Shin Seiki Evangelion - Kimatsushiken
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Final Exam

     the end of higher learning
            strike fiss
            
            part 2 of 6











Lesson 47: [Just when you think it's safe to study, the fire-alarm goes 
off, students go ape-shit and everything goes to hell.  It is the school 
system's way to teach you that in life, you will be severely fucked up 
when you least expect it.]


***


Maya had always believed it silly to keep with the old traditions of the 
Twentieth Century, save a few.  Born too late to remember much of the 
world before the Angels, and yet, too old to have only memories of this 
century, she remembered harbouring spite and disgust at the Pre Impact 
childhood she shared with many of the people here today. 

Trust came easy for her, and she returned it in kind to both Aoba Shigeru 
and Hyuuga Makoto.  However, she still found it hard to share herself 
with them.  They seemed too childish.  Makoto was forever lost in his 
mixed match of a healthy Japanese work ethic, and his desire to simply 
bask in the mighty glow that was Misato.  Shigeru had a nostalgia that 
was surpassed only by the oldest members of NERV; pretending to be an old 
pop-idol of the old era whenever he thought nobody was looking.  

It was too bad.  She wondered if they'd share her musings on how silly 
having a digital readout was, counting the seconds, minutes, and hours 
after the last Angel's attack.  

Not that it was silly, having the T-Plus count...rather, why use a simple 
digital readout?  Floating on a vast array of holographic screens, they 
still pretended to have an old LCD clock?  Powered by three of the most 
powerful computers ever made?  Did the MAGI even have to devote real 
system resources to the effort?  Was it a fraction of a millionth of a 
percent?  Or maybe was it just...

Ahh, the sleep deprivation was catching up now.  She could tell it by the 
way her mind would go off on these little random tangents.  In all 
fairness to her brain, however, this was the same cause for her lo...er 
...infatuation with the good Doctor.  Too much time on her hands was a 
dangerous thing.  In school, her marks were skyrocketing whenever she had 
to force herself to work so she wouldn't daydream about boys...or 
girls...or both.  It was a bit frightening to have such an active and 
complex mind during puberty.  

Most of the results of her daydreaming were productive now.  Programming 
was a much more entertaining experience when you could do so in your 
dreams, and she could almost achieve REM sleep during work if she wanted 
to pull in an extra shift.  Or two.  Or three.  

And it had paid off.  They were still here.  Still breathing.  Still 
living.  

Now what?

"Maya." A scolding Ritsuko cut into her musings.  "You're fidgeting."

She looked up in surprise at the Doctor, who was setting down a coffee in 
front of the young assistant.  "Sorry, Ma'am."

The older of the two looked down at Maya with a raised eyebrow.  "Ma'am?  
You're not thinking dirty thoughts about me being a dominatrix now, are 
you?"

Thankfully, the comment was quiet enough to save Maya's embarrassment 
from being public.  "Sempai...I...I didn't mean that..." she sputtered, 
trying not to turn into a tomato.

Ritsuko chuckled softly, then bowed her head.  "I apologize.  I'm just a 
bit off today.  Spending most of the night at the Misato residence always 
throws me off." She took a long sip of coffee and shook her head.  "I 
swear that girl is a bad influence on me.  Ever since we started hanging 
out in school..."

Maya smiled thoughtfully as her teacher ran her hands through the 
blondish locks of her hair.  "You dyed your hair because of Misato?"

"Yep." Ritsuko laughed.  "Well, indirectly." She paused, then sighed.  
"I'm sure you'll not like to hear it, but I died my hair to attract 
Kaji's attention." She shook her head with a smile at some old memory.  
"I heard somewhere that he liked blondes.  However, my information was 
incorrect.  Turns out he liked red-heads the best, and I ended up keeping 
my hair blonde for two reasons."

"What reasons?" Maya asked, taking a sip of her own coffee. 

"One...so I wouldn't look like I was TRYING to impress him, and give him 
any kind of satisfaction whatsoever." She chuckled.  "And, two, I wanted 
to keep it as a reminder.  How easily I was manipulated by my own damn 
sex drive."

Maya laughed, but then stopped as she saw Ritsuko look up to the upper 
command bridge.  "Sempai?"

"I didn't learn anything from it, after all." She sighed, then turned 
back to Maya with a much warmer smile.  "It's too bad, though.  I bet you 
would have liked me with my black hair."

"It had crossed my mind..." she whispered into her cup, trying to hide 
her smile and blush.

Makoto interrupted their conversation with loud, impatient yawn, as if 
the Doctor would be able to cure his boredom.  "So, what do we do now?  
The commander ordered we're not to leave the base, and yet, we're not 
doing anything."

"We are here to make sure nothing else happens." Ritsuko said casually.  
"You didn't think we'd just dismantle NERV the moment we thought we'd 
won, did you?"

Maya sighed to herself.  Ahh, yes...and then there was the good Doctor.  
Definitely not a child like the others.  Of course, she had to stop 
thinking along those lines, or images of dominatrix costumes would be 
next. 

"I suppose." He sighed. 

Shigeru nodded.  "I guess the only thing left to do is wait for this 
Instrumentality program."

Ritsuko looked over to him like he had said something dirty...but then 
away.  "I suppose you're right."

Makoto shook his head.  "Still, I find it a little odd that it's all 
over." He looked up at the screens.  "The Evangelion Series is completed, 
the U.N. just approved our budget for the next five years, and we haven't 
heard anything from the Committee even hinting we should pack up."

Ritsuko smiled.  Makoto knew a lot more than she gave him credit for.  
Perhaps his crush on Misato was a useful thing after all.  "I would 
assume that NERV has plans reaching far past this batch of Angels." She 
shrugged.  "If only to have the ability to fight back later on."

Maya's musing about the digital readout was what gave the indication of 
things about to change. 

It flickered.

Just once.  Just for a moment.  Ritsuko saw the quizzical look on the 
younger one's face, and turned to the screen.  "What is it?"

Maya shook her head.  "I don't know...I thought I saw something..."

Ritsuko wheeled her chair quickly over to her control station.  "Is 
anyone running a benchmark on the database?"

The blank looks on all their faces made her heart sink.  

Maya ran over to her workstation as well and looked up, white as a ghost.  
"We're being attacked!"

"Shut it down!" Ritsuko ordered.  

"Too late!" Makoto replied.  "No effect!" 

A long, loud klaxon filled the command centre.  

Above them, Gendo watched the screens light up.  Fuyutsuki shook his 
head.  "As I predicted...our last enemy is human."

Gendo looked up at the old man and nodded.  "SEELE is indeed as foolish 
as I thought.  The old men want only death."

"I'm sure they're quite proud about that fact." Fuyutsuki said, walking 
to the elevator as the room exploded into activity.  

"Death creates nothing." Gendo said, still sitting. 

"Always a romantic, hey, Yui?" the old man whispered to himself as he 
descended.

Ritsuko rushed passed him as he arrived to the main floor.  With an 
outstretched arm, the old Sensei halted her rush.  "Doctor."

She smiled briefly.  "Yes, Sub-Commander?"

"You must have a lot on your mind today." He said quietly.  "You didn't 
even touch your coffee."

Ritsuko raised her eyebrow and nodded.  "Yes, I suppose you can say 
that."

The communications relays exploded onto the display, showing the cuts and 
problems...eventually...all targeting the Magi's firewall.  Five sources, 
from all around the world, had been employed on this attack.  The five 
angry daughters attacking the mother because their boyfriends said to.  

"We need time for the Children." Fuyutsuki said simply.  "I know you may 
have problems with helping the commanding officers of NERV at the 
moment." He said.  "But I need to ask you if you can do this."

The blonde woman bowed her head slowly.  "I haven't given up yet." She 
smiled as Maya rushed past her, initiating the codes to access the Magi 
underbelly.  "You'll get your time and more, Kouzo-san."

He smiled at the comment and let her past.  "Thank you, Akagi-san." He 
chuckled.  "I'll keep him off your back."

"Every little bit helps." The doctor said, then turned to Maya.  "Get the 
auxiliary firewall box."

Maya blinked.  "You're going to open up the Magi again?"

"We have to." She turned to the main screen...then glanced back up at 
Gendo, who sat unmoving.  "I want to save my mother." She whispered.









Misato's cell phone had rung about thirty times before she finally had 
the chance to answer it.  It really hadn't been her fault.  Kaji had the 
habit of hanging out in interesting places that were usually very hard to 
get into...and out of...and so, she had been asleep most of the night 
from visiting his usual hang-outs.

Mostly bars...a few strip-clubs...and three all-night sushi stands that 
she knew of.  None of the people there admitted to knowing a Kaji...let 
alone telling the strange, officially-dressed woman of his current 
location.  

Finally, though, it had happened around three a.m. of last night.  Just 
before last call, she found an old tempura stand on the edge of town, 
leading out of the Tokyo Valleys.  

Exhausted, and about to call it a night, she sat down and ordered some 
food to go.  During the conversation that was cooked up along with the 
food, Misato had let it slip that she was looking for her old boyfriend 
and his buddy.   

The old cook had been kind enough to mention of two young men who seemed 
in a hurry two nights ago to rush out of town towards the mountains.  
Sure enough, they had turned out to be Kaji and Miyazaki after a bit of 
remembering and description telling.  

It was too much of a head start, but Misato had the lead she needed to 
find out they had rented a Jeep just on the outskirts of the valley.  She 
had spent most of the night trying to get the Coast Guard to listen to 
her at four in the morning, asking them to keep an eye out for the two 
men. 

The cell-phone was the next thing she heard after waiting for the 
bastards to phone back.  Sleeping in her little sports car was not as fun 
or comfortable as she had hoped it would have been.

It was her official NERV line.  Either Kaji was playing a joke on her, or 
yet more hell was about to come her way. 

She heard Makoto say the words "attack" and "magi".  The rest of the 
time, she drove to find Asuka and Shinji.  She was actually fairly 
relieved to find both of them at home...despite the fact they were 
sharing a blanket as they were wandering about the kitchen, fixing 
breakfast.  
  
Shinji saw her face and sighed.  "Oh no..."

Asuka looked at him, as if about to panic, then back to Misato.  
Instantly, she knew it was not her disapproval of cooking naked that was 
bothering the older woman.  "No..." 

Misato nodded and leaned up against the wall, not bothering to take off 
her shoes. "We have to go.  NERV is being attacked."

The young man nodded, but was interrupted by Asuka hugging him tightly.  
"We're not going." She said, shivering.  

Both Misato and Shinji blinked.  "Asuka...we have to." The latter of the 
two said.  "If we don't, everything we've accomplished so far is..."

"I don't CARE!" she yelled out, though was content on doing so into 
Shinji's shoulder.  "I'm staying here!  I'm not going to go just to be 
useless again!"

Misato's eye twitched.  Shinji took a deep breath.  "I see many problems 
ahead..." he thought to himself.  

Though, he was still a bit surprised when Misato covered the distance 
between the three with four angry strides, grabbed Asuka by the neck, and 
pulled her off of Shinji.  (who was now wishing he had underwear on, 
since the pull left Asuka with the blanket)  

She took Asuka as far as she could before the struggling redhead managed 
to fall on the hall-way floor.  "You ungrateful little CHILD!" Misato 
screamed right back.  Her voice was long-since cracking from fatigue and 
anger.  "Don't you dare say you don't care about all of us!  Not after 
I've been through things even YOU can't imagine!" 

Asuka looked up, shaking, hair everywhere.  She couldn't speak, but 
gasped out, holding her neck.  

"The Japanese Government issued an order completely waiving any rights 
and protecting NERV has." She leaned over Asuka with such ferocity that 
both Children were stunned.  "Do you know what that means, Asuka?"

Asuka shook her head weakly.  

"That means that if they can't take over the Magi, they are going to send 
in troops to occupy the base." She said darkly.  "And I think the first 
place they would look for you two Pilots is my apartment." She hissed.  
"What do you think they will do to you and Shinji?  Lock you up?  Tie you 
to the chairs so you can't possibly save NERV with your Evangelions?" she 
smirked, just as darkly.  "Do you know easy it is to pull a trigger, 
Asuka?  Do you know how much six bullets will cost to make sure you two 
can't do ANYTHING to stop them?"

Shinji looked away as the images of blood and gunfire filled his mind.  
"Misato...please...we know." 

"No.  I don't think you do know, Shinji-kun." She looked over to him, 
regarding him in such a way that made him nervous.  "I was taught these 
things, Shinji.  You take out your pistol, and you put two rounds in the 
person's chest...instantly rupturing their lungs and heart... hopefully 
even hitting their spine high enough to kill them instantly."

Asuka was sobbing quietly when Misato turned back to her.  "And then, 
just to be sure, you put one more round in the target's head.  Chances 
are, no matter how random your aim, that the target will not survive."

Shinji walked over, covered up by a dish-towel, and knelt down to Asuka 
as she cried.  "Misato's right, Asuka.  If you're at least safe inside 
Unit 2, then I know you'll be fine.  We can handle a couple tanks and 
stuff...just so long as I know you're okay."

She looked up, completely terrified.  "You won't leave me in it...will 
you?  You'll come back and get me out...right?"

He nodded, hoping to be as steady and calming as he could, even though he 
was shaking himself.  "I promise...but Misato is right...we might be in 
danger here if the base is attacked."

Misato looked away, heading back to the door to let the two get dressed.  
Inwardly, she cursed herself for being so on edge.  A long night of 
riddles and stress, she assumed.  She had no time, even in a patient 
state of mind for Asuka's childish behaviour, either.  Shinji would no 
doubt be mad at her.  It wasn't the time for this, though, and he knew 
it.  Even if she had just alienated his friendship, at least the boy knew 
she was doing it for the right reasons. 

After a bit of strength-retrieval, Asuka stood and walked over to her 
room.  It hadn't been touched in two days now, so it was easy to find her 
clothes and get dressed in a hurry.  Shinji followed suit, and the two 
met Misato at the door.  They weren't dressed in their school uniforms, 
which were useless until the school was rebuilt anyway.  Both were 
dressed in quick, loose pants and shirts.  They would probably have to 
change the moment they got to the base anyway.  

Misato took one last look around the apartment, then turned off the 
lights, hoping she would be able to see it once more.  They then rushed 
to the car.

Hopefully, Pen-Pen could take care of himself.  









In the crawlspaces of the Magi assembly, the sound of rapid typing echoed 
out along the bulbous metal.  Maya had long since given up trying to 
help, as she was clearly outclassed in this situation.  The Student could 
still not surpass the Master...especially when it came to the Magi.  

Reading the thousands of lines of code that were left by the maker of 
this machine, Maya could see snapshots and glimpses into how the 
supercomputers thought.  How they felt.  A line here...written from an 
old C++ port...then over here, all x86 Assembly.  On the same page, in 
bold, were some of the earliest documented Trinary Assembly Language ever 
written...after all, it was pioneered by the group that turned into 
Project E.  Later on, as the project refined, they introduced the three 
types of Intelligent Production Language...forming most of the Magi's 
core programming.

This is what Ritsuko was doing...tapping directly into the Magi's core 
systems.  Normally, these were left completely untouched, as they were 
insanely complicated to deal with on a daily basis.  Interaction with the 
Magi was primarily accomplished by 'talking' to the artificial 
intelligence the core produced...not the actual core.

Sometimes, Maya would imagine all people were like this.  She prided 
herself on this theory, actually...and it always seemed correct.  It was 
probably also responsible for her unwillingness to really get to know 
people, though.  Why bother if you could only see the outer shell?  

Ritsuko was different.  On rare occasions she let Maya see her inner 
workings...even if Maya wasn't quite ready to understand them.  Yet.  
While she had a shell around her too...and it was far from perfect... 
Maya found herself deeply attracted to the woman behind all the images 
and opinions and dyed hair.  

When...and if...she could just reach that core...

Wonderful things happened inside her too.  

"Maya, can you plug my terminal into the forth quasi-blade?" Ritsuko said 
quickly, taking a quick breather as Maya moved the cords.  "I'm almost 
done...just a few more things to make sure of."

Everything was manual down here.  Not polished or glowing or bright.  It 
was real.  You could touch the walls and feel the information hum around 
you.  You could tell when it was sleeping...or when it was alive and 
awake.  It was naked and beautiful to eyes that could see it correctly.  

SEELE had control of fifteen of these computers, and yet, there was hope 
of this one remaining Magi of surviving.  As the green lights began to 
replace the red ones, and an echoing 'Six!' filled the background hum of 
the machines, Maya took a grateful breath that her Sempai had proven her 
correct.  

Outside, in the control room, they could hear the cheers of the bridge 
personnel as they saw the attack had stopped and they had breathing room.  

She turned back to see Ritsuko gently touching the 'brain' plate of 
CASPER.  "Sempai?" she whispered.  "What is it?"

"I don't know." She said, closing the little lap-top terminal that she 
had been working on.  "I want to stay here for a while.  I don't feel 
like going out there again." She said softly.  "There's not much else I 
can do out there."

Maya nodded her head slowly, then turned.  "I can leave if you want."

Ritsuko nodded back after a moment, and Maya began to crawl out of the 
hatch.  She fought the urge to say something else...it wasn't her place 
to interrupt.  It was obvious Sempai would need some time to think.  

She heard the communications beep of Ritsuko's lap-terminal, and was a 
bit surprised to hear the next phrase.   

"We're going to stay under in case SEELE manages to rip through the 
defence.  Ibuki will be assisting me.  If anything comes up, just call." 

"Rodger, Doctor.  Looks like you stopped them.  Keep it up.  We'll alert 
you if we see anything up here." Fuyutsuki replied after a brief 
pause...he was probably just as busy keeping things under control up in 
the main room.  

Maya turned to see Ritsuko smiling.  "Well, if this is going to be our 
last day on earth, I'm certainly not spending it around that asshole." 
She explained.  

"It's not going to be our last day on earth, Sempai." Maya smiled back 
and crawled back down into the jungle of metal and notes.  "We'll make 
sure of it."

"Damn your optimism." Ritsuko sighed as she re-adjusted her glasses.  
"It's too catchy."

Maya just smiled and opened up her own terminal.  







The looming, geometric shadows appeared once more...the red light from 
their sequential labels seemed to cast a bloody glow on the floor around 
them.  

"Ikari has set the protection of the Beast on the Magi." SEELE 01 said.  
"Do we have another option?"

"Of course." SEELE 04 said after a moment.  "Occupation will commence 
immediately."

Behind the monolith, an old man smiled.  "As promised, Ikari...I will 
bring you death most swiftly.  You have served your purpose...and 
now...Eva will serve it's own destiny, with or without you."









Far away from the monolithic riddles and super computers, Toji walked 
along the streets, contemplating why they seemed so empty.  It echoed his 
mood.  He did not want to be here today.  Not in the slightest.  

He had been contacted due to the First Level alert at H.Q. by the NERV 
computers that morning, otherwise he would have never bothered coming in 
today.  He knew exactly where he would have rather been, and it wasn't 
even in Tokyo-3.  Hikari and her family moved with the mass migration 
last week, back to the Tokyo-2 area and barracks that had been set up for 
the families escaping from the crater of their former lives.  

Most of the urge to venture to Tokyo-2 was due to the vivid memories of 
the last night he saw her...before everything got even crazier.  He never 
thought the concept of counting the freckles on a young woman's body 
could be so appealing. 

Of course, it had been passively.  He hadn't actually had the opportunity 
to count the freckles on the lovely miss Horaki just yet... but the idea 
had been haunting his mind in the most delicious way ever since she 
promised him the chance to do so next time they met.  

He knew it was probably fear talking the loudest...that Hikari had just 
been worried she would never see him again.  It was quite possible that, 
surviving the next few days permitting, he would run back into her arms 
and she would shy away like usual.  

However, even that was looking mighty fine right now...and the mere 
possibility of a careful study session like what she had suggested was 
making his brain quite proud that it had noticed the blood.  After 
all...his brain wanted to count them darn freckles.  Couldn't do that if 
you got ambushed and gutted like a fish.  Brains needed blood to work.  
So did most of the rest of the body.  

Toji simply ducked behind the nearest car.  He could see the guard at the 
4th Gate slumped over in his chair.  He looked fine...except his head was 
down as if he was sleeping, and a small drop of blood was right below.  

The shadows around the guard seemed too big.  In fact, he wasn't quite 
surprised when one of them stood up and began to do something to the 
guard's key-belt.  

What did surprise Toji was the heavily armed strike team member that 
stepped out of the car he was hiding behind.  He had been laying too low 
to see...but also...too low to see Toji.  "Shit..." he whispered to 
himself.  "What the hell is going on?" 

Of course, the answer came to him as he watched the shadow 'talk' to the 
man who just stepped out of the car with some kind of hand-signalling 
language.  Kensuke would have been proud to see his friend remembered so 
much of military tactics to recognize them as advanced scouts for a much 
larger strike team.  

NERV was about to be invaded.  

So, he did the only thing he knew he could accomplish against two armed 
men with assault rifles and body armour.  He slid into the car, found the 
keys still in the ignition, and prayed the car started quickly. 

It did.  

Just as the shadow-man got the gate open, Toji revved the engine up, 
popped it into gear, and managed with his limited driving skills to 
completely flatten the two scouts against the metal bars of the gate.  

The car crumpled quite effectively, and an airbag to the face knocked him 
senseless for a moment.  The cold reality that he was probably about to 
die if he didn't get a move on, however, managed to sober him up quickly 
enough.  He fell out of the smashed car's door, and promptly threw up 
when he landed on all fours in the puddle that used to be one of the men.  

Luckily, his assault rifle was not part of the puddle.  He forced himself 
to grin.  "Kensuke...I hope you told me how to use one of these when I 
was listening..." he whispered, grabbing it and three clips he could find 
without too much searching.  

He ducked through the open and smashed gates, then ran down the corridor, 
praying he remembered where Unit-03 was.

"You!  Hey you!" came a voice. 

He swallowed hard, then turned around to see a group of men standing in 
the opening of the door.  

Gunfire never sounded so loud before, he thought to himself as he fell to 
the ground.  Damn Kensuke for his lies.  





 



Shinji and Asuka were silent as the car began to descend into the 
Geofront.  Misato was doing her best to co-ordinate things on her phone.  
Makoto was just trying to keep up on the other end of the line.

"They've already taken both warehouses?" Misato swore, thinking of the 
routes in her mind.  "It's a decoy.  They'll try to capture Section 803 
and the Eva Cages"  

Somewhere, far above the car-train, came a loud BOOM!  A flickering 
explosion followed.  They had been up on the ledge only twenty seconds 
earlier.  Now that they had arrived at the car-train, though, they would 
have more of a head start.  

"Misato...what about Rei and Toji?" Shinji asked quickly when Misato 
seemed to be waiting for a reply. 

The Major turned to him and shook her head.  "I don't know.  Toji was 
called earlier on in the day, but I'm not sure if he reported in yet.  
Rei came in early too.  I've ordered that all non-combatants be 
evacuated, but there's no way to tell what will happen if they see her."

"She'll be killed...just like us." Asuka said to herself as she watched 
the remains of the explosion now quite far above them.  

Misato nodded and then turned her attentions back to the phone.  "Hai.  
Hai.  Okay, secure a path to the ninth hall for me.  I'll try to be there 
as soon as I know Shinji and Asuka are safe."  A pause.  "Damn!  Okay, 
flood all routes except 47 with Bakelite.  Yes! I know!  Don't worry, 
I'll get them there!"

Shinji didn't like the look on her face.  "What is it?" he asked. 

She shook her head and turned on the engine once again once they slowed 
down at the bottom of the Geofront Garage.  "I have to get to the command 
centre, but not before I get you two to the Evas.  The invaders have 
already cut off most of the routes between us and Unit-01."

"Who are the invaders?" Shinji asked. 

"The JSDF." Misato said simply.  "Shinji...we're not equipped to deal 
with an invasion like this.  Not by humans.  If we can't get the 
Evangelions operational we're all going to be captured or killed."  She 
revved the engine and they took off down the dark parkway.  

Shinji sighed.  "Why would they attack us?  We're on the same side!"

Misato smiled, mostly to herself.  "Would you let your father control 
three of the most powerful weapons on earth if it wasn't completely 
necessary?"

Shinji said nothing.  

It seemed surreal.  At first, they were always ahead of the attack.  In 
the back window, there was a constant flickering of gunfire or an 
explosion.  However, no matter what short-cuts Misato took, and no matter 
how fast they drove, it seemed as if the squeals of tires and gunfire 
came closer and closer.  

Finally, Misato gasped and had to slam on the breaks.  "Ah hell!!" she 
quickly turned off the engine.  "Out.  Both of you.  We'll take the rest 
on foot."

Shinji scrambled out, helping Asuka, who seemed ready to accept her fate 
and die.  "Come on...we have to hurry..." he told her, lifting her up 
with his shoulder and arm around her.  

"Hai." She whispered weakly.  At least it was better than nothing, he 
figured.  

Misato lead them past the reason they stopped.  A spill over from one of 
the flooded hallways had blocked the road.  Red goo had popped through a 
hole in the wall that probably had never been noticed long enough to be 
repaired.  Enough of the Bakelite spilled over, however, to create quite 
a speed-bump, to say the least.  They scrambled over the now-hard goo, 
then on the other side, took a downward-sloping tunnel past another small 
parking lot.  

She whipped out her Cell-Phone and punched in the control centre.  
"Makoto!  We're passing intersection 4-T-9 right now.  Visitor Parking 
667.  Where's the nearest utility elevator?"

"Keep going about three hundred metres." He replied.  The voice was loud 
in the echoing darkness of the parking garage.  "It will take a bit of 
time to power it up.  Elevator T-92 will be ready in about a minute.  I 
don't know how long we can keep it up, though.  They just cut the Redline 
to the section!"

Misato slowed, then helped Asuka on her arm, so she could help Shinji 
carry her.  "Get it ready.  We'll be there."

"Good luck, Misato." 

They rounded the corner to see the small indentation of an elevator door 
about a sprint away.  That was right around the same time Misato caught 
the glimpse of a red laser point off the far wall.  "Oh shit!" she 
gasped.  "They made it past the Bakelite!" she whispered.  "They might 
have access to the Bakelite controls.  Shinji, you take Asuka and get her 
into Unit-02.  Then, take the access hatch between the cages.  You know 
the one I'm talking about, right?"

Shinji nodded, but then blinked.  "You're not coming down with us?"

"It would be useless." Misato said as they finally reached the access 
hatch.  "I have to get to the control centre, and you have an army to 
kick out of the Geofront." She smiled, letting Asuka down against the 
wall as they waited for the elevator to gain power.  

"No." Shinji shook his head, then grabbed Misato's hand.  "You're coming 
with us."

Misato blinked, then smiled.  "The elevator's too small anyway."

Shinji frowned, then let her hand go.  "You might be killed if you stay 
here.  You two go ahead.  I'll take the next car!"

"I can take care of myself." She said, pulling out her gun to the obvious 
discomfort of the Third Child.  Misato then reached into her back holster 
and pulled out a smaller pistol and handed it to Shinji.  "Nine rounds." 
She explained.  "Safety is on the other side of the chamber.  It's just 
like how we practiced in the sims.  Line up the target, pull the switch." 
She winked.  "Easy as pie."

Shinji looked at the gun in his hands with a frightened expression.  "I 
don't want to shoot anyone."

"And I don't want to shoot anyone either." She whispered as the sound of 
an engine came gunning from where they had come from.  "However, I will 
kill each and every one of those bastards who try to kill you two kids." 
She smiled grimly.  "You two are just getting started in life.  I am not 
going to let anything stop you two from being happy."

Asuka seemed content to just look at the floor beneath her feet.  

"You have to protect Asuka." Misato said.  "Now, we can't be sure that 
the invaders wont be in the Cages waiting for you.  If they shoot Asuka, 
you will regret it for the rest of your life, Shinji.  I promise you 
that." She forced his hands closed on the gun.  "If anyone tries to stop 
you..."

Shinji looked up at her with a similar grim smile.  "Two in the chest 
...one in the head.  Right?"

Misato nodded...cursing herself for mentioning it.  "Yes, unless know 
kill them on the first shot.  This isn't like the automatics you used in 
Eva, so save your bullets.  They're Teflon coated, and should get through 
their vests." She sighed as the control panel lit up, pressed the 'Down' 
button, and a green indicator showed the elevator car was on the way to 
their level.  "I want you both to listen to me.  I don't know the 
specifics...but if we lose control of the Evas, the Third Impact isn't 
far behind.  Everything will be destroyed, and those sick old men get 
their wish of oblivion."

"What exactly is the Human Instrumentality Project, Misato-san?" Shinji 
asked.  

"I don't know." Misato smiled.  "Our next evolution, I suppose...Or the 
end of the world." She shook her head.  "Maybe that's a good thing... but 
I'm enjoying my life how it is right now.  I don't need a change.  At 
least, not like this."

The doors snapped open, scaring them...but revealing only a bright 
elevator car.  Misato helped Asuka into the tiny lift, then walked over 
to Shinji.  To his surprise, she leaned down and gave him a small kiss on 
the cheek.  "Take care of yourself." She whispered.  "I'll see you both 
after this is all over.  Okay?"

Shinji nodded, then entered the elevator car.  He turned around with a 
smile.  "Thank you, Misato-san."

"Don't mention it." She smiled back, reaching for the controls.  

That was when he saw a small red dot on the side of Misato's neck.  
Shinji gasped out, reached for the door...

And it snapped shut before he could do anything else.

He fell back, looking up at the door as the elevator began to speed 
downwards.  A look of pure horror was on his face.  "Misato..." he 
whispered.  He strained, listening for gunfire...but the cold white walls 
hid any further sound.  
 
Asuka was crumpled up in the corner.  "Lucky Misato." She whispered back.  
"She gets to miss all this."

Shinji turned to her slowly, horrified.  She had seen it too.  A laser 
scope...had they been that close behind them?  Misato...did she know?  Is 
that why she never came?  So they would have time?  Another sacrifice to 
make sure they would be safe.  The odd thing is that Shinji began to feel 
it should have been him.

The door snapped open a moment later, revealing the lit, but abandoned 
section 802, and the hall leading around Unit-02's cage.  "This isn't 
happening..." he whispered to himself.  "It's all falling apart..."

Asuka smiled weakly up at him.  "At least we'll be together, Shinji-kun."

He looked down at her...then grabbed her wrist, hauling the redhead to 
her feet without another word.  Asuka gasped out in pain, but followed as 
quickly as Shinji moved down the hall.  









"Section 8 is secure.  'Purple' is inactive.  Bakelite injection 
successful.  We are now searching for 'Blue'."  The commander nodded and 
shook his head, looking at his watch.  

"What's wrong, sir?" A young lieutenant was next to him, assisting with 
the radio noise.  

They watched from the safety of a destroyed missile turret post that had 
once been part of the laughable NERV defence.  However, it was beginning 
to be quite apparent their best defence was secrecy.  His troops were 
having trouble finding the original three Magi, let alone the Command 
Centre.  

"The Committee is impatient." The field commander said, motioning over to 
his second in command.  "Control gave wind to them launching a few hawks.  
Chances are that they'll be bombing in a moment."

"Pull out from the outlying areas!  All internal troops, brace for 
impact!  Tank commanders, stand by!" Second yelled out.  "Sir!  They're 
sending an N2 Mine!"

He sighed, shaking his head.  Last year had been his first and only 
meeting with NERV's commander.  It had been a tense occasion, but things 
had gone smoothly.  He liked Ikari.  Efficient.  Dedicated.  Though...he 
wasn't too surprised when the orders came this morning.  Dedicated men 
like that had the habit of taking too much control.  

Who he really felt pity for were the poor bastards under his command.  

"N2 Mine confirmed!  Hardware deployment in T-Minus 3 minutes!"

Once the top of the Geofront was destroyed, they could roll in real guns.  
The Pilots were still not confirmed captured.  If even one of those damn 
puppets got loose...

They'd start the bloody end of the world...all over again.  At least the 
ugly purple one was secure.  

"Relay the orders to the tank commanders.  Get the demolitions crews 
ready." He said out over the commotion.  "We'll need to get in quickly 
after they drop."

Off over in the horizon, he heard a bomber approaching.  

For some reason, he thought back to his grade school days.  He had been 
sent home for only one week throughout his years there.  One time, his 
sister had been picked on by older boys and girls of his class.  

So he beat them up.  

The teachers were shocked.  He caused more broken bones and concussions 
than the school had ever seen...all in that one afternoon.  When 
questioned about it, he simply explained he was protecting his sister.

Brutally.  

But for the right reasons. 

Still...he couldn't help but feel a bit of regret when he saw those poor 
kids the next week.  Broken, still bloody.

"Everyone, get behind a blast shield." He said, walking to a point behind 
the wall.  "We're about to take this playground."

His communications officer blinked, but then gasped and ducked as the 
entire sky seemed to explode with light.









--------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Lesson 47

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Strike Fiss, Studio Shinnyo 2002.  Khattam-Shud, EOF.