The following scene is a very important plot element, establishing how Cirus knows what's happening, and the geography of the facility around Eve. In case my narration is simply that awful, 'third impact' is the scenario that actually happened in the End of Eva movie, while 'Project-7' is the Kenosis-original version of achieving the same goal (at least in theory). I use it as a subtle jab at the very core of the series, pointing out that reducing humanity to a super-unified 'essence' is simply backtracking, a short-cut to 'moving on'. The truth, of course, is that humanity must work toward unity in the spiritual sense... not with big cyborgs and crazy physics. The scene ends with an ill-fated plan of Cirus' to get Rei out of the city before anything can go down.

The following scene between Kaji and Misato, over the phone, is more set-up for the final run in the chapter, flavored with, hopefully authentic, character interaction. Kaji's more sober tone immediately tips her off to something being amiss, and her own instincts kick in, causing her to bring her gun. Something is clearly wrong. The following scene is really just a dramatic, firm establishment of their meeting, and that Misato is now being brought into the mix with Cirus and Kaji (and Yachi).

With the start of a normal day for Ayanami-sama, the action of the chapter really begins. I've always considered Rei very shrewd in the ways of humanity, giving her a certain, natural practicality in any dangerous situation. As such, I think she behaves quite differently from the usual 'endagered heroine' in a story, being quite fast to make good decisions, and not taking risks. She immediately moves to the back door once she realizes something is wrong, and only fails to escape because of being outnumbered and predicted by professional trackers. The physical struggle with the agents also demonstrates a change in Rei. Where she would normally submit docilely to Gendo's wishes, she is quite literally fighting against them now. I also couldn't resist her being stronger than she looked, having a full-grown man have trouble resisting her arm's movement. It really is just a gasp-reflex from being startled that causes the chloroform to knock her out, she's quite smart enough to try holding her breath for long enough to escape more effectively.

And then the story switches to Cirus attempting his escape with Rei by approaching her home. He quickly adds up the signs in his head, and the action starts, officially, with him bolting away from her house and dialing up Yachi. Seeing Cirus so blunt and desperate, I hope, gives an impression of overall anxiety to the reader, creating more tension. After all, the point of a story is to pull the reader into an emotional ride, thrilling, yet enjoyable for the 'safety' of its non-reality. I simply choose to add to the 'non-reality' by keeping the characters generally safe throughout the story, despite the dangers they face. I must confess, I rather like Yachi's line: "...This isn't like you, Cirus. You're not used to being this stupid so you don't know how to handle it." It seems to me that brash people know how to react faster because they're used to being brash, so the line made sense to me when I wrote it, and I find it charming for its implicit humor. I also try to address a plot-hole in other action stories that use cell-phones, that may ring at a tactically crippling moment. Of course, then I forget to have Cirus turn the phone off. I think, when I wrote the scene, I believed not enough people knew his number for it to be an issue except for Yachi, who might try to talk him out of it again. Either way, I admit I seem to have shot myself in the foot in this 'cell-phone' issue.

What's important about the following scene, other than the obvious plot-issue of getting Rei partially linked to Eve, imposing a kind of 'timer' on the events following, is that she doesn't truly grow desperate until she learns Ikari is willing to have Cirus killed just for interfering. She never would have gone along, but it grates her emotions to the point of being explicitly stubborn. Also, Ritsuko and Fuyutsuki both show further signs of wanting to turn on Ikari for this entire situation, wracked with guilt for what they're doing to Rei. For some reason, the image of Rei being pushed out over the 'hole' in Eve, her toes the only thing still on the lift, sticks very clearly in my mind, and always gives me a feeling of intense anxiety and tension. I like this, and I hope some of that comes across for the readers, at least at some point during this scene. Rei, herself, finally gets a bit desperate, and this is really me pulling at the reader's heart-strings. Perhaps I failed, but I felt I portrayed Rei as a very gentle young woman throughout Kenosis, and seeing her forced into this mess, her desperation to avoid it, her pleading, causes all the more sympathy. Also, the image of Eve's body half-absorbing, and then coiling up around Rei is very clear to me, and I hope it is for the reader. The description of the sensations it causes and Rei's inner struggle, her mental pleading, hopefully create a clear sense of empathy in the reader. I'm quite pleased with how this scene turned out myself. After showing that Ritsuko and Fuyutsuki are 'rooting' for Rei, the scene ends on an anxiety-producing, mental plea from Ayanami-sama. Playing a mysterious, unexplainable connection that, hopefully, works for the reader, the start of the next scene seems to imply that, on some level, Cirus indeed hears her plea.

Having quickly chosen his options, Cirus 'responds' to Rei's plea himself, and the action really begins. This is, honestly, the only time in Kenosis when his 'spy' aspect really comes out, and it's fair to say that was a good chunk of why I handled the 'Eve scenario' the way I did. While I try to make my original characters believable and strong as characters, they are, fundamentally, part of my fantasy in the story, and will influence how I make the story flow for that reason. One constant theme in Cirus' action-sequence is his attempts to avoid permanently injuring the NERV security personel. He knows better than most that they're just normal people working under orders, and doesn't want to kill any of them. He is, however, on a mission, all the more focused for his love of Rei, and will not show an ounce of mercy beyond that.

Establishing that the doors are locked down is only part of the reason for the following scene with Ikari, Ritusko, and Fuyutsuki. This scene really starts the vice-commander's surge toward outright turning on Ikari.

The following scene is simply avoiding the cop-out of narrating Cirus' difficulty with the doors after the fact, and actually shows the effort and desperation he goes through in trying to get a sealed security door open.

And Kaji and Misato burst into the command center, putting the three techies through a crash-course on what's going on. This quickly establishes the character dynamics of the entire finishing sequence of the chapter, firmly grounding Ikari as the villain, and everyone else as hoping for success on Rei and Cirus' behalf. I thought it appropriate that Maya's spirit wouldn't really be into their abrupt 'sabotage' of NERV until she learned Ritsuko was likewise against what was happening. The part ends with Misato giving Cirus a rhetorical mental order, which just seemed so like the Major to me. Read on.