I do like the streamlined plan's ideas, but I'd like to keep the defense-in-depth aspect of VX-145's original plan. We've only done shallow plans against Gendo lately and he simply sidestepped, denied, or refused to acknowledge us, if he disagreed.
All must go according to our scenario, this time, or everybody's Tangy toast.
Also, I do wonder if distracting Gendo via antagonising the JSSDF further is really the only option? What if we get him involved with the behind-the-scenes discussions with JSSDF leadership, hammering the point that the Angel mindfucked both NERV and the JSSDF, that it ultimately wasn't either side's fault, and that repairs to relations should be made to prevent the Angels from exploiting it as a weakness again.
Too bad everyone besides Rei is confined to quarters. They NEED to know, but... being left to stew while isolated, aside from Shinji visits? Sounds risky.
[X] Talk to Rei about: NERV
-[X] Specifically, the whole "part-Angel clone" thing. Give yourself a day or so to process things.
-[X] You still love her.
-[X] You can't say you're not upset that she kept it from you, but you wouldn't have been any more forthcoming in her position either.
-[X] She'll need to tell the other pilots about this, soon, but probably after they're out of confinement. Secrets like this can rip a unit apart, not to mention her personal relationships with the others. You'll work with her on doing so, but she needs to do it. Suggest she start with Shinji -- it might be the scariest, but he's also the most stable person in her life that isn't actively making her existence hell, and he'd have her back. Also, he can actualy visit her.
[X] Talk to Shinji about: Romance
-[X] Have a serious discussion about how he feels about Rei. Try and keep the teasing to a minimum. Fail utterly.
-[X] Subtly prepare him for the revelation. You can do subtle... right?
--[X] Tell him Rei has something about herself to tell him. Something... admittedly classified, something which could get us all killed if it leaks we even know about, but which he needs to know. She needs him to have her back on this, and let
her do the bringing it up, but it's... a doozy, you're not going to lie.
[X] Talk to Asuka about: The Past
-[X] She told you something personal while she was drugged - before you could stop her. Apologise for that, and share what she told you if that's what she wants.
-[X] Still - if she wants or needs to talk about it, if she thinks it'll help, you'll listen.
-[X] As with Shinji, try and prepare her for a talk with Rei.
--[X] If she starts claiming Rei's an Angel who has hoodwinked NERV, listen, but get her to keep her voice down.
---[X] If, and
only if, she's been taken off the loopy drugs long enough to have sobered up:
----[X] Very quietly, tell her what you're about to say is highly classified. Tell her you're trusting her with this. Tell her it WILL get you
both killed if even a word of it, or either of us knowing about it, gets out.
----[X] Tell her she's half-right about Rei origin, but NERV created her, at the cost of Shinji's mother's life. Rei is both human and Angel, but unlike the Angels she is still a person. Mildly warn her to
not use this information against either of them, please.
----[X] Gendo isolated and psychologically abused Rei. Surrounded her with people who treated her as a thing, not a child. Asuka wants to know why Rei is so bad at being human? It's not because of her genetic origin. It's because she was never given the chance, *not even to stay dead when Gendo had her murdered* for not being a *good little doll* for him.
----[X] Tell Asuka that she is one of Rei's connections to personhood, let alone humanity, and so is Shinji. So ask her to please, find a way to manage her justified anger without lashing out at them. You've managed to squeak something past Gendo to give her the tools to do so. It will probably be annoying to learn them, and you don't know who will be training her yet, but if she wants to be part of this she'll need to get damn good at using them. Tell her there IS more, but she needs to concentrate on healing up and learning those tools, because you need Asuka's help.
---[X] If she's
not sober, tell her the two of you can talk about it once she's sobered up -- but in the meantime, you'd strongly advise not talking about it. If she's wrong, that's a slander lawsuit and removal from the pilot roster -- from well over your head -- waiting to happen; if she's right, blabbing could get us all killed.
That much, at least, hopefully counts as The Past? Even if it's like... twenty minutes into it, at some points.
@Sutekh, if it's too much tell me what's over the line, and I'll try to excise it. Or if it's fine, but counts as NERV rather than The Past, seeing how Asuka's mother's soul got meiosisized due to a NERV experiment.
[X] Talk to Hikari about: The Future
-[X] Follow up on making sure NERV gets her what medical treatment they can. If she's still physically able to pilot, but doesn't want to, see about getting her a discharge.
-[X] Apologize, deeply, for what happened. Even if it was the Angel's manipulations that sent things askew, you still told her everything would be fine before that, and her sister is going to be insufferable and inconsolable.
-[X] As with Shinji, try and prepare her for a talk with Rei, if she's still going to be part of NERV.
--[X] She doesn't know Rei nearly as well as the other two pilots do, so she doesn't have the same reasons (however much Asuka would deny it if asked) to keep quiet, so don't tell her as much. Simply tell her that piloting Eva is one of Rei's few consistent connections to people, and taking that away from her would hurt her as much as the Angels do. Which, it has been taken away, now. Her clearance to pilot has been revoked due to her actions at the end of the battle and immediately following. She needs her friends and comrades. Hopefully, Hikari can be one of those, even if she decides to leave NERV.
Special Activity:
[X] First, get an estimate from Ritsuko about how long it's going to take to get Rei to a point of passing - if at all. Use this information to plan the following accordingly, taking care not to cut these off suddenly as that's also pretty suspicious.
-[X] Tell Ritsuko about your conversation with the Commander, and the "punishments" he settled on.
--[X] See if she can't be the one to carry out this "psychological evaluation", rigged to send her home early. If not, coach Rei to get through it with Gendo or Fuyutsuki.
--[X] Come to an agreement on how to justify Rei's injuries, based on Ritsuko's knowledge of metabiology and of
Gendo's knowledge of metabiology
---[X] Ask if it's reasonable to expect Gendo to accept some kind of soul-base transfer caused by her contact with Unit-00 during the battle, causing some of her injuries to manifest on a new body -- if so, we can use that excuse if he checks.
---[X] Otherwise, Ritsuko can justify her remaining injuries by saying it would be incredibly suspicious for the known-to-be-injured pilot to be healthy so soon, and that she replicated the injuries as best she could on Rei 12.
-[X] Secondly, you will need to delay Gendo just long enough for that to be plausible
--[X] You know the JSSDF is planning an attack on NERV. Bring the Commander into all the counter-planning you can get away with, from force organisation to counter-espionage (using the latter to divert NERV's counter-intelligence
away from your own efforts).
--[X] Have Kaji get his government contacts to make trouble about the last battle - though don't mention this to Ritsuko.
--[X] During the counter-planning with Gendo, suggest that making amends with the JSSDF would mitigate the weakness the last Angel exploited to turn humanity's own weaponry against ourselves. We can't afford to be at odds with each other, no matter how
inconvenient either side finds the other. Even if that fails after genuine effort, we can use that in a PR battle. Which
is important, however little the apparent benefit given how the Angels are targeting and exploiting human psychology.
-[X] Third, make some trouble from your own position, dependent on how much cover you still need after the above. You have a concussion and most of the Evas are out of commission. You also need to be read into what the plan is for Unit 00 going forwards, and the pilots' punishments need administration...
-[X] If need be, have Kaji obtain a copy of your phone call to the JSSDF leadership during the battle, and "leak" images of the pilots' injuries as part of a general PR scheme, ostensibly to drum up sympathy for NERV after the last battle, but really in order to cover for any remaining scarring.
--[X] If negotiations with the JSSDF went well, frame it as the Angels having twisted humanity's ingenuity against us, banking on human's oldest weakness: fear of each other. Emphasize the need to trust each other and work together to protect the Children and each other. Hold a televised joint memorial service between NERV and JSSDF top brass -- Gendo included -- for the soldiers lost in the battle.
--[X] If negotiations went poorly, use the call recording and the photos as proof JSSDF went out of their way to endanger humanity in its critical hour. Yes, the Angel pushed them to do it, but they had the plan in place and ready to execute without adequate safety measures in case of the chain of command being emotionally compromised. Can Japan really afford having such hotheads in charge of their defense forces?
-[X] Finally, make preparations for the Commander to check on the progress down in Terminal Dogma: procure painkillers and other medication to make sure Rei can act only as injured as the chosen cover story can explain, and work with Ritsuko to come up with a few last-line plausible excuses. When she's ready to move, bring her home, even if you have to push a PR move of "humanity's endurance in the face of injury" and the need for someone to keep an eye on your concussion to get Gendo to sign off on it.
--[X] If he won't sign off on it, stay in the Geofront for a few days for monitoring, keeping the pilots' spirits up, and dealing with the battle fallout. Maybe you can take the chance to detox from alcohol while you're at it.
Concussions take 7-10 days to heal, after all, and Misato shouldn't know that Rei's going to be different as far as Gendo's concerned. Him knowing that Misato takes her duties as caregiver very seriously won't hurt us.
