Chain Lightning Studios Presents
Together We Stand: Book Three
          Carpe Diem
          By T. L. Webb



and I'm waiting in this cell
because I have to know
have I been guilty all this time

        Stop
      Pink Floyd, The Wall


[]=======================[]
     Book Three; Part One
[]=======================[]


     "Leave me alone!" shouted Shinji as he ran towards the next
cab of the train. Reaching the door, he dashed through it and, as
he did so, grabbed the handle-- slamming it shut behind him.
Panting more from the shock of what he'd just herd rather than the
exertion, he turned and slid down the closed door to the floor.
Finally feeling some degree of safety, he closed his eyes a moment
to catch his breath.

     When he finally worked up the courage, he turned and slowly
peeked over the window to the cab he'd just left. To his surprise--
it was totally empty. Startled by this, he stood up and began
looking around through the window at the edges in order to see if
perhaps they were hiding at an angle he previously couldn't see.

     "After all you have been through, why do you still run from
yourself?" a soft, familiar, and feminine voice asked him.

     The voice had come from behind.

    Slowly, he turned to face the speaker. This brought another
shock.

     The owner of the voice was a flickering double image of a
human figure that his eyes couldn't reconcile. It was as if two
overlapping persons were flashing back and forth to take one
anthers place. To look at it for more than a moment made his
head hurt. Realizing that there was nowhere to go, and not wanting
to return to the other cab anyway, he resigned himself to facing this
blur in a human shape.

     "Why did you run? It asked again-- it's faces moving in and out
of focus as it spoke.

     "I... I don't know," Shinji told it cautiously, "maybe I just
needed a moment to think."

     "To think..." the figure mused as it turned slightly and took hold
of a hand rail, "what was there to think about? I believe the
questions asked were rather simple."

     "Bullshit!" Shinji shouted-- surprising even himself with his
anger, "I didn't want to kill him! He didn't deserve to die! There
had to be another way!"

     "Yet there was not time to discover this," the shifting figure said
as Shinji suddenly caught a glimpse of blue in the hair followed by
brown and back to blue.

     "Who are you?" he asked as he took a step toward the person.

     "I thought you knew," she said, her eyes flashing with flecks of
alternating red and blue.

     "No, I.... I don't think so..."

     "I am the Rei Ayanami in your mind," she told him as for a split
second her face came into focus.


[]====[]
[]====[]


     'Years of hard study,' Ritsuko thought as she walked toward
her office, 'awards of excellence form half the academies of
science worldwide, a masters in electronics, qualification as a MD,
and programmer of the most advanced biocomputers in human
history... and I'm still nothing more than a pawn.'

     Was it irony? Was it tragedy? The entire long sick and twisted
path was reaching an end, and she didn't even know what her role
in this whole game between her lover and Seele had been. After
years together, she didn't even understand the man, and she was
perhaps one of the few in a position to be able to begin to do so.

     In a way, she figured, the entire thing was comedy.

     Ritsuko turned the corner and when she saw Misato waiting by
her door, she almost went the other way. There was a look in her
old friend's eyes that screamed danger. Yet even though she
suspected that nothing to alter the course was possible, she
wondered if she could turn the anger Misato felt for Nerv around
to her advantage.

     In the hours since the Seventeenth's rampage through Terminal
Dogma, Misato had been totally silent on the mater, but the looks
that she'd given spoke more volume than any words. Misato had
lost all trust for her. She was fed up with having to guess what
she was being kept from. Even before She'd taken Misato down
into Terminal Dogma, her friend had been slowly becoming aware
that there might be a larger pattern behind the war against the
Angels-- a deeper purpose... or worse yet, a design. It had been
becoming more and more obvious that Misato's annoyance at the
dodges and half truths was becoming rage.

     Ritsuko only got within three feet of her one time friend before
she found out just how angry she really was.

     As she was slammed into the wall of the hallway, she had to
fight in order to resist laughing. This was a lot easier said than
done, however, and she did not manage to repress the grin that
spread across her face like the spilled coffee flowing away from
her shattered mug on the floor.

     Laughing at that moment would be potentially deadly for her, it
was totally inappropriate, but she simply couldn't help finding the
entire situation hilarious.

     Misato had finally decided to stop playing her part of the
obedient gamepeice. This was being made painfully clear by the
fact that she was holding Ritsuko up against the wall by the throat.

     The fire in her eyes could have possibly pierced an AT field.

    "Ritsu, I swear to _God_ that if you don't wipe that smirk off
your face _right_ now I am going to put you through this wall."

     "Really, Katsuragi," she said, this time not able to hold back a
chuckle, "let's try and be realistic-- these walls are at least a foot
thick."

     "You don't think I'm aware of that?" growled Misato, "I might
not manage to put you through, but trying would provide some
seriously needed stress relief. Now, tell me why you didn't report
these synch rates to me!"

     Ah, so that's what had set her off.

     "Fine, if you'll let me have enough air to speak I'll tell you,"
she said suddenly calm, "I don't see how the explanation could
make the situation any worse than it already is."

     "Damnit Ritsu!" Misato yelled, "I am so sick of this riddle
game! Stop dancing around it and just tell me the truth!"

     "For Gods sake Misato," Ritsuko said as she was let back
down, "lower your voice before someone hears us, I'm taking a
big enough chance _without_ tipping Section Two off."

     "Fine, lead on, but you're going to tell me everything. No more
secrets."

     "On your own head be it," Ritsuko said with a knowing smile
that Misato couldn't see.


[]====[]
[]====[]


     "W--what?" squeaked Shinji as he stepped back away from
the flickering dual image. Unfortunately he'd forgotten that his back
was against the door and he bumped into it-- startling himself
further, "what do you mean by that?"

     "This is how you see me in your mind, Shinji Ikari," the shape
calling itself Rei told him, "did it not seem odd that you saw your
own inner self as a small helpless child?"

     Shinji started to speak, to deny, but instead turned back to
look at the path he had come from. There, in the center of the
previously empty train cab, stood the boy in question. This time he
stood with his shirt torn, beside him a bag of clothing and
possessions.

     Suddenly, for a split second, there was another him standing
there. He could just make out the Plugsuit as the shape blinked
back to the shape of the boy.

     He turned back to Rei, and began to recognize the other image
that was momentarily superimposing over her own.

     "I never thought if it much I guess," he said, "but why did it
change just then? And why am I seeing you as... her as well?"

     "The Shinji Ikari in your mind is slowly changing because you
are growing as a person. In fact, it has only been recently that your
younger self again became the dominant one."

     "The last few Angels," Shinji whispered, "I couldn't do
anything... and now Kaoru... what he-- what _it_ did to Asuka..."

     "Yes," said the Rei in his mind, "you felt you were helpless to
protect her, to protect all of us, and your view of yourself changed
accordingly."

     "But that doesn't explain you," Shinji pointed out, "why are you
changing like that?"

     "Because of what you have learned about the real Rei
Ayanami's origins. You are seeing us as the same person."

     "I am?" he asked--- suddenly he found himself lying in a
hospital bed with the real Rei sitting beside him.

     "Well... that's good for you," she said as the room shifted back
to the train.

     "I am!" Shinji whispered in wonder, "I don't understand... how
does she know these things? Memory doesn't work like that, she
couldn't have memories of the person she was cloned from...
could she?"

     "Watch," Rei said as she pointed out the window.

     Suddenly he was at the observation tower of the wire cage
looking down at Unit One. On the monitor the real Rei was sitting
in the entry plug. As the activation proceeded he could hear
Ritsuko over at the console. As his past self stood at the window
He walked over closer trying to make out what she was saying.

     "We're getting an odd backflow," Maya told her, "but nothing
dangerous-- It's nothing like what we got with Unit Zero."

     "But what is it?" Ritsuko mused, "could it be some kind of
contamination?"

     "I don't think so, the pulses are way too similar to her own
spectrograph readings for that, I think it might just be Unit One
adjusting to the new pilot,"

     "Alright, but keep an eye on it," she flipped a switch and Rei's
face came up on the monitor, "so how does it feel to be in Unit
One's entry plug for the first time, Rei?"

     "It... smells like Ikari," Rei replied.

     "I don't understand," said Shinji as he watched, "I remember
being here, and I remember hearing them whispering, but I never
made out what they were saying!"

     The Rei on the monitor began to shift like the one in the train
and spoke to him.

     "Yet, you did hear them speak. The information was locked in
your subconscious memory of the day. Anyone can revisit a
memory if in the proper state of mind. Hypnotists assist people to
do so every day."

     "I suppose that makes sense, in a way," he agreed with a nod,
"But what does that mean? How did my mother's memories get
into Rei?"

     Suddenly he found himself in Unit One's entry plug. The LCL
was cloudy, and hard to breathe. He remembered this-- it was
when he'd been swallowed by the shadow of the Twelfth Angel.

     Then it all came to him in a giant leap. He remembered what
had happened next even as the memory surfaced. He could see
the serene figure flying to him. The features began to crystallize in
his mind and the final piece of the puzzle was locked in place.

     "You may not remember it," he could hear Ritsuko's voice say
that night down in Terminal Dogma, "but you were here when your
mother died."

     "Mother," he whispered as the face floated above him and the
truth finally became clear, "you're in Unit One!"


[]====[]
[]====[]


     "How is he?" a voice from behind inquired-- startling Hikari
from her thoughts. She looked up from her chair beside Shinji's
bed and found Rei standing a few feet away. It wasn't the first time
she'd seen her since they'd given her the photo album, but it was
the first time they'd been alone, and Hikari wished she were more
alert for it. She hadn't slept since Kaoru's attack.

     "He... he's stable," she said as she tried to focus, "the fall
broke a lot of his ribs and knocked him out... he almost punctured
a lung."

     "Has he woken?" asked Rei as she walked around the bed to a
chair that was on the other side.

     "No, they don't know when he will either. Its kind of funny... I
think this is the same room I was in."

     Rei looked away towards the window and there was a touch
of sadness to her manner that Hikari only noticed because she was
actively trying to pay attention for such a shift.

     "Oh.. I'm sorry," Hikari told her as she stood, "do you
remember it?"

     "I remember failing to activate Unit One, and then attempting to
defeat the angel with an N2 mine, but much of it is a blur of fleeting
images."

     "What about the thirteenth? That was where I got hurt."

     "I... I remember-- I remember that I hesitated for fear of your
life... I believe I considered you... a friend."

     "Rei," Hikari said fondly, "there isn't any reason you couldn't
still be."

     "I... thank you," Rei said-- her eyes wide.

     "I imagine what you're going through must be strange," Hikari
said as she sat back, "I hope that the photo album helped a little."

     "It has helped more than you could know," Rei told her with a
small secret smile-- which Hikari was just barely awake enough to
notice.

     "Hey," she said with a tired grin, "I think that's the first time
you've smiled since the explosion."

     "Perhaps that is true," Rei said thoughtfully, "I have been so
caught up in remembering the past that I am sometimes unmindful
of the present... if so, I have you to thank, Pilot Horaki."

     "Hikari," the tired girl said as she laid her head down on the
side of Shinji's bed, "you can call me Hikari."

     Her eyes began to close, and as Rei stood, she looked down at
the two slumbering children who had once been her friends. Pilot...
Hikari was correct, and incorrect in her statement before. She had
been their friends, and as much as she wished to still be so, she
knew that there was no time left for that.

     Even so, she was grateful for the feelings and meanings behind
the gesture, and she paused a moment to place Hikari's hand on
top of Shinji's. After doing so, she took a step back and smiled--
this time sadly-- before walking out of the room.


[]====[]
[]====[]


     "You _knew_?" Misato screamed at Ritsuko, "you _knew_
that _thing_ was an Angel and you still let him waltz around like a
God damn tourist?"

     "If you'll quit spitting in my face for half a second, I'll explain
it to you, Misato!" countered Ritsuko, as her friend spun around
and fell back into her chair.

     "Now, as I was saying, I suspected that Nagisa was an
Angel-- not knew, suspected-- after the tests. I couldn't say
anything then Misato, there were too many people watching this
event for me to even think about it."

     "Seele... They sent the brat, didn't they? Did they know what it
was?"

     "They'd have to, he was part of the nephilim project."

     "I think I've heard you drop that name before-- just what is it?"

     "I'd have to explain a lot more than that for you to understand,
Misato."

     "We're not moving till you do."

     "Ok... it's like this; you've heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls,
right?"

     "Yeah, they found 'em back in like 1940 something or other
right?"

     "Correct, but not all the findings were made public. Only a
small portion was revealed, the rest was spirited away by private
collectors and other greedy bastards who wanted it for their
collections... but the most important documents were nabbed by
Seele."

     "Just how long have these assholes been around?"

     "You've heard of the Masons, right?"

     "Yeah, those stoneworking guys, I think a bunch of them
founded the US."

     "Near as I have discovered Seele predates even them. They've
been around for a long time, Misato... and they've been waiting for
something."

     "For what?"

     "That's the kicker, I don't know if they really had any kind of
direction before they found the scrolls... I don't have enough
information to guess, but since then, at least, their chief goal has
been the instrumentality of the human race."

     "The _what_ of the human race?"

     "Do you follow the scientific journals much?"

     "Only what pertains to my job."

     "Well, there's been a running theory for about thirty years or so
that maybe human kind is an evolutionary dead end."

     "Huh?"

     "I mean, where is our advancement? What has changed in the
melenia since we started keeping records? What will be our next
phase of evolution?"

     "... don't look at me, I was never that big a follower of the
theory."

     "I guessed that from your favorite piece of jewelry," Ritsuko
dryly said as she nodded at the medallion Misato wore so often.

     "Kay, so why are we talking about this? What does it have to
do with that little shit, Kaoru?"

     "The Dead Sea scrolls that Seele procured included a blueprint
for an evolutionary step that mankind could take. Those blueprints
were done in such detail that it scared most of them silly, and
drove a couple of the members mad."

     "I can kinda see that, I mean, how could a two thousand old
year parchment have that kinda info?"

     "It wasn't just that Misato, the scrolls told them what mankind
have to do to obtain this form, and at the time they didn't have the
technology necessary to accomplish it."

     "Wait... you're talking about the Evas aren't you!  You mean
those two thousand year old scrolls were talking about genetics?"

     "More than that Misato, they contained mathematical equations
that blew anything that had been done up to that point not just out
of the water, but out of the atmosphere. It was like discovering
E=MC2 in the Bronze Age. Computers were just a twinkle in
mankind's eye, and while the math held up, it was decades before
it was all deciphered."

     "Holyshit."

     "And then some. But that wasn't what blew their minds. It was
the prophecies."

     "The what?" Misato gasped.

     "Imagine how they felt," Ritsuko said with a grin, "there they
were-- men of science-- reading mathematics more complicated
than anything they'd ever seen, a blueprint to mankind's next
evolutionary phase, and suddenly here are a list off all these
Angels."

     "Probably stained their shorts."

     "I imagine a few did. I only have second hand information from
the commander, but I understand that each of the angels was
predicted, as was the order in which they would appear and the
given name."

     "Okay," Misato said with a little confused frown, "so what
exactly _is_ the deal with all the religious stuff?"

     "Hard to say. The scrolls _were_ kept in the same series of
caves as a great deal of religious text...but, as much as _part_ of
me might wish to, the scientist in me doesn't want to put too much
emphasis on that point."

     "As creepy as it is I understand. So... what else was in these
blueprints?"


[]====[]
[]====[]


        Kensuke woke up to the sound of Touji's snoring. Unable
to go back to the sleep due to the awful din, he groaned and
rolled off his futon. Crawling into the bathroom to escape the noisy
rumbling he decided that while he was up he might as well make a
morning of it. Once he'd finished his morning shower, he quickly
grabbed his laptop and hurried to the living room.

     Checking to make sure everyone was asleep; he plugged in
and hopped online.

       There were several Emails, but the one that caught his eyes
first was the one from TetsuShojo-- his girlfriend, Mana. It was
the first he'd heard from her since their date a few days before,
and he had been getting nervous that he'd done something wrong.
Crossing his fingers, he opened the file and began to read.

   Dearest Kensuke,

         I am sooo sorry that I didn't get back to you
sooner, but things have been way past chaos here,
and I haven't had any computer access until now.

     First off, I had an unbelievably delightful time on
our date! You are a total sweetie and meeting you is
the best thing that has ever happened to me! Its been
a very long time since I've had that much fun, and I
will treasure those memories _and_ that kiss for the
rest of my life.

     By now you may get the idea that I'm building
up to some bad news... I have to say that it could be--
and No, I am not breaking up with you! So get that
idea out of your skull right now! Is it gone? Good.
You're stuck with me as long as I can keep ya,
Kensuke =^_^=

     Ok, now you're getting all worried about that bad
news aren't ya? Well its like this... I've been kinda
dishonest with you. I said I worked at that UN factory
where they were building the Trident robot series
right? Well I do, but not as a secretary like I said.

     I'm one of the pilots.

     I didn't say anything at first cuz I was afraid we'd
trip the security net... then I got worried cuz all your
friends were getting hurt and I didn't want you
worrying about me. I also really have no idea why
they have us as the pilots-- me and the other two
goofballs that are in the program that is. We're all
about the same age, give or take a couple of years,
and the only thing I can think of is that they figure we
can think like the kids piloting the Evas.

      Why would we have to do that? Well... that's
something that I've been putting off mentioning as
long as I could so I could get the other stuff out in the
opening... damnit--- hold on... ok, I've had yet
_another_ good cry for today. Ok.. Here's why I'm
all freaked out.

     We're moving out in like four hours.

     No, I don't know why, but I think the UN is
making a move against Nerv. I don't want to do this,
but they kinda have me in a do or get shot through
the head situation... no I'm not happy about it. At
least I was able to sneak this Email out, I doubt
they'll even notice before the whole thing is over.

     I don't know Kensuke... this might be the last
time I get to talk to you, and I'm totally scared out of
my mind! They say that we're going to be an
equalizer... but that would only be if the Evas were
going to be involved. I don't want to fight your
friends Kensuke, I really don't... but I want to live
too!

    Ok... crying session number six is over now... and I
think that I've probably made a total ass of myself at
this point... but I had to let you know what was
happening... if I don't come back I wanted you to
know the truth as to why.

    I like you a lot Kensuke, and I probably love you a
lot too. Please remember me if I don't make it back.

     Love forever,

         Mana Kirishima


     Kensuke had to read it over five more times before he
convinced himself it was real.

     "Oh Shit, oh shit, oh shit!" he whispered as he logged onto his
newsgroup and typed in the words 'fire from heaven.'

     Ten seconds after he posted the message, a blank Email
appeared in  his box. He pressed the reply button and his fingers
began to fly across  the keyboard.

       This was way bigger than what any of his recently acquired
friends had anticipated happing this soon. He hoped that it wasn't
too late to get word out.


[]====[]
[]====[]


     "She's a WHAT?" Misato screamed as Ritsuko covered her
ear. They'd been up the whole night and hadn't gotten through half
of what she wanted to say, but this was one she'd been dreading
and putting off all the same.

     "Oh don't look so surprised, Major-- it's not like I didn't give
you enough of the clues. Besides, one look at the Nagisa boy
should have told you _something_ at the very least."

     "No, this isn't possible, Rei is _not_ the same as that little
bastard!"

     "About that, I agree with you, she's something else entirely."

     "Huh?"

     "Don't grunt, its unladylike," Ritsuko said with a grin, "I don't
know just what Rei is exactly... maybe if I'd seen the actual scrolls
I'd have some type of clue, but I just haven't learned enough to
have any hypothesis-- save that whatever Gendou's plans are for
her are, they're against Seele's wishes."

     "That's almost enough to make me relax... but what's all this
about going against Seele's plan... I thought they were on the same
page."

     "No, the creation of two Nephilims is not part of the plan at
all-- in fact we've taken great pains to make sure none of the
clones in the room of Gauf woke up."

     "You didn't know about Nagisa then?"

     "I've been trying to tell you all morning that I _don't_ have all
the answers to your questions Misato. I would have hoped that, if
nothing else, you would have realized that by now."

     "Damnit... ok, so we go straight to Ikari himself... but first I
want you to do something."

     "What's that?"

     "I need to get into the Magi, I may have a way into his files."

     "Ha! So _that's_ what Kaji was up to!"

     "You have about three seconds to explain what you mean by
that."

     "I found him snooping around in here one day, he didn't see me
but I found out later he was going over a schematic of Casper... I
changed a few protocol locks on the system since then but it never
occurred to me to lockout the interior circuits. He must have put
together a backdoor into the firewall."

     "I'm happy that you're happy, but lets get this over with... hey,
just why the hell are you being so cooperative anyway?"

     "A person tends to be pissed off and rebellious when they
discover they've been sleeping with the antichrist," Ritsuko
told her with a blank expression.

     Misato blinked for a moment, then it hit her who Ritsuko was
talking about. She shuddered and made a face before turning and
walking towards the door.

      "Never make another comment on my sex life again," she
gravely told her friend as they headed to the command center.


[]====[]
[]====[]


         Somewhere near the surface of the Geofront, two
black-clad figures moved swiftly and silently down a series of
pitch-black corridors. These areas were ones that had yet to be
repaired after the recent attacks. At the end of the darkened
hallways, the reached a point where the lights were still on and
stopped just short of visibility.

       The taller of the two turned to the other-- a female- and
spoke.

     "Be ready. Once the second wave of the attack starts we only
have half an hour before they breech the interior, and Katsuragi
wont hesitate too pull out all the stops. We have to be in place
before that happens."

     "I understand... I'm scared out of my mind, but I understand. I
wish we'd had more of an advance warning."

     "We were lucky to get word at all... and that fear is good. fear
can keep you on edge and alert-- just don't let it take over your
survival instincts. If you freeze in place you'll make a delightful
target too some trigger happy asshole."

     "I know, but I still can't believe how fast it all went down, are
the UN forces already in place?"

     "Most of them, I'm guessing that they're all waiting on the heavy
hitters to arrive before they let their presence be known."

     "I know, I saw that post too.... I can't believe they think a
Trident has a chance against an AT Field."

     "I doubt even the gauss cannon could pierce it, but they wont
have to worry about that if Unit Three hasn't manifested yet. Trust
me, they would never plan on attacking if all the Eva's were
operational, and they wouldn't bring in the Mechs unless at least
one of them was. It's not to hard to figure out what's about to go
down if you keep that in mind."

     "Do you think that the other pilots are alive?"

    "Worried about them?"

     "A little, I mean how could I not be? You know why I'm doing
this."

     "I'm aware, and I was still a little surprised that you had joined
up when I saw you at the rondivous point."

     "I doubt that, you always knew more than what you let on. Dr
Akagi was always telling us to watch out for you."

     "Figures," the man said as he scratched his chin over the mask
he wore, "hopefully when all this is over I can discuss that with her.
Anyway, when the first wave hits the system will be way too tied
up to notice us, so that's when we make our move. You get into
position and bolt yourself in-- remember, neither side is to be
trusted."

     "Understood. You watch out too-- you have the dangerous
part."

     "Don't remind me," he said with a chuckle.

     The time began to tick by slowly as the two waited for the first
wave of Seele's attack to begin.


[]====[]
[]====[]


     In one of Nerv's holding cells, Asuka lay curled up beside the
doorway. She was out of range of the sole floodlight, but she
knew that someone was still watching her. Nerv wouldn't have the
room this dimly lit if they didn't have the capability to monitor
every centimeter of it.

     "Damn you," she muttered at one point to no one in particular.

     She didn't want to sleep-- her dreams were all the same and
they scared the hell out of her. She'd see her mother hanging from
the ceiling again, but this time it wasn't the doll beside her. Each
time she'd throw open the door, and see herself hanging beside her
mother, and each time she'd wake up screaming.

     She could still hear the whisper even when awake. Just as
she'd wake up she'd hear it repeat over and over like a fading
echo.

     "Come die with me Asuka," her mother's voice would say,
"Come to heaven with me."

     "Why didn't you just let me drown?" she'd whispered aloud the
only other time she'd spoken, "it would have been more humane...
oh that's right, you weren't human."

     That had sent her into a tear filled fit of bitter laughter.

     After awhile she'd slept some more, and had the same dream
again... but this time she didn't want to scream... this time she
wanted to go ahead and follow her mother. Just as she reached up
to take the cold, dead hand in her own, a voice woke her.

     She sat up with a jerk as the voice called her name again. She
rubbed her eyes and saw Hikari standing beside her.

     "What the hell do you want?" she muttered as she looked
down at the floor.

     "I wanted to try and talk."

     "Why?"

     "I heard what he told you before he died," she said, and Asuka
knew exactly who 'he' was.

     "Before your little _boy_friend killed him you mean?"

     "Damnit Asuka, stop that!" Hikari shouted, "we used to be
friends. I don't know why you stopped trying and I'm really
starting to not care. I wanted to give you this, Makoto up at the
command center made it for me."

     Hikari set a SDAT player down beside her and stood back up.

     "That's everything he said to you," she said as she shook her
head sadly, "I don't know if you even want it or not, but it's all
that's left of him-- even his stuff is gone from his apartment."

     "Why... why would you give me this?" Asuka asked as she
realized whom the SDAT belonged to.

     "I don't really know," said Hikari with a shrug, "it... just kind
of felt like the right thing to do."

     Asuka picked up the SDAT and looked at it for awhile--
saying nothing.

     "Well, I just wanted to give you that. I hope you get past
whatever this is that's eating away at you Asuka-- you used to be
a friend... I'd like it to be like that again some day."

     Asuka continued to look down at the SDAT as if mesmerized.
Finally Hikari turned and the door opened. As she walked out,
Asuka took the earphones that were wrapped around it and
placed them in her ears.


[]====[]
[]====[]


     "Wait," Ritsuko said as they opened the hatch to Magi Casper.

     "What is it?" Misato growled, "don't tell me you have to go pi-"

     "Hush! No it's _not_ that," Ritsuko countered, "I need to do
something in case I don't have a chance later."

     As Misato watched on, she pulled a small hand held device
from her pocket and began entering passwords.

     "What's that?"

     "Shhhh, I need to concentrate," Ritsuko hissed as she finished
entering commands. Finally a single icon came up on the screen
and Ritsuko looked back up at her friend, "you were worried a bit
ago that I might just be stringing you along?"

     "The thought did cross my mind," Misato said as her eyes
narrowed.

     "Well, after I press this you wont have to worry about that
anymore, because whatever trouble you may get into for sneaking
around a Magi is nothing compared to what Gendou will do to me
when he finds this."

     "Ritsu... what are you doing?" Misato demanded-- suddenly
concerned.

     "Remember the room of Gauf? With all the clones?"

      "More than I want to, I assure you that."

     "This is the command list for that room. Right now I have
access to every aspect of it... temperature, LCL density,
circulation, even lighting. Most importantly I have access to a set
of controls we installed in case we had one of the dolls wake up
on us."

     "You're saying that's the kill switch..."

     "Yep."

     "How long before they find out?"

     "Unless he directly accesses the system, no one would know
unless he, Fuyutski, or I were to see it for ourselves."

     "So it could be days?"

     "Or hours, or minutes, or seconds."

     "You're saying that no matter what-- you're not getting out of it
if you press that."

     "I'm saying that from this moment on, I'm in your corner," she
said as her thumb suddenly toggled the switch. As Misato gasped,
the board went red one section at a time before reading that the
acid had 'successfully been injected'.

     "We better hurry," Ritsuko told her, "I'm your alibi now, and
we're on borrowed time."


[]====[]
[]====[]


     Several feet above them, and totally oblivious to the traitorous
actions being taken below, Shigru, Yuri, and Makoto were having
their morning gossip session.

     "Okay, wiseass," Shigru said, "so what do _you_ think Nerv
will do with the Eva's?"

     "I think world domination is a little too far fetched myself--
sorry Yuri-- I'd say that they will probably use them to secure
Japan as a sovereign nation outside the UN's control. possibly
Germany too, and if the US hadn't backed out they'd probably be
in on it-- hell they might _still_ be."

     "Oh? And just why is world domination so farfetched?" Shigru
asked with a smirk, "I bet Unit One alone could take on just about
anything short of another Eva-- and I could be wrong on that."

     "What makes you say that, oh he of the mighty, mighty air
guitar?"

     "Watch it, four eyes. Seriously, look at what the thing can
do! It stood up to just about every type of explosion outside of
nuclear that's possible and still kept going. It can regenerate body
parts-- we've seen it do that more than once. It can generate a
force-field that requires all the power of Japan to penetrate-- and
to top it all off it doesn't need a power feed anymore."

     "Hmmm, ok... you might have a point... hey what the hell is
that?"

     Suddenly an alert began to blink on all their screens.

     "I dunno," Shigru said as he began to process the information,
"but it's not an angel.... Oh shit, this is bad... something's trying to
hack the Magi!"


[]====[]
[]====[]


     "Oh shit, this is bad," Misato said as they jumped out of the
Magi and looked around as red alerts began flashing all over the
command center.

     "Hold on, Misato," Ritsuko told her as she brought out a cell
phone, "this is Akagi, what the hell is going on?  Okay... right,
we're on our way."

     "We got lucky," she told Misato as they hurried to the set of
doors in the back, "the Magi are being hacked."

     "What!" Misato shrieked, "what do you mean lucky? What do
you call what we were just doing?"

     "Hacking. But don't worry, this isn't us. It looks like the other
Branches' Magi are trying to break into ours to get at the very
information we were just looking at."

     "You have one hell of a definition of lucky Ritsuko!" Misato
spat as they waited in a supply closet for an appropriate time to
make their entrance.

     "Well, I always said you were a hopeless optimist... what do
you think that makes me?"

     "Other than a sneaky bitch?" Misato asked as she shook her
head in amazement.

     "That too."


[]====[]
[]====[]


     "So now what?" Shinji asked the Rei in his mind.

     "You know what you must do," she said as her image flickered
again.

     He looked back to the door he'd come from and sighed. Just
as he turned and reached for the door, he paused for a moment.
Turning back to Rei/Yui he walked up and embraced her in a
tender hug.

     "I know you're not really my mom," he said as he fought back
tears, "but just the same, I miss you."

     "We know Shinji," she told him as she hugged him back, "we
know."

     Suddenly he was alone in the train car. He took one last look
around and stepped up to the door. It opened with little effort and
wit ha deep breath, he crossed the threshold.

     In front of him the smaller version of himself sat in the seat once
again. He was still looking directly ahead-- ignoring him. Shinji
supposed that once the weirdness of the whole concept was
placed aside, he had a good reason to ignore himself. After all--
he'd run out a bit ago cursing and screaming.

     Shaking his head, he sat down across from the boy and found
himself looking right into his younger self's piercing eyes.

     "Um," he said nervously, "sorry about that."

     "It was rude, but forgivable."

     "What now?"

     "A very good question, actually. There is very little else to say,
save that you have not answered the question I asked before you
took flight."

     "Oh... that's right," Shinji said with a frown. His hand clenched
to a fist as he looked up and stared his opposite number in the face,
"I did it, and I did it on purpose. It wasn't an accident or a
mistake."

     "But why did you kill the Angel?"

     "Because if I hadn't... more people would have died."

     "If it had only been your life at stake, would you still have?"

     "I... don't know," Shinji went pale as he thought about that.
There had been a time when he would have let the Angel kill him.
There had been a time when he wouldn't have been able to bring
himself to kill the Angel that had once been Kaoru Nagisa. He'd
once held his own life in that low of importance.

     "I... if I had to... yes," he said finally, "if it was him or me, I
would... but not otherwise."

     "Very well," the boy said as he stood, "I think your stop is
coming up."

     "Oh," Shinji said as he looked ahead outside the window. He
looked back at the boy and frowned, "aren't you supposed to
change or something?"

     "I beg your pardon?"

     "Er, it's just that I thought..."

     "That once you accepted the decision you were forced into I
would become the other version of yourself? The older?"

     "Uh... yeah."

     "Shinji Ikari, do not believe that having the capability to kill
if necessary makes one more mature. If anything it makes some
people less so," the young face suddenly smiled, "Do not worry,
the Shinji Ikari in your mind will not remain as such forever."

     With that, there was a burst of spectral sound, and Shinji
suddenly found himself in the hospital. There was a siren blaring
and in the hall he could hear people yelling to run to the shelters.

    He tried to sit up, but his side felt like it was on fire and his
head was spinning.

     "What's going on? Another angel?" he muttered, resting back
against the sweat-soaked pillow. He'd need help if he were going
to get anywhere. As the bedlam continued, he prayed he'd have
the strength to help.


[]====[]
[]====[]


      The alarms went unnoticed by one person. In the holding cell,
Asuka was oblivious to all but the soft, gentle words coming from
the SDAT headphones that were sitting in her ears. Over and over
she rewound and listened to Kaoru's words. Sometimes with
tears, sometimes with a sad little smile crossing her lips. Little by
little, the rest of the world had faded away, until in her mind the
voice took shape and she could see him speak as she rewound the
tape again and again. 

     When the section Two agents arrived to take her to Unit Two,
she didn't even notice.


[]====[]
[]====[]


     About a mile or two from the command center, there was a
small underground room that housed a primary information cable
that ran from the Magi to various other sections of the Geofront. it
was in a rather protected section of the system, and if a person
was not intimately familiar with the layout, they would never know
it's existence as it was not in the UN's blueprints. Only the actual
Magi had the final drafts.

     As she watched the screen, the female intruder tapped her foot
in impatience. She knew that it was only a matter of time before
Dr Akagi activated the 666-firewall program, and she wouldn't be
able to move until then. She'd been the one who'd helped write
that program, and she knew the ways that could be used to get
around it.

      Not seeing any reason to keep it on in the hot room, Maya
Ibuki removed her mask and wiped her forehead with it. When the
hack failed, Seele would no doubt send in the UN ground forces
and the Mechs it had called in... and while they were distracted
with that-- she'd make her move.

     As she waited she hoped that her accomplice's nearly
legendary luck was still holding out.


[]====[]
[]====[]


      Deep in Terminal Dogma, Rei walked noiselessly through the
corridors.

     As she entered the room of Gauf she let out a gasp at what she
saw. The room was empty-- the clones were gone! She ran up to
the glass and stared in the dimly lit liquid, and was further shocked
to find a layer of film was coating everything within. As she backed
away she concluded that someone had destroyed the clones.

     Someone had destroyed her replacements.

     She was-- at last-- unique.

    As this sunk in she found herself needing to lean against the
central tube for support. This implied much; mostly that one of the
three people who had access to this room had turned against the
Plan. Ikari was almost certainly not the one, nor was Fuyutski...
which left Dr Akagi. She didn't know quite what to make of it. Her
memories held multiple reasons for the doctor to dislike-- and in
one case even hate her.

     If only she wasn't bound by her purpose... this would have
meant her freedom.

     A tear slipped down her cheek as she walked from the room.

     She had wished her destiny were different many times, she
knew this now, but she did not remember an occasion where she
had hated it so.


[]====[]
[]====[]


   "Again they defy us," one of the Seele monoliths said angrily as
they met to discuss the ongoing situation with Nerv, "we, who
birthed and nourished them, and they sneer at us like rebellious
children."

     "Akagi believes her efforts has saved them, yet it has only
delayed the inevitable. This program of her creation which carries
the number of the beast only forces us to take more drastic
measures."

     "Of all the pawns there were in this game,  I find myself
shocked that she would be the one to act in favor of the betrayer."

      "She acts to prolong her own existence. It is a human impulse,
one that she will rue in hours to come."

      "Agreed. None of the betrayers in Nerv are fit to join us in
instrumentality. Let it be known that all of the defilers are to be
eliminated on sight.

       "We hoped to accomplish our goals in a peaceful manner. It is
truly a pity that Ikari forces us to shed blood to bring about such
glory for mankind."

     "Ikari will now learn what we have always known to be true.
He is not the gamemaster he believes himself to be, he is merely a
gamepiece."


[]====[]
[]====[]


     not far from the cage where the Evangelions were rapidly being
prepared for possible action, Hikari sat alone in the locker room.
She didn't understand what was going on-- Misato had told her it
wasn't an angel, but she'd still been ordered to gear up. Being on
standby, she still hadn't been ordered to get into the robot, so she
sat there waiting. 

     And crying.

     With all that had happened in the past few days she hadn't even
had time to think straight, and the emotional release had hit her the
moment she'd sealed her suit and realized how empty the room
sounded.

     Rei had nearly died, Asuka was walking again on some razor
sharp edge of insanity, and poor, poor Shinji was laying there
broken... she was trying so hard to be strong for everyone, but the
fears that she'd managed to push back all these months since
becoming a pilot had finally caught up with her.

     It was all so wrong, children fighting a war they couldn't even
understand while some type of bizarre game was played out among
the adults. It shook her to the core to know what she and Shinji
had pieced together from the scrapbook he'd shown her. How
could his father be so causal about all of this? What was he trying
to do that was so important he'd toss away lives to achieve it?
What did it all have to do with the Evas? These thoughts tore at
her as she realized how little she knew, and how little control she
had over it. 

      "Pilot Horaki, report to Eva Unit Three" a cold methodical
voice rang out over the PA system. They needed her to go out
there again. To fight and maybe end up like her friends. And she'd
do it, because she didn't know what else she could do.

     So, with a determined look crossing her features, Hikari wiped
away her tears and tried to stop gasping for breath. It was down
to her now... whether she was ready or not. 


[]====[]
[]====[]


     "Whew," Misato said as she slid into the chair beside Ritsuko,
she was going to have a date with a nice hot shower when she got
home, this whole day had left her with an annoying series of cold
sweats, and she was starting to smell the fear-stink on herself,
"well, I'm glad _that's_ over with..."

     "Only for the moment," Ritsuko said as she nursed the mug of
coffee that Misato had carefully failed to notice contained no small
amount of alcohol, "Seele won't give in this easily."

     "I didn't see when the commander left, did you?"

     "I was in the damn Magi, how could I?"

     "Right," Misato sighed as behind her Shigru went stiff as a
board.

     "Oh shit," he shouted.

     "What is it now?" Misato groaned, "no wait, don't tell me,
another Angel is attacking, right?"

     Shigru didn't answer, he just put the display up on the main
screen.

     The image was a satellite feed, magnified a few hundred times
to display a beach several miles outside of Tokyo Three's borders.
The beach was a mass of activity as tents were being erected and
boats were landing one after the other. From these boats a flood
of human soldiers were flowing to a series of trucks. Several more
carried tanks and other armored land assault vehicles. However,
the most disturbing arrival was a large ship that held a tarp-covered
shape that Misato recognized dimly.

     "I think the UN's going to attack," Shigru told her in a small
voice.

     "I think I'd rather prefer an Angel," Misato said in an equally
frightened tone.


[]========================[]
     To be continued...
[]========================[]


Author's incoherent babbling


     Mueh, heh, heh ... now the stage is set.

     Sorry, ^_^  I'm just really excited about the next two chapters.
Most of the reasons I decided to run this all they way to EoE have
to do with what is about to take place. I have a few little tricks up
my sleeve that I think y'all ought to enjoy.

     I don't think I can say this enough, but the proper soundtrack
can enhance the mood while you're writing. So if you're one of
those-- like me-- to whom it does, I want to insist you get the S2
Works if you haven't already, just about every piece of music from
Eva can be found there-- save a few of the classical pieces used
for the later angel attacks. For me it was worth it for the last few
tracks on the third CD, but that's playing favorites ^_^

    I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out, but between
the insanity that is the future acquisition of my new digs and other
IRL loonyness I've been a little behind getting it spellchecked and
revised properly. Not to mention I've been sleeping more
because my sinuses were kicking my ass left and right... if I could
erase any one month from the year it would be November-- I
always seem to get sick around now.

     Fortunately, I do nearly all my writing at work, so there won't be
too many more delays-- 'cept if I have to call in sick. There's only
a little more to tell of this  story, and I anticipate it being complete
before the year is out. Hard to believe the end is so close, but the
journey has been worth it.

     Well, that'll about do it for this round of my rambling ^_^

     Zap-Kaboom

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