship. It'll be a nice little party."

A pause as Misato replied. "Alright. We'll figure things out from there. I'll even give you guys an actual tour of the ship alongside the others. Then, we'll figure out what to do with them."

- - -

The Val, 2 Hours Later

Daniel, Misato, Ritsuko, and the Children all stood waiting. Daniel had decided to change into his Worldstrider uniform for the occasion, while the others had changed into their NERV uniforms. They stood in an area designed for accommodating teleporting passengers, looking at the raised platform with no small amount of anticipation.

After a moment, a little under two dozen people blinked into existence on the platform, looking around themselves with wondering eyes.

"Welcome aboard the Gwynevere's Valiant Daughter." Daniel said as 11 familiar faces, and several others both familiar and new, began to funnel off the platform. "I'm Colonel Daniel Theisman of the Worldstrider Corps, for those of you unfamiliar with me. You may address me by either of my ranks, Colonel, or Major as is my rank in NERV, or you may simply call me sir."

"Now, with that said," Daniel continued as the two groups separated themselves, "let's get some introductions out of the way."

He gestured to the people in question as he listed them off. "This is Commander Misato Katsuragi of NERV, my commanding officer. Doctor Ritsuko Akagi and her assistant Captain Maya Ibuki of the Science Division. And First Lieutenants Shinji Ikari, Asuka Soryu-Langley, Hikari Horaki, Toji Suzuhara, and Kaworu Nagisa, our resident giant robot pilots."

The group in front of them nodded slowly before Percy stepped forward. "Hi there. Nice to meet you. I'm Captain Perseus Jackson, and this is my wife, Lieutenant Commander Annabeth. My friends here are Captain Jason and Lieutenant Commander Piper Grace, Leo and Calypso Valdez, Frank and Hazel Zhang, Nico and Will DiAngelo, and Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. Everyone else is a Lieutenant in the Worldstrider Corps. We're looking forward to getting to know you better as we work together."

"Now, if the Outriders would like to introduce themselves…" Percy continued with a restrained sigh.

One in the group pushed to its front, a thin, taller man with a pale complexion who wore a black pinstripe suit with a green vest and white shirt that stood out from the relative simplicity of the rest of the group's clothing, his mop of black hair cascading around a sharp face and discerning blue eyes. "I am Loki Odinson." the man proclaimed in a British accent. "Scion of Asgard and leader of this gallant band of-"

"Loki." Percy interjected with a sigh of exasperation. "We've talked about this before. Leadership is not up to you."

"Well, respectfully, master Perseus, last I checked, I was the full God of Mischief and Trickery, whilst all of you are only half-gods of… whatever pantheon your parents derive from." Loki shot back.

"Loki." Piper said warningly, a subtle something lacing her voice that pulled at everyone's attention.

Loki raised his hands. "My apologies, Mrs. Grace." he said, surprisingly genuinely. He looked back over at the now thoroughly mystified members of NERV. "Future leader of this gallant band of Outriders." he continued. "You may address me as Lord or Sire."

With a sigh, another man, also tall and lanky, put a hand on Loki's shoulder as he stepped forward, gently pushing him back. This man was also pale in complexion with a sharp face, yet his hair was cropped short and red, his eyes a colder blue than Loki's.

"I am Loki Kratosson." he said, his voice a slightly deeper tenor than the previous Loki's. "To prevent any confusion, you can call me by the name my father gave me, Atreus. I apologize for my… compatriot's antics. I am the leader of these Outriders, and I shall keep a closer eye on his behavior for the duration of our stay."

"Well, we have to keep things interesting somehow." Loki muttered as Atreus stepped back.

The next two figures to step up were clearly related, one shorter and with streaks of red in her short black hair that matched her similarly colored attire. Around her neck hung a scarlet scarf, on the end of which sat a single, baleful yellow eye. Her companion was a study of contrasts, tall and wearing white and blue with long, flowing black hair that fell past blue eyes that the two shared.

The short one waved. "Hello. I'm Ryuko. This is my sister Satsuki. Hello again, Daniel." she pulled out a lemon and bit into it, rind and all, forestalling any answers or questions.

Daniel chuckled softly. "Hello again. Good to see that you're both doing well post-Academy."

"And it is good to see you doing well in turn." Satsuki replied, a seemingly natural imperious tone to her voice.

They stepped back, allowing another pair to step forward. This was a couple, a man and woman, the man with bright red hair and brown eyes, the woman with long black hair and blue eyes.

"Hello." the man said softly. "We're Shirou and Rin Emiya. We're accompanied by our three Sabers."

They stepped aside and allowed three women to come to the fore. All were clearly warriors, two with blonde hair, one with black. "These are the Pendragons, Artorias and Mordred," the woman, Rin, said in a clear confident voice, "and this is Jeane d'Arc."

One of the Pendragons, with long blonde hair in a bun, dipped her head. "I believe I speak for all of us, sir Theisman when I say that it is good to see you again."

Daniel nodded. "And it is good to be able to work with you again." he said with a slight smile.

A single woman stepped forward as the five stepped back, tall and pale with short black hair that did not even reach her shoulders, even as it framed her silver eyes and level expression. "Major Motoko Kusanagi, ready for duty." she said levelly. Then, she smiled slightly. "I look forward to working with you again, Colonel Theisman."

"And I with you." Daniel replied with a curt nod.

As Ms. Kusanagi stepped back, another, who seemed to stand head and shoulders above the rest, simply nodded her head, rustling the ponytail of deep red hair slightly. "Greetings." she said with a lyrical voice. "I am Kaerana, Handmaiden of the God-Empress Isha of the Imperium Ascendant." she looked over at Daniel with a slight smile. "The Empress sends her regards to you."

"Thank you, madam." Daniel replied courteously.

Finally, the last member of the Outriders made her way to the front, and it seemed as though the strangest had been saved for last.

First and foremost, she was an anthropomorphic duck, which was perhaps shocking enough, but she was… cartoonish in proportion was the only way to put it. Large, friendly blue eyes sat atop an easy smile that had oddly human-like teeth within the bill, and she waved with a hand that had four fingers on it. Perhaps the most normal part of her was her prosthetic leg, but even that was offset by the fact that, even for her depth and presence in space, she was somehow, quite literally, animated, as if she had literally stepped out of a cartoon.

"Hi. Name's Della Duck." she said, an easy, kind voice. "Pleasure to meet y'all. I'm technically the representative of the Pathfinder Branch, also known as just my family at the moment, so I'm not really with the others, but it's nice to be along for the ride."

It was silent for a moment before Maya spoke up. "I, uh… don't mean to be too rude, Ms. Duck, but how are you… cel-shaded?"

"She's a Toon." Daniel replied. "They're not uncommon, depending on the World Engine. Even here, it's about a... 1-in-40 chance that an Echo looks like the anime. But that number varies from place to place."

"Now, with all that out of the way," Daniel continued, I'd like to give you all a tour of my ship. To do that, I'll have my ship's adjutant join us."

As if on cue, Amaya appeared beside Daniel, and nodded. "Greetings." she said calmly to the group as they looked up at her.

"Oh, hey, Amaya. I wondered if I might see you again when I heard where we were going." Della said as she waved again, her smile widening.

Amaya smiled slightly. "Hello again, Ms. Della." she replied. "It is good to see you out doing what you seem to do best."

This interaction ended in protracted silence as all eyes were turned to look at either Amaya or Della. "Amaya," Daniel finally said after a moment, "how, exactly, do you know Della Duck and I don't?"

Amaya looked down at Daniel with a bemused expression. "Because she tumbled into the ship while you were away after I had taken it looking for you."

"And where, exactly, would you be looking for me?" Daniel asked with an arched eyebrow.

Amaya was silent for a moment as her irises seemed to impossibly slide up, leaving only the whites of her eyes. Then she blinked as she looked down at Daniel. "Records show that you had sparkjumped from Arrakis to a location in the 42nd Millenium. Tracing that location took time, however. Time spent moving from place to place, during which Ms. Della fell into our ship via an errant portal. I gave her a beacon to use to contact the League."

Daniel opened his mouth, then closed it after a moment and shrugged. "Well, that tracks. Anyway," he continued as he turned to the gathered group, "friends, compatriots, let's start that tour, shall we?"

. . .

The tour went off (mostly) without a hitch, and the groups conversed with one another, the Children especially bouncing from person to person as new relationships were made. Shinji seemed to stick next to Shirou, while Asuka and Toji were clustered by Ryuko. Hikari and Kaworu walked beside the Sabers and Motoko, while Misato, Ritsuko, and Maya conversed with Della Duck, moving from one topic to another.

Soon, they found themselves in the Observation Bubble, a place of displays of supreme quality that currently showed the view of the moon and stars. They all stood there for a moment, taking in the majesty of creation, some less reverently than others.

After a few moments, Daniel turned to the group. "Alright. Percy, Annabeth, Jason, and Piper, I'm going to want to talk about your assignment here." he said quietly. "Atreus, if you'd like to follow along, as you are under the wing, as it were, of our Worldstriders. Misato and Ritsuko will be joining us as well. The rest of you, if you are feeling hungry, the Conservatory's food replicator should be able to give you just about anything you'd like. Now, if you'd come with me."

Daniel led the leaders of the Worldstriders, the Outriders, and NERV, out from the Observatory, weaving his way towards his personal quarters.

It was a spacious affair, with deep crimson carpets and steel gray walls and ceiling, a screen taking up a sizable portion of the far wall and acting as a window to look out of. The rest of the wall was taken up by a long, tall display case, within which rested the many keepsakes Daniel had collected. To the left was a massive bed that sat against the wall, and in the center of the room was a long desk, behind which a surprisingly utilitarian swivel chair sat.

"Vordt, do you think you could conjure up a few chairs here?" Daniel asked the open air, and after a moment, there was a whir as the air blurred, and as everyone blinked, the air cleared, and chairs for all present appeared in front of the desk.

"Thank you." Daniel said as he circled around to his desk. "Please, sit."

As they all sat down, Daniel steepled his fingers and regarded the leaders. "I appreciate that you're here, but I must admit, you've arrived at somewhat of an off time. Our biggest threat on this world, an organization called SEELE, has been dealt with, for now at least. Right now, the biggest hurdle we're dealing with is an isolationist movement known as the Lone World, who want the League, all of Reality really, to leave this world be."

"Sounds suspiciously convenient, I have to say." Percy said. "Mysterious, evil organization gets dealt with, and a seemingly innocuous, but possibly dangerous group suddenly becomes a thing."

"That's what we've been thinking." Daniel replied frankly. "We've got the best in NERV intelligence on it, and so far what we've got is an unsurprising reaction that's swept the world with surprising speed and the worrying possibility of becoming violent at a moment's notice with the right ingredients."

"Which is why, right now, your mission, both of your group's missions, is to act as advocates for the Worldsea, Tel and the League alike. I'll direct you to the diplomatic delegations here, as honestly, I'm a military man. Percy, you'll want to link up with…" Daniel paused as a searching look grew in his eyes. "Michio. He's the leader of the Tellan delegation. Atreus, you'll be linking up with Mr. Rastaff, the head of the League delegation. If you need anything from NERV…" he trailed off as he looked over at Misato.

"Our doors are open to you." Misato said firmly. "We may not have much right now, but we'll help you as we can."

"Thank you, Ms. Katsuragi." Atreus replied. "Your assistance will be appreciated."

"Yeah." Percy added as he nodded. "Anything else we need to know?"

It was quiet for a moment before Daniel shook his head. "No. That's about all I can give you right now."

"Got it." Percy replied. "So, I guess it's storytime, seeing as your 'wall of wonders' is right there? I imagine Annabeth's been waiting for this." he continued with a wry smile.

That smile was mirrored on Daniel's face as he stood. "If you'd like it to be, then certainly."

The others stood as well, varying levels of excitement in their expressions as Daniel moved over to the display case, stopping in front of a sheathed hand and a half sword that hung over a hologram of a silver ring with a band of what looked like the night sky in its center. "This is Taltinu, the Comet Blade. I, along with some helpful elves, forged this during the Second Age of Middle-Earth, so that I could combat other Seastriders who had forged Rings of Power for unscrupulous ends. It's forged of a mithril alloy…"

- - -

Misato's Apartment, 4 Hours Later

The sun was nearing the horizon in the Tokyo-2 sky as Misato trudged into her apartment, Ritsuko, Maya, and Daniel in tow.

As the four of them sat down in her living room, Penpen waddling up to snuggle against her leg, she looked over at Daniel. "I've just gotta say again. That stillsuit you showed us can't be comfortable."

Daniel shrugged. "Well, when it's a moment's discomfort putting it on or dying in the desert, you get used to it fairly quickly."

Misato nodded slowly as she lifted Penpen up on the couch to sit with her. "I guess. The rest of the wall was cool, though. Never thought I'd see a percussion cap rifle alongside a lasgun."

Ritsuko nodded absentmindedly. "Yes." she said offhandedly. "I'm just glad that Ms. Duck…" she paused as she shook her head in disbelief. "Ms. Duck agreed to a study. We're going to be the first scientists in the world to study a living cartoon."

"Why not?" Maya replied, equally dazed. "After all, we've made a lot of firsts before. The first study of an S2​ Organ, the first study of Angelic DNA, first of Angelic-Human fusion. Why not this?"

Misato nodded, then shook her head as she stood. "Alright. I'm going to need something to wake me up. We need to talk about the retrieval mission." she said with a serious tone.

That alone seemed to wake the other three up at least somewhat, though Ritsuko still nodded gratefully. "Oh, yes. I'd rather have some coffee before we start talking." Maya nodded quickly in agreement.

"Alright, then. Daniel, you want anything?" Misato asked as she began to walk towards the kitchen unit.

Daniel shook his head. "No thanks. Having anything like that around now keeps me up. And I'll be needing to sleep, especially now."

Misato nodded in understanding, and soon, the smell of instant coffee filled the air as the three ladies sipped appreciatively.

"Alright," Misato began, "let's start with what we want to retrieve. Obviously, we want to get Eleanor and Rei back. Likely the Numberless Children's Units as well. But what about the Mass-Production Evas? Lilith itself?"

It was silent for a moment. "Well," Ritsuko began, "we're going to need to see if Lilith has shrunk down any. For that, we'll probably need to send a drone overhead. If its shrunken from what it was, then we can entertain the possibility of using one of the Evas or Titans to move it. As for the MP-Evas…"

"Honestly, they're out of commission." Daniel interjected. "And Kaworu mentioned that the pilots inside were just hollow shells of himself that they Pneumaically knotted together and stuffed into a Plug. If there's anywhere I'm comfortable leaving them for any extended period of time, it's going to be in the middle of a field that tangs people."

Misato opened her mouth to reply, then paused for a moment with a puzzled expression. "'Tangs'? What does that even mean?"

Daniel blinked. "Ah. It's, uh… what the fanbase for the show called getting turned into LCL. Any orange drink could be used."

Ritsuko shook her head. "There's a fanbase for that horror show?" she asked disbelievingly.

"I mean, yeah?" Daniel replied. "But we digress. Regardless of what happens to someone in that field of Corite, it's likely to be the safest place to keep them until we figure out what to do with them."

Misato nodded. "Whatever else, he's right on that. So… what do we do if we can't extract Lilith?"

"Well, someone's still going to have to go in and get them." Daniel said. "The difference comes from whether we need an Eva to project a Field around our exit point to keep us from immediately turning back into LCL."

"Tang…" Maya muttered offhandedly as Ritsuko nodded. "We should only send one person in, minimize the risk. And that person will likely be you."

A smile tugged at a corner of Daniel's mouth. "I was going to volunteer anyway, but thanks for making it easy. So, when do we begin the operation?"

"We'll need about half a day to parse the data gathered by the drone flyover and plot out the quickest path. So… the day after tomorrow?" Maya said plaintively.

"Sounds good." Misato said. "And… after that, I'll want to talk to all the higher-ups in NERV here. I think… I know where we're going next."

The other nodded. "Alright. Well, I'm heading to bed." Daniel said as he stood. "Good night. I'll see you all tomorrow at some point, probably."

"Good night, Daniel." Misato replied. Then she paused. "I hope… the nightmares aren't too bad." she said quietly.

"Thanks." Daniel replied. "It's nothing I haven't dealt with before, though. I'll make it out the other side."

With that, the heads of NERV soon went their separate ways. Today, it seemed, would only be a portent of how busy the coming days would be.

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Interlude 5: Weirding

Kawasani's Bar and Grill, Tokyo-2, September 10th, 2016

Daniel Theisman needed to unwind. After a particularly restless night, and with the retrieval mission looming ahead, he could use all the relaxation he could get.

Which was why he walked into the bar with Percy, Annabeth, Jason, and Piper, giving them a chance to get used to speaking mostly Japanese. They had been out to a few different places already, and this was their latest stop.

As they got seated at their table, a waiter appeared and took their orders. After a moment's deliberation on what to eat with it, Percy and Annabeth decided on blackberry mojitos, Jason asked for a Jack and coke, and Piper simply ordered water.

And as the decision came to Daniel, he surprised none who knew him. "I'll just have a ginger beer please. A Bundaberg, if you have it."

As the waiter walked away, Percy chuckled. "Why am I not surprised that that's the one thing that hasn't changed?" he said wryly.

"Because a strong foundation needs little repair to host any great monument." Daniel replied in an overly solemn tone, eliciting a chuckle from the others.

"So, you became a poet while you were gone, too?" Piper said. "Of all the things an adopted daughter of Athena would do, I never quite considered that one."

Before Daniel could reply, he heard someone, two someones, walk up behind him. "Okay, Gurney. Where did you go and put my Daniel?" A deep familiar voice said with a chuckle from behind Daniel, as a hand firmly gripped his shoulder.

Daniel and the others looked up, and saw Duncan Idaho, along with a woman nearly as tall as him with bright red hair, standing at the table and looking down at them.

Daniel smiled as he chuckled. "Hello, Duncan. Funny we should meet here. Have a seat, meet my good friends here." he said as he scooted over to make room for another chair.

"Certainly," Duncan replied as he looked over to his companion, "if you don't mind, Ms. O'Hanrahan?" he asked courteously.

O'Hanrahan shrugged. "I don't see why not." she replied in a surprisingly deep voice.

As room was made and the two sat down with their drinks, Daniel looked over at O'Hanrahan. "That's quite a catching name. Is it Irish?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

O'Hanrahan nodded in return. "That it is. My name is Saoirse. I'm the head of security for the Tellan delegation."

"Ah." Percy said as he nodded. "We'll probably be getting in touch with you soon, then. We've just arrived, and Daniel's tasked us with helping out however we can."

"Good to know." Saoirse replied. Then she blinked. "Wait a moment. Daniel, as in…"

"Daniel Theisman." Daniel finished, a quiet dread beginning to bubble in his gut as he wondered what came next.

Saoirse's eyes widened for just a moment before they hardened. "I remember you." she said quietly. Dangerously.

The air around the table seemed to drop a few degrees in temperature as Daniel's eyes gained a sorrowful gleam. "Where?" he asked quietly.

"Tel. The Incursion." Saoirse replied, equally quiet. "When you cut down my whole squad in front of my eyes and left me for dead. For your Spirit soldiers to deal with."

Percy leaned forward as his brow furrowed in anger. "That was the Hollow Saint, and everyone knows that. Not-"

Daniel put a hand on Percy's shoulder. "Stop." he interjected. "She's… she's not entirely wrong. I was there. I remember. Even if I was beating at the inside of my skull to try and get myself to stop."

Saoirse's eyes widened again, a look of shock where once was anger. "Oh." she said numbly. "I'm… I'm sorry."

Daniel took a deep breath. "And for what little it must be by now… my condolences, for your squad."

"Thank you." Saoirse whispered. It was silent for a long moment afterwards as their drinks arrived.

After a long drink, Duncan sighed. "So," he said, looking intently at Percy, "who might you be, besides one of Daniel's many interesting friends?"

"Well," Percy replied, clearly grateful for the change in subject, "I'm Percy Jackson, and this is my wife, Annabeth, and my friends, Jason and Piper. We're demigods who grew up in America."

Duncan nodded slowly. "Demigods? As in, you aren't entirely gods?"

"We're children of the Greek gods." Annabeth replied. "As such, we have supernatural gifts, not entirely unlike being born an Interfacer."

"Ah." Duncan said as he nodded again. "Well, what can you do, then?"

"Well, I can manipulate seawater, as my dad's the sea god and all." Percy said, pointing a finger up as a tiny globe of water appeared above it and began to spin. "Annabeth's mom is the goddess of wisdom, so she's become a human supercomputer, Jason's dad is the god of the sky, so he flies and shoots lightning, and Piper's mom is the goddess of love, so she gets a compelling voice."

Duncan blinked silently for a moment. "So, you all get powers mostly beyond the scope of human capability, while Ms. Piper gets the Voice? That seems… somewhat unbalanced."

Piper blinked. "The Voice? That sounds like an oddly specific designation."

Duncan nodded. "It's a power of the Bene Gesserit witches from the Echo I come from. A compelling, commanding voice. I've seen it used by..." he trailed off, a forlorn look entering his eyes.

"I've heard it too." Daniel said. "It's… somewhat different from your powers of suggestion, Piper." he paused, seeming to consider something for a moment. Then, he sighed. "Allow me to demonstrate." he said, ignoring as Duncan's eyes went wide.

Daniel looked intently at Percy. It had been a while since he had heard him speak as comprehensively as the Voice needed to get a firm hold on his mind, but he'd done enough talking recently to allow for at least a decent profile.

He took a deep breath, the muscles in his throat twitching into position just so, precisely as he instructed them to, memories of eavesdropping on Lady Jessica and Paul's training pushed aside for a moment. There was another breath, one that was quiet, almost silent. Then, he spoke. To Percy, it seemed that no sound came at first as he uttered the words, then they seemed to ripple out with many layered voices, only one such voice belonging to him, all the others those of women.

"Give me your drink."

Percy's hand reached for his drink, lifting it and beginning to reach out to Daniel before he paused, his eyes wide. "Woah." he nearly whispered as he took his drink back and took a sip. "That is freaky."

Daniel sighed quietly and nodded. "And no Interfacing or magic to be blocked. It's purely mental self-control and biorhythmic manipulation. It's only a small part of the Prana Bindu training the Bene Gesserits received, which would become the Weirding Way, but it's the part I filed away for later. I don't use it often. For one, it takes actually hearing someone talk, in person, to work. No recordings or other getarounds. Anyone with a sufficiently strong will can resist it, though that is a high bar to clear. And finally, I hate taking away people's free will like that. But the situation sometimes arises that I need it."

"So how did you learn it?" Duncan asked, clearly both impressed and somewhat terrified. "Any man who got caught learning that sort of thing got disappeared by the Bene Gesserit. To say they guarded their secrets jealously would be the understatement of the century."

"I was Paul's personal bodyguard if you'll recall." Daniel said as a slight smile tugged at his lips. "I was supposed to shadow him. Even if that meant sitting outside of a room while he talked with his mother for long periods of time."

"And Lady Jessica was a member of the Bene Gesserit." Duncan concluded as Daniel nodded.

He sighed quietly after a moment of silence. "I miss that boy. Before we went to Arrakis. When he was warmer. Kinder." he sighed again and shook his head as he chuckled. "Forgive an old man his musings. We have the present to enjoy, after all."

"So," he continued as he looked at Percy, "how long ago did you get here?"

"Only yesterday." Percy replied. "I'll admit, the Seabreakers parked around the Echo did slow things down somewhat, but not by much."

"Other Seabreakers here already?" Duncan mused. "That was quick. It's only been a little over a month or so since we started negotiations."

"I can guess at who they are though." Daniel interjected. "Merchants. Free agents, licensed agents from the League or Tel, probably even a few smugglers wondering if they can chance getting in without anyone noticing."

"Now, I was a student of history before I became a Worldstrider." Daniel continued. "We'll need to be quite careful in how we let these merchants in. They could destabilize the entire world without ever meaning to. Or, in the case of smugglers, without caring."

"I can see how that might work." Saoirse replied. "But the League agents, at least most of them, are likely highly trained for this sort of first contact, the Tellan envoys at least as much so. But once they're allowed in, it's the smugglers we'll have to keep an eye on."

"Then perhaps you and the Outriders will have another mission profile in the near future." Daniel said as he glanced at his companions.

"Maybe." Percy replied. "Either way, it's going to make things interesting around here." he said with a shrug.

. . .

Eventually, however, the group had to go their separate ways. As they stood outside the bar, Duncan wrapped Daniel in a comfortably familiar bone-crushing hug for a brief moment. "Good to see you, as always." Duncan said as he let Daniel go.

"You too, Duncan." Daniel said after taking a breath. "Take care. I'll see you around."

As Duncan began to walk off, Saoirse stood there for a moment, regarding Daniel with an unreadable expression. "Good luck." she said simply, then turned and walked away in Duncan's direction.

Daniel simply looked on as Percy put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey." he said quietly. "You can make it. You've come this far, obviously."

"Have I?" Daniel replied, equally quiet. "Will I ever fully escape the Hollow Saint's shadow?"

After a silent moment, Daniel sighed. "I wish I knew." he said forlornly. Then he took a deep breath then smiled at Percy. "Well, let's get a move on, then. Tokyo-2 won't explore itself, will it?"

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Interlude 6: Bird's Eye View

Katsuragi's Current Residence, September 10th, 2016

Penpen woke up in his small recliner in Misato's room, once again grumpily noting that they were still in the not-home. As he waddled towards the much smaller, more cramped rain-maker, he noted that Misato, Beer-giver as he'd known her for years before he properly got her name down in his mind, had something complicated-looking set up on the table, eating breakfast across from it.

She noticed him regarding this strange contraption and smiled slightly. "Well, good morning, sleepy-head. Need a beer just yet?" she asked.

Beer he understood, at the very least. But he needed the rain first, and he said as much as he shook his head.

"Alright." Misato replied, her smile widening slightly. "You know where it is, generally." she paused for a moment as she looked down at her breakfast and sighed. "Man… maybe I should ask Shinji to do some shopping sometime. Whip something up that'll keep and reheat easily." she said quietly.

Much of what the words meant went over Penpen's head still, but he got the general idea, and the emotion behind, her forlorn statement. So, he walked over to her, tapping on her knee as had become far too common over the past few days to shake her out of whatever funk she was in. It was his job to be the sad, grumpy shut-in after all, and he said as such.

Misato looked down at him and smiled sadly. "Thanks, Penpen." she sighed again. "I wonder what goes on in that brain of yours sometimes…" she trailed off, looking into the middle distance as she took another spoonful of cereal.

Penpen took that as his cue to go get in the rain-maker.

After a nice, hot rain (one of the best things these humans did besides beer), he clawed a chintzy, somewhat coarse towel down from the counter that Misato had placed it on, Penpen opened the door half expecting one of the others, Woodwind and Firehair, to be there, waiting for him to get out.

But then he remembered that they were in other not-homes as well. The quiet was nice at first, especially after the little girl in his last not-home had nearly suffocated him on more than one occasion, but now he found it… somewhat stifling. And more than a little creepy.

As he walked over to the fridge and opened it, grabbing a familiar can of Yebisu beer, Misato, who had seemed to finish breakfast, called over to him from behind the contraption. "Just get a newspaper today, okay? I'm going to be in a meeting for a while, so I'll need it to be quiet."

He understood and replied as he cracked open the beer and slipped a straw that he had grabbed from the counter into it, sipping as he wandered the not-home in search of a sufficiently interesting newspaper.

Eventually, he found one with a sufficiently interesting picture on the front, a lot of humans in front of what looked like a very big building, waving things around. The symbols on the paper meant little to him, but he'd probably be interested in the pictures that were inside.

He waddled back to Misato's room and hopped onto his recliner again, setting the beer in the well-worn cup holder as he opened the newspaper and began to search for interesting symbols or pictures as he heard Misato's meeting begin.

It was a long meeting, and his beer had disappeared and the newspaper leafed through long before it had been concluded. Misato's voice rose in volume as time went on, and Penpen cringed internally as whatever meeting was going on out there seemed to become a shouting match.

Then, as Penpen waited in his recliner, the meeting became quiet. This, somehow, scared him even more than the shouting did. The quiet talking continued on for a while more, then it was silent.

As the silence stretched on, Penpen slowly got out of his recliner and waddled out into the kitchen. His concern grew as he observed Misato in front of the contraption, now silent and dark, her head in her arms.

Penpen approached slowly and gently tapped Misato's leg a few times. He was worried, and he expressed his concern in no uncertain terms.

As Misato lifted her head to look down at him, Penpen noted her puffy, red eyes. "Oh. Sorry if I kept you from getting a beer." she said quietly with a slightly wet chuckle. She took a deep breath before standing. "Come here."

She scooped Penpen up into her arms. Normally, he would protest such penguin-handling, but he knew she probably needed his support more than his bellyaching. They plopped down onto the couch, and simply sat there silently, the time that passed uncared for.

Then, after however long, Misato put Penpen on her knees at arm's length, and looked at him. Penpen didn't recognize this sort of look, a searching glare that seemed to pierce through him and scanned him up and down, only briefly meeting his eyes. He wondered somewhat what she was thinking, and decided to ask.

Misato blinked. "Oh. Sorry. You probably haven't seen me do that yet. You're… probably also a little too warm for comfort, huh?" she asked guiltily.

He didn't see what that had to do with the current situation, but he nodded as he agreed.

Misato chuckled as a comfortingly familiar gleam lit up in her eyes. "Well, let's see what we can do about that."

She jostled a little as she dug her little device out from her pocket, and tapped on it before putting it to her ear like she always did.

"Hey, Ritsky." she said as someone on the device spoke. "Do you think you could come over sometime soon for a few minutes?"

There was a pause as the voice on the little device replied.

"Yeah. I wanted your help in trying to do that thing you talked about with Penpen." a pause. "Sure. Tonight works."

Another long pause. After the voice on the other line finished, Misato nodded slowly. "Yeah. That's wonderful news. But… there's something I'll want to talk to you about. Tonight." a short, but heavy pause. "I'm still putting things back together. I'll be ready to talk about it when you get here."

A pause, then a sigh accompanied by a smile. "Thanks, Ritsuko. You're the best. See you then."

She hung up, then looked at Penpen with a smile as she pocketed her device. "Alright, buddy. Get ready to never need a freezer again."

Penpen was confused but intrigued. How could she, and the person she talked to, accomplish such a thing? He didn't really know. But he would find out. Tonight at least.

. . .

The day passed by mostly pleasantly. The beer that he had shared with Misato, and the several that came after, certainly only helped matters.

Head-tail, Misato's mate, came by for a moment, and they shared some alone time together. Penpen was more than happy to oblige them with their privacy. Human romance was… somewhat exhausting to be around sometimes.

Finally, it seemed, the time came, as a knock came at the door sometime in the early evening.

"Come in." Misato replied, and the person at the door entered. Penpen recognized her. It was White Coat, one of Misato's old friends alongside Head-tail.

They shared a brief hug, then White Coat looked down at Penpen. "So," she said in mock professionalism, "is our patient ready for his procedure?"

"Probably as ready as he'll ever be." Misato replied with a chuckle. "We've been waiting here all day, just kind of…" she trailed off as the slight smile that had accompanied her chuckle vanished. "Destressing." she settled on.

"I'm guessing that 'destressing' you've been doing has something to do with what you learned this morning." White Coat said, a concerned look in her eyes.

Misato nodded. "Yeah." she said with a concerning sense of finality. "After tomorrow… NERV will cease to exist."

White Coat's eyes went wide with shock. "How?" she asked numbly.

Misato sighed heavily. "I had a meeting with the U.N. Security Council, the Minister of Defense, and the Prime Minister. The U.N. forced the shutdown of NERV-2 in Germany. Lutenhahl is now looking for other lines of work. They were this close to shutting us down too before I convinced them to let us at least do the retrieval mission."

"It was a miracle I got even that far. And…" she paused. "It somehow gets worse from there."

"I somehow find that hard to believe." White Coat said incredulously.

"And yet it does." Misato replied grimly. "The U.N. wants the Evas back immediately, regardless of their state of repairs. I tried to argue that Daniel needed to look at them, but they didn't care. They want them by the end of the month. All of them. Even the ones we'll be recovering."

White Coat shook her head. "If SEELE tries anything else Eva sized, and they more than likely will, we're screwed if they do it before we can make any more Frame Titans."

"Yeah." Misato agreed. "You guys are doing good work, from what little you told me over the phone, but… how long before we can start producing them again?"

White Coat puffed her cheeks as she considered something silently for a moment. "Two weeks? Maybe three?"

Misato nodded slowly. "Hmmm. Okay." she said, equally slowly. "I've got… the beginnings of an idea."

Most of the conversation went over Penpen's flightless head. But he could still tell that, whatever they were talking about, it scared them, and deeply so. So, he waddled over to Misato's side, nuzzling her leg and voicing his support.

The two women looked down, and Misato chuckled. "I guess our shut-in is getting impatient." she said wryly.

"Well then," White Coat said, her relief at the change in subject evident even to Penpen, "let's not waste any more time and get to work, shall we?"

Misato picked him up and set him on the couch, and he sat down with an inquisitive look in his eyes as the two women kneeled and studied him intently.

"Okay," White Coat said as something appeared in her hand, a slender, short rod that was glowing with shifting colors at its tip, "the first thing you should know about Inscriptions on a living being, at least from what Izalith taught me, is that they are a little more complicated than they are inanimate objects. You have to tie them to a person's soul in order to power them, which cuts out the middleman of making a Metos Siphon from scratch, but it takes a little more skill to-"

"I appreciate the explanation, Doctor." Misato interrupted. "But how about I just watch with the Sight?"

White Coat closed her mouth as she touched the rod to Penpen's metal chestplate. "Alright, then. We'll start applying the Inscription here, in this engraving. I'll need you to take the scriber tool a few times in order to apply the effect you want to be done to it."

"Alright. Let me know when you need my touch." Misato replied.

With that, the two women fell silent and began… whatever they were doing. He felt the rod press gently on his chest, their hands tracing the symbols that had given Misato the inspiration for his name.

It was not an uncomfortable process, but every so often, whenever Misato took the rod and pressed just so, he felt an almost, but not quite unpleasant chill run through his body, causing him to shiver from time to time.

The process began to drag on, and Penpen grumbled at the prospect of not having at least some kind of beverage to drink while he waited for whatever this was to finish. All he got in reply was two grunts of concentration.

Finally, Misato took the rod and made one last swipe, and a comfortable chill washed over him, not seeming to leave after a few moments. To say that he enjoyed the sensation was a fair understatement, and he gave his thanks to his two practitioners.

"You're welcome, Penpen." Misato said as she stood, smiling at the penguin's evident pleasure.

White Coat continued to observe him silently, and Misato coughed pointedly after a moment. "Uh, Ritsky? Something wrong?" Misato asked.

White Coat shook her head. "No, no. The Inscription is working just fine, and power's flowing to it from his soul. There's just something… off." she said.

"Off?" Misato replied slightly incredulously. "About what? His Frame?"

White Coat simply nodded, and Penpen soon felt… something. 'Felt' wasn't the right description, though, for what Penpen experienced as he saw White Coat's eyes narrow in concentration.

"Well, what is it?" Misato asked after a moment's silence. "Surely, you haven't studied that many animal Frames just yet to just say that Penpen's Frame is 'off'." she said, bracketing the last word with fingered quotations.

"No." White Coat replied quietly. "But there's an outcropping of Frames that are disconnected from his core, somehow. Give me a moment, and…"

And as he experienced as White Coat seemed to move something into place, things… expanded for Penpen. He looked at the world around him, the people around him, with new eyes.

"Woah." he said. "This is… weird."

White Coat, no no no, Ritsuko's, eyes went wide as she stood slowly.

"What's going on?" Misato and Penpen asked, only one of them aloud. Ritsuko replied by connecting to Misato as she continued to stare down at the penguin on the couch.

"So," she asked casually, "can you explain how you can down 3 beers in quick succession and stay basically sober? I've been wondering about that for a while."

Misato looked at Ritsuko with a questioning glare as Penpen replied. "I don't know." he said, giving the mental image of a human shrug. "It's supposed to do something to you besides taste good?"

Misato looked at her longtime roommate with eyes wide in shock. "Uh…" she said aloud. "You know, I'm jealous. What with all the work I do." she said across the link Ritsuko had since stepped out of.

"Really? That bad, huh?" Penpen replied. He paused for a moment. "Hold on, I need a second to get used to all… this."

"You and me both, buddy." Misato replied. This was going to be interesting to introduce the others to. Both person and penguin found themselves comfortably amused by such a thought.

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Interlude 7: Tales of Tokyo-2

Fushigiri's Fine Dining, Tokyo-2, September 10th, 2016

Second Lieutenant Kensuke Aida wondered, not for the first time, exactly what he was thinking when he decided to take Ichigo out to eat somewhere that was this fine for lunch.

It wasn't that it wasn't a decent place to dine, by far. The quiet, secluded tone of the restaurant worked well in Ken's favor for what he was here for, and the service and prices were both well kept and surprisingly decent on his wallet, respectively. The venue itself he held no ill will towards.

No, it was more towards himself, he thought as he sat across from Ichigo, who had actually dressed for the occasion quite nicely with a deep blue dress that set off her hair just so…

He had to keep himself from shaking his head in wonderment and disbelief. The fact that he'd talked himself into agreeing with Ichigo to something like this, while mostly shocking to him, didn't cover a part of him that was slowly becoming more and more okay with this. He wasn't entirely sure which part unsettled him more.

He thought back, not for the first time, to only about 2 days ago. He and Ichigo were emerging from Quelaan's apartment here in Tokyo-2, another lesson under their belts. He had looked, once more, into the space within his soul that the form of his Grip disappeared into, looking at the nascent Spirit within.

It was… overwhelmingly curious. That sort of emotion, that wonderfully simple sapience, had only just begun to emerge before they had been swept to the safety of Tokyo-2 during the Last Battle of Tokyo-3. Now, though the amount of Metos that he had been feeding it had increased, the joy of interacting with it, exploring its expressions of curiosity, had grown in equal measure.

"So," he said casually, "how's your Spirit doing? You mentioned you were finding a name for it. Any that have stuck out so far, yet?"

Ichigo shook her head. "Not as of yet. I appreciate your continued suggestions. Strange as some of them may be."

He shrugged. "Glad I can help." he said with a smile.

They had continued in silence for a moment before Ichigo looked over at him. "Kensuke?" she had asked quietly. She continued as he looked over at her. "You know how my memories of Rei's life have become… obscured."

"You've mentioned it a time or two." He'd replied. "Something to do with what happened at the First Battle of Tokyo-3, right?" Ichigo nodded silently. "So, what are you looking for?"

"There is a term." Ichigo had begun. "Something that you do with someone that you like." her brow had furrowed in concentration. "It is… what do you say? On the tip of my tongue."

A bolt of anxiety had struck his heart like lightning, and it hammered as he swallowed and offered the answer that, for some reason, a part of him dearly hoped was wrong. "A… date?" he said tentatively.

Ichigo nodded. "Yes. That's it. A date." she seemed to silently mull on the seeming significance of that word for a moment before she looked back at him with a peculiar look in her eyes. "Will you take me on a date?" she asked, somewhat bluntly.

He had been silent for a moment, his eyes wide. Ichigo had grown embarrassed, blushing slightly as she looked back to where they were walking. "Did I… did I do something wrong?" she asked quietly.

"No, no!" He'd quickly replied. "It's just…" he'd trailed off after a moment.

"Is there someone else that you take on dates already?" Ichigo had asked.

"Not…" He'd begun. "Not anymore." he'd settled on. "They're here, in Tokyo-2, but… I don't know where. And it's been long enough that… they might have moved on already."

That wasn't the only reason he'd not contacted Sayaka and Kyoko yet. Quelaan's words after that lesson still rang in his ears, and… that fire that she had talked about had been a little stronger than he'd expected.

"So, yes." he'd continued. "I'll take you on a date. Say, 2 days from now?"

Ichigo nodded. "That sounds agreeable. I will prepare for then, and be ready for wherever you may wish to take me."

"Oh, good. I'll find someplace we can go and let you know before then." He'd replied.

Even long into the night, as he lay alone in his bed, he tried to sort out the mess of emotions that now swirled in his head. How he felt about Sayaka and Kyoko. How he felt about Ichigo. And how he felt about the utterly terrifying prospect of… possibly moving on.

Ichigo coughed politely, dragging Kensuke back into the present as he looked at her smiling slightly at him, the sight causing him to blush a little. "Sorry." he said sheepishly. "Head was in the clouds."

"That is okay." Ichigo said quietly. "I understand there is a lot for you to think about at this present moment. With the retrieval mission tomorrow and all."

"Yeah." Kensuke said quietly. "That too."

"If I may be so bold," Ichigo said slowly, "what else were you thinking about?"

Kensuke opened his mouth, then shut it again. "Some other people." he admitted in a mumble.

"The people you…" Ichigo began, then paused as she blushed. "Took on dates before?" she said quietly.

Kensuke looked at Ichigo silently for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Yeah. Sayaka and Kyoko. They're nice. We got together in Tokyo-3 before their families moved here. We had a good thing going too. A weird thing, but… a good thing." he said quietly.

"I am glad that you were positively influenced by them." Ichigo said quietly, as they finished their meal and took the check. It was silent as they waited for the card they had given.

"Thank you," Ichigo said after a moment, "for giving me this experience, even for how… awkward it must be. I think I should say that to you more often."

"No problem. Thank you for being understanding." Kensuke said, somewhat relieved, as the check came back.

As they stood to leave, and started making their way out of the restaurant, Ichigo looked over at Kensuke once again. "May I hold your hand?" she asked softly.

It was a moment more, within which they exited the restaurant, before Kensuke nodded. "Sure." he said simply.

With that, she took his hand, and they began their short walk home. It felt… good, Kensuke realized. Better than even he first realized. 'You know…' he thought. 'Maybe it isn't so bad to move on now.'

. . .

As they walked into the hotel they stayed in that had been set aside for NERV staff, they got into an elevator, still hand in hand, and went to their floor. As they emerged with a ding, they came to find themselves in front of Major Hyuga and Captain Faez.

"Oh." Hyuga said in surprise. "Hello, Ichigo, Second Lieutenant Aida."

"Hey there, kiddo." Faez said to Ichigo before glancing over at Kensuke with a bemused smile. "So, I see you bagged this kid. Seems a little nerdier than I'd expect of you, but hey, I'm just glad you've got him."

Kensuke blushed as Ichigo smiled slightly. "Thank you, Adira, for the kind words. Kensuke is a good man." she paused for a moment, her smile disappearing. "Were you… able to retrieve any of your painting supplies?" she asked softly.

It was silent for a moment as a somber look cast itself over Faez's face. "No. Nothing survived when Tokyo-3 got… corified. I've lost… everything. Even… my picture." she finished in a whisper.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Adira." Ichigo said softly. "I… I wish there was something I could do."

Kensuke blinked silently. Within his Grip, he felt a surge of… excitement. A desire to do… something. "Hang on for a second." he said offhandedly as his Grip appeared in his free hand, and he reluctantly let go of Ichigo's hand to take off his glasses.

"What are you doing?" Ichigo asked as Kensuke gently touched his glasses to the Grip.

"Following my Spirit's lead." Kensuke replied as the glasses began to glow softly with a pale blue light. "Ms. Faez, if you could… hold still for a moment, I guess?"

"O…kay?" Faez replied as Kensuke replaced his glasses and looked at her, his eyes widening from what he saw.

He looked at the Frame of Adira Faez's soul, but he could also see little packets of light, shooting stars, racing back and forth within the branches of the Frames. Seemingly on instinct, his Spirit seemed to pluck one of the motes of light out, revealing not only the images of a painting, but the feelings and thoughts attached to it. It looked like a monster, and there were few, if any, positive emotions attached to it.

"What did this picture look like?" Kensuke asked quietly as the Spirit seemed to start rifling through different pictures.

"It was… a photo." Faez replied slowly. Kensuke watched as his Spirit started sifting through photos faster than he could blink. "A group picture of my squadmates."

As she said the last word, the Spirit settled on a photo like she said, a group of women in military fatigues smiling at a camera. The… memory? Impression? Whatever it was, it was almost dripping with good feelings and memories.

He felt his Spirit connect to him and… push, and Kensuke looked down with wide eyes as the Spirit took the memories and… spun a new photo into existence in the air.

As it finished forming, Kensuke felt a deep exhaustion settle on him as his Spirit pulled away from their connection and the photo dropped into a now open hand.

All present regarded it with no small amount of shock before Kensuke bashfully presented it to Faez. "Uh… here you go." he said hesitantly.

Faez took the photo with near reverence, scanning it silently as tears welled in her eyes. "Thank you, Kensuke." she whispered. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." Kensuke replied, pondering at the sudden revelation of what it seemed his Spirit could do. 'But what to call you?' he wondered. It was not the only thing he would wonder that night.

- - -

Local Tokyo-2 Supermarket

"Man," Shirou Emiya mused aloud as he gazed down at a display stand of fish, "fish is expensive around here."

"All meat is, unfortunately." Shinji Ikari said sympathetically. "Chalk it up to the, well, impact of Second Impact wiping out a lot of animal species. There's been a downward trend relatively recently in prices, but they're still a lot higher than they were 2 decades ago."

"I see." Shirou replied somewhat absentmindedly as he picked out a decent enough specimen, and had it wrapped for him.

As the pair continued to shop for ingredients, having bonded over their two great past times: saving the world and cooking, Shirou looked at or glanced at Shinji wonderingly from time to time. Shinji picked up on this fairly quickly, and at first, thought nothing of it. As time went on, however, it began to get a little distracting.

As Shirou glanced at him again, Shinji looked back over. "Is there something wrong?" Shinji asked.

Shirou blinked. "Oh. No, sorry." he said quickly. "It's just… I've met a Shinji before."

"Different kind of Shinji." he continued as Shinji's brow rose. "He was a Matou instead of an Ikari. And he was… basically the opposite of you. Arrogant, quick to anger, and frankly, sadistic. Knowing a Shinji that's none of those things is… a nice change of pace."

"Was he part of your 'Holy Grail War'?" Shinji asked as they pondered for a moment on a rack of spices.

"Yeah." Shirou replied. "It was… not fun. Especially when Sakura got roped in." he continued darkly as he picked up some thyme.

"Shinji, Sakura…" Shinji said as they moved on to another aisle. "Lot of names I know."

"But certainly not the faces."Shirou chuckled." I guess I'll have to get used to that as an Outrider."

Shinji looked over at Shirou as he mentioned the organization." So... what's it like? Being able to go around the Worldsea and all that?"

"Well," Shirou began with a sigh, "it's… kind of crazy, especially with this being our first mission. Especially with Loki involved."

"He seems… a little unsuited to working with others." Shinji observed.

Shirou bobbed his head from side to side. "Most times. He's got his moments though. And he's not even the living cartoon."

They shared a quiet chuckle as they checked out and began walking home.

"Yeah." Shinji said quietly before he paused for a moment. "I wonder how Asuka and Rin are doing." he wondered.

. . .

Infinity Box

Asuka and Rin trotted into the cool, blue-stoned room, wearing light exercise clothes and towels around their necks, excited gleams in their eyes.

"Thanks for asking me to spar." Rin said with a sure smile as they entered. "You're a little young for how hard I usually go with Shirou, but I'm looking forward to whatever surprises you can dish out on me."

"Oh, I wouldn't dismiss me for my youth so easily." Asuka replied with a cocksure grin. "I might have more surprises than you might think."

"We'll see about that." Rin shot back as they emerged into the Infinity Box proper, and her gaze was drawn to the dark cave carved out of one wall, within which a dim glow emitted.

"Uh," Rin said uncertainly, "what's going on in there?"

"Oh, nothing to worry about." Asuka replied as she walked over towards the cave. "Just my mother getting her body restored. I've been meaning to check up on her today. I'll do it quick."

"Okay." Rin said, uncertainty still evident as she followed Asuka to the mouth of the cave. "How does that… work…?"

Rin trailed off into silence as Dhamadren slinked forward, drawing himself up to tower over the two women. "Well, hello." he said as he looked intently at Asuka. "I believe you're the daughter of my current patient, are you not?"

"Yeah." Asuka said matter-of-factly. "I'm checking in on her. May I see her?"

"Yes, yes, of course, young madam." Dhamadren said as he stepped aside, sweeping two arms dramatically towards the table on the right side of the hollow. The glow which they had both seen before stepping in resolved itself to be a human body, wreathed in a warm, shifting glow, almost like a sunrise. Patches of darker colors flowed in and out of existence from time to time.

"I must say, young madam," Dhamadren began, "your dreams have proven to be perhaps my favorite material to work with. Daniel's nightmares only make up a small portion of the foundation for this body. I must thank you."

"You're welcome… I guess." Asuka said slowly. She looked over at her mother's luminous form. "Can I... talk to her?" she asked quietly.

"Give me a moment to temporarily manifest a head, and you shall be able to." Dhamadren replied, walking over to stop at the head of the body, placing the lower pair of his arms to either side of it.

The patterns on Dhamadren's skin glowed brighter as they shifted and writhed for a moment, and the glow around Kyoko Zeppelin-Soryu's head parted like fog, revealing a sharp, defined face, blonde hair fanning around her head as she looked around the space with wide, bright blue eyes.

Asuka stared silently for a moment until Kyoko's gaze found her. "Liebling?" she said aloud, barely more than a whisper.

"Mama…" Asuka replied, stepping forward. "I've missed seeing you." she said simply after a moment's silence.

"And I've missed seeing you too." Kyoko said. "Oh, I just wish I could hug you. But I guess I'm not there quite yet."

She glanced over at Rin, and smiled slightly. "And who might your workout partner be, Asuka?"

Rin stepped forward as she waved somewhat awkwardly. "Hi. I'm Rin Emiya. I'm from… out of town." she settled on.

"Oh?" Kyoko replied as she arched an eyebrow. "What, exactly, does out of town mean, in this case? Out of the country? Or out of the universe?"

"The latter." Rin admitted. "How, uh, have you kept up with that sort of news?"

"Well, I've just finished my tenure as the resident soul of a giant biomechanical war machine that my dear daughter piloted by linking with my soul. It makes getting news on things very easy."

After a second's thought, she blinked. "Come to think of it," she said, "how am I breathing?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about the specifics right now, madam." Dhamadren replied. "I'm simply making sure you can visit with your daughter."

Rin shook her head slightly. "Man, and I thought the Holy Grail was weird…" she muttered.

"The Holy Grail?" Asuka said, looking over at Rin with an arched eyebrow. "Like, the actual Holy Grail?"

"Oh, no." Rin replied. "It's… more complicated than that. It's still a wish-granting device, but it taps into the old magic of the world to rewrite reality. Like giving our three Sabers new bodies."

Asuka and Kyoko blinked. "Huh. Interesting." Asuka said after a moment.

"Well, mama," Asuka continued as she looked back over at Kyoko, "I'm about to spar with Rin, then Shinji and Rin's husband are going to cook us dinner."

"Oh, good!" Kyoko replied. "I wish I could join you for dinner, but I'm afraid it looks like I might still have a ways to go." she glanced up at Dhamadren. "Doctor, what's my prognosis so far?"

"Well, your daughter's dreams are… frankly somewhat miraculous." Dhamadren replied as it put a hand from its upper pair of arms onto its chin thoughtfully. "I knew that a connection between the dreamer and the work was important, especially when the work consisted of a biological body. But I'll have to look deeper into such a connection and its implications on my speed."

"And that means?" Asuka said somewhat impatiently.

"I am ahead of schedule." Dhamadren said, almost triumphantly, as he drew himself up. "If I do enough work tonight, I may yet finish Mrs. Soryu's body by late tomorrow."

Asuka and Kyoko's eyes both widened, and tears began to well up in Asuka's. "Thank you." she said softly.

"A chance at working my skills is thanks enough." Dhamadren said. "Now, you are free to return to your exercise. I've been in some need of diversion recently."

"Care to prop me up so I can watch?" Kyoko asked as Rin and Asuka moved out into the wider Infinity Box. "It's been a while since I've watched any sort of martial arts, period."

"One moment." Dhamadren said, stretching out a hand and concentrating as the luminous portion of Kyoko's body assumed a sitting position.

As Rin and Asuka settled onto the floor, minding to keep in view of the cave entrance, Rin nodded at Asuka. "Alright. No frills. No boosts. Just a nice, clean, back to basics fight. Nothing much harder than that, right?"

"Alright." Asuka replied as she settled into a stance, an almost hungry gleam in her eyes. "It's a little boring, but I'll take that over nothing."

Rin grinned as she settled into a stance of her own. "Oh, don't worry. If we're able to keep going, we might be able to spice things up."

"Oh, music to my ears." Asuka chuckled.

It was still for a moment, then Asuka and Rin moved, and the match began.

- - -

The Sonne, High Earth Orbit

Ritsuko and Maya stepped off of the teleportation platform of the Tellan vessel's embarkation room with wide eyes that looked around them as if they were children in a toy store.

The metaphor was not far off the mark. The vessel was packed full of science equipment, mechanical and Pneumaic manufacturing, and some of the most cutting-edge medical equipment the pair had laid eyes on. It took them a little longer than they perhaps first anticipated as they made their way to Izalith's personal lab on the ship.

As they entered the clean, orderly space, Izalith looked over from behind a table with a console and stood. "Welcome, ladies," she said with a slight smile, "to my humble abode. How goes the day so far?"

"Well, about as good as one can ask." Ritsuko replied. "We've finished logging the data on the flight over the Corite area, and we're getting everything prepped for the retrieval operation tomorrow morning."

"That's good." Izalith said as she nodded. "Now, shall we begin?"

"Certainly." Ritsuko replied as she looked over to Maya. "The sample, dear?"

Maya nodded as she produced a container of LCL, a clear tube with two metal caps that showcased the dully gleaming orange liquid. "Fresh from our reserves in Matsushiro." she said as she stepped forward.

"Excellent." Izalith said as she walked over and took the container in one large hand, studying it intently in the light. "Fascinating." she muttered after a moment, then shook her head slightly as she walked over to a bank of machines. "Is there a way to extract this from the container?"

As Ritsuko helped her extract a sample and feed it into one of the machines, Maya ogled at the sight. "What do all of these do?" she said in wide-eyed wonderment.

"They're all mostly for analysis and Frame copying." Izalith replied as she activated the machines, all spinning up with barely a whisper. "It took a little convincing to get them onto here, but I never leave for anywhere without my setup. Or at least the mobile version. It makes copying things…" she paused for a moment, an odd look crossing her face. "Easier." she continued, a little more quietly.

As the machines went to work, Ritsuko looked up at Izalith. "Did something go wrong at some point?" she asked quietly.

Izalith blinked, then shook her head slightly. "Oh. Something from my old life. An old mistake made by a younger, far more prideful woman."

Izalith looked at a display on one of the machines before turning to look at Ritsuko and Maya. "We have the time while the analyzer works its magic. Pull up a chair. I have a quick story to tell."

Two chairs were found, and Ritsuko and Maya sat in front of Izalith's desk as she began her story. "Where I come from, my strength, before I found myself properly Interfaced, came from a Pneumaic source known as the First Flame. I was part of a group of gods that shaped the world after we had won it from the everlasting dragons. The kingdoms that we established lasted for millennia."

She paused, then sighed quietly. "But the First Flame began to fade, and the Darkness began to grow in its stead. Many of us gods grew desperate. I was the first to offer a solution. I wished to try and create a copy of the First Flame. I felt confident in the abilities of myself and my daughters."

"But our hubris was to be our downfall." she continued. "The Flame which we created grew out of control. And the Flame we made, the Chaos Flame, mutated our bodies and made us into what would be known as the Demons."

Ritsuko and Maya listened attentively as Izalith paused again, then continued. "And that was our lot, or so we thought. Maligned and hunted for our hubris. For my hubris. Some of my daughters escaped, and I thought I would never see them again. Until Daniel came and freed as many of us as he could."

"Now, I am far more… exacting in my work. Far more cautious." Izalith said quietly. Before she could continue, a tone sounded from the bank of machines, drawing the attention of the group as Izalith stood.

"And now…" Izalith said, an undertone of excitement in her voice as she walked over to the machines, pulling up a display and tapping in a few windows. "We can begin." she continued as she beckoned Ritsuko and Maya over.

Ritsuko and Maya observed a window with graphs and charts surrounding a roughly oval-shaped clump of Frames, some areas shaded in different colors. "Quite a remarkable substance. A hyper-perfluorocarbonate, with substantial mutability and Pneumaic amplification properties. This is going to be quite the interesting little puzzle to replicate."

"Then let's get to it, shall we?" Ritsuko said, her eyes gleaming in hunger for the scientific endeavor that lay before them.

. . .

The next several hours were one of discovery, hypothesis, and on-the-job learning; that was the sort of thing Ritsuko and Maya had only dreamed about. The specialized tools to break down the sample of LCL, create new iterations of the precious liquid, then learn from their mistakes and begin again were laid bare to the scientists, and in time, they managed them like conductors of an orchestra of scientific inquiry.

And now, several cups of coffee later, the trio gathered around a singular machine, the miniature Frame Extruder that had been fitted to produce the synthetic LCL in a suspensor field, and waited with bated breath as their latest iteration was processed by the machine.

The atmosphere was alive with barely contained excitement as the Frame Extruder stirred, its nozzle dipping slightly as it whirred softly. Then, a bright blue, almost teal, viscous slime began to drip from it, coalescing into a slightly wobbling sphere about the size of a baseball.

Almost before the process had finished, Ritsuko's pad was only inches away, the sensor suite packed into the device linked to the diagnostic machines of the lab. It showed the synthetic LCL as a Frame outline, side by side with the outline of the natural LCL's Frame for comparison.

"I think this is the closest we're going to get to the 'real thing'." Ritsuko said as she straightened up, an unmistakable air of satisfaction in her voice.

"Yeah." Maya replied eagerly, her eyes gleaming at the sight. "We've extended the half-life by 50%, and we've boosted the Pneumaic amplification by a factor of 2. Forget the real thing, this is the future of the Frame Titans, or really anything we do with LCL."

Ritsuko nodded as she looked up at Izalith. "Thank you for your assistance and tutelage, Izalith. We couldn't have done this without you."

"One question remains, however." she continued before Izalith could reply. "How are we going to manufacture this Synthetic LCL, and how long would it take to manufacture a Frame Titan?"

Izalith cupped her chin. "Well, let's see. From what I recall of the Frame Titan schematics, we needed about… 850 million gallons of LCL to provide the necessary material for the Frame Plug to transform into the Titan in question. With the industrial scale Frame Extruders that we're capable of putting together, one Extruder should be able to produce about 20 gallons every minute."

Maya whistled silently. "Wow. That's a lot of liquid. And that would leave us able to actually produce a new Frame Titan in…"

"About two and a half to three weeks. On one Extruder." Ritsuko finished, a slow smile spreading across her face. "We just need a place to store it all in, then."

"Unless we pump it directly into the Frame Plug." Maya retorted. "That would save us space and time in the manufacturing process."

"Perfect, Maya." Ritsuko said, sparing a light touch to her lover's arm before looking back up at Izalith. "So, how many Extruders can you get us?"

"About…" Izalith began. "Three we can spare now of the same size that you used for the Frame Plug's manufacture, and at least two more every week or so that we can put together and send you."

"That's perfect. Again, thank you, Izalith." Ritsuko said.

"You are quite welcome, Ritsuko." Izalith replied. "Now, I believe you mentioned having some business you needed to attend to, in the next few minutes now, before you came aboard?"

Ritsuko nodded. "That I do. I have a deal I need to uphold to Ms. Katsuragi."

As Izalith nodded in understanding, Ritsuko turned to face Maya. "Would you like to come with me, or would you like to continue exploring the ship?" she asked with a slight, wry smile.

"I'll be here for the next little while exploring, I think." Maya replied. "Go help Misato, and I'll meet you back home."

"It's a deal." Ritsuko said. "See you at home." she finished with a quick kiss.

As Ritsuko walked back from whence they came, Maya looked up to Izalith, who had a patient smile on her face. "Alright," Maya said, voice brimming with excitement, "I'm ready for my tour."

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Interlude 8: No Ringing in the Cold Silence

JNV Seikaku, Another World, Early 2020

Asuka glared at the mirror and found herself hating what stared back. She hated what she saw. Or, more accurately, what she didn't see. She had just had her 18th birthday only a few days ago. She should have been growing dramatically, filling out in the sort of places that rather good-looking women like Misato were.

But only a 14-year-old was staring back. And for whatever reason, the anger simmering in her chest flared at the thought.

She didn't fully know why she had been seemingly frozen in time while everyone else around her had continued on. Doctor Akagi said it might have had something to do with being connected to the 9th Angel. Then Mari had been shown to have stopped aging.

'So just doing what I do, what I do best, makes me a freak.' she grimly mused. 'I, the great Asuka Soryu-Langley… wait, what?'

She didn't know why she had thought she was Soryu-Langley instead of Langley-Shikinami, but it sounded… familiar, somehow…

She shook her head. She chalked it up to the lack of sleep. Her last nightmare…

She'd felt her skin burning, ripping, tearing, and she clutched at her face, unable to stop it from tearing off and floating away. She watched helplessly as the dangling curtain of skin slowly turned, and her own face leered at her with glowing eyes.

"Well, would you look at yourself?" She, or at least her face, moving without her willing it to, said in a mocking tone. "All your skill, all your training, and you couldn't even get the drop on an Angel that wasn't even bigger than you? The others must be sooo proud of you."

"Shut up!" she'd shouted. "What even are you?"

"I'm your new friend, little Lillim." her face replied. "The one that didn't abandon you and try to break you in his jaws."

"The 9th Angel…"

"Oh, please, I'm more than a number." The 9th Angel replied. "I am Bardiel. And after all, it's not like you don't have a number either, Subject Number 276."

"I'm Asuka Langley-Shikinami, you monster!" she'd shot back. "I'm in control here, not you!"

"For now, little one." Bardiel had replied, stretching her mouth impossibly wide into a rictus grin. "For now."

After that, she'd resolved to never sleep again. And so far, she'd stuck to it. 10 days straight, with no negative effects. That face… the fact that the Angel wasn't just some beast, but a being with a name, a personality…

She shook her head again as she finished getting ready, giving one last glance to the snazzy eyepatch that Doctor Akagi had whipped up, along with the far slimmer, though still somewhat chunky DSS Choker, and started to stalk the halls of the ship she was on to go towards the helipad of the cruiser she now lived on.

They had been properly on the run for four years now, only ever docking for any length of time at a small village in Japan, running and touching base from port to port around the world, scavenging what they could, hoping to be like rats under the notice of the ascendant NERV after… the rest of the Impact. A shockwave of red, an unearthly howl, and whatever had been started five years ago had been finished. Or at least it seemed like it. It was no way to live, and her blood boiled for a fight no one else seemed to want to have.

She walked past the room where Misato and Kaji stayed in, then paused as she noticed the door ajar. That didn't usually happen. She tilted her head towards the door and heard a quiet weeping. It was Misato crying, she realized.

The sound made her blood begin to bubble again. "If some idiot did something, I swear…" she walked over to the door and rapped on it. "Hey, Misato. Can I come in?" she said somewhat brusquely.

There was no response, so she pushed the door aside and entered. The room was dark, the only light coming from a computer screen that cast a harsh glow on the glass of alcohol beside it. Misato sat slumped over it, her head in her hands.

"Misato…" Asuka continued, softer now. "Who hurt you?"

She came to Misato's side, and heard a single word, barely above a whisper. "Ryoji…"

Asuka blinked, then looked at the monitor. On the screen, there was a single message, date-stamped as sent nearly a month ago, and received just now.

'Ikari attempting to finish Impact. Found out, on my way to stop him. I don't think I'll make it out. Love you and our son. I'll see you again somewhere.'

It was so simple. And yet, it bowled Asuka over. Ryoji Kaji had been in and out over the four years that they had been shipborne, but he was a decent man. Hell, anyone had to be decent to put up with her. Like… no. It was still too fresh, even so long after.

And their son… still so young, and living with the Suzuhara's in the village that they had found. He might never truly know his father.

'Not like you really did, either.' she thought distantly, cynically. "Misato…" she said aloud as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm… I'm sorry."

They stood there for a long while. The Eva could wait.

- - -

The Titanskeep

Ymris kept a close eye on the repurposed loading crane, glancing at times at the cobbled-together walls and ceiling that enclosed the massive container vessel that had become the home of the Evangelions under their care.

The crane held within its grasp one of the last carefully worked sheets of metal that would go into the new mechanical arm that was being built for Unit-02. It was almost entirely at odds with the rest of the Unit, a large, geometric, dull brown appendage that starkly contrasted with the bright, streamlined form of Unit-02.

'And a world's difference from... the Mass-Production Evangelions.' Ymris mused as the plate lowered into place, and the crews- her crews- began to swarm onto the plate, the little stars of arc welders flaring to life.

Tavis had kept her updated as best he could. They'd found three of the MP-Evas, or the Herald Units as they seemed to be called here, in Asia and Oceania: one in Australia, one in the Philippines, and one in China. The location of the others, however, appeared to be region-locked. They would have to go globetrotting to find a base somewhere with the other locations. It would be a far longer search than anyone had anticipated.

"I hope you don't mind me invading your space." a clear, almost hard voice said, causing Ymris to jump slightly as her line of thought became a scribble.

She looked to her left and found herself looking at a woman in dark clothes, a plate carrier on her chest and back clinking slightly as she leaned against the rail.

She was of a fair complexion, with jet black hair cut to her shoulders and kept out of the way by a green headband, with similarly green eyes that glanced over at her every once in a while as they seemed to drink everything in.

"No, no." Ymris replied after a moment. "I'll share."

"Oh, good." the woman replied, turning her gaze back to the mechanical arm. "Man, this is something, isn't it? I've always been fascinated by anything made of metal." she chuckled slightly. "If I were smarter than I am, I might be in your shoes, being a mechanic and all."

"I see." Ymris replied. "So, what did you go into instead?"

"Security." the woman replied frankly. "I was in Section 2 before what happened 5 years ago happened. Now, Colonel Katsuragi has me as head of security."

Ymris blinked. She had looked somewhat familiar, hadn't she? She'd seen this woman before, in the few meetings that Misato had taken the time to have with "the new staff". "You're… Beifong, right?" she said slowly.

The woman grinned as she looked over at Ymris. "The one and only. Glad to be remembered."

Ymris nodded as they both looked back up at the crane as it began to lower another piece of shaped metal to its position. "Where are you from?" Ymris asked casually.

"China." Beifong replied. "Where doesn't exactly matter anymore. What about you? Tennison sounds American to me."

"I'm from Wisconsin. In America, like you said. Grew up there my whole life, almost." Ymris said. It was strange to say that at first, but Ymris had settled into the role with time and practice.

"Gotcha." Beifong said, before a moment of silence passed between them, broken only by the din of the ramshackle bay.

"You know, I did quite well in Section 2 for a rather particular reason." Beifong began, and Ymris blinked at the non sequitur.

"I always had a solid feel for the truth." Beifong continued, and Ymris felt her heart begin to beat a little faster. "And what you said is not the truth. Not by far."

Beifong turned bodily to look at Ymris. "Now, you could have fooled just about anyone else. But no lies get past Toph Beifong. Just make sure you remember that."

It was a silent, tense moment before Ymris nodded and Toph smiled. "Now, I'll leave you be, get a different angle on this arm you're putting together. Nice to meet you. We'll talk later."

With that, Toph walked away, leaving Ymris to ponder on the interaction, and what it might mean for her mission.

- - -

Geofront Ruins

Kaworu Nagisa, cool and in control, waited patiently as the doors of the somehow miraculously working elevator opened into Terminal Dogma. It was a massive, utterly dark space, devoid of all lights made by the Lilim to illuminate the slumped form of Lilith that sat in the LCL of her creation, the air reeking with the stench of dried blood. The only light that broke through was the slight twinkling within the depths of the LCL of what he had come looking for.

He paid no heed to the stench as he walked to where he knew was the edge of the lake, peering into its depths with a sight beyond any mere mortal's, scanning intently as the few stray lights that had leaked from Lilith's decaying form swam like sea life within.

After silent moments, he found, seemingly, what he was looking for. A singular bright light, far in the distance near Lilith, that stayed near the surface as if hoping to break out.

'Your unknowing hope is commendable, spirit of Lilith.' he mused. 'Now, you must put that hope to use.'

He grabbed ahold of the soul with his AT Field, delicately spinning a form that would be familiar to it with a power that he knew lay far beyond what even SEELE understood him capable of. But SEELE were only puppets, really, he thought as the soul came closer and closer to the shore. How they danced to his tune, these arrogant, foolish young Lilim did. How they all danced to the music that he played, as he waited for the one he wished for more than all reality.

As the once errant soul reached the shore, Kaworu smiled slightly as he heard a slight pop, and one Inspector Ryoji Kaji flopped onto the artificial beach, gasping and coughing for air.

Kaworu allowed this to play out and waited for the man to finally stand. As he did, Kaworu began to speak. "Mr. Kaji. It seems your attempt to stop myself and Ms. Ayanami has… complicated things."

"What?" Kaji said in between heaving breaths. "What do you mean?"

"The time has come." Kaworu continued, heedless of Kaji's question. "NERV has become… detrimental to the cause we both seek to espouse."

"What?" Kaji repeated.

"The happiness of humanity." Kaworu replied. "Such happiness, it seems, must come at the cost of the Evangelions, of NERV. Therefore, we must show Commander Ikari the true will of the human spirit."

It was a silent moment. "Okay." Kaji finally said. "I'm going to need a few minutes to process what exactly you just said, because I can't make heads or tails of it. And I'm going to need some clothes, too."

"The latter we will find for you." Kaworu said. "As for the former, I am organizing your rather rabble cohorts into an organization capable of standing up to NERV. And, as its Commander, I find myself in need of a Deputy Commander. You shall be as such."

Another pause, followed by a shrug. "Alright, then. I guess I'll let Misato know."

"To that I must object." Kaworu replied. "There must be secrecy, else the Commander will discover us and… end things. Messily. Your continuation of life, and our involvement in this endeavor, must remain hidden. You understand the necessity of secrecy, do you not?"

Kaji regarded the boy for a moment. "Only if you can guarantee that I'll see Misato and my son after all this is over. Then, and only then, I'll join your little shadow crusade." he said, his tone brooking no argument.

"Very well, Deputy Commander Kaji." Kaworu said with a slight smile. "Welcome to WILLE."

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 22: Bindings Broken

The first great disease of such colonialism is to take advantage of a tragic situation, such as an environmental disaster or the aftermath of a war. Our situation, one of a downward spiral after the horrors of Second Impact, the depredations of Brazil and the DRC and Pakistan, and most recently the two battles in Japan, is one where we are breathtakingly vulnerable. And now, this seeming 'savior', Mr. Theisman, has offered us as a golden apple to a 'Reality' perhaps even more terrifying than what our world has experienced thus far. Can we truly trust these outsiders, and the organizations that sympathize with them, to protect us from what is out there, when we haven't even figured out our own problems?

- 'To Stand Apart', taken from Post 4

Infinity Box, September 11th, 2016, 0826 Hours

In a space removed from the main area which Dhamadren and Kyoko Zeppelin-Soryu occupied, Misato, Ritsuko, Daniel, and the Children looked intently at a rectangular holographic table that took a commanding position in the center of the room. A few centimeters above it, a map of an area of Japan, the portion covered in the crimson crystals of Corite, slowly spun as labels, denoting the locations of the MP-Evas, the Units of the Numberless Children, and Lilith itself floated above the center of the circle of blood-red gemstones.

"The targets are all clustered here in the center of Tokyo-3, right inside the former Geofront." Ritsuko began. "That makes things fairly easy. What complicates things is that whoever goes has to make a 25-kilometer trek there and back again, whilst carrying whatever we can out of there under the interference of the active Corite."

"Our drone scans, what little we could get from having to avoid the gravitational waves and other forms of interference, both physical and Pneumaic, show that Lilith has grown to about 2.5 times its previous size." Daniel said as the holotable zoomed in to show the somewhat fuzzy picture of the massive white form of Lilith, surrounded by the comparative white stars of the MP-Evas and the far more colorful Units the Numberless Children piloted.

"You could have mentioned the several kilometers deep hole in the center of the city we'll have to get in and out of." Asuka interjected, looking into the now open Geofront to peer at their targets. "Does that go all the way to Terminal Dogma?"

"That it does." Misato replied with a sympathetic grimace. "All 3 kilometers that you, and your cargo, will have to get back out of before you start heading for home."

"And what, exactly, will we be extricating from these depths, Commander?" Kaworu asked.

"The priorities are Eleanor and Rei, and the Evangelions designated Unit-05, Unit-06, and Unit-07." Misato replied. "We don't have the time or the bodies to move the MP-Evas, and I doubt that SEELE will be more able than we are to go and extract them anytime soon, what with the interference. As for Unit-03 and Unit-04, if you can somehow find them, good. If not, then it's a regrettable loss."

"SEELE's out of the game anyways. They blew their shot with the Numberless kids and the rest of the MP-Evas." Toji said with a shrug. "Why are we still worrying about the guys?"

"Because when 12 men can mobilize the armies of two nations to attack an allied third and call in an N2 strike in the center of the city, you stop worrying once they're either captured or dead." Ritsuko said in a serious tone.

"But that's not what we're worrying about right now." Daniel said after a moment's uncomfortable silence. "The Evas and Titans that are going on this mission are Eva Unit-01 and the two FT Units. They're our only functioning Units, after all, and we only have to worry about shouldering three other Eva-scale loads."

"How is Eva Unit-01 supposed to carry a Unit?" Shinji asked, a puzzled look on his face.

"The engineering teams at Matsushiro have been working almost nonstop to remove Eva Unit-01's shoulder pylons so that you can accommodate another Unit thrown over your shoulder." Daniel replied. "They're off now, and shouldn't be an issue anymore. The only great loss will be your Prog knives, but we likely won't need them for this mission."

"And I'm sure we're at least somewhat guaranteed that Mrs. Ikari won't fly off the handle without a very good reason." Misato interjected with a slight grin in Shinji's direction.

Shinji smiled slightly. "I'm sure I can convince Mother to stay calm while we're doing our job." he said wryly.

A quiet chuckle rippled through the room, lightening the mood for a moment before it died down. As it did, a particularly grim look settled on Misato's face.

Hikari was the first to pick up on this rather dramatic change in mood. "What is it, Ms. Misato?" she asked tentatively.

It was silent for a moment as the tense atmosphere of before returned in force. Then, Misato sighed. "Well, kids…" she began, then paused again. "After we've completed this mission today, NERV will no longer exist."

The eyes of all the Children widened as the adults in the room grew sorrowful looks of one degree or another. "What?" Shinji said almost numbly. "How? Why?"

"I had a… rather bracing talk with the head of the UN and members of the Japanese government yesterday." Misato began. "Basically, what it boils down to is the fact that public backlash against NERV has built to such a degree that NERV-2 in Germany got shut down only a few weeks ago. We were on the chopping block too, before I convinced them to let us have this one last hurrah."

"But who will keep an eye on SEELE, then?" Hikari piped up. "As Doctor Akagi stated, they're still nominally at large. And that doesn't even account for anything else that might decide to… to barge in on our world that's bigger than any military unit can handle on their own."

Misato put up a hand to forestall the other Children's protestations. "I know. It's been a subject of a lot of thought over the past day. You're entirely right, there does need to be someone to act as a shield against massive-scale threats. We've had the Angels, We have SEELE and who knows how many other tricks up their sleeves, and we have anyone who might barge in on us from beyond our universe."

Misato smiled slightly as she continued. "NERV won't be there. But something else will be."

The Children stilled, their eyes widening again. "You mean…" Asuka said slowly.

"Yes." Misato replied, that sure smile that everyone knew growing on her face. "I'm planning on creating a new organization. Free from the baggage that NERV carries, ready for the future. The only thing is, in order to make it fly with the UN and the other nations…" she paused as her smile shrunk somewhat. "We'll need to make a devil's bargain."

"Oh?" Toji asked with an arched eyebrow. "And what would that be? Cause the way you phrased it doesn't sound good at all."

"Currently, we are the only people in the world that are able to do anything on an Eva scale." Misato began. "The other nations of the world will always fear someone with that sort of monopoly. So, what we'll do is-"

"Release the schematics for the Frame Titans to the other nations." Kaworu surmised with an arched eyebrow. "A bold move. But they will need LCL to create the Frame Titans. Which, again, only we have, and in limited amounts."

"Part of that trade is the schematics for synthetic LCL that I, Maya, and Izalith worked on." Ritsuko interjected. "And we have enough merchants waiting at the doorstep of this Echo, or so Daniel tells us, that finding the necessary components to begin production, a list of which we'll also provide, will be almost trivially easy."

The room was quiet for a moment as the Children processed this silently. Then, Asuka puffed her cheeks for a moment. "That's… ballsy, Misato. I'll give you that. But if it works…" a grin tugged at a corner of her mouth as she scoffed softly. "It'll keep us busy, that's for sure."

The others nodded, then Shinji's confused expression began to return. "So, how are we going to get Eleanor and Rei out, then? Are they going to ride in one of the Frame Plugs?"

Daniel nodded. "Got it in one, Shinji. I'll transport them, seeing as I can expand the space within my Plug, and I don't have to worry about the extra riders mucking up my synch score."

He paused for a moment. "With that in mind, I can take one more passenger before things get a little cramped. Would one of you who aren't going to be piloting like to come along with me?"

He scanned the room, and his gaze eventually landed on Asuka, who nodded slowly. "As long as you can promise to not make it boring." she said with a small grin.

A grin of Daniel's own appeared. "I can't promise, but I can try."

Misato nodded. "Alright then. The Units are ready and waiting for us at Matsushiro. Let's move out."

"Yes, ma'am." the Children replied, and the group made its way out with all due haste.

- - -

Within Lilith

It had been a long week since Eleanor and Rei had become interned within Lilith. Being incorporeal souls, they had little need for sustenance, though they still pined for the cooking of those they loved on a fairly regular basis. Suriel had become somewhat enamored with their descriptions of Japanese cuisine, and overawed by the truths Eleanor had to tell her about the rest of Reality.

But such explanations could only last so long. And after they had been spoken, attention turned towards other, more presently interesting things.

Eleanor had begun to look into the workings of the vessel of Lilith, spending hours, if not days, trawling the Pneumaic spaces that made the Vessel work. Rei, while somewhat interested by Eleanor's findings and Suriel's scattered recollections concerning them, was more interested in the souls that seemed to fill the massive space within.

After a day of Eleanor and Suriel searching for and finding the access… well, mechanism was the generally accepted term, she had found herself spending more than a little time wandering from soul to soul, peering in for a brief moment to see what their fondest wishes might be.

Far too many of them were simply having an endless amount of sex with who she assumed were some sort of celebrities, but every so often, she found a constructed reality that held her attention for a time.

A man sitting in a warm, comfortable shop, calmly and patiently whittling and sanding at blocks of bright and dark wood, turning them into a variety of catching, inspiring pieces. A woman in a massive kitchen, continuously baking to her heart's content, filling the air with a delicious aroma. Mothers and fathers spending time with their families in a variety of breathtaking locations. Explorers and daredevils pushing the limits of the human frontier.

It was breathtaking, seeing these places, these people, living their dreams and seeming to be truly happy. But, a quiet, sad part of her said, this was only really an illusion. None of these families or groups of friends were truly together. This was an escape. Little more.

She had asked Suriel where all of these souls had come from after one day spent mostly wandering around. She'd replied that a great many of them came relatively recently before the Lance was embedded into Lilith, which Eleanor deduced meant sometime before or during the Impact Wars, or perhaps from the Battle of Tokyo-3. When exactly they came, though, had become a rather trifling thing.

It was during one day which had begun to blend into the rest that she found herself watching a beautiful night sky with a single hiker, providing the woman silent, unseen company.

As she took in the sight, she felt a familiar presence, and the excitement behind the link it established, and couldn't help but find her interest piqued. "Rei," Eleanor said, "come find me. You're going to want to come see this."

Rei's curiosity sufficiently stirred, she departed from the hilly woodland that the woman occupied, finding herself, after a moment's concentration, back in the vast blue ocean depths.

She followed the link to its source, drifting towards Eleanor as her excitement began to build in turn with her adoptive mother's.

Finally, after a few minutes of floating, she came to a stop in front of what Eleanor called the "main access pillar", Eleanor herself floating gently in front of it with her hands placed on its surface, her eyes opening as she turned to Rei with an excited gleam in her eyes, beckoning her with a hand that she took from the pillar. "Here, take a look."

Rei took the proffered hand, and her vision tunneled into darkness for a moment, Frames rushing past the edges of her vision before it became a view of the outside world, and they peered from a crystal on a hillside. Eleanor had found a way to use the transitory crystals as lenses, allowing them to peer out into the world all the way to the boundary of the field of crystals. Most times, the view was a uniform glinting red or empty fields and towns, which had swiftly become boring.

Now, however, a different, far more hope-stirring sight, strode past the hill. Two Titans and an Eva walked calmly through the field of transitory crystals, largely unaffected by the atmosphere and LCL breakdown effects of the crimson gems.

"They're coming." Eleanor said, excitement and hope laced in every word she spoke.

"Yes." Rei replied, sharing that hope. "They are coming indeed." she paused for a moment. "We are able to see them. Are we able to contact them in some way?"

"Not that I've seen thus far." Eleanor admitted. "But there might be some way to make their journey easier. Those gravitic updrafts that have started kicking around are at least annoying and getting in the way, I'm sure. Let's see if we can do something about that."

. . .

Daniel looked at the expanse of almost uniform red crystals as they passed through what must have been a town. They'd wanted to avoid it, try and preserve what was trapped underneath the layer of Corite, but massive gravitic anomalies on either side of the town funneled them through. So now, they tried to walk through carefully, stepping over as many houses as they could, slightly wincing at the rest that they crushed.

He glanced, not for the first time, at a monitor that he'd kept up since he'd activated the Frame Titan and began their march into the metaphorical desert. His synch score sat, steady as a rock, at 105%. Still a little above normal, but far better than it had been before the battle.

As Asuka looked out the viewscreen to her left from the depression that Daniel had made, and maintained with Nynrya's assistance, she noted in the distance one of the anomalies, chunks of Corite suspended in it. "Wonder where that gravity wave picked up that Corite." she said aloud idly.

"Wouldn't be surprised if it picked up some of what we made when we left last week." Daniel replied, looking out to where Asuka gazed for a moment as they finally cleared the town's limits.

It was many minutes longer, having left the town behind with no small amount of relief, before Asuka sighed quietly. "As much as I'd hate to be stereotypical, how much longer do we have to go till we get there?"

"Well, we should be there at just about noon." Daniel replied. "We-"

Suddenly, the world tilted madly to the left, Asuka slamming into the wall of the Frame Plug, then sliding towards the back as the Plug shuddered.

As the Plug went still, Asuka sat up, rubbing at the back of her head. "Ow. Was zur…" she shook her head, looking up to the pilot's seat. "Daniel? Am I dreaming, or did you actually trip on something?"

When no answer came, Asuka's brow furrowed in concern, as two bands of metal appeared, flowing down either side of her spine, and she gently lifted into the air. "Daniel? Are you okay?"

As she reached Daniel, noting the rumbling of the other two Units coming closer and stopping out of sight, she came to float next to Daniel. His eyes were wide, almost bulging, and his mouth opened and shut without a sound coming out.

"Asuka." he said through a sudden link between their souls. "I can't speak. I'm pinned by something massive. Get to the comms and see if Shinji and Kaworu can drag me out."

Asuka's eyes widened for a moment, then became set in determination as she found the console that Daniel directed her to.

"Shinji! Kaworu! See if you can pull Daniel out! We're trapped, probably in the gravitic anomaly's much heavier cousin." she nearly shouted, desperately trying to keep the desperation in her voice from showing.

In Eva Unit-01, Shinji's eyes widened as he took in the sight of FT Unit-00 flat on its back and heard Asuka's words. He and Kaworu had heard the crash that marked FT Unit-00's tumble, turned and saw as the rippling field of… something passed over FT Unit-00, causing him and Kaworu to step back. "Ms. Ritsuko, can you see what's going on?" he said into his link with their headquarters.

Ritsuko looked down at the display that Maya watched, which showed a visual link enhanced by the hastily manufactured and fitted sensor backpack Eva Unit-01 wore, with wide eyes. "The field that Daniel's trapped in appears to be completely covering Unit-00. You likely won't be able to pull him out physically. Use your Interfacing!"

Shinji and Kaworu nodded wordlessly, their Units stepping forward and stretching out their hands as prismatic outlines of their arms began to float towards the anomaly. As they reached the border of the tall dome, now outlined in both the Unit's sights as a purple outline, the Frames slammed to the ground as well, coming down on top of and around FT Unit-00's feet and legs.

"It influences our Frames, too?" Shinji asked incredulously. "Hold on."

After a moment's concentration, the Frame that Shinji had created that had missed Unit-00's leg entirely began to slide across the ground as the one that landed on Unit-00's left leg gripped at it. Kaworu soon followed Shinji's lead, and after a moment, both Units had a grip on FT Unit-00. "Alright," Shinji said to Kaworu, "pull!"

Eva Unit-01 and FT Unit-01 leaned back, struggling with effort as their heels dug into the ground. But FT Unit-00 didn't budge, and alarm grew like a rising flame in Shinji's chest. "It's not working!" Shinji said through gritted teeth. "Pull harder!"

. . .

Within Lilith, Rei and Eleanor watched the situation unfold with growing alarm. "Did you make that anomaly, mother?" Rei asked as Eleanor furrowed her brow in concentration.

"No." Eleanor replied offhandedly. "That must be a recent development. I may not be able to dispel it, but I might be able to… move it…"

With that, Eleanor trailed off and focused, her eyes seeming to dart from one unseen thing to the next with a speed that almost dizzied Rei. Through their connection, she perceived Frames racing past Eleanor's soul, studied for only the briefest of moments before being noted and passed on. "Come on." Eleanor muttered. "Give me something."

Rei watched on uneasily as Eva Unit-01 and FT Unit-01 pulled as hard as they could on FT Unit-00's legs, to seemingly no avail, and as Daniel's Unit began to see its armor slowly denting. "Eleanor…"

"I'm close, I can feel it." Eleanor said. "Let me focus, and…"

It was another silent moment before Eleanor nearly shouted in triumph. "Got it!" she said, as the now glowing anomaly began to move slowly off of FT Unit-00.

As the anomaly passed, and FT Unit-00 began to stand after a moment, Eleanor and Rei both breathed a sigh of relief. "That, I think, was far closer than I would like to admit." Eleanor said as they watched the Units begin to move off again.

Rei nodded wordlessly. "Is there anything else that you might be able to do?" she asked after a moment.

Eleanor thought for a moment. "Well, there might have been something that I passed by in my mad rush to find something to help Daniel with. Let me see."

Rei watched as Eleanor went back through the Frames that she had brushed past, taking more time to inspect them and what they did. Most she passed by, as she had before, but after many minutes, Rei saw Eleanor arch an eyebrow as she stopped and studied a cluster of Frames after a few minutes. "What have you found?" Rei asked quietly.

"Something that'll make our surroundings a little easier to traverse." Eleanor replied. "From what it seems, the atmosphere within the boundary of these transitory crystals has had its oxygen replaced with carbon monoxide. But if I focus on designating a particular area and activate these Frames in sequence…"

Rei watched as the Frames that Eleanor noted flashed in a particular sequence before glowing dimly. "I can change the atmospheric makeup." Eleanor finished with a note of pride. As she furrowed her brow and got to work, she muttered to herself softly. "Now, what was the chemical balance again…"

. . .

On the move again, Daniel took another deep, appreciated breath as he glanced again at the map of the Corite zone and the clock in turn. Last he checked, it was 11:23, and they were approaching the city limits of Tokyo-3.

It felt strange, to enter the city he had lived in, fought and bled for, not as a savior, but merely as an intruder, taking the sort of path that he remembered the Angels taking to come towards them. The streets were still familiar, wide and flanked by low buildings, steadily getting taller as they moved further into the city.

As they walked slowly, almost reverently, through the city, Eva Unit-01 came to a stop in front of a familiarly shaped building, covered in glittering crimson. After a moment to survey his surroundings, Shinji opened up a link to the other Units as they came to a somewhat confused stop beside him. "Guys…" he said, melancholy in his voice. "We're home."

"I'm somewhat surprised it even survived what happened that night." Kaworu said wonderingly. "That means…"

"There's a chance we can come home." Daniel said. "Someday."

They all simply stood there for a moment afterwards, looking down at a home that was so close, and yet seemed impossibly far away.

"Someday, pilots." Misato said. "But not today. Let's keep going. And don't crush my car, if you can avoid it."

A chuckle rippled through the commlink as they moved on, carefully skirting around the parking lot of their apartment. As they moved closer and closer to the center of the city, they saw what appeared to be the surface of the Geofront, peeled up in four triangular sections and reaching into the sky easily four or five times their height as they approached one of the gaps.

They reached the edge of the Geofront, and looked down into the depths, the air below a certain point tinged slightly blue, as they spotted Lilith easily, the other Units only taking a little longer to find scattered about. As they paused, Rutsuko's voice cut in. "Shinji, your sensor package is picking up another atmosphere down there. Preliminary reports say that there's oxygen down there, but you'll have to climb down to make sure of it."

As Daniel heard this, he smiled slightly. "Eleanor." he said softly. "Thank you for making this a little easier, baby."

"Alright." Shinji replied as he stepped into thin air, wings and a harness of glowing solidified sound forming around Eva Unit-01's body. "Descending now."

One by one, the Units fell gently into the depths of what had been the last line of defense against the Angels. As they watched them float down, passing through the ephemeral barrier, Ritsuko and Maya intently studied the readouts from Shinji's sensor suite. The new atmosphere they had entered was a little heavy on the oxygen and a little light on nitrogen, but it was nominally breathable.

Finally, after minutes of descent, the trio touched down on a thick layer of Corite that covered the lake of LCL. As they surveyed the situation, finding Lilith lying beside 4 of the MP-Evas and the three Units they had come for, Daniel had an idea. "Ritsuko," he said casually, "how deep is the LCL lake in Terminal Dogma?"

"Past the crucifix we had Lilith on?" Ritsuko replied. "At least a few kilometers deeper. You could probably fit several Units on each other's shoulders in it and still not reach the top. Why do you ask?"

"If there was a way to safely extract it from here, put it into the tanks at Matsushiro…" Daniel said, trailing off suggestively.

"We'd have enough LCL for dozens of Frame Titans." Ritsuko finished. "A very good idea. But one for another time. Put a pin in it, and we'll come back to it. And for the other cores."

"Will do." Daniel replied, a quirked eyebrow the only sign that he was waiting for an explanation that never came, walking to the artificial shore as FT Unit-01 put his hand over the prone form of Lilith and Eva Unit-01 gently picked up Unit-06. FT Unit-00 stretched out a hand, and Daniel activated his Interfacing, a pillar of bright blue fading into a deep cerulean growing from the ground to about the height of the Unit's knee. Then, Daniel activated the crystal, and the deep red Corite began to slowly dissolve away, leaving a circle about 40 meters in diameter of clear white floor.

"There we go." Daniel said after a moment with no small amount of satisfaction. "We have a jumping-off point in case we want to come back."

Before Ritsuko could reply, Kaworu appeared on a panel to Daniel's right, and gave a pointed cough. "I'm ready for you to enter Lilith whenever you are." he said, a ghost of a smile on his face.

Daniel nodded as FT Unit-00 turned and walked over to Lilith, taking care as he walked onto the Corite even though it had proven itself capable of standing up to their weight on it. As he came to a stop, he pressed a few buttons on his console, the arms that encircled him on either side sliding into the control bank as he lifted it off him to rest at an angle, stepping out of the seat and looking at the area that now was outlined by a prismatic glow.

He took a deep breath. "Alright. Here goes nothing." he muttered as he reached out a hand, focussing on an Expression as a line of interlinked stars came into existence, one by one, over his hand, the process mirrored many meters below inside the perimeter and beside where he stood on the wall of the Frame Plug.

After the Expression had been completed to his satisfaction, he placed a finger on top of the Control Surface in his hand, and pressed down gently, the line of stars becoming two lines, then an oval portal, as the oval beside him opened up into the perimeter outside.

He looked over at Asuka with a questioning glance. "Do you want to come?"

Asuka nodded. "Uh, yeah." she said as she stepped over the piloting chair. "That's the whole reason I came along in the first place."

Daniel nodded slowly as he looked around the Frame Plug. "Alright then. Let's see…" after a moment of looking around, he chose a spot on top of the headrest, and set the Control Surface down on it. "Let me just link it up to the Frame Plug, and… done."

Daniel then stepped through the portal onto the porcelain skin of Lilith, then turned and stretched a hand back through the portal. "Shall we, my dear Jünger?" he said with a wry smile.

Asuka took the hand daintily and stepped over the threshold. "Why of course, good Bruder." she replied as she rolled her eyes and smiled slightly.

Daniel chuckled, then his smile dimmed. "Alright, we'll be going in by transforming into Metos and infiltrating past the Doors of Guf that way." he said seriously.

Asuka snorted as Daniel closed his eyes and concentrated. "Doors of Guf." she said derisively. "That still cra-"

The rest of her sentence wasn't heard aloud, as the pair dissolved into a constellation that slowly sank into the skin of Lilith, past the physical realm it occupied and into the Pneumaic realm it contained.

"-cks me up." Asuka finished, then blinked as she looked around the vast blue ocean with a white sand floor. "Wow. This feels… weird."

A memory of the show forcing its way up into her mind as she let go of Daniel's hand, she looked down to ensure that she was not, in fact, naked. She found herself quite relieved to see that she was still wearing her t-shirt and jeans, and looked over to see Daniel in his plugsuit, now a mirror image of the starfield that played across the armor of FT Unit-00. "Oh, good. We didn't get disrobed this time." she said, not quite able to keep the relief from her voice.

Daniel chuckled. "No, thank goodness." he replied. "Now, if what Rei told us about this place is true, then the most likely place to go is straight back."

"Well, then," Asuka said as she began to march forward, not caring to wait for Daniel, "let's not waste any more time then."

. . .

Eleanor and Rei rose from the main access pillar, looking at each other with radiant hope and joy.

"Alright then, let's go." Eleanor said with a smile on her face as she took Rei's hand. Rei simply nodded as she smiled as well, and they turned to the horizon in front of the pillar.

As they turned, Rei looked over at Suriel, who stood only a little ways away, and her smile faltered. She could see in Suriel's eyes open, utter envy.

"Someone has come for you." she said quietly, her voice tinged in sadness. "I guess… this is farewell."

Eleanor looked over as well, then released Rei's hand as she walked calmly over to Suriel. "Suriel," she said, equally quiet, "this doesn't have to be goodbye. You can come with us."

Suriel looked down and to the side. "And face the consequences of my actions?" she whispered. "See the world I made, that I trampled on with no consideration for Kadmonel?"

Eleanor sighed patiently. "Perhaps you'll see that. But you'll also see a beautiful place, full of light and joy as much as it is full of strife and sorrow. A world that we cherish, all because you gave humanity the chance to experience it."

She paused for a moment. "Did you enter Lilith with your body intact?"

Suriel nodded. "Such is the function of the transitory crystals, should I will it." she admitted.

Eleanor nodded as a smile, smaller than before, reappeared, and she took Suriel's hand. "Then come and at least meet my husband. If there's anyone who can understand what you're feeling, it's him."

"How can anyone understand what I've done, save for Rei?" Suriel asked somewhat incredulously.

Eleanor shook her head, a sad, knowing look in her eyes. "Trust me. He'll understand."

It was a silent moment longer, then Suriel slowly nodded. "Very well." she said, as she looked around the deep blue water and white sands as though she were leaving for the last time. "I'll come along."

Eleanor's smile brightened slightly as she let go of Suriel's hand, and looked over at Rei. "Then let's not waste any more time, shall we?"

And so, the trio walked away from the beginning of the world, back towards the future. It was a calm, contemplative walk, with little in the way of conversation. They simply took in the sights around them, drinking in what some of them hoped would be their last sight of the place.

Then, in the distance, two dots appeared. As they grew closer, one of them sped up. Rei's eyes widened and a smile grew on her face as she saw the dot resolve into a familiar head of fairy hair, bright blue eyes wide in excitement and relief. "Rei!"

"Asuka!" Rei replied, beginning to run herself, and after a moment, the two girls collided into a hug, spinning a few times, taking each other in as they stopped.

"It's good to see my Wondergirl again." Asuka said softly after a moment, tears in her eyes.

"It's good to see you too, Asuka." Rei replied, and they squeezed each other tight again.

Eleanor and Daniel took their time reaching each other, but when they finally met, Eleanor swept Daniel into a deep kiss, one that seemed to stop time for a moment for the two of them, as they linked their souls together and felt the almost dizzying joy and love and relief they both felt.

As their lips parted, Eleanor smiled slightly. "I knew you wouldn't give up." she whispered.

"Me?" Daniel chuckled. "No one gave up on either of you. Not for a moment."

As they parted from their embrace, Daniel looked over at Suriel. "And who might you be, ma'am?" he said quietly, already knowing the answer through Eleanor.

"I am Suriel." she said quietly, her grey eyes hazy with hesitation as they glanced down and to the side.

Daniel nodded as he stepped over to her. "I see. Rei told me about her first encounter with you."

As he stopped in front of her, he studied her for a moment before extending a hand. "I'm Daniel Theisman. I'm sure my wife has told you at least a little about me. I look forward to getting to know you more fully."

Suriel looked up at him, no small amount of surprise at Daniel's serene expression in her own, then slowly took his hand and shook it. "And I you." she replied slowly.

As the handshake dropped, Asuka, hand in hand with Rei, made her way over to Daniel's side, and looked up at Suriel for a moment, then at Rei. "You know," she said after a moment with a small smile, "I can see where you got some of your face. That nose looks really familiar."

Rei rolled her eyes as she smiled. "Thank you for noticing, Asuka." she said, a hint of sarcasm tinging her voice.

A quiet chuckle rippled through the group, and Daniel shook his head slightly. "Alright. Let's not keep the others waiting."

. . .

Shinji and Kaworu intently watched the spot where Daniel and Asuka had entered, still outlined by the glow of FT Unit-01's raised AT Field. It had been almost a half-hour now, and they had to be getting close.

Within Lilith, as they approached the barrier between the inner realm of the Vessel and the physical world, Daniel turned to look at all of them. "Alright, I'll take us out of here then, if you'll all link hands." he said, as he took Eleanor and Rei's hands.

They stood in a circle as they took each other's hands, and Daniel looked at all of them one by one as he linked his soul to their Frames. As he looked at Eleanor, he smirked slightly. "Now, we'll all sing Kumbaya and the prayer circle will begin." he said through their link, a deadpan tone to his voice.

"Get us out of here, and then you and I can sing all you want later." Eleanor replied, and Daniel nodded slightly as he looked out over the rest of the group one more time.

"Alright. Get ready." he said as he closed his eyes and his brow furrowed in concentration. Then, he became a being of starlight, a constellation spreading and converting the others into the same form, then the ring of pale fire rose up, slowing for a moment as it reached the Doors of Guf, then passing through, leaving behind a vast, empty blue sea.

In the physical world, they emerged and reformed near the portal into Daniel's Frame Plug, Suriel looking around herself with wide eyes. "Are these… the Evangelion?" she said, looking at FT Unit-01 with no small amount of awe.

"Well, one of them is." Asuka replied, waving at Eva Unit-01, who had Eva Unit-06. "Hello, Shinji! We're back!"

After a moment, Eva Unit-01 waved back. "Hello, everyone!" Shinji's voice echoed over the loudspeakers. "I'm glad you all made it back!"

Daniel chuckled as he stepped towards the portal. "Alright, let's get a move on, then. No need to waste any more time here." he swept a hand towards the portal. "Ladies, your carriage awaits. Two to a side, please, and if the ladies that will be on my left would like to step in first, I can get things set up."

Asuka pulled Rei towards the portal. "Alright. We'll go first then."

They made their way over the seat, kneeling down as Daniel stepped in and sat in the pilot's chair, pulling the control rig down and locking it in place, the arms extending from the sides of the console once again to form a loop around him as Eleanor and Suriel stepped in.

The portal disappeared, and the floor that Eleanor and Suriel stood on lowered as they kneeled, clearing the view for Daniel as he connected to the soul that he had left within the Frame Plug. "Thank you for keeping an eye on this for me, Nynrya." he said.

"I'm glad to be able to help more fully." Nynrya replied. "Perhaps you might introduce me to these people that you have had me accommodate for soon."

"Soon, Nynrya." Daniel replied as FT Unit-00 turned and walked towards Eva Unit-05. "Soon."

As FT Unit-01 picked up Eva Unit-07, they all slowly began to ascend out of the depths of Terminal Dogma on wings of starlight and sound and ink, the lifeless Units secured as best they could be by their AT Fields.

As they rose, Rei looked at a screen showing Kaworu's face, a sable split horn mirroring his Unit's not barring the look of utter love in his eyes. "I've missed you so much." he said simply. "I can't wait to kiss you again."

"Neither can I, Kaworu." Rei replied, equally simply.

As they crested the lip of the pit and the Unit's feet all touched solid ground, Daniel glanced around the Plug. "Do any of you mind if I put on some music?" he asked with a slight smile. "I expressly won't promise not to sing along."

Eleanor, Asuka and Rei chuckled, while Suriel seemed confused. "Is this… normal?" she asked Eleanor.

Eleanor smiled. "Oh, yes. For Daniel, at least." she looked over at Daniel. "I don't think we'll hear any complaints from us."

With a grin, Daniel tapped on a display on one of the arms, and after a moment, a twinkling, synthy beat began to play. And as the vocals began, Daniel began to sing with them. His voice was dripping with triumph and relief, seeming to be on top of the mountains in the sky that the song mentioned flying to.

As he sang, Asuka looked over at Rei. "He's been saving this one for you guys." she said in a conspiratorial whisper. "I can figure you know he's had a good day when he starts singing some Kansas."

Rei nodded. "Indeed. I've even learned the words to this one as well. I enjoy that freedom the song suggests and... waxes lyrical about, as it were."

Asuka chuckled softly. "Typical Wondergirl." she said, no bite behind the word as she smiled. She listened for a second before continuing. "The chorus is coming up again. Want to join in?"

Rei's smile widened. "I see no reason not to." she said, excitement and jollity creeping into her voice.

And as the chorus began again, three voices rang through the Frame Plug as the Units marched for home.

"Sail on! Sail on! I will rise each day to meet the dawn. So high, so high. I've climbed the mountains of the sky. Without my wings, you know, I'd surely die. I found my freedom flying high. I've climbed the mountains of the sky!"

- - -

Aboard the Val, September 11th, 1920 Hours

Mariah Marlowe stepped off the platform of the transporter with wide eyes that drank in everything she could find, Mana and Mayumi doing much the same.

She was on a spaceship. A real spaceship! It was the experience of a lifetime, and she wanted to bolt off in a direction and explore, trusting her own senses to lead her to something interesting.

She did, however, keep a cap on such emotions as Daniel led them to the waiting medbay. That didn't mean that she went quietly, however.

"Is there, like, a ship's computer that I can ask? Computer! What about weapons? Does this thing have phasers, or cannons, or something even weirder? What sort of bathrooms does it have, like regular ones or something weird?"

These questions and more she threw to Daniel in a barrage that hardly let him get a word in edgewise, though he did the best he could to answer her questions as they came. Eventually, though, they stepped into the clean white room that was the medbay, and a woman turned around from talking with another woman next to some big tube. She was a pretty sort, reddish hair, green eyes, and freckles, and the woman she talked to was pale, somewhat severe with long black hair and piercing black eyes. Ritsuko and Maya she recognized, who both talked to another girl her age. Had she seen her before? Maybe.

"Hello, Daniel." the one with the green eyes said as she stepped forward and quickly kissed him.

"Hello, love." Daniel replied with a smile on his face as he turned to regard the three Numberless Children.

"This is Eleanor, my wife." he said as he put a hand on her shoulder. "She's our resident Mender, a fixer-upper of machines and people. She'll be overseeing your operation today."

Eleanor waved as she stepped forward and extended a hand. "Nice to meet you. Daniel told me a little about you three on the way back from Tokyo-3. I'll get you back to the way you nominally should be as fast as I can."

Mariah shook the proffered hand firmly. "This isn't going to involve a deep conversation about our feelings, is it? I'm not exactly the best when it comes to dealing with those sorts of things."

Eleanor chuckled as she shook Mana and Mayumi's hands. "No, none of that just yet. Right now, we're going to make sure that those Flux Caps on your Frames come off, and then we'll go from there. Now, if you'll come with me."

As the children walked towards the beds, and Daniel thanked who was apparently called Quelaag, Mariah looked between the tube thing and the new girl. "Two quick questions." she said as she laid down. "What's the tube, and who's the new girl? I don't know if I've seen her before."

Eleanor put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "This is Hikari. She's one of the Pilots and a Mender in training."

Hikari waved as she smiled softly. "Hello. A pleasure to meet you all. Thank you for placing your trust in us." she said quietly.

"And as for the machine," Eleanor continued, "that is a Reconstituter Tank. It uses a special sort of substance to help a soul grow a new body. Very handy. The ship didn't have one, so Daniel is having a few installed just in case."

Mariah nodded as Eleanor walked to her side. "Gotcha." she said, as she felt a cap placed snugly on her head. "What's this, then?"

"This allows me to get into your head and mess around, acting as a sort of lens." Eleanor replied. "Professionally mess around, at least. Heaven knows looking at this they were at amateur level with you, at best. To say nothing of the others."

"So, uh…" Mariah said as she felt… was that the right word? Perceived something in her head as Eleanor began to whisper to Hikari. "Can I watch? If it's possible, of course."

"Sure." Eleanor replied. "One moment."

Then, as she stared up at the ceiling without her glasses, a panel that looked like a computer screen slid into view, hanging impossibly in the air. On the screen was her head, but at the distance the screen was at, it was somewhat blurry.

"Uh, if you might move it a little closer, doc?" she said as she squinted slightly. "As fetching as my glasses are, they aren't just for show."

"Oh, sure." Eleanor replied, and a hand reached out, pulling it closer to her. "There you go."

As the screen stopped moving, Mariah's eyes widened. "Woah…"

She saw herself, obviously. But where the apparently clear cap had been placed on her head, she saw… branches of light, glowing and pulsing and with little motes of color racing back and forth as she thought and saw and wondered.

And, as Eleanor pointed out to Hikari, she could see the dull bulbs that looked almost like tumors of dark shifting color, places where these Frame things were thinner or choppier than the others. And the worst part was… she didn't remember how any of this happened. 'What did they make me?' she thought, her eyes losing focus. 'Am I a… a monster? A freak? What if they can't make this better? What am I really supposed to be?'

She twitched slightly as Eleanor put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey." she said gently. "It's going to be alright. I promise. Everybody I've seen go through this has the sort of thoughts that you're probably thinking right now."

"Can you-" Mariah said before pausing and chuckling. "Well, I guess you can read my mind, in a sense."

Eleanor chuckled softly. "It's a rare privilege." she admitted. "But helping those that need it is always worth it."

As the operations continued, Daniel watched from the door of the medbay for a moment. 'My, but we've broken more than a few chains today, haven't we?' he mused silently. And with how they were going, there would be bigger chains to break too. The chains that SEELE still had on the world, for one.

'And with more pilots, especially ones this excited?' Daniel thought with a chuckle. 'If they didn't stand a chance before, SEELE's toast now.'

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 23: Father (Or: The Dichotomy of Gendo Ikari)

Of course, if the course of history is to be believed, and the present is any indication, these outsiders will begin by presenting themselves as agents of peace and stability, a force of uplifting us from our base, nay, savage ways. They will offer us seemingly wondrous gifts, and we, in our blindness, will take them, unaware of the hidden strings these gifts tie to us. Perhaps most insidious of these gifts is that of so called 'Interfacing'...

- "To Stand Apart", Post 4

Infinity Box, September 11th, 2030 Hours

Shinji Ikari, at this particular moment, was excited. Almost unbearably so. There were a great many reasons to be, of course. For one, the retrieval mission had gone off almost without a hitch, and Rei was back. With the retrieval of the other Units forming a temporary bulwark, plans were being made to extract Mother from the core of Unit-01.

And now, he thought as he and Asuka stepped into the Infinity Box hand in hand, he would get to meet Mrs. Soryu. That was… a little terrifying, still, meeting one of her parents, but experiencing Asuka's excitement had suffused him with a portion of it, and his brief conversation when they had arrived in Tokyo-2 had been anything but dull.

And now, as they approached the cave that had become Dhamadren's abode, a rather tall woman wearing a simple white t-shirt and jeans turned around, her blonde hair whipping past brilliant blue eyes that were wide and full of utter joy.

Asuka let go of his hand, taking a step forward and pausing. A silent moment passed, then another. "Mama…" Asuka whispered.

"Liebling." Kyoko Zeppelin-Soryu replied, stepping forward and raising her arms.

With that singular word, Asuka charged into the hug, squeezing tight as she sobbed. "Mama. Mama. I love you. I've wanted to say that to you in the flesh for so, so long." she wept into Kyoko's shoulder.

"I know, Asuka." Kyoko replied quietly. "I love you too. I'm sorry for making you wait so long for that."

Then they simply took each other's company in silently, wrapped in an embrace that had been years coming.

After long, loving minutes, they finally pulled back from the embrace, and Kyoko stood straight as she regarded Shinji with eyes glittering in amusement. "Well, hello, Shinji." she said, taking a step forward. "How is Yui doing?"

Shinji's breath hitched for a moment before he replied. "She's doing fine. We'll be getting her out of the core of Unit-01 soon."

"Ah." Kyoko said as she nodded slowly. "Good to hear."

Then she paused for a moment before sighing. "Shinji… thank you. For being here for Asuka when I couldn't. I owe very nearly the world to you. But this will have to do."

Kyoko stepped forward, and enveloped Shinji in a hug as well. "Thank you." she repeated, her voice quiet and slightly choked with tears.

"You're welcome, Mrs. Soryu." Shinji replied as they parted.

He looked over at Dhamadren, who had begun on another thin stick figure of rippling light. "Who are you working on now, Mr. Dhamadren?" he asked as he stepped forward.

Dhamadren hummed as he paused his work for a moment before resuming. "This is a male soul." he replied. "The only one in this batch."

Shinji's eyes widened. "Father…"

- - -

Gendo Ikari had much time given for him to simply think. It was a unique circumstance, to say the least, having died in the Battle of Tokyo-3 and had his soul interned within a gemstone before… whatever was happening to him now was going on.

There was no way to hide from anything that he thought within him now. No chance to turn to drink or drug that could numb his thoughts, no carnal pleasures to pursue to put off the moment of truth. No, it was just him and his sins.

'Is this what it might have been like in Instrumentality before the illusions?' he mused. He preferred not to know the answer for this reality. He'd seen more than enough when he'd watched that infernal television show that Daniel Theisman had produced from the records of his world. 'I know what it was like for Shinji, though. At least in some aspect.'

'Shinji…'

He thought back to the apartment in Tokyo-2. Thinking of those days, so soon after the Contact Experiment, drove a thorn into his heart more than anything else could ever have. It had been dark most days, physically as well as mentally. The lights were rarely turned on unless it was by a young Shinji. And whenever he looked at Shinji, as he smiled, seemingly almost oblivious to what had happened… all he saw was her. Her face. Her smile. All of it, all of her, gone.

The pain of it had driven him to madness. He remembered when he decided to make that pain go away. Down to the very day. It was November 12th, 2003. On that day, his heart… stopped. Whether he had somehow made it stop himself or it had just finally collapsed under the strain didn't matter much to him then. All that mattered was getting her back now. But he needed to focus. He could afford no distractions. He knew what he needed to do.

A call to the Azuma's, Yui's in-laws, a ride on the train to Yamanokako, and then, a step back onto the train, tamping down the sound of the familiar voice that cried out behind him. Then, the first step was done.

As he rode home, resolving to get rid of the other distractions, the pictures and the videos and the diaries, he felt a part of him twinge in… something. Something that felt at once familiar and alien. But he crushed it. He could not feel regret or hesitation. Not on this path.

Now, so far removed from that time, Gendo sighed inwardly at himself. His foolishness. 'If I could have gone back like I should have, picked Shinji back up and saw him as the gift he was… if I were better than I was… what would be?'

Then, he remembered the conversation. The first conversation with Yui he'd had in years. All because of Daniel Theisman and… Shinji. She'd railed on him, an angry fire that could rival an erupting volcano's washing over him, threatening to sweep him away with his guilt, his shame and remorse being all that would remain.

And then she'd proved, once again, why he could never have deserved her. She...forgave him. He still wondered at how she could just… do that. So simply. After all he had done to her. To their son. To everyone around him for the past decade.

He remembered her words to him after that anger, seemingly etched into his very soul. "I understand. I can never say I'll agree, but I understand."

She'd paused, and he felt her ponder her next words, marveled at the moment. "You have such a drive when you want something." she'd finally said. "You wanted to excel at your classes after you met me. You wanted my hand in marriage. You wanted to learn about SEELE and Instrumentality. And you wanted to live the miracle of Shinji's birth for the rest of your life."

"So, I have a question, now. What do you want?"

"To try again." he'd replied, feeling foolish for even only admitting it. "To go back and have you and Shinji again. Our family against the world, and winning."

"That time has passed." Yui had said, and Gendo mourned the fact. "But we might still have a chance for the future. You'll need to build bridges with Shinji again. No small task, considering what you've done."

"Whatever it takes for us to be complete again." He'd said. "I'll do it. For you."

She'd chuckled softly. "Thank you, Gendo. But don't just do it for me. Do it for Shinji."

"Alright, then, Yui." he'd said. "I promise."

Now, there was a chance. And for her, for all of them, it would be enough. He would be sure of it.

- - -

Another World, Mid-2020

Commander Ikari had much time given to him to simply think. It was an inevitable symptom of the Near Third Impact destroying the Geofront as it had, the foolish boy trying to save that which could be replaced and beginning Third Impact dramatically ahead of schedule due to a brat's hormones.

It had thrown so much of the Scenario off track, and it had taken very literal years to try and complete what had been started almost 5 years ago as a result.

The process had been… interesting was perhaps the closest word to describe the process of working around the untimely absence of Unit-01. The Mark.06 had served as a decent substitute, but they had had to travel to Antarctica, retrieve what had turned out to be another of the empty Vessels of Adam, and construct it into the Mark.09 in order to truly ensure that the True Third Impact could be commenced.

That was years ago, now. The completion of Third Impact was a far more present matter. With the attempted fusion of a Vessel of Adam, containing a child of Adam, and Lilith, there was a better than good chance that the balance would not be so disjointed as to have a Lilithian will to stand individually nearly overpower the Adamic urge to unify, and make all things right again.

But then, Inspector Kaji stepped back into the picture. He had proved far more trouble than he'd been worth when he'd stolen the Key of Nebuchadnezzar and used it to tap into the power of his soul. With that power, he'd stymied Third Impact's effects by terminating Lilith. A setback of serious proportions, and one that would have to have the Scenario escalate to somewhat ridiculous solutions to rectify.

But then the man had been foolish enough to give those powers up, return them to the Key. He became mortal again, instead of trying to set the Scenario back even further. Which had made the bullet that he'd put into the back of Kaji's skull as effective as he'd needed it to be.

Even that was still the past, however. There was little need to dwell on such a thing overly much. Then he would start thinking about…

'No. No distractions. We just need to complete Instrumentality. Then I can be free. Then I can have her again. Not a moment before.'

So, for now, he turned his focus to the screen on the low wall of the ruined command bridge of Central Dogma, and watched the feed of the first Evangelion Mark.04As, pitiful things compared to true Evangelions, as they sped towards a grey clump of ships.

Colonel Katsuragi and Doctor Akagi had proven to be another annoyance to the Scenario. Having taken the Shikinami-line Second Child and the infiltrator Child, along with their Evangelions, they were a threat that had to be taken care of, and swiftly. Thus, the three advancing Dummy Plug-operated Marks would sink their toy navy, and their Evangelions would be retrieved for use in the Scenario.

The Marks flew low, nearly touching the surface of the water, as they sped across the Indian Ocean towards their first target, a massive container ship with welded-on metal walls. The power sources emanating from the vessel matched the Evangelions to a T. And after all, there was little stopping them from dredging the Units from the sea floor when the operation was done.

However, as the two Evangelions popped up from behind the wall of the container vessel and raised Pallet Rifles, and the fleet began to open fire with cannon shell and missile, it seemed that the attack would not go without challenge.

He and Deputy-Commander Fuyutsuki watched silently as the Mark.04As began to juke the oncoming fire, their meager defensive AT Fields swept aside by the two Evangelions efforts, opening them up to the depredations of mere human weaponry. And even the thick armor plating that the Marks carried could only stand up to that for so long.

So the squad of Marks changed targets, even as one went down from the weight of fire finally brought down on them, the last sight its feed showing being a ship of some kind looming in its view, then a flash of fire turning into snow. The other Marks fired their Needle Canons, punching massive holes in cruisers and aircraft carriers and causing them to explode and begin to sink into the crimson sea as the Marks flew past, taking fire as they did.

It was as such for long, silent moments, the Marks swooping in the air as they were propelled by AT Fields. Then, the last of the Mark.04As splashed into the ocean, and the operation was over, a rough list of enemy casualties scrolling past on one side of the screen.

Fuyutsuki sighed quietly. "I see this is going to be harder than expected." he said, glancing over at the stoic commander.

"It was never expected that the Colonel and her followers would lay down arms without some resistance." Commander Ikari replied. "Now, we must see how far they will bend before they will break." he turned his head ever so slightly. "How many more Mark.04As do we have in production?"

Fuyutsuki was silent for a moment. "With our LCL casting capabilities coming fully online, we should have a dozen by month's end. The autonomous Dummy Plug plant in Shanghai is coming online as well, so we should have little need for pilots for any Evangelions of any kind that we wish to produce."

"Good." Commander Ikari replied as he walked back towards his office. "Then they can only break quickly. Our weight of force will either force them to yield, or it will crush them. It is as simple as that."

- - -

Infinity Box, September 12th, 2016

Gendo Ikari marveled at the process that was being used to reconstitute his body. It felt utterly unique, whatever was being done to him. He… he swirled with positive emotion, sometimes suffused by dark motes of fear or doubt. And as he swirled, he felt the swirling beginning to slow more and more as time went on. He could contemplate the feeling for what seemed like forever.

Now, though, his reverie was interrupted by Shinji. Nowadays, he welcomed such interruptions, chances to speak more with his son, air out their grievances, and allow Shinji to vent. With how long he'd been removed, it had taken a while to recognize that Shinji had adopted his intellect along with his mother's temperament. It was a wondrous sight to see.

He had brought Rei with him once and Yui's capacity for forgiveness shone through again, leaving Gendo in stark awe for a moment at how she had come to be this way, even after all he'd done to her.

'That's Shinji again.' he reminded himself. 'Even with your best efforts, you could never take that part of her away from him. Thank god for that.'

It was an amusingly pious outburst of thought, to say the least. But, as Shinji linked their souls together, he focused on the upcoming conversation. "Hello again, Shinji." he said with no small amount of expectation. "It's good to hear from you again."

It was a moment before Shinji replied, wondering and amazement bleeding through the link. "You know, I never thought I'd hear you say that. And I never thought that I'd agree." he replied. "But yes. It's… good to hear from you too."

"I'm glad to hear that." Gendo said after a moment. "How are the other pilots?"

"Asuka's glad that she's able to hug her mother again." Shinji began. "I actually met her. She's very nice. Very… excitable."

"Yes." Gendo chuckled. "She always was a handful to deal with. Her young daughter seemingly more so. You two got along surprisingly well."

"Yes." Shinji said, a bemused tone in his voice. "Asuka and I did, didn't we?"

Gendo's surprise as he silently connected the dots made Shinji chuckle. "Yes, we're childhood friends. But anyways, Rei and Kaworu are doing fine since we retrieved them from Lilith. Toji and Hikari are apparently figuring things out with her father. And…"

He paused, and Gendo could feel the excitement, the pure joy, radiating from him. "Now I have someone here to see you. Get ready, father."

Then Gendo found his form shifting slightly, going from what he assumed was prostrate to what he felt might be some approximation of sitting up. The brilliant void which he had long gotten used to being the only thing he'd see during this time began to fade, slowly revealing a familiar blue-stoned room.

As the view cleared, he saw a sight that a part of him had thought he would never truly see again. There was Shinji, of course. But beside him, with tears in her eyes, was the woman that had saved him.

"Yui…" Gendo said, only somewhat surprised that he could physically speak as tears welled up in his own eyes, watching as Yui walked over to him.

"Gendo…" Yui replied quietly, her hand tenderly cupping Gendo's cheek. She said everything else with a long, soft kiss, and Gendo was, after decades having gone so long without, finally content again.

The kiss lasted what seemed a lifetime, then Yui drew back to look at him again. "Oh, Yui." Gendo said quietly. "It's been so long. I'm… I'm sorry."

Yui smiled slightly. "I know." she said softly. "It has been a while. But I just had to see you once I'd gotten out of the core of Unit-01." she smiled slightly. "Even if it is just your head that I'm talking to." she chuckled.

Gendo glanced down and indeed found that the rest of his body was a swirling, cloudlike mass that was generally humanoid. "Ah. I see." Gendo said after a moment, and Yui chuckled again.

He then looked over at Shinji, who stood a little ways away, watching silently. "Shinji." Gendo said calmly, drawing his son's gaze to him. "Come here." he continued. "Let's talk properly together. As a family."

Shinji gasped silently as he slowly walked forward, joining Yui's side as he stared almost disbelievingly into his father's warm eyes.

"Shinji…" Gendo began, then paused as he tried to find the words he knew he needed to say. "Thank you." he settled on. "And I hope that you can forgive me. Even if I've done nothing before this to deserve it."

Shinji stared at his father for a moment, then smiled slightly as he shook his head. "Maybe you don't deserve it. But if there's anything I've learned, it's that deserving and needing aren't necessarily the same."

Gendo's smile widened slightly. "And that would be Daniel Theisman." he surmised.

Shinji nodded. "Yes. It would be." he paused as he studied Gendo's form. "So… what does it feel like, going through that process?"

Yui nodded, that excited look in her eyes that always seemed to set Gendo's soul on fire gleaming. "Yes, actually. This is the first I've ever seen of reconstitution of a physical form using only spiritual — or Pneumaic, I guess — matter. How does that work?"

Gendo chuckled, a warm, deep sound. "Well, I'll go ahead and tell you as best I can…"

- - -

Tokyo-3 Ruins, Another World, Mid-2020

Commander Ikari marveled for a moment at the moon. It was growing closer, now, a symptom of Third impact. It would continue to grow closer as time went on. As for whether it would impact the Earth at some point was an almost pointless debate. Third Impact had thrown the governing rules of reality into utter chaos. What would be was now ever up for debate in a world that was swiftly becoming overgrown by core material.

The old city's only defense, Doctor Akagi's Angel Contamination Containment Pillars, worked surprisingly well in turning away the depredations of the core material, allowing him to stand on a rooftop and look up into the night sky.

He shook his head slightly for a moment, then looked down at the visor in his hands. It was sleek and black, with a red band crossing over top of the portion his eyes would peer out of. It was a similar kind of visor to the one the human form of SEELE-01, the man named Lorenz Kihl, wore.

He regarded the visor for a moment more, what it would help him see, and slowly put it on, the connector points on the sides of his head locking it in place, shrouding the world in darkness for a moment. Then the bootup process began, and the world was revealed to him once again. It was brighter now, the night less shadowed, the night sky more defined.

'Now, where was that crypt again…' he thought offhandedly as he scanned the sky. It would be in an almost geosynchronous orbit above Tokyo-3...

There. Flashing by for the briefest of moments before the visor cut through the visual interference of the atmosphere and zoomed in to catch a clear picture of the tomb that Unit-01 was encased in.

The picture hung in his visor as he dipped his head from the heavens. 'Yui.' he thought silently. 'I hate that our son's foolishness has taken you from me. Left you hanging even further out of reach.'

'All of this is for you. Whether you might accept it or not won't matter once it's done, and we are together in Instrumentality. Then, my world will be complete.'

'I can't afford to think of you long anymore.' he admitted. 'If I do, I will lose faith in this work. This miracle which will bring us together again.'

'But it seems as far away as you are physically.' Commander Ikari though with no small amount of discontent. 'Especially now that Lilith is gone. There is no physical interface left with which to begin Instrumentality. What shall I do?'

He stilled his thoughts, seemingly waiting for an answer from the woman that he knew was leagues more intelligent than he could ever hope to be.

'I think… I have an idea, Yui.' he thought after a moment. 'It will take our son. And SEELE's boy. But it might work. But I will have to be sure.'

With that, the picture of the coffin that Unit-01 was interned in disappeared, and Commander Ikari walked back towards the Geofront. He had some questions to ask the old men. After what needed to be done. If he were a more spiritual man, he thought, he would thank Inspector Kaji for his inspiration.

- - -

Infinity Box, September 13th, 2016

There was an air of anticipation as Gendo Ikari waited for the rather unsettling Spirit Dhamadren to finish his work. For all his appearance, after Gendo had reached out to him, he was a surprisingly intellectual conversationalist, something which he stated many of his works were unable to fully grasp.

But the conversation had tapered off as the Spirit's work drew closer and closer to completion. Even now, he began to feel less gaseous, more… solid. Distinct. Whole.

Gendo surmised that that feeling of completion stemmed from far more than simply physical wholeness. It was a mental and, surprisingly, spiritual wholeness as well. The world he would step back into would still hate him, rightfully so. But their opinions, their noise, never really mattered to him anyways. He would have the one thing that mattered more than anything else. His family. His wife, and his son. Whatever came afterward would be what it would be.

"Very well." Dhamadren said, breaking through Gendo's reverie. "I've just about completed the necessary work to fully manifest your body. Are you prepared for this?"

"Yes." Gendo replied. "I've been waiting far too long for this."

"Then let us begin."

And so, Gendo Ikari felt a weight settle on his chest, that spread to his limbs and head, and felt a distinct tingling sensation as what Dhamadren had assured him was just the nerves of his body test-firing in waves coursed through him. Then a thinner, lighter weight, his clothing, settled on his body, and the brilliant fog that had been his bedding and cage for the last two days began to dissipate.

With a quiet thump, he fell onto the 'operating table', and found himself marveling at the simple process of simply being able to breathe again. It felt… strange after so long going without. Strange and yet utterly satisfying.

"Welcome back to the 'land of the living', as Mr. Theisman is fond of saying to some of my previous work." Dhamadren said. He paused for a moment as he looked to the side. "Or were you going to say that to Mr. Ikari instead?" he asked someone archly.

Gendo sat up, and found at the mouth of the cave Yui, Shinji, and Mr. Theisman, who stood a little ways away with a slight smile on his face. "No," he replied, "I don't think the moment needs it."

As Gendo stood, Yui and Shinji slowly walked towards him. Soon, they were only meters apart, and Gendo looked from Yui to Shinji to Yui again silently. Then, his gaze rested on Shinji as he stepped forward and kneeled, putting his ungloved hands on Shinji's shoulders.

"Shinji…" he said quietly. "Thank you."

He pulled Shinji into a hug, and Shinji gasped at the sudden gesture of love. "I owe everything to you." he whispered, tears in his eyes. "Forgive me, Shinji."

Shinji was stiff as a board for a moment, then his arms slowly raised, and embraced his father. "I… I will. Sometime." was his halting reply.

"Thank you." Gendo repeated, releasing the hug after many minutes. He stood, and embraced his wife, sharing a tender kiss with her before pulling back and gazing into her eyes. "Thank you for keeping our son safe, Yui." he said.

Yui nodded. "Of course, Gendo." she replied. Then she arched an eyebrow. "No beard?"

Gendo stroked a clean-shaven chin. "I figured it was part of a fresh start, so to speak."

Yu chuckled softly. Then she paused for a moment. "Though I am not the only one you should be thanking, you know. There is one more person here who deserves your thanks." she continued, a slight smile on her face as she turned to look over at Daniel.

Gendo let go of his wife, walking over to a man almost 20 centimeters shorter than him with something approaching humility, but just out of reach for the tall, proud Ikari. "I have to thank you for succeeding where I failed." he began. "For helping to make my son into the man he is when that was a responsibility that I shirked."

Daniel sighed quietly. "I accept your thanks." he replied. "Though your efforts to reconnect are not unnoticed. And not unappreciated." he continued, sparing a glance to Shinji and Yui.

"Perhaps." Gendo said. "But that is the present. A hypocrite trying to make up for his previous mistakes, unsure of whether the task is even possible."

Daniel smiled slightly. "An old general in your general position had a saying about hypocrites. Sometimes, they're just people trying to change. And death changes people, does it not?"

Gendo chuckled softly. "A wise sentiment." Gendo concurred. Then his expression dimmed. "But after all I've done…"

"Well, we went to bat for your current character when we got dragged in front of the UN." Daniel said with a shrug and a slight smile. "And… well, there is no more NERV, at this point." he continued, his smile disappearing.

Gendo nodded slowly, a grave look in his eyes. "And what of SEELE? Who shall ensure they are contained or captured?" he asked, an edge of what could generously be called anxiety creeping into his voice.

"We're actually working on that." Shinji interjected, causing the two adults to turn to regard him. "We're just getting the final parts of the plan that'll allow us to actually make sure we can do it."

"And what would that be, Shinji?" Gendo asked.

"A new organization." Shinji replied. "The only problem is we'll have to make sure everyone gets the new Frame Titans in order to ensure that the UN will even listen to us."

Gendo's eyebrow arched. "I see. A bold move on Ms. Katsuragi's part, I presume?"

Shinji nodded as he chuckled softly. "Yeah. It's one of her patented Ideas."

Gendo was silent for a moment. "I can see the reasoning behind it."

Then he shook his head. "But right now, that doesn't matter. What matters is that I have you. And right now… I just want to spend the day with you. Just the three of us."

Gendo looked back at Daniel. "So, we'll take our leave, then."

Daniel nodded, a slight smile on his face. "Enjoy the rest of the day, Ikari's."

Shinji nodded. "We will."

- - -

Commander's Office, Geofront Ruins, Another World

There was an air of anticipation as Commander Ikari waited a moment for the sealed suitcase to unlock. Fuyutsuki stood a ways away, anxiety apparent in his eyes as he watched his former student open the container, a brilliant white light putting the man in stark relief as he reached in.

"I must ask." Fuyutsuki finally said, as Commander Ikari produced from the box the Key of Nebuchadnezzar. "Are you sure this is the correct course of action?"

Commander Ikari did not answer for a moment, studying the strange, almost human-shaped key. "There is no other option." he finally replied. "Lilith has been terminated, and we must find a fitting replacement for it. This is simply the first step."

"Gendo." Fuyutsuki said. "What the Inspector did was foolish, taking the Key's power for a moment, but subsuming it into your being entirely? What will happen to you? What will happen when you lose your humanity?"

Finally, Commander Ikari looked over at Fuyutsuki, and not for the first time, the old professor cursed the moment he'd put that damned mask on. It had become worse than his glasses. At least he could have seen his eyes before if he'd squinted, guessed the intent behind them. Now… there was nothing.

"Sensei," Gendo said after a long, tense silence, "what humanity is there left for me to lose?"

Fuyutsuki, for all his intellect, could not answer.

"Leave, Sensei." Commander Ikari said quietly. "I must do this alone."

It was another long, tense moment before Fuyutsuki finally turned, walking slowly towards the doors, pausing at the threshold, and turning. "Goodbye, Gendo." he said softly as he opened the door. "I will mourn for you."

Then he left, the door shutting behind him and leaving Commander Ikari in solitude. Even still, it was minutes more before Gendo Ikari put the Key to a point just below his sternum, the needles vibrating slightly as the cloth gave way, leaving a circle of bare skin.

'Yui…'

With that, he plunged the Key in to the hilt, driving an involuntary gasp out of him as he sank to his knees in utter pain.

Pain rippled through him like waves of fire coursing through each nerve, and it felt like he might implode on himself. But there was a great source, he could feel, dwelling within the Key. So he drew it to himself, through sheer force of will, the source of a power that could transcend the logic of the world.

It was a long, drawn-out struggle, pained gasps echoing in the vast and empty space as Gendo pulled with all his might.

Then, at last, it was done. The power was within him, his humanity was spent, and he pulled the Key from his chest, taking in massive breaths. First one. Then another. Then another.

Then he stopped breathing. And he stood.

'The First Gate to Imagination has been unbarred.' Commander Ikari thought as his shirt repaired itself, covering the latticework scar. 'Now we must find the other Gates, and reach out to the Imaginary.'

- - -

New Sydney, Australia, Mid-September 2016

John Price was looking for a man. Not that he gave any outward appearance of it, dressed as he was in comfortable, light and loose civilian clothes, a floppy brimmed hat, and aviators. He had only done a few undercover ops during his time in Blackadder, but his memory was sharp on how they worked. And he was sure of the compact holdout pistol in the small of his back, and the holdout knife in his boot, concealed as it was by his jeans, in case things decided to get messy.

He continued walking down the moodily bright, hot street of a city approaching night until he found himself in front of a now-familiar sight. A seaside bar called the New Hook, whatever that meant, had been found to be a gathering spot for off-duty UN workers and Armed Response soldiers. Ghost had been casing the place for about a week now. He now likely had a lot of juicy secrets, that much would be for certain. But bawdy details mattered far less than the fact that every Thursday or so, one Terrence Howard would come as the sun was setting, just before 8, to find a nice, out-of-the-way table. He'd been coming more frequently, apparently, at least according to Ghost asking a nonchalant question to the bartender.

Now, though, he thought as he entered the bar, finding the others and his target easily enough, all he'd need to do was go up and ask some questions.

He ordered a stout from the bar, then went and sat down at the booth where Howard nursed some fruity cocktail or another. "Look like you could use some company, my friend." John said, a light and friendly tone to his voice.

Howard looked blearily at him, the three glasses at his side relatively unnoticed. "No." he finally said after a moment. "No, I don't."

"Oh, I think differently." John replied as he took a sip of his stout. "After all, I've got a question for you."

Howard blinked, and John could see the hints of adrenaline beginning to clear the haze in his eyes. "What d' you mean?" he said, a slur swirling his words.

"Well, actually, I personally don't have a question." John continued. "Nor do my buddies the table over keeping things private."

He had to admire Howard's ability when he only glanced over at the table in question, which held Ghost, Roach, and Soap in similarly casual clothes. "No, my question's from Julius." John continued, his voice becoming a low growl. "Where. Is. My. Daughter?"

Howard's eyes widened slowly at the realization. "Oh… shit… Mar-"

"Keep talking." Price interrupted. "But talk quietly. And concisely."

It took a moment for Howard to gather his thoughts and, apparently, his courage. "Alpha Child was sent on a classified mission to Tokyo-3, along with Ma-Beta Child and Cephus Child, to retrieve two articles from within the NERV-HQ Geofront."

Price snorted. "We saw how well that went." he said, an undertone of anger becoming more and more prominent. "Is she alive?"

Howard slowly nodded. "Yes. She was captured by NERV at the conclusion of the failed operation."

"NERV?" Price said, a raised eyebrow. "I'll admit, there are worse outcomes that I had in mind."

Howard nodded. "Still, the Committee has tasked me with putting together a retrieval team for the purpose of securing the girl- the assets."

Price's eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed as he slowly put a hand on Howard's shoulder. "Care to rephrase that?" he said with a deathly calm.

Howard looked at him with a somewhat surprising spark of determination. "We're taking care of the Pilots, Julius. All of them."

Price let go of Howard's shoulder as he leaned back. "Well…" he began trailing off as he scratched at one of his muttonchops. "At least one of them is out of your hands." he said. "As long as you tell me where they are now, I'll be on my way."

It was a quiet moment before Howard replied. "They're in Tokyo-2, last our covert ops heard. In the good graces of NERV."

Price nodded as he polished off the stout, taking long draughts. "Alright, then." he finally said as he set down his glass with a quiet thunk. "We'll be on our way. Thank you for your cooperation."

As he stood, Howard reached out a hand. "Wait."

Price paused. "Yes?"

"Keep Mana and Mayumi safe if you find them." Howards said after a moment, desperation evident in his expression. "Please."

It was silent again as Price considered the plea. "Alright. We'll try." he finally said quietly.

Then, with a nod to the other three, John Price left the bar, and left behind a man who stewed in what he had been ordered to do as he took another drink.

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 24: New Breath, New Heartbeat

There is much to be said about the dangerous gift that Interfacing, as it has been explained to us, is. Far more than guns or weapons of any kind, even nuclear weaponry, there is untold potential in what Interfacing can do to destroy us. It is the Pandora's Box of our time, and Daniel Theisman and NERV have cracked it open. If we cannot seal it shut again, and I fear that we cannot, we must ensure that our planet is kept safe from the depredations of those capable of, almost literally single-handedly, destroying it and that any who use this near-magical power is kept in the attention of those able to deal with them quickly and effectively.

- 'To Stand Apart', Post 5

Infinity Box, Mid-September 2016

The next few days passed mostly without issue, a blessed rarity in this day and age. The Evas and Titans sat silently at Matsushiro, a now far more comforting shield against whatever else SEELE might have. But they did not operate under any great auspices anymore. The bunkers of Matsushiro were now far more empty than even the quietest times under NERV. After all, NERV was gone. But the meeting that was happening right now would make sure that it would not be for nothing.

Daniel and Eleanor waited patiently in a now-empty Infinity Box, Dhamadren having finished his business and disappeared back into Mentality, the room a comfortable and familiar meeting space. It was a quiet place for the moment, the couple sitting next to each other as they read, quietly holding each other's hands.

"Enjoyable read?"

They looked up to see Misato and Ritsuko as they walked in, casual clothes a far more common replacement for their formerly usual uniforms.

As Ritsuko took a seat, Misato walked over towards Daniel, and the two ginger beers by his side. "Oh, good, you saved one for me." she said with a wry grin as she took the one closest to her.

As Misato walked back to her seat and popped the lid open, Ritsuko regarded her with an arched eyebrow. "Just a ginger beer? I would have expected something a little stronger."

Misato chuckled as she took a sip. "Yeah, usually. But I've actually been trying to cut down on the actual beers. Something Daniel said to me a while ago kind of clicked now that we have this whole Interfacing thing."

Ritsuko blinked. "And… you didn't tell me?" she asked, somewhat taken aback.

"Well, I wanted it to be a surprise for a little while." Misato admitted with a chuckle. "After all, you're likely going to put me on a diet now that you know."

Ritsuko chuckled. "Well, besides the beer, Shinji has you doing a lot better than you were. I wouldn't change much, now at least. Just make sure you actually keep up with it."

Misato nodded thoughtfully, then a playful grin spread across her face. "And what about your little vices? I haven't seen you smoking all that much recently. We aren't even really near any supercomputers now."

"Well, we will be at some point." Ritsuko retorted, then paused for a moment. "That, and with the end of the world no longer hanging over our heads, I'd like to age gracefully, without the possibility of any lung cancer mucking things up, Interfacing or no."

Misato arched an eyebrow as Ritsuko paused for a moment. "And?" she asked, a bemused tone to her voice.

It was another moment before Ritsuko blushed slightly. "Well, since Maya and I moved in together, she's been more vocal about not liking the smell of cigarettes." she admitted.

As Misato nodded and chuckled softly, Ritsuko looked over at Daniel and Eleanor. "And how are you adjusting to a life without NERV, Eleanor?" she asked politely.

"As well as one can, I guess." Eleanor replied with a shake of her head. "Just because NERV's gone doesn't mean I'm not busy. After all, I've been looking after the Numberless kids after I finished removing their Flux Caps, and I got to see the Horaki's and the Suzuhara's get reunited, too."

Ritsuko nodded as her gaze turned to Daniel. "And how were those? Were you there for them?"

Daniel let a moment of silence pass as he pondered the two moments.

The Suzuhara's were an… interesting family, to say the least. Toji had brought his father, Naoto, and Sakura into the Infinity Box. He'd been somewhat concerned that Dhamadren's appearance might frighten the young girl, but the 10-year-old was more amazed by Dhamadren's 'rainbow lines' than anything else. Naoto Suzuhara was another matter entirely.

But even his fright soon turned to wonder as Hayase Suzuhara sat up and opened nearly golden eyes. She had examined herself, looking down at her arms before her lips tilted into what could have almost been considered a pout. "Aw, man. My tan's gone." she muttered.

"Mom?" Toji had said, which seemed to snap the woman out of her reverie, as her eyes grew wide.

"Toji? Sakura?" she whispered as she got off the table and walked towards them, stopping only inches away for a moment before fiercely hugging them both. "Oh, I've missed you both. So, so much. I'm sorry I couldn't have been there for you."

"It was an accident, mom." Toji whispered. "Not much we could do about that." Unfortunately, Daniel had his doubts as to whether Hayase's death was truly an 'accident'.

After a long while, Hayase stood and regarded Naoto. "So, dear." she said quietly, a smile on her face as tears streamed down her eyes. "Have your manga been selling well?"

Naoto nodded silently. "Hayase…"

Hayase chuckled as she walked over and embraced Naoto. "Oh, my nerdy little Senpai…" she chuckled, then she kissed him deeply.

Daniel was amused by Eleanor's astonished connection of the dots. After all, fictional bleed was hardly a one-source stream.

The Horaki's were an altogether more serious reunion. With all the expected tears and whispered words and embraces, but quiet. After a deep kiss, Bunzaemon had turned from Fujiko Horaki and looked at his middle daughter with tears in his eyes. "A promise is a promise, Hikari." he'd said quietly. "I never would have guessed it was possible, but... You can move in with young Mr. Suzuhara now if you so wish."

Fujiko joined her husband's side. "As long as you make sure and visit, okay?" she said softly. "I want to get to know the courageous young woman that's right in front of me better. I want to know all of my daughters better."

Hikari, misty-eyed as she embraced her mother, nodded. "Of, course, mother. I promise."

Daniel shook his head as he returned his focus to the present. "They were as eventful as bringing back two mothers could be." he replied. "Has your own mother considered a new body?"

Ritsuko nodded. "She's preparing for a procedure on the Sonne in the next couple of days. After all, it's not like we really have a Magi anymore for her to spend time in."

Daniel nodded as another voice coughed politely, drawing all eyes to Kozo Fuyutsuki, who stood at the entrance. "Am I late?" he asked softly.

Daniel shook his head. "No, actually. We're just waiting for Ryoji, Makoto and the Children. Take a seat and join the conversation."

Fuyutsuki took the proffered seat, and the quiet conversation continued, Daniel noting as an aside that he and Eleanor would be taking Kodama Horaki on a tour of the Val in the next few days, until Makoto arrived, then Ryoji appeared with the Children in tow, dressed surprisingly neatly compared to his usually purposefully sloppy fare. As they took their places, the meeting began in earnest.

"Alright." Daniel said, an aura of seriousness descending on him. "We're here to figure out what, exactly, Misato gets to tell the United Nations and the rest of the world. Ritsuko, are the files for the Frame Titans and the SLCL ready to upload?"

"At the press of a button." Ritsuko replied.

Daniel nodded. "And your meeting is confirmed, right?" he asked Misato.

"1330 hours today." Misato confirmed with a nod.

"Excellent." Daniel said with a smile. "We know what we're doing, and what we hope to be, but what, exactly, do we call the successor of NERV?"

He let the question stew in silence for a moment, then Kaworu spoke up. "It seems we require something that gets to the heart of what we wish to do. Something bold and succinct as NERV's name was." he said quietly.

"Heart…" Misato said quietly, drawing all eyes to her. After a moment to ponder, she looked up at Asuka. "What's the word for heart in German?" she asked.

"Herz." Asuka replied, nodding slowly as she realized what Misato was getting at.

It was another moment of silence. "Well, I guess that tracks." Toji said with a shrug. "German four-letter word that talks about a body part. Why not?" he paused for a moment before looking over at Asuka. "That is four letters, right?"

Asuka nodded slowly. "Yes, Toji. Herz is only four characters." she said with an overt tone of sage patience.

A quiet chuckle rose from a few as Toji bobbed his head side to side.

"Alright, then." Daniel interjected. "If that's settled, then let's move on. About what the organization will look like, then a possible return to the Geofront..."

- - -

Misato's Current Residence, 1328 Hours

Misato was dressed professionally (at least from the waist up), Penpen was back in her room, and Kaji was on the couch quietly reading a magazine. The bulky monitor and computer setup currently clogging up her kitchen table was online, and the video call software had started without any hitches so far. Misato took another deep breath to soothe her nerves, regardless. She could do this. She could do this.

She felt a connection to her soul and appreciated the warmth and support that Ryoji offered her. It was with that support that a panel of familiar faces began to appear on the screen in quick succession.

The first to show was the head of the UN Security Council, Secretary Priscille Beaulieu. She was a sharp-faced Parisian, with short cut black hair and piercing blue eyes that regarded her coolly from above a slight scar across her cheek that had come from a bullet graze during the chaos of the Impact Wars.

Then the representatives of the now independent nations made their appearance. Tama Kauri, the wide Maori U.S. representative, then Jupp Glöckner of Germany, a stern and middle-aged man, Xiulan Lo of China, young and sharp for a woman of her age, and Izolda Ignatov of Russia, an almost legendary woman veteran of the Russo-Afghan conflict within the Impact Wars.

Finally, the home front arrived, as Prime Minister Hoshiko Iwata and Defense Minister Yoshiro Hirano completed the tribunal that she had faced only a few days prior.

"Ms. Katsuragi," Secretary Beaulieu began in slightly accented English, "if you are here to try and state your case again for NERV, then you are far too late. Your leaders should have begun shutting down what few operations you still have left in the country of Japan, now that you have completed your last mission."

She glanced somewhere else on the screen. "And I can assume that such is proceeding, Prime Minister Iwata?"

"Yes, Ms. Beaulieu." Iwata replied. "Though you and the others know I and my defense minister's concerns as it pertains to SEELE and the shutting down of what seems to be the only defense capable of standing against it."

"Which is what I hope to speak on today, ladies and gentlemen." Misato interjected. "Prime Minister Iwata is correct. SEELE is still a threat, and until we can ensure that whatever they do, large or small, can be contained and their members detained for good, there still needs to be an organization at least somewhat like NERV. One that is dedicated to protecting the world, but by protecting the people, not simply advancing a world-altering agenda."

"And you would claim to be part of that solution?" Representative Kauri said as he arched a thick eyebrow. "It's nothing short of a miracle that you and your compatriots have gotten off without even a jail sentence between you."

"Well, representative, respectfully, who else has the experience that we do when it comes to massive-scale threats?" Misato replied.

The call was silent for a moment. As they pondered Misato's reply, Representative Ignatov spoke up. "So what, you desire to continue on in your monopoly of the Evangelion and its successor platform, as you have before? No nation would accept that as more than a threat that you can take whatever other power you want. I do not figure you for someone as foolish as you are brazen, Katsuragi."

"You figure correctly, Ms. Representative." Misato replied as she keyed up the data uplink that Ritsuko had prepared and began to send it. "As such, I propose a trade."

The others on the end of the screen arched their eyebrows. "And what, exactly, does this trade entail?" Representative Glöckner asked somewhat incredulously.

Misato smiled slightly as the data uplink finished. "If you'll all look in your inboxes?" she asked, and she felt Ryoji's bemusement at her carefully contained excitement as the panel all silently checked their emails.

The silence stretched on, then one by one, the members of the panel's eyes grew wide.

"Ms. Katsuragi…" Defense Minister Hirano said with no small amount of awe. "You would offer up the schematics for the… Frame Titan, and the materials needed to create it, to us?"

"Not just to you." Misato replied with an undeniable air of satisfaction. "To all the world. And with the merchants from the Worldsea that are knocking at the door, so to speak, you should be more than able to acquire the tools needed to create them."

Representative Lo shook her head slowly. "Do you understand the Pandora's Box that you've just opened, Katsuragi?" she said with an edge of warning.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't have opened it in the first place." Misato replied seriously. "And I was there when Pandora's Box opened 16 years ago. Trust me, this is, frankly, peanuts next to Second Impact."

It was silent again, the tension in the air palatable. "Very well, then…" Ms. Beaulieu said slowly. "What are the terms of this trade?"

"Simple." Misato replied. "Now that the world has the Frame Titan, everything about it, from its proliferation and use, to rogue units, is going to need oversight. Oversight by people that know what it's like to deal with threats of that scale. That's where HERZ comes in."

"HERZ?" Representative Glöckner asked incredulously.

"Yes. That organization I was talking about. Under my command, operating worldwide to stop any threats of massive-scale, whether it's SEELE, a rogue Titan, another wave of Angels, or whatever else happens to tumble out of space into our laps." Misato replied.

"And where, exactly, would it be located?" Defense Minister Hirano asked.

"It would be headquartered here in Japan. Likely in Matsushiro, now that Tokyo-3 is gone." Misato replied. "We hope to have branches all over the world, as NERV once did, to allow us to respond quickly to any given situation."

"And, I must ask, who watches the watchers, so to speak?" Representative Ignatov asked.

"The UN will have a liaison here in HQ, for one." Misato said levelly. "And we'll need other liaisons, ones from every continent we operate in, if not every country." Misato said frankly. "It's a lot to ask, but it's needed if we want to keep the world safe."

It was silent again for long, almost worrying moments. Misato appreciated the calm confidence that Ryoji broadcasted to her again as she waited somewhat anxiously for their response.

"So," Ms. Beaulieu said with a slight air of resignation, "how long will it take for those merchants that you mentioned to arrive?"

Misato smiled slightly. "With my connections, they could be here as soon as tomorrow."

Beaulieu nodded. "There's a lot to figure out, especially about these Frame Titans and how the nations will use them. We'll need an agreement. A treaty between the nations, for a weapon that surpasses even nuclear arms in its destructive potential."

She paused for a moment, and Misato found herself leaning forward slightly. "I must say," Beaulieu continued with a slight chuckle, "you drive a hard bargain… Commander Katsuragi of HERZ."

"I'll leave you to confer with your country's ministers." Beaulieu said. "After all, you have stated your desire to be based out of Japan."

"And Commander." Beaulieu said quietly, cutting through Misato's celebratory attitude. "Whatever comes next… you'd better be certain you're ready."

With that, Secretary Beaulieu and the representatives disappeared, leaving her alone with the two Ministers of Japan.

"I have to ask, Misato," Defense Minister Hirano asked, "how do you keep getting away with it?"

"A woman's intuition, Yoshi." Misato replied with a smile to one of her old war buddies. "You should already know that."

"Now, to the business of how HERZ will be organized…"

- - -

Theisman Residence, 2 Hours Later

Daniel, Eleanor, Ritsuko and Maya, and the Children waited eagerly for Misato and Ryoji to walk in, talking to each other about meaningless nothings as the excitement, and the tension, steadily built to almost a fever pitch.

Finally, it all came to a head as they heard the door open, and all eyes turned to see Misato walk in with a carefully neutral expression, Ryoji following behind her. Those that tried to use the Sight to suss out the answer before she gave it found that Daniel and Eleanor's training on hiding the Frames of their souls had been put to good use.

"Alright, Misato," Asuka finally said after a moment's almost unbearable silence, "spill it. Should we be cheering or groaning?"

It was silent again for a moment before a small smile appeared on her face. "I don't know, possible First Lieutenant Soryu-Langley of HERZ, why don't you tell me?"

A cheer went up, and more than a few people began to clap before realizing that, yes, they were still in an apartment with other residents, the cheer turning into a polite golf clap.

"Congratulations, Commander." Ritsuko said with a slight grin. "I hope that you actually want this position this time. Or were you thinking of putting someone else in charge?"

Misato shook her head as the Children got up to offer their own congratulations. "Nope. After all, I know, and they know, that I actually care for these little rascals that are going to be piloting, after all."

Shinji's eyes went wide. "We're going to be piloting again?" he asked quietly.

With those words, a hush fell over the room, as the Children regarded her with far more caution now.

Misato sighed quietly after a moment. "I can understand your apprehension. You don't want to be thrown into something you don't want to do, no matter how good at it you might be. That's why I didn't promise you guys as pilots. You could train the next generation if you want to. Or you could still pilot, which, I'll admit, will take a little doing to convince the UN and the rest of the world. Or you can simply just walk away from this life, try and live as normalish a life as you can with everything that's happening now."

She paused for a moment. "You have options. A fair few of them. I don't want to force any of you into anything. I'll work with what I can get." she smirked slightly. "After all, it's what I'm good at, isn't it?"

It was quiet in the room as the Children considered things for a long moment.

Shinji finally looked back at Misato, and she could see the gratitude in his expression. "Thank you, Misato. Could we get a little time to think about it?"

Misato nodded, a small smile on her face. "Of course, Shinji. We don't have anything to do with a Frame Titan or an Eva coming up until our return to the Geofront in a week. Give it some time, and then talk to me. I'll make it work."

A murmur of thanks went up around the room, and soon, they settled into a brief conversation, those meaningless nothings returning for a little while.

Then the group began to go its separate ways, leaving only Daniel, Eleanor, Rei, Misato, Ritsuko, and Maya.

Ritsuko looked over at Rei. "Thank you for staying." she said quietly. "What I'm about to ask does concern you, but we'll get to that in a moment."

Rei nodded slightly. "Of course, Doctor."

Ritsuko then looked to Eleanor. "What I want to ask concerns the Numberless Children and their recovery." she said. Then she paused for a moment as she glanced over at Daniel. "After the battle with Armisael, you… used your own Frame to ensure that Rei didn't die, at the cost of your own life."

As Daniel nodded silently, Ritsuko continued. "My question is… is there a way to do that safely, without getting anyone killed?"

It was silent as Eleanor considered the question. "Well, there is a way." she finally said. "The thing is, it's hardly ethical, doing that to another human being. Especially when it comes to grafting the sort of Frames that Mariah, Mana, and Mayumi need. We can't deprive someone of those sorts of things unless they're terminally ill or otherwise close to death anyway. Anything else goes against the Mender code of ethics."

"As I'd hoped it would." Ritsuko replied. "But, I might have another possible solution."

Ritsuko looked over at Rei. "And it involves the clones of Rei in the Geofront."

Rei and Eleanor's eyes widened in understanding as Daniel and Misato arched an eyebrow. "I see." Rei said quietly. "But… did they survive Near Third Impact? It was… quite destructive, after all."

Ritsuko nodded. "The room is, even for its proximity to Terminal Dogma, a ways away from it. Seeing as Lilith drilled up through the ceiling, the battle would have left the room nearly untouched."

"And with the LCL being a P2​ compound," Maya interjected, "the Frames should still be intact and protected against degradation."

"Not for much longer, then." Eleanor warned. "A P2​ substance can only go so far when preserving instead of growing. If we want to use the Rei clones as donors, we'll have to go ahead of the expedition by a few days."

Ritsuko nodded. "Very well. I'll have to get started on those protective Inscriptions for those of us without Pneumaically protective armor. At least a few. How many people should we take?"

"Only as many as you can make Inscriptions for those who need it." Misato said. "If you're planning on taking the people in this room, you shouldn't need more than just for you and Maya."

Ritsuko nodded. "I'll settle for that. We don't need many people to retrieve the clone bodies we need." she paused for a moment, then looked over at Rei. "Speaking of clone bodies… what do you want done with the rest of them afterward? We don't plan on having you or Ichigo die anytime soon."

It was quiet as Rei considered the question. "I think... they should be laid to rest." she said quietly. "They are, after all, soulless bodies, with no use in any Scenario. Perhaps they can be turned to LCL, used to do good through one of the Frame Titans."

Ritsuko nodded slightly. "Very well. I'll see to it."

"Thank you, Doctor." Rei replied.

After a moment's silence, Ritsuko and Maya stood. "Alright." Ritsuko said quietly. "I'll go ahead and get started on those Inscriptions. When will we be going?"

"Call it 2 days from now." Misato said. That should give the rest of us time to get ready. Can you be ready then?"

Ritsuko and Maya nodded. "Working together, we can be." Maya replied.

"Good." Misato said as she stood. "I'll see you all then."

- - -

Within the Geofront

The strange girl within the seemingly vast tank of orange liquid she could breathe in that filled her lungs with the smell of drying blood floated in a fetal position, trying to shut out the view of the terrifying world around her.

Everything was utter madness. She had wondered how she'd understood the concept of insanity in the first place, right after she'd wondered how long she'd actually been awake. Time had no meaning here, huddled with the others.

Sometimes, when the others didn't crowd as much, she got a view of a dark room, the outlines of bulky machines in the shadows the only indications of where she might be. Where was she? How had she gotten here? Who was in charge, and when were they going to be back and notice someone was very, very much alive in here?

'Who am I? And why are there so many of me?'

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 25: Recollection

Now, though, we get to the meat of it. What do we do, now that we recognize the potential threat that this new Reality is? We can no longer shut ourselves away. But we can give ourselves time to get our affairs in order.

- 'To Stand Apart', taken from Post 13

Matsushiro Site, 2 Days Later

It was more than a little weird, Misato decided, to be walking through these halls and see what few people were left here, once from NERV and now a part of HERZ, scrubbing the ever-familiar leaf off the walls of what was to become HERZ's headquarters.

A part of her would almost miss the red maple-leaf insignia, how it represented a shield against the attacking Angels, a great defense mounted by humanity. She would not, however, miss what else it represented. A suborning of the will of humanity, as Daniel had once artfully called it, back in the nascent days of the Anti-Instrumentality Committee. No, getting rid of the leaf was a sign of a fresh start, both within and without the walls of this place.

As she passed yet another cleaning crew painting over the symbol, she thought, seemingly for the first time, of a rather pertinent question. 'What is going to replace it?'

She was, by no means, an art student of any great skill, but as she put a part of her mind to work on the task of coming up with a new symbol for HERZ, she knew she could at least have a few general ideas that could be bounced off the others. And Faez was a painter...

She arrived at the meeting place, one of the empty Evangelion bays, just ahead of Daniel, Eleanor, and Rei, coming to a stop next to Ritsuko and Maya and noting the catching smooth stone pendants they wore on leather cords, a strange symbol gleaming with a dull white light on their faces.

"Nice necklaces." Misato said with a somewhat bemused expression. "Is everyone on the expedition going to be wearing one?"

Ritsuko nodded. "Well, what they'll be wearing is going to be based on this. Ours are going to be the testbeds for what comes next."

Eleanor nodded as she and Daniel came to rest by the other's side. "And what does the symbol mean?"

Maya shrugged. "I just wanted something simple to draw." she admitted. "After all, we are going to be making a lot of these once we get ready to bring the pumps through to the LCL lake."

Misato shrugged after a moment. "Fair enough."

She turned to look at Daniel. "Alright, you're our ticket in. We're ready whenever you are."

Daniel nodded in turn. "Alright then, I'll get the portal up and running now."

Daniel closed his eyes and furrowed his brow in concentration, his hand slowly coming palm up as a sphere of deep blue sprang to life in his hands. A few seconds later, it ballooned into a thin oval, a space a few meters away from the group sprouting a similar oval a little taller than 2 meters of deep blue fading into bright blue edges.

The structure hummed quietly, and the faint smell of ozone began to fill the space.

"Opening the bridge now." Daniel said, beads of sweat beginning to drip down his face as the deep blue space of the oval parted like a curtain, revealing a familiar white floor surrounded by tall crimson crystals, the massive form of Lilith peeking from the edge of one side.

"Alright, let's get a move on, then." Daniel said. "Holding this open for long is going to be a strain."

The group hurried through into Terminal Dogma, the portal closing behind them as Eleanor took up the rear and stepped through last.

The group took a few deep breaths. The air was warm and thick here, like being in the middle of an equatorial rainforest. Soon, sweat began to appear on everyone's brow, at least before Daniel, Eleanor, Misato and Rei summoned their suits of armor around them.

Ritsuko and Maya looked on with a little envy. "There's temperature control in those suits, isn't there?" Ritsuko asked slowly.

Misato nodded. "Yup." she said apologetically. "Sorry, guys."

Ritsuko tsked softly. "Man," Maya said, "we should probably get some of those soon. Especially if we're going to be here for long periods of time."

"Agreed." Ritsuko looked over at Rei. "If you'll come with us, we'll blaze a trail to the clone chamber."

Rei nodded as she joined Ritsuko and Maya. "Very well. Do we have any provisions to stop the bodies from turning into LCL at an inopportune moment?"

"We'll use our Interfacing when we get close to the Corite again." Ritsuko said. Then she looked back up at Daniel, Eleanor, and Misato. "I hope you three can keep yourselves busy here." she said. "We do have all this Corite surrounding us, so I'm sure you'll figure something out."

Eleanor tilted her head slightly. "Corite?" she asked.

Daniel put a hand on her shoulder. "It's what we've been calling the core material."

"Oh." Eleanor nodded slowly. "Suriel called them 'transitory crystals'. Interesting".

Daniel shrugged as he looked at Ritsuko, Maya, and Rei. "We'll find something to do. Stay safe."

Ritsuko nodded. "We will."

With that, the three women turned and walked towards the entrance into what was left of the rest of the Geofront.

As they walked away, Daniel looked around slowly at the perimeter of Corite that surrounded them. "Hmmm…" he walked towards a section that they were close to, a gauntleted hand cupping his helmet's chin. "I have to wonder," he said, "does this grow back? I didn't keep this tower active after we left with you, darling."

Eleanor shrugged slightly as she walked to Daniel's side. "We can test that right now, of course." she said.

"We'll need to clear it out anyway." Misato said. "Let's see if it'll stick."

Daniel raised an arm, and the somewhat mesmerizing crystal the tower was made of appeared on the palm of his hand.

As the three adults began to experiment, Ritsuko, Maya, and Rei stopped for a moment in front of a low, almost grass-like patch of Corite that stood between them and the door out of Terminal Dogma.

"Alright." Ritsuko said, taking a deep breath as she shuddered slightly. "The moment of truth."

She paused for a moment before looking over at Maya. "Who goes first?"

"Well, I'll go first." Maya said. "After all, any good research assistant is on the front lines of testing something that the head scientist has developed."

"But you're not just my research assistant. You're my girlfriend. And besides, I'm the one who developed this Inscription, I'll keep an eye on it and note whatever changes there need to be made to it."

"Ah, but not only am I your girlfriend, dear Senpai, you are my girlfriend as well. And even as my Senpai, I have been trained by Izalith as thoroughly as you have when it comes to Inscriptions. I can monitor it as well. So, it seems we are at somewhat of an impasse."

Rei sighed quietly as she put a hand on Maya's shoulder, causing her to jump slightly. "I will follow you a little way into the Corite, and pull you away should anything dangerous occur." she said firmly.

Maya sighed quietly. "Well, I see you make a good point." she took another deep breath. "Well… here I go."

She stepped forward hesitantly, the crystals crunching under the heavy boots that she wore. She took one step, then another. After a few more steps, Rei and Maya both stood in the Corite fully, and Ritsuko and Maya both tensed as Maya stood, waiting for… something.

But the smooth stone necklace did not flicker or dim, and no trace of the gleaming orange haze of the transformation into LCL touched any part of Maya's bare skin.

Maya sighed as she turned to look at Ritsuko. "Alright. I think it's safe."

Ritsuko sighed herself as she stepped into the Corite proper. "Oh, good. I'd hate to see it fail for you."

Ritsuko then looked at Rei. "Alright. Let's go."

- - -

Horaki Residence, Tokyo-2

Kensuke's eyes narrowed as he slipped the parts of the bolt assembly back together for the Dragunov rifle that lay disassembled before him. The rifle was Mr. Horaki's, who had revealed himself to be a gun collector of no small stature. Even with his original residence in Tokyo-3, he'd gotten most all of his collection, which ranged from the unsurprising Japanese and American pistols, submachine guns, and rifles to the surprisingly eclectic Russian and European, and a rare few African parts of his collection.

Kensuke had attacked assembly and disassembly of the military gear of his dreams with no small amount of gusto, and eventually, Mana, Mayumi, Mariah, and Ichigo had come along.

Mariah had shown herself, true to her word, to be comfortably familiar with almost any kind of firearm placed before her, dragging Mana to her side to explain in near excruciating detail the ins and outs of whatever weapon she had gotten her hands on today, Mana content with nodding along with her, admittedly basic, understanding.

To Kensuke's surprise, not only did he draw Ichigo to his side, but also Mayumi, who had displayed a surprising knowledge— to all parties— of some of the inner workings, if not of the guns themselves, then at least the names of the parts.

"Okay," he said calmly as he held the assembly up to allow Mayumi and Ichigo to better see it, "we slip this bolt carrier back here where it goes, then this collection of springs and pins that makes up the firing mechanism goes back together."

"Then the holding pin for the firing mechanism and the cover, then the sight." Mayumi said slowly as she nodded.

Kensuke nodded in turn as he did as Mayumi said. "Like so."

As he finished reassembling the Russian sniper rifle, he looked over at Mayumi with an arched eyebrow. "I've got to say, you have a good head on your shoulders for this sort of stuff. Do you think one of your parents was in the military?"

"Perhaps. Was one of yours?"

"Yeah." Kensuke said quietly, as he nodded slowly. "Dad was a gun nut, even before he joined the JSSDF. I basically grew up around guns and military surplus."

"Did… did he…"

"Yeah." Kensuke nodded. "In the first Battle of Tokyo-3, when the Russians and Chinese invaded. He left… a lot. But I lost a lot too, before he died. Like…"

Kensuke trailed off, and began to ponder for a moment on his Spirit. Specifically, its capabilities.

"My camcorder." he said, his voice barely above a whisper as his Grip appeared in his hand. As he connected with his Spirit, felt its curiosity, he thought about that camcorder, the make and model, what it felt like, what he had shot with it, what memories he had captured.

And the Spirit responded in kind, taking in Metos from him like a drain had been unstoppered, the space above Kensuke's Grip glowing as a wireframe assembly of the camcorder slowly sprouted into existence, growing seemingly from the inside out, until finally, with a flash, the camcorder itself hung in the air.

With wide eyes, Kensuke reached a hand, slightly trembling from the effort of the Spirit's Expression, out to hold the camcorder, feeling its weight fully settle into his hand as he disconnected from his Spirit and his Grip disappeared.

All eyes were now on him as he regarded the device. "I, uh… I gotta say, Ken," Mariah said, "that's one hell of a magic trick you just pulled."

Kensuke nodded absentmindedly as he opened up the side panel of the camcorder, switching to the saved files with a practiced ease.

It was all on there. All the way back to before the Angels had even begun attacking.

"Yeah." Kensuke said softly. "Yeah, it is."

- - -

Terminal Dogma

As Daniel, Eleanor and Misato cleared away the Corite, they found themselves pleased at their progress.

"At least this stuff isn't growing back." Misato said. "That makes the days ahead a lot easier."

"Agreed." Daniel replied. "At this rate, we might even reach the lake today."

"It could always go a little easier though." Eleanor added as she paused for a moment to look up at Lilith. "I wonder…"

"What has the gears turning, dear?" Daniel said.

"If I can get back in there, I wouldn't be surprised if I can turn off the Corite, at least in here. Make things a little easier for us."

"Not bad, but having the security for the MP-Evas is a bit of a nice bonus. I'm not sure I'd like to give that up."

"Nobody said it had to be for a long time. And once we've got adequate defenses set up in here, we won't need the active Corite here in Terminal Dogma as an obstacle."

Daniel silently mulled the proposition over for a moment. "How long do you think it will take?"

"I familiarized myself with the Vessel's controls for a week waiting for you." Eleanor said, a slight smile evident in the tone of her voice. "It'll be fairly quick."

It was a moment more before Daniel nodded. "Alright. Go ahead. Misato and I will keep clearing the way."

Wings of water appeared on Eleanor's back as she gently lifted off the ground, then flew towards Lilith, a dot landing on top of a giant as Daniel established a connection with her soul.

"Let us know when you get back out. We won't be leaving without you this time. I promise."

"Good. See you in a few."

With that, he felt Eleanor disappear into the Vessel, and he sighed quietly.

"Do you remember first seeing this thing?" he asked Misato after a moment.

She nodded slowly. "Yeah. I don't think I'll ever forget it. Hanging there, the mark of SEELE on its mask…"

"Larger than life. Than any sane and reasonable thing should ever really be."

"When did you first see it?"

"In the flesh? Years ago, now. When it was rising up through Terminal Dogma looking like Rei during the End of Evangelion."

It was silent for a moment. "Oh."

Daniel shook his head. "Anyways. We're making decent progress. Let's impress Eleanor when she gets out."

. . .

Ritsuko, Maya, and Rei were somewhat thankful that the Corite hadn't breached past the doors of Terminal Dogma. Not that it made their trek any easier, as the ruined state of the base made for just as stubborn of an impediment as the Corite would have.

They stood, or rather, hanged, in front of the elevator door to the level with the clone chamber, flashlights cutting slices of clarity from the darkness of the shaft.

"Let's see…" Ritsuko said as she looked around. "I can't make much of a platform without a risk of breaking off, but it'll be enough, I think."

"Whatever you're doing," Maya interjected, "you might want to be quick. I don't know about Rei, but my arms are starting to get tired."

Ritsuko placed a hand on a side panel next to her, at the foot of the doors, and focused, a thick foothold growing with a slight scraping of metal. As it finished forming, she created a similar platform opposite of it, and soon enough, she clambered onto the platform, only a little wider than she was, Maya climbed up to the other platform, and they reached across to the seam of the doors.

With their Interfacing and a stable platform for leverage, the doors slid apart easily, allowing them into the dark corridor, a few spots along the way intermittently lit by patches of red from the few functioning emergency lights left as they slowly walked down the hall.

As they walked, the group clearing rubble and opening doors as they went, they came upon the final door separating them from the clone chamber.

Ritsuko peered behind the door with her Sight. "Well, there's certainly no lack of Frames in there. We should have what we need."

"One would hope." Rei said as Ritsuko and Maya gripped the door with a now practiced ease, sliding it open with a scraping crunch.

The emergency power in this room had persevered, the tank glowing slightly as the bodies within cast shadows within it. Their presence was like a weight in the back of Rei's mind, her consciousness pulling them towards her like a magnet. As such, they all turned to face her with unerring accuracy.

Rei blinked as she realized the bond that she shared with her bodies, and severed it, the heads of the tank's clones slumping forward slightly.

Maya shuddered at the sight as she went to a console by the massive window of the tank. "I'm sorry, Rei. That is just… freaky."

Rei nodded slightly as her helmet disappeared and she stared back into her slack, expressionless faces. "On that, we are in agreement."

Ritsuko, who had opened a panel and began to fiddle with the power distribution, gave an 'Aha!' as the main lights flickered back on, the claw machine-like crane arm twitching slightly as it came online.

She stood, and walked over to join Maya's side and begin studying the controls. "Alright. Any one of these should do. Let's just get the one closest-"

"Ritsuko-" Rei began.

Before either could continue, a clone of Rei shoved its way past a clump of bodies in front of Ritsuko and Maya and began to bang on the glass over and over again, shouting wordlessly.

Ritsuko and Maya stumbled back in shock, while Rei's eyes were simply wide for a moment. 'How…'

But right now, how didn't matter. "I'm getting her out." Maya said, rushing back to the panel and typing madly at the controls before looking back up at the clone. "Go up there, towards the claw!" she said as clearly as she could, pointing up to the crane arm. "Go!"

After a moment's seeming confusion, the Rei clone began to swim and push off of other bodies towards the claw. As she reached it, Maya activated it, the prongs of the claw clamping down on the clone's body and bringing it down to an airlock.

"Draining LCL now." Maya said, as the orange liquid gurgled down the drain, the clone falling on her knees as she began hacking up LCL from her lungs, the door out sliding open to her coughs as Ritsuko and Rei rushed forward.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" Ritsuko said as she helped the girl cough up the last of the LCL. "Who are you? Can you understand me?"

The girl looked between Ritsuko and Rei with a look of utter confusion, her mouth opening and closing silently.

"Allow me." Rei said calmly, as she connected to the girl's soul. "We are not here to hurt you. We are here to help. I am Rei Ayanami. Who are you?"

"Who are you? Who am I? Where am I? What's going on?"

Rei shook her head slightly. "I'm going to give you a language so you can speak with us out loud."

Rei then bundled a basic understanding of Japanese into her mind, and pushed the knowledge through her link, the effort drawing a deep breath out of her as her clone's eyes widened.

"Now," Rei said aloud, patiently, "are you okay?"

It was a long moment before the clone replied. "I… I think so." she said slowly.

"Good." Ritsuko replied. "What is your name? Do you have one?"

A pause, then the clone slowly shook her head. "I don't know. All I remember is the… the…" she looked back at the massive aquarium filled with Rei's bodies.

"Tank? That's all you remember? How long have you been in there?"

"I don't know. I just remember being in there, and wondering how long it had been."

There was a moment of silence and Ritsuko pondered on what the clone had said. "Alright. Come with us. We'll get you out of here and checked up on."

"Okay." the clone said as Ritsuko pulled her to her feet.

"Well," Maya said, "if she's okay, I'll go ahead and get the bodies we need extracted."

"Alright." Ritsuko nodded as she looked back at the clone. "Three of you, now." she mused quietly. "This is getting… complicated."

- - -

Horaki Residence

The day had grown long, and the sun was now setting. Thus, the group of nascent (and not so nascent) gun enthusiasts was getting ready to head home for the evening.

Kensuke held his camcorder like it was made of spun glass as he and the others waited in the living room. He had regaled the others with tales of the things he'd caught on video, like the time he'd gotten caught in an Angel attack while trying to film Unit-01 ("Shinji was crazy good, but man, it was super scary, being in that Entry Plug."), or the time that he'd gotten caught in an Angel attack on an aircraft carrier ("I even got a great shot of the Angel and Unit-02 right here!").

The rest, he'd said, were just somewhat boring videos of military parades, nothing truly noteworthy in them. The fact that, from then on, more than a few videos had Sayaka and Kyoko in them went unspoken.

Now, they simply waited, jumping slightly as the doorbell rang. Mr. Horaki made his way towards the door, a reassurance that he would answer it all he left behind him as he reached it.

After a quiet moment, Mr. Horaki stepped back in, a somewhat tall, pale woman following him, blue eyes and shockingly white hair framing a wide, friendly smile. "Hello! I'm Della Duck. I'm here for Mariah, Mana, and Mayumi?" she said as she waved.

"Uh, present, ma'am." Mariah replied in utter confusion as she waved her hand. "Nice hair, by the way. Must be a heck of a dye job. I've gotta say, rather interesting name, Duck and all." she paused for a moment as she narrowed her eyes. "Are you... actually a duck?" she said in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Oh. Hold on." Della pulled up a sleeve of the leather aviator jacket she wore, revealing a dull silver chain bracelet. She fiddled with the clasp for a moment, then, with a dramatic flourish, she whipped the bracelet off, a hazing of the air around her for a moment clearing to reveal a cartoon, anthropomorphic duck. "Ta-da! I am a duck, both in name and literally!"

The rest of the room was in shocked silence, many mouths hanging slightly open. "Well… uh…" Mariah said artfully. "I never expect to be right when I say that."

She shook her head slightly. "So, what do you want to do with us?"

"Well," Della began as she put the bracelet back on and became human again, "I was assigned to NERV, right before it stopped existing, apparently, then HERZ became a thing super recently, and I was assigned there, and now, I'm assigned to keep an eye on you three, be your guardian for the next little while."

Mayumi shrugged. "Well, at least it looks like our time together won't be boring, at least."

Della snorted and chuckled. "Oh, please, the last thing I want is to be boring. Well, that and stranded on the moon again, but the two are close."

"So, we'll move you into my place, and get you settled in. I hear that Mr. Theisman and the others who are treating you are getting ready to do something big in the next few days."

The girls' eyebrows rose, some higher than others as they stood. Mana and Mariah moved over to Della's side, Mariah pelting her with questions that she answered with the grace of a mother with years of experience. Mayumi, on the other hand, looked at Kensuke as he stood. "Thank you for telling us those stories." she said quietly. "They were… interesting."

"Oh." Kensuke blushed slightly. "Thanks for listening. I know I can ramble and go on tangents…"

"It makes them more interesting, I have found." Mayumi glanced over at Ichigo, who simply looked on with a somewhat interested, yet neutral, expression. "I'm glad you got your camcorder back so that you could tell your stories."

"Thanks. Maybe, I don't know, if you want my new camcorder, I know that it has a few videos of all of us doing things together. Maybe you would like to have it, start filming yourself?"

"That would be nice."

"Okay. Well… goodnight, I guess."

Mayumi nodded. "Alright. Thank you."

She turned and made her way towards the group, as Della expounded on the usefulness of the human pinky finger. "I mean, there's just so much you can do with it!" was the last thing they heard before the door shut, leaving Kensuke and Ichigo alone for the moment.

Kensuke's mind was, at least somewhat, on fire. 'Really? Really? Come on, you've only just started figuring things out with Ichigo, now you're adding Mayumi into the mix? How much of an idiot are you?'

"I'll be going then, Kensuke." Ichigo said as she walked past him, and Kensuke jumped slightly as she turned to look at him for a moment. "I'll see you later."

"Bye." Kensuke managed to muster as Ichigo left as well.

As he stood alone in the Horaki's living room, he carefully took off his glasses, setting them on an end table, then smacked himself in the face. 'Damn it. Why is my love life… no, actually, that's a good place for a question mark.'

- - -

Terminal Dogma

Daniel and Misato were, generally speaking, having a decent go of it, clearing out the Corite from around them. They had reached the LCL lake in only 20 minutes, clearing a decent-sized hole for a pump to go in with another 10.

As they set about clearing a path for Ritsuko and the others from the entrance into Terminal Dogma, Ritsuko's soul connected with Daniel's.

"I have the bodies we need. We're on our way down."

"Oh, good. We're clearing a path for you three so you won't have to worry about the bodies popping."

"That's not the only thing to be worrying about right now."

As Daniel arched his eyebrow in slight confusion, Ritsuko sent him a view of what she was seeing. In it, there was Rei, her helmet for her suit off as she carried one of the limp clone bodies wrapped in a blanket, and next to her, wrapped in a survival blanket from the armor's survival kit, stood… Rei.

"Oh, my. Another Rei Ayanami? That makes three, that we know of at least. There weren't any other clones that were alive in there, were there?"

"No, just this one. And she isn't responding to Rei, either. She… doesn't really have a name. Or any memories to speak of."

"Now that's a pickle. Eleanor's in Lilith right now, so she can't do a check-up, but I can give her a look over, see if there's anything going on with her soul that I can spot."

"Sounds good. See you in a few minutes."

With that, their connection was severed, and Daniel looked over to Misato, who looked questioningly at him.

"We've got another Rei clone walking around." Daniel said succinctly. "No memories, not another version of Rei."

Misato sighed. "This is going to be an interesting night."

"You're telling me."

As they focused on clearing the path for the oncoming group, the door opened as they stood about 8 or so meters from it.

"Hey, Ritsky." Misato called. "I heard. Where's the new girl?"

As they slowly brought the clone to the front, Misato waved as her helmet disappeared to reveal a friendly smile. "Hi. Name's Misato. Nice to meet you."

The clone blinked, then looked up at Ritsuko. "I… I wave back, right?"

Ritsuko nodded patiently. "Yes. She did greet you, and it's polite to return the gesture."

The clone nodded, then looked back at Misato and awkwardly repeated the motion. "Hello. I… don't really know who I am."

"That's okay." Daniel replied, stepping over onto the Corite to come face to face with the girl. "I'm Daniel. And I've dealt with a few cases like yours. I'd like to take a look at your soul, as strange as I'm sure it sounds. Are you okay with that?"

The clone slowly nodded. "I… guess."

"Good. Let's get you all safely across, and I'll explain what I'll do."

As they worked, the clone observed the process of clearing the Corite with wide eyes. "Is what they're doing… normal?"

"Well…" Rei replied. "I guess I must say yes, somewhat."

After a few minutes more of work, the group of women stepped into the clearing, the clone staring around her at the prone form of Lilith and the mesmerizing beauty of the crystal spire.

"Alright," Daniel began, "I'm going to connect to your soul, and take a quick look around to see if there's anything that might be blocking any memories you might have or, really, any other manipulations that someone might have done to make it so you have no memories. Is that okay?"

The clone nodded after a moment. "Very well."

"Let's begin then."

Daniel's connection touched the clone's soul, and he found… nothing. The Frames were untouched, the soul itself not pried apart or clamped upon by anything. Before the last two or three days, however, there was just… nothing. It was as if someone had taken a magnet to a CD, wiping all but a portion of it.

"Hmmm." Daniel withdrew from the clone's soul and regarded her with no small amount of confusion. "There's nothing wrong with your soul, at least that I can see. My wife, Eleanor, might be able to find something more. But for now…"

He paused for a moment. "You're in our care. We're not going to stick you anywhere out of the way. We'll help you figure things out, get adjusted to this crazy world you've just entered."

The clone nodded. "Thank you."

"Okay," Misato said, "who is she going to stay with, then?"

It was silent for a moment before Maya spoke up. "She could stay with us." she paused as she looked over at Ritsuko. "If that's okay with you."

Ritsuko looked at Maya, then at the clone, then nodded slowly. "Alright. We can figure it out."

Before anyone could continue, all in the room felt a subtle ripple of power pulse through them, seeming to seep into their bones for an instant before fading away.

"Ah." Daniel nodded. "That would probably be Eleanor deactivating the Corite in here."

Misato looked apologetically at Ritsuko and Maya as she shrugged. "Oh, well. At least you won't have to worry about making more pendants."

Ritsuko waved her off. "There will be plenty of places around here, especially in the immediate vicinity of the city, that will see us needing protection." she paused. "But it does make the immediate future easier, I will admit."

They waited for a while, the group elucidating to the clone about some of the vagaries of modern life she should expect, the girl soaking it in like a sponge. Then, with the sound of gently lapping waves, Eleanor touched down gracefully a little ways away, looking intently at the clone. "My, my." she said slowly. "We seem to have gained a passenger since I left."

The others filled her in, and as they finished, Misato nodded. "Well, I don't see any reason to waste more time here. Let's get everything, and everyone, situated where they need to go."

With a nod, Daniel walked over to the crystal spire, putting a hand to it and focusing. After a few moments, the portal once again opened, this time to the medical bay of the Val, and all stepped through, leaving Terminal Dogma once again silent.

- - -

Kensuke's Residence

Kensuke sat alone in his apartment, going through the memories on his camcorder that his Spirit had helped him retrieve. Each press of the play button brought with it old feelings, fondly remembered humor, and more ruefully recalled gaffes.

The Christmas party, Shinji and Asuka and Rei and the new kid Kaworu playing a classical piece. He'd never known that Rei could play an instrument. Then again, before now, before taking her on her first date, he'd known almost nothing about her. Every once in a while, Sayaka and Kyoko's faces would sneak in, their playful banter causing him to smile, even as tears began to well up watching his old flames, now long gone and likely moved on.

The surprise of Misato's promotion party. The whispering before lights turning on, a crowd of voices yelling out, Eleanor handing Misato the sash that showed that she was the guest of honor. He was particularly proud of the effort he'd put into something like this party, knowing it was only a small repayment for all that she had done to keep them, all of them, safe during the Angel attacks.

The day Asuka, the somewhat mysterious, rather alluring transfer student, had first attended Tokyo-3 Municipal. Most all of the student body was somewhat in awe, and he was there to capture every single moment of it.

"Oh, come on, Kensuke," Shinji had said at one point, "you don't need to creep on her like that."

Hikari had agreed. He'd called them both white knights for a girl that he and Shinji knew full well didn't need any sort of protection.

A camping trip up in the mountains. Just him and Dad, out in nature, going target shooting. The shot had him standing on the trunk of a fallen tree, scanning the area with his then-new Dragunov model pellet gun.

"Okay, Ken," an achingly familiar voice said, "it's my turn to go looking."

"Alright, alright." he'd said, clambering down from the trunk as he slung the rifle over his shoulder, taking the camera and showing a thin, but strong man, with glasses much like his, climb up onto the trunk as he sighted his far more real military issue rifle.

"How do I look, Ken?" he asked, a playful tone to his voice.

"Like you could take on the world and win!" he'd replied.

'Like you could take on the world and win…' Kensuke thought, holding back a sob.

A knock on the door made him jump slightly, then he closed the screen of the camcorder and stood, walking over to the door and opening it.

It was Ichigo, her eyes somewhat wide as if the door opening was a surprise to her. "I apologise." she said softly. "Is it… a bad time?"

Kensuke looked at her silently for what felt like the longest time, then shook his head. "No. No. Come in. You just… caught me in the middle of something."

As Ichigo entered and Kensuke shut the door, she turned to look at him as they walked to the living room. "Is it… what's on your camcorder?" she asked plaintively.

Kensuke nodded. "It is. I've got footage all the way back to before the Angels started coming, back when I was… 10? 12?"

He shook his head as they sat on the couch, regarding the camcorder on the coffee table in front of him. "Footage with my dad. A lot of it, actually." he nearly whispered.

"I…" his breath hitched. "I miss him. So much."

With that, the dam burst, and Kensuke's head fell into his hands as he sobbed, Ichigo putting an arm around his shoulders as he wept.

They sat there as Kensuke let out what was left of his mourning, the sadness, the confusion, the anger of a life without a father in it, without someone he knew better than anyone who could show the way, give him the comfort he now so desperately needed. The comfort that he found in the person sitting next to him silently.

After the sobs began to abate, Kensuke took one deep breath, then another before wiping his eyes and looking back up to Ichigo, who looked at him almost expectantly. A quiet part of his mind noted how close she had gotten. "Thanks. I've need-"

She interrupted him with a kiss, soft and gentle, that set his mind on fire, sweeping away whatever he would have said next as his eyes went wide and he blushed deeply.

After a moment, they parted from the kiss, Kensuke continuing to stare open-mouthed as Ichigo looked away after a moment, a blush of her own complimenting her eyes. "I apologize. I wanted to comfort you." she said haltingly.

"You… you did." Kensuke finally managed. "I just… didn't expect you to be so bold."

"I've been seeking advice, recently. Those I've sought advice from told me to be… bold."

Kensuke blinked, then blinked again. "Ichigo… do you like me?"

Ichigo looked back at Kensuke, then nodded. "Yes. I do. You've… you've given me so much. Made me an individual, distinct from my sister. I'm grateful for that."

"Thank you." Kensuke said, his eyes widening slightly. "I've got a lot to thank you for as well. You… you helped pull me out of a real dark place after my dad died."

They sat there silently after that, the tension in the air slowly building.

Then Kensuke sighed quietly, putting his head back in his hands.

"Is something wrong?" Ichigo said slowly, and Kensuke could hear a hint of fear in her voice.

He took another deep breath. 'You know what? We'll get to Mayumi when we get to her. For now…'

He straightened up and looked back at Ichigo. "No. Just… just getting used to this again."

 

[grommile]

A part of her would almost miss the red maple-leaf insignia,

Click to shrink...

It's a fig leaf, because Abrahamic symbolism.

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Indeed. Would Misato know the difference? Probably not. A nice little bit of trivia there, though. Now I know.

M: Not I read the Bible or anything...
A: Wait a minute. Aren't we supposed to be on another forum right now?

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 26: Red Morning Sky

To buy such time, we must be bold. Willing to do whatever it takes to assert our independence from these foreigners. Perhaps there will be blood. Perhaps there will be tragedies. Such is regrettable, but it is the way of any struggle to remain free from the grip of servitude to these peoples, however potential that may be…

- To Stand Apart, Post 13

Shinji's Residence, Mid-September 2016

Shinji, Asuka, Kaworu, and Rei sat quietly in the living room, pondering the options placed before them.

Shinji sighed quietly. "You know, I was looking forward to being done with piloting. With walking away from that life."

"And we kind of have, Shinji." Asuka nodded. "I mean, look at us. We haven't even set foot in one of the Evas since the rescue mission. The Evas… they're disappearing. We're getting our mothers back. A chance at something coming close to a normal life."

"Perhaps." Rei interjected. "But SEELE still looms large. The world needs the Frame Titans."

"Yeah." Shinji said. "But does it need us? I mean, we're just kids who were stuffed into the Evas, one way or another. Having someone else worry about them, as much as I know we should, is… tempting."

"And yet, now, we don't have to be those kids." Asuka said. "I mean, Misato isn't who your father was. She isn't stuffing us into the Frame Titans and telling us to go out and save the world. We can do it if we want to. And we don't even need to get into a Plug if we don't want to. We've got the experience in piloting that allows us to just train the next generation."

Asuka paused for a moment. "But I want to get into a Frame Titan. I want the ability to know that I will make a difference. To know that someone can rely on me being there, being the best pilot in the world. I know that's not your usual playbook, Shinji, but… I know that, whatever I do, whatever we do, you'll have my back. And I'll have yours."

Shinji considered it for a moment. "I'll…" he sighed. "I don't want to make this decision alone. I want all of us who are pilots to discuss this. It does impact all of us, after all."

Kaworu nodded sagely. "A wise decision."

Before he could continue, there was a knock at the door, Shinji standing and walking over to open it.

As he did, he found himself greeted by his parents, Gendo's hand in Yui's. "May we come in, Shinji?" Yui asked.

"Sure." Shinji replied, stepping aside. "What brings you here?"

"I haven't checked in or talked with you in the flesh for… a long, long time, Shinji." Yui replied. "I hope you don't mind if I try and make up for the family time we lost."

Shinji shook his head. "No, I don't mind. It's just…" he sighed quietly as they entered the living room. "We were in the middle of something."

"My apologies." Gendo said. "What were we interrupting, if I may ask?"

"Oh, just our futures, whether or not we'll be pilots for the Frame Titans, those sorts of regular, teenage worries." Asuka said sardonically as Shinji took a seat.

"I see." Gendo replied gravely as he nodded to Asuka. "Ms. Soryu. I hope you're doing well."

He looked over at Rei and Kaworu as Asuka nodded slowly, almost unsurely. "Hello, Rei. Mr. Nagisa."

"Hello…" Kaworu began. Then he blinked.

Now, the man standing in front of him wore a black visor, no hint of a kind expression, or any expression at all, as they stood in the observation room that sat high above an Evangelion bay. Far below them, the shell of a god, taller than the others, was slowly becoming wrapped in armor, four arms spread to its sides. The armor was a deep purple and green, a familiar sight, compared to the one that he'd taken up into orbit and interned years ago.

"And I am to pilot this with Shinji Ikari?" he asked, careful neutrality in his tone guarding his quiet excitement.

"Yes." Gendo Ikari replied without inflection. "It is part of the first stage of True Instrumentality. You understand your role within it. After all, you are still the final Angel to be sacrificed."

"Yes." he replied, looking back down on what he would pilot. The last word he thought, his relation to Gendo Ikari, went unsaid. Along with quite a bit else.

"Kaworu?"

He blinked again, and the apartment came back into view, as he swept his gaze around the concerned faces that regarded him, his gaze landing on Gendo. "Father…"

All eyes widened, and more than a few gasps swept the shocked silence out of the room. "Oh, my." Gendo said. "Something tells me Doctor Akagi will be running a DNA test on the two of us soon."

Kaworu nodded. "Indeed."

Gendo shook his head slightly. "But that is for another day. Yui and I… well, we might have some words for you, concerning your decision to remain pilots."

"Sir, frankly," Asuka began, "I find that I have a hard time believing I'd want to hear anything you might say."

Shinji found himself somewhat amazed by Asuka's self-control as his father nodded. "I understand why. But I still wish to give them regardless."

Gendo sighed. "Ms. Katsuragi will be a far better commanding officer than I could ever hope to be. That much is certain. I can ascertain that she's given you a choice. Whatever choice you make… you have gone above and beyond what anyone else can do, regardless of my interference. You have the right to anything you choose to do."

"And I, and the rest of your piloting team's mothers, I'm sure," Yui said, "will support you in whatever makes you happy. Whether that's serving as a pilot for HERZ, or as a trainer, or finding a new path in life. We understand. After all, we went through it right alongside you."

It was quiet as they digested the wisdom of their elders.

"Well," Shinji said, "thank you for your words. Right now, we're going to go get Hikari and Toji. Talk this out fully."

Gendo and Yui nodded. "We'll let you get to that then." Yui replied. "Good luck. And it was good to see you all."

With that, the couple took their leave, and Asuka shook her head slightly. "You know, Shinji," she said quietly, "I think that's the most I've ever seen your dad smile."

"Mom always said that there was a better man lost in there whenever we talked about my father in the Eva." Shinji replied. "I think… if we give him enough time, he might actually turn into someone respectable."

"It'll be a miracle to see the day." Asuka mused.

"Anyways," Shinji continued, "let's grab the others and… go on a group date."

- - -

The Val

Daniel and Eleanor waited patiently at the transporter pad, waiting for their two guests. The air fuzzed, and Kodama Horaki and Della Duck appeared out of thin air, stepping off the platform after a moment.

Kodama regarded her surroundings with wide eyes. "Wow…" she said after a moment, somewhat oblivious to the fact that the person beside her had just transformed into a duck. "How… how did that work?" she asked softly, her eyes gleaming with a barely constrained excitement.

"It's an instantaneous Pneumaic translocation system." Eleanor replied, a slight smile on her face. "That's the technical term, at least."

"Good to have you looking around, Ms. Kodama." Daniel said as he stepped forward and offered a hand. "How are your family and friends?"

It was a quick moment before Kodama responded. "Well, mother and father are overjoyed to see each other still. Hikari is thinking quite deeply about Commander Katsuragi's offer, and Nozomi is still as rambunctious as ever. As for my friends…"

She paused, an uncertain look on her face. "Shizuka said her boyfriend and his friends are going to be part of 'something big' going on today. He didn't elaborate to her what. I passed it on to Mr. Kaji, but now you know as well."

Daniel nodded. "I see. I'm sure Ryoji will take care of it."

"And Della," Daniel continued, drawing Kodama's gaze to the Duck as she jumped slightly in surprise, seemingly finally noting her presence, "how are the kids holding up?"

"Well, to say they're a handful would be selling it short." Della replied with a shrug and a chuckle. "Frankly, it's the most fun I've had in years. Huey, Dewey, and Louie are all grown up and independent now, so it's nice to be able to take care of someone."

Daniel chuckled softly. "Good, good. In the meantime, let's get you two acquainted with the ins and outs of this ship, shall we?"

- - -

Ritsuko's Residence

Ritsuko looked over at the clone and wondered why, exactly, she had decided to let her stay with her.

There was certainly nothing wrong with the girl herself. She soaked up information like a sponge, proving to be almost insatiably curious about the workings of reality, with a surprising wit to go with it. Far and away she certainly was from Rei Ayanami, who was, even off the drugs that had made her so passive, far more demure and controlled in her inquisitions into how the world worked.

No, she thought, the biggest potential problem was herself. Maya had adjusted to the situation just fine, of course, but she… well…

'How can I expect myself to do this? I never wanted to be a mother. Heaven knows I'm screwed up enough that I might screw up someone who is as close to a newborn as one can possibly get, which is the last thing this girl needs. And yet… with Maya here…'

She looked over at the girl, typing away at her new laptop with a furrowed brow, probably looking at some science article that she would ask them a million questions about later, seeming to slightly pout like Maya did when she was particularly engrossed by something.

'Maybe I can pull it off. If for nothing else, then at least to make sure the girl can survive in this world. To make sure I can be someone Maya can still be proud of.'

"Young lady." she said aloud, causing the girl to blink and look up at her. "Have you decided on a name yet?"

The girl's eyebrow furrowed. "Well," she began, "I've looked for the last few days at several names in several languages, testing out how they sound. Most don't seem to appeal to me. But…"

She began to type again as Ritsuko walked to her side at the kitchen table. What Ritsuko found was… more than a little surprising.

On the screen was the English alphabet, and the girl pointed at the letter Q. "I find the pronunciation distinct and memorable. Yes, it may be a single letter, but it sounds… right to me."

Ritsuko nodded slowly. "I see. So… you want to be named after a letter?"

The girl shrugged. "I see no reason not to be."

Ritsuko cupped her chin thoughtfully, then reached into a pocket to retrieve a notepad and pen, flipping over to an empty page and writing out the hiragana きゅ.

"How about this?" she asked as she showed the characters for 'Kyu' to the girl. "It's the same sound in proper Japanese characters, and I can think of a few meanings for it beyond simply being a letter."

The girl nodded after a moment. "Kyu it is." she said, a slight smile on her face.

After a moment, Kyu spoke again. "From what you've told me and what I've seen, I'll likely need a last name as well. Ayanami is serviceable, but though it may be a copy of her body I inhabit, I do not feel any great kinship with her beyond a friendly understanding."

She paused for a moment. "May I be an Akagi?"

Ritsuko's heart began to pound as she desperately fought to keep her expression neutral.

"After all, you and Maya are the ones that took me in, and taught me the most about this world that I get to live in. I feel…"

She paused for a moment before continuing. "I feel that you two are the closest that I might have to mothers here."

Mother. 'She said it. Oh…' Ritsuko's mind began to spiral into an almost blinding panic for a moment before she regained some semblance of control.

"Ms. Ritsuko?" Kyu asked, a concerned look in her eyes.

"Give… give me a moment to think about it." Ritsuko said quietly, turning and walking quickly towards the bathroom.

As she closed and locked the door behind her, flipping the room's fan on, she sat on the toilet as she tried to master herself again.

Mother. The concept of her being a mother, especially in the breathtakingly intimate way that Kyu only accidentally described, terrified her fundamentally.

'How could I be a mother like she thinks I could be? With Rei, with the Evangelions, and the Dummy System, all I did was make dolls and monsters. How can I raise an actual child like Kyu? How can I not make monsters anymore?'

'Maya will know. She always does.'

After a few more deep breaths, she took out her clear-pad and dialed Maya. She was away at the Matsushiro site, overseeing the pump operation for the up-and-coming Frame Plugs. The pad rang for a few moments, then a soft tone sounded before Maya spoke, her voice underlaid somewhat by the sounds of heavy machinery. "Hey, Ritsuko. What's up?"

"I… I need some help." Ritsuko replied, a defeated tone to her voice. "It has to do with the child. Her name's Kyu, by the way." she said the last part somewhat absentmindedly.

"Oh. Good." Maya said. "What about Kyu?" she asked quietly, the background noise quieting somewhat.

"She…" Ritsuko sighed." She asked if she could be an Akagi instead of an Ayanami. Called us… mothers." she whispered.

"I see." Maya said in understanding. Many had been the nights, especially after they had moved in, where Ritsuko had finally had someone to unload her hopes and dreams, the fears that she dared share with no one else. "You're afraid of screwing up."

"Aren't you?" Ritsuko asked incredulously. "I mean, look at us, Maya. We have zero experience dealing with children in a way that helps them to develop healthily. Hell, the children we do have experience with, we stuffed into the Evangelions, which can't be good for anyone's mental state, regardless of their previous experience. I… I helped create Rei. I'm partially her mother, in a sense. And I turned her into a manikin, used her to create the Dummy System. And now we have a copy of her sitting in our living room asking me to be an actual parent."

She paused for a moment before sighing heavily. "I… probably don't seem reasonable, do I?" she asked wearily.

"Well, you were reasonable enough to call me, weren't you?" Maya asked.

"So," she continued as a smile tugged at a corner of Ritsuko's mouth, "let's break this down. You're entirely right. Neither of us really knows what it's like to be mothers. But then again, who does, at first? We have… well, maybe not a stellar support network, but at least a decent one. And we have each other. We know what we're supposed to do, generally. So… let's take it a day at a time. The greatest experiment we can do together. See if our hypothesis of 'can we raise a child together' is plausible. How about it?"

It was quiet for a moment before Ritsuko gave a dry chuckle. "How did I know you would do that so well?" she asked.

"Well, when I learn from the best, it just comes easy." Maya replied. "We'll make it work. I promise."

"You know what… we will."

Ritsuko nodded. "Thank you. I love you. And have fun looking over the Frame Plugs."

"Will do. Love you too. Bye."

With that, Maya hung up, and Ritsuko stood, taking a deep breath and opening the door. She found herself only somewhat surprised to find Kyu standing outside, who took a step back and blushed slightly.

"How much did you hear?" Ritsuko asked, resignation tinging her words.

"More than I should probably admit." Kyu replied.

Ritsuko sighed. "Well, I had a talk with Maya, brief as it may have been. And…"

She drew Kyu into a hug, eliciting a quiet gasp from her. "Welcome to our weird little home, Kyu Akagi."

After a moment's shock, Kyu reciprocated, and they stood there for a moment, tears in both their eyes.

"First things first, Kyu," Ritsuko said as they pulled away from the hug, "we'll need to find you another color for your hair. Otherwise, you and Rei will be very easily confused for each other."

Kyu nodded. "Well, I have been looking around at what the base standard for humans is, considering the fact that I'm told blue is not a natural color. And frankly… they're all kind of boring."

Ritsuko shrugged. "Well, I can't say I, or many other people for that matter, entirely blame you. Is there something else you had in mind?"

"Well…" Kyu walked over to an end table, where Ritsuko's cat figurines sat. She pointed at the white one, shot through with gold lacquer after a night Ritsuko both cursed and counted herself lucky for. "I quite like that. I understand that it might be… distinctive. But it looks beautiful."

Ritsuko regarded the figurine silently for a moment. 'You know, if I didn't know better, I'd swear something divine was trying to tell me something with this figure…'

"Alright." she said aloud. "I'll talk to Eleanor. She did Ichigo's hair, so she'll probably do yours. It's… like you said, rather distinct, but I think she can pull it off."

- - -

The tour of the Val that the four of them took, joined from time to time by Amaya, found them away from the track that Daniel had taken the other Outriders. That tour had touched the more public areas: the ship's quarters, the medical bay, the bridge, and the observation sphere.

Now, though, they stood in the engine room, its center taken up by a massive globe suspended in a hollow pillar, wisps of multicolored light flowing into the top and bottom of the pillar as it emitted a quiet, but piercing hum.

"And this is the Pneumaic Core." Eleanor said as Kodama and Della walked around it, observing it closely. "It's connected to Pneumaity, unsurprisingly, and converts the Metos it collects into electricity via mechanisms within the pillar it rests in. Of course, it also feeds pure Metos to the systems that need it, and is the main power source for the Dip Drive."

"The Dip Drive?" Kodama asked, tilting her head slightly as she adjusted her glasses to peer at a readout. "Is that how you achieve superluminal travel?"

"Of a sort." Eleanor replied. "Due to the way that space works in Reality, getting compressed the closer you get to the Pneumaic Realm, the Drive cuts a hole, sometimes deep, sometimes not, dips into either Mentality or Pneumaity, then cuts another hole out in the destination. Most are only rated for trips into Mentality, but military vessels, like I'm sure this one is, are rated to go all the way to Pneumaity."

"Wow." Della said. "My Cloudkiller is only able to go to Level 2.5. This… likely 2.2. Maybe even all the way to 1."

Kodama looked over at Della with an arched eyebrow. "And what does that mean?"

Della blinked. "Oh. It's the rating system. How deep you can go is done by descending level. 3 is physical space, 1 is Pneumaity itself." she shrugged. "Pretty simple, really."

Before Kodama could reply, a buzz came from her pocket, and she pulled out her phone. "Oh. It's Hikari." she said with a slight smile as she tapped out a reply. "She's just asking me how the tour's going."

She held up her smartphone and the quiet click of the phone's camera was heard. Kodama hesitated for a moment. "You… don't mind if I send a picture, do you?"

Eleanor and Daniel looked at each other then shrugged. "I don't see why not." Daniel chuckled. It's not as though she'll sell it to anyone unscrupulous, by any means."

Kodama nodded as she sent the picture. "It looks like she's going on a group date with the other pilots to talk about whether they want to be a part of HERZ."

Daniel nodded slowly. "Understandable. They'll make the right choice, whatever that may be."

"So," he continued, "let's get up to communications, shall we?"

- - -

Kanrai District, Tokyo-2

Ryoji Kaji watched from the shadows, literally, as three college kids got in their car and began to drive down the road.

As he began to follow their car, he contemplated for a moment trying to establish a connection with one of them, find out what this 'something big' that Kodama said Takashi, her friend's boyfriend and a somewhat prominent ringleader of the local Lone World chapter, was supposed to be. But he needed to focus on where they were going, and a moving target was… tricky to establish a connection with without having one beforehand.

So, he settled on looking at their souls with the Sight. They were anxious, that was for certain. About what, he still didn't know. This group had become awfully tight-lipped, even online. Right now, all he could do was wait and see.

- - -

Gonsen's Dine-In

Shinji sat with his friends at the table, eating food and having a light conversation. It was quite pleasant, and he was surprised that they hadn't done something like this earlier.

Then, he realized why their idle chatting had gone on for as long as it had. They had been dancing around the issue at hand. The reason they had gotten together in the first place.

He glanced over at something else to distract himself for a little while longer, finding a sign by the bar that read 'No Metos Marks Accepted Currently. Cash or Card Only'. The merchants that Daniel had mentioned being close had finally arrived, and while they hadn't begun to fully start exchanging goods with the local populace of Earth, their money, Metos Marks, or M2s or emmies, had gone ahead and done so anyway.

He shook off the tangent with a shake of his head. Enough was enough, now.

"Alright, we've been going around this for long enough." he said, drawing the rest of the table's attention. "It's time to talk about piloting."

Hikari sighed quietly as she squeezed Toji's hand. "I wondered how long we could put it off." she said ruefully.

"I mean, this is why we decided to get together." Asuka replied. "And… where do we even start? There's a lot to cover."

"Logically, there actually isn't, really." Kaworu replied. "We have a choice before us. One that comes down to whether or not we want to pilot for HERZ."

"Well, yeah," Toji interjected, "that's the basics of it. But… the fact that we have the choice is what makes it complicated. Misato could have simply stuffed us in the Plugs if she wanted to. But she wants us to choose. So, really… what do we want?"

The question hung in the air in silence for a moment before Asuka shook her head. "Well, I know what I want. I want to be out there, know I'm making a change. Know that I'm gonna pound SEELE's face into the dirt."

"That is certainly a large part of the consideration, for me at least." Hikari interjected. "SEELE's still out there. An organization who may well still have the capability of producing more Evas, perhaps even taking more children and putting them into Plugs against their will. I might be okay stepping away from the Plug in time, but if that's the cost right now, letting them continue their injustices, then…"

She trailed off and Rei nodded. "Even with the threat that SEELE poses… I want you all to know that I will support you. Whether that's in a Plug, in battle beside you, or whether I am simply training your copilots. If you want me to be there, I will offer what limited experience I will have."

"Don't sell yourself short, Rei." Shinji said. "You were so much better than you were by the time Unit-00 was destroyed. You're better than you think. If you want to pilot, then… why not go for it? After all, the Frame Titans just depend on us. No mothers or tearing apart other people's souls. Just our willpower and drive to do good."

"Well, Shinji," Kaworu said, "with that in mind, I offer up this question. What about you? We know what Asuka wishes to do, quite clearly. Hikari can be inferred as willing to pilot again." he glanced over at Hikari. "If I am not mistaken."

Hikari nodded, and Kaworu turned his gaze back to Shinji. "You have perhaps the most real-world experience in piloting in combat situations compared to all of us. Your… what does Daniel call it… grit, I believe, along with your determination and willingness to lead has won the day in many different cases."

He paused, taking in Shinji's conflicted expression. "What I perhaps mean to say, in so many words, is that whatever you do, we will follow. I will follow you into battle, or wherever you decide to go."

The statement reached a silent Shinji. 'He's not wrong.' he thought. 'But… all of that was luck. Or at least most of it. I simply picked up what I needed to survive, then to protect my friends. I can't be the person they expect me to be.'

Then, memories from seemingly forever ago came to the surface of his mind. The first synch test after they'd become pilots again, before he'd gotten into Unit-01. The need, useless as it was in hindsight, to come up with something to let Misato know they were together. "Don't sell yourself short. If you come up with something good— and you have before— you know I'll follow your lead."

The Over the Rainbow, the last time he'd told someone that what he'd done was mostly 'luck'. "I find that luck and ability are tied closely together, Shinji." Daniel had said.

Asuka grabbed his hand, snapping him back to reality as he looked over at her. "Wherever you go," she said quietly, "I've got your back."

It was another moment of silence before Shinji sighed. "Well…"

A quiet determination flickered to life in his eyes as he continued after a moment. "I'll admit it. The choice before us terrifies me. I'd love to have the option to walk away, let someone else save the world while I live a normal life."

"But NERV, my father, Misato and Ritsuko, all of them, put the world in our hands and told us to keep it safe, fix it if we somehow could. And we've done a good job of protecting it so far. Even started to fix things a little. And if there's anything I've learned… it's to never start a job you won't finish."

"But I can't do it alone." he looked around the table. "I know I won't be going out there alone, but… if I know I can count on all of you, it'll mean the world to me to have you by my side."

"You know I'll be there." Asuka said, not a shred of hesitation in her voice.

"As will I." Kaworu said, Rei nodding in agreement.

"In order to keep you all, and the world safe, I'll do it." Hikari agreed.

Toji was silent for a moment, then chuckled. "Well, us stooges can't seem to catch a break, can we?" he asked wryly. "Alright. I'll probably need to make my peace with my parents, make sure they're in the loop. But when I do, I'll be there."

"Alright." Shinji said with a deep breath. "That settles it then. I'll make sure Misato knows we're all in."

"After all," he continued as he looked at Asuka, a slight smile on his lips, "when we're together, we win. Simple as that."

- - -

Ryoji arrived with the college boys at what appeared to be the side alley of a restaurant and a convenience store, the three boys meeting up with a half dozen more compatriots that walked out of one end of the alley after a brief conversation.

Stepping out of the shadows into a corner of the restaurant when he felt he wouldn't be spotted, he focused on Takashi, lightly connecting their souls as he searched for what they were doing here.

As he discerned their true intentions, his eyes went wide for a moment before becoming set in determination. 'Oh no, you don't.'

As he took a step forward, however, he felt something cool pressed against the side of his head, stopping him cold. He glanced to his side, and saw nothing there physically.

As he opened his Sight again, however, he felt time seem to slow as his heart beat a little quicker at the almost terrifyingly familiar sight.

"Well, then." he said, pitched low to not call the attention of the Lone World group. "I wondered where you were when we stormed that mission. Still on the Scion's payroll?"

The cloaking field rippled as it dropped, revealing the familiar rounded armor of the I-Breaker. "No. I'm under new employment now." the I-Breaker replied, a masculine voice emerging from the sealed helmet.

"I'm guessing you won't tell me who." Ryoji said with a wry smile. "But I can still make an educated guess. The Lone World boys and girls over there?"

"Very perceptive." the I-Breaker said levelly.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to go stop them, and we can keep talking." Ryoji said, risking another step.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." the I-Breaker said, a hard edge entering his voice. "You'll be dead before you even emerge from the corner."

"So why haven't you just killed me yet, then?" Kaji asked, a similarly serious tone to his words.

As the I-Breaker seemingly paused, Ryoji's mind whirled. 'The kids are in danger. Hell, I am too. But… either I let them get away with this and tell the others, or I try and rescue them myself. I've seen how that works out. Damn it.'

"Well, I'll be going now." he said aloud, an easy smile on his face.

"I can't let you do that either." the I-Breaker replied.

"Well," Kaji said as he discretely prepared an Expression, "the funny thing about me is, really, I do what I want. Later."

With that, a sphere of darkness consumed the both of them, Ryoji hearing the whir of silenced rounds buzz past his ear as he dove into the shadows on the wall of the dumpster, exiting the alley in a flash.

As the I-Breaker watched the Frames that made up his opponent fly away, his jaw clenched slightly for a moment. 'Damn. A loose end.'

He'd be going to tell his allies about this. Going to tell… him. 'I might just intercept him on my way to tie this up.'

A part of him hoped such would be the case, as he faded out of sight again and kept watch over the group of reactionaries his employer worked with.

. . .

Shinji and company split the bill as they finished their meal, a far more upbeat atmosphere following them as they began to exit the restaurant.

"I must say, Shinji," Kaworu mused with a slight smile as they stood from the table, "perhaps I should yield the designation of pilot of Unit-01 back to you. For the sake of tradition, of course."

Shinji chuckled softly. "Maybe we should get our designations back. It'd be familiar at least. For most of us, seeing as Daniel's piloting Unit-00."

"Eh, we'll figure it out. Either way, 1 through 4 are taken." Asuka interjected. "Maybe Rei and you can be 5 and 6."

As they exited, turning to walk down the street towards home, they heard a scream from down an alleyway. As they turned, they saw a man, obviously panicked, rushing towards them. "Help! Help! My friend's trapped under a dumpster! It just rolled over him!"

"Alright." Hikari said, stepping forward. "We'll help roll it off him."

The others nodded, and they began to make their way into the alley. True to the man's word, a dumpster pinned another man, while a third stood over him and tried to push ineffectually at the bulky blue metal box.

As they moved closer, Kaworu could feel others moving in behind them, brushing them off as concerned spectators. That presumption was quickly dispelled as he felt their focus come squarely on him and his friends.

His senses sharpened to a razor's fineness, and he noted the sham of the man pinned by the dumpster as he began to turn. But the two projectiles that slammed into him were just that little bit quicker.

As the projectiles hit him, sticking to his body, an overpowering command seemed to course through his very soul. SLEEP. As much as he tried to resist it, he could not help but obey, as his vision tunneled and he hit the pavement with a dull thump. The last that he saw was the rest of his friends, meeting the same fate. Then, he began to dream.

- - -

Misato's Residence

Misato looked at the trio before her, Ritsuko and Maya sitting on both ends of the newly dubbed Kyu, who played somewhat with a curious Penpen, looking for all the world like they were at a parent-teacher conference with their child.

A wry smile tugged at a corner of her lips as the thought tumbled through her mind for a moment. This… this was perfect ribbing material. But there were other matters, far more serious in nature, that she had called Ritsuko and Maya to discuss.

"So," she began, "how are the pumps for the LCL lake coming along?"

"Well," Maya said, "we've got two 8-meter diameter hoses currently pumping into the storage tanks, which are ready and waiting for the first Frame Plug to finish. We've got two of them under construction at the same time, and both of them should be finished at the end of the month."

Misato nodded as she looked at Ritsuko. "And what about the synthetic LCL?"

"The SLCL is being produced steadily." Ritsuko replied. "The plan so far is to start substituting the LCL in the Frame Titans with SLCL, transition the natural LCL into medical and other miscellaneous uses."

"Speaking of regular LCL," Misato said, "how is Suriel doing?"

Ritsuko puffed her cheeks. "Well, she's still in quarantine, for right now. We've done a few tests on her physical form. It's much like Rei's or Ichigo's or Kyu's. Mostly human, with unknown elements that are likely from the FAR."

She paused for a moment. "She can also produce natural LCL." Ritsuko said quietly.

Misato's eyebrows rose as Ritsuko continued. "It was a shock to her as much as it was to us. We ran some tests together. Focusing only on producing it, she can pump out about 5 gallons of LCL a day."

Misato shook her head. "Man… anything else?"

"Well, she's become more and more insistent on talking to Kadmonel. We'll likely have to set up a date in the near future." Ritsuko's lips twitched slightly upward as she snorted softly.

"Alright then." Misato looked intently at Kyu. "And you, Ms. Kyu."

She paused for a moment as Kyu looked up at her, a passing surprise in her expression. "What's your hair going to look like?" she asked with a bemused expression.

Kyu was quiet for a moment, then smiled slightly. "Porcelain white with gold highlights." she said.

Misato chuckled, then began to laugh softly for a moment. Kyu simply smiled. "Oh." Misato said after a moment's silence, a somewhat shocked expression replacing her mirth. "You're... actually serious."

Misato shrugged. "Oh well. You'll stand out compared to Rei and Ichigo."

Ritsuko and Kyu nodded. "Anything you wanted to tell us, Commander?" Ritsuko asked, a subtle emphasis on the word Commander.

"Well," Misato said, a semblance of seriousness returning, "I've commissioned a new logo for HERZ from Faez. This one will be our main logo, and I wanted to clear it with you guys first, seeing as we'll be wearing it and all."

As she spoke, she pulled out her phone and pulled up the picture which showed Faez's work, and turned the phone around, the trio across from her leaning in to look.

It was a bright green traditional heart shape, divided down the center. The left half was mostly filled in, a circle of white with a ring of green in what was roughly the center of the filled-in portion connected by lines to five other circles with dots in their centers around the edge lending the semblance of a teardrop shield. The right half was only the outline of the shape, within its boundaries the letters for HERZ going down from the top corner of the shape towards the point.

"What do you think?" Misato asked after a moment.

"It's certainly distinctive." Maya said. "I like it."

Ritsuko nodded. "So do I. Relatively simple, yet packed with meaning, from what I can tell. Like NERV before it."

"What's symbolic about a maple leaf?" Misato asked.

Ritsuko looked at her levelly. "It was a fig leaf, Misato." she replied, almost deadpan.

"A fig leaf?" Misato said incredulously.

Before anyone could continue, the door burst open, and Ryoji strode in, a worried look on his face as he nearly gasped in exertion.

He looked directly at Misato. "The kids, Misato."

- - -

The Val

The communications area was a somewhat large, empty room, a wall panel near the door the only decoration.

"Alright," Daniel said as they entered, "from here, we can call just about any other ship in Reality we've got the comms codes for. The comms system works through the Pneumaic Realm, so distance lag is basically nonexistent."

"Oh!" Della said as she went over to the panel and began to type. "We can call the Sunchaser really quick, check in with my family." she paused for a moment and looked over her shoulder. "If that's okay with you guys."

Daniel and Eleanor shrugged. "As long as Kodama doesn't have anything pressing." Eleanor replied, looking at Kodama.

Kodama shook her head. "I cleared my whole day for this. We can take a little time to meet Ms. Duck's family."

"Awesome!" Della said as she finished typing in the comm code for the Sunchaser and stepped into the middle of the room, beckoning the others forward as a band appeared on the far wall, the words 'Calling Outbound' within it.

A few moments later, the words changed to 'Sunchaser, Voice Only', and someone spoke into the air.

"Hello? This is the Sunchaser, Captain Launchpad speaking." a masculine, relaxed voice said. "To whom am I speaking?" he paused for a moment, a muttered, "I think that's how Mr. McDuck says it." audible over the link.

"It's me, Launchpad." Della replied. "I'm just checking in. Are the others around?"

"Uh, yeah." Launchpad replied.

After a moment's silence, they heard his voice again. "This is your captain speaking. We've got Della Duck calling in, if you'd like to come and talk to her. Meanwhile, I'll continue flying the ship to our destination, and trying not to crash into anything. Or let anything crash into us."

Daniel leaned over to Della. "Is your ship set up for walk-around?" he murmured.

Della nodded. "If a crash hasn't knocked it out for a few moments, yeah. One sec."

She spoke up. "Hey, Launchpad. Can you get Duckworth to activate the walkabout feature for us?"

Another voice, a cultured British accent to it, spoke up. "No need to worry, Ms. Della. Allow me."

The band then read 'Walkaround Call Activated', before fading into a room seemingly stuffed full of artifacts, neatly sorted in some form or another. In the center of the room, a duck in a top hat sat at a desk, another duck with long blonde hair by his side as they both intently studied a gleaming, polished silver helmet.

The one holding the helmet glanced up for a moment, then his gaze darted back up as he realized who stood in front of him. "Oh." the man said, a thick Scottish accent. "Well, hello, Della. Fancy seeing you call now." he paused for a moment. "Who're your friends here?"

"Well, this is Kodama, Daniel, and Eleanor." Della replied. "I just wanted to check in. What are you looking at? And where are the kids?"

"Oh, just your usual cursed helmet that grants wish-granting power at the expense of your soul." his companion replied with a feminine, almost southern, voice. "And the kids are off in other parts of the ship. Probably on their way here now."

"Well," the man said, "I'm Scrooge McDuck, and this," he gestured to the woman beside him, "is Goldie McDuck, my wife. A pleasure to meet you all."

"Goldie McDuck?" Daniel said with an arched eyebrow. After a moment, his mouth twitched, and he took on a purposefully cool expression. "My, my. A marriage to the richest duck in Duckburg. Sounds like the longest con you could pull to me."

Goldie looked at Daniel in confusion, then her eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding me." she said incredulously.

Daniel began to chuckle, then laugh. "I should have known! I wondered if it were you when I saw the both of you together here."

The others looked at him, thoroughly mystified. "Uh…" Della began. "How do you know my in-law?"

"I believe it was in someplace you called 'the Warp'." Goldie said with an exasperated sigh as Daniel's laughter began to die down. "I tripped into a decidedly unhealthy trap searching for the Belt of Cow Cow, and I was sent to another universe, apparently. Laid low while being surrounded by daemons. Then this guy, in a far more snazzy military uniform, bumps into me with a tall, ethereal lady friend named Isha, and we had a... heart to heart, one might say."

She paused for a moment as she looked at Daniel. "And how is Isha doing, Daniel?"

"Oh, just fine." Daniel replied. "She's an Empress now."

As Goldie hummed in admiration, Daniel felt his pad buzz. Taking it out of his pocket, he glanced at the text he'd received from Misato, and his eyes went wide.

'CHILDREN KIDNAPPED. CALL NOW.'

With a few swipes, he turned and held the pad to his ear as Misato picked up. "I want to know two things." he asked, his voice holding a biting edge. "When, and who?"

Silence fell over the room, the tension growing as all eyes were on Daniel. None missed his fist clenching.

"Alright." He finally said. "Ellie and I will be there."

He hung up, and turned to look at Eleanor. "The Lone World kidnapped the kids. The I-Breaker was there too."

Kodama gasped, her eyes wide with fear. "Hikari…"

- - -

Tokyo-2 International Airport

Julius Price stepped off the airplane into the hangar, looking around as the rest of the squad disembarked. It was far simpler for them to enter the country here, rather than go through the terminals. After all, no one checked your bags when you arrived like this.

"Boss." Ghost piped up as they walked towards the parking lot. "I picked up some news from one of our old spiders. They're reading movement from a squad of Japanese SFGs in Tokyo-2. One that's supposed to be on the other side of the country."

"Don't see how that affects us, Ghost." Soap replied. "After all, they could just be out on the town without their superior's say so."

"That's the thing." Ghost continued. "Jem's picked up at least a few faces that her database says belong to Chinese, Nova Brasilia, even Somali Republic squads. All parts of the UN."

Price nodded as they reached an unmarked grey van, and began loading their duffel bags. He thought back to an encounter in a bar in Australia. 'We're taking care of the pilots. All of them.'

'That cheeky bastard. I wonder if Howard's here, too.' he mused as they got into the van to go find a hotel room to base out of. 'If he is, then I can snap his neck if his squads kill my daughter.'

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 27: Tempest Tossed

Our tactics in resisting occupation must be many. Most, for the good of the people, must be peaceful, a showing of solidarity that the governments of the world must take notice of, must act upon. But with the encroaching of Reality, and the technologies and advances it likely brings with it, we must be willing and able to use such things to enable more stringent, perhaps even dangerous, actions…

- To Stand Apart, Post 14

Misato's Residence

Daniel strode into the apartment, a barely controlled rage behind his eyes as Misato, Ritsuko and Maya, and Kyu looked at him and Eleanor.

"Where's Hikari's sister?" Maya asked, anxiety apparent in her voice.

"Still on board the Val." Daniel replied. "Amaya will drop her off at her apartment when she wants to."

"Has anyone else been threatened?" Eleanor asked. "The Ikari's? Mrs. Soryu?"

Misato shook her head. "Not that we've been able to tell. Do you want to get them set up in here?"

"I'd like to get them in the same room, if I can. At least for the most part. The same floor will do, if nothing else." Daniel said. "Has there been any word from the kidnappers?"

Misato shook her head. "No."

Daniel nodded slowly. "Okay… let's start by getting people clustered here. I'm going to go back to the Val, see if the sensors on it can find them by their soul's Frames."

With that, Daniel turned, a hand squeezing Eleanor's shoulder before he left.

Eleanor looked back for a moment, then looked back at Misato. "Are Kensuke and Ichigo here?"

Misato nodded. "They're on this floor."

"Okay. We'll put them together with the other kids for now. Make sure they're all in one place to keep an eye on. Then… we'll see where we go from there."

. . .

Kensuke entered the hotel room quickly, anxiety swirling through his mind as he saw the concerned looks of Mariah, Mana, and Mayumi.

His friends were being held hostage. The thought churned his gut, and his chest seemed to burn with the desire to do… something. Right now, though, they needed to make sure that they were safe, too.

'The others are on this.' he thought as he sat down across from the girls. 'There's no way they wouldn't be.'

His gaze drifted to who was apparently Kyu Akagi, a new lookalike of Rei who the adults had found getting the Frames for the Numberless Children from Terminal Dogma. Eleanor stood behind her as she sat, hands hovering over Kyu's head as a sheet of water seemed to cling to her hair.

The blue under the clear liquid slowly became a brilliant white, a golden hue gleaming from a few locks here and there as the water disappeared.

The gathered children's eyebrows collectively rose. "My, my." Mariah said. "We have a right Sororitas on our hands, don't we?"

All eyes turned to her, most filled with confusion, one pair glinting with bemusement. "Uh…" Mayumi said slowly. "I'm not sure I completely understand."

"Oh." Mariah blinked. "Dad used 40k to help me understand battlefield strategy. Warhammer 40k. The models were a chore to paint sometimes, but they looked cool."

Kensuke shook his head. "Sounds familiar… but I'm still not entirely sure."

Mariah opened her mouth, then shut it after a moment of silence. "You know what, I'll explain later. Long story short, white-haired badasses, and we have someone who kind of looks like one in front of us."

"Okay." Ichigo said. Then she looked over to Kyu, reaching out a hand. "Hello. I'm Ichigo Ayanami. A pleasure to officially meet you."

Kyu took the proffered hand. "And you. I guess that rounds out the people that look exactly like me, then."

Ichigo nodded. "It would stand to reason."

"Alright." Eleanor said, drawing everyone's attention to her as she walked to the door. "I'm going to go help Daniel and the other adults find the kids. If you need anything, Faez and Hyuga are across the hall."

She turned, and smiled a smile that didn't fully reach the anxiety in her eyes. "I'm sure you all can keep each other from being bored. Mariah will see to that. Have a good day."

With that, she left, the atmosphere in the room becoming grim as they were reminded of just why they were all together.

Kensuke looked around the group, especially at the Numberless Children. They had gotten new Frames transplanted from clone bodies of Rei, not more than days ago, and he'd watched carefully for any changes that might come as a result.

Mana was calm, unsurprisingly, but flashes of emotion made their way across her face from time to time. Right now, if Kensuke waited, he could see anxiety of her own flicker into existence for a moment.

Mariah was… Mariah still. Seemingly little had changed on that front. Such was also seemingly the case for Mayumi. But there was more emotion there, and not just that, a seeming desire to just be close to someone. Anyone. Right now, she had settled for being next to Ichigo and him, silently taking in Ichigo's support.

'They'll find them.' Kensuke thought. 'I mean, they're Interfaced. That'll make this a synch.'

. . .

Daniel shook his head as he growled softly. He'd fed the profiles for the Children's souls into the sensor array of the Val 2 hours ago. A sensor array that, he'd found on his journeys, could isolate a Spirit the size of a fly on a planet of trillions of lifeforms in only minutes. And so far, it had found… nothing.

The Cataphract and the Sonne, as he'd somewhat selfishly requested, had also been picking apart the city of Tokyo-2, sifting as if for flecks of gold by a riverbed. That had proven fruitless as well.

He felt Eleanor connect to his soul as she walked up behind him onto the bridge of the Val. "Find anything?"

Daniel shook his head as Eleanor put an arm around him. "Nothing. The Cataphract and Sonne haven't turned up anything either, and the Sonne's array is probably far more fine-tuned than mine is. That means…"

"They're being hidden Pneumaically." Eleanor grimaced. "Some kind of cloaking field or working Spirit?"

"If it's either of those, they'd have to be fairly powerful in order to fool even our ship's sensors. Far more powerful than can even be bought off of the fledgling black market that I'm sure is popping up here. Someone's supplying them. And it isn't the Worldstriders."

Daniel pondered for a moment. "We'll call the Outriders in here. The League delegation, too. We'll get them cleared. I'm fairly confident on most of them, but… I want to be sure."

Eleanor nodded. "Alright. It's getting late. Come get some sleep. The Cataphract and the Sonne can keep an eye on things, I'm sure."

It was a long moment before Daniel nodded. "Alright. Alright." he sighed as he leaned on the console. "We're going to find them." it was a statement meant to brook no argument. From anyone present.

"And we will." Eleanor said quietly. "But running yourself into the ground won't do them any favors. Let's go."

Daniel looked back up at the screen in front of him, showing the city of Tokyo-2. He lingered for a moment longer. "Alright. Let's get some rest, then."

- - -

Hotel Room, Tokyo-2

It was quiet in the hotel room as the squad set up, Ghost setting up a laptop on the coffee table while Soap and Roach secured the apartment for bugs. Price, in the meantime, stared at his burner phone with a brow furrowed in annoyance.

NERV no longer existed, so it seemed. Not that it would hinder them too much. After all, all they really had to do was pin down where the now-former NERV staff would be, and then they would start talking to some people. A task that would be easy in a city of cameras, all accessible by their on retainer spider. All it would take was time. But still, seeing what they had said about SEELE, and how they were, frankly, the only ones who could've stood up worth a damn, it was… somewhat worrying.

'Even still. We worry about that when we get there. All we have to do is beat the UN squads to them. Fewer numbers, less native access, and less of a head start. Especially with the SFGs involved. I've worked with worse. I wonder…'

"Ghost." Price asked casually. "Does Jem know the current locations of the SFGs? I know my Japanese is a little rusty, but I imagine we could have a decent conversation."

"I guess it's better than trying to crack Magi-encrypted personnel files. Let me check with her." Ghost pulled out a phone, making a brief call explaining the situation. In moments, Ghost called Price over to the computer.

"Jem's showing one of them off on his own. Probably keeping cover until they find them themselves." he said, pointing to a man in a jacket and jeans, a panel showing a face and a name: Naruhito Moto.

"Alright then." Price said, cupping his chin in thought for a moment. "Roach, you're with me on retrieval. Ghost, Soap, you two get this room prepped and keep an eye on Moto's location, keep us in the loop."

The men nodded, and after a moment, Price and Roach were out the door. As they began to drive towards Moto, Price spoke up. "Alright, what are our options?"

"I've packed one of the tranqs that we had for Howard." Roach replied. "We could knock him with that. We just need to make sure it's private."

"Try for some car troubles, perhaps? See if we could get him looking at the dashboard or under the car?"

"Plausible."

There was a moment of silence. "So who'll be the hook?"

Price rolled his eyes. "It'll have to be you. We all know how quickly Cambodia went sideways when I tried."

Roach chuckled. "And you never improved when you had Mariah?"

"A little." Price cracked a small smile. "Not enough to ever be convincing, but a little."

"Alright. You've got to pop the hood and look confused, then."

"That look, Mariah perfected."

. . .

First Lieutenant Naruhito Moto was looking for someplace to eat. It was late, and ordering in while he waited for word of the operation to begin was getting stifling.

As he walked down the street, a man walked up to him, a little taller than he was, and obviously foreign.

"Uh… Pardon me." he said in halting Japanese as he pointed to a car with his hood up parked off the road. "Car… car troubles? Can you help?"

Moto glanced over at the car. It probably wouldn't take long. "Okay. I can help." he said in English.

"Thank you." the man replied in English as they walked back towards the car.

As they did, Moto glanced the man up and down. "You a veteran?" he asked casually.

The man nodded. "Yeah. 4 years. You?"

"Still active. Joined 5 years ago, haven't looked back. Got any family? Wife and kids?"

"Yeah, back home. But Thomas has a nasty infection, so Clara, my wife, is tending to him while my friend and I enjoy our time."

The pair reached the van as the other man, this gentleman's friend apparently, turned to look at them. "Well, it isn't the engine. Care to take a look under? Maybe it's a problem with the transmission."

The man looked at Moto almost expectantly, and he shrugged. "I don't know much, but I'll see what I can do."

The two of them got down on their backs, and the man looked over at him. "I'll check the back tires, you check around the front?"

"Sure."

With that, the two men slid under the car, Moto looking as best he could with his phone's flashlight.

"Let's see…" the man said. "I think… ah. Found it."

Then, sharp pain in his neck caused him to shout, dropping his phone as he felt a needle slide out of his neck.

He looked to the side, seeing the man drop an injector as he clamped a hand over his mouth, pulling the gun Moto kept holstered at his waist.

The man put a finger to his mouth as Moto's vision began to tunnel. "Sir? Sir, are you alright? Sir?" were the last words he heard as he lost consciousness.

- - -

The Val

Daniel sat across from Loki Odinson silently. The room they sat in was bare, save for a table and two chairs, hidden cameras feeding to a room where Eleanor, Misato, and Ryoji watched intently.

It hadn't been hard to gather the Outriders, really. One call to Atreus, and they'd mustered together quite quickly. The diplomatic delegation, on the other hand, was trickling in, one or two members at a time. So, for now, he started with who seemed, at first blush, to be a prime suspect.

"My apologies," Loki began, a somewhat annoyed tone betraying his true feelings, "but I get the feeling that I'm the first that you've talked to about… whatever's going on. I can't help but feel… singled out."

Daniel shrugged. "You aren't wrong. I'll start with why I'm talking to you."

He paused for a moment as he leaned on the table. "The Children that I introduced to you when you arrived have been kidnapped. They're being hidden from any Pneumaic sensors we point at the city below by something or someone powerful, so we've chalked it up to a device or Spirit that has the power to hide a soul's Frames."

As Loki drew back ever so slightly, his eye twitching subtly, Daniel nodded. "There's a lot of evidence that seems stacked against you, given your past and abilities. I am, however, willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, given your… rather tumultuous tenure with the TVA."

Loki chuckled slightly. "That's certainly a rather eloquent way to put it."

"Perhaps. But because, if not that you're changed, then at least you know better, but others might not know, I'd rather establish your innocence first."

"How magnanimous of you." Loki said sardonically.

"I try to be." Daniel paused for a moment. "I'm going to connect to your soul, just enough to verify the truth of your statements, then we'll begin."

It was a moment more before Daniel nodded. "Alright. What do you know of the Lone World movement?"

. . .

Daniel now sat with Rastaff, Loki's interview, along with the other Outriders and the members of the diplomatic staff he had a suspicion of, past.

This interview was far more relaxed, having ended as Daniel had expected. "Again, Representative Rastaff, I have to thank you for you and your staff's cooperation during this time. I notice that Representative Vinis still hasn't arrived yet. Has he been held up?"

Rastaff nodded. "We received an electronic message from him shortly after you asked us to gather. He's in Siberia supervising the setup of the agri-domes, in an area of heavy Pneumaic interference. He'll be along as soon as he can. He has a tendency to get… involved in his projects."

Daniel's link verified the statement as he nodded, sighing quietly. "I can't say I'm not somewhat annoyed, but I at least understand."

"Certainly. And as I've said, you have our full support in the search for the Children, and the supplier of this cloak. This is a serious breach in trust, and I seek to mend it as soon as possible."

"Thank you."

Another moment of contemplative silence passed between them before Rastaff nodded slightly. "You're ready for battle." he said quietly.

"If it comes to it." Daniel admitted. "You're quite perceptive."

Rastaff smiled slightly. "I was in the Warrior Caste far before I was in the Priest Caste. I cut my teeth when the Shadow War began, and I did my fair share of boarding actions and ground combat during the Drakh Campaigns. I had the privilege of seeing off the last of the Babylon stations before my entrance into the priesthood. The Cataphract has been under my command for many years. Now, it is an exploratory vessel, but, like its commander… it has not left its past behind."

Another pause. "Due to my status among the Warrior Caste, I always seem to have a retainer of soldiers with me. Should it come to it, call me. We shall answer."

"Thank you. From one old soldier to another." Daniel said with a smile.

. . .

Daniel walked into the observation room as Rastaff left, wishing him well before the door closed and Amaya led him out.

He turned and looked at Eleanor, Misato, and Ryoji. Each held a somewhat defeated look on their face, to one degree or another.

"Well, it doesn't look like we're any closer than we were several hours ago." Misato sighed. "Everyone on the League side's been cleared. And I'm pretty sure we trust the Tellan delegation enough to not even need to bring them in."

"Well, I wouldn't be too quick to judge, dear." Ryoji replied. "We still have one loose end when it comes to the League."

"Vinis." Eleanor said quietly.

Daniel nodded. "Yes. He has a decent alibi for not showing, at least for now. But… I can't help but wonder. And I'll be wondering until we finally get the chance to talk."

"Until then, though," he continued, "we need more options. I don't want to go so far as to case the city on foot, but if it comes to it, it's what I'll do. In the meantime, let's get the adults together. The Ikari's, Kyoko, Mrs. Akagi, Ritsuko and Maya. See if we can brainstorm some new solutions."

"That's easy enough to do, at least." Ryoji chuckled. "I'll do some legwork while we get everyone together, contact Kodama and see if she can find anything from her friends on the down-low."

"Alright." Daniel said, a slight smile on his face. "We're at least doing something. Let's be about it, then."

- - -

John Price regarded the man slumped over as he was tied to the chair in the center of the room. The floor surrounding him had butcher's paper laid over it, just in case they needed to silence him quickly.

"Alright." he said quietly. "Wake him up."

Soap walked forward with an injector loaded with Flumazenil, putting it up against his neck and injecting the drug.

He stepped back, and slowly, Naruhito Moto woke up. As he did, he looked around, seeming to test his bonds before his gaze fell on Price, his eyes narrowing slightly in incensed recognition.

"So," Price began in nearly perfect Japanese as he pulled out a combat knife, "first things first. You scream or shout in any way, you're dead. Everything starts and ends with that understanding. Do you understand?"

Moto nodded slowly. "And who are you?"

"No one that matters to you." Price paused for a moment. "Well, actually, we might, seeing as we'll be getting in the way of your little mission."

Moto's eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Your mission from the United Nations." Price replied as he stood, walking towards Moto while idly flipping his knife. "The one to 'take care' of the Evangelion pilots of NERV? With the rest of the squads from around the world?" he chuckled softly. "I must say, they must be pretty scared of a couple of kids if they're sending spec ops from as far away as Brazil and Somalia."

Moto looked up at him, eyes glimmering with a shock that he held behind a carefully neutral expression. "How do you know that?" he asked calmly.

"None of your damn business. Do you know where the pilots are located?"

It was silent for a moment before Moto shook his head. "Not exactly. We know that they're in the hotels in the Kotoban and Hasarigaru districts. That's where all the NERV staff are clustered right now."

"No more than that?" Price asked, somewhat incredulously.

Moto shook his head. "For now. The data analysts are working on narrowing down their location. It's somehow more difficult than it seems."

Price was silent for a moment. "And why would Japan, much less the United Nations, whack what are the closest things we have to superheroes? After all they've done to save the world, twice now, this is a hell of a reward."

"I don't know." Moto shrugged. "The higher-ups in charge of my section want it done, and they seem pretty driven on doing it."

Price nodded slowly. "I see."

It was silent again for a moment as Price regarded the man again before turning and taking his former seat. "Got any family?" he asked softly.

Moto's expression became confused. "Yeah." he said slowly, cautiously.

"What're they like?"

A pause. "A mother. A sister. A son. No wife. She died in an accident." another pause, for just a heartbeat, as a tear welled in one eye. "He's everything to me."

Price nodded silently. It was a long moment before he answered. "Are they being threatened to ensure you do this?"

Moto's eyes widened. He nodded silently.

"No need for theatrics." Price replied with a roll of his eyes. "No bugs here. If they were not in danger, would you be pursuing this mission?"

"No. I mean…" Moto shook his head, a look of disgust on his face. "They're just kids, damn it. Even if they pilot the most dangerous machines in the world. If they weren't threatening mine, I'd never even consider it."

Price considered Moto's answer for a long moment. "Where are they?" he asked. "In the city?"

Moto nodded quickly. "In the Kansai district. They've probably got more than a few spotters on them right now."

"If we make sure that they're off your family and that they're out of harm's way, will you keep us in the loop about the movements of your squad? Covertly, of course. We won't promise to not shoot at you if it comes to it, but we both know how combat works."

Moto nodded. "I think I can do that. You'd better hold up to your promise, then. If they're dead when I return…"

"You'll get your due justice." Price said with a shrug. "We may be special operations, but honor is no foreign concept to us."

Moto took a deep breath. "Alright then. I'm going to need to call in. We report every two hours, and I'm going to assume it's way past that point, now."

Price stood again, gripping the knife he held firmly as he walked towards Moto. He had to admire that the man had the presence not to flinch before he went around and cut his bindings. "Alright. We have your phone. But you're likely going to need a hell of an excuse. Need to be anywhere soon?"

"Not before the operation begins." Moto said as he stood. "I'll think of something. I'm not in the SFG for not being able to think on my feet."

As Moto got prepared to leave, slotting the battery back into his phone after holstering his pistol, he looked back at Price. "So, why are you here then? Just to protect the Children?"

"One of the pilots is my daughter." Price said after a moment. "She's being held by NERV after being part of an operation into Tokyo-3."

"Shit." Moto paused. "So, she's part of what happened to Tokyo-3?"

"Somehow."

"Alright, then. Kotoban and Hasarigaru. That's where she'll be. And frankly… I hope you find them first."

"So do we."

- - -

Theisman Residence, Tokyo-2

Daniel and Eleanor sat together, hand in hand, as they regarded the others with them in the living room. The Ikari's, naturally, were almost a mirror image of them, hand in hand. All of the couples were close, in one form or another. The only exceptions were Naoko Akagi, who sat a little to the side of her daughter, seemingly comfortable in her new physical body, and Kyoko, who sat next to Eleanor.

"Alright." Daniel began. "We've got a few possible leads. Either we're dealing with a Spirit, in which case we'll need to get onsite in order to even deal with it, involving a lengthy look for both Spirit and Interfacer, or, far more likely, we're dealing with a piece of technology. We have some of the most gifted computer engineers in the world with us today, and likely up to snuff when it comes to Pneumaic systems."

He looked particularly at Ritsuko, Maya, and Naoko. "What do you think we can do to find it?"

"Well, to begin with," Naoko said, "if the device has some form of remote control, there might be a signal we can try and piggyback into the system with, walk in the front door, as it were."

"Perhaps, but we'll need to find the signal in the first place." Ritsuko interjected. "And with Pneumaic computer systems running parts of their system in the Mental realm, sifting through all that noise that thoughts can produce is likely going to be time-consuming."

"Maybe." Maya replied. "But if we're looking for a focused signal in Mentality, there can't be that many here in the first place yet, even with all of the traders who have started coming in. All we might have to really do is isolate the signal from the few others that we know are ours or the League's."

Ritsuko nodded. "A fair point. We should get on that sooner rather than later then. The number of channels the signal can hide in is probably increasing by the day."

Kyoko shrugged. "That sounds like a plan. It might be easier if we were able to confirm if there is a remote in the first place. To do that, we'd likely have to find out from one of the Lone Worlders."

"And that's where my expertise comes in." Ryoji said with a slight grin. "I can start tracking down some of the members. One of Kodama's friends might know where they went, especially if they're close to joining the Lone World chapter here."

"And if they are, in fact, in a central location with the Children," Gendo mused, "they will have to strike out from it every once in a while, in order to obtain food and followers. Someone outside of the field will likely know the location to which people should be sent."

"I'll get on that, then, once we're done." Ryoji said, nodding assuredly. "With my Interfacing…" he shrugged. "It shouldn't be more than a day."

Daniel nodded, then felt something stir. Someone had passed through the boundary he had set on his apartment after hearing Ryoji speak of the I-Breaker's presence. He was silent for a moment as his senses sharpened, and he could feel something gusting the air towards him with its coming.

As whatever it was came to a stop behind him, and none seemed to take notice, Daniel nodded again. "I'd wondered if you might show up again. Drop the cloak, if you would. It's rude to hide in someone else's home, after all."

Daniel stood slowly, the others far more quickly, as Ritsuko, Eleanor, Misato, and Ryoji all manifested their Grips, guns soon pointed at the I-Breaker who had revealed himself pointing a pistol of some kind at Daniel's head. Gendo put himself between the I-Breaker and Yui, while Naoko slowly backed away with Maya at her side.

Daniel sighed quietly and turned to face the emotionless, expressionless helmet of the I-Breaker. There was no marking or even any angles to the helmet, simply a smooth, curving shell of light tan that betrayed nothing of the I-Breaker's face. And yet, his hesitation spoke volumes.

"So," Daniel began, "you no longer work for the Scions. I can't say that I'm disappointed."

"And yet," Daniel continued after a moment, "it seems a bit of a stretch to be working with just the Lone World, an organization who just learned about Interfacers only months ago. Who are you really working for?"

"That's none of your concern, Interfacer." the I-Breaker replied. "All you need to know is that you're worth a lot of emmies to someone, with or without a body. If you try and get the answer from my soul, I will know, and you will have made the choice to go to them in soul only."

"Then why are we standing here talking?" Daniel said. "Why not shoot me now?"

"Daniel…" Eleanor said warningly.

Daniel put a hand up to forestall her as he waited for the I-Breaker's reply. "For one," he replied, "my employer prefers to speak to you face to face."

"For one?" Daniel asked. "What is the other reason?"

Even behind the mask, Daniel could see the I-Breaker's realization of what he said. "None of your damn business."

Daniel nodded. "I see. It's personal, unless I'm wrong."

Daniel's eyes hardened, his voice becoming sharp. "Well, the Lone World has made this personal, too. They've taken the Children. My friends. My family. And I-Breaker or not, you will get out of the way, or you will be taken care of, one way or another. That choice, I leave up to you."

It was silent for a moment, then the I-Breaker's gun began to tremble slightly. Then, it slowly lowered.

"Family?" Daniel said simply, the fire in his eyes snuffed out.

"Yes." was the curt reply.

It was silent again. "I can't promise to get yours back. But… maybe you can help me with mine. Where are they located?"

The I-Breaker shook his head. "I can't say. I'm under the effects of a Geas Inscription until my contract with my employer is fulfilled."

Kyoko's brow furrowed as she regarded the I-Breaker. "A Geas…"

"What does that mean?" Maya asked.

"It's an ancient word for command or compulsion." Yui replied. She looked over at the I-Breaker. "I'm assuming that's a generally accurate description of the Inscription?"

The I-Breaker nodded. "Yes."

"How likely would it be to remove this Geas?" Eleanor asked, taking a cautious step towards the I-Breaker as she lowered her pistol Grip slightly.

"Impossible." The I-Breaker replied. "It will only dissolve once the contract is complete. Any attempts at removal made by anyone before such time would result in the death of my body and the shattering of my soul."

"And how exact is the Geas in its instructions?"

"Extremely."

Eleanor nodded as she established a link to Daniel's soul. "Well, this is interesting, if nothing else. We're not able to break this Geas. He has to complete his contract, which likely still involves you. Now what?"

"Now," Daniel replied, "we get around the Geas. Very few in Reality, and certainly no one here, are so omniscient as to create a completely unbendable Geas. But… you're going to have to trust me."

"Alright, then." Daniel said aloud. "I'll go ahead and surrender myself to you." he continued over the quiet gasps behind him. "I assume that leads to you escorting me to your employer?"

"Correct." the I-Breaker replied.

Before Daniel could continue, his phone rang. Looking down, he slowly reached into his pocket, revealing an unknown number. 'Maybe it's them. Maybe not. Even still…'

He answered. "Hello?"

"Is this Daniel Theisman?" a man said on the other end of the line.

"Yes. Who am I speaking to?"

"No one of any great note. All you need to know is that I represent the Lone World movement here."

Daniel's eyes widened slightly as his fist clenched by his side. "Do you now?" he said, a forced calmness to his voice. "Tell me, what do you have to gain by kidnapping the Children?"

"We get to you, of course." the man replied. "You are going to come to 272 Kishimiya, alone and unarmed. If we see a weapon in your hand or a person by your side, the Children are dead. Then you'll read out a prepared statement imploring the rest of reality to consider moving elsewhere until we want them here. Then, we'll release you. Simple as that."

"And what if I decide that now that I know where you are, I don't just come and use my powers to neutralize the threat you represent?" he said aloud. "Eleanor, get a fix on their location. Quickly." he said through the link to her.

Eleanor rubbed her fingers together, her mechanical Aspect Core serving up an Expression that she flicked onto an open spot on Daniel's phone, a little disk of circuitry and metal, as she opened her pad and began tracking the location of the signal, simultaneously transcribing the call for all to see.

"Then the Children dying will be the first thing you see." the man replied, the tone of his voice indicating that he meant, or at least seemed to mean, what he said. "You come to us, and we let the Children go after you've read the statement. Surely, you're smart enough to understand that."

"That I am." Daniel said after a moment. He glanced at Eleanor, who nodded slightly. "Very well. When do I need to be there?"

"As soon as you can. Be quick, Mr. Theisman. We are an impatient lot."

With that, the call ended, and Daniel put down his phone with a deep breath. "Alright, then. It seems the decision is made for me."

He looked at an open palm, within which appeared his Grip, humming quietly. He considered it for a moment, then set it down on the table.

"You can't be serious." Kyoko said. "You're actually going along with this?"

"You saw what the man said, Kyoko." Daniel replied. "I am not risking the Children's lives so that I can go in and play the hero."

He looked over at Eleanor. "Got a location?"

Eleanor nodded. "Right where he said you should go. 272 Kishimiya." she paused for a moment. "Daniel, I have to agree. If they can get the jump on the kids and hide them from us like this, then there's a better than good chance that they'll be able to contain anything you might do. Especially if you don't bring your Grip."

"They wanted me unarmed and alone." Daniel said quietly. "And that is what they will get."

He turned to the I-Breaker. "I assume taking me there would be part of the Geas?"

The I-Breaker nodded silently, and Daniel sighed. "Very well. Let's go on the road then."

He looked at Eleanor. "Keep Nynrya company. Introduce yourselves. She's been interested in getting to meet some of you."

As he turned towards the door, he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning to look at Eleanor again, who kissed him gently. "Good luck." she said quietly.

"Thank you."

With that, Daniel and the I-Breaker walked into the waiting night.

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 28: Eye of the Storm

Who's to say how much it will take to make it so that the League, and their cronies here on Earth, step back and allow us the space and time we need to grow? Even I cannot fully tell. But I do know this. We survived the Second Impact, and the Impact Wars that followed. We survived Angels seemingly willing to destroy the world. Who's to say we cannot be unified again, to show the League that we can create a world that is perfect, without their interference?

- To Stand Apart, Post 15

Kishimiya District, Tokyo-2, September 18th, 2014 Hours

Daniel Theisman walked the streets of a twilight Tokyo-2, seemingly alone. The I-Breaker had cloaked again, and was walking a ways off. Apparently, though he was watching over the Lone World chapter here, his employer's Geas made it so that he could not be seen by them. Such a thing left him alone with his thoughts.

They swirled like a hurricane as he got closer to his destination, plans and tactics for saving the Children of every kind that he could think of that started with walking in the front door unarmed brought up, considered, then discarded in seconds, all due to one overwhelming, implacable fact. 'If I try to do anything, the Children die. And I don't know what could happen to their souls. If it were just the Lone World, I'd be a bit more confident, but… there's someone else at play.'

He couldn't help but grimace at how useless he felt in the face of this. How little all his power really mattered right now. It was an old feeling, really. He should have been ready for it, he thought darkly.

The thoughts continued to pick at him regardless as he approached his destination, a warehouse in the middle of a quiet part of the district. Daniel looked the building up and down, and shook his head as he sighed quietly. "Why is it always warehouses?" he muttered to himself.

He walked to the door and knocked, waiting for a moment before the door cracked open. "You Daniel Theisman?" a pair of eyes peeking from the side that belonged to a young woman asked.

Daniel simply nodded, and the door opened further. "In. Now." the woman said, nodding back into the warehouse.

As he entered the spacious interior, he took stock of the room he found himself in. Much of the floor space was dedicated to temporary partitions made of curtains, particleboard, and thin sheet metal, behind which he could only discern the souls of somewhere around 3 or 4 dozen people. In the back, a cluster of six rooms, offices or break rooms or server banks, or whatever other things the previous owners used them for, sat above the floor, two staircases their only access points

Far more prominent, however, were the six gurneys in full view of the entrance, attached IV drips pumping what he assumed was sedative into the Children. And their guards, armed with submachine guns and pistols, pointed casually at the Children.

His jaw set as he focussed on the collars around the Children's necks, utterly black. Pneumaically, his Sight showed that they were like limpets, sucking out the Metos within their souls at a barely sustainable level. 'Expression Inhibitors. Interfacer containment I've only seen once before. Hell, put a dash of red on the front, and we have a terrible irony on our hands. Who is this puppeteer pulling the Lone World strings?'

Another man, holding an open Expression Inhibitor, a section within it glowing slightly, stepped forward. "You're putting this on. No funny business around here." he said in a tone that brooked no argument.

"There wouldn't be any 'funny business' without it, either." Daniel replied, a quiet snarl underlying a calm demeanor.

The man paused, then looked back at one of the guards, who began to move the barrel of her gun towards Asuka's head. "Trust me." the man replied as he looked back at Daniel. "There would be."

Daniel's fist clenched along with his jaw for the briefest of seconds, and he caught himself spinning up an Expression. No. Not yet. Not until the Children were safe.

He slowly nodded, and the man walked forward, clasping the Inhibitor around Daniel's neck, stepping back as Daniel winced as a sharp pain pronounced the collar's activation as his Sight shut off, the slight enhancement to his senses disappearing as he became, after the longest time, perhaps the closest he could ever be to fully human again.

"Alright, then." Daniel said, rubbing slightly at the spot where the collar attached to his soul. "What next?"

In response, the man drew a pistol, obviously alien in origin, and fired it at his chest, Daniel jumping slightly as he felt something silently slam into him.

To his great surprise, he wasn't dying bleeding on the floor, as he looked down and saw the dart sticking out. He felt the overwhelming urge, however, to sleep. And as his vision tunneled into darkness, he felt… something, reassuring him. Himself? Someone else? He couldn't tell. 'How odd.'

Then, nothing.

- - -

Hotel Room, Tokyo-2

John Price did something that he usually didn't, which took quite an effort to achieve in even the most pressing of circumstances. He paced around the small living room as he glanced from time to time at Ghost, sitting at his laptop with a phone seemingly glued to his face, listening to his reply to Jem as they scanned through hotels, camera system by camera system.

Jem was proving to be a real rockstar, whatever timezone she happened to be in, combing the Kotoban and Hasarigaru districts as quickly as she could. Some hotel systems proved to be somewhat tricky to get into, making the duration between the switch for some last for minutes before she got to the next. Add on top of that the fact that, even within only two districts, there were hundreds of possible locations that they could be at, and the pressure of having to outstrip several special forces groups, one of them native to the area, the result left Price somewhat… impatient.

"How many left?" he asked brusquely as he paused for a moment, staring intently at the laptop as if willing it to give Ghost the proper answer.

Ghost repeated the question to Jem, then paused for a moment before looking at Price. "She says we've got maybe 25 left out of 105."

Price took a deep breath. "Alright." he said quietly as he resumed his pacing, suppressing an annoyed growl.

After minutes more, Ghost looked back up. "Got it." he said, drawing all in the room towards the computer. "1226 Hasarigaru, 40 minutes from here."

Price looked down at the screen, saw stills from security camera feeds that showed the pilots of NERV walking in and out of the building with their superior officers, but most importantly, on a still timestamped '16/9/5 AM 1100', was his daughter, walking with two of the pilots, a few other girls, and a man, out of the hotel lobby.

That was all Price needed. "Alright, then." he began as he moved towards their stash of weapons and armor. "Let's suit up and go get her. Covert, but combat-ready."

As the others moved to prepare themselves, Julius Marlowe couldn't help but be somewhat excited. Even hopeful. 'Not yet.' John Price replied. 'Get the girl to safety first, then I can go back into the ground where I belong.'

With thin, but strong plates in plate carriers under zipped-up jackets, and submachine guns tucked away in backpacks, they were out the door, into the van, and on the road in minutes.

As Soap drove, the others behind him and Price doing the best they could to distract themselves from the fact that they had just entered a race to a finish line they just learned about, he glanced over at Price. "Do you think our friendly opposition found them too?" he asked.

"Hell, I'm surprised that they hadn't found them in the first place." Price replied. "It is the SFG's city after all. Maybe they have, and they just needed the time to marshal their allied forces."

"Either way," Price continued, "we're on the clock. And we need to beat it pretty handily in order to make sure we accomplish our objectives."

He looked back at Ghost, who finished holstering a pistol. "Make sure to have Jem spoof the spotters off of Moto's family when we arrive."

As Ghost nodded, Roach spoke up. "What about the other kids, sir?" he asked as he did one last check on his MP5K. "Are they considered to be of secondary importance to Mariah?"

Price looked out the window at the city they made their way through. He could leave. Based on what he'd seen of the UN judiciary meeting, they'd have the equivalent of several, well, basically magicians keeping an eye on them. But, as he knew well from far too many foiled super-soldier programs during the Wars, for all the power that they had, all it would take was one bullet in the wrong place to make such power useless.

"Negative." he finally said. "We'll ensure that they're protected before we leave with her."

He shook his head. "Bloody girl's probably friends with most of them by now, anyway." he muttered.

- - -

Kishimiya Warehouse, 2032 Hours

Slowly, but surely, Daniel Theisman began to struggle back to consciousness.

The first thing he noticed was that he was sitting and that he could not move. His hands and feet were bound, and he appeared to at least be in a somewhat comfortable chair, he noted with some grim amusement.

As his vision came to him, he began to look around himself. He was in a small room, an office of some kind that had its blinders closed and the door shut, and had been cleared of almost all other furniture save for the simple chair that he sat on and a few other empty chairs scattered about the space that he could see. The being that stood in front of him deigned not to use them.

He felt the Expression Inhibitor around his neck, a gentle tugging sensation at the point where it attached to his soul feeling not unlike a soft bite, as he finally focused on who was in front of him.

He stood in stark contrast with the room's lights, pale white and lime green skin stark in the light blue-walled room, his pitch-black eyes looking intently into the face of a man who had seen him before. "Vinis." Daniel said quietly.

"Mr. Theisman." Mashor Vinis levelly replied. "If that is, in fact, still your name."

"This is a long way from Siberia, I must say." Daniel began after a moment's regard. "So, you're the one puppeteering the Lone Worlders. What did you promise them in return?"

"My support to their cause. After the world has been put right, I would advocate that the League allow this world time to develop and get back on its feet. Give it the choice it deserves, so to say. It made them quite pliable assets. Not unlike your assets which we are holding out there. I wonder what you told them to ensure their loyalty."

"Assets?" Daniel repeated in shocked disgust. "They are my family." he growled. "You demean them by calling them that."

"I see." Vinis said coolly. "Perhaps the Scion mindset about such things is… different."

"The Scion…" Daniel's eyes widened as his face slackened from anger to shock. "You think I'm still the Hollow Saint." he said numbly.

Vinis's eyes only narrowed slightly. "I do not simply presume. I know. You were, after all, the face of the Unity War in the greater Reality. After your defeat, you disappear, then begin to go from world to world, building a shadow network of assets that you can call upon at a moment's notice to begin your 'holy work' again, all under the guise of your former self, having come to his senses and looking to atone for his actions. It's almost brilliant, really."

"Why, then? Why all this, when you could just accuse me openly?"

Vinis was silent for a moment. "Do you know that, in the history of salarian intelligence agencies, of all the files that we keep on potential enemies of all kinds, all numbered meticulously so as to be called upon instantaneously, yours is the only file to have a name?"

Daniel slowly began to put the pieces together.

"It began only a few years after the incident on Eden Prime concerning then Commander Shephard. After the discovery of the Reapers, the Scions of Unity came, and one of them, one who we would name 'The Star Dragon', promised a solution. A way to shackle the Reapers, contain them so that our civilizations would not be swept away. This man led the unification of the disparate nations into a true alliance, so as to enact the plan that he had proposed."

Vinis paused. "It took great sacrifice. So many died in the war with the Reapers, thousands of worlds burned to ashes, Sur'Kesh, our home, among them. We became a vagabond people, living only to fight and die."

The slightest edge of anger pierced the calm, collected tone of Vinis's voice. "And when we had spent ourselves to achieve victory, when the Reapers had been taken under the Scion's control… you left. Left behind you broken fragments of what were once mighty nations that spanned the stars, the ashes of untold billions, to gain the slightest advantage in your quest."

It was silent again for long moments. "I was a boy then. And I promised myself, on my dead friends and family, that I would bring justice for all the silent souls that now wandered this broken universe. I promised… that I would bring you to justice."

Daniel took it all in, a familiar, forlorn weight heavy on his heart. "I'm not surprised you are as such. And I am sorry that things have led to this moment between us. But I must ask… you can look at my soul, correct?"

"Of course, I am Interfaced." Vinis replied quickly. "It is what has allowed me to live as long as I have needed to bring you what you deserve."

"Then, if you can see my soul now," Daniel continued, "do you know what the soul of the Hollow Saint looks like? Do you know that one of the Guides attached itself like a parasite to it?"

Daniel could not use the Sight, could not see beyond the alien, inscrutable look on Vinis's face. He desperately hoped that he could convince him.

"I see what you are trying to do." Vinis finally said, his tone deflating any hope Daniel had. "Playing upon the knowledge that we lack in order to perhaps free yourself in order to continue your work. Your ploy has failed against me."

Vinis stepped back, taking a pad from a pocket on his side. "You will be transported to a salarian vessel cloaked in orbit in 2 hours."

"And the prepared speech that I'm giving for the Lone World to what I'm assuming is the rest of the world?"

"We have prepared your speech." Vinis said as a portal opened silently next to him. "You will be speaking to all Reality, decrying your actions, disbanding your shadow network and discouraging all assets from attempting to continue your work, and turning yourself in to be judged and sentenced by the League of Independent Echoes."

Vinis paused. "I am finally ready to see justice served this day. Prepare for such."

With that, he stepped into the portal, the tear in space shutting without a sound, and Daniel dipped his head and sighed, a tear sliding down his cheek.

- - -

Misato's Apartment

Misato sat with Ritsuko and Maya as she watched and somewhat listened to Mariah elucidating on Warhammer 40,000 to the other girls and Kensuke, the Ikari's, Naoko, and Kyoko having a separate conversation in one of the bedrooms. It seemed a rather bleak place, a mostly totalitarian galaxy embroiled in endless war, but it had its interesting elements. One of them, the Eldar, stood out to her particularly.

"Hey, Mari." she said, leaning forward as she got the group's attention. "Would one of the names of the Eldar be the Aeldari?"

Mariah paused for a moment, cupping her chin thoughtfully. "Yes, actually." she said slowly. "It is. Why do you ask?"

Misato smiled slightly. "Oh, we just have a few running around as part of the League. One in the diplomatic delegation, one in the Outriders. They aren't from just… what did you call them, the Craftworlds?" Mariah nodded. "But they're here."

Mariah's eyes went wide. "Woah." she said, utterly in awe. "Can… can I meet them?"

Misato chuckled. "I'm sure I can probably arrange something."

Mariah positively glowed in excitement. "That's awesome! I have so many different questions for them. Like what it's like being in the Webway, or how their view of a soul is different from ours, or what a Tyranid smells like, or-"

Before she could continue, there was a knock at the door, drawing everyone's attention towards it. "I'll get it." Misato said offhandedly as she stood, looking with the Sight as she walked to the door. Four men. Pretty big, probably military or ex-military. Anxious. Prepared for... something.

She opened it, looking up at a white man with mutton chops connected to a mustache, three others standing behind him.

"Hello." the man said in Japanese. "We're looking for Mariah Marlowe."

"Yeah." Misato said slowly. "She's here. I'll get her."

She looked behind her into the living room. "Mari! Someone's here to see you."

As Mariah walked into the entryway, her eyes grew wide. "Dad! What are you doing here?"

Misato stepped aside as Mariah rushed to take who was apparently her father into a bear hug. "Looking for you, obviously." the man replied with a quiet chuckle. "And it looks like it's mission accomplished."

Mariah groaned after a moment. "You know, hugs with an armor plate in between them aren't all that comfortable, Dad."

Misato's eyes widened slightly as she stepped back, and all in the vicinity felt the temperature drop a few degrees as her Grip appeared in her hand.

The man raised his hand as he stood from the hug. "We're not here to hurt anyone present, Commander Katsuragi. I'm just here for my daughter. I'd be here for her mother, too, but…"

He went quiet for a moment as Misato's Grip disappeared. Mariah stepped back, her expression filled with shock. "You knew about mom?" she nearly whispered.

Dad drew himself back, a deep sigh and a weary look coming into being. "Yeah, nightlight. I did. I had to keep my mouth shut, or else SEELE would have disposed of me. I'm sorry, kiddo. I wish I could have told you sooner."

Mari looked at him for a little while longer, then nodded. "Alright. But you won't just have to apologize to me. Mom will want a word once she's out of Unit-05."

Dad's eyes widened, his mouth dropping slightly as he looked over at Misato. "You mean…" he whispered.

Misato simply nodded. "Yes. Mari Makinami is going to be extracted as soon as we have at least three Frame Titans ready to deploy."

Dad took a deep breath. "Alright." he shook his head slightly. "But right now, we have somewhat more pressing matters to deal with. Such as the special forces teams that are on their way to terminate the Children."

The man got everyone's attention with that as he and the other three men stepped into the apartment and took stock of the children present. "Where are the other pilots?" he asked. "They'll need to be gathered together here so that we can keep them safe."

"That's the thing." Ritsuko said. "They've been kidnapped by the Lone World movement."

The man's eyes widened, then shut as he shook his head with a sigh. "Christ." he muttered. "Just what we needed."

"And why does that concern you?" Ritsuko said, a hint of caution in her voice. "After all, like you said, you're just here for your daughter. Like it or not, we can take care of ourselves, should it come to it."

One of the men behind Dad narrowed his eyes. "We're special forces, ma'am. We understand sacrifice when needed. But we're still human. We're not going to leave a bunch of children to die for the sake of one."

"Which is why we're staying and preparing you for what's coming." another said firmly. "It's tight quarters for any sort of defense, but we can make it work for us."

It was silent for a moment as the other adults emerged from the bedroom, regarding the new visitors with a wary eye. Finally, Misato sighed slightly as she stepped forward. "Well, far be it from me to turn down help when it presents itself."

She extended a hand towards Dad. "And what would your name be, sir?"

Dad glanced at Mariah, then back at Misato for a moment before taking the hand in a firm shake. "Julius Marlowe, Price, Blackadder. This is Soap, Ghost, and Roach."

"Blackadder…" Misato murmured. "It sounds familiar."

"I believe we had a squad in South America during your time in the SFG." Julius replied.

"Oh, yeah." Misato said, nodding slowly and chuckling softly. "Gaz and Otter. Odd duo scout-snipers."

Julius smirked slightly. "That's right." the smirk disappeared as he continued. "But we'll reminisce later. Let's get this place defensible. Then we can worry about securing the other Children."

Misato smirked confidently. "No need to worry about that. We have someone taking care of it."

- - -

Kishimiya Warehouse, 2120 Hours

Daniel sat quietly in the office, left alone as he waited for his 4 hours to be up. His armor nano-cuffs had returned to his pocket, their auto-return protocol going off without a hitch. With his hands behind his back and the mental link to them, which depended on Pneumaic power, severed, however, reaching them was out of the question

Tied up as he was, with his clear-pad and earbuds confiscated, he made do with what he had. That being, a soft, quiet singing voice.

"I think we're alone now." he sang somewhat ironically, his head bobbing slightly from side to side. "And every pair of genes is a hand-me-down…"

He paused for a moment as his brow furrowed. "Wait a minute." another pause. "What were the original lyrics again?"

He shook his head after a moment, chuckling softly. "Damn you, Weird Al Yankovic."

He continued to hum the tune regardless.

As he hummed, he caught movement from the corner of his eye, glancing to his left. There was nothing. Just chairs by the door and the shadows under them. Wait a minute…

"-there doesn't seem to be anyone around." a bodiless voice, muffled yet familiar, began to sing along as the shadows moved out from under the chairs. "I think we're alone now. The beating of our hearts is the only sound."

Daniel smiled as the shadows began to ripple and bulge from the floor, coalescing into the welcome sight of Eleanor and Ryoji.

Daniel heaved a sigh of relief. "Well, I hate to drag you from what you were doing, but I can't say that you aren't a sight for sore eyes."

"This is what we were doing, Daniel." Eleanor replied as she advanced towards him, her Grip fashioned into a small knife as she cut at his restraints. "You didn't think that we'd just let you barge in to try and save the Children on your own, did you?"

As Daniel stood, rubbing at his wrists, Kaji nodded to the Expression Inhibitor that he wore. "What's that? Something to stop you from Interfacing?"

A somewhat shocked expression appeared on Eleanor's face as she noticed the collar as well. "In essence, yes. These Inhibitors come in a lot of forms, but they're all used to contain captured Interfacers. Someone was ready for you."

"They were ready for the kids, too." Daniel said, a hard look in his eyes. "How long have you been here?"

"About 30 minutes, most of it spent looking around this place." Ryoji replied. "There are about 45 or so people here, mostly armed with pistols and rifles, a few submachine guns scattered around. In the middle of it all, what we're presuming is the cloaking device and the kids are right next to each other."

Daniel nodded slowly. "Well, I can tell you where they got the Inhibitors, the cloaking device, the Expression rounds used to knock us out, all of it. It's Vinis. He has a vendetta against me based on my actions while I was the Hollow Saint."

A quiet gasp went up between the two of them. Ryoji shook his head. "And all this cloak and dagger nonsense to get at you when he could have just come and decked you in the face." he chuckled grimly.

"It's a very salarian form of warfare." Daniel replied as he put his nano-cuffs back on. "No statement of intent, no obvious movements. A lot of intelligence gathering, followed by a quick, easy defeat of an unprepared enemy." Daniel shook his head. "And he pulled it off masterfully."

After a moment's rumination, Daniel looked at the other two with determination in his eyes. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well," Ryoji said with a slight shrug, "I was going to get you and the kids out of here with my shadow running, get those collars off, and then we'd move on from there."

Daniel nodded. "Alright. However…"

It was quiet for a moment. "We need to make sure they can't do this again. If they can pull this off, even with needing Vinis's support, they can do it again now that they have the resources on hand. We need to deal with them, here and now. So while the end goal stays mostly the same, we can't just sneak out and leave these kids behind to wreak more havoc."

"So, with that in mind," Eleanor said after a moment, "how does the plan change?"

"Well…" Daniel began as he crossed his arms in an x, the cuffs touching and beeping for a moment before he brought the arms to his chest, activating the armor as it spread over him. "It gets just a little bit louder."

- - -

Misato's Apartment

Captain Maya Ibuki of HERZ watched as the people around her, now seemingly armed to the teeth, with either regular guns or Grips in the form of pistols and rifles, and couldn't help but look down at her own Grip, still in its base form, and feel… nauseous.

It brought back memories that weren't even hers, of the last stand that would have happened a city away, if it even still existed. Of all the people that she knew and worked with dead because of the machinations of SEELE. But most of all… of the terrifying prospect of having to take someone's life, and watch it with her own eyes. Not just an Angel from behind a screen that had to be stopped so that the world might be saved, but another thinking, feeling human being that would give her no choice in the matter.

She wanted to hide. To curl up and wait for the fighting to be over so that she couldn't see the blood and brains and viscera that would paint the walls of the hotel hallway like a horror film. She could do it, even. Say that she would protect the kids in case the special forces, somehow, broke through her friend's defenses.

Then, she saw a familiar body move into view, felt a familiar hand on her shoulder. She looked up. And she saw the patient eyes of Ritsuko Akagi looking back at her.

"Is it what I think it is, Kouhai?" she asked softly.

Maya nodded wordlessly.

"It's okay. I understand." Ritsuko continued. "This is… frankly the last thing I want to do. But we can make a difference. Make sure that the kids here stay safe." she looked over at the bedroom that hid the children in it. "Make sure that Kyu is safe."

"I know." Maya said dejectedly. "But… what if it comes to that? What if I have to pull the trigger? I haven't shot a human being before. I've only ever shot at paper targets."

"Then do it with the assurance that you'll only do it when it's necessary." Ritsuko paused for a moment. "You're such a gentle soul." she said quietly. "That's… part of why I love you. You have such a big heart. But for what comes next… you'll have to shield it. In order to do what has to be done. I hate that I have to say that, but in order for you to protect them… you're going to receive wounds that might never heal fully. But I'll be there for you. Just like you've been there for me. I promise."

Maya looked into those eyes silently for a moment. Then she sighed quietly and nodded. "Okay. I'll… I'll do my best."

Ritsuko stole a quick glance over her shoulder, then gave Maya a quick kiss. "You always have."

As Ritsuko walked away, she looked down at the Grip in her hand again. The hazy, frosted glass held behind it a stream of prismatic, flowing letters, numbers, and figures. Data was her Aspect Core, that thing she seems to understand intrinsically and could manipulate. Offhandedly, she remembered wondering at how data could be construed as a physical thing for an Aspect Core to be based on, as it was simply information codified into programming. Eleanor had clarified that anything in the Physical Realm that could be deeply understood, even if it was only tangentially connected like data was, could be an Aspect, rare as it was to have it be one's first. And with the power of the soul, the digital could become physical and vice versa. After all, she mused for a moment, one had only to look at Mrs. Akagi for living proof.

And now, as the frosted glass flowed into the shape of a compact pistol, the data changed, lines of code in a dozen different programming languages streaming through, bits and pieces looking like equations for material strength, velocity, and explosive pressure.

She took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was to come. 'I can do this. I can protect them. I will protect them.'

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 29: Raindrops Like Bullets, Bullets Like Raindrops

And if, and it is only if, we decide to come closer to the League and the rest of Reality after we have sorted out our affairs, it will be as equals, not as those indebted to them…

- To Stand Apart, Final Post

Classified Gathering Location, Tokyo-2, 2052 Hours

First Lieutenant Naruhito Moto took a deep breath as he stuck the 'POLICE' velcro sticker to his plate carrier. He was, unfortunately, in his element as he checked his Howa 89 with practiced ease, slinging it over his shoulder as he holstered an H&K USP. Both were loaded with specially issued rounds, the bullets a bright red. What they were, he was unsure, but that was what they'd been given.

They'd finally found the Pilots earlier in the day, gathering their forces under the command of a UN military commander out from Australia. Now, as the sun slipped below the horizon, and day became night, 3 dozen special operators, disguised as a unit of the Tokyo-2 Special Assault Team, moved out.

He looked down and to the side, towards the hand radio that rested on his left collarbone. Glancing around to ensure no one was watching him closely in the dark confines of the van, he fiddled the channel on the radio to 36.8, clicking the button quickly three times, then holding for five seconds before releasing.

"Why are you fiddling with your radio?" the man next to him said quietly.

"Making sure it's real. I've been dealt dummy radios in these sorts of ops before." Moto replied in a tone that said he'd learned the fact the hard way.

The man next to him regarded him for a moment, then shrugged. "Don't know why you'd care, but okay." he said before looking down at a pistol he holstered a moment later.

Moto nodded, but inside he was somewhat relieved. He'd held up his end of the bargain. He'd let them know they were coming. Now, they just had to hold up theirs.

They arrived at the hotel only 20 minutes or so later, the SFG portion of the group filing out and marching into the building first.

The lobby was empty, and a receptionist looked up only as they came to a stop at the front desk, her eyes widening at the sight of the men before her.

"We've been called here by a bomb threat made by someone on one of the higher floors." one of the men said. "We'll need this hotel cleared of all staff quickly and quietly, so as to not alert the terrorists making the threat."

The receptionist nodded, standing and hurrying towards a door, probably to get a manager of some sort.

Their squad leader, Colonel Tanaka, turned to regard them. "Alright. Kuroki, Morikawa, take the Brazilian and Somali squads to the far end of the hall, take the stairs up there. Moto, Shinoda, I'm trusting you two to act as the breachers and lead the Nordic and Filipino squads through the elevators close to here. Go get ready, and wait for my signal. I'll join Kuroki and Morikawa, and Kanzaki will join Moto and Shinoda."

Moto nodded, as the rest of the special forces, dressed in masks and goggles to hide their rather un-Japanese origins, began to file in as well. He took his assigned units, taking the dozen or so men to the elevators.

"Alright." he said in English. "8 to one, 7 to another when the signal comes. Got it?"

The men behind him nodded silently. He nodded in turn.

As they waited for the signal, the elevator dinged from time to time, disgorging fearful employees in small groups that hurried past them, out into the parking lot. This continued for several minutes, the groups becoming individuals, then moments passed as the elevators and halls were silent, save for the rustling of armored men and the clacking of weapons and small-scale ordinance.

Soon, though, Captain Kanzaki stepped into view. "Alright. Let's go." he said, as Moto and Shinoda pressed the buttons on the lifts, the doors opening with a quiet ding.

Moto made his way in first, Kanzaki and the 6 Nordic Atypical Warfare Specialists squeezing in as the doors closed and one of them keyed the 6th floor.

It was silent as the car rose, leaving Moto alone with his thoughts for the moment. His mind whirled with the possible tactical situation he would walk into. Price and his men were special forces, there was no doubt about it. Misato Katsuragi herself was former SFG. The moment the doors opened held, in and of itself, an almost dizzying number of possibilities. And that was without what seemed like Katsuragi's ice… magic… thing. That represented a whole new dimension to combat. A part of him was almost… excited to see what they came up with.

Then, he jumped slightly as the doors clattered open with a soft ding, and the temperature plunged by several degrees, he began to shiver slightly. Oh yeah. This was going to be… different.

- - -

Kishimiya Warehouse, 2130 Hours

Daniel watched as Eleanor and Ryoji returned to the shadows, slipping under the door as he went over the plan one last time in his head. Ryoji would go and get the kids out of the warehouse (at the very least), Eleanor would go and shut down the cloaking device at the source. They had called Rastaff and explained the situation, and he, and his Warrior Caste retainers, would swoop in the moment they could and force a surrender, with as few mortalities as could be helped.

And to enable this all, he was to be the big, nearly indestructible distraction.

Even with the desire to keep the body count low, his hand still twitched without his magnetic accelerator rifle in it. Going in without a weapon was going to make drawing attention difficult. He needed to be loud and distinct. However…

He pulled up the music player app from his clear-pad, linking it to the speaker system of the armor. He had no dearth of choices, but he had to be quick. They were waiting on his signal, after all.

So, he made his choice, humming along with Michael Bublé as he slowly turned up the volume on the speaker system.

The guards outside the door had to be getting curious, he thought, as he put himself against the wall next to the doorknob. As he did, he sang quietly along to the song.

"It's a new dawn. It's a new day. It's a new life… for me… and I'm feeling… good."

And as the band came in, he kicked open the door, cranking his music as he turned the corner and smacked aside the pistol in one of his guard's hands, a punch sending him stumbling back as he fell to the ground unconscious.

He felt the pattering of bullets on his back like a sheet of hail on his back, pushing him forward a step before he turned to face the frankly terrified young man with an Uzi in his hand. Daniel stepped forward, swiping the gun from the man's hands and throwing it aside as he grabbed the man and put himself between him and the number of bullets that now slammed into his back.

As they splattered harmlessly off him, he walked the young man over to the room, shoving him in and sending him tumbling to the floor. Without a word, he pointed down emphatically at the floor before the man as he struggled to get up. Though he said nothing, the message was clear. Stay here. The man nodded, and Daniel turned to the railing, facing the weight of fire still on him as he hopped onto the railing and dropped down to the floor, walking towards the nearest group of frightened assailants.

This, he surmised, was probably a decent enough distraction.

- - -

Moto's eyes widened as he stepped into the hallway. It was more like a cave system than anything resembling architecture at this point, sharp spikes of rock and ice making their way to a wall with a thin gap in the center, covered in spikes and firing slits. Firing slits that began to bark with gunfire.

"Get to cover! Now!" Moto shouted, turning to a door frosted over and shooting near the doorknob, blowing the mechanism apart as he shouldered the door open and pressed his back to the coat closet near the door, peeking around the corner every so often.

How were they going to beat this? They'd made the corridor even more of a kill zone than it already was under even the most mundane of circumstances. Pushing up, or even trying to, was almost suicidal.

There was no victory for them here, he realized. There could only be survival. Survival for Yuuto.

Moto took a deep breath, then looked across the hallway. One of the AWS members was already on the ground dead. The others had followed his lead, breaking into apartments that were blessedly empty, one AWS tending to another who had been clipped by a projectile in the arm, which was now beginning to slowly encase it in ice. "Hey!" he shouted, gaining the attention of the AWS's. He motioned towards the door ahead of him. "I'll open, you duck in! Got it?"

After a moment, the man nodded, and Moto aimed at the door, squeezing off a few shots until the door opened slightly. "Go!"

The man did one last check on his squadmate, then dashed as best he could from one doorway to another, slipping on a patch of ice and taking a tumble into the doorway. Moto grimaced as the man made his way back to his feet, then nodded up the hallway. "Alright! Now do it for me!"

The man nodded, aiming at the door across from him, when a small object came zooming into view. Almost on instinct, Moto slammed into the closet beside him, squeezing in as he felt a gale of chilling, biting wind blow past him.

As the wind died down, he spared a glance back out of the doorway, his eyes widening at the sight of the AWS soldier, a sheet of ice covering his entire front, acting like a subtle funhouse mirror that warped his features, still capturing the look of utter shock on his face nearly perfectly.

Moto's eyes went wide as someone tumbled into his doorway. He looked down to find First Lieutenant Shinoda scrambling to his feet. "Moto…" he said between deep breaths that misted the air around them, his helmet and mask off. "What the fuck is going on?"

Moto shook his head. "We must have stepped into hell frozen over. It's the only explanation." he said numbly.

"What do we do, then?"

It was silent between the two for a moment, save for the chatter of gunfire and other, stranger projectiles outside the door. Then, Moto shook his head.

"We're outmatched here." he said. "There's no way we'll be able to complete the mission like this."

Shinoda's eyes grew wide as he grabbed Moto's place carrier. "No. No! There has to be. There has to be! I can't let Tomiko and Haruka die. Not because I can't do this."

"Then let's find some way to resolve this without dying first. Then we can worry about the people we love." he paused. "I got captured before this mission started. The people we're fighting are able to get the people watching our families off them, give them time to get out. We just have to give ourselves up to them."

Shinoda stared at him disbelievingly for a long moment. "Okay." he finally said, seeming to deflate. "How… how do we do that?"

"I've got a general idea."

- - -

Ryoji emerged from the shadows in the closed-off improvised room that held the Children's gurneys, tilting his head back a moment to listen to what he presumed was Daniel's distraction. 'Not really my tempo, but if it works, it works, I guess.'

He turned his focus back to the Children, lined up and seeming to all the world to be peacefully sleeping. Making his way over to Asuka's side, he carefully extracted the IV tube from her arm, healing the opening with a brush of his thumb and some applied Interfacing. He connected to her soul as he put a hand on her forehead, gradually dissolving the remaining sedative in her system and waking her up.

As her eyes fluttered open, he put a finger to his mouth, and he took a step back as she shook her head. "What's going on?" she said quietly as she looked around. "Who is playing Michael Bublè? And what is this around my throat?"

"A lot, Daniel, and something to block your Interfacing." Ryoji replied as he moved on to Hikari. "Right now, my focus is on getting you kids out of here while Daniel and Eleanor deal with the Lone World goons."

"The Lone World?" Asuka said incredulously as she hopped down from her gurney, making her way to Shinji's side. "They had more balls than I thought, it looks like."

"That's one way to put it." Ryoji replied offhandedly as he helped Hikari off her gurney. "Ms. Horaki," he said to her, "I'm sad to say that your Mending can't help us out right now, due to what's around your neck, but you and Asuka keep an eye out if someone tries to get in. If they do… pin them down so I can stop them."

The very real implication of what he asked them to do was shared in the glance the two girls shared as they walked to either side of the curtain that made up the entrance to the room. They glanced back at Ryoji as he continued waking up the others, cringing back slightly as they heard the gunshots and the shouts, and knew they could do nothing about it.

In time, all the kids were standing, clustered around each other silently as Ryoji put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "Alright, kiddos. Welcome to the Shadow Express. Next destination, out of here."

With that, their forms plunged into uniform darkness, and they flattened out into a massive, dark circle on the floor that slid out from under the curtain, towards the door and freedom.

. . .

The next wall over, Eleanor leaned over the stout grey and black table-sized slab that was the Pneumaic cloaking device. It was a simple machine, really, with an interface panel that was easy to read, and easy to use to shut the machine down. But she wanted to ensure that it couldn't be turned back on again. A far more delicate and tricky operation, if they wished to preserve it as evidence as they did.

Her Sight tapping into her Mechanical Aspect, she peered at the faintly glowing diagram of the machine, removing a panel and reaching in to fiddle with the power systems.

"Don't move."

Eleanor stood slowly, raising her hands as she turned to see a young woman standing alone by the entrance, pointing an Uzi at her, the barrel trembling slightly. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but it can't be good. Now, don't move, or I call for help."

"Alright." Eleanor shrugged. "Don't know how much help you can get, what with my husband drawing everyone's attention."

The woman blinked. "Your husband?" she said incredulously.

As she spoke, Eleanor looked down at the gun, nodding as she studied its interior. There was the firing pin, and…

Eleanor sighed after a moment, dropping her hands as she stepped forward and put a hand on the gun. The woman's eyes widened as she pulled the trigger, but there was nothing but a hollow click. She tried to pull it again and again, but there was nothing.

As the woman looked back up at her, fear in her eyes, Eleanor shook her head as she gripped the gun. "It's hard to fire a bullet when a shell is blocking the firing pin, really. You're not going to do anything with this now. Can you please let go so no one gets shot?"

The woman released the gun, and Eleanor flipped it around, using her Interfacing to reset the firing pin and clear the shell away before releasing the magazine and clearing the chamber. She looked back up to the woman. "Look, I'm going to turn this thing off, and there are going to be a lot of soldiers coming in expecting a surrender. They don't want to kill you. They just want you to not kidnap people anymore. Got it?"

The woman nodded shakily. "Yeah. I'm in way over my head, anyway, you know? I didn't think we were going this far."

Eleanor smiled as she set the gun on the console and kneeled to examine the power systems again. "Good. There's hope for you yet. Stay here, stay silent. Got it?"

The woman probably nodded silently, which meant little to Eleanor as she began to pick apart the power system again.

- - -

Maya Ibuki huddled back against the barricade, her chest heaving as the others fired over her head. The noise would probably have made her deaf a while ago, but her Interfacing kept her eardrums whole, able to hear every shot, every shout and scream, and dying groan over the briefest pauses between the gunfire.

She'd done it. Not only had she done it, she'd made the first kill. The man falling down in the hallway replayed over and over again in her mind, the blood and brains flying out. It was a miracle she hadn't vomited. Why was that?

After some time, she felt a hand on her shoulder, looked up to see Captain Faez. "Get up." Faez said, pulling her to her feet. "Get inside. No need to be in danger if you can't defend yourself."

"I… I…" Maya couldn't find the words. Why couldn't she find the words?

She looked over her shoulder, back towards the man on the ground. And saw the two hands peeking out from one of the doors. "Someone's surrendering." she muttered.

Faez peeked out from around her, then looked to Misato and said something as Maya watched the man emerge, followed by another. Both were Japanese, moving slowly over the slick ice Misato had coated the floor with, their hands up and their faces filled with horror and confusion. Were they really scared like she was? Why? They were special forces soldiers, weren't they?

Her gaze flicked at movement behind them, and Maya saw the soldier stepping out, leveling his rifle. Leveling it at the soldier's backs. And in an instant, her body made a decision before her mind fully caught up.

Her hand rose, her finger twitched, and a bullet-sized packet of data detailing the equations that made up an armor-piercing depleted uranium round ripped into the skull of the soldier behind the surrendering men, sending him slamming into the door frame and onto the ground.

The men looked behind for the briefest of seconds, then looked back to Maya as she waved a hand towards her. "Come on! Hurry!"

The men began to move faster, staying low as Faez and Misato provided covering fire over their heads. Soon enough, they were behind the barricade, Mr. Marlowe stepping forward and pointing his gun at the men. As he studied them, his eyes widened. "Moto?" he shook his head. "Get in here. Now!"

He grabbed them both, roughly throwing the men into the hotel room as he motioned for the people behind the barricade to stop firing.

After a moment, the fire from the other side slackened and then stopped. At that moment, Marlowe decided to speak. "Alright! Two of your men had the brains to surrender! You can't win this, and you should know that by now! Drop your weapons, and we'll help those who need it!"

It was quiet for a moment, then Maya watched as a few more men began to throw down their weapons, one man emerging from the side the two others had emerged from, and three on the other side of the hall.

As they advanced, Misato threw up a wall of ice behind the furthest away man that walked towards them, cutting him off from any fire from behind as Faez and her covered the man approaching from their side.

The men slowly made their way towards them, their hands up, and their expressions holding the same anxiety, fear, and uncertainty the two men before them had as well. As Mr. Marlowe and the man he'd introduced as 'Soap' began to disarm the incoming Japanese soldiers, Misato lowered the wall of ice, and Marlowe spoke up again. "Alright! Anyone else want to take our offer?"

Their answer came in the form of a grenade, a tubular flashbang, clattering into the gap, a ripple of shock exploding from the sight before any blast wave from the explosive. Then, things happened very quickly.

The men being disarmed by the two Blackadder men shoved their way into the hotel room, while Faez's superhuman reflexes allowed her to kick the grenade back out into the hallway, ducking back into cover as it went off with a blinding light and a deafening bang.

Maya made her way into the hotel room as the shooting started again, Soap taking her place as her hearing recovered enough to hear Marlowe mutter. "And things were starting to look up, too."

She entered the room, Ritsuko, having made her way to the first two men, looking up at her as she joined her girlfriend's side. "Maya…" she said quietly. "Are you okay?"

Maya was quiet for a moment, then shook her head. "No. But they'll need to be okay. Making sure of that will probably help things." she began to perform triage, just as Roach had taught her how to do, moving from one man to the next. There were few really worrying wounds, a few stray bullet holes for those who were not quick enough to avoid the initial barrage, cleaned and sealed with a moment's Interfacing.

As she finished her work, the man she had first seen surrendering tapped her shoulder. As she turned, she noted the look of cautious relief that filled his face. "You… you saved me. Thank you."

Maya looked at him for a moment. She'd saved him, yes. But she'd killed someone to do it. How was that right? How was any of this right?

She took a deep breath. "You're welcome." she finally said.

Before she could move on, the man spoke again. "Is… this your first time? In combat?" he asked quietly.

Maya looked back at him, then nodded silently.

"For what it's worth…" the man paused. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you." Maya replied after a moment more.

- - -

Daniel was having a decent go of it, all things considered. His combat armor would probably need a few hours to repair itself afterward, but he had not fallen. Not yet, anyway.

The men and women in front of him seemed content to continue to try and shoot at him, as if they would weigh him down and drown him with their weight of fire alone, backing away whenever he approached as if he were a wild animal. It worked. To an extent. But they would run out of bullets long before his armor grew thin and broke.

And run out it seemed they would, as the rate of fire began to slacken, and they began to back up more and more. Away from the kids and Eleanor. If only he had his link to their souls. He'd know. 'Anytime now…'

As he continued to advance, in the blink of an eye, they were surrounded by men, tall and in black and white and blue armor, their helmets, faceplates really, not entirely covering up their instantly recognizable bone crests.

"Surender now!" One of them shouted, their also familiar voice amplified by a built-in speaker system. "We do not wish to harm you, but we will protect ourselves."

The men and women who had been shooting at him only moments before wheeled back to face this new threat. And the rifles that they carried with them.

It was a tense moment, seeming to threaten to spill back into violence at any moment. Then, the clatter of a weapon hitting the floor gently, followed by more as the 2 dozen or so left still conscious began to put down their guns.

As the Warrior Caste members began to gather them and their weapons, one, with a little more blue on his armor, walked over towards Daniel. "So," Rastaff said, a serious edge to his voice, "you claim this is Vinis' doing?"

"I do." Daniel nodded. "Search my soul if you wish. I talked with him… not much more than an hour ago."

He couldn't feel the touch of Rastaff's soul, but he was sure of what happened after he shook his head. "I needed to be sure. Blast and damnation. I've trusted that man for the better part of a decade on my staff. And…"

He looked at Daniel, and he could feel Rastaff's eyes nearly pinning him where he stood, Interfacing or no. "We remember you as well. We found records of your dealings with the Shadows, long after the war. Far quieter than what it seems Mr. Vinis experienced."

He paused for a moment. "But I also saw what else there was. The pain. The sorrow. The parts that Mr. Vinis ignored, it seems. I… I am sorry, for what it's worth."

"Don't be." Daniel replied wearily. "That was a different man. It has to be, for the sake of my sanity."

Before Rastaff could continue, there was a quiet buzz, and one of the Lone Worlders slumped to the floor, a slightly smoking hole in their back. They were quickly followed by more hollow cracks, more Lone Worlders dying, Minbari warriors knocked to the ground before the Minbari began to return fire.

The Lone Worlders scattered as Daniel turned to face the catwalk of the offices, his accelerator rifle appearing in his hands as his helmet scanned through spectrums. Finally, the blurry outlines of electromagnetic ghosts flashed into his vision as the first one fell to Minbarri fire, the cloaking device revealing a salarian soldier. "They're visible on the EM spectrum!" he shouted as he sighted one of the salarians, a pull of the trigger sending a burst of rounds slamming into the soldier, pushing him to the ground as the rounds chewed through him.

It was a quick firefight, done in seconds, no more than minutes. The salarians might have had the element of surprise, but half a dozen couldn't stand against 30 Minbari warriors for very long.

As the rounds stopped flying and the warehouse became silent again, Daniel approached one of the salarian soldiers, slightly smoking on the ground, his helmet disappearing as he looked at it with his own eyes. 'What a waste.'

He flinched slightly as he felt a hand on his shoulder, looking over as he saw Eleanor, in her own armor. Had she joined the fight? She must have.

"Are you alright?" she asked quietly, as the Minbari began to gather the dead and the city's law enforcement finally arrived.

"Yeah." he said, taking a deep breath. "I should have seen this coming."

"Yet, here we are." Eleanor replied. "Having done the best we can. You've done the best you can. Now we have to move on. Make sure the Children are okay, and get these damned collars off of all of you."

Daniel nodded. "Alright. Let's go."

They brushed past the rather heavily armed police officers, out to the line of police cars, lights flashing. About 5 or so meters from the entrance, the Children stood huddled together near Ryoji as he talked to a police officer. As they walked toward the group, Asuka noticed them, turning and running the rest of the way as Daniel's armor disappeared and they embraced.

"You idiot. You complete and utter idiot." Asuka said, her voice muffled as her face was pressed into Daniel's shoulders. She looked at him after a moment. "Ryoji told us what you did. How you got captured walking in to ransom us."

She punched him in the shoulder. "Now look at you. Shot up and with this stupid Expression Inhibitor thing around your neck, same as us." she shook her head. "You must be nuts. Especially if your plan was really 'I'm going to play Michael Bublè so that I draw all the fire'." she made a somewhat mocking impersonation of Daniel as she spoke the last sentence.

"Yeah. Kind of." Daniel replied with a slight smile. "But it's the reason we're all safe."

Asuka smiled after a moment. "Yeah. I guess."

Daniel stepped back from the embrace, walking over to the other children. "And how are you all doing?"

The chorus of "Okay" and "Alright" was broken by Kaworu, who had an odd look in his eyes. As he continued to stay silent, all eyes turned to him as Daniel gently parted the group to stand before Kaworu. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

Kaworu looked up at Daniel with a small, somewhat uncertain smile. "It seems… I have dreamed a dream. Or in other words, I have seen another vision. Of the other world I've been seeing. Or at least… something like it."

- - -

United Nation Armed Response Forces Major Terrence Howard walked up the steps slowly. There was no sound of gunfire. Not anymore. It had stopped almost an hour ago, now.

He stopped at the entrance to the sixth floor, looking down at the man who lay dead in the doorway, his head a block of bloody ice. It was a hell of a taster for what was probably to come. He gripped the pistol in his hand a little tighter. The bullets in it were Lance rounds, meant to penetrate AT Fields. Or, as it seemed, Interfacing. But the only bullet in the gun that had any chance of being used was already in the chamber, waiting for if he found…

No. He had to wait until then. To be sure when he pulled the trigger.

He stepped into the hallway. His immediate surroundings were more like what one might find in an arctic cave, rocky spikes and patches of ice surrounding him and the dead bodies he stood against. Further down the hall, things looked more… normal. The hallway looked like an actual hallway, and two women, NERV Commander Misato Katsuragi and Science Director Doctor Ritsuko Akagi, if his intel and his memory were right, were somehow clearing away the rocks and the ice.

As he walked forward, they noticed him, and… things, that were probably meant to be guns, appeared in their hands as they pointed them at him.

"Stop." Katsuragi said, and he obeyed. "Who are you?"

"Terrence Howard." he answered, a hollow tone in his voice.

Katsuragi blinked. "Major Terrence Howard?"

He nodded silently.

"Mana and Mayumi talked about you some." Doctor Akagi said.

His eyes widened. "Are… are they…" his voice failed as he looked around him, at the men strewn about the floor.

Misato shook her head slowly. "No. They're here with us. Alive. Safe."

Howard let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding as the gun slipped from his fingers and clattered onto a patch of ice, and he sank to his knees. "Thank god." he whispered, a tear streaming down his face. "Thank god."

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 30: Parting Clouds

… unified in purpose and in soul, perfected as much as we can be as a species, and ready to face the Reality that waits for us, to lead out into the darkness.

- To Stand Apart, Final Post

1227 Hasarigaru Hotel, September 18th, 2210 Hours

Daniel, Eleanor, Ryoji, and the Children, finally free of police questioning, trudged back into the elevator of their apartment, ready to collapse on their beds and be, at least somewhat, home.

Eleanor fiddled with the Expression Inhibitor around Kaworu's neck, slowly working her Frames into the jaws that clamped around a portion of his Frame. "And…" she said as she began to pry them apart. "Done." she said with a smile as the clasp undid itself, and the collar slid off Kaworu's neck. "That's it. You're all fully free again."

"And I, for one, am grateful for it." Toji said with no small amount of relief as the elevator dinged quietly. "I gotta admit, I was missing being… able to…"

As the doors opened, a far more gory sight revealed itself to them than they'd expected. Misato and a man with a submachine gun slung over his shoulder were picking up the body of what looked like an armored policeman, while Ritsuko cleared stone spikes from the floor, walls, and ceiling.

As Misato looked over at the elevator's opening, she dropped the body, the dead man thumping behind her as she took the Children into an almost crushing group hug. "You guys! You're safe! Thank god, I just… I need to be sure I'm not dreaming. This is going to take a moment."

She held them in the group hug for long, caring moments, not noticing as Ritsuko stuck a stealthy foot in the path of the elevator door with a bemused smile.

"It's good to see you again, Misato." Shinji said, his face buried into Misato for a moment before he looked back up at her. "What happened here? Why are there dead policemen?"

"They're not police, for one." the man behind Misato and Ritsuko said brusquely. "They were special forces. Sent to liquidate the Evangelion Pilots."

"SEELE." Asuka said with a quiet venom and a dirty look that all in the elevator shared.

She chuckled after a moment as the group emerged into the hallway. "Well, of all the things to happen tonight, I wouldn't have guessed that being kidnapped would be the safer option."

Shinji looked at Misato, worry evident in his eyes. "Was anyone hurt? Or…"

Misato's eyes widened. "No, no. Everyone's fine." she smirked slightly. "We even got a few people on their side to surrender. Mostly looks like it was the Japanese Special Forces Group that got sent our way, though. Everyone else, well…"

She gestured around the fairly clean hall as they walked down it. "They didn't make it out of here." she said quietly as they arrived at Misato's door.

She opened it, and as they entered the group of Children was greeted by the other group of Children, Mariah, Mana, Mayumi, Ichigo, and Kensuke rushing over to them with gratitude and relief evident on most of their faces.

"Oh, Pinnochio!" Mariah shouted as she squeezed his face before hugging him tightly. "You guys made it out!" she pulled back from the hug, looking over at Rei for a moment, then pulled her into a hug as well. "Wouldn't want you to get jealous, now, Mrs. Blue Sky."

Rei's shock at the hug turned into a slight smile. "It is good to see you too, Mari." she said quietly, returning the hug for a moment.

As they moved into the living room, Kensuke looked between Toji and Hikari. "So, how are you guys feeling?" he said, no small amount of concern still evident in his voice. "They didn't… do anything to you guys, did they?"

Hikari shook her head. "No, they didn't, thankfully. They just knocked us all out until Mr. Kaji woke us up."

"And besides," Toji chuckled, "if something did happen, I don't think Hikari would have let it be an issue for long, Interfacing or not."

Finally, the parents began to emerge, Yui and Gendo enveloping Shinji while Kyoko embraced Asuka. They all stood there for long, silent moments as the groups began to intermingle more.

Rei came to a stop before Kyu, looking up at her hair for a moment before looking at her intently. "And do you have a new name to go with your new hair color?" she asked.

A slight smile came to Kyu's face as she extended a hand. "Kyu Akagi."

Rei took the hand as she smiled slightly herself. "A pleasure to meet you. Surprising, that Doctor Akagi would let you take her name, let you become her daughter, in a sense."

"I think it will do her some good."

Rei's smile widened slightly. "I do as well."

. . .

Soon enough, the happy reunion settled down into a sense of contemplative gratitude, and Shinji looked over at Misato from a chair as she sat on the couch after a while's quiet conversation, having filled in what had happened tonight for the most part. "Misato. There was something we wanted to tell you before the whole kidnapping thing."

Misato looked over at him with an arched eyebrow. "Oh? And what is that?"

Shinji took a deep breath before he nodded slightly. "We'll do it. We'll pilot the Frame Titans. If we can do it together."

Misato's eyes, along with everyone else's in the room, widened slightly. "And… you're absolutely sure of this?" she asked quietly. "The last thing I want to do to you kids is make you feel like you don't have a choice."

"No, Misato." Asuka interjected. "We all made this choice together. Getting kidnapped didn't change our minds a bit. And if you try to stop us…"

She trailed off warningly, and Misato chuckled. "Far be it from me to try and stop you when you've decided something, Asuka. I should know better than that."

Asuka nodded assuredly as she leaned back in her seat. "There is one thing we want, though."

Misato nodded silently for her to go on. "We want our old Unit designations back. Simple, really, but why not, for old times sake?"

Misato smiled slightly. "Done. It'll be a little tough to have Rei pilot Unit-00 again, though."

Rei shrugged. "I will pilot Unit-05, while Kaworu will pilot Unit-06. At least, I believe that was the agreement we came to in the moments before we were taken."

"Now, hold on!" Mariah said, leaning forward. "What about us? I still want a rematch with the princess here, and…" she trailed off, oddly contemplative for a moment. "Well, piloting is my life. It's the thing I know I'm the best at. I know mom's going to be out of my Unit-05. But… maybe you could spare one of those fancy new Evas for me?"

She looked at her father apologetically. "If you'll still allow me to?"

Julius Marlowe sighed after a moment. "I'd tell you it's stupid and dangerous… but you already knew that. You've trained to prepare for that sort of nonsense. And…"

He looked around the room. "I get the feeling I can trust these people to keep you safe. Alright then. I'll allow it."

It was silent again for a moment as Misato looked at Mana and Mayumi. "Would either of you want to pilot as well? I know we're still in the process of putting things together so we can scope out and extract the souls in your Evas, but if you'd like to stay by Mari's side, then…"

Mayumi nodded slightly. "I… would have to think about it more. I'm not bad at it, yes, but…" she sighed quietly and shook her head. "I'll have to think about it."

Mana shrugged. "If Major Howard permits it, I see no reason why I should not." she said simply.

"Alright, then." Misato said. It was quiet for a moment more. "Anything else we need to be filled in on? Shocking revelations? Uncovered scandals that we haven't heard about yet?"

Daniel and Kaworu looked at each other, the other Children looking expectantly at Kaworu and drawing all other eyes to him. "Alright," Daniel said quietly, "do you want to share now?"

Kaworu nodded. "While I was unconscious, something happened. I had a vision of another world." he glanced around the room at many of the adults, at the Ikari's and Mr. Marlowe in particular. "For those of you unaware, due to the Angelic nature of my soul, I am able to see my interactions on other worlds, other Echoes. One of these Echoes has stood out recently in my visions, clearer than the rest. And now… another world has revealed itself to me. Something that might explain how a portion of them work."

"A Rebuild Echo?" Ritsuko asked, glancing at Daniel. "Is that what they are?"

Daniel nodded, and Misato shrugged. "Alright. So he can see other versions of himself. It's not the weirdest thing we've seen of the Angelic powers. Why should it matter to us?"

Daniel sighed quietly as he looked at Misato. "Christmas Eve, last year."

Misato blinked. "The first Revenant attack?" she asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"Yeah. When I took the Revenant Prime's Spirit core and used it to access Aaminata's soul, their master's soul, I got a whole lot more than just the plans to try and harness Arael's light. I got… everything. I've tried to forget most of it, the details of a life hard-lived, but I also got many of their little revival's plans. They included a fallback position, a place where they could start again." Daniel paused. "Across the Divide."

"Divide?" Yui piped up. "What kind of divide?"

"Well, at some point in time," Daniel explained, "this Echo's World Engine was… fractured, somehow. It was long before the Unity War, even before I stepped into the Worldsea, so it's always been somewhat of a mystery as to how it happened. One side's Echoes are like this one, with the television series based on events here. Those on the other side of the Divide are the basis of events for a theatrical retelling of the series, produced years later by the same director, known as either the Rebuilds or the New Theatrical Release."

He glanced over at Julius Marlowe, who had a somewhat hollow look in his eyes. "I apologize if most of this is going over your head."

Julius blinked back into focus, then shrugged. "Eh. I've received more cryptic mission briefings in my time. Carry on."

Daniel shrugged in turn. "So, and I'll admit it, the mechanics for how those worlds work is a mystery to me, and many others. And I watched all of the Rebuilds. But…" he looked at Kaworu. "The vision he mentions might enlighten us. Some more fully, others for the first time."

"I wanted to wait to share this vision until I could be sure we all could see it. Because…" his expression changed, and there were looks of concern on the other's faces as he seemed visibly shaken. "I don't think I can go through this again alone."

Rei grabbed Kaworu's hand, squeezing gently. "We'll be there for you."

Kaworu took a deep breath, then looked around the room. "You are all free to look in if you would like."

Julius shrugged as he stood. "I'll pass on this little vision quest. I'm going to go peek in on our SFG men that we've got a few rooms over. Have fun. I guess."

With that, he left the room, and Kaworu looked around to see who would stay. The other Children, the Theisman's, the Ikari's, Misato and Mr. Kaji, Doctor Akagi and Captain Ibuki, Mrs. Akagi, Mrs. Soryu, Kensuke, Mari, Mana, and Mayumi. It was… a lot of people to show this… thing he had witnessed. He glanced over at Shinji in particular. What would he think? Would he be…

No. Now wasn't the time to worry about that. What would happen would happen. Shinji would understand. He always seemed to, even under some of the most pressing of circumstances.

Daniel put a hand on his shoulder as he connected their souls. "Alright, folks… here we go."

With that, Kaworu connected to the others, and the world faded into darkness for a moment. Then, the vision began again.

- - -

Kaworu descended into Terminal Dogma, once again. It had become a familiar pattern, really. Many, many times before, it had ended with his death. He had long ago lost count of how many times that had happened by now. He had found, somewhat early on after his first such death, that he could usurp the power of his brother and sister Angels from his Father. It was a… fascinating thing. Almost as fascinating as he was.

So he lashed their souls to his, channeled the power of his own soul, and began the universe again.

At first, he had taken delicate care to set things back to the way they were, almost exactly to what they had been. It had still ended as it had before. With his death by his hands.

So he began again. Then again. Then again. Soon, he began to let certain things change. Sometimes there was only one Father, sometimes many. Sometimes, his brothers and sisters would change as well, some being new souls to be added to his own power.

Sometimes, what they were called by the people that defended against them changed. Sometimes, those people he had found unimportant to his goals, he allowed them to change as well, their names, their faces, their stories. Some, though, must be preserved. At least in some capacity. Those that were vital to preparing him for his coming. For their partnership. And sometimes, many times, for his death.

But some things never changed. There was always Father and the Mother. There were always his brothers and sisters. There were always the Lilim's artificially created shells. The struggle to defeat his brothers and sisters with them.

And there was always… him.

He looked to his left, and he saw Shinji Ikari.

Even still, he was utterly fascinated by him. He wanted to know. How, after all this time, after all that had come before, after all that weighed down on his fragile Lilim heart, he still managed to be… him.

It had driven Tabris to the point of obsession. He had to find out how it worked, how he worked, how he had managed that first time to show him what he had. How he had shown it again and again and again and again, regardless of what the world around him looked like, or what it and the people within it did to him.

He'd gotten far, a few times. Even lived long enough in some lives to stay with Kaworu. But Shinji had always moved on. Always found something, someone, else. This… Tabris did not know how to describe what such a thing did to him. It was worse than dying, even. So, as always, he had started again.

Even with the changes that had occurred, and there were many changes from the initial scenario that had begun this quest, some patterns emerged. For one, a particular series of events had presented themselves more than once. Which was what led him to descend into Terminal Dogma with Shinji Ikari by his side, a copy of the one called Rei Ayanami behind them.

Another such trend was that, as time went on, the tones of the aspects of the world, from his brothers and sister's names, to the names of the Evangelion, always the Evangelion, became more and more musically inclined. Which was how they descended in the Evangelion Concerto, Ayanami piloting the Threnody.

Before them, slumped over dead, was Lilith, the Spear of Cassius and the Spear of Longinus embedded within her. Always, she was Lilith, wasn't she? Another thing that never changed.

He was familiar, now, with the course of events that came next. The realization of the twin Spear's true nature. The dramatic entrance of Evangelions Adagio and Vivace, piloted by Langley and Makinami. Though one of his brothers was, at times, here, this time he was absent. There were only the two Spears, and the need to stop Shinji from foolishly using them. It would be wasteful to have to potentially start all over again, as he had often done from this point.

He warned him off, told him not to use the Spears, for fear of starting another Impact. But Shinji Ikari's rage, his desire to set things right again, would drive him on, regardless. And the Concerto rose into the air, and the Fourth Impact began.

Most times, he would be dead. Now was a rare exception. But as he looked to his left, saw Shinji Ikari tapping into the powers of his soul with no restraint, he saw something… flicker in his eyes.

"Shinji?" he asked, and he looked over. There was something growing like an unkept flame in those eyes of Shinji's…

Realization.

"Kaworu?" Shinji asked, utterly quietly. "What's going on? Why am I remembering things? Why do I remember you?"

This had never happened before. Not in hundreds of thousands of all too short lifetimes. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I… I remember what came before. What's been erased from existence. Who I was. Who everyone else was." Shinji replied, a slight shudder to his voice as fear, pure and utter terror, began to creep into his voice. "I know… it's been you, wiping things clean and starting things over."

"Shinji, I can explain." Kaworu said, but Shinji Ikari shook his head vigorously, trembling in complete panic.

"The memories. They won't stop. They keep coming. They won't stop! Why won't they stop? Why can't I stop them? Why? WHY?"

"Shinji, wait!"

"MAKE THEM STOP! MAKE THEM STOP, MAKE THEM STOP, MAKE THEM STOP! STOP! STOP!"

And Shinji's soul lashed itself to his, to thousands of his brothers and sisters. And pulled.

"MAKE THEM STOP MAKE THEM STOP MAKE THEM STO-"

Then, there was nothing. No Evangelion, no Terminal Dogma, no Black Sphere, no Earth, no… nothing.

There was only the utter void, and the Light that all things fell into. He could not see beyond that Light. And for the first time in what seemed like ever, Kaworu Nagisa, for there was no more Tabris anymore, felt… fear. A fraction of Shinji Ikari's fear that still overwhelmed him.

And as he reached the boundary of that Light, one last thought passed through his mind. 'What have I done?'

Then, there was truly nothing.

- - -

The apartment faded back into view, as did the somewhat stunned looks of all within the room. Kaworu looked around, saw Shinji looking back with sympathy in his eyes.

Kaworu looked away from him after a moment, then found himself surprised as he felt a firm hand on his shoulder.

He looked up again, found Shinji looking back at him. "It's okay, Kaworu. That's not you. I understand."

Kaworu chuckled softly. "How could I have guessed?"

Daniel's hand on his other shoulder patted it gently before he removed it, cupping his chin thoughtfully. "I see…"

"Okay, then." Toji said after a moment. "Can the rest of us get some enlightenment, then? Cause I only have the slightest idea of what was going on."

"Alright. Here's what I knew before this point." Daniel said. "Whatever happened to make the Rebuild Echoes the way they are, it messed with how time works in them. The closest I've come to call them is 'semi-closed time loops'. The same general events happen, but once it gets near the end of a loop, it doesn't fully restart. It does somewhat, but it continues on, gaining the possibility to change some elements, sometimes radically."

Mari raised her hand. "So, they're like… time slinkys?" she said, her words the only other sound besides the mad scribbling of Ritsuko and Maya on their notepads.

Daniel blinked, then chuckled softly. "Yes, actually. That's not a bad way to put it." he shook his head slightly before he continued. "Now, how this happened, or why, were mysteries for the most part where I came from. The only great hint that the Rebuilds gave us was that Kaworu Nagisa played a significant part in the process of looping time. This, though…"

"To say that this is revelatory would be understating it." Gendo mused.

"Indeed." Daniel paused for a moment before continuing. "This confirms that the looping is Kaworu's doing, and not only that, but at a certain point in time… it all collapses on itself. Somehow. It explains why there are far, far fewer Echoes across the Divide."

"So…" Hikari said quietly. "If the Scions are there, or at least in one of those Echoes, and the Echo will collapse, given enough time… why not just leave them to be… whatever happened to that Echo in the vision?"

It was quiet for a moment before Daniel continued. "You know, that option is more tempting than you might think. After all, even death doesn't fully stop someone who is Interfaced. But there are few places we can't come back from. The inside of a World Engine, which I'm thinking is what that light was, is one of them. But… we just don't know how fresh their Echo is, or how many loops it takes for an Echo to collapse. Or whether they'll accomplish what they're aiming for before that point. We'll still have to find them. And we'll still have to deal with them. Once this is all taken care of."

Those present nodded, and Daniel sighed quietly. "In the meantime, we should probably focus on SEELE again, now that all this nonsense with the Lone World has passed, at least for the moment."

He looked over at Misato. "Commander, what are your orders?"

Misato looked down thoughtfully, silent for a moment. "Well, we're going to need to get a track back on the members of SEELE. It's been annoying not knowing what they've been up to since they've vanished into thin air."

She looked over at Gendo. "Now that you're back, and seeing as you've been somewhat in their inner circle, we're going to be talking soon about where they might have disappeared to."

Gendo nodded. "I think I can offer at least a guess as to one location they might be moving towards."

Misato arched her eyebrow. "And where would that be?"

Gendo cupped his chin. "In one of my many meetings with SEELE in their guise as the Human Instrumentality Committee, they mentioned a location called Arqa."

"Arqa?" Naoko perked up. "I've seen mention of the place in the searches that I did while I was still in the Magi, but they were notoriously tight-lipped about… well, everything that had to do with it."

"Well, it's in the Himalayan mountain range. SEELE only truly began to uncover it less than a decade ago, but they found some… worrying things there. They found information on the soul, how it could be manipulated in what I am now rather sure is the beginnings of being Interfaced."

"And likely the basis, or at least a significant part, of the system that weed-whacked through the poor girl's minds." Ryoji said darkly.

"That is not even the most worrying part, Inspector." Gendo replied gravely. "They found something else there. Something that is supposed to be impossible. They found the remains of an ancient Angel, determined to have died of what they pronounced 'natural causes'."

A shocked gasp rippled through the room. "That… that is impossible." Ritsuko said numbly. "The fact that not only did an Angel that didn't try and make its way towards either Lilith or Adam existed, but that it lived, from what I can guess, in relative harmony with this lost civilization until a death that shouldn't even occur due to the nature of the S2​ Organ…"

She shook her head. "I'm almost tempted to try and see it myself." she chuckled.

Naoko shook her head. "I wouldn't try anyways, dear. There was one last thing, one last scrap of communication, that I was able to uncover after the Final Battle of Tokyo-3, just before most of SEELE's network that I knew about went dark."

"And what was that?" Misato asked.

It was silent again for a moment while Naoko closed her eyes, her brow slightly furrowed in recollection.

"The Final Scripture must be read. I shall meet you all in Arqa."

A tense air began to fill the room. "What does that mean, I wonder…" Kaworu mused.

"Nothing good, Kritzeln, that's for certain." Asuka replied. "And it likely has to do with whatever Angel corpse they've dredged up over there."

"Right now," Misato began, "what we'll have to do is find out what, exactly, 'the Final Scripture' is. We're still linking up with the Japanese intelligence network, and we'll likely need far more resources than that. Ryoji's handling that. We'll also likely need some digital help on that front as well."

She looked over at Naoko, Ritsuko and Maya. "Do you think we could get another Magi up and running soon?"

"Another Magi?" Naoko almost scoffed. "With the three of us working on it, and with the technology on hand, we can probably give you something better."

"We'll make it work." Ritsuko said. "Izalith will probably be delighted to help, as well, if she sticks around long enough."

"We'd appreciate their help in expanding the Matsushiro facilities, anyways." Misato said. "I'll talk to Izalith, see what I can get."

"In the meantime…" she sighed, a somewhat defeated look on her face. "We have to play the waiting game, with the Frame Plugs, the new HQ construction… just about everything, really."

She looked over at the Children with a slight smile. "But we'll have you in the saddle as soon as we can. And who knows…" she chuckled slightly. "With the sort of mission profiles that we'll likely be taking on as more and more nations get their own Frame Titans online, you kids might stay very busy."

"Well, it's better than just sitting around, at least." Toji shrugged. "Depending."

"We'll see what you think about training the next generation of pilots." Misato said. "That's probably what you'll be doing for the next little while, along with intercepting whatever might come tumbling out of Reality."

Toji considered this for a moment, then shrugged again. "Still probably going to be more fun than what we were doing during the Angel war."

A quiet chuckle rippled through the room, and after a few moments more of idle conversation, the group began to disperse.

As Misato walked out the door, she looked over at Julius Marlowe, conversing with Mariah. There was still something she wanted to ask him, she remembered, and made her way over to him.

The two Marlowe's looked up at her as she approached. "Oh, hello, Commander." Mari said, straightening to attention. "Do you need something?"

"Yes, actually." Misato replied. "I'd like to speak to your father about something, if you don't mind."

Mari shrugged. "Alright, then. I guess… you don't want me to be here?"

Misato shrugged. "You should be fine staying. It won't be long, and it's not a big secret."

Julius nodded. "Alright. What's the matter?"

"So," Misato began, "are you currently employed?"

Julius shook his head. "No. Just coasting on a rather generous pension." he smiled slightly after a moment. "You'd like to change that, wouldn't you?"

Misato smirked. "I mean, it's a hell of a resume you and your boys have. And I can hardly think of a better job interview than tracking your daughter halfway around the world, then standing up to several other special forces squads. I'd be more than happy to call you Head of Security."

Misato shrugged. "You'll also be able to keep an eye on your daughter, too. And seeing as you have at least a pretty decent grasp of Japanese, you'd be able to live here, at least."

Julius regarded Misato for a moment. Then, he nodded slowly. "Well… when you make so compelling an argument as that… I don't see why not."

Mariah looked from Misato to Julius, her eyes wide and utterly filled with joy. "You mean…"

She hugged her father tightly, then turned and hugged Misato. "This is awesome! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

She let Misato go, positively bouncing now. "I'm gonna go tell the others! This is so cool!"

With that, she sped past the two adults, barging into one of the hotels, then emerging a few moments later. "Wrong door!" the two of them caught before she ran across to the other room.

Julius chuckled softly at the sight. "So much like her mother when she's excited like that." he said quietly.

It was quiet again for a moment. "I can't believe I'll be seeing her again soon. It feels like… a dream. One I've been having ever since I found out the truth." he looked at Misato with no small amount of gratitude in that usually stern, seemingly immovable face. "Thank you for making that dream come true, impossible as it seemed."

Misato chuckled softly. "Don't worry about it. It's our little side hobby, next to keeping the world safe. And besides…"

She extended a hand. "Welcome to HERZ's Internal Security division. Major Marlowe."

Julius took it. "Pleasure. When do I start work?"

(A/N): Well, that wraps up this section of the story. Now, I'm going to be putting a pause on updates here for the moment to go and work on some hefty rewrites to the original Apotheosis Echo. We'll return to the story in the present as soon as they're done. Thank you for sticking around. The Final Scripture awaits...

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 31: Realignment

The Fatherland has little left to offer me, now. After the Great War's end, our country is in shambles, even as far up as the university. Though the volunteers I found in no short supply, desperate for any kind of well-paying work, that I managed to scrape together enough funding for an archeological expedition to the Judean Desert caves near the Dead Sea was a miracle. We leave soon. I feel… something, something momentous, awaits us. Awaits me.

- From the personal journals of Lorenz Kihl, March 18th, 1920

Infinity Box, Early October 2016

Suriel, still not entirely used to her new body, and taking in the sights around her, stepped slowly into the wondrous, cool room that seemed to hold the potential for so much, from what she had been told. Her grey eyes swept every inch of the blue stone that surrounded them, everything lit with a glow that seemed to come from every stone.

Daniel and Eleanor followed behind her, Rei and Kaworu behind them, each with somewhat bemused smiles.

"How…" she finally said, entering the empty room as Daniel discretely lifted it out of time. "Where do the constructs you've spoken of come from?" she asked as she paced around the room.

"Mentally constructed from Plasm to mimic just about anything physical." Daniel replied, a slight smile on his face as he watched her gently let a hand slide along the wall.

"Plasm. That is…" she furrowed her brow for a moment as she tried to find the word. "Clay, I believe, is the closest translation to the word I know."

After a moment's exploration, Suriel looked back at the group that accompanied her, a somewhat apprehensive look joining her wondrous expression. "So… where is he?"

Daniel walked over to a spot in the center of the room. "Right here, almost beneath my feet."

Suriel made her way over towards Daniel, slowing to a stop in front of him. "Can… can I see him? Or, at least, the vessel which he is contained within?" she asked quietly, her eyes darting down to the floor for a moment.

Daniel took a step back, silently nodding as a portion of the floor between them swirled, then bulged, a large black sphere, pulsing with waves of prismatic light, rising up on a pedestal before slowing to a stop at chest height.

Suriel looked at the sphere with wide eyes and an unreadable expression, the room silent as she pondered on what—who—lay within.

She looked back up at Daniel after what felt to her like an eternity lost in the colors of the sphere. "I'm… unsure if I'm ready."

Daniel smiled slightly again. "Even with billions of years to prepare, I wasn't either. Let it happen. It'll be okay."

Suriel took a deep breath, then nodded as she looked back down at the sphere. "Very well. I'll connect with… him…"

Her eyes narrowed. "Who… are these with Kadmonel? The souls entrusted to him?"

Daniel nodded slightly. "Yes. Those that are left to him, at least. We know them as the Angels." he said quietly.

"So few…"

Suriel shook her head slightly as she looked back up at Daniel. "And… I cannot help but think I am still responsible."

Daniel sighed quietly, reaching up somewhat to put a hand on Suriel's shoulder. "Suriel." he said patiently. "We've been over this."

Suriel sighed. "I'm aware." she said wearily. "It's… a difficult task, shaking such a feeling off."

"It always is." Daniel sighed.

"Now," he continued, "seeing as you've asked Rei and Kaworu to come along, would you prefer they be included before or after your first moments with Kadmonel?"

Suriel looked over at the two children, hanging back and looking at her encouragingly and even somewhat expectantly. "I think… I would have a moment with Kadmonel first."

Kaworu and Rei nodded. "Very well." Rei said. "We will join you whenever you are ready."

"Thank you, Rei." Suriel replied, then she looked back down at the sphere, and focused. There, in the middle of the cluster of Fundaments, was one soul. One man that she had yearned for and dreaded speaking to in equal measure.

She reached out with a branch of her soul, grafting it to the Fundament… and there he was.

"Hello?" a voice from ages past, a voice that had saved, in some small part, the legacy of her people, asked. And her first emotion was… embarrassment.

"Um… hello, Kadmonel." she nearly stammered. "I'm Suriel. The councilor."

"The one who suggested the two Seeds?" Kadmonel asked, curiosity rippling through what few branches of his soul were there.

"Yes." Suriel replied slowly. "I'm… sorry for messing everything up?" She had no idea what else to say.

"Well," Kadmonel replied, "I think, since it's worked out as it has, I can say that such an apology is unnecessary."

"Oh." Suriel said, shock and the feeling of a heart fluttering rippling through her soul.

"It's… it's good to finally actually meet you." Kadmonel said.

"That it is." Suriel replied. "Meeting you in such a fashion is rather… less than I'd hoped for, but… it's a start." she could not hide the raw want that now seemed to bubble in her heart, spilling over from it like a cauldron.

"I wish I could be more… present, than this." Kadmonel admitted. "But I must guard my children, now. Ensure that they are kept company by the one that made them what they are." There was resignation tinged with bitterness and self-loathing in those last words.

"Well," Suriel said after a moment, "I can arrange to create a body for you. There is more than enough Vitae that my Vessel left behind to make it so you and your children walk the waking world again."

What would have been a wide-eyed wonder gleamed for a few moments, then that morose resignation returned. "Perhaps. But… my children have been made how they are quite… purposefully. To put them in a human body risks much, not simply for them, but for your children as well."

"Is there no way to heal their souls?" Suriel asked. "If you are so capable as to preserve us, the souls of our people, our legacy through what would become Rei and Kaworu, can you not restore to these few remaining children a future?"

It was quiet for a moment, then there was an impression of a chuckle. "You know… it's that hope."

"What do you mean?"

"That hope that there was a solution, even when no one else saw it. That's… that's what made me fall in love with you."

In the physical space, Suriel's eyes went wide as tears began to prick their corners. "For me, I guess… it was your smile. I couldn't help but… find it so hopeful."

It was quiet between them again for a moment as they simply took in each other's feelings. From beyond her sight, Daniel and Eleanor stepped back towards the exit, pausing for a moment by Kaworu and Rei. "We'll be overseeing the construction in Matsushiro while you keep them company." Daniel said quietly. "We'll see you later."

Kaworu and Rei nodded, and Daniel and Eleanor left them with the progenitors of their souls.

"You know," Rei said in a link to Kaworu's soul, "our familial situation has become quite complicated to explain."

"That it has." Kaworu replied. "It's a good thing we don't have to do that often."

"Be careful what you ask for." Rei said warningly, an undercurrent of amusement flowing through the words. "With the way our world seems to work, it might just begin happening now."

As Rei and Kaworu silently conversed, Kadmonel spoke up again. "With what I understand, even with this world's fledgling understanding of the Soul Arts, with people like the Theisman's and their compatriots… we should be able to release these children from their duties. And… perhaps we can finally explore what we should have all those ages ago."

"Perhaps." Suriel replied.

"Speaking of children…" she glanced up at Kaworu and Rei, noting Daniel and Eleanor's absence before beckoning them over.

"Our… other children, in a sense, wish to speak with the two of us. Our own little family reunion, one might call it."

As Rei and Kaworu connected, Kadmonel's soul pulsed with understanding and a little surprise at the wording. "Yes. A… family reunion."

- - -

HERZ-Matsushiro, One Week Later

Captain Asuka Soryu-Langley (a title she took no small amount of pride in) sat back in the virtual Frame Plug as she looked over at a comms panel that had Daniel and Maya's faces on the screen. "Found any bugs?" she asked, taking a deep breath.

The adults looked up for a moment before shaking their heads. "Nothing mechanical here." Daniel replied. "At least not that I'm seeing."

As Daniel leaned out of frame to ask Eleanor if she saw anything, Maya continued. "And there's nothing wrong in the digital space, Asuka. Everything should be running smoothly on your end. Would I be correct in assuming that?"

Asuka looked back out at the simulation world that she piloted in, an avatar of what was going to be Frame Titan Unit-02 standing amidst the rolling hills of Neue Berlin.

Across the way from her, another digital Frame Titan, green and tan and crimson, stood in a relaxed position.

"Nothing wrong for me. One moment." Asuka keyed up another comms panel, and the face of Mariah Marlowe, hands behind her head in a t-shirt and jeans, looked over. "Hey Boudica, any glitches on your end of things?"

Mari scanned around the Frame Plug for a moment, testing the controls and making the digital Frame Titan she piloted do a cartwheel into a backflip, finishing with a dramatic acrobat's pose.

"Nope." she said with a shrug. "Nothing on my end, princess." she furrowed her brow after a moment. "There is one thing missing, though."

"What's that?" Daniel asked, having leaned back into frame.

"The smell of LCL." Mari replied. "Now that we don't use it as a buffer fluid anymore, it's… weird, not being dunked in it. All my training for piloting Unit-05 had the smell actually grow on me, I kinda have to admit."

Asuka arched an eyebrow. "Really? You like the smell of drying blood?" she said somewhat incredulously.

"Kinda." Mari said with a shrug. "It wasn't just the blood. It was whatever else they put in it too."

Asuka looked at Mari somewhat in wonderment, then shook her head. "You haven't had it go stale in the Plug and clog your nose. Once that happens, you cool off on liking it real fast."

Mari blinked. "Oh, man. I'll need the details on that later." she said. It was silent for a few moments more as Daniel and Maya continued their diagnostic check before she continued. "So, how's our dear Pinocchio doing after finding out he's a clone of Puppy's dad?"

Asuka blinked for a second as she parsed the statement into something she actually fully understood. "Oh. Uh… everybody's actually not all that surprised. After all, if Rei could be a clone of Shinji's mom, why not Kaworu a clone of his dad?"

An impressed expression flashed across Maria's face. "I admire your level-headedness."

Asuka shrugged. "When you've seen as much shit as we have, you learn to roll with the punches real quick."

"Fair dinkum." Mari paused for a moment. "Hear anything back from the Commander and Deputy-Commander?"

Asuka glanced at Daniel and Maya. "Did you hear that?"

"Nothing different from last we've heard." Daniel replied. "They're still at Vatican City, ironing out the details of the Titan Frame weapons treaty."

He glanced up, smirking slightly. "They're classifying the weapons you'll be piloting in quite familiar terms, I've been told."

After a moment, Asuka rolled her eyes as she sighed. "After all this time and effort spent trying not to call them Evangelions?" she said in exasperation.

"That's what Ritsuko said." Maya replied. "Technically, the Evangelions you'll be using will still be the Frame Titan Type-E. It's just that it'll still be an Evangelion at the end of the day."

"Either way," Daniel interjected, a smile on his face, "we're done with our diagnostic check here. I'll be with Eleanor over in the new Eva bays taking stock of things. Have fun with your third round."

Asuka didn't notice as Daniel walked away, a hungry look in her eyes as she looked back at an utterly excited Mariah. That surprise suplex had caught her off guard last round, but she was going to take this home. She wasn't the best Evangelion pilot for nothing.

"I wanna do things a little differently this last round." Mariah said as they settled into ready stances, their Unit's hands opening and closing.

"Oh?" Asuka asked. "What's that?"

"Switching weapons." Mariah said, an almost vicious gleam in her eyes. "I'm thinking… every 30 seconds or so, we pick up something different. Keep things… spicy."

Asuka was silent for a moment. Then, a small grin turned the corners of her mouth up slowly as she glanced over at Maya. "Can the Intermediary System handle something like that?"

Maya arched an eyebrow as she pressed a palm to the console, her brow furrowing as her eyes scanned invisible pages of data that scrawled up the insides of her pupils. After a few moments, she blinked the data away, looking back up at Asuka and Mariah. "It can, but it'll have to be a solid minute between changes."

Mariah shrugged as she tapped on a control panel. "Oh, well. I can work with that, I guess." she said with a slight sigh as a model of her old Progressive Sword appeared in her Unit's hands.

"Oooh, swordplay to start." Asuka slightly snarked as a similar sword appeared in Unit-02's hands, and she settled into a high guard. "I'm getting real fond memories of when you last tried to kill me with that thing, Mari."

"Oh, come on, princess." Mariah shot back. "It's not even gonna really hurt this time. Even though it kinda should."

Asuka bobbed her head back and forth for a moment, fighting to keep the grin on her lips from turning into a smile. 'That's what I've been saying. Nobody ever lets something that hurts happen more than a few times.'

"Maybe." she replied. "First to shatter the opponent's core, as always."

"Alright." Mari said, then paused for a moment. "Go!"

- - -

Vatican City, October 5th, 2016

Commander Misato Katsuragi of HERZ fought the urge to nod off yet again and dearly wished that she still had a coffee to sip from as the diplomat droned on about the final terms of what would become the Vatican Treaty. She glanced at Ritsuko, her new Deputy-Commander, and found her fighting to do the same.

They knew the basics: nobody could have more than 5 Evangelions (a name which Misato and Ritsuko had to suppress a groan at hearing applied to the entire class of what was labeled 'massive-scale weaponry'), and confederations could only get 1 more per 5 member states.

The part that mattered to Misato and Ritsuko was that HERZ was exempt from such limitations, but they answered to an assembly of nations, including the UN, known as the Massive Weapons Use Committee. That, and they had to act as general protectors of Earth (a job they were very much accustomed to), and be the police force for any rogue Evangelions, lest the wrath of every nation's Evas be brought to bear against them should they go rogue, et cetera, et cetera ad infinitum. There were other things she knew she should know, terms like 'Designated Engagement Area' and 'Appropriate Activation Times', but those were for another day, with far more rest, and far more coffee. Maybe even a few beers.

'Maybe we'll only be here another day.' Misato thought hopefully. 'Maybe, by then, these gasbags will have finally decided to just sit down and sign the damn treaty already.'

"Commander Katsuragi."

Misato blinked as the diplomat finally sat down, and Secretary Beaulieu regarded her intently. "Are there any thoughts that you'd like to offer at the close of this meeting? With your position as head of the organization in charge of maintaining order amongst the Evangelions, and with your previous history, you have a… special perspective you might be able to offer us."

Misato took a deep breath, then nodded. "Give me a moment to collect my thoughts."

The moment came and went, and Misato stood, all eyes on her. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'll admit I'm not one for flowery words or long-winded speeches. I'm a soldier, and I speak as such."

"The Evangelion platform, as designed by who is now my Deputy-Commander, was built to save the world from the threat of the Angels. Though the ends it may have been used for by some afterward were far less pure, that was its stated mission."

"We had hoped, in one way or another, to finally lay these weapons down after the Angel War. Now, with a wider Reality open to us, and the threat of SEELE still looming large, we know that, in one way or another, the Evangelion is here to stay."

"It's a dangerous force we wield now, as I'm sure everyone is aware of, and the Angel War, as well as the orchestrated attack on Tokyo-3 by manipulated human forces, has shown its breadth and depth of power in the right hands. Make no mistake, even for how far removed these Evangelions are from their original namesake, it is still a beast that must be contained."

"As such, I promise to you once again that HERZ will strive to contain these beasts we've made, to do the job our forebears at NERV were thought to do: to keep the people of this ever-changing world safe. I will not go so far as to say that our hands are the best for these weapons to be in. But I will say that we will manage them, and those who will come under our stewardship and protection, with the utmost care."

It was nothing nobody in the room had heard before, she knew as she sat back down and Secretary Beaulieu continued on with the meeting. But she knew what she said would be true.

"With that, ladies and gentlemen," Beaulieu said, "I believe we are ready to finalize the terms of the treaty and sign it. Such will be carried out tomorrow."

Misato and Ritsuko looked at each other with deep breaths as the Secretary of the United Nations released the meeting, standing up and making their way towards the door.

"Welcome to the new way of things," Ritsuko mused, "same way as the old."

"At least here we can be relatively sure that our new Committee won't try and use us to end the world." Misato replied, a corner of her mouth turned up in a slight grin.

"I don't know." Ritsuko replied seriously. "The Human Instrumentality Committee was supposed to help humanity with the Evas, too. And we know how that turned out."

"Yeah." Misato's grin slipped away. "We'll make sure that doesn't happen again, though. There's a reason I made the Intelligence Division a part of HERZ. Ryoji's going to have some work to do, making sure our new Committee is above the board."

They stepped into the open air of the holy city, nearly untouched by the depredations of Second Impact, and as they walked back to their apartment, Misato looked up at the sky, at a moon that she remembered was now much higher in the sky than it usually was. "It's going to be interesting." she said offhandedly.

Ritsuko glanced over. "What is?"

"Looking at the night sky again, seeing things where they used to be. After they do the whole 'axial realignment' thing."

Ritsuko looked up at the moon for a moment as well before nodding. "Well, we'll be able to see it soon. It's in the next couple of days if I recall."

"Yeah." Misato took her gaze off of the sky as they reached their apartment. "I'll have to talk to Rastaff and Izalith, see when exactly they're going to do it."

The ride to their floor, and the walk to their door, was taken in contemplative silence. As the door opened, and the two tired officers of HERZ walked in, a newspaper crinkled slightly.

"So," Penpen said, a new speech module providing a voice to the words in his soul, "how were the 'preachers' at your little, uh… 'church service'?"

"Same as the last two days, Penpen." Misato replied. "Everything alright here?"

"No housekeeping, not since the broom incident." Penpen replied as he leafed through the newspaper and sipped at a can of beer. "And no one else has come snooping around, either. Other than that, I'm just ready to get back home."

"Well, we're in the final stretch." Ritsuko said, now used to actually talking to Penpen and getting a response. "We'll be signing the treaty tomorrow."

"Hooray, a piece of paper that tells us to do what we've already been doing." Penpen said sardonically as he flipped to the next page. "And I thought you people were complicated enough already."

"Yeah." Misato sighed as she nodded. "That's about how I feel."

- - -

Evangelion Bay 5, HERZ-Matsushiro

Mayumi Yamagishi looked up at the silent golden form of Unit-07, and wondered who was inside its core.

The others had done their research, and had eventually found records, very cleverly hidden, of her family. Her father and mother, Goro and Yume, and an older sister, Hotaru. Other than that… nothing.

She knew there were memories of the people behind those names… somewhere, still hidden themselves by the editing that SEELE had done to make her loyal to them. It burned at her that, as much as she tried to remember, there was just… nothing.

She sighed as she tried again to remember a face, a personality, anything that connected to the names she had seen on the screen that Kensuke showed her. Nothing came to mind.

She sighed again, a defeated, weary sound that echoed in the empty bay. After all the effort that had been put into finding out who she was, Kensuke's help seemed to matter little.

Which brought her thoughts to the boy in question. And the girl that went with him.

She appreciated his help in adjusting back to something that could approximately be called a regular life, regardless of the rather niche and nerdy pastimes that he'd introduced her to. Ichigo's calming influence had helped her weather so much uncertainty, especially now, with the choice before her of whether or not to continue piloting. And now… she liked them. Which made things… difficult, at times.

She looked into the chest of Unit-07 deeply. 'Whoever's in there… I hope you'll understand. I certainly don't.'

"Mayumi?"

She jumped slightly, then looked over at Mr. Theisman, looking up at Unit-07 then back at her. "Taking a moment alone?" he asked quietly.

"No, not really." Mayumi shrugged. "You can be here. I thought you were the head of the Pilot Division now."

Daniel shrugged as he walked slowly to Mayumi's side. "Old habits die hard. I've spent years keeping these things in shape, now. Going walkabout and checking up on them is nearly second nature." as he stopped by Mayumi, he looked at her and smiled slightly. "And I think that's a habit I'll keep, even with Eleanor in charge of Engineering."

Mayumi nodded. "Yeah. I guess."

They stood there silently for a moment in companionable silence. "I'm guessing there's a lot on your mind?" Daniel asked quietly.

Mayumi nodded slowly and silently after another moment.

Daniel nodded in turn. "I get that. Anything in particular you'd be okay with sharing?"

"Well, there's the whole piloting… thing."

"Understandably." Daniel looked over at Mayumi. "And we'll accept whatever answer you give, however much time it takes."

"Thank you." Mayumi looked back to the chest of Unit-07. "And… I can't help but wonder at who's in there."

"Best guess is your mother, following the pattern of the other pilots. But, truth be known… Anyone you were close to would do." Daniel paused for a moment. "Either way. We're getting them out of there before we start doing anything else. Even the move back to the Geofront won't start before your Unit, and Mana and Mari's, have their resident souls extracted."

"Having talked to the others… why haven't you just used your Interfacing to look in?"

"We've tried." Daniel said, an edge of annoyance creeping into his voice. "There's something blocking any sort of looking into your core. Any of the cores you kids brought with you. It's built… differently from the cores we've seen. Far more of a trap than simply just a container." Daniel grimaced. "It's made identifying who's in there and getting them out… difficult."

Mayumi nodded slowly. "Would… I be able to help, seeing as I can synch with it?"

Daniel looked back down at Mayumi. "Perhaps. You'll have to be Interfaced, most likely, but… hmm… it might just work. I'll talk to Eleanor about it."

Mayumi nodded. "Thank you."

"Of course." Daniel smiled.

"As an aside," he continued, "with Earth's realignment coming up, we have a party that we're planning with the command staff of HERZ and the Children. You're invited to come along. Mari and Mana will be there, and Kensuke and Ichigo will be there too."

"Oh." Mayumi fought, and failed, to keep a blush from slightly shading her cheeks. "That's good to hear."

Daniel's brow arched. "Ah. Interested in Kensuke?" he said, a slight grin evident in his voice. "Or is it Ichigo?"

Mayumi was silent.

Daniel nodded after a moment. "No need to talk to me if you don't want to."

"No, it's just…"Mayumi sighed. "It's… complicated."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well…" Mayumi crossed her arms. "Kensuke's very patient, and very passionate about the things he likes to do. It's… fun, watching him share whatever he does with us. And Ichigo… she's just been so supportive. Checking in on all of us, sharing her experiences of figuring out who you're supposed to be, and…"

Mayumi trailed off as she blushed deeper, and Daniel's eyes widened in understanding as he nodded slowly. "Ah. I see. You like both of them."

Mayumi nodded again.

"Okay." Daniel was silent for a moment as he considered what to say. "Well, I would air out your feelings to them, either separately or together. They're both very understanding, as you know. And… see where it goes from there. I've heard sundry rumors about Kensuke's previous relationship, all good, of course, but… again, just talk to them. Bottling it up does not do good things to you. Trust me, I know."

Mayumi looked at Daniel with no small amount of amazement. "Thank you, Daniel." she said after a moment.

"You're welcome." Daniel replied. "I find playing relationship counselor here is something that helps a lot of people, so… I'm just glad to help you in another way."

They looked back up at Unit-07 for a little while longer, then Daniel nodded. "Well, I'll go ahead and get going. I'm glad I could talk to you more."

"Thank you for stopping by." Mayumi paused as Daniel began to walk off. "Wait."

Daniel paused and turned, and Mayumi looked over at him. "When is the party?"

Daniel glanced up and to the side for a moment. "I believe they'll be on schedule for… the… 10th. So the party will be then."

Mayumi nodded. "Okay. I'll be there then. And maybe… I'll have a few more answers then, too."

Daniel smiled slightly. "Alright. See you around."

With that, Daniel left, and Mayumi went back to looking at Unit-07. Things were… more certain, now. Not fully certain, maybe. But at least more.

- - -

Hotel Rooftop, Tokyo-2, October 10th, 2145 Hours, 3 Days Later

The sky was dark, and the city along with it, almost all lights extinguished to allow the night sky to shine through as clearly as possible. All throughout Japan, all around the world where it was night, there was stillness and near silence in the darkness of the cities, near-total silence in the countryside, as all eyes gazed skyward, waiting to watch the moon and stars return to their old places.

Of course, such wondrous waiting was not without its levity, as evidenced by the not too terribly large group that had laid claim to the rooftop of the hotel, their status as HERZ staff getting them, and their party supplies, past. Not that such would have stopped them easily. Every other tall building was filled with partygoers, those unable or unwilling to go on the rooftops filling the parks or sitting intently by their tv or computer screens, watching any of the dozens, even hundreds of broadcasts that showed the observatories feeds of the sky.

The moment was growing close, now. 1400 PM, Greenwich Mean Time. 2200 PM Japan Standard. Now, there was quiet chatter, the pop and hiss and clinking of soda cans and bottles of beer, ginger and craft, along with a host of other drinks. The tiny, almost star-like lights of cellphones and clear-pads provided a little means for everyone to see each other.

Friends, family mingled as they watched the sky, Daniel and Eleanor talking quietly with Misato, Kaji, Ritsuko, and Maya about the Vatican Treaty while Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and Kaworu discussed a music piece they wanted to compose and play soon. Toji, Hikari, Mari, and Mana hung close to the kids, one talking to them excitedly about the instrument that she played and drawing Daniel into the conversation, Kyoko stepping in to take his place as Naoko and Kyu wandered in as well. Gendo and Yui were apart from the others, talking quietly and enjoying each other's company.

That left Mayumi alone with Kensuke and Ichigo, a little ways away from the others, while Penpen wandered from group to group, still surprising people with his voice module.

They were silent, looking at the sky and glancing at each other every few moments. Finally, Kensuke decided to break the silence. "So… have Daniel and the others figured out a way to get whoever's in the core of Unit-07 out, Mayumi?"

"They have a few ideas." Mayumi said. "They all involve me becoming Interfaced. It seems… exciting, actually."

"It is, actually." Kensuke said, turning to face her, the little light that shone on his face showing the excited, almost wondrous gleam in his eyes. "It's… oh, how to describe it…"

"Revealing, perhaps." Ichigo said quietly, a calm gleam in her own eyes. "Like a curtain has been lifted from your eyes, and you can see and know… so much more."

"Yeah." Kensuke nodded. "That's one way to put it. And… freeing, too. You do things you almost never thought possible." he paused as he regarded Mayumi for a moment. "Maybe even help get those memories you're looking for back. Daniel does say that the soul remembers everything."

Mayumi nodded slowly as she considered the words that they'd said. "Wow." she said, barely above a whisper. "That sounds… amazing."

Kensuke put a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped slightly. "If you do decide to do it, we'll be with you every step of the way." he said with conviction.

"Indeed." Ichigo chimed in.

It was getting very hard to hide the blush as she tried scooting slightly, further into the darkness. "Thank you, Kensuke, Ichigo." she nearly mumbled.

Before Kensuke could reply, Mayumi watched Penpen waddle over, drawing the attention of the other two. "There's something about you two." he said without preamble, pointing his beak between Kensuke and Ichigo.

"O… kay, Penpen." Kensuke said slowly, still not used to what he'd first assumed was Misato's pet talking. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know." Penpen replied, an edge of annoyance in his voice. "It bugs me. Like… there's more than just the three of you hanging around here, and I can only see the others for seconds at a time."

The kids' brows furrowed slightly, and Kensuke nodded slowly after a moment. "Huh. Would you be talking about Ace and Ichigo's Spirit?"

"Ace?" Penpen and Mayumi asked nearly simultaneously.

Kensuke blinked, then blushed slightly. "It's a reference I'll explain later. Anyways," he said quickly, "would that be it?"

Penpen looked intently at Kensuke for a moment, then did his best impression of a shrug. "Hold on. Let me go get someone who actually might know."

He turned, and waddled towards Daniel and the other Children, and the three kids leaned forward slightly as Penpen said something quiet and brief, gaining the man's attention as he walked over to them.

"I hear there's a question concerning Spirits?" Daniel said with a slight smile as he sat down in front of them.

"Well, yeah." Kensuke replied. "Penpen is seeing… something."

"Makes sense." Daniel replied. "Animals often have relatively simple souls and a lot more sensory inputs than humans do. It makes them receptive to other energies, such as your Spirits."

"Ah." Ichigo said. "Much like what I have heard of ancient folklore from one of Kyu's spontaneous branches of research into the workings of the world."

Daniel nodded. Before he could continue, however, he looked down at the clear-pad in his hand as it buzzed, then looked back at them with a smile. "5 minutes to showtime." he said excitedly.

As the lights began to wink out, Mayumi looked at Ichigo and Kensuke, then at the other Children across the way. They had been so kind to her. Inspired her to become, if not her former self, then perhaps someone close to it. For them… for Kensuke and Ichigo…

"Daniel." she said quietly, causing him to pause from walking back to the others and turning. "I'll do it. I'll pilot."

Her sight was slowly adjusting to the darkness, but she could see Daniel's smile widen slightly. "As head of the Pilot Division, I'm happy to have you." he said, equally quietly.

The lights were snuffed out, and silence fell on the world as everyone looked skyward. 4 minutes, now. 3 minutes.

At 2 minutes before 1400 GMT, a wave of shifting, brilliant blue and green light swept across the sky from the south like a curtain made of an aurora being drawn across the world. As the light passed, the trail it left faded away into invisibility, and slowly, certainly, as the clock struck 1400, the moon began to float southward, the stars trailing ahead and behind and around it. It was almost impossible to notice at first, but it swiftly became almost impossible to believe.

A minute of sheer awe passed, then another, then three more before the moon slowed to a stop. A heartbeat passed, then another, then another. Then, the city rang with cheers, a cheer of relief and triumph and dumbstruck amazement that echoed around the world.

As the members of that rooftop, and many others, raised glasses or shared hugs and kisses, mirroring all others, they knew that, even though the sun had only set a few hours ago, it was the dawn of an old world made new.

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 32: Tutelage of Giants

The smell of salt on the air in the middle of the deserts of Jordan signaled that we had arrived. As we set up camp, one of the guides, who had taken us into the desert on camelback, turned to us. "There are many caves here." he said, a fact we were well aware of. "The prophets and their followers likely left much behind in the way of their writings, to keep them safe from the desecration of heretics and outsiders. But there is likely no great, glittering treasure here for you."

Whether he meant that as a warning or not was immaterial. Whatever we found out here would be taken back to Germany, to prop up the university. Whether it glittered or not was, really, quite inconsequential.

- From the personal journals of Lorenz Kihl, May 24th, 1920

HERZ-Matsushiro, Two Weeks Later

Of course, the moment passed, and life marched on. For the pilots of HERZ, that found them in one of the new break rooms of the Matsushiro complex, constructed nearly overnight with the wonders of Interfacing as the base expanded at a breathtaking pace.

The original Children of NERV and the Numberless Children chatted aimlessly as they relaxed for a moment from their duties. Those duties being training, and slowly starting the training process for, the first wave of new pilots.

"You know, it's weird." Asuka said as she sipped at her canned coffee. "Even knowing about the decrease in the draft age with the Impact Wars, finding out that most of the people we're going to be training are around our age is… yeah. Weird."

Shinji nodded as he chewed on the candy he'd taken a few pieces of. "Yeah. I was expecting something closer to career soldiers in their 30's."

"It certainly eases the training process, however, not having to deal with so great an age gap as that." Rei said with a slight shrug.

"Maybe." Toji said. "Doesn't always make it that much easier, with how some of them are."

The minds in the room turned to the fresh candidates they had spent the first few weeks as active members of HERZ guiding through the motions of training them to pilot the Evangelions they would take over.

With the first candidates in large part from Japan, and with there being so few, Daniel had made the Children into groups of 2, with Mayumi teaching the last pilot on her own, all of them dedicated to working together to teach the new pilots the skills they needed to pilot their, in turn, new machines.

2 Japanese, an American, a Kenyan from the African Union, and somewhat surprisingly, a Basque pilot representing the European Union, were the first wave of fresh faces to the world of the Evangelion.

Of the 2 Japanese pilots, Keita Asari and Musashi Lee Strasberg, Keita, at least according to Mari and Mana, was the more easygoing of the duo, kind and rather meek and unassuming. Musashi, on the other hand, was proving to be something of a thorn in Asuka's side.

She remembered back to the first time she watched Musashi glance around the virtual Frame Plug. "Interesting design." he remarked, forgoing English for Japanese as he lowered the control console into the ready position, and the simulation booted up, putting them on a flat plane, Asuka in the conceptual Unit-02, Shinji in the conceptual Unit-01, and Musashi in a rather bland looking generic version of the Frame Titans Asuka had taken to calling 'Unit-0T'.

"It's the template for the standard Frame Plug." Asuka replied. "Whoever produces the one you'll be piloting may make some changes, and who knows, maybe you'll make some of your own, but this is the standard."

"Got it." Musashi said offhandedly as he went through the start-up process, and Unit-0T took a step forward as it raised its arms, flexing for a moment and testing its range of motion for a moment.

"Alright." Shinji said. "Let's go through the rest of the range-of-motion tests, get you comfortable."

"Yes, Captain."

There it was again. That subtle twitch in Musashi's face that said… something. There were too many emotions mixed up whenever he talked to Shinji, or really anyone else besides her and Mari, that her Sight outside of the Evas couldn't quite pick it apart.

Either way, they began to go through the movements together, walking and running and jumping through a digital obstacle course courtesy of the Intermediary System.

After the range-of-motion tests concluded, Asuka nodded. "Alright. Good job. Let's run through a simple spar, get you used to the beginnings of combat in the Eva." she paused for a moment as she tapped on the training room screen on her control console. "So, I'll go ahead and-"

"I'd like to spar with Captain Ikari, please."

Asuka and Shinji both blinked as they looked at each other. "Uh… okay." Shinji shrugged. "I don't see why not."

Asuka nodded as the conceptual Unit-01 walked forward and Asuka changed the parameters on her panel. "Alright," she began, "simulated synch level is going to be at 55%. It's not going to be unbearably painful, but you'll feel it when you've taken one across the face. First one to pin the other wins. Ready?"

Unit-01 and Unit-0T crouched slightly, Shinji taking a relaxed, open stance with a bladed body and arms forward, his legs wide and in a stable platform. Musashi, on the other hand, took up a boxer's stance, arms close together as Unit-0T stepped forward.

"Go!" Asuka said, and Unit-0T walked slowly over to Unit-01 as it stood its ground for a moment, then stepped back once, then twice as Musashi finished closing the distance.

Musashi threw a light jab, Shinji slapping it aside as he threw a punch of his own, Musashi stepping back out of range and beginning to circle, Shinji circling with him.

Round and round they went, first for moments, then for a minute, Musashi stepping into range to test Shinji's defenses before darting back out.

Then, as they finished a step to one side or the other, Musashi charged forward, batting aside the hook that Shinji threw as he slammed into him, sending a knee into Unit-01's groin, causing Shinji to wince as he gasped in pain. Unit-01 shoved Unit-0T off for a moment, stepping back to try and refocus, but Musashi was relentless, pressing Unit-0T into the gap Shinji had made and hammering him with blow after blow.

Shinji took the assault as best he could, but as a surprise leg sweep sent Unit-01 tumbling to the ground, Shinji simply threw Unit-01's arms in front of him as Unit-0T went to the ground, kneeing Unit-01 savagely in the side as he continued to wail on him.

As the beating went on for moments more, Asuka's eyes widened as she realized what was going on. Musashi had no intention of pinning Shinji anytime soon.

"That's enough, Musashi!" she shouted as Unit-02 stepped forward, grabbing at two of Unit-0T's abdominal armor strips and jerking the Eva roughly off of Unit-01.

She brought the comm panel of Musashi front and center as she spun Unit-0T around and put it in an arm lock, seeing the fire in his eyes, the barely contained… well, the closest thing she could describe was rage.

But there was a fire of her own in her eyes as she began. "When I tell you to pin your opponent, you pin your verdammt opponent! Is that clear?"

"I was getting around to it." Musashi growled back.

"Bockmist! We're ending the simulation now!"

Asuka sighed quietly. "Yeah. Musashi's calmed down a little since Daniel talked with him after that whole ordeal. He's apparently been in and out of his office a few times."

She glanced around the table. "How are all your trainees doing?"

Mayumi smiled slightly. "Arantxa is actually doing well." She recalled their last session of training. A somewhat fumbling thing for her, still, but she was getting the hang of it as target practice finished, the last Angels disappearing in a flash as Arantxa laid them low with precise bursts of tire, and the digital weapons disappeared.

"Good job." Mayumi said, looking at the Basque pilot's level expression. "You have a good feeling for shooting already, I can tell. And the range which you first engaged at is impressive."

Captain Arantxa Etxebarria bobbed her head, her expressive brown eyes looking up. "Well, yes. My father taught me how to shoot when I was young, what with Second Impact making hunting something to be done frequently. I was a lookout for Spanish ultra-nationalist mobs for a while, then a defensive sniper at 14 after the war kicked off. I guess it's a skill set that transfers over easily to piloting one of these."

She sat back in her seat, looking intently at Mayumi as she began to talk, her hands moving almost on her own. "Let me tell you about the first rifle I shot. It was a beat-up old thing, a bolt-action, Mosin Nagant actually, that my grandfather apparently…"

"I would actually like her to meet the rest of you." Mayumi continued. "She likes telling and hearing stories, it seems."

Toji nodded. "And Mavuto is…" he looked at Hikari with a worried look in his eyes. "Kinda scary, I'm not gonna lie."

"How so?" Shinji asked as his eyebrow arched. "From the only time I met him, he seemed friendly enough. Almost overly friendly."

"Yeah," Toji nodded, "until he steps into an Eva." Toji and Hikari watched on as Lieutenant Commander Mavuto Okrie did what could only be described as systematically disassembling the digital version of Sachiel that had appeared before him after neutralizing its theoretical AT Field. His first attack used his Pallet Magnum to kneecap the Angel, sending it tumbling to the ground with a wail. He then viciously stomped on the Angel's arms, the crack snapping through the speaker systems once, then again. Finally, he unloaded round after round into Sachiel's back, the core finally cracking and the Angel disappearing into a cloud of glittering particles.

They both glanced at the dead face that looked down at where the Angel had been, no scrap of emotion in his eyes. Then he took a deep breath, and an easy smile split his face as if it had always belonged there. "So," he said in thickly accented English as he looked at them with that seemingly ever-present friendly gleam in his eyes, "how did I do?"

"You did… great, man." Toji replied with some slight shock. "Passed the test with flying colors."

"Splendid!" Mavuto said. "Is it time for an early lunch? I just can't get enough of sushi! It's so much different than what we have back home."

"He's…" Toji shook his head. "Brutal. That's the best way to put it. After he gets out, it's like a switch flips, and he's ready to buy you a drink again. He chalks it up to the Impact Wars in Africa. 'Only the strong and the willing lived in those days'. That's what he said."

"Yeah…" Hikari said quietly. "Many of them were old enough to remember what it was like, out in the worst parts of the world at the time."

Hikari looked over at Rei and Kaworu. "How is Orien doing?"

"He is adjusting well." Rei replied. "He has a few friends in the American Marine Corps that survived the First Battle of Tokyo-3, so he had a basic idea of what to expect."

"And he isn't thrown off by the whole…" Asuka began. "Half-Angel thing at all?"

Lieutenant Commander Orien Wallace shook his head as Kaworu asked the question after an Angel-combat-focused training simulation. "I don't see a point in being afraid of what you look like. I know who you are, at least, as much as a week or two allows for. And I'm okay with what I see. I've had plenty of relatives who already went through all that. Who know what it's like for someone to assume what you are, how smart or stupid or friendly or unfriendly you are, just because of the color of your skin."

"And yet, you fight for a nation that allows such?" Rei asked. "It seems… counterintuitive, to protect the people that hated you and those you love in the first place."

Orien shrugged. "They're the minority really. And someone's gotta step up to defend those that can't. My hands might not be the best. But they're certainly better than someone else's, aren't they?"

Kaworu shrugged. "Not more than anyone else who has gotten to know us."

"Hmmm. Interesting." Shinji said. "Did I hear right when someone said he plays cello?"

Kaworu smiled slightly as he nodded. "Indeed he does. He is an interesting soul. Seemingly more suited to creating art than piloting an Evangelion. But he is sure that what he is doing will help him protect those around him. He is… unflinching, I believe is the word, in his morals."

Shinji hummed as he looked at the clock. "Well, back to work, I guess."

The Children all rose, throwing away snack wrappers and disposable cups as they returned to their duty of protecting the world, and making sure their charges could do the same.

- - -

Commander's Office

The office that Misato had designated as her and Ritsuko's was a cluttered, almost messy space. Two desks took up much of the room, the one near the back wall occupied by Misato, Ritsuko standing by her side in an eerily familiar scene, the rest of the room taken up by movable screens, bookcases, and computer terminals.

It made sitting in front of the main desk somewhat difficult, as Daniel, Maya, Ryoji, and a floating gem that projected Eleanor's head and shoulders, the crystalline walls of Terminal Dogma floating into view every once in a while as she directed work in the Geofront, were readily aware of.

"Alright," Misato began, convening the staff meeting, "we'll start with Daniel. How's the pilot situation coming along, especially when it concerns First Lieutenant Strasberg?"

"Other than Strasberg, everyone else is doing fine. The kids are enjoying their tenure as instructors, and they're proving themselves quite capable of relaying the curriculum that we've established. Asuka's gained a not insubstantial amount of zeal for it." Daniel said with a slight smile. The smile vanished as he continued after a moment. "As for Strasberg, we've had several more conversations since the incident last week. I believe we've gotten, at least to some extent, to the core of the matter."

"And what's that?" Misato asked, an eyebrow arched.

"He's hafu." Daniel replied, a level expression on his face. "Apparently he and his family went through quite the troubles in Hokkaido after Tokyo-1 was wiped out by the nuclear strike."

Ritsuko nodded slowly. "Probably grew up during the time the nationalism bug bit Japan after Article 9 was written out of the Constitution." she said, a tinge of sadness in her voice. She sighed quietly. "He probably has quite the chip on his shoulder, then. It never really went away, after all."

Daniel sighed quietly. "Honestly, the fact that we haven't hired a therapist for anyone yet is a miracle, considering what everyone's been through, and that doesn't even extend beyond anyone here in HERZ."

"Otherwise," he continued, "I'll be taking Mari, Mana, and Mayumi later today to get them Interfaced. Some of the other kids want to get a second Aspect Core, too, so I'll be helping them as best I can there, too."

Daniel shrugged. "That's all I really have to say."

Misato nodded, then looked over at Maya. "So, Maya, how's the development of the new computer system coming along?"

"We've finished setting up the idea of the system." Maya began. "It's going to be a similar design to the old Magi: three cores in concert having to agree to any decisions put to the system. The biggest difference is that instead of using a digital copy of someone's mind, we'll be engaging the permanent services of three Spirits to fulfill those roles." she said the last part with some slight discomfort at the thought.

"Makes sense." Eleanor replied. "There's Spirits that are up for just about anything, if you know how to call them. I'm sure there's plenty of weirdos out there that think crunching numbers and deliberating decisions is the dream job. There's plenty enough that they form the basis for most of the OS's on Worldstrider Seabreakers."

Ritsuko shrugged. "We'll probably be going through some ethics troubles here on Earth, then. But, then again…" she smirked slightly. "Since when haven't we been going through some ethics troubles?" she mused somewhat grimly.

"Other than that," Maya continued after a moment, "no immediate troubles with the Intermediary System. It should be on track for Daniel's big team simulation next week."

Misato nodded. "Alright. Eleanor, how are things in Terminal Dogma?"

Eleanor glanced around at surroundings no one else could see. "We've got the floor in Terminal Dogma most of the way clear, even though it is taking some more time doing it by hand, and we've started to make our way into the base itself, again, taking some time to clear the rubble. It's kinda weird, seeing NERV's logo again." she said offhandedly.

She paused for a moment as she looked up at something, and sighed as she shook her head. "We'll need to get Lilith out of here in order to do any more work beyond what we're already doing."

She began to look around again, and her eyes widened slightly after a moment. "Oh, we've started sending probes into the lake to find those cores that you mentioned, Ritsuko."

As she spoke, her image fuzzed, then resolved into a view of a small group of technicians looking intently at several screens and tablets as a screen showed the depths of the LCL lake, tinged red from the Corite that rested above its surface.

The view fuzzed again, and Eleanor reappeared. "I don't know if our current probes will be able to reach the depths to find them. We're already stretching at…" she paused as her eyes narrowed slightly. "325 meters. How deep is this thing?"

All eyes turned to Ritsuko, who cupped her chin thoughtfully. "Last I recall… about a kilometer and a half?"

All eyes proceeded to widen slightly, and Eleanor whistled. "Wow. Okay. We'll need to make some specialized drones then. Other than that…" she puffed her cheeks for a moment. "That's about everything from me."

Misato nodded. "And Ryoji." she said, looking intently at him. "How goes looking into SEELE? Any sort of progress at all, or have they just dropped off the map entirely?"

Ryoji sighed quietly. "They've proven their ability to stay hidden thus far isn't something we've been able to throw a wrench into. I've got old contacts that I'm building trust with again, seeing as I've spooked them off somewhat by going as public as I have and throwing in my lot with HERZ." he scoffed slightly. "Even though I helped build the damn place…"

He shook his head. "Anyways, they haven't been able to find anything thus far. Some paper trails that lead away from Russia, France, Africa, America, all pointing to different places before they stop. Even with Ikari the elder's help in getting the true names of the people behind SEELE, it hasn't gained us much ground beyond putting out APBs for all of them."

Misato grimaced slightly. "Alright. Keep at it, and let me know when you hit something big."

Misato sighed quietly as she sat back in her chair. "As for things I have to tell you all… well, our new uniforms should be ready soon. That's really about it right now, seeing as we won't have a UN representative for another month."

They all glanced down at themselves for a moment, almost all of them wearing casual clothes, accentuated by an armband of green with the HERZ logo in black on it, while Ritsuko's customary lab coat, a holdover from her days in the Science Division, sported a pin with HERZ's logo instead.

"Oh, good." Ryoji said. "Nothing like being a good-looking part of the machine, now."

A quiet chuckle rippled through the room, then Misato stood. "Well, I'm ready to go home now. I'm sure you all are as well. I'd say we're done here." she paused for a moment as everyone else stood and Eleanor faded from sight, the gem falling into Daniel's open hand. "Let's savor being able to do this for a moment. To just be done for the day."

They stood there for a moment of silent appreciation, then made their way out the door of the office.

- - -

Infinity Box, Later That Day

Mari, Mana, and Mayumi slowly stepped into the Infinity Box, looking around with wide eyes as Daniel, Eleanor, and the other Children led them in.

"I… gotta admit," Mari said slowly, disappointment evident in her tone, "I was expecting something a little more… mystical for my first experience with magic."

Eleanor sighed quietly as Daniel reached out a hand with a slight smile, and handed over a wad of yen. "Well, that's not to say it can't do that." Eleanor replied as she, and the rest of the group, came to a stop in front of the Numberless Children. "But since what we're working with isn't technically magic, we like to keep the mysticism to a minimum for those who aren't used to such things being involved in their lives in the first place."

"But if you want to give off that 'wizard' vibe, more power to you, I guess." Asuka said with a shrug as three seats rose from the ground in front of the Numberless Children, three more rose up in front of the group, and a bench appeared behind the group.

As Mari, Mana and Mayumi took their seats, Shinji, Asuka and Rei sat across from them, Daniel staying by the three kids as the others moved back to the bench.

"Alright," Daniel began, "I'll start by saying that, technically, you're already able to do what we do."

"Really?" Mari said as she tilted her head. "I can already…" she puffed her cheeks for a moment. "Like, throw lighting at you?"

"With the right amount of power and the right focus, yeah." Asuka replied. "Thing is, you don't have the latter, and you need more of the former. Which is why we're going to plug all of your souls into the biggest power source in all Reality."

The Numberless Children all blinked. "Oh." Mana said, a hint of incredulity in her voice as her eyes widened slightly. "That sounds… somewhat dangerous."

"It isn't." Shinji replied. "Simply… uncomfortable for a moment. You'll see what we mean."

"I would suggest closing your eyes." Rei said. "The sensory overload can be somewhat overwhelming in the beginning."

As all three girls closed their eyes, Daniel linked with Shinji, Asuka and Rei's souls as he blinked on his Sight. "Okay, just like I showed you." he said calmly, sensing the hesitation and anxiety without even having to look at the three kids beside him. "You've got this."

Shinji and Asuka nodded, while Rei simply focused before the other two, Frames reaching out towards the souls of their expectant, nervous, and in one case, outright excited friends.

"Now, opening up the soul like you're about to is still tricky, so take it slowly, and don't be afraid to back off and let one of us step in if you need to." Daniel continued as the kids finally connected, the Children's Frames gently pulling apart the souls of Mari, Mana and Mayumi to get at that most fundamental thing. The root of the soul.

"Good job. Now, strengthen the Root until it starts to strengthen itself, then pull back and seal it up." Daniel's gaze flicked intently between the three girls as he watched them ride out the sensory overload that nearly flooded their brains, then the Children closed up their Numberless counterpart's souls, and began to pull their Frames out with a sigh of relief as Daniel's Sight shut off.

Daniel stepped forward as the girls opened their eyes and began to look around again, looking down at their hands. "Woah." Mari said, then winced slightly at the surprising volume of her voice.

"It's gonna take a little time to get used to the First Peak." Daniel said quietly with a growing smile. "But welcome to our little corner of the world."

. . .

4 (Relative) Hours Later

Daniel raised a hand to stop the exercise, the three spars occurring coming to a stop one after the other. "Alright, you three." he said, looking between Mari, Mana, and Mayumi. "You've certainly adjusted quickly. But there's still going to be a few days of training to get under your belts before we start trying to pull the souls out of your Evas. Sounds good?"

Mari in particular sighed heavily, but nodded. "Yes, oh wise master wizard. I guess we can make that work."

Daniel chuckled softly as he reinserted the Infinity Box into the time stream. "Alright, then. Go get some rest, come back to me tomorrow after you're done training your pilots."

The Numberless Children nodded again, then made their way out of the box. As they exited, Daniel looked over at Asuka. "So, any luck getting a new Aspect so far?" he asked with a slight smile.

Asuka sighed as she took a swig from a water bottle, grimacing after she swallowed. "None so far. Trying to find something on purpose is a lot harder than it looks. I've been looking for lightning almost all day now."

Daniel nodded. "Yeah. It took me…" he bobbed his head side to side for a moment. "About 5 days of non-stop searching before I got my second Aspect. Just ride it out, and keep at it."

Asuka sighed. "Alright, I guess."

Daniel's smile grew slightly, then his clear-pad buzzed. He reached into his pocket, looking at the message on it intently. It was from Ritsuko. And it was for Asuka. His eyebrow arched as he read the brief summary before the attached video file, then he turned to Asuka.

"You have someone wanting to talk to you." he said as he walked over, preparing the video file to play before he handed the pad over to her.

"Really?" her eyebrow arched as she took the pad, looking at the face on the screen for a moment. The young woman staring back at her was of a fair complexion, American or European if she had to guess, with hazel eyes and long blonde hair that she managed with a dark headband. Around her neck, a simple silver cross hung on a black choker, evident above a plain t-shirt and a cream jacket.

Asuka pressed play, and the young woman began to speak. "Hello, Ms. Soryu-Langley. My name is Marie Vincennes. I am a member of the United States Army Evangelion Corps, and I have a request I would like to make of you."

"As you may likely notice, you will be receiving this message from me through old NERV channels. I had access to these channels due to my father's employment at NERV-3, until…" she paused for a moment, then took a breath. "Until the Nevada Incident. I wish to honor my father, and all his coworkers' memories, and take up the mantle of Evangelion pilot, so that such an incident may never occur again. Thus, I would like to be trained by you, the current best Evangelion pilot, to ensure that I can keep my promise."

"I hope to hear from you soon, even with how busy I am sure you are at this current moment. Thank you for listening to this message. God bless you and your work."

With that, the video ended, and Asuka looked back at her friends, an arched eyebrow and a somewhat impressed expression on her face. "I've gotta say, this is unexpected, and yet… kind of exciting." she began to smile slowly. "I mean… someone who just out and out admits that I'm the best, and that's part of why she wants to learn from me…"

She handed Daniel back his pad before she pumped a fist, seeming to restrain herself from dancing with joy. "That's awesome!" she finally managed to say.

Shinji nodded. "Yeah. That is. You're getting good recognition." he scoffed slightly. "Better recognition than we got a few months ago in New York, at least."

Asuka chuckled. "Yeah, that's true." she looked over at Daniel again. "When can I talk to her?"

"As soon as we're able to reach her. Like she said, these are old NERV channels, and HERZ operates on channels that are mostly the same. It's finding which ones we don't use that she did that'll take some time." Daniel paused as he smiled slightly. "But not much."

"Alright." Asuka said, hands on her hips and a proud look on her face. "She'd better be ready, because I'm about to give her the training course of her life."

- - -

Somewhere Above the Middle East

Lorenz Kihl looked down from his private jet at the place that had been the genesis of SEELE, and pondered on how they had arrived at this point.

It was a lifetime ago, now, when a far younger man discovered the true course of man's path, and what destination would offer salvation to their souls, beyond petty religion or shamanism, beyond a simple rebalancing of a world thrown into utter chaos after a generation was wasted away on the fields of Europe. His findings had established new fields of science, though his name was hardly ever attached to them, and brought him the millions, nay, billions he needed to establish the society that would save the world.

And now…

His lips twisted as he leaned back in the wheelchair that was his only means of locomotion now, and he considered the frankly calamitous events that had led to this flight. NERV's willfulness and outright insolence. Ikari's betrayal. The emergence of powers from beyond the universe none could have foreseen, even the creators of the Scrolls themselves. All burned at him in a way that the aches and pains of his rapidly more artificial body could not compare to.

But they would persevere. There was no end except Instrumentality. There could not be any other end, now. They had come too far, done too much, to turn back from this course. And they would bring humanity with them. Whether they had to come with them kicking or screaming or not.

A tone sounded in his earpiece, and a screen folded out of his chair, blinking on to show the words 'SEELE-4'.

"What is it?" he growled.

"I have arrived at Arqa." the man behind SEELE-4 replied simply. "2, 3, 5, and 7 have arrived as well, and the others are not far behind. Only a day or two at most."

"Very well. When I arrive, we will begin the collection process to ensure the Final Scripture will be at the peak of its power. What of our agents?"

"We have various methods of collection available to us at a moment's notice. Our sources in the Lone World are now… problematic, at best, so we should not rely too heavily on them."

Kihl considered this for a moment, a gnarled, wrinkled hand stroking a clean shaven chin. "Let us begin with some of the more… subtle methods of collection. Should those fail to remain under our control, we shall have to be more… direct. Either way, we can, perhaps, turn some of our perceived setbacks into an advantage. I shall lay out my thoughts when I have compiled them and arrived at Arqa."

"Very well, sir. We look forward to your arrival."

With that, the screen switched off, folding away as Kihl looked down again, remembering his youth, and the struggle which he made to keep it.

 

[Vajrei]

Finally I am caught up with both stories. It has been an interesting read.

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Thanks for all the reactions, on both ends. Glad to see that you've found it interesting thus far, too. I have a lot planned for this final portion. Here's to hoping I can pull it off in a satisfying manner.

 

[Vajrei]

Thanks for all the reactions, on both ends. Glad to see that you've found it interesting thus far, too. I have a lot planned for this final portion. Here's to hoping I can pull it off in a satisfying manner.

Click to shrink...

I am most looking forward to how this one turns out. Seele may have been set back significantly, but they are not finished yet. As for that altered Rebuild timeline, I get the feeling that conflict and the main one will end up crossing paths.

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 33: Windows of the Soul

We've had little success thus far. Every cave we've explored thus far has been empty, either bare or with scattered pieces of Judean or Judaic pottery strewn across the ground. We've sectioned off the valley into sectors, each seemingly filled with caves. We've fully explored one of them thus far, and are most of the way through another. We have 18 more to go.

Of course, that's what everyone else sees. But I found… something, yesterday, on one of my personal expeditions. A clue that, for whatever reason, I've kept from the others. A clue that might lead to a discovery that could change our understanding of the world.

- From the personal journals of Lorenz Kihl, June 18th, 1920

Little Korea, Tokyo-2, Two Days Later

First Lieutenant Mariah Marlowe looked around at the world with wide eyes as she and the others took a rare full day off. Not simply because her newfound Sight, along with that of Mana and Mayumi's, scanned around, drinking everything in, but because the trees that dotted the streets were beginning to ease into a newfound autumn, their leaves turning orange and yellow and red before they fell.

And it was… cold. Seasonally cold in Japan for the first time in a decade and a half. A brisk wind blustered through the streets, making the people break out old jackets and hats, or go out and buy from the stock that had been sitting in back rooms for what felt like time untold. Even with the chill, the streets were nearly bustling, people out taking pictures of the trees and of each other, and especially, of the group's destination.

Mari, Mana, and Mayumi emerged into the now sprawling Foreign District's Korean section, home of former refugees from the 90 Minute War that sparked off the Impact War period. Now, though, there weren't simply Koreans to be found. It was now Japan's link to the rest of Reality, a stopping point for traders, the Worldstrider Corps, and the League's diplomatic efforts in Asia.

Portable buildings, doorways into sometimes vast dimensional shops, were on almost every other building, with permission, of course, and floating, almost ephemeral signs advertised the wares that lay within them.

Mari almost dashed from store to store, dragging the group of Children, the other Children and Daniel and Eleanor patiently in tow, from doorway to doorway, peeking in for a moment sometimes, and if the store garnered her attention for long enough, they would wander in and peruse its wondrous wares.

As they emerged into a particular store called 'The Looking Glasses of Azranyth', stepping onto a wide display floor, the walls lined with slightly glowing objects, the proprietor turned to face them as they began to disperse in little groups going to parts of the walls.

"Well, hello!" he said in a somewhat deep, echoing voice, walking down the stairs that led to a second floor and towards them with arms spread wide. He wore flowing clothing that was bright, but not gaudy, shades of blue and green most prominently fluttering as he approached, accented by streaks of gold.

The kids turned to the proprietor, and saw that there was no mouth for the voice to come from. Who was presumably Azranyth had grey, somewhat craggy, almost rock-like features, his head ovoid with ridges along his forehead. Most pertinent to the kids, there was no mouth beneath his glowing green eyes. A smooth, featureless face was all that went down to a pointed chin that was capped by a simple golden ornament. In the place of hair, thick tendrils flowed from the bottom of his elongated skull, which Azranyth had tied into a tail that slightly swished from side to side as he swept his gaze across the group.

"Welcome to my humble shop." Azranyth said, his voice once again seeming to echo out from him. "I sell what could best be described as windows into other worlds, in one way or another. For example, if I may…"

He walked over towards Shinji, Asuka, Rei and Kaworu as they peered at several spheres, plucking one off of a high shelf and drawing a simple pattern on it before holding it out.

It glowed brightly for a moment, then a small dragon soared out and around the shop, circling the kids and Daniel and Eleanor before coming to rest in Azranyth's four-fingered hand, looking at each of the awestruck kids with bulbous, almost bug-like eyes.

"This is a recreation of a dragon of the world known as Pern." Azranyth continued as the kids clustered round him, the adults following more slowly. "And this is but a fraction of what me and my wife's hand-crafted technology is capable of. Far more immersive incursions into other worlds can be achieved. Please, follow me upstairs, if you will."

"Really? There's better than tiny dragons?" Mari asked giddily as Azranyth led them up the stairs.

"Oh, yes." Azranyth replied as they all emerged onto the second floor, on which a counter took up the center of the somewhat smaller floor, and far larger wares took up the walls, looking like proper mirrors now instead of the crystalline spheres. In front of one of them was another of Azranyth's species, thinner and with more closely fitting clothes, studying a piece the size of a standing mirror intently with their back turned to the group, scanning the edge of the mirror with a slightly glowing baton.

"This is Ghynza, my wife." Azranyth said, the mention of her name causing her to pause for a moment and look over as she stood. "She is the mind behind these wonders, while I am simply the humble proprietor of this shop."

Azranyth looked around for a moment, and his brow furrowed. "Now, where is our other employee…"

"Give me a moment." Ghynza replied. "She's stepped through the Looking Glass here to help me calibrate the bubble field. Let me get her back."

Ghynza turned, and stepped through the mirror, the kids walking forward with wide eyes to catch a glimpse of a verdant scene, within which a hazy, somewhat prismatic bubble stretched from the edges of the mirror into the distance.

"So, how does all of this work?" Asuka said offhandedly as she and the others scanned the scene.

"Well, it's quite complicated, I must admit." Azranyth chuckled. "There are many different kinds of technologies, as it were, that go into making our wares. Ghynza will be able to give a more detailed explanation when she returns."

Shinji looked back at Azranyth. "And this is all made and managed by just the two of you?"

"Well, yes. At least, such was the case until Vesta became employed."

Daniel perked up at this, most of the others catching on only moments later. "Vesta?" he asked, an eyebrow slightly arched. "Who might this Vesta be?"

Azranyth looked into the mirror before turning back to the group. "Perhaps I should let her introduce herself."

Ghynza stepped through the mirror, and at her side was another woman, human, with pale skin and nearly white hair, who wore dark jeans and a similarly dark sweater, scanning the group with silver eyes that lit up as they fell upon Daniel.

"Well, then." she said softly as the Children who knew parted to allow her passage, letting her step towards Daniel and Eleanor. As she approached, a quiet chime sounded, likely someone else entering the store.

"It is good to see you again, Daniel." she smiled as Daniel stepped forward, a smile of his own on his face.

"And it's good to see you too, Vesta." Daniel embraced her for a moment, Vesta taking a moment before she reciprocated.

As they parted from the embrace, three children in particular looked between Daniel and Vesta with varying degrees of puzzlement. "So…" Mayumi said slowly. "I'm guessing there's a history that we're unaware of?"

Shinji, along with the other Children, nodded. "Yes. Vesta is from another world Daniel visited."

"A long story," Daniel said, "for another time."

"So," he continued as he looked at Vesta, "you've gotten into the business of linking worlds?"

"In a sense, yes." Vesta replied. "It is… wondrous to behold. After so long in the dark, moodily lit confines of Firelink Shrine, to step onto other worlds, utterly verdant in comparison, is a refreshing thing."

"And one that can be abused quite easily."

It was a quiet, level voice that drew all eyes to the trio that stood behind them all now. It's apparent owner was a pale, lanky man, dressed almost entirely in black. Black eyes stared out from under a mop of raven hair, and his expression could almost be considered dour.

His partners were a study of contrasts. The man at his side had a far more healthy complexion, bright blue eyes rolling under bright blond hair as he nudged his companion with an elbow. "Oh, come on, Nicky, no need to be that dour. We're frequent customers, after all."

Nicky, apparently, sighed quietly. "Come on, Will. Let's at least retain some professionalism on the job. Kaerana is a great example of such."

The tall, elven woman behind them both ignored them as she nodded at Daniel. "Major Theisman, it is well to see you again."

"Indeed." Daniel replied, then looked back down at the couple in front of her. "Nico, Will. What brings you three to this fine establishment?"

Nico DiAngelo stepped forward as he nodded. "Keeping things above the board, as it were. We've been helping authorities around the world track down illicit smuggling rings that use this sort of technology to aid in bringing potentially dangerous objects to this world. Mr. Azranyth here," he said as he nodded to the shop owner, "has been one of the more prolific sellers of Echo-linking tech in this hemisphere."

"And such technology as this," Azranyth said, sweeping a hand across the selection of mostly person-sized mirrors, "is most usually made to order, save for a few known safe Echoes. And that is after a thorough background check. Something which I've said every time you've come through when a patron has been in my store."

"And it won't be very long until we stop coming around." Will said as he stepped forward. "Law enforcement officer training is going better than expected. Give it a week or two, and it'll be like we were never even here."

"Very well." Azranyth said after a moment, slowly and clearly at least somewhat unconvinced.

"So," Mari said inquisitively, "who are you two? I know the coolest handmaid ever. Hi, by the way", she waved at Kaerana, who nodded in turn, "but where do you two come from?"

Nico and Will both looked at each other for a moment, then Will smiled slightly. "Okay, honey. I did the whole talking thing last here. You get to introduce us."

Nico sighed. "Alright. I'm Nico DiAngelo, son of the Greek god Hades, and friendly with several time world savers such as Percy and Annabeth, and Daniel Theisman here. I believe we've been introduced to a few of you before."

He nodded over to Will. "This is Will. My husband, and son of Apollo, and sometimes quite literal light of my life."

Will waved at everyone with a cheery smile. "Hi. Like he said, son of a Greek god, probably be perfectly happy to explain later when we're not on the clock."

"Huh." Mari said as she and those who had not been previously introduced nodded slowly. "You know, that's the least weird thing I've heard coming out of the whole Worldsea, Reality thing."

"And you know what?" Daniel said as he walked over to her side. "It doesn't ever get not weird. Embrace it. It makes things a lot easier, trust me."

Mari shrugged. "All well and good on that front, bruv. It might be Mana and Mayumi who'll have trouble there. Might be."

Daniel glanced at the other two children in question. Mana regarded the two men with an arched eyebrow and a slowly growing hint of puzzlement, a good thing to see, considering her formerly emotionless state. Mayumi, on the other hand, seemed more curious than anything. "So, does that mean that you're… different, due to your godly lineage?"

"Somewhat. Anything that isn't ancient Greek is a chore to read." Nico said with a shrug. "But I can exercise some control over the dead, skeletons, spirits and such. Will here can heal even the most broken of bodies. And contrary to opinion, isn't too bad an archer or singer."

"Oh, stop." Will said as he lightly punched Nico's shoulder.

"But that's enough about us." Nico said, looking back at Azranyth seriously. "If you will, we can talk for a few moments more in a more private setting."

"Very well." Azranyth replied. "Follow me."

With that, the group left, leaving the Children, Daniel and Eleanor alone with Ghynza and Vesta.

"So…" Mari said as she turned to the two shopkeepers with an excited gleam in her eyes. "Is there anywhere we can go right now?"

Ghynza nodded over to Vesta. "She can show you a few example pieces we have. I'll be finishing up this one, then I will be joining my husband."

All eyes turned to Vesta, some more excited than others, all intrigued as Vesta smiled slightly. "If you'll all follow me? I'll begin with a personal favorite."

- - -

HERZ-Matsushiro, 2 Days Later

Mari sat in the Entry Plug, a regular one this time, dressed in her green and tan Plugsuit, and took a deep breath of the strange, perhaps even exotic, smell of the synthetic LCL as she looked around at the feed of the Evangelion bay for the umpteenth time in several hours in the Plug. She had wondered what it was like, after having the stuff described to her. Now, after two days of being immersed in the stuff, she felt like she was at least starting to get close to what it was like.

"Hmmm…" she said after a moment. "Y'know, I think I've finally figured out what this stuff smells like. It smells kinda… plastic-y. Synthetic, like it says on the tin." her nose crinkled slightly. "I'll honestly be ready for whatever Frame Plug you've got waiting for us after we're done here."

Ritsuko sighed quietly as she looked up from a readout on her clear-pad, a display which showed the almost geometric design of the core in the Units the Numberless Children were ensconced in. "We're still just testing it out as a P2​ fluid. No worrying about being exposed to it unless you injure yourself somehow."

She looked up at the displays which showed the three kids in their chairs. "Are you feeling anything markedly different from your experience with regular LCL?"

Mari bobbed her head from side to side for a moment. "Well… things feel a little clearer, I guess."

She opened a channel to Mana and Mayumi. "What about you girls? How do you feel, seeing as the good doctor is probably going to ask in a few moments?"

Mayumi shrugged. "Other than the general feeling of being in the Eva again? I mean… everything feels a little more… responsive."

"Yes." Mana nodded. "Responsive would be the right word for it. But it feels… wrong, now. Somehow. I'm not sure."

Ritsuko nodded as she looked down at the clear-pad again. "I see. Calculations are showing a 5 to 10% increase in your synch scores with the SLCL compared to the regular brew, as it were. So, let's begin again."

Mari sighed quietly as she settled back in the seat. Try number… what? 20? 25? Somewhere in there. This was what it had been after training sessions finished up for the past two days. Nonstop trying to pull… whoever was in these cores out. But it would be worth it to see mom again. To say nothing about whoever Mana and Mayumi might be pulling into the Plug with them.

She closed her eyes and focused. 'Here we go again and all that.'

She could properly see the connection she made, now, with her Sight. Her connection with who she was sure was her mom. But that was all she could really see for the first day. Having switched to this SLCL stuff, she could see… something more. Not much. But it was an improvement.

'Alright, old mum, or whoever you are.' Mari thought as she readied herself. 'Hope this doesn't hurt too bad.'

"Get ready to pull…" Kensuke said. "Now."

With all the strength her soul could muster, Mari strained to lift her mother out of the core of Unit-05. As before, she seemed to be stuck on something, but now…

"She's coming loose." Mari muttered. "Come on…" the twitching of the Eva in its gantry was a distant concern as she strained again.

Confusion. Wondering. Pain. All those and more thrummed through the link. What efforts to try and actually talk to her had been stymied by what most were guessing was the core, but Mari continued to try, regardless. 'Come on, mom! We're close, I can feel it! Just a little more! Just a little more. Please.'

Slowly, surely, all three kids' scores began to climb on the display that Ritsuko, Maya and Kensuke shared. "Wow…" Kensuke muttered as the Numberless Children reached, then surpassed 95% in mere minutes.

"Come on…" Mana said, her brow furrowed and a gleam of determination in her eyes. Mayumi said nothing, her eyes squeezed shut as she concentrated, and the Numberless Children gave the effort everything they had, Flux slowly trickling in, then out through the Vent Frames hidden under the Plugsuits.

Then, finally… a budge.

Then another, and another, and suddenly, all at once, a deep, wet pop signaled someone, a rather heavy someone, landing in Mari's lap. She counted herself lucky enough to have had her glasses knocked askew for a moment to only somewhat see her sudden new passenger's nakedness as she heard the Plug's other comm windows shut off immediately, the Plug itself shutting off moments after as it rose out of the Eva.

There was a strangled breath and a coughing fit as the LCL went into the person's lungs, and she adjusted to breathing through it for a moment. "What's going on? Where am I? Who…" the woman who sat on Mariah said, clearly looking around in some confusion.

Mariah adjusted her glasses again, and found herself looking into a mirror. Sure, she was a little older, a little more Japanese, and her eyes were black instead of blue, but… she really was a carbon copy of her, like dad said, wasn't she?

"Mom?"

Mari Makinami's eyes widened. "Is… no…" she shook her head, a confused look in her eyes. "This isn't Instrumentality. It can't be…"

The SLCL began to drain as Mariah shook her head. "No, mom. This isn't Instrumentality. But I have you back. That's what counts."

She coughed up the SLCL in her lungs as the Plug drained fully. "Also, quick tip, cough this stuff up. It's probably not what you're used to."

As that transpired, Mana focused even deeper, and felt a simmering… annoyance. "Come on…" she said again, almost reveling in the pure emotion she felt now. It was… breathtaking. The anticipation, the hope, the anxiety, all of it coalesced into a rainstorm in her head she willingly got drenched in. This felt… she felt. And it felt… amazing.

And as those feelings strengthened her connection to whoever was in the core, she pulled, one last time.

With a wet pop, a body landed in her lap, and the connection between them was cemented for a moment as Mana's eyes widened at the sight of her mother. Kimiko Kirishima. The accident. Her father. Memories not her own came rushing into her mind, and she struggled to pull away from the connection for a few moments more.

Kimiko turned around, and looked into her daughter's eyes, her own eyes widening in surprise. "Mana…"

"Mother…"

Mana threw her arms around her mother, only draining the SLCL from her lungs almost on instinct as the rest of it drained from the Plug.

Mayumi's brow furrowed, and she was sure that, whoever was in here, they had become aware of the struggle to get them out. She strengthened the bond, her synch score raising to 100, then beyond as she pulled as desperately as she could. 'Whoever you are… I'm trying. I promise.'

She pulled, then pulled again, the desperation of wanting answers to a life she felt like she had never lived driving her on.

Then, a wet pop, and a body on her lap. Mayumi's glasses went slightly askew for a moment before she adjusted them to the sound of someone adjusting to breathing in LCL as the Plug deactivated.

She looked up, and found herself looking at someone a little younger than she was expecting. Her new passenger's eyes widened for a moment before she took Mayumi in a crushing hug. "Oh my god, Mayumi! You're safe!"

Mayumi blinked. She had let go of the connection as the woman in front of her appeared, so she was still unsure of who this could be. "Mom…?" she tried hesitantly.

The woman drew back, confusion in her gaze as she shook her head. "What? Mayumi, no. It's…" she paused for a moment as they both heard the sound of the SLCL beginning to drain. "It's me. It's Hotaru. Don't you remember?"

The SLCL gurgled past their heads, and Mayumi turned to the side to cough up the SLCL, hearing Hotaru, her sister, do the same after a moment, as tears began to well up in her eyes.

As they met each other's gaze again, the tears began to fall from Mayumi's face as she shook her head. "Honestly… no."

Then the plug opened, and Ichigo and Eleanor were standing beside them, towels ready.

The feeds of the Eva bays off, Daniel looked over to Ritsuko, Shinji, Toji and Kaworu looking at him. "They're out, then." he said quietly.

"Yes." Ritsuko said quietly, as she watched with the Sight as Hikari, Rei, Asuka, and Ichigo helped bundle up the newly returned. "Now… we can finally bury these beasts. Move on from them."

Daniel smiled slightly. "And to think I expected a little more fanfare of the end of the true Evangelions."

"Oh, I'm sure that time will come." Ritsuko paused as she watched the others usher off the new arrivals, then shut off her Sight as she turned to look at Daniel. "But for now… we just get the Frame Titans online, get things fully ready on our end." she said the words as a stubborn refusal of the Evangelion moniker that seemed to hang over the new war machines like an ominous veil.

"Very well." Daniel nodded. "Speaking of getting ready, Ms. Vincennes will be arriving today. I'll be taking some of the kids to meet her at the Tokyo-2 airport."

Ritsuko nodded. "Alright." she smiled slightly as she scoffed quietly. "Everything's happening today, isn't it?"

Daniel chuckled. "If this is what everything is now, I'm perfectly happy with it staying that way. At least for the moment."

"Alright." Ritsuko said with a slight chuckle. "Go get your new pilot. We'll be ready for her."

- - -

Tokyo-2 International Airport, 3 Hours Later

Daniel and the Children sat in the terminal of the airport, and pondered over who they had pulled out of the cores.

The most prominent of them was Mari Makinami, or Mari the Elder, as Asuka had so artfully put it. Her insistence that she, and everyone else for that matter, had to be inside Instrumentality was… concerning. But he'd had little time to show her the truth of what that would entail before he'd had to go and pick up the oncoming pilot. He had to trust, for now, that Ryoji would be able to both vet her for any ties to SEELE and get her back up to speed with the current state of the world. It was going to be a tall order, even with Interfacing. But if she could be turned away from SEELE, she could have some… particular intel, potentially.

Hotaru Yamagishi had proven perhaps the most enlightening of the trio they'd extracted. To find not a parent, but a sibling in the core was enough to raise the eyebrows of all those so inclined to the arts of metaphysical biology, but her story, and what it had said about who SEELE was willing to exploit to stay under the radar, surprised no one. 'Orphans… close ones. I'm surprised they didn't decide to continue that trend with the other pilots.'

Kimiko Kirishima was perhaps the most ordinary of them, simply Mana's mother, and quite relieved that she had a corporeal body again. It threw Mana's career of piloting into question, but they would worry about that after they had gotten her adjusted to the new reality she would be a part of again.

But right now, as the intercom system called out the flight they were waiting for, there were more present matters to worry about.

"So, Asuka," Toji said, looking up from his phone, "what's this Marie lady like, seeing as you've been the one talking to her lately?"

Asuka shrugged as she paused the game on her handheld console. "Well, for one, she's smart. Like, my level smart. She graduated Harvard with a Masters degree at 15. A pretty tall order."

"Woah." Hikari said, her eyes widening slightly. "That's quite impressive."

"Yeah." Asuka replied, then her brow furrowed slightly. "But she's… really humble about it. Almost… too humble, sometimes."

"That can't be too bad a thing." Shinji piped up. "After all, having someone relatively normal to train is probably going to be a nice change of pace from Musashi."

Asuka bobbed her head from side to side. "True. Speaking of, has he talked to you lately?" she nodded over to Toji and Hikari. "Any of you?"

Shinji shrugged. "I've tried to reach out after Daniel filled us in, but… it's taking some time. I'm making progress, though."

"Other than that," Toji said with a shrug as passengers began to disembark, "he's been avoiding most of the rest of us like the plague." he looked over at Kaworu and Rei, who sat calmly reading. "What about you guys?"

Rei looked back at Toji as she shook her head slightly. "He has not engaged either of us thus far." she said simply.

Asuka's lips quirked in slight annoyance, but she nodded. "Well, it's better than nothing, I guess."

With that, the Children turned their gazes towards the disembarking passengers, looking out into the crowd as they streamed past.

"Ah." Daniel said as he spotted a familiar head of blonde hair and pointed it out. "There she is."

All eyes turned to see the young lady scanning the terminal, her hazel eyes widening as she waved and made her way over to them with a gentle smile.

"Oh, hello, Asuka! It's good to meet you in the flesh finally." she said in near fluent Japanese.

"You too." Asuka replied, a smile of her own growing as she reached out a hand, which Marie took. "Welcome to Japan, and our weird little family. However long that lasts." she let go of Marie's hand as she gestured to the other Children. "These are some of my fellow pilots at HERZ. And this is our commanding officer, Major Theisman."

"Please," Daniel interjected as he raised a hand, "just call me Daniel."

Marie nodded somewhat slowly. "Okay. Daniel it is."

"Your Japanese is very good. I'm somewhat impressed." Hikari said as she stepped forward to shake Marie's hand. "I'm Hikari Horaki, by the way."

"Thank you. Reverend Simmons always said I had the gift of tongues." Marie said with a shrug. "I guess I've just been lucky enough to be able to prove him right in at least one way."

"Oh." Shinji said. "You're Christian?"

"Well, somewhat, I guess." Marie replied with a shrug, "I read my Bible, at least."

"I see." Shinji said, glancing over at Asuka. "I can't say that I know much about the Bible. All I've really learned about was the story about the walls of Jericho, but that's it."

Asuka blushed slightly as she punched Shinji in the arm gently. "And that's where we'll leave your scriptural education, dear." she said in a slight grumble.

Marie blinked as she glanced between the two now-blushing pilots. "There's… something I'm missing, clearly." she said, the look of utter confusion on her face stating her words moments before she spoke them.

"That there is." Daniel replied. "Now, let's get your bags and get you settled in."

As they all walked onwards, Daniel regarded Marie with no small amount of curiosity. "Is there a guardian we should be expecting, or are you standing on your own two feet?"

Marie shrugged. "Well, since Dad… disappeared, I've been in the good graces of the United States government. NERV was… a big part of my life. Dad was a technician, as I'm sure you know, and Mom was super supportive of our work."

"Our work?" Asuka interjected. "You were working with NERV as well?"

"Well, sort of. I was…" Marie bobbed her head from side to side for a moment. "I had a decent shot at getting into the Marduk Institute. Or so I was told."

Daniel shared a glance with the other Children for the briefest of moments. This, they were all sure, would merit a discussion later.

"Interesting." Toji said with a carefully neutral expression. "That could have made you the pilot of Unit-04, then, if it came to it."

"Perhaps." It was as brief a pause as any, but her tone, slightly guarded, even almost a shred hostile, fell on deaf ears for the most part. All except for Daniel and Asuka's.

But the moment passed as Marie shrugged her shoulders. "But I won't be piloting Unit-04 anymore, what with what I've seen on the news regarding Tokyo-3. I'll be piloting whatever other Evangelion the States make, and doing some good, hopefully."

"Hopefully, indeed." Daniel said as they retrieved Marie's bags. "It's what we at HERZ are in the business of, after all."

"Oh, yeah." Asuka said as she nodded. "There might not be any more Angels or other giant monsters left to fight right now, but I'm sure someone is probably going to be stupid in an Eva at some point."

"Unfortunately so." Shinji said, a dour expression on his face. "I hope that day will be far off, with the power that being in an Eva gives."

"Honestly, you and me both. But, knowing people…" Toji trailed off somewhat ominously.

"Yeah." Marie sighed. "There's the potential that you all will be quite busy once Evangelion production gets off the ground. But I think you have the skills to endure whatever comes. Skills that I hope to learn from who seems to be the best among you."

"Yes." Kaworu said with a slight smile. "Asuka's skill is perhaps the greatest. Though now, that is a high bar to clear, considering the fact that she helped train many of us as well."

Asuka gave a self-assured nod. "That it is. But if you're trying to be the best, there's few better to learn from than me. You were really smart when you asked me to help train you."

Marie chuckled. "I'm glad you think so. I simply recognized your abilities. You had every reason to turn down a stranger like me, I'm sure. With what I assume is your current workload, an extra person to worry about training to what I can assume are your high standards could be quite strenuous."

Asuka rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. You sell yourself short, and you try to assume my abilities? I gotta tell you, first thing you should know about the great Asuka Soryu-Langley. I don't back down from a challenge. And this? Training you is only going to be fun. I promise."

Marie nodded as they loaded her bags into a waiting van, and began to whisk her away to what would be her new home for the next several weeks. "Fun…" she said quietly.

 

[Vajrei]

Good to see those trapped souls free. Hopefully they can adjust to the changed world.

 

[StriderInCosmos]

Chapter 34: Tearing Down the Dollhouse

I've spent countless hours in the nights since my discovery trying to decipher this scrap of vellum that I've found. The language on this seems to be a root of dozens of different languages, and yet… it is nearly inscrutable. The closest I have gotten to translating it is by using a hodge-podge of ancient Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic. But, from what little I can infer, it seems to be some kind of manifest, detailing the contents of one of the caves on the far side of our search. The closest I can translate what it says the content is is "scripts of holy danger".

It… compels me. After we are done searching tomorrow, I will go to where this cave is at night. Myself. Something there must be valuable if this scrap places such importance on what it contains.

- From the personal journals of Lorenz Kihl, June 21st, 1920

JNV Seikaku, Another World, Early 2021

Colonel Misato Katsuragi regarded the small group around her table, and wondered at what had gotten Ritsuko so… worked up.

Of course, anyone who looked at her now, sitting calmly with Captain Ibuki and glancing down at her tablet every once in a while, would be hard-pressed to say that she was anything but totally in control of her emotions. But she had known her since college. Her little tics, the tapping on the arm of her chair when she didn't have a cigarette handy, her hand holding Ms. Ibuki's, were evident to her that whatever Ritsuko had called them together to see, it was going to be… interesting.

As she squeezed Makoto's hand under the table, however, she did appreciate the comfort of something so simple as what was going on across the table from her. Hell, she'd appreciated all the comfort he'd been able to give since…

No. Now was the time to focus, as Ritsuko cleared her throat and got everyone's attention. "I've received a message for all of us." she began. "But especially for…" she looked over at Misato. "Captain Katsuragi."

Misato's eyebrow arched as whispers rose up between Chief of Security Beifong and Chief Medical Officer Aanderson, while Chief Engineer Tennison and Rear Admiral Alst, their fleet commander, simply exchanged glances.

"And who would be contacting me? Is it someone at NERV?" she asked.

Ritsuko shook her head. "No. At least, not so far as I can tell. We received the message from a…" she glanced down at her tablet again. "Commander Tabris of WILLE."

Eyebrows rose around the table as Misato's brow furled. "And is it only addressed to me?"

Ritsuko shook a head that now sported close-cropped hair. "No. It's addressed to everyone in the fleet."

She looked back down at the tablet and began to read. "To Captain Katsuragi and the other members of the former U.N. Task Fleet. Congratulations. Your will and mine have come to align themselves in opposition against NERV and its desire to prematurely end the world. Thus, I offer you the chance to act in a far more decisive manner than you have been currently operating, by joining WILLE as it begins operations against NERV to end the threat of the Evangelions and of Instrumentality."

"I understand that you would perhaps be hesitant to join a cause that has contacted you with seemingly no great reason. Therefore, attached are the currently tentative patrol routes of the Mark.04A squadrons that NERV has begun to produce."

She tapped on the screen one more time, then slid it towards Misato, who spun it to peer at the world map, Makoto leaning slightly to peer with her.

The lines that crisscrossed the world were… almost overwhelming. "There's no way we'll be able to outrun them for long if that's what they plan to do." Makoto said, a hard edge to his voice.

"Any numbers to go along with them?" Misato asked as she slid the tablet over to Tennison.

"Thousands." Ritsuko said quietly as quiet gasps went up one by one as the tablet made its round. "Possibly even hundreds of thousands. This Tabris fellow doesn't seem to have concrete details yet."

She took the tablet again as Ibuki passed it back to her. "But, Tabris does offer a solution. A way to stymie the production of the piloting systems necessary for the Marks to function."

"Really?" Beifong said as she leaned forward. "That feels… convenient."

Ritsuko shrugged. "Perhaps. But if we do find what Tabris calls a 'Dummy Plug Plant' in the Shanghai area, then that convenience will work to our benefit."

"And what's to keep Commander Ikari from noticing this attack?" Rear Admiral Alst interjected. "For something as important as this seems to be, wouldn't he have surveillance on this location 24/7?"

"Apparently, because Ikari and Fuyutsuki are going to be away in the Middle East for the next several weeks." Ritsuko shrugged. "Due to that, apparently they won't be paying attention to their sensor nets."

Ibuki shook her head. "That feels… suspect to me. Surely, we shouldn't believe it's just the two of them. And how does this Tabris character have such information in the first place?"

"Honestly…" Misato paused as all eyes turned to her. "How they know doesn't matter. We finally have the opportunity to actually do something to stop the Commander. Or at least set him back more than shooting down one or two flights of Mark.04As every few weeks."

"And you do understand that we'll be throwing in our lot with this WILLE, and essentially be a part of the organization if we do this?" Ritsuko asked.

"It's better than running around trying to just survive. Now, we can actually put up a fight."

Misato nodded to Alst. "How long will it take to get to Shanghai from where we are?"

Alst sighed quietly as he ran a hand through close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair. "Given our position in the Atlantic? About a week if we want to be quick and loud."

"We can afford it. I'll make sure the pilots know."

. . .

Toph Beifong and Kiana Aanderson found a quiet part of the ship and shut the door behind them as they took a seat in what was Aoba's preferred compartment for card games.

Toph sighed. "Man, Katara. We got in over our heads with this one. And that's saying something, coming from me."

Katara nodded. "Maybe. But we made it this far, and through several other worlds as well. We're close to finding Kin. I'm sure."

Toph nodded in turn, a skeptical look on her face. "I mean, I've said it before, but I think Kin can do just fine on his own. Do we really need to find him?"

"If these Scions are as bad as we've been told they are, and they're here like you think they are, then Kin's going to need all the help he can get."

"Yeah." Toph glanced around. "But…" she sighed and shook her head as her mouth quirked into something that was almost a scowl. "These damn kids. Almost as much in over their heads as we are. You guys and your big, bleeding hearts…"

Katara nodded wearily. "There's… not much I can do for them right now. Not without blowing our cover as non-benders, at least. And even still, things here are…" she shook her head. "I hope the others are doing alright, scattered among the fleet as we are."

"Oh, I'm sure they're fine." Toph scoffed. "Aang's trying to meditate while Korra and Zuko almost get into another playful fistfight while their wives try to pull them back. Sokka and Bolin are trying to entertain themselves in my division, and Suki and Mako are rolling their eyes at their antics."

Toph pulled out a smartphone from her pants pocket. "And we have these, remember? We could call them and know what I'm saying is right."

Katara blinked, then blushed slightly. "Look, the last time either of us saw a phone, it came in two parts and had a wire, remember? This is the first "modern"," she said with big air quotes, "world we've been to and stayed on."

Toph shrugged as she pocketed the phone. "Speaking of the modern world… have you been able to find out what that Angel thing in Asuka's head is doing?"

Katara shook her head. "No. Not yet. But… it's wearing her down. I'm sure of it. Whether it's the fact that she hasn't slept for the past year, or whether it's something else, she's… changed from when we were at NERV."

Katara paused. "And what about your 'person of interest'?"

Toph fully grimaced now. "Whoever she actually is…" she paused for a moment, glancing towards the door. "She's not simply Esmeralda Tennison. Whether she's with NERV still, or someone like us, she won't say. And she's made it remarkably difficult to ask her since I first talked to her."

Katara sighed, then glanced down at a watch. "Well, back to our duty stations."

"And to Shanghai."

"The first normal-sounding place I've heard in a while."

"Yeah, actually."

- - -

1 Week Later

The door to the mostly empty room opened, and Asuka looked up at Misato, the light from beyond the doorway shadowing her.

"Alright. We're here. You'll be sortying out in 20 minutes. The Dummy Plug plant isn't more than a 10-minute stroll for you guys. All you'll apparently have to worry about is lighting the place up when we get there and going home. Any questions?"

"Uh, yes, actually." Mari Makinami raised her hand. "Mrs. Doctor said that she was doing something with S2​ Engines to our Evas? Is that done, or…"

"Yes. It's done." Misato sighed quietly. "We had to go through who knows how many of those buzzards, but you no longer need an external power source."

Mari pumped her fist. "Nice! The princess and I can really kick ass, then."

Asuka rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I guess. As long as you don't get in my way, we'll pull this off pretty easily, I think."

"It looks like it." Misato took a step back. "Suit up, pilots. Stay safe."

With that, she shut the door, and Mari bounded up towards her locker, throwing off clothing as she did. Asuka rose more slowly, her mind chewing on the words Misato had said to them. And how they were said. No real emotion, even in the usually hopeful request to stay safe. A request that she had heard so much passion behind less than a decade ago.

"A person wouldn't get that." a darker part of her said. "She only asked that of a tool she doesn't want broken."

'Shut up.' the words she thought were familiar, worn with use and wasted on what seemed like her darker part's indifference. The thoughts never went away, even though she never dreamed. It never went away. It was always there. Like it promised. What would happen once…

Asuka shook her head slightly as she sealed the new Plugsuit she had gotten, the collar of the suit not even obstructing the now sleek, black DSS Choker that she wore.

She'd noticed Mari had gotten one too, a fair while ago. She still wondered somewhat as to why.

But right now, it didn't matter. All that really mattered was that there was likely a helicopter waiting to get them to the Titanskeep and that Tennison and Ibuki were probably expecting them soon.

So, she walked behind Mari, out the reinforced steel door, shutting it behind her. They had a mission that needed to be done, after all.

- - -

The Judean Desert, Somewhere in Former Jordan

Commander Ikari stared out into the vast desert, intent on finding his destination. They had to be close, now, if what the old men's records were saying was true. His head was wrapped in a turban to cool his head, his eyes shaded as his visor enhanced his sight.

Deputy-Commander Fuyutsuki grasped at the reins of the pack mule that accompanied him, wondering somewhat how the desert could remain untouched in the aftermath of the Third Impact. "Ikari," he said as he adjusted his sunglasses, "are we sure that the records that you accessed were accurate?"

"If the old men were keeping them, they would have to be." Ikari replied. "If there was a civilization close to where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found…"

There. Out at 10x magnification. A series of dimples in the sand. "Then that is where it would be."

They climbed down from the height they were at slowly, two small sojourners in a land that had seen their kind come and pass through for centuries. But they were unlike most all other wanderers, who usually came seeking after petty water or glittering riches. One did not need the former, and neither had any great desire for the latter. The treasure they sought was far more… fundamental in nature.

The day had stretched on, and the sun had begun to dip towards the horizon as they finally reached the dimples in the sand, now resolved into great furrows stretching nearly kilometers in length. As they traced around the dips, they found an entrance, a hole in the ground that stretched into darkness.

"The flashlights, Sensei." Ikari said as he approached, and Fuyutsuki dug two flashlights out of a pack that he slung on his back, clicking one on as he handed the other to Ikari.

They descended into the dark after posting their mule, beams of light cutting holes to view the walls around them. They were worn, ancient stone things, likely witness to the rise and fall of civilizations. Far more recent were the tarps above their heads. And the logo that they, and a few scattered pieces of equipment, carried.

"The IPEA?" Fuyutsuki wondered as they crossed underneath the insignia of the International Project: Evangelion Agency on one of the tarps, his voice echoing slightly. "What were they doing out here?"

"A good question." Ikari answered. "Likely, they were in the hands of SEELE before their usefulness passed and they were dissolved."

"Much as NERV was, I suppose." Fuyutsuki muttered.

Soon they came to a stop before a door, circular and swirling with patterns on its surface, that had a ceiling hanging over it for a few centimeters.

Fuyutsuki shook his head as his light found the scorch marks of explosives use, the patterns underneath not even marred. "I believe we've reached the end of our expedition, then." he sighed wearily.

"Perhaps not."

Fuyutsuki looked at Ikari somewhat incredulously as he stepped forward. "How do we open the door then?"

Ikari simply placed his hand in the center of the door, and focused. After a moment, a quiet, but nearly bone-rattling hum filled the air around them as Ikari's hand began to emit a familiar prismatic glow that seemed to bleed into the etchings.

'An AT Field…'

Fuyutsuki's eyes were wide with shock. 'What has he become? An Angel? Or something more terrible?'

The door spiraled open from under Ikari's hand, and pillars of light exposed a smooth, almost untouched hallway that stretched before them.

"The way is clear." Ikari said simply. "Let us continue."

As they progressed through the empty hallway, their footsteps and the clatter of Fuyutsuki's pack echoing in the otherwise silent space, Ikari spoke after long minutes. "Sensei."

"Yes, Ikari?"

"Why do you still work with me?"

Fuyutsuki blinked at the question. "What do you mean by that?"

"We both know that NERV is now a ghost of its former self, for all the Evangelions it produces. All that remains for our cause are the old men and SEELE's boy. The rest are either dead, have deserted us, or actively seek to stop us. And yet, you remain. Why?"

Fuyutsuki pondered on the question for a moment. His memories flashed back to happier times. Times where he could see the eyes of the man in front of him. Alive and intent and not stuck behind some barrier or another. Times where he could see… her eyes. His best student. The daughter he'd never had. And perhaps…

"Because our goals are still aligned, Ikari, regardless of your current status." Fuyutsuki replied. "Because if we go through with this, there's a chance that… perhaps I can get both of you back."

"Perhaps."

That word, singular even as its echoes drifted through the corridor, seemed to weigh heavily on Kozo Fuyutsuki as he sighed quietly.

- - -

Shanghai Region, Former China

Unit-02 plodded along, marching through the somewhat mountainous crystalline wasteland as Unit-08, an eye-aching pink and white sight she still wasn't entirely used to, seemed to skip along with her.

As they marched, Asuka idly wondered why the Chinese government of old hadn't decided to add anything when they decided to rename Nanchang in honor of the now sunken city due east of them that they'd sailed over. A last grasp at tradition and familiarity? National pride? Simple ease?

Who could tell now, really? Almost everyone who was able to was dead, after all.

"500 meters to the target." Captain Hyuga's voice said through their link to the fleet. "Any signs of Mark.04As?"

"Nope!" Mari chirped. "It looks like it's clear skies for us thus far. Not a vapor trail or ear-piercing scream to be seen or heard."

"Any idea if we have to worry about automated defenses?" Asuka asked.

"We're hooking up to one of the derelict satellites in orbit." Ritsuko replied. "We'll have eyes on your target in… 1 minute."

Asuka nodded, shifting her grip on the Pallet Rifle in her hands. This was her rifle, now. Mari had hers, they had their Prog Knives, and… that was about it. Anything else was locked under the core material. And once she emptied the clip, it was going to be a while before she fired it again.

"2 minutes to contact. Get ready."

Asuka took a deep breath and glanced over at the screen that showed Mari. "You ready?"

"Born ready and living the dream, princess!" Mari said, a grin on her face.

Asuka sighed and shook her head, the ghost of a smile tugging at a corner of her mouth as they crested the peak they were climbing… and there it was, a low, mostly flat series of buildings, dominated in the center by a dome that had the NERV logo prominently sprayed across its face.

'Might as well have painted a target on it.' Asuka mentally snarked as she sighted her Pallet Rifle.

"Hold for a moment, Asuka." Ritsuko said. "We're scanning the facility for any defenses that might be waiting for you."

Asuka tapped her foot as best she could as she waited for the techs to work their magic. "Alright." Ritsuko said again. "No defenses here. You're clear to fire."

So, Asuka and Mari pulled the triggers, unleashing twin streams of 330mm shells that drew lines of carnage where the Evas pointed them.

A minute passed. Then another. Finally, the rifles clicked empty, and the pilots released their grips on the triggers, lowering the rifles to observe their handiwork.

The facility had been reduced to ruins in the span of seconds. Flames licked up from scattered patches of rubble, and the barrage had almost guaranteed nothing above perhaps a meter or two was left standing.

They watched for a moment, then Mari shrugged. "Alright. Job's done, life's easier. Let's go home!"

She turned, and started making her way back down the hill they had climbed, back towards the fleet docked over old Shanghai, humming a jaunty little tune. Before Asuka could turn, however, something apparently caught Makoto's eye.

"Wait a minute, Asuka. Keep an eye on the wreckage. Something moved."

Asuka leaned Unit-02 forward slightly, and a magnification lens sprang to life in Asuka's Plug, slowly zooming in. Asuka's eyes narrowed slightly as the lens scanned the rubble, then her eyes widened.

Out in the distance, something, someone, pushed a piece of rubble off herself, and a bloodied, dust-caked, naked Rei Ayanami stumbled forward once, then twice, then collapsed onto the ground. She did not get back up.

'The doll…' Asuka wondered. 'They started producing her line again…'

"What the hell is going on here?"

Makoto's question seemed to unleash a flood of chatter on the other end of the line, then another voice came on and spoke over them. "Alright," Misato said, "go ahead and come home. We'll straighten things out once you're back, figure out what's going on."

Asuka's darker part whispered, and she spoke what it said to some degree. "Not much to figure out. They were doing something with the girl that helped end the world. And if she had to die again to make sure that didn't happen, then oh well. I'm on my way."

With that, Unit-02 turned away and began to follow Unit-08 back to the fleet.

- - -

Ikari and Fuyutsuki emerged into a vast chamber, vast racks of what appeared to be scrolls lining the walls as a strip of white light shone down on the center of the space, casting what was almost a spotlight on a long raised block of smooth stone.

Fuyutsuki couldn't help but stare at the somewhat anachronistic sight for a moment. "All this technology…" he walked over to a nearby rack, putting on a pair of gloves and gently pulling down a scroll. "And they still kept records on… vellum."

"What materials they kept records on is pointless." Ikari said, marching towards the opposite rack from Fuyutsuki and pulling down an armful of scrolls. "What information might be contained on them is what truly matters. Let's begin searching."

The block became a table as scrolls were quickly piled upon it, durable laptops opened up to access SEELE's translation files for the strange language that was found on the original Dead Sea Scrolls.

Hours passed, scroll after scroll read slowly and set aside. Most were useless to them, either untranslatable or meaningless pedantics. There were a few that mentioned Instrumentality, a far, far smaller pile that had gone into scroll cases for further study at home.

As Ikari pulled another scroll from the now small pile next to him, carefully unfurling it, his head silently twitched between the parchment in front of him and the glowing computer screen, tapping a few keys on it every once in a while. His other hand traced lightly under the lines of text that covered the scroll, before stopping at a series of words. "The Realm of Imagination…"

Fuyutsuki blinked as he looked up from the scroll he was reading. "What is it?"

"This one is the only one so far that has made any reference to Imagination as a place instead of a concept. A place…" he continued reading, silently translating for a moment. "Where all things exist, regardless of their place or status in the physical world."

He continued to read silently, Fuyutsuki's gaze now intently on the scroll before his former student. "It mentions… the Gates of Imagination. Barriers that must be weakened and breached in order to step into the realm. Ones that must be large to bring anything of great size back over."

"Such as a version of Lilith…"

"Yes, Sensei. Exactly."

Though his tone was level, as it had been since he had used the Key of Nebuchadnezzar, Fuyutsuki could almost swear there was a level of… excitement present in Ikari.

"What would it take to breach these Gates, then?"

Ikari's finger began to trace again, reaching the end of the script without saying a word. "It does not say. Perhaps there are more documents here that can be found that will reveal it. Or perhaps the old men have a better idea of what it might mean."

"They are also seeking to start Instrumentality, after all." Fuyutsuki admitted with a restrained sigh. "Perhaps their research went into ensuring such contingencies as well."

"Perhaps. It is, in fact, quite likely that their main database will have an enlightening perspective for us."

"Ikari…"

"Yes, Sensei?"

"What consequences lie in store for the world? No power as mighty as this seems comes without cost."

"They do not say. And it does not matter."