[X] Shinji: Ask him if he wants to try to have a relationship with his father, maybe open up about how Misato didn't have a chance to. Agree that it's unfair, and point out how Gendo is generally bad with people.
You decide to be a little vulnerable around Shinji and tell him about your father. You leave out the circumstances by which you were parted (civilians by and large have been told the Second Impact was caused by a hyper-speed meteorite impact; details about the Contact Experiment are classified), but you tell him that you never really had a chance to get to know your father. He was always busy with his work, and left your mother and you behind. You hate to make excuses for him, but you say that your father was a weaker man than you thought, and couldn't connect to others the ways other people wanted him to.
You agree that it's unfair Gendo has dragged Shinji back into his life only to demand total obedience from him. You, if you were in Shinji's position, would not feel like Gendo had really earned that. Nevertheless, you tell Shinji three things. One, that Gendo may be weaker than he looks and struggle to connect to others (you refrain from comparing him to Rei; Rei doesn't deserve that sort of insult); two, that this is probably the only way Shinji will ever have a chance to reconnect with his father; and three, you ask him what he wants to do. He has that choice to reconnect or to not reconnect.
Shinji tells you he needs some time to think about it. He seems more focused than when you started talking to him.
[X] Random Event: Tell Rei that Gendo is coming to inspect the apartment in 10 minutes and that he may send her elsewhere if he thinks that this place is too dirty, then tell her to get dressed, clean her room and the kitchen while you clean the lounge and hide/clean up the trash
You inform Rei of the imminent arrival of Gendo. Rei's eyes widen just barely perceptibly. She turns the television off and scoops up Pen
2, who
warks in annoyance, and shoves him into his refrigerator. Her face is one of calm determination, but you can tell that she's also panicking inside. She looks to you for direction.
You tell her to first get dressed. Rei's always been a little…lax about the amount of clothing she wears in the evenings, but it's never really bothered you that much. It's not like you're much better. It's her home, she can lounge around in the nude if she wants to. That said, Gendo doesn't need to know this.
Rei rushes to her bedroom to get changed. You tell her to tidy her space as much as she can while she's in there, and then to handle the kitchen. Meanwhile, you tackle the living room and toss as much of the garbage as you can into your bedroom. You really hope Gendo has no reason to look in there. You figure he's mostly going to be concerned about the spaces Rei spends her time in. You also put the funky-smelling garbage in your bedroom for now.
You check your watch. Gendo will be here any minute and Rei is still in her bedroom. You pull open the door to find a thankfully dressed Rei trying to put away her mahjong set, which is strewn across the floor. Rei is attempting to put each tile in its exact correct order. The rest of her room is covered in crumpled balls of paper, empty blister packs of medication, dirty paintbrushes, and some fish bones that evidently Pen
2 coughed up. You tell Rei to handle the garbage while you stuff the mahjong tiles into their trays in random order. Rei's lips part slightly in apparent mortification, but she dutifully grabs the paper, fishbones and medicine packets, and in accordance with your will, throws them into your bedroom. The paintbrushes get thrown into the bathroom sink.
The doorbell rings. You haven't even started on the kitchen. You tell Rei to do her best in there while you stall with Gendo. Rei's on it.
You answer the door. Gendo, and to your unpleasant surprise, Fuyutsuki, step inside before you can even open your mouth to invite them in. You greet them and hurry them into the living room. The two of them pace the room and inspect most of the objects in it. It'd be comical if you weren't terrified out of your wits. Gendo makes some remark about how the room is cleaner than he'd expected it to be. He had heard certain rumors that you were a bit of a slob. You laugh awkwardly and dismiss them as malicious gossip, all while secretly wondering
who was telling him this. A few weeks ago, you'd worry it was Rei, but you're fairly certain she's too attached to this place to do something that could potentially get her moved elsewhere.
Gendo asks if he and Fuyutsuki can stay over for dinner in a way that suggests that he's not really asking. O-of course he can! You look nervously towards the kitchen where a clattering sound emanates from within. What the hell is Rei doing in there?
Rei sticks her head out of the kitchen and greets the Commander and the Subcommander. They exchange pleasantries like nothing's wrong. Rei seems a little happy to see Gendo, which makes you feel…angry. Gendo rises and makes for the kitchen. Oh no. You try to call out to him but the words stick in your throat, and he enters beyond the curtain. You quickly rush in, preparing to apologize.
The kitchen is…not clean, but it's better than it was. Most of the party debris is gone, but the counter is
messier, somehow. You realize Rei has started cooking dinner. You're not sure it's her turn, but it creates an alibi for why the counter is so messy. You hastily apologize and tell Gendo that Rei's still learning how to cook, so things can get a little messy in here. Gendo gives you a long, very Rei-like stare before sitting at the table and quietly watching Rei's cooking. He asks about the beer can pyramid. He does not sound happy.
What beer can pyramid? You look to your left to discover Rei has somehow assembled one from both discarded and still-cold cans she pulled out of the fridge. You look at Rei in stupefaction.
It is a sculpture of the Geofront, Rei informs the two of you. Rei is trying to recycle. You are unable to respond beyond nodding vigorously. You sit in extremely uncomfortable silence with Gendo while Rei cooks dinner for you. At one point, Gendo offers Rei some advice about putting away ingredients as she goes, rather than leaving it for the end. Rei smiles and begins to do so.
Rei's dish is a bland and inoffensive stir-fry that's terribly underseasoned. The vegetables are a little soggy, but it's not the worst thing you've ever eaten, nor the worst thing Rei's ever cooked for you. You shudder at the memory of that particular omelet.
The actual dinner itself with your two superior officers has to be in the bottom five though. The dinner is eaten in almost total silence. Even Fuyutsuki looks uncomfortable. After the meal, Gendo rises without thanking you for the meal and returns to the living room. Fuyutsuki is more gracious, at the very least. You decide to wash up to show you're not making Rei do all the housework, while Rei joins them in the living room. You hear them talking, though it's too quiet for you to make anything out.
You emerge to find Gendo and Fuyutsuki preparing to take their leave. Everything appears to be in order, Captain. Gendo's not exactly pleased, per se, but he seems to find Rei's living conditions satisfactory, perhaps even better than expected. Mercifully, he never asks to see either of your bedrooms.
Your bedroom stinks of fish and trash for the next three days.
[X] Special Activity: See a romance movie with Rei
Against what is probably your better judgment, you take Rei to see some romcom you'd been wanting to see. You prefer action movies most of the time, but the leading man in this movie is seriously hot and you've religiously watched all of his films. So obviously you have to see this one. You're mostly curious about how Rei will react to it, and the whole cinema-going experience in general. You're pretty sure she's never been to a movie theater, and your suspicions are confirmed by her visible confusion upon entering the lobby.
Once you settle in and the movie starts, you spend more time watching Rei's face than the
very hunky pleasantly proportioned male lead in the movie. You're not really sure what to make of it. She seems…bored? Not like, "every femtosecond I have to spend here is a tiny knife through my brain" bored, but more that she's looking at the film with the same kind of polite detachment you'd look at a tank of aquarium fish in a dentist's office with. Rei doesn't really seem to get too much out of the experience, and you're a little disappointed. She doesn't seem to "get" romance yet. And you missed looking at some pecs for this! You're going to see this movie again with Ibuki or something next weekend. You hope that at least making her
aware of romance has done something for her, as part of your devious plan to turn Rei into a regular teenage girl.
Of course all these thoughts take a bit of a back seat as you step out of the theater and see a long, glowing white thread slowly extending from the first quarter moon. That's not normal, right?
BLOOD TYPE BLUE CONFIRMED. ANGEL DETECTED APPROACHING TOKYO-3.
SARIEL
~Der Engel des Mondes~
The Angel is a glowing thread. It is stretching down from the moon. It is the same color as the moon. It is making a low buzzing noise like a dying fluorescent light. It is accelerating.
The early warning system was successful. Evacuation has successfully completed, and the shelters have retracted.
Your combat readiness is
Good. The Geofront is
Fully Intact.
The JSSDF is prepared to assist with the battle. Their combat readiness is
Good. Their attitude towards you is
Begrudging.
'OLE KŪ LUA
~Eighth Night~
You and Rei do some creative driving to get to NERV. Just as you park, you hear a loud boom from overhead. Great!
You and Rei part ways as she gets suited up and ready to deploy, and you head for Central Dogma's bridge. When you get there, you're greeted by three very baffled looking technicians and a frantic Ritsuko reading through some printouts at lightning speed. You demand to know what the situation is.
Well, uh, the Angel seems to have disappeared, Aoba informs you. The others confirm that the Blue Pattern detected by the MAGI computer system has vanished without a trace. The "thread" from the moon collided with the city directly above Central Dogma at high velocity before quickly reversing course and receding into the moon. The moon's surface itself, according to the latest data, does not have an Angel on it. It's very odd. It's as if the Angel has ceased to exist.
Ritsuko tells you that the MAGI supercomputer have calculated the odds of the Angel being annihilated spontaneously. The number is 0.00000000000000000002%, apparently. It is likely still out there, somewhere.
Evangelion Unit-01 and Rei are standing by, awaiting your orders.
What will you do with Rei?
[ ] Deploy Rei now.
[ ] Do not deploy Rei yet. Wait for the Angel to reappear.
What will you do with the JSSDF?
[ ] Tell them to stand by along the perimeter of Tokyo-3.
[ ] Tell them to move towards where the Angel attacked.
[ ] Tell them to withdraw for now.
And what of Shinji?
[ ] Bring him to Central Dogma.
[ ] Bring him to the Evangelion cages where Rei is standing by.
[ ] Leave him in his quarters for now.
