From: eltf@hotmail.com (Eliot Lefebvre)
Subject: [Eva] [Fanfic] Neon Epoch Evangelion: Episode 9
X-Original-Date: 16 Oct 2002 13:14:49 -0700


Lord... no... it's another PRE-STORY WARNING:

This fanfic is an original take on GAINAX's "Shin Seiki Evangelion."
It contains alternative characters, plots, and a different overriding
internal logic.  It is intended, from the beginning, to be different.
This includes different Children and different histories.  In short: if 
the mere thought of someone other than Shinji in the cockpit of EVA-01 
makes you queasy, you are in -entirely- the wrong place.  Any and all 
flames stemming from this alteration will be mocked mercilessly.  You 
have been warned.

Okay, really, I'm not dead.  I just suffered from something known as a 
"complete and utter hard drive death," and it's taken this long for 
things to get back to a semblance of normal.  Rest assured that I'm not 
planning on letting this happen again, but I nearly lost half of the 
work I've done on the series.  So... yeah.

Anyhow, don't forget to check lostfactor.net - a new site design goes 
up soon.  How soon, you ask?  VERY soon.

                                  ]++[

               ]+ ELECTRONIC TRANSCENDENCE PRODUCTIONS +[
                                presents

                         ]+ NEON       EPOCH +[
                   ]+ E  V  A  N  G  E  L  I  O  N +[

                    ]+ EPISODE 9:  WITH ONE VOICE +[

                     By Eliot "Lostfactor" Lefebvre

             Based off of "Shin Seiki Evangelion" by GAINAX

                                  ]++[

Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our 
God.  The Lord will do what is good in his sight.
- 1 CHRONICLES 19:13

                                  ]++[

Niobe couldn't sleep.  It wasn't anything that she was unaccustomed to 
in and of itself, especially considering that her father had always 
praised it as one of her positive traits - she'd always been of the 
mind that time spent sleeping could be spent far more productively 
doing something else.  Her problem, rather, was the reason that she was 
suffering from insomnia, the battle against the Seventh Angel earlier 
in the day.  She still remembered watching Ryo rail against the two 
halves of the Angel, utterly outmatched but still remaining unafraid.  
It was inspiring to watch him, and even though she'd known from the 
radio chatter that dropping the N2 canister was the best possible thing 
to do part of her had wanted to join in and help Ryo, to match herself 
with him.

She wanted to talk to him about it, but she hadn't gotten the 
opportunity after the battle, and once the mission was over and she was 
able to get out of her Eva once again Ryo had already been pulled aside 
by Commander Ikari and not arrived home until dinner.  And, despite her 
best efforts, she hadn't managed to get up the courage to strike up the 
topic with him once he was actually home, managing to get a few words 
out each time before she trailed off and he lost interest.  "Doing a 
great job, Niobe," she muttered to herself, rolling onto her side, the 
room dark enough from both the absence of light and the naturally dim 
shade of the walls that she honestly could see nothing, not even in 
vague outlines.  "Really making him open up."

Then she heard the sound of a door open, and the noise of soft 
footsteps along the floor.  Sitting up quickly, she felt her heartbeat 
accelerate slightly, knowing full well that it was Ryo, and she 
wondered for a moment where he was going.  Another thought occurred to 
her immediately, and she threw the blanket off her body, sliding off 
the bed and tiptoeing towards the door to her room, letting it open 
just a crack and peeking out towards Ryo.  Somehow, the thought of 
going out to him seemed far more terrifying than any Angel, but she 
forced herself to be brave, pushing open her door all the way and 
stepping out of her room, noticing that Ryo was stepping into the small 
living room of the apartment.  She hesitated another moment, then 
followed after him, making every effort to be as quiet as possible.

Grinning slightly at the thought of how silent she was being, Niobe 
tiptoed her way past the kitchen, turning right down the hallway that 
led to the bathroom and the living room, walking past the bathroom into 
the living room and barely suppressing a gasp.  Ryo was standing in 
front of the sole window in the living room as moonlight streamed 
through it, wearing a loose-fitting pair of white pants and nothing 
else, the light seeming to catch his achingly pale skin at just the 
right angle to make it almost glow.  His arms were spread slightly from 
his sides, palms turned towards the window, neck bent ever so slightly 
and blue hair barely brushing the base of his neck.  The entire scene 
was almost painfully beautiful, and Niobe found herself suddenly and 
unexpectedly attracted to the boy as he stood in the light, hesitant to 
say anything.

Almost unintentionally, she coughed, and the beautiful crystalline 
moment as he stood in the light shattered as the boy turned towards 
her, arms sinking back down to his sides as the moonlight began to 
filter through the thin blue hair, his expression blank as usual.  
She'd half-expected that he would actually be smiling, but in the week 
that she'd been there she hadn't seen him smile even once.  "What is 
it?" he asked, his tone one that Niobe would have pegged as annoyed if 
that was something that she considered him capable of.  Coming from 
Ryo, it simply seemed flat, utilitarian, the most expedient way to link 
vowels and consonants together.

"I couldn't sleep," replied Niobe, cocking her head slightly and 
letting her black hair swish behind her, trying to evoke some kind of 
response from the boy and receiving none.  She'd always been told at 
home that it was one of the more attractive things that she did 
unconsciously, but she couldn't for the life of her remember any time 
before that she'd wanted to make a boy attracted to her, even if she 
couldn't explain quite why she was attracted to Ryo in the first 
place.  "Why were you standing in the window?" she asked after a 
moment, unconsciously pulling her blue nightshirt more tightly closed 
around her breasts.

Ryo didn't answer immediately, instead glancing back towards the 
window, and for a moment Niobe wondered if the question had 
unintentionally angered him.  "The light is comfortable," he announced 
at length, the words sounding slightly odd as he said them, as though 
he were struggling with the concepts.  "They remind me of when I..."  
He paused, shutting his eyes for a moment, now definitely searching for 
the words.  "Of when I was at my younger home."

"Home?"  The statement immediately struck Niobe as moronic, and she 
scolded herself for not realizing that Ryo must have lived somewhere 
other than the apartment during his lifetime or there would be some 
more indications of his living conditions.  Despite her brief 
discussion with Dr. Akagi, she'd never really thought of Ryo as having 
parents, that somehow the boy simply didn't seem emotional enough to 
have had them.  "Was that where you lived before here?  Somewhere else 
in Japan?"

"I can't remember," replied Ryo flatly, turning away from the moonlight 
and back towards Niobe, his speech once again seeming natural and 
unforced, as though he were more comfortable with what he was now 
discussing.  "Why could you not sleep?  Did I wake you up when I walked 
over?"

"No," replied Niobe, blushing slightly as she shook her head and sank 
her gaze slightly lower.  She felt somewhat embarassed, feeling as 
though she were acting like some lovesick twit around her most recent 
crush, but something about Ryo kept her from feeling entirely 
comfortable, and despite herself she found it enjoyable.  Closing her 
eyes for a moment, she looked back up at the boy, smiling just the 
slightest bit.  "I was thinking, Ryo, and... I'm sorry that you got 
recalled in your Eva.  I'm sorry that you didn't have a chance to do 
anything more."

"Why?" asked Ryo, sounding genuinely confused.  He cocked his head 
slightly to one side, the moonlight once again making his skin seem to 
glow with just the slightest aura.  It was an undeniably attractive 
pose, one that Niobe found herself once again attracted to.  She forced 
the thought out of her head and turned her gaze slightly to one side, 
knowing that she was being silly.  "Why are you sorry that I was 
recalled?" asked Ryo again, as though she hadn't heard him the first 
time.

"Because it wasn't fair," replied Niobe, feeling somewhat unsure why 
the concept was so alien to him.  She stared at him for a moment, 
trying to gauge the expression in his bright red eyes and having no 
success, her mind saying one thing while something inside of her said 
something else.  "You didn't get a chance to prove yourself, to show 
what you could do."  She paused for a moment, still looking as deeply 
as she could into Ryo's eyes, trying to figure him out.  "Doesn't that 
matter to you?"

Ryo stared back at Niobe, then shook his head, the moonlight sifting 
through his shifting hair in an odd fashion, looking almost angelic.  
"Who destroys the Angel is irrelevant," he said flatly, turning his 
body back towards the window and staring at the pure light, his feet 
arching slightly as though the light would embrace him and take him 
away from the dull gray apartment.  "All that matters is that the Angel 
is destroyed.  That is our duty.  Whatever role we play is fine."

Confused, Niobe stared at the boy, his back facing her once again, the 
same amazing beauty seeming to flow into him once again as he stood in 
front of the window and watching the moon stream light into the room.  
Niobe recalled a discussion that she'd had with her father some time 
prior to her departure, and for a moment she felt guilty about admiring 
Ryo, turning her head away slightly.  "But don't you have any ambition 
of your own?" she asked after a moment, internally hoping that he 
wouldn't turn around to reply to her as she focused on him as best she 
could with her peripheral vision.

"Yes," replied Ryo, turning only slightly towards Niobe.  "I must 
succeed at the role given to me.  Anything else only complicates 
matters.  That is what Dr. Ikari tells me."  He paused for a moment, 
his words ringing awkwardly in Niobe's ears.  "There is no middle 
ground in this conflict.  As long as we are successful, nothing else 
matters."

"I see," replied Niobe, feeling herself growing still more attracted to 
Ryo despite the fact that her mind was telling her not to be.  She 
paused for a moment longer, and Ryo turned fully back towards the 
window, beginning to shift back into the crystalline pose of before.  
Her mouth opened to say something, then shut before any words passed 
her lips, simply taking in the inexpressable beauty of Ryo standing in 
the light for a moment.  "I... guess I'll go back to my room, then," 
she said at length, receiving only a nod from Ryo as she turned and 
walked out of the living room, no longer trying to sound particularly 
quiet.  She paused, allowed herself one last glance towards the boy, 
then felt her pace quicken as she walked back to the room, feeling as 
though she'd been caught stealing from the cookie jar.

Once inside her room, Niobe leaned against the door for a moment, 
taking a deep breath and forcing herself to calm down, feeling her 
heart rate slowly return to normal.  She'd known that the boy was 
withdrawn, but somehow it all seemed to make sense to her from those 
few little words that he'd spoken to her tonight, and as she stepped 
over to her bed she found herself feeling as though she were an idiot 
for not noticing the obvious earlier.  "He's like me," she muttered to 
herself, slumping back down onto the bed and feeling the fabric of the 
sheets massage her skin.  "The same drive."

Pulling the blankets back over her body, snuggling against them and 
closing her eyes, Niobe thought again of the boy standing in the 
window, and she felt her chest start to ache slightly.  She knew that a 
romantic relationship should be out of the question, remembered 
Joseph's words to her about precisely that before she'd left, but she 
knew that if her father had been in her shoes he would have felt the 
same way.  "I think I like him," she whispered into her pillow, letting 
sleep embrace her and hoping for pleasant dreams.

                                  ]++[

Neil woke up slowly, his mind still filled with the dreams of the 
previous night, dreams of EVA-01 and an unspeakable anger lurking at 
the back of its mind, dreams of Nieve and Eiko and something horrible 
approaching.  What made them worst as he woke up was the fact that he 
didn't remember them being particularly frightening except for the fact 
that he knew he should be frightened, that the only apprehension they 
provoked in him felt like an obligation.  Opening his eyes gradually, 
he let them slowly adjust to the sunlight from his window, green irises 
refocusing to let in the right amount of light, then he rolled over 
away from the wall and towards the door to his room, noticing that 
there was something between his eyes and the door.  It took him a 
moment to register before he realized that it was Nieve.

Suddenly and completely awake, Neil jerked to an upright position, then 
instantly thought better of it and grabbed the hem of his blanket, 
bundling it up around his waist and legs as he stared at the girl, 
wearing the thin blue t-shirt that she always seemed to wear at night.  
She was leaning forward just far enough so that Neil could see the 
hints of what lay beneath the fabric, and he swallowed hard as he felt 
his body respond to the glimpse involuntarily.  "Morning, Nieve," he 
offered, forcing himself to look up towards her face, unsure of why she 
was smiling so broadly.  "Um... is there any particular reason you 
wanted to wake me up this morning?"

For a moment, Nieve said nothing, simply stared at Neil and smiled, his 
concern growing ever larger as she continued to stare at him without 
speaking.  Then she reached forward and grabbed his head, pulling him 
towards her and planting her lips firmly upon his, letting her tongue 
slip inside of his mouth ever so slightly before rocking backwards and 
standing at her full height once again.  "You didn't kiss me 
yesterday," she explained, noting Neil's somewhat baffled expression.  
"I wanted to remind you what you missed."  She paused.  "Besides, I 
always wanted to do something like that."

"Um."  Neil raised his left hand to the back of his head, rubbing it 
gently before stepping out of his bed and continuing to stare at the 
girl.  She seemed perfectly happy with the situation, although Neil had 
been learning from experience that Nieve's happiness could be a 
somewhat transient thing.  He certainly enjoyed the taste of her lips 
again, but he couldn't get the picture of Eiko from his dreams out of 
his mind, and it made him feel guilty to enjoy Nieve's kiss, even 
though he knew he was being silly.  "Glad to see you're in a good mood, 
at least."

Both Children stared at one another for a moment, then Neil moved 
first, heading for the door and opening it.  He paused, glancing back 
towards Nieve, worried for a moment that she might have been upset by 
his actions, but she was still smiling, and walking forward swiftly she 
edged past Neil towards the kitchen, looking entirely pleased with the 
world.  Neil waited for a moment, then followed afterwards, tugging on 
the ratty green shirt he was wearing as his old black sweatpants 
dragged slightly on the floor.  "You don't seem upset about the Eva 
thing anymore," he noted, stepping into the kitchen behind her, wanting 
very much to hold her but doubting that she'd be willing to let him.  
"Did you just sleep really well?"

"I got over it," replied Nieve, her voice dropping a little as though 
Neil's words had upset her slightly.  He tried to step over in front of 
her as she poured her cereal, but she'd turned her head at just the 
right angle that he couldn't see what she was doing, her body position 
to prevent any non-awkward movement past her.  "I'm still a little 
annoyed by it, yeah, but I reminded myself that you were up there, that 
it wasn't just any of the others."  She smirked as her face came back 
into view for Neil, finishing with the cereal and setting it down on 
the counter.  "If I can't be in control of the situation out there, 
you're the next best choice."

"Thanks, I guess," replied Neil, not entirely sure what to make of the 
comment as Nieve extracted the milk from the refridgerator, almost 
bumping into Pen-Pen as he waddled out of his own smaller refridgerator 
with a sleepy look on his face.  He stared at the girl for a moment, 
then shook his head and pulled a bowl down from the cupboard, preparing 
to pour himself a bowl of cereal.  Nieve left the milk on the counter, 
then sat down at the table as a particularly loud crash came from down 
the hall towards Misato's room.

Neither of the Children took particular notice of the noise, and sat 
down to their breakfast, eating quitely, Nieve sneaking quick looks at 
Neil and Neil trying to decide exactly why.  There were a few more 
crashes from down the hall, then Misato finally made her way out of her 
room, walking down the hall towards the table, staring at Nieve and 
Neil with a somewhat disapproving look on their face.  Neil give her a 
quick glance in reply, noticing she was wearing the same black dress 
that she had on the day they'd met and getting the impression that 
something important was happening.  "You two need to get dressed," she 
announced, stepping over to the kitchen, her NERV coat slung over her 
shoulder as she opened the cupboard and extracted a bowl.  "We're 
needed down at Central Dogma by ten AM sharp."

Checking his watch, Neil shrugged, letting his arm drop back down to 
his side and glancing quickly over at Nieve.  "It's only eight," he 
announced, taking another bite of his cereal, feeling somewhat more 
curious about Nieve's behavior towards him than Misato's sudden 
preoccupation with the time.  Misato frowned, checked the small watch 
on her own wrist, then slapped it once and sighed, the device obviously 
not working correctly.  "What's the big deal, anyways?"

"Didn't I tell you about this one?" asked Misato, glancing towards Neil 
and recognizing the look on his face.  He didn't look as hurt as on the 
day when they'd flown out to meet with Nieve and Niobe, but the 
expression was the same, a sort of bitter realization that he'd been 
given something to do without having been told.  "I didn't.  I screwed 
up again."  Sighing, Misato went over to the table, sitting down across 
from Neil and trying to look as apologetic as possible.  "Neil, I'm 
sorry.  I know that I should have -"

"Forget it," muttered Neil, turning his gaze down towards the cereal 
and taking another bite, trying to ignore Nieve's stare in his 
direction.  He was almost certain that Misato still didn't know about 
his father, but after what had happened the prior afternoon she hadn't 
touched a beer all night, and Neil wondered if she had some idea of 
what was going on.  "So what is it?"

"The JSSDF," replied Misato, apparently satisfied with Neil's response 
as she leaned her upper body back, placing her hands flat against the 
floor and using her arms to keep herself from falling backwards.  "You 
remember that we got the particle rifle from them, right?"  She quickly 
tilted her head far forward enough to see Neil nod, then leaned her 
head back again to stare at the ceiling.  "That was supposed to be 
their next-generation weapon, and they've been more than a little 
annoyed at NERV's possesion of it.  Even though we're ostensibly above 
the world's governments, that doesn't mean that they're going to be 
peaceful about it, and we needed to do something to smooth relations 
over with the JSSDF before things get really ugly.  So we're 
participating in their annual war games."

Nieve, who had been focusing largely on giving odd sideways glances 
towards Neil and eating her cereal, suddenly took notice of Misato, 
dropping her spoon into the bowl and staring intently at the woman.  
"We're getting to pilot the Evas into a war game?" asked Nieve, leaning 
towards her left and propping herself off the table with her arms, 
provoking an immediate stare from Misato.  Neil, sitting across from 
Misato and to Nieve's right, noticed that her blue nightshirt was 
riding up slightly with her movement, and he forced himself to look 
away as his gaze began to trace up her leg.

"Yeah," replied Misato, sounding a little put off by Nieve's sudden 
enthusiasm.  Nieve leaned back and grinned widely, pumping one fist in 
the air in a sort of victory sign but remaining quiet.  "I didn't like 
the idea, but especially after the Jet Alone incident they claim they 
want some proof that the Evas are safe.  Commander Ikari thought that 
it would be a good opportunity for us to -"

"How could you be -opposed- to this?" asked Nieve, still grinning 
widely, her cereal all but forgotten as she rocked back and forth 
gently, obviously excited.  "This is -spectacular-!  I'll finally get a 
chance to show off what I can really do with my Eva!"  She paused for a 
second, still grinning as she turned towards Neil and thumbed her chin, 
then looked back towards Misato, now kneeling and leaning towards the 
woman with her hands on her knees.  "Are we going to have video footage 
taken?  Can I get a copy of it?  I want to send it back to Dublin, to 
show everyone there just how much control I've got over the 
situation."  She paused again, then glanced over towards Neil again, 
grinning more broadly.  "Neil, do you want a copy for your friends back 
in America?"

"Not really," replied Neil, shaking his head gently and taking another 
bit of his cereal.  His tone was somewhat nonchalant, but his body 
language expressed something else, and he was distantly aware of that 
as Nieve moved closer to him.  Even though his experience with 01 the 
prior day had been relatively safe, he still couldn't get the stare of 
its green eye out of his head, the uncomfortable taste of the LCL 
seeming more unpleasant the more he thought about it.  "I don't 
particularly want to do this anyways."

Staring at the boy, Nieve's eyes went wide with shock, then she shifted 
her entire body towards him, still leaning forward with her hands on 
her knees.  "You're kidding, right?" she asked, cocking her head 
slightly to one side and trying to make eye contact with him as he 
stared down at his cereal.  "What's not to like about piloting the 
Eva?  You're the only one who can do it, and that makes you more 
important than anyone else in NERV."  Misato let out an indignant 
grunt, and Nieve shrugged half-apologetically, not bothering to glance 
back at her.  "What's wrong?"

"I don't like piloting it," replied Neil, closing his eyes for a 
moment, recalling the flood of memories from the thing during his first 
night in it.  "It feels like I'm intruding in someone else's mind, like 
I'm forcing them to do something.  And it feels like the Eva resents 
me.  Maybe it's just me, but..."  He sighed and trailed off, glancing 
up at Misato and noticing that she looked somewhat worried.  "Misato, 
the Evas are alive, aren't they?"

Misato said nothing for a moment, sitting fully upright now, the hint 
of fear tickling just beyond the edge of her expression.  "Yes, they're 
partially organic," she answered at length, sounding as though she were 
trying to think of a way to sugarcoat the answer.  "But they're not 
sentient.  They're not even thinking.  That's why we've got you as 
pilots, because you act as the machine's brain.  You give it direction."

"Doesn't feel like that," muttered Neil, taking another bite of his 
cereal somewhat sullenly.  Nieve stared at him for a moment, then 
reached over and gently rubbed his knee for a second before returning 
to her previous position of sitting, eating her breakfast casually.  
Neil looked up at her and stared, trying to understand why she felt so 
comfortable about piloting her Eva, but she simply continued eating, 
leaving Neil to try and figure out his own explanations for her actions.

                                  ]++[

Nursing a cup of coffee in a white china mug in one hand, sketching 
down figures on a clipboard with the other, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi glanced 
up at the main screen of NERV's command center only quickly before 
jotting down a few more notes on her clipboard.  Technically, she had 
an hour before she actually had to be in to work, but she knew the 
amount of pressure that was being put on NERV to perform well during 
the exercise, and she knew that the burden of responsibility for the 
technical aspect fell on her shoulders.  "Maya, run another pulse 
through EVA-02's neural interlocks.  See if that got rid of the 
static.  Makoto, check on the status of EVA-04's chest armor."

"Pulse flow static is currently at less than one percent in all 
interlocks for EVA-02," replied Maya as Makoto set about performing the 
task he'd been given.  The younger woman continued talking, but Ritsuko 
only distantly heard her, jotting down another quick pair of notes and 
taking a sip of her coffee as she felt her eyes beging to grow 
sluggish.  Makoto began to say something about EVA-04 as well, and 
Ritsuko tried to focus for a moment before slumping forward slightly, 
eyes falling shut.

A moment later she felt someone jostling her shoulders through the thin 
fabric of her lab coat, and she forced herself upright once again, 
looking at Maya and smiling, trying to assuage the woman's concerns.  
"I'm fine," she said, mentally scolding herself for getting so close to 
sleep when there was so much left to do.  Rubbing her forehead for a 
second, she took another sip of coffee, knowing that she'd need still 
more of it if she was going to remain focused.  She hadn't had a chance 
to sleep the prior night, rushing repairs on the units damaged in the 
battle against the Seventh Angel.  "Makoto, I'm sorry, I need you to 
repeat yourself.  What's 04's status?"

"All welding of the unit's chest armor has been completed," replied the 
technician, apparently unconcerned by the request for reiteration, his 
eyes remaining focused on his computer display through his thin-framed 
glasses.  "Organic damage was less than seven percent and has been 
fully regenerated.  No damage known to the interlocks."  He paused for 
a second, then turned towards Ritsuko, looking slightly worried.  "You 
might want to go get some rest, ma'am.  You're looking haggard."

"No rest for the wicked," replied Ritsuko, stepping over to Makoto's 
display and quickly checking his screen, then turning back towards 
Maya.  "Maya, run a quick pulse through 04's interlocks.  If there's 
any abnormalities, let me know.  Makoto, see if EVA-00's arm is fully 
repaired yet - the workers said that there might be some minor damage 
to the target feedback devices from the palm.  While you're at it, 
might as well take a quick check of its armor."

Standing on the uppermost level of the command center, slightly to one 
side of Gendou, Kozou Fuyutsuki watched Ritsuko moving below, quickly 
giving commands and waiting only moments for the answers, throwing 
everything she had into making sure the Evas were at peak efficiency.  
"She's amazing," he muttered, a thin smile spreading across his face as 
he watched her.  "In some ways, she's so like her mother.  But she 
reminds me more of..."  Fuyutski paused for a moment, then stopped 
outright.

"Yui," completed Gendou, his tone completely devoid of emotion.  "I've 
noticed it, to.  She has the same sort of heart in her work, and she 
understands the science behind it as if she'd written all our material 
herself."  The commander's hands were, as usual, folded in front of his 
face, his glasses blocking sight of his eyes and his hands blocking 
sight of his mouth, no sign of outward emotion visible.  "You should 
talk to her."

"There's little that I could offer her," replied Kozou, a vaguely 
wistful note creeping into his voice as he watched the woman working 
beneath him, her motions quick and practice despite her obvious 
exhaustion, white coat fluttering with her movements.  "After all, 
she's made advancements in the science that never even occurred to me.  
She's a natural.  I'm just an outdated old teacher."

Gendou's head tilted towards Kozou ever so slightly, the light that 
reflected from his glasses seeming to angle away just enough to give 
the slightest glimpse at the man's eyes.  "That's not what I meant."

Kozou's eyes went wide, and he stared at Gendou for a moment with his 
lips drawn tight, studying the man's almost entirely obscured face as 
best he could, trying to discern something of his emotions.  Then he 
shut his eyes and grinned bitterly, staring back down at Ritsuko and 
shrugging his shoulders gently.  "Am I that obvious?" he asked, not 
truly expecting an answer as Gendou turned his gaze back to its prior 
position.  "Besides, let's not be foolish.  Both of us remember her 
from when she was the same age as our Children are.  We're old men, 
Ikari."

"A professional attitude," noted Gendou flatly, keeping his gaze 
unmoving, his tone offering no hints towards his evaluation of the 
situation.  Kozou took a quick glance towards the other man, then 
turned back towards Ritsuko, smirking to himself as he remembered her 
volunteering with her mother, back before she'd chosen to dye her 
hair.  Taking a deep breath, he stopped his thoughts where they lay, 
knowing that Gendou was right about his attitude as he turned his gaze 
back towards the main screen and focused on the day ahead.

                                  ]++[

Even after all the time he'd spent going through synch testing and 
piloting the machine in combat, Neil still had to brace himself against 
the harsh scent of the LCL, still had to suppress the gag reflex as the 
salty liquid flowed down through his throat, still could feel the 
liquid filter its way though his lungs.  It was a sickening feeling, 
and while he'd become somewhat more accustomed to it, he still disliked 
it.  Then he watched the screen activate around him, and he felt the 
Eva's body around his, giving him cause to push the LCL out of his mind 
as he focused on extending his perception.  "EVA-01 is active," he 
announced, knowing that the command center was waiting for his 
confirmation.

Sitting in the cockpit, Neil could hear the other Children give their 
own confirmations, and he relaxed against the seat, almost idly trying 
to feel the Evangelion's mind, seeing if he could sense that presence 
again, if Misato was telling the truth about the machines having 
nothing but bodies to be moved.  He began to feel something at the 
absolute back of his head, almost as though it were a soft voice 
speaking to him, but before he could focus on it he saw Nieve's face 
appear on his display in a sort of windowbox, a sign that she'd opened 
a specific communcation with him.  "Hey, Neil," she said, grinning 
somewhat devilishly.  "You think you can handle your machine out there, 
or is it going to tell you where to go?"

"Not funny," muttered Neil, feeling slightly hurt but forcing a smile 
despite the fact.  Pushing the small voice out of his head, he focused 
once again on the machine itself, twitching his fingers against the 
handsets of the cockpit.  "You just make sure that you don't lose 
control.  Remember who's got more experience here."  Neil flashed a 
grin at the girl, and she stared at him in shock for a moment before 
sticking out her tongue at him and cutting off the communication.  He 
chuckled to himself, then closed his eyes, preparing for the harsh 
sensation of launching the machine.

In the command center, Misato glanced towards the main screen in front 
of her, then looked over towards the camera that was relaying her 
activities, flashing it a quick smile before turning back to the 
technicians.  "Send 00 to Port 11, 01 to Port 25, 02 to Port 31, 03 to 
Port 46, 04 to Port 10, and 05 to Port 22."  She paused for a moment, 
then remembered that she was being expected to explain everything into 
the camera, and sighed as she looked back towards it, forcing a smile.  
"We've position the Evangelion units in various positions around the 
city.  In the event of an emergency, ports are spread across the city 
to ensure that a unit can arrive at any location within two minutes."  
She turned back towards the console technicians, glancing towards Maya 
to get confirmation of her assignments for the units.  "Launch!"

Eiko had to suppress a momentary rush of terror as she felt the pad 
beneath her unit lurch upwards, the sense of vertigo from the high-
speed deployment being the least of her problems.  She could still 
remember the feeling of the Seventh Angel's claws tearing across her 
chest as her Eva fell backwards, and somehow it had seemed infinitely 
worse than when she'd stood against the Fifth.  It was unreasonable, 
and she knew it, but as she heard the clanking noise of the gate 
opening on the surface and felt her machine scraping to a halt, the 
morning sun making her unit shine radiantly, she couldn't help but feel 
a momentary rush of panic that the same thing would happen again.  Then 
she glanced to one side and watched Neil's unit emerge from the ground 
as well, and for reasons she couldn't explain she felt slightly safer, 
knowing he was there as well.

All six machines were standing in the city, and Misato grinned as she 
glanced down at her itinerary, glad to have the chance to finally show 
what NERV could do.  She could still remember the Jet Alone 
demonstration freshly, and she knew that the JSSDF wouldn't be able to 
deny the effectiveness of the Evas after an actual demonstration.  "All 
right, you all should know where the weapon ports are.  Neil, Niobe, 
retrieve a standard-issue rifle from the nearest port, then arm it and 
fire at the presented targets."  She watched the main screen for a 
moment, then turned towards the camera again, still a little unhappy 
that she had to explain everything.  "The city is filled with certain 
structures designated as weapon ports, designed to allow the Evas 
access to a wide variety of weapons suitable for almost any situation.  
In the even that a necessary weapon is not available, one can be sent 
to the surface via the entry ports."

The next few minutes were mind-numbingly boring for all six pilots as 
Misato continued to run through the list of required information, many 
demonstrations seeming to require repeat application.  For her 
purposes, however, Misato was quite pleased to run through the list, 
even if explaining things to the camera got tiresome swiftly.  Despite 
the commander's rather harsh reprimand from the previous day, the 
Children moved with perfect efficiency, their units working in perfect 
synchronization.  Ryo took a flight of missiles to his AT field without 
any trouble, Neil and Nieve demonstrated the process of neutralizing 
the field, the Evas showed off their close-combat capabilities, and 
even without having a direct feed from the surface Misato knew that the 
government was impressed.

"We've been doing this stuff for more than enough time," muttered 
Nieve, casually bringing her Eva's prog knife in a wide arc and hitting 
the targets presented for her, barely even trying as the machine moved 
the way she directed it.  "They must have gotten it by now."  She 
hesitated for a moment, then continued forward, opening a quick 
communications channel with Misato.  "Can we get on to the actual games 
sometime soon?  I'm getting bored."

"Pushy," muttered the woman, smirking at the small picture of Nieve 
that appeared on the main screen before flipping the microphone over to 
the private channel.  "We'll be done in just a moment.  I'll give you a 
quick briefing."  Switching the microphone back to its previous 
setting, she turned towards the camera, glancing towards Makoto and 
getting a quick handsignal of approval.  "This concludes the 
demonstration portion of the games.  We will begin the second stage in 
five minutes after a quick briefing of the pilots."  She waited for a 
moment for the camera to turn off, then turned back to the microphone.  
"Okay, guys, you can stop.  We're going to be starting the actual games 
soon."

Nieve let out a quiet but still audible noise of triumph, while Eiko 
felt her hands close more tightly around the handrests of the cockpit.  
She knew that there was no chance that they would be using anything 
that came close to an Angel, but still, she was getting tired of the 
injuries she endured every time she piloted the machine.  "Misato?  Are 
the games going to be... y'know, using real bullets?"

"The term is 'live-fire,' Eiko," interjected Niobe, letting her Eva 
rest at a somewhat neutral position, drawing it up to a comfortable 
height and letting the limbs go limp.  "And the UN doesn't permit live-
fire wargames with its forces after what happened in the Portugal Strip 
of Spain a few years ago."

Misato frowned for a moment, unsure of how Niobe knew so much, then 
remembered that her father had been working for the UN peacekeeping 
force before she'd been declared as the Sixth Child and he had signed 
on with NERV.  "You're right, Niobe," Misato said into the microphone, 
staying as calm as possible.  "The weapons in the depots are already 
being withdrawn and replaced with the ones we'll be using.  They're 
laser taggers, mostly; the few explosive weapons we use are just 
flashpowder and paint."  She paused for a moment, then allowed herself 
to smirk.  "Besides, as long as your AT field is deployed, none of the 
JSSDF's weapons will be able to hurt you."  Eiko seemed to be satisfied 
with the answer, and Misato checked her watch quickly, making sure that 
she still had a few moments to explain the basic nature of the 
exercise.  "We've only got a minute or two to go over the operation.  
Everybody pay attention."

Listening as Misato described the plan of attack, she found herself a 
little nervous despite herself, the LCL in her mouth starting to feel 
vaguely cloying at the back of her throat.  They were defending Tokyo-3 
as if it were under attack by an external army, and Niobe and Neil were 
the two pilots who were to be venturiny outside the city towards the 
source of the enemy, to try and cut off their opponent at the root.  It 
was the highest-risk position, and Niobe knew that it went to her 
because she had the highest synchronization with her machine, but it 
still made her nervous, to know that she was going to be watched 
closely by the command center.  "I'm not afraid," she muttered to 
herself, focusing on her machine instead of her fears, letting Misato's 
instructions slowly sink over her like water.

Eiko, on the other hand, seemed far less apprehensive than before as 
Misato went into detail about the drone units that the JSSDF would be 
using.  "Great.  So it's basically a glorified paintball game."  She 
smirked at the thought, relaxing her grip and regaining her confidence 
slightly.  "This could actually be fun."

Glancing at her watch once again, Misato saw that it was almost time 
for the games to begin, and she still hadn't quite gotten through 
everything that she'd wanted to.  "All right, all of you report back to 
your entry ports," she announced, taking a deep breath and trying to 
reassure herself with the knowledge that the worst that could happen 
was that NERV would lose the game.  "When I give the word, you'll all 
recover your weapons, then fall into the formation described.  We're 
going in five... four... three... two..."

                                  ]++[

One more of the drone tanks that the JSSDF was controlling crossed 
before Neil's line of vision, and he swung the heavy rifle in a wide 
arc, releasing the trigger until he saw the crosshairs line up over the 
small green vehicle and beep red.  Without thinking, he pulled down on 
the trigger once again, in theory firing the rounds of weaponry 
required to tear the tank asunder and leave its pieces scattered along 
the foothill it was descending.  Instead, it simply beeped an 
acknowledgement, stopping its motion and setting off a flare to 
announce that it had been killed.  "I've secured this side," he said, 
trying to remain calm, feeling himself breathing more heavily from the 
adrenaline rush of battle.

Misato glanced at the map displayed slightly below the main screen of 
the command center, studying it as best she could and recalling the 
positions of the six Eva units.  "Good job, Neil, but there's another 
detachment heading in from the northern edge.  We still haven't been 
able to pinpoint the enemy's location, so you should -"

"The northern edge is taken care of," announce Nieve decisively, and as 
the main screen of the command center shifted to her location Nieve 
pumped the shotgun she'd grabbed from the nearest weapons depot and 
fired towards the advancing tanks, noting the small flurry of flares 
that went up with some satisfaction and watching as the other tanks 
tried to steer around their downed comrades.  She momentarily cursed 
the fact that she wasn't working with the normal laws of physics - if 
the games had been live-fire, she was willing to bet she could have 
used the downed tanks to at least slow down their companions - but 
focused back on the approaching tanks, stepping backwards and waiting 
for them to fall back into formation before taking another shot with 
the gun.  "I think these ones were coming from the same location as the 
group on Neil's side."

"Understood," replied Misato, taking another quick glance at the map 
and examining the positions of the red dots that represented the tanks, 
forcing herself to remain focused.  "Eiko, there should be another 
group approaching from the southwest.  We'll mark the location on your 
display.  Try to hit them with some long-range fire before Vash moves 
in to clean up."  She paused for a moment, letting herself breathe, 
then turned towards Makoto.  "Have we gotten a location for their base 
yet?"

"Seems like Nieve was right," he replied, drumming his fingers across 
the keyboard and bringing up a quick sequence of displays.  Misato 
stared over his shoulder, and he gestured towards the southern edge of 
the map on his screen.  "It looks like they're based in that direction."

Nodding, Misato leaned back over to the microphone, taking a moment to 
cock her head at just the right angle to keep her hair out of her face 
as she leaned over.  "Neil, Niobe, we think that we've located their 
base to the south of the city.  Move in that direction and check it 
out.  You might want to grab new weapons if you're nearly out of ammo."

Fingers still gripping tight against the cool metal of the handrests, 
Neil took a moment before his brain fully parsed Misato's statement, 
the battle taking some hold of him.  He felt uncommonly connected to 
his machine, the prolonged battle and the ease at which he was able to 
deal destruction to the enemy a heady feeling to say the least.  At the 
back of his mind he could feel the same red frenzy from before growing, 
but he forced it back, reminding himself that he had a job to do.  "EVA-
01, moving towards the target," he announced, realizing that his voice 
was sounding more husky as he began to lumber in the indicated 
direction, cradling the rifle in his arms.

Misato watched from within the command center as Niobe began to move 
through the city to meet up with Neil, her movements quick and 
practiced, running and firing at tanks as though she'd been holding the 
rifle since she could walk.  "She's amazing," muttered Misato, admiring 
the girl's motions all the more with the knowledge that she'd only been 
training for three years.  "Probably the best pilot we've got."  She 
paused for a moment, then glanced back towards Makoto's display, 
checking on the status of the enemy units.  "They're all doing well, 
though.  The JSSDF's barely been making a dent."

Niobe could distantly hear the sound of Misato talking, but she wasn't 
paying attention to it, ignoring the shells that bounced off her AT 
field as she and Neil moved towards the supposed location of the base, 
rifles firing and flagging tanks down with minimal effort.  "This isn't 
even a challenge," she muttered, stepping lightly to turn her machine 
around and take out a pair of tanks that had tried to circle the duo.  
"I can do better than this.  These machines can't even touch us."

"Yeah," Neil muttered, feeling somewhat distracted, forcing himself to 
stay calm as he continued to fire his rifle, the LCL slowly becoming 
comfortable even as he became more conscious of how vile the liquid 
was.  Firing another few rounds at the tanks scattered around the 
foothills, he glanced towards where the base was supposed to be, then 
froze, watching as a much larger vehicle began to step towards the 
city.  It took him a moment to recognize it as something other than an 
Angel, its spinly white limbs swinging back and forth as it walked, a 
squat red head pushed into its torso.  "Um, Misato?  Is this what I 
think it is?"

"Switch to the camera nearest Neil," announced Misato, waiting as 
Makoto keyed in the commands and shifted the view on the main screen.  
Almost the instant the display came on the screen, Misato gasped, not 
believing her eyes as the awkward-looking form of Jet Alone advanced 
towards the camera.  "My God.  They deployed it."  It took her a moment 
to fully process the implications of her statement, and she shook her 
head as her eyes focused back on the robot.  "Neil, Niobe, that's Jet 
Alone!  Be careful - it's got a nuclear reactor!"

Eiko heard the noise from her position inside the city, and she felt an 
involuntary tremor of panic go through her body, losing control of her 
Eva for just long enough to make her shot go wide, the rocket exploding 
in a shower of flashpowder and paint against one of the weapon depots.  
Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to stop moving for a second, 
regaining control over herself and reminding herself that it wasn't 
anywhere near her.  "I'm not afraid," she whispered, bringing the 
rocket launcher in her arms back to bear at the group of tanks 
advancing towards the city.  "I'm not afraid."

Neil stared at the robot for a moment, his thoughts of the tanks all 
but gone, suppressing the desire to rush at the thing and tear it 
apart.  He didn't doubt for a second that the Eva was capable of it, 
but he forced himself to back off, feeling his breath coming more and 
more heavily as he took a step backwards with his machine.  "What 
should we do?" he asked, suddenly feeling very awkward, his instincts 
telling him to move forward even as his brain told him not to.

"Destroy Jet Alone."  Commander Ikari's voice cut through the entire 
command center like a knife, and Misato jerked her head around and 
upwards, not having even realized that the commander was sitting 
there.  She felt a momentary rush of terror at his order, knowing that 
even without the threat of an imminent meltdown Jet Alone was still 
perfectly capable of providing a nuclear threat.  "It will respond to 
your weaponry just like the other units involved in this exercise.  Do 
not hesitate."

The command made Neil's vision start to swim with the same red haze as 
before, and he forced himself to remain focused, stopping his Eva and 
digging his heels in as he tried to reassert control.  Then he saw Jet 
Alone suddenly move faster than he'd thought the machine capable of, 
and before he could move his Eva out of the way he felt the thing's 
clawlike hands lurch up and slam into his neck, the LCL suddenly 
tightening hard against his skin with the impact.  Once again, the 
blood taste of the liquid filled his mouth, and he felt his lungs 
suddenly constrict, eyes tearing and shutting involuntarily as he 
distantly wondered why his AT field hadn't protected him.

In the command center, Misato stared at the screen, momentarily 
panicked as she wondered the exact same thing.  "What's wrong with Unit 
01's AT field?" she shouted, whirling towards Maya as the young woman 
typed at her console frantically.

"I don't know!  It deactivated almost as soon as Jet Alone started 
approaching the unit!  Maybe an internal malfunction!"  She paused for 
a moment, then frowned, drumming at the keys once again and bringing up 
another display.  "EVA-01 has re-activated its AT Field!  There appear 
to be no malfunctions within the field generators or with the unit 
itself!"

Niobe didn't hear any commands from the radio, but she knew that she 
had to get Neil free from the robot, stepping around and trying to get 
a clear shot at the machine as she trained her rifle towards it.  As 
Neil's Eva seemed to finally react, its arms slowly reaching up and 
trying to pry off Jet Alone's hands while still keeping a hold on its 
rifle, Jet Alone seemed to notice Niobe's movement and swung 01 so that 
it remained facing the other Eva.  Cursing, Niobe turned and glanced 
for the nearest hill, hoping for a moment that she might be able to get 
a height advantage and defeat the robot's tactics.  "No," she muttered 
to herself, gritting her teeth and forcing herself to remain 
stationary, tilting her head and searching for an angle at which she 
could hit the robot without moving.  "I won't always have hills.  I 
have to be better than that."

His own hands moving to his throat, Neil tried desperately to pry away 
Jet Alone from his throat, anger redoubling in intensity as he held to 
the rifle awkwardly and the LCL's salty taste increased.  His hands 
went rigid, and for a moment he felt himself sinking into the Eva's 
mind once again, the soft voice from before seeming to whisper to him 
more audibly, offering him power to free himself from the pain.  Then 
he felt the machine lurch slightly and the grip relax, just enough so 
that he could see Jet Alone leaning to one side, its left leg setting 
off a flare to indicate damage.  The implications hit him immediately, 
and his mind drove the anger out just as he brought the rifle down 
towards the robot's right shoulder, firing in a wide arc as he felt his 
breathing become more labored once again.

Jet Alone's shoulder erupted in a shower of flares as the theoretical 
rifle blast hit it, and reaching up with his left hand Neil found the 
robot's arm now much easier to tear away from his neck.  The other 
remained in place for only a moment, then he heard the sound of a rifle 
discharge beside him and saw Niobe hitting the left shoulder and arm 
with her own rifle.  Both glanced at one another for only a moment, 
then trained their rifles on the robot's body and fired again, the 
thing's chest exploding in another shower of flares as it staggered 
backwards and fell.  "Are you all right?" asked Niobe, turning her 
machine only halfway towards EVA-01 and scanning the hill for any more 
targets.

"Yeah," replied Neil, gently touching his neck within the cockpit, 
feeling the slight depressions left in his skin through the tight 
fabric of the plugsuit.  "My AT field malfunctioned for some reason."  
The words brought a slight surge of terror through his body, and he 
remembered again the sensations he'd experienced without it, feeling as 
his machine's body was torn apart each time.  He remembered again how 
he'd been forcing himself to suppress the anger running from his mind 
before Jet Alone began strangling him, and his mind began to circle 
around a somewhat distasteful thought, the LCL suddenly feeling more 
cloying once again.

"We're underdefended!" shouted Misato's voice, bringing the attention 
of both Neil and Niobe back to the battlefield.  In the command center, 
Misato was simply staring at the map in something between anger and 
shock, watching as a group of red dots moved ever closer to the city 
unhindered.  "While you two handled Jet Alone, the enemy took the 
chance to get a large battalion out nearby!  Our other Evas are dealing 
with other incursions!"

Neil stopped listening to Misato, letting his breath beginning to come 
heavily once again as he swung his Eva around, letting the rifle in his 
arms train on the group of tanks, pulling back the trigger as the 
crosshairs locked on almost immediately.  Instead of the noise he'd 
expected, he heard a loud click, and pulling down the trigger again he 
realized that the guns were still tracking ammunition even without the 
need.  Freezing for a moment, he felt the adrenaline in his system 
begin building once again, and he started running towards the 
battalion, dropping the rifle even as he opened the shoulder flange on 
his left shoulder and let the prog knife pop out, grabbing it with his 
right hand.  "Only one way open, then," he hissed, hearing his voice 
sinking back into the awkward raspy tone he'd begun to take on earlier.

Misato's eyes went wide as Neil drew the knife and launched his Eva 
into the air, knowing from the sight of him that he was fully aware of 
the fact that his knife hadn't been prepared for the war games and 
wasn't supposed to be used.  The purple machine sailed across the sky 
for a moment, its powerful muscles keeping it high in the air until it 
began to sink back towards the ground, and Neil ignored the growing 
haze of adrenaline and fury as he aimed his Eva's feet towards the 
first tanks he could hit, slamming down on both of them and only 
distantly feeling them explode beneath his heels.  Reaching towards the 
lead tank, he brought the prog knife down with all the force he could 
manage, and the massive blade stabbed through the tank, leaving it 
hanging on like a limp piece of meat.

The sheer rage and speed of Neil's actions left Niobe stunned for a 
moment, and she scolded herself for not acting faster as she watched 
EVA-01 bring its knife around in a wide arc, using the tank still 
hanging to it as a club to smash away the other drones.  "Pay 
attention," she snapped to herself, knowing that someone at base had 
noticed her momentary delay, growing angry with herself as she trained 
the rifle on the drones as they came within range, firing the instant 
that her display showed a target lock.  "Ryo wouldn't have been 
distracted like that.  No wonder he barely notices me."

Below the surface in NERV's command center, Misato's head was still 
reeling from Neil's actions as Vash rounded a corner and opened fire on 
the tanks as well, leaving Neil free to move towards the nearest 
weapons depot and retrieve another rifle.  It was the same sort of 
insane maneuver that he'd pulled during the battle with the Fouth 
Angel, a sort of combat tactic that she wouldn't have expected from 
someone who'd never been in any kind of military organization before.  
"He's got something," she muttered, only paying partial attention to 
the display on the main screen as Neil and Niobe struck out towards the 
supposed location of the base again, arms folded across her chest and 
brow furrowed in thought.

"Captain Katsuragi?"  Shigeru's voice cut through the woman's thoughts, 
and she turned towards him, knowing that the Children had the situation 
more or less under control.  "We're getting a call in from the JSSDF.  
They're asking why we just destroyed expensive military hardware in a 
non-live-fire exercise."

"We were demonstrating the ability of the Evas to improvise on the 
field," she replied, biting her lip and lowering her head forward even 
as a resolute smirk spread across her face.  She'd known when Neil had 
lept into the air that NERV was going to have to answer for property 
damage, but she was willing to rely on the hope that it wouldn't be 
enough to undo the good press that the organization had already gotten 
from the exercise.  "No tank could pull something like that.  If 
they've got an issue with it, tell them to contact us afterwards and 
we'll reimburse them."  Shigeru nodded, and Misato turned back towards 
the main screen as he went back to his work.  She watched as Neil began 
firing on the would-be military base of the exercise, staring at EVA-
01's sinisterly grinning face, and for a moment she wondered what it 
would mean if Neil was right about there being something more within 
the machine than just the pilots.

                                  ]++[

Misato's role in the war games was finished, something that made her 
feel somewhat relieved despite herself.  Though she wanted to be 
certain that the Children were all right, she knew that all that 
remained were ornamental activities on their part, formalities that 
they had to undergo as the pilots.  And besides that, she was far more 
concerned with the seemingly impossible process of getting through to 
the head of the JSSDF operations for the games, still angry and scared 
by the knowledge that Jet Alone had been deployed.  "No, I will -not- 
contact the head of the military after the formalities are over," she 
repeated, handset cradled between her shoulder and ear as she tried to 
rearrange the piles of paper on her desk.  "NERV's command overrides 
your orders."

There was an awkward pause on the other end, and Misato frowned, 
knowing full well what it meant.  "I... I can't verify that you're with 
NERV, ma'am," the soldier on the other end lied, his voice obviously 
nervous.  It was telling, at least to Misato, that the true problem 
wasn't that he couldn't contact his commander, but that he had 
apparently been ordered not to allow contact from NERV.  She'd 
suspected as much from the way that he'd been stalling, but his 
reaction to her statement made it very clear.

Letting the statement hang in the air for a moment while she thought, 
Misato leaned back in her chair, letting the papers lie momentarily 
while she sighed and wondered idly when it was that the American 
branches of NERV had turned their experimental weapon over to the 
JSSDF.  A though occurred to her, and she smirked, leaning forward once 
again.  "All right, but you might want to humor me," she said, leaning 
on one elbow as she stared at the still-dissheveled papers on her desk 
again, realizing that there was still more paperwork that she was weeks 
behind on.  "Or you could not humor me, and I could go public with the 
information that a purely defensive army deployed an experimental 
weapon that presented a threat of nuclear meltdown during its first 
activation."  She paused for a moment, letting the soldier on the other 
end squirm just long enough.  "I'll give you a minute to think it over."

Placing the phone down on the table and decisively pressing the small 
gray button to hold the call, Misato smirked at her own deviousness, 
rather pleased with how the plan had gone.  She was certain that by the 
time she picked up the phone again she would have at least moved 
forward in the chain of command, if not given the commander outright.  
Then she heard the hiss of her office doors sliding open, and to her 
surprise she saw Commander Ikari walking through them, face unreadable 
as always.  "Commander," she snapped, standing quickly and offering a 
salute, feeling a slight tension in her chest at the thought that she'd 
done something wrong.

"You can stop attempting to contact the JSSDF command," he announced 
flatly, head tilting ever so slightly towards the handset of her 
telephone.  Misato stared at him blankly for a moment, then looked at 
the phone, gently picking it up and hanging it back on the receiver.  
Sometimes she found herself wondering just how closely Gendou watched 
his staff, recalling that it wasn't the first time he seemed to know 
what she was doing when he shouldn't have.  "I was aware that they were 
deploying Jet Alone.  We allowed them use of it for the exercise."

Misato's eyes went wide for a moment, and she stared at the commander 
in disbelief before her gaze narrowed and she leaned forward on her 
desk.  "Commander, Jet Alone nearly caused a nuclear explosion in the 
heart of Japan during its first activation.  You're telling me that you 
voluntarily deployed the machine for a -game-?"

"You are forgetting your place," he said rather harshly, and Misato 
could feel herself flush slightly at the reprimand, knowing that he was 
right.  "It was the only weapon that the JSSDF could possibly have 
deployed that would pose even the most remote threat to the Evas."  He 
paused for a moment, reaching up with one hand and adjusting his 
glasses, his expression unchanging as he stared at Misato.  "You did an 
excellent job of commanding the units today.  I saw none of the 
problems of the encounter with the Seventh Angel.  If the Children are 
to remain a cohesive unit, I am sure that you realize they will need 
threats that match their capability, just as they will need adequete 
leadership."

"Of course," replied Misato, her head still spinning, recalling how 
conveniently Jet Alone had shut down the day that it went berserk.  
She'd suspected at the time that someone had sabotaged it, and while 
she hadn't said anything Ritsuko had seemed the most likely candidate.  
The fact that the commander was so cavalier about dispatching the 
weapon made her start to wonder more about what had really been going 
on during the testing day, but she pushed the thought out of her mind, 
knowing that there were more important matters to attend to.  "I 
apologize for my outburst.  It won't happen again."

Gendou nodded, then turned and stepped into the doorway as the door 
itself slid out of the way.  He paused for a moment, then turned his 
head halfway towards Misato, the light reflecting off his glasses at 
the right angle to keep her from seeing his expression, though she knew 
from experience that it was unlikely to be anything but neutral.  "Your 
promotion paperwork is currently being approved," he announced after a 
moment, his tone no different than the one he had used to scold her.  
"I doubt it will be rejected."

Kozou was waiting for Gendou as he stepped out into the hall, his arms 
folded behind his back as the commander turned towards him.  "The old 
men have called a conference," he announced, watching Gendou's face for 
some kind of response and receiving none, almost disappointed by the 
man's passive reaction.  "They've been waiting for a few minutes now.  
It wouldn't be wise to continue aggravating them."

A thin smile played across Gendou's lips, the change in expression 
subtle as always, only betraying the barest hint of emotion.  "They're 
claiming it's because of the Seventh, aren't they?" he asked, tilting 
his head ever so slightly forehead, his slightly sunken eyes staring up 
at Kozou from just behind his glasses, reminding Fuyutsuki vaguely of 
when he had met the man before the Second Impact.  Pushing the 
nostaligiac thoughts out of his mind, Kozou nodded, and Gendou's smile 
grew just enough for Fuyutsuki to notice.  "But it isn't.  They know 
that there are still more seals remaining than broken.  They're trying 
to keep an eye on me."

"You can't say that they're wrong," replied Kozou, no bitterness in his 
voice as he brought his arms out from behind his back, watching calmly 
as Gendou nodded in response before returning his head to a more 
neutral position as he pushed his glasses back to be more snug with his 
face.  "After all, you do the same thing."

"Of course," replied Gendou, the smile gone from his lips as he stepped 
past Fuyutsuki, heading down the corridors towards the conference room, 
Kozou hesitating for just a moment before following afterwards.  
"Keeping a close eye on those that you command is the tendency of all 
those in power."  Stopping in front of an elevator, he pressed the 
button to bring the car to their level, then waited patiently for the 
door to slide open.

Both men stepped into the elevator once it dinged at their level, 
descending towards the lower levels of NERV's headquarters with almost 
alarming velocity.  At the back of Fuyutsuki's mind, a question was 
slowly gestating, and after a moment he decided that he needed to ask 
it.  "Why did you have Unit 01's AT field deactivated against Jet 
Alone?"  Gendou turned his head towards the older man, but Kozou kept 
his expression stoic.  "There was no way that the robot could have 
broken through the field, and I saw you press the button.  Did you have 
that much confidence in the Third's ability?"

For a moment, Gendou said nothing, and Kozou wondered if perhaps he 
would receive no response from the other man, despite the fact that 
they were technically equals on the chain of command.  Then the 
commander turned his head away from Kozou, staring back at the elevator 
doors.  "It's important that the Children remain aware of their place.  
I do not want the Third believing that he has nothing to fear within 
his Eva."  He paused for a moment, glancing up momentarily at the small 
level display to the left of the elevator door as the numbers steadily 
grew, approaching the lowest level of Central Dogma.  "EVA-01's pilot 
is too important for that.  I never doubted for a moment that he would 
be able to defeat the robot, especially with the help of the Sixth."

The elevator dinged to a stop, two levels above what Kozou knew to be 
the bottom of the base, and Ikari stepped out casually, not even 
glancing back to make sure that the elder man was following.  
Fuyutsuki, knowing his duty, followed a few respectful steps behind the 
other man, thoughts about NERV and its mission dancing around in his 
head, no answers seeming readily accessible.

                                  ]++[

"LCL draining from plug."  The announcement came over the still-
functional radio of the Eva as Neil could feel the sticky liquid seep 
out of the chamber, coughing as it passed beneath his head and his body 
suddenly rejected the liquid filling its lungs.  It always gave him a 
momentary rush of panic as he began hacking it up once again, knowing 
that even though there was a residual deposit of oxygen left, even 
though it was technically impossible for him to drown in LCL, for at 
least a second his lungs were filled with an alien substance and wanted 
very badly to push the fluid out of his body.

Participating in the games had been disturbing to say the least, and 
even though he didn't want to admit it Neil knew that the worst part 
hadn't been the pain of Jet Alone's clawlike hands gripping his 
throat.  He'd been thinking, as best he could, about why his field had 
failed him in that moment, just like they had against the Fourth Angel, 
and although he hated the implications of it the only explanation he 
could think of was that it was a result of him trying to reject the 
Eva.  He'd felt that odd sort of battle-lust drawing at the edge of his 
perception, and he'd wanted nothing more than to push it away, to keep 
it suppressed and keep the machine under his control, like Nieve had 
said.  And he couldn't help but think that the downed AT field was a 
result of that.

As his head sank forward slightly, Neil's thoughts were scattered to 
the winds as the entry plug lurched backwards, the mechanical noises of 
the Eva's back armor opening filling the air as the entry plug ejected, 
then more noises taking over as cranes gripped the white cockpit and 
slid it out of the Eva, pulling it over towards the proper unloading 
spot, the hatch above Neil popping open as he felt the pod set down.  
He hesitated for a moment, then stood and pushed it the rest of the way 
open, climbing out of the cockpit and trying to wipe the LCL off of his 
plugsuit as best he could, still feeling disturbingly exposed and 
covered by the salty liquid.

"Neil!"  The voice was more than familiar, and Neil turned to see Eiko 
running down the catwalk in her silver-red plugsuit, the almost 
mirrorlike surface of the outfit reflecting the teal walls of the 
holding bay and the purple-orange nutrient bath slowly refilling the 
Eva's hangar.  Neil felt a momentary surge of excitement at the sight 
of the girl, then almost immediately felt guilty for it, reminding 
himself that he had Nieve around, that Eiko was out of his reach.  
Despite the reminder, however, as she came to a stop a few inches away 
from him it was very difficult to not think he could simply reach out 
and have her.  "Are you all right?"

"Hmm?"  Neil's mind took a second to recall that he'd been choked by 
the robot, and he blushed slightly as he nodded, rubbing the back of 
his head uncomfortably and feeling even more exposed than before.  
"Yeah, I'm fine.  It hurt, but nothing that I can't deal with."  He 
smiled at the girl.  "You seemed to be working really hard out there, 
though.  I was impressed."

"You were doing -way- more than I was," giggled Eiko, smiling at Neil, 
her eyes nearly on the same level as his.  He blinked quickly, noticing 
as though for the first time that he and Eiko truly were almost the 
same height, while Nieve was significantly shorter than him.  "That 
jumping thing you did was absolutely amazing.  I was sure that we'd 
have to do a lot more work to keep from letting those units in, but you 
did it."

Knowing distantly that he should still be feeling guilty, Neil smiled 
despite himself, glad to see that she was still being so energetic even 
after yesterday's events.  "You keep talking like we were playing a 
video game," he said, closing his eyes for just a moment and basking in 
the moment.  "That's a big thing for you, isn't it?"

"I'm a sixteen-year-old kid," she replied, smirking widely before 
reaching over and lightly smacking Neil in the head.  It was a 
different sensation from when Nieve hit home, somehow more inviting and 
more pleasant.  The thought made him feel guilty once again, but as he 
looked back at Eiko he found himself unable to maintain the feeling.  
"Besides, I've always had a talent for games.  I'm just good like 
that."  She paused, looking away from Neil slightly.  "Too bad I'm not 
nearly as brave in reality."

"That's not true," Neil replied, putting his hands lightly around her 
shoulders, feeling her body underneath his hands even through the 
reinforced material of the plugsuit shoulders.  He swallowed hard as 
she looked up at him, the sensation a little disturbing at the same 
time that it was appealing.  "You were the only thing that kept me 
alive against the Fifth, remember?  You're braver than you give 
yourself credit for.  I think you just don't let yourself believe it 
like you ought to."

Eiko's stared seemed to turn happy once again, a look that made Neil 
feel better about himself even as his guilt about Nieve compounded.  
"You really think so?" she asked, sounding disbelieving even as Neil 
nodded his affirmation.  Sensing a moment of tension, he removed his 
hands, not wanting her to think that he was coming on to her even as he 
wanted to very badly.  If Eiko noticed, she said nothing, closing her 
eyes for just a moment before opening them again.  "Listen... I was 
wondering if you'd like to have lunch with me at school from now on.  I 
know it's probably a bit of a hike for you, but -"

"Sure," said Neil, the word coming out rushed despite its brevity, and 
Neil blushed slightly as he realized that he'd replied far too quickly 
with far too much enthusiasm.  He took a casual step backwards, rubbing 
the back of his head once again and forcing an awkward smile, still 
feeling the warmth in his face from his blush.  "I'd love to meet you 
for lunch.  I can get directions to your school from Misato, and while 
it might be a little bit of a hike, it'd probably be good for me."

Watching from the end of the catwalk opposite of where Eiko had 
entered, Nieve felt her gaze narrow as the two other Children talked.  
She couldn't hear their conversation clearly enough to know what was 
going on, but she could see the smiles on their faces, and watching the 
movements between the two it was easy to decipher the exchange even 
without proximity.  "Jerk," she muttered to herself, feeling uncommonly 
alone as she leaned against the doorframe at her end of the catwalk, 
arms crossed over her chest and hands holder her upper arms tightly.  
"You didn't even come over to see me, and I'm in the next hangar over."

Closing her eyes, Nieve tightened her grip on her arms slightly more, 
almost as though she was trying to embrace herself in lieu of Neil.  
She tried to remind herself that she was being foolish, but somehow the 
thought of her boyfriend talking to Eiko made her feel uneasy, as 
though he was having doubts about her.  She could remember the night of 
their first kiss vividly, and remembered how awkward the evening had 
seemed after Ryo had dropped off the sketch from Eiko, recalling how 
distracted Neil had seemed when she'd tried to kiss him again.  
"Something about that girl I don't trust," she muttered, consoling 
herself with the thought that she still lived with him, that she had 
access to him in ways that Eiko couldn't.

Almost unexpectedly, Nieve found herself grinning, her eyes slowly 
opening as she realized the implication of her living situation with 
Neil.  "Of course," she muttered, staring at him once again and feeling 
more confident than she had a few moments earlier, her course of action 
now clear and somewhat reassuring.  "He'll be mine.  I -know- he'll be 
mine."  Touching her fingers to her lips gently, she closed her eyes, 
remembering the sense of Neil's tongue within her mouth, her own tongue 
darting out without thinking, touching against the thin fabric of her 
plugsuit and tasting the salty LCL still soaked through it.  She 
frowend at the taste, the stared at Neil and Eiko for another moment 
before nodding decisively, turning on her heel and walking swiftly off 
of the catwalk.

                                  ]++[

"We have been kept waiting, Ikari," cautioned the holographic image at 
the head of the table in the darkened conference room, white light 
illuminating the figure just enough to make the outline of the older 
man clear to Gendou.  Gendou resisted the urge to smirk at the 
statement, keeping his hands folded in front of his mouth, glasses 
tilted just right to keep the light reflecting off them in the pool of 
white light where he sat.  "You know what happens when we are kept 
waiting."

"You ask me if I remember what happens, then remind me that you are in 
control of NERV," replied Gendou, keeping his tone just neutral enough 
to avoid sounding particularly snide.  He knew that the council members 
would probably see his remarks as inappropriate regardless, but he also 
knew that it would ultimately have little bearing on their opinion of 
him, just as he knew that if they had only called a conference because 
of the Seventh Angel they wouldn't have bothered to wait for him.  "I 
was attending to organizational matters within Central Dogma.  I came 
as soon as I heard."

There was a brief pause, the old men staring at Gendou through their 
patches of solid light and waiting for Gendou to crack, Gendou simply 
waiting for one of the old men to open their mouths once again.  At 
length the man in the red patch spoke, his mouth moving only slightly 
as he looked down his nose at Gendou.  "You've broken the seventh seal 
without notifying us immediately.  There was damage to multiple Eva 
units."

Gendou resisted the urge to shrug, instead continuing to stare dead 
ahead from behind the lenses of his glasses.  "Damage to the units is 
inevitable.  They are being forced into a combat situation."  He paused 
for a moment, letting his statement sink in.  "The Evas were 
constructed for defeating the Angels."

"Incorrect," snapped the man at the head of the table, moving ever so 
slightly, his face visibly angry even with the massive mechanical visor 
that obscured his eyes.  Gendou couldn't help but think that the man 
would have made an excellent corporate chairman, with his well-tailored 
suit and slicked white hair combining perfectly with his angry 
expression.  It was a somewhat humorous image, but Gendou's lips 
remained umoving as the man spoke once again.  "The Evas were 
constructed for usage in the complementation of humanity.  Your chief 
goal is the advancement of that project."

"Unless the chamber is open, there is hardly a rush on the completion 
of the project," replied Gendou flatly, allowing himself a wry smile at 
the statement.  "There are ten seals remaining before we can begin.  
But your fears are groundless besides - the project is advancing on 
schedule.  We have not been forced to make any deviations due to the 
Angels.  You may rest assured of that."

"We have noticed that you've been using NERV's resources to great 
effect, Ikari," said another man, this one sitting in the patch of blue 
light.  Their appearances were distinct, but Gendou had learned to tune 
out the visual while sitting in the room, instead focusing only on 
their voices, old, deep, and unanimously displeased with any 
performance that he provided.  "And we are fully aware of the fact that 
you used the Evangelions as war machines today.  We know about the war 
games you've engaged in."

Taking a moment before he responded, Gendou pushed his glasses back up 
on his nose, then tented his hands in front of his face once again, 
acting calm even as he felt the gazes of the council upon him.  There 
was something to be said about their potency, considering that none of 
them were even present at the meeting, that only Gendou was actually in 
the room, but their stares still carried weight as though they were 
present.  "I'm not surprised that you know," he said at length, 
sounding perfectly calm.  "NERV informed SEELE about this operation 
several days ago."

"Precisely."  This was from a man sitting in a yellow patch, generally 
the one that Gendou thought of as the least judgemental of him.  "NERV 
did not request permission from SEELE, did not even first contact us to 
see if we approved of the course of action.  It simply declared what it 
was going to do."  He paused, letting the implications of his statement 
sink in.  "NERV is not autonomous, Dr. Ikari.  You are subordinate to 
the will of the council.  Do not forget your place."

"Of course," replied Gendou, a great deal of his self-restraint going 
into the effort of not grimacing with anger at the remark.  The 
smaller, more petty part of him wanted to remind the old men that as 
long as he had control of the six Evas becoming autonomous would be no 
great task, that if not for him and his wife the project would never 
have gotten half as far as it was.  But he said nothing, knowing that 
the time was wrong and that the results would be nothing if not 
negative.  "I am not attempting to bully the council.  I simply wish to 
retain a favorable relationship with the government in control of the 
country."

Silence hung in the air for a moment, and Gendou could feel the enmity 
of the council very clearly, knowing full well that they were trying to 
get him to slip up, to give them some reason to replace him with 
someone that they felt they could trust completely.  It was a 
psychological war that Gendou was tired of, but he knew that to admit 
exhaustion was tantamount to admitting that one wished to lose, and so 
he said nothing, simply sitting in place and waiting for one of the 
council members to speak once again.  "The Council will not tolerate 
disobedience, Ikari.  As long as we share a common goal, we will not 
interfere with your work."

"I'm certain," replied Gendou, making a conscious effort to keep the 
sarcasm out of his words.  "My highest priority is the completion of 
the Human Complementation Project.  I have no illusions about that.  
But until we finish destroying the seals, there will be no path open to 
God.  We all know that."

"Do not lose sight of our goals," snapped the man at the head, glaring 
at Gendou for one last moment as the lights around the other seats 
snapped off one by one, the holographic conference quickly winding to a 
close.  "You've proven to be a invaluable ally, Dr. Ikari.  But if we 
find proof that you have betrayed our trust in any way..."

"...SEELE will make me regret it," Gendou finished as the white light 
surrounding the old man snapped off as well, leaving the only light the 
one that shone down on Gendou himself.  Gendou sat for a moment, then 
stood, removing his glasses and wiping them on his black jacket, 
blinking a few times to regain his bearings.  "I never had your trust, 
however," he noted, placing the glasses back over his eyes as he turned 
towards the barely-visible outline of the door out of the room, taking 
slow and measured steps towards it and listening to the echo of his 
footfalls within the empty chamber.  "One cannot betray something that 
one does not possess."

                                  ]++[

Rubbing the back of her neck, Misato leaned back in the chair situated 
outside of the locker rooms, closing her eyes and simply waiting for 
Nieve and Neil to emerge from within the changing rooms.  The one 
saving grace of the day was the fact that it had been relatively brief; 
there were more activities going on, but none of them required her 
presence, and she honestly doubted that she could stand much more 
military chest-pounding.  She hadn't been having a good week to begin 
with, and more than anything she simply wanted to go home, lay back, 
and have a nice can of beer, something that she couldn't help but feel 
guilty about as she thought of Neil's shocked reaction from the day 
prior.

Feeling hands touch the back of her neck, Misato jumped slightly, the 
sheer shock of having someone else touch her startling her eyes open.  
She felt the hands moving gently, kneading her skin in an effort to 
relax the tension that had seeped through her body, but the touch was 
familiar, and she glanced behind herself to see Kaji standing over her, 
gently rubbing her shoulders.  "You looked tense," he explained with a 
sheepish grin, apparently undaunted as she knocked his hands away.  "I 
though I might be able to help."

"Who's doting on who, then?" she muttered, standing from her chair and 
turning to face the man.  He was wearing the formal uniform of the 
intelligence department now, looking rather similar to Fuyutsuki's 
command uniform except for being a navy blue shade rather than earthy 
brown.  It looked somewhat awkward on him, as though he was only 
capable of existing comfortably in loose shirts and slacks.  "What are 
you doing down here, anyways?  Don't you have formalities to attend to?"

"Probably," he replied with a shrug, taking a step towards her even as 
she took a step away from him.  He frowned for a moment, acting as 
though he was hurt, then shrugged again and took a step back away from 
Misato, smiling all the while.  "But you're probably expected, too.  
After all, you are the operations director of NERV."

"I did my part for the day," replied Misato, folding her arms across 
her chest and turning partially away from Kaji.  Part of her wanted to 
keep facing him, but part of her wanted to turn away from him entirely 
and enter one of the locker rooms to keep out of his reach.  She 
settled for the partial turn.  "Besides, I've got two Children to take 
care of.  It's a big responsibility.  Not something that you'd know a 
whole lot about."

"Hey, I wasn't accusing," protested Kaji, hands raising in mock-
surrender, Misato giggling slightly in response despite herself, 
catching the gesture a second afterwards and stopping herself as a 
crimson flush began to filter to her cheeks.  She worried for a moment 
that Kaji would say something, but he didn't seem to notice, simply 
smiling at her with his usual charismatic half-smirk.  "Besides, even 
if we're not up there, it'll be taken care of.  Ritsuko will cover for 
us."  He glanced back and forth, then grinned devilishly and leaned 
towards Misato.  "Remember the time that we spent a week in my 
apartment...?"

Misato couldn't help but grin at the memory, closing her eyes and 
flashing back to the hazy summer days, the weather in Japan still 
reeling from the Second Impact that was fresh in the nation's mind.  
"That was fun," she muttered, mind distantly flashing back to sweaty 
embraces that had nothing to do with the heat, the unbelievable 
laziness and enjoyment of that week.  "And Ritsuko kept telling our 
professors that we were sick, getting all our assignments moved back."  
She smiled and giggled, the memories of earlier days beginning to flood 
back.  "Remember when we came back - that was almost right after she 
died her hair, and she was trying to act like she was the bad girl of 
the two of us - and she was waiting for us at the gate?"

"Yeah, I remember," replied Kaji, shaking his head and chuckling along 
with Misato.  "She was so angry at both of us, saying that we'd 
spending a week doing nothing but acting like animals while she was 
working her ass off..."  He began laughing harder, the whole sequence 
replaying itself in his mind, Misato joining him as her mind began to 
recall things she'd spent some time suppressing.  "And the whole time 
you were just staring at her with that dopey grin on your face, and 
then you shouted that it was so -worth- it, and then she threatened to 
tell all your professors exactly what you were doing..."

Tears of laughter were seeping out from the corners of Misato's eyes as 
she joined in with Kaji, the whole sequence of events seeming just as 
funny after many years as it had been at the time.  After a moment or 
two more she let her laughter die off, wiping her tears away as her 
lungs heaved a few more final chuckles.  "Those were good times," she 
said, leaning against the nearest wall for support as she returned to a 
standing position, feeling like she'd shed a few years just through the 
memories.  "I miss them."

"So do I," replied Kaji, his voice suddenly serious.  Misato opened her 
eyes, letting a few last tears from laughter fall down her cheeks as 
she looked into the man's eyes.  There was an unspeakable sadness held 
just behind them, an expression that she could only remember seeing 
once before in her life, and she suddenly found herself wondering if he 
been lying to Fuyutsuki about seeing someone else.  "Those might have 
been the best days of our lives, Misato.  You, me, and Ritsuko... just 
three college kids having fun."  He smirked, tilting his head slightly 
to one side and staring at her, the same sadness lingering just behind 
his eyes.

A second later, the doors of the locker rooms hissed open, and both 
Nieve and Neil stepped out, Neil wearing the same outfit that he'd worn 
on the day he had arrived in Tokyo-3 and Nieve wearing her green 
dress.  Both Children froze as they saw Misato and Kaji talking, and 
Misato suddenly realized that she was only standing a few inches away 
from the man.  "Um, hi, guys," she muttered awkwardly, stepping back 
swiftly and glaring at Kaji, wanting very much to be angry with him.

Much to her surprise, the sadness behind his eyes was gone now, and he 
simply looked at Misato and the Children rather neutrally, flashing a 
quick smile at Nieve and letting it widen as she blushed.  "Well, 
Misato, it looks like your big responsibility is here," he said, 
offering a quick wave to the group as he began walking down the hall 
away from them, taking the first few steps backwards before turning his 
back and simply turning his head slightly behind him.  "Have fun!"

For a moment, Misato stared after the man, suddenly finding it far more 
difficult to be angry with him despite the last few moments of their 
encounter.  There was something about his eyes as he'd looked at her, 
something that reminded her powerfully of watching her father's face as 
he'd sent her away from Antarctica as the Second Impact exploded behind 
him.  Then she frowned, and turned towards the Children, knowing that 
she was giving the whole thing more importance than it deserved.  
"Let's get going," she announced, drawing her car keys out of her 
pocket and letting them echo slightly in the empty air of the corridor.

                                  ]++[

Niobe stared at her small table, the pictures laid out along it, the 
porcelain animals that adorned it still frozen in their poses.  She 
felt her arm hesitate for a moment, the importance of her task only 
beginning to hit her as she stood over the table, one arm holding the 
box and the other prepared to put an end to her distractions with one 
quick motion.  She didn't want to do it, she realized, her right arm 
twitching against the surface of her belongings, the table shifting 
ever so slightly as her weight shifted.  "But I have to be better than 
this," she reminded herself, her breath starting to quickly.  "Come on, 
Niobe.  One quick cut, then it's over, and you're ahead of the others.  
He'll notice."

Closing her eyes, Niobe drew her arm roughtly across the surface of her 
table, hearing the noise of breaking glass as picture frames collided 
with one another, scraping across the table before they fell together 
into the brown cardboard box with a crash and a notable impact.  Niobe 
withdrew her arm, feeling a slight sting on the underside, and she 
noticed a small bit of glass sticking out of her skin, the transparent 
shard beginning to coat with red liquid.  Grimacing, she yanked the 
glass out, ignoring the pain and letting the small trickle of blood 
drip from her arm.  "Nothing else for it," she muttered, placing her 
arm down and sweeping more of her photographs off into the box.

She'd figured out what she had to do as the war games had ended, and as 
she hefted the box and left the porcelain figures in their roost 
amongst a few pieces of broken glass and drops of blood she recalled 
the sudden perfect realization as her Eva had descended back to the 
hangar once again.  Neil's flawless maneuver after being attacked by 
Jet Alone had made it clear that she should have been better, and a 
moment or two of thought on Ryo had revealed the problem.  "Joseph was 
right," she said, grabbing the photo frames off the top of the dresser 
and tossing them in the box almost gleefully, the blood from her 
earlier cut still letting out small drops.  "All these things are just 
distractions.  Ryo doesn't have any distractions, and he's perfectly 
focused."

Ryo.  The thought of the boy standing in the moonlight wouldn't leave 
Niobe's mind, and as she threw the last photo from her bureau into the 
box she placed it down on the floor, letting herself sit on the bed and 
close her eyes, thinking about the boy.  He was perfect, she knew it, 
totally focused on his goal.  "Awfully pale, though," she muttered to 
herself, smiling at the thought of her father seeing her with him, 
knowing that at the very least it would have sent him into a seizure.  
She knew how he felt about the matter of dating in general, and part of 
her wanted very much to respect that, to acquiesce and ignore the boy.

"But he's perfect," she continued, arguing with nobody but herself as 
she leaned back, opening her eyes and staring at the dull gray ceiling 
of the apartment.  "He knows what it takes to succeed, what you have to 
sacrifice, how much focus you have to invest.  If Joseph met him, I 
know he'd see that, see how determined he is to succeed."  She sighed, 
grinning to herself as she remembered how attactive he'd looked as 
well.  "And he'll notice me.  I'm not good enough now, but he'll notice 
me.  I've just got to focus more."

The words that came from her mouth made her think for a moment, and 
sitting up once again Niobe looked back towards her table, the 
porcelain animals still sitting there in perfect rows.  Almost 
unconsciously, she picked up the box and stepped over to the table once 
again, staring down at the frozen beasts as if they were about to lash 
out at her.  "They are a distraction," she whispered, feeling the same 
hesitation that had struck her before she'd swept away the 
photographs.  From the small wound on her arm, one last drop of blood 
leaked its way out from beneath her dark skin, trickling down and 
falling to the floor with a light noise.

Gritting her teeth, Niobe reached over and grabbed the nearest few 
animals, then hurled them into the box, unable to avert her gaze from 
the box as the small figurines shattered into bits of paint and pure 
white, falling down amongst the already-broken photo frames.  The sight 
was desensitizing despite itself, and even as Niobe reeled from the 
implications as she watched, she felt herself reaching over and 
grabbing another handful, tearing the animals off of the table and 
throwing them almost gleefully into the tan box, listening to them 
shatter with a sort of perverse satisfaction.  "I can remember things 
just fine," she muttered as she picked up the last animal, the small 
lion cub that her father had given her.  It sat in her hand for a 
moment longer, then fell towards the box, shattering into splinters 
with the rest of its brethren.

Staring at the sea of broken animals, Niobe collapsed backwards onto 
the bed, feeling both satisfied and forlorn.  Part of her was more than 
happy that she'd rid herself of the unnecessary distractions, but part 
of her was feeling the pain from severing the attachment, realizing 
that she'd thrown away things that she held dear.  Tears trembled at 
the corner of her eyes even as she smiled at the box, and she was so 
lost in her own thoughts that she almost didn't notice as Ryo entered 
the apartment, back from his trip to the store for dinner supplies.  He 
stepped next to Niobe's room, then glanced inside, more out of routine 
than anything.  "You've removed your keepsakes," he noted flatly.

"Yes," replied Niobe, still feeling rather hurt.  She closed her eyes 
for a second, letting the tears that had begun to form in her eyes 
fall, then she turned towards Ryo once again, feeling her resolve begin 
to strengthen, knowing that she'd done the right thing.  "I got rid of 
my distractions," she announced, standing and turning towards him, her 
jaw resolute, blue eyes flashing with determination.

Ryo simply stared back at the girl, almost as if he wasn't sure what 
was going on.  "All right," he said at length, sounding thoroughly 
uninterested as he moved past Niobe's room and into the kitchen, 
beginning to unload the groceries from his arms.  Niobe felt a 
momentary surge of resentment, then reminded herself that she still 
hadn't proven herself different, that all she'd done was simply take 
the first step.  Smiling to herself as she repeated the mantra in her 
head, Niobe grabbed the box and stepped out of her room, her 
satisfaction growing with each step as she slipped on her shoes and 
prepared to dump the box in the disposal.

                                  ]++[

Outro: Neon Epoch Evangelion is based off of -Shin Seiki Evangelion- by 
GAINAX and company.  It is not intended to be a straightforward fanfic, 
but it is building off the work of others, and as such it is done with 
the utmost respect for the original works and their authors.  
Basically, even though this is an original work, it's based off the 
work of others, and if you read this, you should go to see the original.

Special thanks to all of the real Children - you know who you are.

Extra special thanks to Joe Augulis for his consultation on the 
Japanese portions of the story.  He might not know much Japanese, but 
that's more than I know.

Copyright 2002 Eliot Lefebvre.

NEXT EPISODE:
             Opportunities unexpected.
             Complications unavoidable.
             Advances unhindered.
NEON EPOCH EVANGELION 10: STRUGGLING TOWARDS DIVINE
"What else does he want?"

                                  ]++[

We only have a little time in our lives to waste.  Make the most of it.
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