[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.
You decide to go with the easiest conversation first. Shinji has been moved to a barracks at the Geofront, rather than being left to his own devices in a holding cell, which is progress. His movements are highly restricted, however. He's visited Hikari and Asuka, but he hasn't been allowed to see Rei yet. Still recovering from injuries, apparently. Hikari's been groggy from all the painkillers, but she seems okay. Asuka refuses to talk to him. He also got chewed out by his father, which wasn't great. His dad had a point; he did disobey orders, but…it still felt bad. Shinji just keeps letting everyone down all the time. Sorry. He wishes he was better at this kind of thing.
It's into this glum atmosphere you throw a question like a grenade. You ask how he feels about Rei. Shinji stiffens. What do you mean, Misato?
You ask if they've started kissing yet or what. He's been sharing the same space with an attractive member of the opposite sex for months. You've seen them snuggling on the couch, so there's no need for Shinji to play dumb. It's okay for him to tell you. You won't tell everyone his secret. Probably, anyway. Call it doing a solid as thanks for him not blabbing about you and Kaji.
Shinji flushes a little, but he manages to keep his composure this time. He and Rei are just friends. They're not like that. Why does everyone think they're together?
Everyone? you ask. Shinji mumbles something about Suzuhara and Aida.
Well, regardless, that's not exactly what you wanted to know. Okay, yes, you did kind of want to know that, but you want to know how Shinji feels about Rei. Does he want something more than what they have right now?
Shinji clams up, panic on his face. He wants to do this the hard way. It's obvious he finds Rei attractive. It's not subtle. If he's worried about you finding out about that, it's far too late. That's why everyone thinks they're together, by the way. Shinji asks why you care so much.
Because you care about him and want to help him? Duh.
Shinji thinks there's more important stuff to worry about right now. And…Rei deserves someone better than him anyway. If he were to be with her, it'd…dirty her. He respects her too much. She deserves to be with someone who's a good person. Not a creep like him.
So, he does have those thoughts about her after all, then. Well, it's perfectly healthy for a boy his age, so he really shouldn't worry about that. Everyone has thoughts like that. But besides that: there aren't good or bad people in the world. There are only good or bad actions. He isn't a "bad person", any more than Rei is a "good person". All people have the capacity to help or hurt each other.
Shinji doesn't seem to know what to do with this information.
You continue that even though he isn't perfect, you know that he's been trying his hardest to help Rei. And because of that, Rei's still around. That doesn't sound like a "bad person" to you.
You ask him point-blank. Removing all obstacles in his path, if Rei were to walk in here right now and ask him to be together with him, would he at least be interested, if not say yes? It's okay if his answer is no. You just want to know.
Shinji says very quietly that he thinks so. He's afraid of hurting her. He doesn't think he'd be very good at being with Rei. He's boring, and lousy at almost everything that isn't piloting Eva. He's never been together with a girl before, and he'd probably screw it up. Rei's way smarter than him. She'd get tired of him and leave him. Like everyone else does.
Shinji's actually just afraid of Rei hurting his feelings. He's afraid of Rei. Privately, you think that of all the things about Rei to be afraid of, it's funny that he's picked that one.
You ask Shinji if he wants other people to love him. Shinji doesn't know how to answer. You answer for him. Obviously, he does. All people want to be loved by other people. But Shinji can't be loved by others if he doesn't let them in for fear of being hurt. He's already decided that Rei can't love him back, and he's running away again. If he never lets himself get closer to Rei, of course she'll never love him the way he wants her to.
You let Shinji sit with that thought. You can see him thinking, but he doesn't have a rebuttal to your needling.
You switch gears to the other pressing topic regarding Rei. You tell him that Rei will probably have something she wants to tell him in the near future. Something serious, and something potentially dangerous. Rei is going to need his support. He saw what happened back there. Rei's feeling vulnerable. You gently ask that Shinji let her bring it up on her own. Shinji says okay, unsure of what you're getting at. He'll do what he can to help Rei.
[X] Talk to Asuka about: The Past
-[X] She told you something personal while she was drugged - before you could stop her. Apologize for that, and share what she told you if that's what she wants.
-[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.
----[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. Gendo isolated and psychologically abused Rei. Surrounded her with people who treated her as a thing, not a child.
-----[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.
---[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.
You find Asuka in a locked barracks at NERV, same as Shinji. While she's not drugged up to the eyeballs anymore, you get the vibe that she's still experiencing an altered state of consciousness. She's unusually sluggish. She's still sedated, but the dosage is far lower. She doesn't look happy to see you, and she doesn't greet you.
You ask how she's feeling. Asuka says she feels like she's hung over--so, bad. The doctors did something to her. She rubs one of her temples and squints at you. Why is she in this locked room?
While you're not happy Asuka is displeased with her circumstances, you're relieved that she's closer to normal than she was. It feels like she's been diminished by whatever she's been given, her demeanor and mannerisms toned down from her usual self. You explain that this was her agreed-upon punishment for disobeying orders. If she was sober, she'd probably be feeling righteous indignation at her treatment, but at present, the most she can summon is mild irritation.
The first thing you do is apologize about hearing some personal details from Asuka she didn't want you to know. Asuka grumbles that she doesn't really remember what she told you. It was probably nonsense anyway. You offer to share what she told you. Asuka stares at you for an uncomfortably long time before nodding slowly. You tell her what happened.
Oh, so you know about that now. Great. Look, Asuka's moved on from it. There's nothing to talk about. Her mother was not well. There was an incident. It's in the past.
You're not comfortable with leaving this subject be, given that Asuka's obviously still traumatized by being assaulted by her mother. She was raving about the incident when she was pulled out of the Plug. But Asuka's stonewalling you. Her tough-guy act is wearing on you.
But you have more pressing matters to attend to right now. You carefully broach the topic of Rei having a dangerous secret she's going to share. Asuka gives you a long, hard look. There's something dark and ugly in her eyes. Her jaw clenches and unclenches as she ponders this.
Asuka sees. Rei's obviously been lying to her face about something big for months. Asuka's looking forward to watching her squirm. Asuka's sure whatever it is will be very interesting.
You don't like how it seems like she knows more than she's letting on. You ask Asuka what she thinks it is. Asuka asks what you think it is, suspicion written all over her face. You can't answer. You tell Asuka that you'll talk more about this later, but in the meantime, she should keep her suspicions to herself. Asuka asks if this is a threat. You say no. It doesn't help to spread rumors is all.
Asuka says whatever. You don't have to worry about her.
[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.
Seven to ten days, Ritsuko tells you as the two of you watch Rei floating naked in a tube of LCL down in Terminal Dogma. The injuries to her arm and foot are still visible, but they've improved noticeably. To an almost unsettling degree.
-[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.
Ritsuko already did it. It's what prompted the termination order in the first place.
--[X] Come to an agreement on how to justify Rei's injuries.
---[X] Ask if 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.
Ritsuko isn't sure this is a good idea. It's cute, but the Commander isn't going to like the idea of Ritsuko maiming Rei without his say-so. He cares too much about her. You raise an eyebrow. Ritsuko sighs and says it's very, very complicated. More or less, he's against unnecessary harm to the girl. He gets the final say as to what counts as necessary. She can try broaching the idea with him, but if he says no, you're going to have to think of something else.
You think you have something that can convince him. Ritsuko looks at you warily. Just don't do anything stupid, Misato.
-[X] Secondly, you will need to delay Gendo just long enough for that to be plausible.
--[X] You suspect the JSSDF is planning an attack on NERV. Bring the Commander into all the counter-planning you can get away with, from force organization to counter-espionage (using the latter to divert NERV's counter-intelligence away from your own efforts).
You spend the next few days making as big a fuss as possible to your operations team about the unsettling revelations the JSSDF made prior to the battle about anti-NERV countermeasures and how they practically announced a planned attack on NERV. Panic quickly spreads through HQ, and it's only a matter of time before NERV Intelligence is brought in, and Gendo himself.
It's surprisingly hard to pin the Commander down, however. You manage to tie him up in a few meetings about the threat, but you largely end up making more work for yourself, as he's content to delegate most of the nuts-and-bolts work to you. Still, behind the scenes, you suspect that Gendo is taking advantage of the general panic you've caused and using it as a bargaining chip against the Steering Committee. Hopefully it keeps him busy.
--[X] Have Kaji get his government contacts to make trouble about the last battle—though don't mention this to Ritsuko.
Kaji says he's on it, though there's a limit to what he can do. What you're suggesting is a dangerous escalation in hostilities between the Japanese government and NERV.
Within hours of your request, NERV is flooded with complaints. Unfortunately, Gendo diverts them to PR and Fuyutsuki. His patience with their incessant caviling is wearing thin.
--[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.
NERV isn't in a good position to "make amends", Major. The fact you're even having this meeting is evidence of that. The Japanese government is out for blood and thanks to your efforts, NERV's operational and intelligence arms have been radicalized against the JSSDF. He has Fuyutsuki trying to throw some water on the fire, but things do not look good.
Privately, you think that your efforts to cause trouble may have worked a little too well.
-[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...
Unit-00 is to be frozen until further notice. The Committee is not happy about it taking in a foreign S2 Engine and have serious concerns about safety. Gendo has decided to keep it on standby and only to be used in desperation.
-[X] "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] Use 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?
You intensify the pressure on the JSSDF by having PR leak images of the pilots' extensive injuries to drum up sympathy. In addition to aiding the PR war against the government, it forces Gendo into a position where Rei needs to be visibly injured to the public.
For his part, he's furious this has happened, as it's created even more work for him trying to placate the Steering Committee and the Japanese government, but you manage to avoid being directly implicated in the leak. You're sure Gendo suspects you're behind it, but he doesn't have any proof.
As a PR move, it works well. Public opinion on the last operation is highly polarized. Around half of the public supports NERV on account of them literally saving the world on a roughly monthly basis, and due to the parasocial relationships your image campaigns have allowed them to form with your pilots. Not surprisingly, support skews towards the younger population and with women.
The remainder generally resent NERV's presence on Japanese soil, denouncing you as butchers and criminals. The JSSDF remains most popular among people who fought in WWIII, largely middle-aged and older men. There's a lot of confusion about the cause of the conflict between the JSSDF and NERV, as both NERV and the JSSDF are providing different versions of events. The Japanese government maintains that NERV attacked them first and makes statements expressing outrage at your claims that they were out of line for acting in self-defense. Some news outlets call releasing the photos cynical and playing up a victim complex, given that dozens of them died gruesomely, while death left NERV relatively untouched.
This is going to be rough on the pilots once they start making public appearances again.
-[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.
Ritsuko thinks your PR stunt is impressively reckless and expresses her amazement that you were able to get away with it. That said, she has adequate cause to demand that Rei's "replacement" actually be maimed in some way now, so what remains now is to convince Gendo to let her do it. The backup of Rei's memories is complete. In case you were wondering, she checked it for compatibility with a potential Dummy System update and determined that if she were to update the Dummies with the new memories the increase in instability could result in self-inflicted damage to Evangelions using them. In other words, Rei's mental state has deteriorated substantially. You better know what you're doing. She doesn't trust this.
It's going to be a few more days until she's ready to move.
[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.
Hikari is a little out of it when you talk to her. She listens patiently to your apology and your pleas to do what she can to support Rei. Hikari admits that she's not sure what she can do. She really messed up back there. She was trying to protect Rei, and she ended up hurting her. And Rei hurt her back in response. Badly. She's…a little nervous about being around Rei right now. She's not scared of Rei or anything, it's just…kinda awkward.
Hikari hasn't decided whether she wants to keep piloting. It's pretty clear she's totally out of her depth given how much of a burden she was during that last fight, but she doesn't want to give up and leave the hard work to someone else either. Sorry for not being enough.
They haven't tested whether she's physically able to pilot, but some of the preliminary examinations of her condition suggest she might be able to, albeit in a diminished capacity. The nerves in her legs still technically exist and aren't completely fried. Though Unit-03 probably won't be able to walk or run at full capacity. Hikari is worried she's going to drag you down again.
Her family and Suzuhara are really upset on her behalf. It feels weird, because they seem much angrier than she is about this. She feels guilty. She feels like she should be upset, but she just isn't. Maybe she's just in shock. She doesn't know.
She heard about Suzuhara chewing you out. She had a word with him. There's a hardness in her expression as she tells you this. The disciplinarian still lives. Hikari asks that you please don't hold it against him. He's lost a lot to NERV and the Angels. He's just worried about her. You can't blame him for that. He's been making the rehabilitation process bearable for her and visiting her as much as he can. She turns pink. He's a really kind guy.
Kodama's apoplectic. Hikari can't seem to calm her down. Kodama's always been very protective of her and Nozomi since they lost their mother. She normally keeps to herself, but she gets really overbearing when there's an emergency. It's super annoying. Hikari's always taken charge of the day-to-day at home, but Kodama's in charge whenever there's a crisis. Hikari being in the hospital has been hard on her. She's…a good big sister. Hikari loves her.
Nozomi seems to be going through something of her own, but she's in her rebellious stage and won't talk to Hikari about it. It's stressing her out, honestly. Usually she's an open book, but Hikari can't get much out of her during her visits, and she can't run her household from a hospital bed. It's frustrating. She's considering deploying Suzuhara to keep tabs on them and make sure they're eating proper food, but she's got reservations about putting him anywhere near a kitchen. At least not before she's had a chance to work on him.
Overall, she seems to be in good spirits for someone who may have lost function in her legs, if deeply worried about her family and place within NERV.
[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 actually visit her.
You take some time to settle down. You're still upset Rei hid this from you for so long, and honestly, part of you is kind of afraid of her. You know that she's usually a sweet girl, and you still think of her as family. You're trying to keep in mind the parts of her that are ordinary, or at worst, a little weird. Remembering her as the person who spends her time squeezing your pet penguin too much and being just a little too into mahjong for someone her age. But it's going to take some time to be fully comfortable with the idea that she's dangerous enough to end the world. You probably won't ever be. She's been killing Angels so far, so you're not worried about her siding with them, but the possibility of her initiating Third Impact herself weighs on you. The nights immediately after finding out Rei is the Second Angel were not restful ones.
You manage to tell Rei that you don't hate her for this. She's still family. You still love her. Rei looks at you from her seat on the bed deep in Terminal Dogma with a mixture of relief and suspicion.
Rei really, really doesn't want to tell the others about this. The Second Child has already attempted to kill her during the last engagement. She doesn't know how Horaki is going to take it. And Ikari…she cannot tell him this. It would hurt him. Badly. And he'd want to be away from her. He'd leave her. They wouldn't be able to be together anymore. He will know how disgusting her body is, how wretched her soul is. And then she'll be all alone. She doesn't want to be alone. Rei's speaking more quickly than usual.
No, the best way is to continue as if nothing has happened. She's managed to keep the secret this long. She sees no harm in continuing. He will not be able to find out, unless she wants him to. And she doesn't want him to. Unless you tell him. Which of course, you won't, right, Major? Because this information is classified. Rei's knuckles are white.
She's terrified.
[ ] Write-in
