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Defence in Depth [NGE]

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Omission and Disclosure
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    • New year, new chapter! Enjoy!


    Rei felt an unfamiliar, and distinctly unpleasant, emotion as she settled into a chair at Captain Katsuragi's dining table. It seemed to rise from an awareness that Shinji and Asuka's living arrangements – however much Asuka, in particular, might display discontent with them – were clearly 'better' than her own in several ways.

    The fabric of the apartment was sound, with no visible damage to the walls. The windows were double glazed and free of cracks. The refrigerator was quiet. The right rear element on the hob did not trip the circuit breaker after a minute's use. The water from the kitchen tap ran clear immediately. Visiting such a residence, a pleasant enough experience in itself, was leading her to make comparisons, and she did not like the results.

    "So, Rei. What did you want to talk to us about?" asked Asuka.

    Rei looked at Asuka, then at Shinji. "When we were talking about my haircut and how it might be interpreted, you made a remark about how my choice of words might make people think I'm not human."

    "I remember that," affirmed Asuka. "I wasn't being serious, really."

    Rei weighed her words carefully. If she disclosed the wrong facts, it was likely that a great deal of disruption would ensue. On the other hand, she needed to disclose enough to secure the trust of her comrades in arms. "The fact that I am... not human in the strictest sense of the word is not for public consumption. I should not do things that encourage speculation in that direction."

    "The Commander enrolled you in school without making you wear cosmetic lenses, right?" asked Asuka.

    "Yes."

    "And you change for PE in front of the other girls?"

    "Yes."

    "You're a red-eyed natural bluenette with no bellybutton. Someone's going to have noticed." Asuka gave Shinji a sidelong glance. "Certainly this per— I mean, Shinji has."

    Shinji looked confused for a moment, then blushed furiously . "I didn't— I mean, I was trying not to look! I didn't mean to..."

    Rei pondered the implications. It was hard to reconcile the Commander's far-ranging insistence on secrecy with such an oversight. "Thank you for pointing this out to me." She tapped her fingers on the table. Properly, she should tell the Commander about Asuka's observation, but the likely outcomes were undesirable. If he felt the leak was a problem, he would withdraw her from school, and then her only contact with the other pilots would be at official NERV activities, drastically reducing her opportunity to observe their souls. If he did not, then raising it with him would be a waste of his time and hers.

    "So," said Asuka, "I guess I have to ask, if you're not human, what are you? Some kind of alien or something?"

    "I was created as part of the Evangelion project." Careful words. Factual words. Words that did not betray secrets it would be dangerous to reveal. "My creators hoped to avoid the need for a human pilot. They did not succeed. They could create as many bodies as they wished, but they could not give them all souls. There are many of this body, but only one can act at a time."

    "Where did your soul come from, then?" asked Shinji.

    Rei froze, not even blinking, as she realized she had misstepped.

    Asuka's hand waved in front of her face. "Earth to Rei, Earth to Rei. Come in Rei Ayanami."

    Rei closed her eyes and shook her head. She needed to provide enough of a fact. "An experimental process." Everything was an experiment. "It turned out to not be repeatable, despite their best efforts." There. That should suffice.

    Shinji frowned a little, then shrugged. "I... well, I have no idea how difficult it was. I guess that makes sense."

    Asuka raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

    Silence hung over the table, only to be pierced by the sound of the front door and Captain Katsuragi's call of "I'm home!"

    "Welcome home!" called Shinji.

    "Huh. When did that workaholic last get home before dinner?" asked Asuka.


    "Ayanami dined with Katsuragi and the other pilots today," observed Fuyutsuki. "She was late home."

    Gendou nodded, his hand hovering over the shougi board. "Did Section Two note any other discrepancies?"

    "She remarked on one of the agents' smell."

    The pieces clicked against the board as Gendou made his move. "Nothing to be concerned about, then. We already know she is more alert to her surroundings now."

    "The agent smelled of marijuana, though of course she didn't recognize it." Fuyutsuki looked at the board, and dropped a knight. "Unprofessional."

    Gendou sighed as he saw the checkmate. It was a rarer sight than it used to be. "I lose, sensei."
     
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    WIP Preview: Music Hath Charms
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    • A short glimpse of what the Children's coming Saturday holds:


    Chewing chilli flakes as she dressed for school that Saturday morning, Rei came to an inconvenient realization: her body was starting to get used to her attempts at self-distraction by capsaicin exposure, and she was going to need a new strategy. Picking up her school bag, she focused on what the day held in store.

    School itself would be just another spell of pointless tedium, offering her knowledge that she would never need. Only the fact that Shinji and Asuka, and their fascinating souls, would be there offered any prospect of mental stimulus.

    The evening would be a pleasant void, floating in a tank of LCL in Terminal Dogma while her latest memories were recorded by the MAGI. It held no interest, but at least she would be free of all the aggravating stimuli of daily life for the duration.

    The afternoon held dread and excitement in equal measure. On the one hand, Saturday afternoon in Tokyo-3's shopping district would be full of noise and confusion. On the other, she would be able to watch the interaction between Shinji and Asuka, and they would be introducing her to the world of music.

    She wondered if they would touch each other. Their souls were at their most interesting when that happened, as the transferred fragments lit up from the connection to their origin.

    On her way out, she frowned at her front door with its broken lock that had allowed Shinji's intrusion into her apartment. It left a new doubt lingering in her mind as she headed downstairs. The Commander undoubtedly prized her safety – his response to the activation accident told her that – yet nobody had thought to repair the lock on her living quarters. It was another troubling oversight to add to the one Asuka had brought to her attention.
     
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    • partial draft - record shopping
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    • Shinji frowned at the sign above the shop Asuka was pointing to. The bizarrely angular style of the red-on-black writing, embedded in a tangle of meaningless lines, made it nearly impossible to read, but he thought it might say "KHAOS NOIZ" in romaji. The rest of the storefront wasn't any more reassuring. The front door was painted black, and the window displays (with black backdrops) either side of it featured mannequins in outlandish outfits, posed with battered-looking electric guitars. "Asuka, is that really the right place?"

    She glared at him. "Look at it!" she snapped. She'd been short-tempered all day. Misato had even said something about "back to your old self, eh?" at breakfast.

    "Okay, okay, I guess we should go in."

    "Damn right. Let's get some decent music!" Asuka forged ahead, Rei following close behind. Shinji brought up the rear, not quite knowing what to expect.

    The interior upheld the black-and-red scheme of the shopfront, and Shinji felt profoundly out of place as he saw the handful of other customers, mostly older than himself and dressed in black with outlandishly styled hair. A new song had just started playing from the ceiling speakers, a woman chanting wordlessly over some sort of background noise.

    ((in a perfect world a link to The Creatures – "Exterminating Angel" would go here. if you can find it legally, go listen to it.))

    The English lyrics, when they began, seemed confusing and disjointed, but the texture of the sounds alone was enough to send an uncanny chill down his spine. He looked over at Rei, and saw her staring intently at the speakers, tapping her fingers lightly against her thigh in time to whatever structure might be found.

    "Hey Shinji, stop lollygagging and get over here," called Asuka. As Shinji headed towards her, she added, "You too, Rei."

    Rei's hand came to a rest as she blinked and shook her head. "Do you know this song?" she asked as she joined Shinji and Asuka.

    Asuka pulled a face and clapped a hand to her belly. "Ugh, no. And I could do without those fucking lyrics right now."

    "Oh. Why? They are intriguing," said Rei, starting to tap her leg again.

    Asuka glared at Rei. "You... you really don't know, do you?" she said, before muttering in a low voice, "Lucky bitch."

    Rei seemed not to notice the insult, but Shinji did. "What was that for?" he asked.

    Asuka gave him the same glare, then stepped away to put Rei between them. "Ask me later and I'll help you understand. I don't want to get thrown out for causing a scene."

    Shinji looked back at her and nodded. "Fine."
     
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    • Music Hath Charms
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    • Chewing chilli flakes as she dressed for school that Saturday morning, Rei came to an inconvenient realization: her body was starting to get used to her attempts at self-distraction by capsaicin exposure, and she was going to need a new strategy. Picking up her school bag, she focused on what the day held in store.

    School itself would be just another spell of pointless tedium, offering her knowledge that she would never need. Only the fact that Shinji and Asuka, and their fascinating souls, would be there offered any prospect of mental stimulus.

    The evening would be a pleasant void, floating in a tank of LCL in Terminal Dogma while her latest memories were recorded by the MAGI. It held no interest, but at least she would be free of all the aggravating stimuli of daily life for the duration.

    The afternoon held dread and excitement in equal measure. On the one hand, Saturday afternoon in Tokyo-3's shopping district would be full of noise and confusion. On the other, she would be able to watch the interaction between Shinji and Asuka, and they would be introducing her to the world of music.

    She wondered if they would touch each other. Their souls were at their most interesting when that happened, as the transferred fragments lit up from the connection to their origin.

    On her way out, she frowned at her front door with its broken lock that had allowed Shinji's intrusion into her apartment. It left a new doubt lingering in her mind as she headed downstairs. The Commander undoubtedly prized her safety – his response to the activation accident told her that – yet nobody had thought to repair the lock on her living quarters. It was another troubling oversight to add to the one Asuka had brought to her attention.


    Shinji frowned at the sign above the shop Asuka was pointing to. The bizarrely angular style of the red-on-black writing, embedded in a tangle of meaningless lines, made it nearly impossible to read, but he thought it might say "KHAOS NOIZ" in romaji. The rest of the storefront wasn't any more reassuring. The front door was painted black, and the window displays (with black backdrops) either side of it featured mannequins in outlandish outfits, posed with battered-looking electric guitars. "Asuka, is that really the right place?"

    She glared at him. "Look at it!" she snapped. She'd been short-tempered all day. Misato had even said something about "back to your old self, eh?" at breakfast.

    "Okay, okay, I guess we should go in."

    "Damn right. Let's get some decent music!" Asuka forged ahead, Rei following close behind. Shinji brought up the rear, not quite knowing what to expect.

    The interior upheld the black-and-red scheme of the shopfront, and Shinji felt profoundly out of place as he saw the handful of other customers, mostly older than himself and dressed in black with outlandishly styled hair. A new song had just started playing from the ceiling speakers, a woman chanting wordlessly over some sort of background noise.

    The English lyrics, when they began, seemed confusing and disjointed, but the texture of the sounds alone was enough to send an uncanny chill down his spine. He looked over at Rei, and saw her staring intently at the speakers, tapping her fingers lightly against her thigh in time to whatever structure might be found.

    "Hey Shinji, stop lollygagging and get over here," called Asuka. As Shinji headed towards her, she added, "You too, Rei."

    Rei's hand came to a rest as she blinked and shook her head. "Do you know this song?" she asked as she joined Shinji and Asuka.

    Asuka pulled a face and clapped a hand to her belly. "Ugh, no. And I could do without those fucking lyrics right now."

    "Oh. Why? They are intriguing," said Rei, starting to tap her leg again.

    Asuka glared at Rei. "You... you really don't know, do you?" she said, before muttering in a low voice, "Lucky bitch."

    Rei seemed not to notice the insult, but Shinji did. "What was that for?" he asked.

    Asuka gave him the same glare, then stepped away to put Rei between them. "Ask me later and I'll help you understand. I don't want to get thrown out for causing a scene."

    Shinji looked back at her and nodded. "Fine."


    Rei had very little to pay attention to, floating in the tank. The petty discomforts of daily life were far away, the flotation medium obscured her vision, and the layers of armoured glass shut out all sound beyond the gentle whirr of the recirculator pumps.

    Very little, though, was not nothing. She could sense Dr Akagi's soul. She could sense Commander Ikari's soul arriving.

    She could sense the dim scrap of some other soul that was attached to his.

    That was new, and troubling. She had faith that it was part of the Scenario, but it seemed a strange choice to have made.


    "So, you said you were going to 'help me understand'?" asked Shinji as he put away the last of the washing up.

    Asuka looked up from the sofa. "Yes. How much of the lyrics did you understand?"

    "Not much? Something about jagged glass and stars and angels? English isn't my best subject."

    "Right." She got up and walked back towards him. "Give me your hand, and don't pull away."

    He extended his hand nervously. Her choice of words was worrying, but he wanted to not be confused.

    She grabbed his wrist, rather harder than he'd have liked, but his attempt to complain turned into a yelp of pain as he started to feel what she was feeling. The tenderness across his... no, her chest. The raw, tense, knotted pain in her abdomen. He tried to pull away, but with her grip so tight on his wrist he only succeeded in pulling her closer, nearly overbalancing them both before she let go and stepped back.

    A faint ghost of her pain lingered for a few moments as he caught his breath. "That hurt," he muttered.

    "That's what that song was about. Mostly. I think. Maybe about wanting to end the world because of it, too."

    "Shouldn't you see a doctor or something?"

    Asuka snorted and rolled her eyes. "Already did. 'Just part of becoming a woman,' she said. 'Just take some painkillers and carry on, it's only a few days a month.' Stupid stoic bullshit. She doesn't have to pilot Eva like this."


    The taste that lingered in Ritsuko's mouth, despite gargling and brushing her teeth, was much less unpleasant than after her last 'conference' with Gendou. It still made her wonder what he'd been eating, but it was just a matter of scientific curiosity, rather than a desire to not taste him after he'd eaten it.

    She walked into her office and saw Lieutenant Ibuki staring intently at whatever report she was working on. There was something endearing about the younger woman's enthusiasm. Aoba and Hyuuga would never stay up this late working on a Saturday, short of a direct order.

    "Ibuki?" she called.

    Ibuki jolted in her seat and turned towards Ritsuko. "Sempai?" Ibuki frowned. "Are you all right, sempai? Did some— Did something happen?"

    Ritsuko blinked, taking a moment to process Ibuki's concern. Oh. Right. I didn't brush my hair, my lipstick is a mess, and I'm not smiling about it. Rumour control time. "Nothing I said 'no' to, Lieutenant. No need to worry. Go home and get some sleep. Those numbers will keep until morning, whatever they are."

    "R-right!" Ibuki locked the terminal and stood up. "Thank you, sempai. If you need it, I know a... service. They helped a friend of mine."

    "I told you, it was nothing I said 'no' to. But thank you for your concern. Sleep well, Ibuki."
     
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    • Fragment: Misato and Kaji's date
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    • A fragment I'm considering for Misato's possibly ill-advised date that is happening that same night.


    This was stupid, Misato told herself.

    She was eating yakiniku with the man she'd fucked six ways to Sunday at university.

    She was drinking fancy beers with the man she'd broken up with by answering machine.

    She was gazing into the eyes of the man who was supposed to be investigating anyone and everyone at Tokyo-3, herself included.

    The only way it could get any stupider was if she actually made a pass at him instead of just pressing her foot against his leg under the table.

    He didn't even look like he'd noticed that part.

    She grabbed her beer glass and necked the last third of it. It was good. Too good. She drank a premium brand at home, but this was better.

    Stronger, too. Belgian import.

    "Are you going to eat that?"

    She looked down at her last piece of yakiniku. She picked it up in her chopsticks, and fought down the stupid impulse that resulted. "Yes," she said, and popped it in her mouth.

    "I'll settle up." He tilted his head. "And I'll get you a cab."

    Bastard.
     
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    • Glancing Contact
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    • This was stupid, Misato told herself.

    She was eating yakiniku with the man she'd fucked six ways to Sunday at university.

    She was drinking fancy beers with the man she'd broken up with by answering machine.

    She was gazing into the eyes of the man who was supposed to be investigating anyone and everyone at Tokyo-3, herself included.

    The only way it could get any stupider was if she actually made a pass at him instead of just pressing her foot against his leg under the table.

    He didn't even look like he'd noticed that part.

    She grabbed her beer glass and necked the last third of it. It was good. Too good. She drank a premium brand at home, but this was better.

    Stronger, too. Belgian import.

    "Are you going to eat that?"

    She looked down at her last piece of yakiniku. She picked it up in her chopsticks, and fought down the stupid impulse that resulted. "Yes," she said, and popped it in her mouth.

    "I'll settle up." He tilted his head. "And I'll get you a cab."

    Bastard. "Just me?" she pressed.

    He leaned across the table. "I have a lead to follow up in the morning," he said in an almost-whisper before standing up. "I can come as far as your front door."

    She steadied herself against the table as she stood up. "Next time, then?"

    He grinned.


    With the rice cooker loaded for breakfast, Shinji looked back over his shoulder at the sound of door rollers. Misato emerged into the living room a few moments later, looking less hungover than he'd come to expect on Sunday mornings.

    No happier, though.

    "Good morning, Misato!" he called. "How was your date?"

    She made a beeline, not for the beer fridge as he expected, but for the cupboard with the glasses in it. "Kaji slept in his bed and I slept in mine," she replied, filling a glass from the tap. She chugged the contents almost as fast as a can of beer, a trickle of water escaping the corner of her mouth. "How was your evening? You two behave yourselves?"

    "The furniture is in one piece and there are no new burn marks," replied Shinji. He considered asking why she was opening the day with water, but thought better of it. Anything that involved her drinking less beer couldn't be all bad. "Excuse me, Misato, I need to get at the eggs."

    Misato stepped out of his way. "Omelettes for breakfast? Or are you going to try your hand at okonomiyaki?"

    "I'm not from Osaka."

    Asuka emerged from the bathroom in casual clothes, one hand resting on her middle. "Hey Shinji, do we have any painkillers?"

    Shinji smiled sympathetically. After last night, he knew exactly how she felt. "There's some ibuprofen in the cabinet. Top shelf."

    "There's three sets of pills up there." She looked like she'd wanted to slip an extra word in there. "You know I can't read the squiggles half the time."

    "Red and white packet," said Misato. "What's up, Asuka?"

    "What do you think?" Asuka snapped back as she vanished back into the bathroom.

    Misato set down her empty glass. "What's that about?" she asked Shinji.

    He thought back to last night, raised an eyebrow, and echoed Asuka's response. "What do you think?"

    Misato looked at him oddly, then shook her head. "Right, right, I get it. Tell her there's a hot water bottle in the closet in her room. And if you want to really make her day, go buy her some good chocolate."


    Next time on Defence in Depth: Kaji meets a contact. Rei returns home and ponders her listening material. A new school week begins.
     
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    Preservation of Memory
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    • Walking through a real military base, full of clean-shaven men in fatigues with short hair glaring at him, was not Kaji's idea of a good Sunday morning. On the other hand, there was no way he was going to get to the bottom of the bullshit on that one guy's personnel record without talking to someone.

    Walking into the base offices, he showed his UN ID to the sergeant on the front desk. "Ryōji Kaji, United Nations Special Inspectorate," he announced. "I'm here to see Colonel Hasegawa."

    The sergeant looked Kaji over, frowned at his ID card, and nodded. "He's waiting for you."

    After the third pat-down of the morning and some shenanigans with the security gate, Kaji was ushered into the colonel's office.

    "Good morning, Inspector," said Hasegawa. "I understand you want to talk about one of my men."

    "Yes, Colonel," replied Kaji, passing his folder across the desk. "We obtained his personnel records, but they appear to be... less than entirely accurate. I'm sure you had nothing to do with the inaccuracies, but you might have some insight into the man."

    Hasegawa flipped open the folder and started leafing through it, his expression shifting slowly from 'unimpressed', through 'incredulous', to 'downright thunderous'. "Well! NERV's ridiculous computers dug this claptrap up, I presume?"

    "Yes, Colonel."

    "Thank you for bringing it to my attention, and I do remember this man. Signing a sole survivor's psychiatric discharge always sticks in the mind, Inspector. What's your interest in him?"

    "His name came up in connection with the sniper incident. The Tokyo-3 garrison regiment used a missile to get rid of the sniper, so there's not much to go on."

    "Nakajima was always fond of that approach. Cost him fewer men than trying to countersnipe, he said." Hasegawa looked down at the folder. "Sadly, after his discharge, I couldn't tell you anything about this man. Probably wound up sleeping rough."

    Kaji took pains to not let his disappointment show. "That's useful in itself. Thank you for your time, Colonel."

    "You're welcome." Hasegawa handed the folder back to him. "Here. Take your spy thriller away with you."

    "Of course." Kaji collected the folder and offered Hasegawa a card with a secure phone number on it. "If something happens to catch your attention, this number might be useful."


    Standing down in Terminal Dogma, Ritsuko looked over the results on the MAGI terminal. The backup, large though it was, was complete. Ayanami's vital signs were stable. Her last sync score was entirely satisfactory. There was no reason to intervene and adjust her biochemistry. The Commander would not approve of her doing so.

    It still took an act of will for her to not drug the hybrid girl to the gills. She keyed in the release sequence for the tank and watched as the flotation medium drained away and the armoured glass retracted into the floor.

    Ayanami looked her way briefly before heading towards the changing room. It wasn't the strangely impassive look that should have been there. It was focused, alert, even insightful. Maybe that was a sign that she should do something. But... no. The moment was gone. The hyposprays were too drastic and there was no reason for her to put Ayanami back in the tank. She turned her attention back to reviewing the data.

    She was still immersed in cardiograms and biomarker listings when the sound of shoes on metal announced Ayanami's return from the changing room. "Dr Akagi, I am ready to return home."

    "Fine. Let me show you out." Ritsuko stood up and walked Ayanami to the elevator.


    Rei walked into her apartment and locked the door behind her. She walked over to the dresser and pressed 'play' on the CD player lying there, starting up one of the discs Shinji had suggested for her.

    The music playing over the speakers was soft at first, slowly building into layers of dissonance and irregular rhythm. It was not pleasant, but there was something compelling about it, something that demanded movement despite the difficulty of the rhythm.

    In the quieter, less compelling moments, she found time to slip the booklet out of the CD case and read it in bits and pieces. She read of a near riot at the first performance and ferocious arguments about the work's merit; she read also of the narrative depicted in the ballet, revolving around the rituals of an ancient people, and the choosing of a girl to dance herself to death before her elders.

    She paused the disc then, and set aside her clothes. Her hope that loudness might serve the same purpose as the chemical heat of capsaicin had proven unfounded, and the fact of cloth was even more annoying when perspiration became a factor.

    There had to be a solution. Perhaps the technology of plugsuits could be adapted to civilian clothing. Dr Akagi would not care, but perhaps she could ask the Commander to arrange something.

    Monday came, and once more Asuka found herself zoning out as Nebukawa-sensei droned on about some petty detail of the pre-Impact world. Unable to concentrate on the teacher and the squiggles filling the blackboard, she turned her gaze towards Shinji.

    It was annoying, really. She shouldn't be thinking about him this much. She wouldn't be thinking about him this much if she hadn't had to pilot with him inside her Entry Plug. She couldn't get those bits of his memory out of her brain.

    Sharing an apartment with him just made it worse. He could cook the best out of the three of them. He could keep the place tidy even with a drunken slob like Misato living in it. He did everyone's laundry and yet she still hadn't had a single pair of knickers go missing. When she inflicted her uterus on him on Saturday night, he'd sucked it up... and gone out after breakfast on Sunday to buy her chocolate and more painkillers.

    He liked good music. He'd taken to Rammstein quite quickly, and that Russian classical CD he'd put on was better than she expected. Very thunderous, very passionate.

    He looked good in a plugsuit. He'd look good in normal clothes if he had any sense of style at all. Maybe she'd have to try doing something about that.

    "Miss Sōryū."

    No. No, she was not going to help Shinji look better. Why would she do that? He wasn't her boyfriend. They hadn't even been on a date. She'd paid for her own drink at the café. He was just her housemate.

    "Miss Sōryū," repeated the old fossil at the front of the class, finally breaking her train of thought.

    "Yes?" she asked.

    "I understand you were raised in Germany. I'm sure your school curriculum covered how Second Impact changed people's lives. Perhaps you could share a few examples with us."

    "Our modern history classes focused on the 1930s and 1940s," she replied, not bothering to stand up. "In Germany we think it's important to remember our country's sins as well as its glories."

    There was a silence in Classroom 2-A around the space of half a minute, and some of the looks sent her way felt less than friendly.

    "I see," said the teacher, when no more words were forthcoming. "Very well, Miss Sōryū. Now, as I was saying regarding the railway system following Second Impact..."


    Next time on Defence in Depth: An Angel comes to Tokyo-3. The power of music is demonstrated.
     
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    • WIP: Bifurcation
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    • A very-much-draft excerpt for you :)


    In Classroom 2-A, three young people reacted to the sound of their phones going off in unison.

    Shinji sighed heavily, steeling himself for the prospect of another life or death struggle. For all that, he felt a certain thrill that had to come from the parts of Asuka's soul he was carrying. He gathered his things and hurried out the door without looking back.

    Asuka grinned as she saw the alert text on her phone. She'd finally get a chance to show off what Unit 02 could do when it wasn't stuck underwater with standard equipment. She'd just finished gathering her things when she glanced over at Shinji and remembered the pain he'd felt in his chest. He'd nearly died the first time he was launched against the blue crystal Angel. They'd actually needed to use the shock electrodes built into the chest of his suit. Gritting her teeth and silently cursing, she did her best to look confident as she headed for the door.

    Across the classroom, by the window, Rei dug her nails into her palms and took slow deep breaths. Everything was the sharpest it had ever been, from the aftertaste of her toothpaste, through the slowly diffusing scents of her classmates' deodorants and suchlike, to the already hateful texture of her clothing. The only hope, if any was to be found, lay in defeating the Angel. Perhaps that would persuade her brain that the threat was gone for now, that she could sink back into the comforting fog of her daily routine.

    She needed guidance. Dr Akagi would just use the drugs she had in ample supply. The Commander might even decide she needed to be transferred into a fresh body and reconditioned from the beginning.

    Disappointed in herself, she gathered her things and hurried after her comrades in arms.
     
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