The Characters and concept of Neon Genesis Evangelion are property of Gainax. I created this "scenario" in the spirit of the TV series. I made it in the hope that it would open up people's minds and give something to a series that really touched me. This little series that I have created is a piece of fan fiction thought up by yours truly, so if you are going to copy or distribute this work, please give credit where it is due, k? Now enjoy!

By N. T. Martin

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Background:

A long, long time ago…there was the beginning of a chapter of SBTA. It was the eighth of its kind and far larger than any of its predecessors. Due to its length, the author believed that the only way to present this to fanfiction readers everywhere was to divide the chapter into two parts. The first part, published on the Net Oh-so-long ago…ran along these lines…

In the beginning, Shinji found out that Rei had been missing a great deal of school without his conscious knowledge. Concerned and a little guilt-stricken, the Third Child sought out Ayanami.

In the meantime, the mysterious Child of Seele was questioned for his failure to eliminate the remains of the Ikari family. When proving to be less than polite, Seele dismissed him from their presence, his future in the balance.

Back in Tokyo 3, Shinji comes to Rei's apartment, only to find the girl on the roof of the apartment building. She is playing the flute given to her by Misato, oblivious to the world around her until Shinji approaches her. Her sudden resistance to the idea of staying at the apartment any longer pushed Shinji to offer to have her moved to a place where she "belonged."

We were suddenly shown Touji and Hikari on a date of sorts. As beautiful as the park was around him, Touji could not bring himself to enjoy it. In his mind, he was at war with a past that had been beyond his control.

Once again, the Children are summoned to face an Angel. In flight, Shinji can't help but feel unsure of himself and his abilities. He feels that there will come a time when his luck will just run out.

Natasha meets with Gendo, expecting to be tried and excluded for her obvious, covert connections with Seele. To her surprise, Commander Ikari comes up with an…alternate course of action.

On the battlefront with the unbalanced appearing Angel, careless decisions and assumptions cause NERV to lose all four active-duty EVAs in an instant.

New plans shift into motion and Unit 03 is pulled out of stasis and its pilot was ripped from his young sister's arms.

Chapter 8.1 ended with Shinji trapped within his plug as it sunk toward the bottom of a lake…

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(In a part of the forest, a plug rests against a grove of trees. Steam drifts away from the plug's exhausted jets and for a moment, all is silent… Then,)

(LCL sprays rapidly from side vents and the hatch slides open.)

Asuka (shouting): Goddamn it! I can't believe it!

(The Second Child glares out at the world from her pilot seat.)

Asuka (thinking): All I could do was sit back like some spectator as that…that monster shot me out of my EVA!!

(Asuka stares at the shadows playing with night's darkness on the dirt around her downed plug. Then, with a scream of rage, Asuka tears the red receptors out of her hair and fling them away from her. They spin through the air and vanish into the underbrush. Asuka's hair flows together in a thick mane that trails down her back.)

Asuka: …

(The girl wraps her arms around her up-drawn knees and gazes down at the controls before her. Once again, an Angel had crept into her mind, only this time, it had been filling her head with nonsense and static. The Second Child shivers as she remembers the feel of her brain on fire.)

Asuka (muttering): They didn't tell us to expect that…

(Silence)

Asuka (pressing her cheek against her knee): But, then, they never tell us what to expect. It is almost like they expect us to know what to do!

Hikaru (softly): Does knowing that make you feel better?

(Asuka gasps and lifts her head to gaze up. The Sixth Child is standing at the top of the small slope before Asuka's plug's resting place. Hikaru's dark hair is still wet with LCL, causing it to lay flat against her head.)

Asuka (quietly): You look like a drowned rat.

Hikaru (her small, wrist lamp reveals a smile threatening the girl's lips): Kind and generous as usual, I see.

Asuka (standing a little unsteadily): Now is not the time to be politically correct. We have a job to do!

Hikaru (gesturing to the Second Child's plug): And just what do we have to do? Unless you've missed it, we are without our EVAs now.

Asuka (picking her way to the ground): We have a responsibility to find the others. Rei will just gaze into space unless you order her to survive…and Shinji will just find himself walking in circles because he doesn't have any sort of sense of direction!

Hikaru (grinning): I don't know about that… You don't have much respect for the Third Child, do you?

Asuka (walking up the path that led to Hikaru): Well…I have known him a lot longer than you have.

Hikaru (touching a finger thoughtfully to her cheek): So…it always comes back to that.

Asuka (walking past Hikaru): Always…

-----------------------------------

Misato (wincing): Ouch! Ouch…ouch!!!

(Something is burning close by and the Major opens her eyes.)

Misato (vaguely, trying to understand what was going on around her): What the…hell?

(If life was fair, she won't have remembered. If life was kind…perhaps, she would never have become a member of NERV. As it was, the answer to her question came suddenly and brutally. They had been shot down…like birds out of the sky.)

(FLASHBACK: Pilot (over the PA): Major! Serious energy readings from the target!

Misato (turning away from her holographic view screen, which she had been using to try and contact the Children): What now?!

Pilot (frantic): Oh my God! It's attacking the transport flight!

(Misato feels her stomach drop as the realization hits her. It was all a trap. The physical appearance of the Angel had caused her to let her guard down…as had Asuka. She had let appearances cloud her judgment. Now, she could feel the shock-wave of a near by B-969 exploding near her transport.)

Misato (screaming as she hit the Call button): Pilot, evasive maneuvers!!!

Pilot (his voice breaking up): Too…late-!

(Misato doesn't know what the Angel hit the transport with, but it was powerful. Arcs of electricity ripple through the passenger cabin as the power is the knocked out. If Misato hadn't been strapped into her seat via her safety harness, she would have surely flown across the cabin into the metal wall opposite of her as the transport dips wildly out of control.)

Misato (her hand reaching for the Call button against the violent G-forces pulling at her body): P-Pilot?! Pilot, respond!

Misato (slumping forward in her harness, her hand pressing against her aching brow): W-Who-

Misato (images rippled through Misato's skull as if her head were a TV and she had lost the remote to a psychopath): Wh-Why?! Why are you-

Misato (her eyes fluttering as her brain began to flatter under the hotwire link): …S-Stop…

Misato (her head falling forward): God…

(Present)

(Misato reaches for the release lever for her harness, but lets out a little cry when she shifts her body. Her eyes search in the gloom and she looks down at her right leg. The overhead grating had fallen and part of it had come down on it, just below the kneecap. She can see the blood welling up from the wound.)

Misato (whispering in horrible pain): Damn…

(Pushing the pain away, Misato reaches for the lever and releases herself. Misato touches the hard, cold metal and grits her teeth. She grabs the grate's edge and lifts. A whimper of pain escapes her lips, but she doesn't let go. With her eyes squinting against agony, arms trembling with effort, she pushes the slab of metal away from her and drags her leg out from under it.)

Misato (gazing down at her bleeding shin): Hurts so damned much…must be broken…

(Misato looks about herself and finds a little, white plastic case set on the wall several meters to her left. Misato drags herself to her feet, only fall back.)

Misato (hissing through her teeth): This is going to be a problem.

(She braces her right hand against the fallen grating in the center of the chamber and tries again. This way, she staggers to the plastic case and pulls it off the wall. She sits down on the bench again and rummages through the first-aid items. She finally pulls a roll of white gauze from the case and wraps her shin very carefully.)

Misato (muttering): It isn't like I'm not used to this…

(Something seems to whisper through the cabin of the transport. Misato's eyes are downcast and she is not steady at all…)

Voice: What?

Misato (calmly): Pain.

Voice: Oh, and why is that?

Misato: Well, it seems like for as long as I've lived, I've had to deal with some sort of pain or another.

Voice: Really?

Misato (cutting and securing the bandage): Yeah. When I was a little girl, before I discovered FM radio and headsets, I used to try and shut out the sound of my parents fighting... I wasn't really good at it.

Voice: They fought a lot?

Misato (resting her head back against the wall for a moment): More often than not. I hated it. In the beginning, I would think it was because of me…and I cried.

Voice: You don't cry often.

Misato (her smile a little sad): Maybe I should try it sometime. It's a great release…or at least it used to be.

Voice: Maybe.

Misato (looking around slowly for something that could be used as crunches): As I grew up, I hid myself behind a bright attitude and a blinding smile.

Voice: I remember.

Misato (combing her fingers gingerly through her hair, as if to fix the damage done by the crash): It's really funny that I became such good friends with Ritsuko. She was really the total opposite of me. But at least we did share something in common.

Voice: What was that?

Misato (standing up carefully on her one foot and hopping slowly over to a place were a long, twisted pipe was poking out from under the grating): Family. It was something that neither of us ever talked about. Oh, sure, I picked things up like the fact that Ritsuko's mother was a bitch. I'm sure that Ritsuko knew that my father didn't come home a lot, especially when my mom was calling me at the dorm once or twice everyday.

Voice: Maybe Ritsuko thought your mother was just clingy.

Misato (snorting as she thought of her once dark-haired friend): Ritsuko is hardly the type to be fooled by appearances. That's why she's the Chief Scientist and I'm just a lowly Major.

Voice: I think you carry your title with the pride befitting a queen.

Misato (giggling slightly): I would like to think so, too.

(Misato pulls the pipe free of the wreckage and tests it for durability. When it proves that it can hold her weight, Misato makes for the emergency exit.)

Misato (softly): Then there was my father…

Voice: Ah, your infamous father.

Misato: Yeah. I told Shinji about him once. I guess my dad is nowhere near the bastard that Shinji's father is…but it is something that joins us.

Voice: As if you need anything more to connect you with Shinji.

Misato (wiping her cheek and frowning at the blood that smears her hand): I guess…but he still shuts me out every once and a while.

Voice: Even the closest son needs a little privacy from his mother.

Misato: …

Voice: He's grown up to live by himself.

Misato (a little bitter): That's no way to live.

Voice: It might be up to you to show him how to live with others. His dad never was much of a humanist.

Misato: Neither was my dad. Did you know that I still don't know if he saved me because I was his daughter or because he needed someone to tell the others what had happened.

Voice: That's horrible.

Misato (resting her shoulder against the wall beside the emergency exit, panting lightly):Yeah. He never told me that he loved me. Even in the end.

Voice: Some fathers are like that. It is hard for them to express their love for their children. You never did understand that guys are different from girls.

Misato (chuckling, reaching blindly for the release hatch): Well…I do know about the most important difference!

Voice: Ah…Major Katsuragi, get your mind out of the gutter.

Misato (covering her giggles with a hand): Sorry.

(The hatch gives away under her hand and the door swings open slowly. The night is silent save for a gentle breeze whispering through the leaves of the surrounding forest.)

Misato (quietly): I don't even remember my father's face anymore.

Voice: It was a long time ago.

Misato: Not that long ago. As it was, I had been wounded and was delirious with pain and grief by the time they found me.

Voice: …

Misato: Ikari…the bastard.

Voice: Funny how he left for the ship a day before the Second Impact.

Misato (resting heavily against her crutch): It is.

Voice: Your father saved you.

Misato: Yeah.

Voice: Rather than torture yourself over it, why not just believe that he do so to show that he loved you.

Misato (whispering): What if it isn't the truth.

Voice: Who cares? All that matters is what you believe. …he's not here to tell you otherwise.

Misato (closing her eyes): That's true.

-----------------------------------

(She is standing in the corridor before him in her lab coat, blue, zip-up shirt, and, mini-skirt. Her hands are in her pockets and she watches him…carefully.)

Ritsuko (quietly): I thought I would never see you here again.

Touji (hanging back in between his two "escorts"): Did I have a choice?

Ritsuko (sighing as she shook her head slowly): The alternative was not really one that you would have been able to live with.

Touji (looking at the metal plating of the wall beside him): You could be surprised by how much I can live with… Actually, I'm sure that you know that much quite well.

Ritsuko: …

Touji: So what now? I'm here. What do you want me to do?

Ritsuko (nodding to the escorts, dismissing them): Come with me.

(Touji falls into step behind the doctor. Ritsuko bites her lip as the painful silence grows. Only the light click of her high-heels and the occasional squeak of Touji's sneakers breaks the tomb-like quiet.)

Ritsuko (clearing her throat carefully): How have you been?

Touji: …okay.

Ritsuko (a little impatiently): And your sister?

Touji: She's okay…too.

Ritsuko: How's life?

Touji: Okay.

Ritsuko: School?

Touji: Okay.

Ritsuko: You have been hanging around with Shinji too long.

Touji: …

Ritsuko: It's okay to feel sorry for yourself every once and a while, but to hold on to it like a lifeline is never healthy.

Touji: Yes, doctor.

Ritsuko: …

Touji (softly): Did you know that my sister is crying her eyes out right now?

Ritsuko (closing her eyes): No, I didn't know that.

Touji: Do you have a family?

Ritsuko: …no.

Touji: Well, I would like to know just how it feels to rip a little girl's last family member away from her? She's not dumb-

Ritsuko (glancing over her shoulder): You speak like you are already dead.

Touji (shoving his hands into his jeans pockets): No matter what you think, I'm not Ikari. I don't have some natural ability to deal with monsters and demons.

Ritsuko: …

Touji (quietly): But I will do it. You know why? Because I care about my little sister. She's my life and must live on to see this thing through.

(Silence)

Touji: I have one demand, though.

Ritsuko: Aren't we confident…

Touji: I-I…

(Touji searches for the strength that he isn't sure he has.)

Touji (whispering): I-I want to see…Hikari, one last time.

Ritsuko (looking over her shoulder): You realize that this is a restricted area to civilians.

Touji (smirking): I'm sure you can pull some strings or something.

Ritsuko: …

Touji (trying to keep his voice steady): Please?

Ritsuko (closing her eyes, sighing deeply): I'll see what I can do.

Touji (whispering): Thanks, Ritsuko…

---------

(It seems like he had never left her earlier that same day, and yet it seems like a lifetime ago. She stands at the lake's edge, gazing out at the amber water. The light seems to make the girl glow like a golden skinned sprite, elusive and ready to vanish at a moment's notice. Her eyes are kind and her lips are slightly parted in simple innocence that makes Touji flinch.)

Touji (moving slowly toward her): …

Hikari (sighing, her head bowing): Hello, Touji.

(Now that he has her here, he isn't sure what to do with her. There are so many things he wants to say to her, so many things he wants to share. It isn't fair. Maybe he is just a coward at heart. A strong man would be able to say what needs to be said and move on to face his destiny.)

Touji (whispering): I'm no better than Ikari…

Hikari (turning toward him): Well, you do have trouble from time to time saying what you mean.

(Touji's eyes drink in the sight of her. She is wearing a forest green sweater and a black, knee-high skirt. It is the sweater that makes her eyes look black and her face pale. Maybe she just really was pale. Touji turns his eyes away because he can't look into hers any longer.)

Touji (quietly): Something that always scared me about you-

Hikari (blinking): You were afraid of me?

Touji (smirking at himself): Yeah…a little. Do you know why?

(Hikari silently shakes her head.)

Touji (forcing his eyes to look into hers): You have always been so strong. You always seem to know what to do. People look up to you to do the right thing and be a force of guidance.

Hikari (blushing slightly): Touji…

Touji: I have never really taken myself seriously. You know, like I have you to keep me in line so I don't have to worry about that.

Hikari (turning away suddenly): Is that all I am to you? Some safety net to ensure that you don't go over that simple line of common decency?!

Touji (slowly, his eyes confused): No…actually, I think it is that part of your nature that…held me back. We are so different from one another. Maybe…I was afraid of being anything more to you than some charge that you had to keep an eye out for.

Hikari (staring at the lapping water before her): …

Touji (remembering his sister with a small smile): But, I have enjoyed my time with you... I never really knew there was another side to this bossy, old Class Rep. I'm glad I knew you.

Hikari (her shoulders trembling, whispering): Touji…

Touji (running shaky fingers through his hair): But…I have one more thing to ask of you…

Hikari: …

Touji (his jaw flexing as he searched for the right words): I…that is…Hidaka…you see…

(Touji sighs.)

Touji: Could you watch out for my baby sister? As much as she would like to think she is old enough to take care of herself, she still needs a little guidance from time to time. A helping hand if you will…

Hikari (whispering): What are you saying?

Touji (looking away): I have…things…I-

Hikari: You said you never had to do such things again… You assured me that it was over!

Touji (a cynical grin tilting his mouth): I guess…I spoke too soon.

Hikari (shouting): How could you?!

Touji (blinking): Huh?

Hikari (spinning away so she didn't have to face him, choked): How could you even think about piloting again?! You barely walked-came away alive last time!

Touji (whispering, reaching out to touch Hikari's shoulder): …because I have to.

Hikari (spinning back to him so his hand fell away): Why?! You explain this to me! You have all the answers! Tell me why?!

Touji (shocked): Hikari…you are crying…

Hikari (wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand): …so what if I am… You can't ask this of me…not again.

(Touji suddenly realizes that he is lousy at comforting women. He never has the right words, the poetry that would make it all seem better. Not for the first time that night, he cursed himself for being so clumsy with his tongue.)

Touji (whispering): Hikari…I-

(Suddenly, he feels a touch at his cheek and he looks up in time to feel Hikari's lips against his. It is a gentle, sweet kiss that seems to shock Touji into immobility. He can't hear the water or the air filters for the Geo-Front anymore.)

Hikari (whispering): How long?

Touji (blinking, trying to understand simple words): …I-I don't know.

Hikari (wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her forehead against his neck): Stay with me as long as you can.

Touji (wrapping his arms carefully around her shoulders): So…you are okay with this-

Hikari: No.

Touji: Then…

Hikari (her voice catching): I will chew you out when you get back.

Touji (smiling despite himself): I'll hold you to that.

(He will have to leave soon…there is a briefing waiting, but for the moment, Touji's world is narrowed down to include only one other person...)

--------------------------------------

(There is a sweet sound in the air. It seems to make the breeze glow and the flowers in the simple, violet hued vase seem so much more colorful. It was like looking at a rainbow manifested in physical form.)

Shinji (thinking): What is that?

(The sound is so familiar and he almost whimpers as the memory hangs just beyond his reach. As it is, he begins to move on unsteady feet. The room around him is so much more bigger than him. The unfamiliar ceiling rises high overhead and the kitchen table next to him towers over him.)

Shinji (whispering): Where?

(The song seems to call to him, to guide him, to summon him. Empty rooms lay open to both his right and left as he walks down the hallway. Blinding, bright light burns through the curtained windows, flooding the home with a wash of whiteness. Details seem so much more vague to Shinji's young eyes as he looks about, searching.)

(More notes, more tenderness turned to music. Shinji finds himself at the room at the end of the hall. The door is partially shut and it seems the light is brightest within this room. Sunlight was never so sickening, yet so sweet.)

(Shinji struggles with the door and looks into the room beyond. The source of the haunting sound is a woman sitting serenely in rocking chair. Her flowing kimono is wrapped about her slender frame, making her seem more like a wisp of smoke rather than an actual woman. The room is a mere impression about her as the sunlight behind her head blurs her features. She lifts a long, silver flute to her lips and breathes into it. A spinning note is born and Shinji reaches a tiny hand toward the woman.)

(She lifts her mouth away from the flute and smiles.)

Woman (gently): What is it, Shinji? Feeling lonely?

Shinji (whispering, tears springing to his eyes): M-Mama-?

---------

Rei (softly): I am not your mother.

(Shinji blinks slowly and tries to understand what had happened to the beautiful, white-washed room and the woman in the kimono.)

Shinji (rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand): R-Rei?

Rei: Yes.

(Shinji gazes up at Rei and tries to figure out at the strange angle of which he is gazing at the girl. It is then that he realizes that his head is laying on Rei's lap.)

Shinji (blushing): Rei, why…?

Rei (quietly, looking away): I…did not wish you to lay with your head on the hard ground.

(Shinji slowly sits up and holds his head when the world spins about him. He feels cloth against his cheek and looks at his hands. They are bandaged tightly, though there is red coming through still.)

Shinji (whispering against the strangely silent night): What happened?

(Rei's hand slid into his field of view, pointing to the lake some thirty meters from their position. The very tip of his plug could be seen on the surface of the water, toward the middle of the lake.)

Shinji (shaking his head): W-What happened? I thought our entry plugs were supposed to float!

(Rei's finger drifts to point at the sharply-angled boulders that border the lake. Before Rei's finger, Shinji can make out shards from his shattered plug laying on the ground.)

Shinji (slowly): I see.

Rei: I was almost too late.

(The First Child suddenly comes to her feet and walks away from the lake, toward the small assortment of supplies she had managed to carry from her plug. Shinji gapes at the shards of white armor for a moment, then comes to his feet.)

Shinji (cautiously, staring at the girl's back): Rei? Y-You sound almost like…you almost failed in a duty…

Rei: …

Shinji (walking slowly toward the girl): I'm grateful…but it is not always up to you to save me, to take the shot when someone has to-

Rei: I am not going to let you die.

(Shinji stops and watches the First Child with haunted eyes.)

Shinji (softly): We all have to die someday-

Rei: Not now. I won't let you.

Shinji: Why? No one is ordering you to protect me any longer.

Rei (quietly): Is it wrong that I want to protect you?

Shinji (shaking his head as he comes beside Rei): No, but not at the cost of your own life, Rei! There is a certain point where you must think of yourself-

Rei: No.

Shinji (spreading his hands before him): But-

Rei: No.

(Shinji blinks as he hears something he had not heard in Rei's voice for a long time. He had seen anger in her eyes…once, long ago. He had told Rei that he didn't believe in his father's work. Rei had reacted…insulted. While Shinji was sure that his father would have cared less if he had told the older Ikari to his face, this girl, Rei Ayanami, had struck Shinji for such a comment.)

(Now she is getting angry when Shinji tells her to think about herself rather than him.)

Shinji: Why?

Rei: …

Shinji: Why do you care so much, Rei?

(Rei picks up a nutrient bar and lays it in the palms of her cupped hands. She turns toward Shinji and offers it to him. Shinji glances at Rei's down-turned face and finally takes the bar from her slender hands.)

Shinji (softly): Thank you.

(Shinji pauses, then opens the wrapper. The sound of the foil wrapping in the darkness is very loud. Shinji takes the whole bar out of the foil and breaks it into two.)

Shinji (offering a half between his fingers): Here. You don't eat often enough…do you?

(Rei blinks at the offered piece of bar and for a moment, Shinji thinks she is going to refuse it. Then, she gently takes the hard-packed, half bar from Shinji.)

Rei (very softly): Thank you.

Shinji (wincing as he bites into the bar): Not much on taste…

Rei (gazing down at the bar as she chewed slowly): No.

Shinji (looking up at the sky through the branches): I wonder how the others are doing?

Rei (closing her eyes): We will know soon. It waits.

Shinji (blinking): Huh?

Rei (a slight shiver caressing her slender frame): …

------------------------------------------

Asuka (almost whispering): It's too quiet around here!

(The Second and Sixth Children are hiking through a rather lush area of the forest. Both girls are constantly pushing branches out of their faces, only to be slapped by the next one…well, rather Asuka was getting most of the slapping. She is in the lead.)

Hikaru (ducking under another flying branch): I've noticed that, too. It's strange. It's almost like-

Asuka (sharply): Don't say it! I can hardly see as it is! The last thing I need is to think that around the next tree I'm going to stumble across some corpse!

(Asuka doesn't see the shadow loom just behind her, but she does feels the moist fingertips brush the nape of her neck. She lets out a ear-piercing scream and stumbles off the "path" into a nearby bush.)

(Hikaru's wild laughter.)

(The Second Child glares viciously out the bushes at the other girl.)

Asuka (growling): That was not funny!

Hikaru (wiping a tear from her eye): Y-You didn't see your….face!!

(More laughter.)

Asuka (pushing herself out of the bush, eyes narrowed in the twilight): If you are so confident, then why don't you lead!

Hikaru (holding up her hands): Oh no, you are doing such a good job!

Asuka (hissing under her breath as she walks back to her place in front of Hikaru): Idiot.

(They continue, but Asuka looks over her shoulder every once and a while to make sure that Hikaru is behaving. In the drifting patches of moonlight filtering through the leaves overhead, the Sixth Child's face is all innocence.)

Asuka (whispering): Weirdo.

(Silence.)

Hikaru (softly): Asuka?

Asuka (snapping): What?

Hikaru: Do you think Shinji and Rei are okay?

Asuka (blinking as she slowly pushes a low limb out of the way): …I don't know.

Hikaru (wrapping her arms about herself as she looks off into the forest): You couldn't even…sound a little optimistic?

Asuka: Nothing is for sure.

Hikaru (whispering): That would almost be too much for me. I-I would want to be there if Shinji…if he-

Asuka (hissing): Well, you're not with him right now! So you will just have to wait and see!

(Silence)

Hikaru (slowly): How would you feel if you rounded the corner and suddenly came upon Shinji's shattered body?

Asuka (eyes growing wide): …!

Hikaru (gently): Would you cry, Asuka-?

Asuka (firmly): Crying solves nothing! Nothing ever gets done from crying! I…should know.

Hikaru: But it helps you sometimes. If nothing else, it can clear the air-

Asuka: It solves nothing.

Hikaru: …

Asuka (looking up into the sky): I pray that you never understand, Sixth Child.

-----------------------------------

Touji (softly): I don't understand. I just don't understand.

Ritsuko (her hands jammed tightly into her lab coat pockets): I'm surprised. You of all people should understand how this worked.

Touji (peeking over at Ritsuko, stumbling a little when the open lift began to rise): What does that mean?

(Ritsuko closes her eyes and she feels like she is losing a little bit more of her soul.)

Ritsuko (thinking): I wish…things were different. They are only children…

Ritsuko (opening her eyes, watching the neon-pink/orange liquid flow by): There is no easy way for this.

Touji (blinking): …no easy way?

(The lift stops and Ritsuko leads the way to the entrance door.)

Ritsuko (softly): Through here.

(She opens the door and it is lit within. Unlike the time with Shinji, Ritsuko had the room prepared before time. Gendo had no personal interest in this…this time.)

Touji (stepping into the room): I thought EVAs were rare.

Ritsuko (thickly): They are.

(The Four Child turns his head and he finds himself staring into the dark vintage of his nightmares. He begins to tremble and his left hand begins to convulse.)

Touji (whispering): How…?

Ritsuko (looking at the boy's twitching left hand): I think you know the answer to that.

(Touji staggers slowly out into the middle of the center catwalk and gazes up at the EVA.)

Touji (slowly): I saw the video footage. This shouldn't be…

Ritsuko: …

Touji (turning violently on Doctor Akagi): Why did you bring Unit 03 back?!

Gendo (calmly): Because we had a use for it.

(Touji spins about and finds Shinji's father, the one that the Third Child never talked about, standing beside him on the catwalk.)

Ritsuko: …Commander.

Gendo (gazing up at the mask of Unit 03): This was a failed project. It should never have been brought back.

Touji (bringing himself before the Commander, his eyes just below Gendo's): Then, send it back where it came from! You are the high and mighty NERV! Send it back to the Hell you sent it to before!

(The Commander looks down at the impudent Child before him. His eyes flash coldly behind his glasses.)

Gendo: That is not an option. You will pilot Unit 03.

Touji (shouting right at the cold face before him): I refuse! I'm not some wuss you can boss around! I don't give a goddamn about you or NERV!!!

(With that, Touji spins on his heel and stalks back toward Ritsuko and the door. He had to…get away from this horrible Creation.)

Gendo (hands folded behind his back): What about your sister?

(Touji stops, his back still turned to the Commander. His hands ball in to fists at his sides.)

Gendo (his eyes tracing the contours of Unit 03's head): What about Hikari Horaki? Or your classmates, or their families.

Touji (his eyes wide with realization, choked): Oh my God…

Gendo: Do you believe you have a choice?

Touji (bowing his head): Bastard.

Gendo: …

Ritsuko (taking a step toward the Fourth Child): Touji…

Touji (quietly): I'll do it.

Ritsuko: …

(The Fourth Child turns and gazes at Gendo Ikari. The man is not looking at him, but rather the EVA.)

Touji: But God have mercy on your soul if it goes out of control again.

Gendo (turning away, walking out the opposite door of the chamber): A little too late.

----------------------------------

Asuka (gazing on grimly): …

Hikaru (quietly): It is kind of like a ghost town.

Asuka: Yeah…

(Before the two girls, an abandoned town spreads across the country-side. In the silent twilight, Asuka can't be sure, but she thinks she can see a foot-print the size of a semi-truck sitting right in the middle of a rice field.)

Asuka: This is stupid. We can go around-

Hikaru (blinking): But this is the fastest way to get to Tokyo-3. If we go around, who knows how much time we will lose.

(Asuka growls and begins stalking toward the town. Hikaru trots along behind the Second Child, gazing at Asuka's fierce features in the moonlight.)

Hikaru (softly): Asuka-

Asuka (hissing): What?!

Hikaru: This is it, isn't it?

Asuka (her back stiff): I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about!

Hikaru (moving quicker so that she was along side Asuka): I can read, you know! Did you think that I didn't read up on all the Angel Attack reports available before I came here?!

Asuka (her mouth tightening): Everybody always rejoices whenever I mess up!

(Asuka cups her hands to her mouth.)

Asuka (shouting at the top of her lungs): Hey! Everyone! Asuka isn't perfect! Good God! The Bitch is actually human!!!

(Asuka's voice echoes back at the two as the Second Child lowers her hands.)

Hikaru: …everyone makes a mistake from time to time.

Asuka (choked): Who cares… Do you think that makes any difference to the people that saw my EVA that day? Did you think I didn't…find out?

Hikaru (slowly): …find out…?

(Asuka stops in the middle of the dirt road that leads into the town. Her eyes turn to the overgrown rice fields to the place.)

Asuka (very quietly): There.

(The Sixth Child looks across the fields to a shattered shack sitting on the edge of the field. A deep, fumbling footprint overlaps the wreckage.)

Asuka (walking again, though slowly): Kudo Yuri and Sano Kintaro. I-I didn't know. By the time I saw the shack, it was too late.

Hikaru: Asuka…

Asuka (shaking her head, her blue eyes gazing out at the shack): I just…didn't know. My debut fight on Japanese soil…and this happens…

Hikaru (gently): It couldn't be helped. You were fighting for your life.

Asuka: …

Hikaru: It's in the past now.

Asuka: I…

(There is a sound of wood breaking. Both girls jump and look wildly toward the town. A series of curses ring up to them.)

Hikaru (blinking): That voice sounds very familiar.

Asuka (striding towards the town): I just hope she didn't find any booze that may have been left behind!

(The girls jog into town and look about. It is a old, traditional town with simple, sliding wood doors, dirt streets, and slanting roofs. Tattered banners hang over doorways, revealing the locations of former businesses. An lonely, abandoned furin [wind bell] tingles in the breeze.)

(It is hardly the metropolis that Tokyo-3 is.)

Hikaru (trotting): Over there.

Asuka (groaning): Please, don't let her have found any, yet!

(The two Children come before the door of a restaurant and find a very disoriented Major Katsuragi laying on her back with the shattered door under her, gazing up at the rotting, wood ceiling.)

Misato (murmuring): Damned, cheap metal!

Hikaru (looking over at Asuka): What is she talking about?

Asuka (shrugging with a toss of her hands): In her state, anything is possible.

Misato (squinting as she lifts her head from the wood floor): Asuka? Hikaru? Is that you?

Asuka (taking a step forward): Yeah, we're here, Misato-

(It is then that the Second Child notices the blood. Because of the Major's black skirt and top, Asuka had missed the blood that was soaking the Major's sleek, black dress. For all intents and purposes, it looks like Misato had been used as a doll by some frustrated child.)

Hikaru (rushing forward): Oh, God! Misato! You look terrible!

Misato (sighing heavily): You really know how to lift a girl's spirits, Hikaru.

(Asuka kneels down beside Misato and unconsciously hides her eyes in the dark shadow of her bangs. The invincible Major Katsuragi was sitting there, bleeding to death on the filthy floor of some boarded-up sushi restaurant. Maybe Asuka just didn't want Misato to know that the girl was really concerned…or maybe the suddenly bright starlight was hurting her eyes.)

Asuka (resting a hand on Misato's feverish shoulder): Hikaru, go see if there is a first aid kit anywhere around here! If that fails, find some sheets or something we can rip up!

(Hikaru cast a worried glance at the Major then ran off on her mission.)

Misato (giggling softly): Wow, if you keep that up, you might end up with my job someday!

Asuka (sitting down on the floor beside Misato, crossing her legs in front of her): As if! Why would I want to be a button-pusher when I'm an EVA pilot?

Misato (sighing as she lays her head back): Good point. Why would you want to be in a job where you don't put your life on the line on regular basis?

Asuka (glaring over at Misato): You are a fine one to talk!

Misato: …

(Silence)

Asuka (very quietly): What now, Misato?

Misato (closing her eyes): Now, we wait for the sun to come up. It's never good to fight your nightmares at twilight.

Asuka: …when has that ever stopped them?

---------------------------------------

(It is a presence that he has only felt once before.)

Maya: All readings normal. No sign of rejection.

(It is alien…cold with a heart painted in darkness. It is primal, yet vastly intelligent.)

Ritsuko: Let's take this slow. We cannot afford to have an…incident at this stage in the game. Maya, call up my Lifeguard Program.

Maya (confused): Ma'am?

Natasha: What is that?

Ritsuko (vaguely frustrated at having to explain herself): It is almost like a firewall for high-security database. In this case, it forms a sort of flexible barrier in between the EVA and the Fourth Child.

(It's funny how people talk about you when they think you aren't listening.)

Natasha (slowly): Oh…and this does what?

Ritsuko (sighing sharply): Let's put it this way, Lieutenant. If Unit 03 goes berserk, we can almost guarantee that we can disconnect the pilot and eject him with minimal mental stress!

Natasha: …huh.

Hyuga: Approaching Borderline! Five seconds!

Ritsuko: The moment of truth.

(Would it devour him again? Like last time? Would it go on a rampage? Would it hurt someone? What was he doing here?!)

Hyuga: Four…

Touji (thinking): I do this…for Shinji…

Hyuga: Three…

Touji (thinking): I do this for……Asuka…

Hyuga: Two…

Touji (thinking): I do this for my sister…

Hyuga: One!

Touji: …Hikari…

(It is there. Like before. Dark. Vicious. Like a caged lion. It wants to rip him to shreds.)

Touji (his eyes fluttering, thinking): Nothing…human made…this…

Maya (excited): Connection successful!

Touji (whispering): If it is a success…why do I feel so dirty?

Ritsuko (her face appearing beside his): You are just feeling the aftereffects of Connecting with an EVA. The feeling will pass in time.

Touji: …

(Within the Command Center.)

Gendo (his hands folded like a shield before him): Any sign of contamination?

(Ritsuko turns away from the image of Unit 03 to gaze up at the Commander.)

Ritsuko (gritting her teeth): No, sir. It appears that the Ego-Barrier is holding this time.

Gendo (his eyes hidden within his glasses): What is the Fourth Child's synchro-ratio?

Shigeru (tapping at his keyboard): It is at 60.09%, sir.

Natasha (a hint of a grin on her lips): Just enough to move his EVA.

Gendo: Just enough is hardly what we are looking for. Fighting Angels is a task that requires a pilot that is comfortable in the cockpit.

Ritsuko (thinking): I don't remember the last time Shinji, Asuka, Hikaru, or Rei mentioned that they were comfortable in their EVAs.

Ritsuko (her back ramrod straight): Sir, we don't have a lot of time.

Gendo (his attention drawn back to her): How very true.

Ritsuko (taking a step forward): The EVA works. The pilot is synchronized with Unit 03. Give him a chance to bond with it-

Gendo (slightly impatient): We don't have time for extensive training exercises just so the boy can get his feet wet! This is what the Dummy System was created for-

Maya (standing suddenly, her back to Gendo): Sir!

Ritsuko (startled, looking over at the younger woman): Maya, what-

Gendo: What do you want?

Maya (trembling slightly): I-I can't do it!

Gendo (his glasses flashing in the dim light): You can't…what?

Maya (her head shaking slightly, violently): I-I just can't do that…again! I refuse to initiate the Dummy Plug System!

Ritsuko (her mouth gaping): Maya-

Gendo (coldly): Even if I made it a direct order, Lieutenant? Do you realize that doing so would constitute insubordination?

(The Command Center is silent. Maya still hasn't turned to face the Supreme Commander. She stands stiffly at her station, Shigeru and Hyuga staring up at her with shocked, but sympathetic eyes. They all remember what had happened on that day, so long ago. Ritsuko suddenly turns to face the Commander again.)

Ritsuko (firmly): Sir, may I offer a suggestion?

Gendo: …?

Ritsuko: Have the Fourth Child walk the EVA to the transport-

Gendo: What-

Ritsuko (pushing forward): If he can become even mildly familiar with the EVA and its workings, then I'm sure we can guide him through the fight.

Gendo: …

(Silence is absolute in the cavernous chamber.)

Gendo (quietly): I expect results. I am placing the outcome of this mission in your hands, Doctor. Lieutenant Karpov…you will assist her in any way she wishes.

Natasha (flicking a glance over at the Commander): Yes, of course…sir.

(Gendo's platform creaks, then lowers out of view. Ritsuko gazes after the Commander for a moment, then turns to Maya, who still stands at the forefront of the Command platform. Ritsuko pushes a shaky hand through her dyed hair and walks slowly over to Maya's side.)

Ritsuko (gently): Maya-

Maya (choked): I'm sorry, sempai… I'm so sorry! I just couldn't stand to think about the Dummy System again… I just…snapped…

Ritsuko (slowly): It's okay, Maya. Why don't you go get a cup of coffee? I will join you in a moment. Everything will be fine.

Maya: …

(The younger woman turns away from her station and walks very slowly out of the Center. Secret looks flicker about the Command towers. Ritsuko ignores them. She turns to the image of Unit 03, her eyes narrowed.)

Ritsuko (very softly): Don't you dare fail me…

--------------------------------------

(He looks around and sighs deeply.)

Shinji (softly): Rei…?

Rei: …?

Shinji: We are lost.

Rei: …

(The First and Third Children are surrounded by dark, deep shadows. Leaves seem to have become their world and Shinji is finding that it can be a little intimidating to be in a place where nature rules so completely.)

Rei (reaching out and touching a dew-laden leaf beside her face): It would seem that we were lost the moment we came here.

(Shinji glances quickly over at the girl, but she seems to be fascinated by the vein-work on the leaf before her.)

Shinji (bowing his head): I-I'm sorry.

Rei (her crimson gaze shifting from the leaf to the Third Child): Why?

Shinji (quietly): I didn't get a chance to look at my instrument panel before I blacked out… Maybe I would have some idea…where…

Rei: …

Shinji (pushing through a grove of leaves): I can't do anything right…

(A wall of sickly green material lays before appears before him.)

Shinji (blinking): What the hell-

Rei (her eyes snapping wide): Shinji! Step back!!

(The wall of sickly green moves.)

(Shinji feels his eyes lift even as his mind refuses to believe, refuses to understand what he is looking at. His neck stretches back and he stares. It turns toward the two Children.)

Shinji (whispering): No…

(Its body moves with a fluid, dazed grace that is stomach-turning. It is grinning.)

Rei (her eyes burning): You can't have him.

(The Angel howls and it is throwing its foot down toward the Children with enough force to flatten trees with the air stream generated alone. The sole of the Entity's foot blocks out the moonlight and Shinji closes his eyes.)

Shinji (his mind closing down so that only one thought remains): I'm so sorry. I love you, -

(Rei's scream shocks Shinji even as the Angel's foot comes down with enough force to emit a thunderclap…)

------------------------------

Hyuga (shouting as he turns from his station): Activity!!

Natasha (turning toward him): What is it?

Hyuga (his fingers dancing, bringing up the holographic Threat Board): The Angel is…attacking.

Natasha (crossing her arms under her breasts as she gazes at the Board): Attacking what? Trees? Has the thing lost its mind?

(Ritsuko's face appears on a secondary screen in the Command Center.)

Ritsuko (annoyance flashing over her sharp features): What is the alarm for?

Natasha: The Angel is attacking the forest around it. It seems to have gone berserk.

Ritsuko (frowning): That's bizarre. Have you run scans on the area?

Natasha (nodding to Shigeru): As we speak.

(Ritsuko turns from Natasha's image and rubs her lower lip.)

Ritsuko (thinking): Angels have never really displayed mental instability. They have simple objectives. Simple parameters. It is not normal for an Angel to do something for no reason. Maybe the deformity is more than just physical-

Natasha (turning back to the view screen suddenly, her eyes wide): Doctor! We have two readings in the Angel's destruction path!!

(Ritsuko hears a gasp and looks over at Maya, who has been watching after Unit 03 as it made its way toward the EVA elevator. That particular elevator was definitely out of the way, but it was giving Touji a chance to get somewhat familiar with piloting.)

Ritsuko (slamming her palm on the control console): Damn it! It's not enough time! Any idea-

Gendo (an icon appearing on a screen beside Ritsuko, his voice coming up over a Voice-Only channel): I have already handled this, Ritsuko. You continue with your…experiment.

Ritsuko: Sir-

(The icon vanishes and Ritsuko gazes into space for a long moment.)

Maya (carefully): Ma'am-

Ritsuko (very quietly, her back still to the younger woman): How is the Fourth Child doing?

Maya: …he has reached the second check-point. One more to go. Your Firewall program is working as expected… Ma'am, why-

Ritsuko (turning her profile to Maya): 'Why is this EVA so difficult to control?' Was that what you were going to ask?

(Maya nods silently.)

Ritsuko (closing her eyes): Unit 03, like Unit 04, was built quite some time after Ikari Yui's passing. Let's say that the…understanding was not put into the later EVAs that the original three had.

Maya: But, ma'am, Unit 00-

Ritsuko (very softly): Let's focus on one problem at a time, shall we?

Maya (turning her eyes back to her readings): Yes, ma'am.

--------------------------------

(Shinji slowly opens his eyes and finds that he is in a sphere of fire. He blinks, for he is sure is he is dreaming. His eyes turn and he finds Rei on her knees beside him, her arms crossed before her chest, her hands gripping the sides of her neck. It looks for the world like she is trying to contain something horrible within her. There are tears of agony trailing down her face and she whimpers under her breath.)

Shinji (whispering): Rei…

(He looks up and gapes in utter shock. The foot of the Angel is stopped dead overhead, trying to break through the wall of fire protecting the Children.)

Shinji (slowly): An…AT Field…Rei…

Rei (choked, her body convulsing): …run…

Shinji: No.

Rei (coughing, her own red blood sprinkling the white material over her thighs): I can't hold…this… I-

Shinji (softly): I will protect you.

Rei (whimpering): …Shinji…no…

Shinji (moving closer to Rei): Don't be afraid. I am here.

Rei (her eyes cracking open to cast a glance at Shinji): I understand…now-

(Suddenly, there is a scream in the air. For a moment, Shinji thought Rei was wailing again, but then, he realizes that the sound isn't even organically made. Shinji looks up in time to see the flight of missiles slam into the Angel. There is no AT Field to stop the rockets from scorching the Angel's flesh.)

Shinji: Who-

(He can see a UN rocket platform rolling up onto the ledge beside the two. Shinji turns his eyes away even as he hears the howl. The shock wave washes over and past the two Children as if they were a boulder in the mad rush of a flashflood. Shinji is shocked that he can actually hear the screams of the poor soldiers inside the platform.)

(Rei gives a little cry and collapses against Shinji. The Third Child catches her awkwardly. It is completely silent in the surrounding forest as the men inside the platform pass from life.)

(Shinji looks down at Rei and feels a moment of fear until he sees that she is breathing.)

Shinji (sighing): You took years off my life…

(He can feel the attention of the Angel on him again. Shinji doesn't look at the Entity. Rather, he pulls Rei's arms around his neck and links his hands beneath her rump. He grunts and staggers to his feet.)

(The Angel growls and Shinji shivers.)

Shinji (whispering to Rei's unconscious face resting over his shoulder): Hang on.

(Shinji bolts with the world turning into exploding footsteps, clouds of dust, and flying hunks of rock. The trees seem so far away…)

-------------------------------------

(His head hangs even as the EVA moves forward. He is tired.)

Touji (slowly): I don't understand how this works. You brought me here, put me through all of this, only to throw my life away?

Ritsuko (her eyes glaring out from the holographic screen): I didn't say that! Do not twist my words!

(Doctor Akagi sighs and stares at the console before her. The window displays flicker and pulse before her eyes and she can almost let herself float away. She won't have to care anymore. She wouldn't have duties, responsibilities, or consciousness to deal with. There would be no lies that she had to maintain like so many frail flowers in a garden…)

(But she had made a promise.)

Ritsuko (softly): I would like to think after all we have been through, that you would know me better than that.

(The Fourth Child looks away from her and gazes out at the butterfly control handles in his hands.)

Ritsuko (her hands trembling slightly before her): I know…it has been hard for you-

Touji: You don't have much of a bedside manner, doc.

(Ritsuko flinches and is silent once more.)

Touji (his eyes staring into space, his mind trapped in the past): You fixed me up…tried to make it so that I would appear to be normal. But you were never there afterwards. You let those cold, indifferent bastards at the hospital handle me! You turned your back on me!

(Unit 03 came before the Evangelion elevator. The heavy-duty, super reinforced platform sat before the slender Creation in the dim lighting of the access corridor. The EVA's dark form fades into the still shadows.)

Ritsuko: You don't understand.

(Touji takes a deep "breath" and forces the EVA to step onto the platform. The power cord detaches itself from Unit 03 with a sudden shower of sparks. The EVA fumbles with the waiting plug sitting in the corner of the platform.)

Touji: What? You didn't want to see the monster that you had sowed together? What was that movie from the early 1900's that dealt with that? Frankenstein…yes, that's it.

Ritsuko (suddenly furious): You are not a monster!

(Touji's eyes coldly refuse to meet hers.)

Touji: You don't understand how it has been…

(Silence.)

Ritsuko: …I am listening.

(Touji smirks, but he feels something inside himself… Surprise. This woman. The one who had fixed him up like some broken doll…he had always hated her. Strange as it was, he had never felt any gratitude towards the doctor who had made him…normal.)

Touji (thinking): Why is that? I should worship the ground on which she walks on! She gave me my life back… What the hell is wrong with me?!

(The armored panels of NERV flow past Unit 03 as it nears the surface. Touji can "hear" the distant whine of the B-969 transport.)

Touji: There are times when I just wish that NERV had never found me…

Ritsuko (her lips twisting slightly, to herself): As least we share something in common.

-------------------------------

(The sound of tea boiling makes the silence bearable. Misato is resting against one of the standing walls in the abandoned restaurant. Asuka had found some candles which were now lit about the chamber, revealing the stripped walls, rotting floor mats, and rusting kitchen grills.)

Hikaru (stepping out into the kitchen): The tea is almost ready.

(She gazes at Misato for a long moment.)

Hikaru (softly, twisting her hands before her): I-I'm sorry if I insulted you earlier, Major.

(Misato sighs and turns her head painfully toward the girl.)

Misato (her lips threatening to break into a weak smile): Don't worry…Hikaru. I know that you were simply speaking your mind.

(Pause)

Misato (grumbling): No matter how painful it may be…

(The Sixth Child comes to kneel before Misato and checked the Major's bandages. Misato's breathing is a little shaky and Hikaru's jaw tightens.)

Hikaru (whispering): Why didn't you say anything?

Misato (frowning tightly): About what?

Hikaru (her violet eyes seemingly black in the dark candlelight as she gazed closely into Misato's): You are having problems breathing. …you are bleeding inside.

Misato (turning her face toward the gaping hole that used to be the front door): T-That…is not important right now, Pilot Sohma. We still have a mission-

Hikaru: Do you think that defeating the Angel will mean anything to Shinji or Asuka if you die?

Misato: …

Hikaru (her hand touching Misato's): We'll get you out of here. I know it will be tough…but just stay with us, okay?

(Misato forces her eyes to meet Hikaru's. It is hard to face someone who sees you as you are.)

Misato (thinking): I must be getting really sloppy if I can't even reassure a 14-year-old girl!

Asuka (stepping into the restaurant with a bundle of old blankets in her arms): Aren't we getting chummy?

Hikaru (grinning slightly): Asuka… Just once I would like to hear something nice come out of your mouth when you walk in the door.

Asuka (dropping the blankets in a heap at Hikaru's and Misato's feet): What do you mean, nice? I'm nice! I'm nice all the time!

Hikaru (waiting expectantly): …?

Asuka (snorting, shrugging it off): Okay, not all the time!

Hikaru (chuckling): It's a start.

Asuka (crossing her arms over her waist): There's not much, Misato. This was all that was left. Mein Gott, people are greedy!

Misato (adjusting position slightly against the wall): Well, I'm sure they weren't thinking about two EVA pilots and a lost Major staying in their humble town when they left, Asuka. We'll make due with what we have.

(Asuka gazes down at the blankets and she finds her hands trembling slightly at her sides. She balls her hands into fists to stop the shaking.)

Asuka (quickly): Is that tea I smell?

Hikaru: Yeah-

Asuka (spinning on her heel, heading for the kitchen): I'll get it!

Hikaru (softly): It might not be done yet…

(Silence)

Hikaru (bowing her head): Asuka…

(There is some sudden clanging about the kitchen as Asuka moves pots and the tea kennel around the stove. Then,)

Asuka (looking down, frowning): What the hell is this?

-------------------------------------

(The conference room has a layer of tension that seems to press down on everyone in the chamber. The last 15 hours have not been easy on anyone present.)

Fuyutsuki (his hair mangled about his narrow skull): This is a very disturbing development.

Gendo (hands folded before his face): Indeed. The Angels have never, in recent time, attacked human beings directly.

(Silence)

Ritsuko (leaning back in her chair): No two Angels are alike. Thus far, every Entity has been unique with its own limits and weaknesses.

Gendo: …have you come up with this Angel's weakness yet?

(Ritsuko glances over at Maya who quickly taps a key next to her hand. The presentation screen at the head of the room flashes.)

Maya (glancing briefly, nervously over at the Commander before beginning): During the initial contact with the Angel, we detected a definite lack of defenses when Unit 02 attacked.

Natasha (her cheek in her palm, her finger drawing an invisible design on the table): So we surprised it. So what?

Ritsuko: So, we may be able to use this slow reaction time to our advantage.

Maya (quietly): It will certainly help Pilot Suzuhara out.

Gendo (leaning forward slightly): How is the Fourth Child?

(Ritsuko studies the Commander for a moment.)

Ritsuko (murmuring): Well enough. Considering how he hates the Evangelions, his sychro-ratio is pretty high.

Natasha (softly): He realizes what's at sake. I'm surprised…I had no clue there was more to that boy.

Ritsuko (her eyes flashing in Gendo's direction): Everyone has their own hidden layers. Some are more apparent than others.

(Gendo's eyes are hidden.)

Ritsuko: There is a problem, however.

Fuyutsuki (his brow arched): "Problem?"

Ritsuko (nodding over to the geological map that was displayed on the wall): The area. It is pretty flat were the Angel is. A surprise attack will be impossible without some sort of cover.

Fuyutsuki: I see.

Ritsuko (folding her hands on the table before her): There's more.

Natasha (eyes down): This should be good.

Ritsuko (focusing on the map): There is no life in the forests.

Natasha: Say again?

Ritsuko (looking at those around the table): The forests that surround the Angel…they are devoid of life of any kind. It seems that this Entity has a rather…nasty effect on those around it.

Gendo: The transport flight.

Ritsuko (her lips tightening): Exactly. We've already taken measures to insure the Fourth Child's safety.

Gendo: What measures?

Maya (her finger clicking another key): We have connected a Neutral Noise Transmitter directly to Unit 03's nerve path. The Angel attacks using sound in ways they have never seen before.

Ritsuko (gesturing toward the screen): Thus, the Transmitter will emit sound-waves to create a sphere of dead noise around the Evangelion.

Maya (gazing at the small, spherical attachment displayed on the back of Unit 03's neck): However, the design is in no way complete…there is a distinct possibility of failure after anything more than 60 seconds.

Natasha (gruffly): That's not much time.

Ritsuko (glaring at the Lieutenant): It's better than nothing, Lieutenant Karpov. It will give Pilot Suzuhara a fighting chance!

Maya (muttering): All we need is the distraction-

(Just then, the desk-side phone rang…)

---------------------------------------

(Misato would have looked ridiculous with the Hello Kitty phone pressed to her cheek if this had been a normal situation. Unfortunately…)

Misato (quietly): I'm doing okay and I have two of the Children here with me.

Fuyutsuki: What is your situation, Major?

Misato (looking over at the two girls before her): Frankly, sir, we've had our butts kicked. The girls have a few minor nicks and bruises. I think I have a broken leg.

Gendo (coming onto the line): Where are the First and Third Children, Major Katsuragi?

(Misato's hand trembles slightly on the phone.)

Misato (her voice dead): Missing.

Gendo: I see. You've lost them.

Misato: Sir.

(Fuyutsuki suddenly comes back on.)

Fuyutsuki: In any case, we had brief contact with Pilots Ikari and Ayanami.

Misato (sitting upright swiftly, wincing at the sudden motion): You did?! Where are they?!

Fuyutsuki (slowly, as if considering his words): Well, we picked up their readings several clicks from your position.

Gendo: There was an incident.

Misato (her eyes narrowing, very quietly): What happened?

Gendo: The Angel attacked them.

(The phone slips from Misato's numb fingers as the room spins around her head.)

Hikaru and Asuka (shouting): Misato!

(The Major falls unconscious on the hard wood floor. There is silence on the other end of the phone.)

(The Second Child grabs the phone.)

Asuka (snarling): What did you say?!

Gendo (coldly): That's is irrelevant to you, Second Child.

Asuka (standing up, her eyes glowing viciously): You will tell me what you said!

--------

(The Conference Room.)

Ritsuko: Sir!

(Gendo gazes at Doctor Akagi for a long moment. The blond woman is standing, her hands balled into trembling fists at her sides. The Commander reaches out and switches over to speaker-phone.)

(Gendo is watching Ritsuko as he leans back in his chair and waits. He doesn't have to wait long.)

Asuka (her voice echoing in the small, dimly lit chamber): Explain yourself, Commander!

(Gendo's tiny smirk is almost missed by Ritsuko. She quickly speaks.)

Ritsuko: There have been…problems, Asuka.

Asuka (her voice chilled): What problems?

Ritsuko (bracing her hands on the table before her): At 21:54 yesterday…the target attacked Rei and Shinji. Despite our best efforts…the two have disappeared from our scanners.

--------------

(Asuka looks up and finds Hikaru watching her from Misato's side. Asuka opens her mouth and can feel the words coming despite her disbelief.)

Asuka (very quietly): So Shinji and Rei have disappeared.

(The Sixth Child turns her eyes down to Misato and lapses into silence.)

Ritsuko: It is too early to tell anything.

Asuka (looking at Hikaru): Sixth Child, go see if you can find Misato a pillow.

(Hikaru looks stunned at the sudden order, but she doesn't question it as she comes to her feet and walks slowly out the doorway.)

Asuka: What now?

(There is a shocked silence on the other end of the line. Then,)

Ritsuko (carefully): Asuka…I'm sorry.

Asuka: About what?

Ritsuko (slowly): Shinji…I know that-

Asuka (shrugging): People seem to have a strange idea about me and that baka. I'm sure he has somehow saved himself. He never does seem to know when to take a hint.

Ritsuko: …

Asuka (crouching down next to Misato and the phone's cradle): We will contact you again when Misato comes to.

Ritsuko (quickly): We haven't forgotten you. If the need arises, we will call immediately.

Asuka (nodding): Whatever. It's good to know we aren't forgotten.

Ritsuko: …help's on the way.

(The connection went dead before Asuka can ask about that parting shot. There is no sound or anything to fill the void of quiet. There are no insects chirping. There are no night birds calling into the darkness. Just the vague, erratic ringing of the wind bell that seems to reassure Asuka that not only was this town abandoned by humankind, but nature as well.)

(Asuka sighs as she comes slowly to her feet. She glances at Misato, checking to see if the Major was breathing as well as could be expected. Then, she punches the hard wood wall with all her might. The violent crack seems to echo through the vacant restaurant.)

(Asuka falls to her knees, her bloody knuckles leaving a red trail as they slide down the wood with her. Her shoulders are shaking.)

Asuka (hoarsely): Not again…

-------------------------------------

(Hikaru slides open a household's door. The home is a wreak with moss growing in the main hallway. The shadows hide much of the damaged walls, but Hikaru can see the stars through the gaping holes in the ceiling.)

(It feels like home.)

(The Sixth Child shakes her head and steps into the hallway, the floorboards creaking under her weight. She walks slowly through the household, her hands folded respectively before her, as if she is visiting the spirits that lurked there.)

Hikaru (whispering): She was hurt.

(She pushes open a bedroom door and finds a moldy futon with a small pillow. She smiles slightly and steps carefully into the bedchamber. Her smile remains until she sees the tiny, forgotten doll next to the bed. It is missing a button eye, but it was well-loved. Its lumpy, thread-worn body spoke of years of hugs and snuggles. Its single-digit hands are stained with remains from tea-parties gone messy.)

Hikaru: Oh my…

(The Sixth Child trots over to the doll and picks it up to cradle it gently in her lap.)

(FLASHBACK: Voice: And this is your big brother, Ryo, Hikaru.

(Time jumps and a man's head is bowed over red and black armor.)

(Ryo (choking): Don't worry, Hikaru…it's not your fault… )

(Present)

Hikaru (blinking, struck by cold): B-Big brother?

(A shadow falls over her and she turns to look up into a pair of crimson eyes. Hikaru studies the pale face, the cold, burning eyes…and then she screams.)

----------------------------

Voice (concerned): Are you okay? Speak to me, Misato!

(Misato wants to sleep. She is so tired and the world is so cruel.)

Voice (pleading): Please, Misato, look at me!

(Her eyes flutter, then she opens her eyes slowly, focusing with some difficulty.)

Misato (slowly, not understanding): Shinji?

(The boy's face comes into focus as the Third Child sighs.)

Shinji (smiling): Yes, I am here.

(Her hand comes up, reaching for him. He catches her hand hesitantly between his own.)

Misato (whispering): Y-You must stay away from Unit 01…

Shinji (blinking): What are you taking about, Misato?

Misato (her hand tightening in his): You don't…understand what that thing is…it can-

Asuka: Whoa, Misato is losing it.

Hikaru (kneeling before the Major): She has had quite a hard time.

Misato (shaking her head, closing her eyes as if to clear it): Where are we?

Asuka (crossing her arms under her breast): The same place we have been for the last three hours.

Misato (resting her head back against the wall): The town.

Asuka: Exactly.

(Misato looks about her slowly and finds all the Children surrounding her. Shinji and Hikaru are kneeling before her while Asuka and Rei are behind them.)

Misato (sighing with relief): You are all here.

Rei (distantly): We are not ghosts yet.

Hikaru (wincing, glancing back at the First Child): I told you I was sorry, Rei. I really didn't mean to scream into your face-

Asuka (smirking): But with a face and figure like Rei's, it's understandable to think her something other than human.

Rei: …

Misato (frowning): Asuka.

Asuka (snorting): It's true!

Hikaru: I think Rei has a beautiful face and a very feminine figure!

Misato (nodding): There are women I know who would kill to have skin like hers!

Asuka: Yeah, old, traditional dancers-

Shinji (looking at Rei): Um, guys?

(The others glance over at Rei to find the girl's cheeks pink.)

Rei (very quietly): You embarrass me.

---------------------------------

(The Entity lifts its head from its chest slowly, as if every second it uses its neck is an effort.)

(Silence)

(The Entity ignores the distant flashing of NERV aircraft and lookout posts. They are not important. The target turns its head toward a mountain range rising out of the purple horizon. It takes its first step.)

----------------------------------

(Three places are connected by the simple act of transmitting waves interacting with one another. However, to the people that those waves effected, it makes it feels like they are not so alone.)

Misato (nodding thankfully to Hikaru who holds the phone to her cheek): So the Angel is on the move again.

Natasha (studying the Command Center Threat-board): Yeah, it's heading right for you. ETA 30 minutes.

Misato (sighing deeply): I see.

Ritsuko (grimly): Your support will arrive in about 28 minutes.

Misato (cautiously): Our "support"…what sort of support is this? We know what sort of results we get when we pit our best weapons of war against these things. It just doesn't work.

Ritsuko (leaning back in her chair, letting it roll slightly): I think this time it will.

Misato (very quietly): …what did you do?

Ritsuko (closing her eyes to the sight of the tiled ceiling): Do? Rather, you should probably remember the time you couldn't tell Shinji about a certain pilot.

Misato (her eyes snapping wide as they turned to the Third Child): …no…

Shinji (leaning forward): What's wrong, Misato?

Ritsuko (rubbing her eyes with her hands): I would suggest you focus on the mission, Major. Let the boy hate you later, but let him do his job.

Misato (whispering into the phone): You have no clue how painful that can be…

Shinji (his eyes growing dark with concern): Misato?

Misato (forcing a girlish laugh): Oh, it's nothing, Shinji! It's just so distracting to have such a handsome guy concerned for my safety!

(Shinji looks around for a moment, then blushes brightly as he realizes what she had said. He quickly sits back on his heels again.)

Shinji (searching for something to say to take the feminine attention off of him): …o-oh!

(Asuka smirks, Hikaru giggles, and Rei turns her eyes back to Misato. Misato sighs secretly and turns her attention back to the conversation on the phone.)

Misato (seriously): So…do we have a plan? You aren't going to send our "support" in on a suicide mission…are you?

Ritsuko (glancing at Maya who was briefing Touji on the operations of the assault rifle and Progressive Knife): No…we have taken precautions this time, but we are going to need your help.

Misato (chuckling darkly): There isn't much we can do on this side. Moving mountains is definitely out!

Natasha: Major, do you remember the last Angel Attack that occurred in the area you are in now?

Misato (flashing a brief, unseen glance at Asuka): Yeah…?

Natasha (crossing her arms under her breasts): What do you remember about the geography of the place?

(Silence)

Misato (slowly): The dam…

Natasha (a grim grin appearing on the Lieutenant's lips): Exactly.

Ritsuko: We have found that the way that the Angel attacks, while vicious in its single-mindedness, is flawed for the very same reason.

Misato (frowning): Meaning?

Natasha: The Angel can't focus on two things at once.

Misato (gaping as understanding dawned): You want us to blow the dam.

Ritsuko (looking up at the image of the inverted EVA under the B-969 transport): You were always a quick one, Misato.

(Misato breathes heavily for a few moments, drawing a frightened glance from Hikaru. Misato offers a weak smile to the Sixth Child.)

Misato (softly): What about us? As I remember from the original briefing, this town is in low country. It will become heavily flooded should the dam go.

Natasha (nodding): Exactly the point. You are going to have to move to higher ground.

Misato (eyes locked with Hikaru's): I'm not sure we can do that.

Natasha: …

Ritsuko: …just how banged up are you, Misato?

Misato (whispering): The air is really hard to breathe around here…

Asuka (raising a brow at that): What are you taking about, Misato? This is the country!

Misato (wincing): That's the point, Asuka…. I'm a city-girl.

Asuka (shaking her head, muttering to herself): Weirdos…all of them.

Natasha: This could be a problem.

Ritsuko (staring at a point in front of her): Can you walk?

Misato: Not very well.

Ritsuko (thinking): What if she d-?

Ritsuko (folding her hands in her lap): Do any of the Children know?

Misato (rolling her eyes toward an opposite wall, as if searching for a calendar): The Sixth…

Ritsuko (nodding as if coming to a decision): Okay, you don't have much time. You are going to do it like this…

-------------------------------

(The sun is just now peeking over the ridge of mountains, casting a pale, orange glow on the town below.)

Misato (leaning heavily on a crutch that had been found in one of the houses): …we are going split into two teams here. Asuka and Hikaru, you are going to be doing a lot of running. We don't have much time and you two are the fastest of us all.

(The Major turns toward Shinji and Rei.)

Misato: Shinji and Rei, you two are going to be responsible for the dam. Shinji…you will be in charge of supervising the effort.

Shinji (nodding as he looked around at the others): Okay.

Misato (pausing for a breath): Your suit's communication bracelet runs on battery pack. All of your suits have about twenty-five minutes of life at full-power. Which means…

(Misato shivers slightly under the thick blanket Hikaru had wrapped around her shoulders.)

Misato (firmly): All of you are to restrict suit activation to when you need to! Meaning…no communication and no heating.

Asuka (setting her hands on her hips): Misato! It's freezing out here! These things are skin-tight and without power it will feel like we are running around buck-

Misato (scowling): Deal with it, Asuka! You will be running so you won't be feeling it too much!

(Asuka snorts and looks away to the horizon.)

(Misato sighs and points down at the miniature model at their feet with her finger. A salvaged doll house represents the town, while a pile of twigs is the dam, and a rock is the dam's local office.)

Misato (muttering): Rei…

Rei (quietly as she kneels down next to the model): Yes, ma'am-Misato.

(The Major smiles tiredly at the girl's attempt to work on familiarity.)

(Rei picks up Misato's two ear-studs off the dirt and waits.)

Misato: Hikaru will head for the dam's administrative office that is southeast from this location. Hikaru, within, you should find the safe in the main office.

Hikaru (frowning): How are you so sure-

Misato (watching Rei's hand move Hikaru's token to the rock): The dam's sponsor left the area in a hurry. The office is intact. In the safe, you will find master codes that is essential to this mission.

Hikaru (staring at the rock): How will I get inside the safe?

Misato (shaking her head as if to clear it): When you reach the office, you will activate your suit's battery and get in contact with Lieutenant Karpov at NERV HQ. The MAGI will have found the code by then…we hope.

Hikaru: God…

Misato (her eyes flashing dramatically): Once you have successfully opened the safe and gotten the code books, you will run northwest, toward the dam. Half way there, you will hand the code books off to Asuka-

Hikaru (grimacing): Why can't I take the books all the way to the dam?

Asuka (snapping): Because you can't be trusted with something so important, rookie!

Misato (calmly): Actually, because you will have run over three kilometers by now, at your best speed. We need someone fresh to run the rest of the way and handle the operation at the dam.

Hikaru: But-

Misato (her voice a shade softer): And I will be evacuating toward the landing zone just beyond the mountain range for pick-up. It is a lonely trip…all alone.

(Hikaru pales slightly at that and looks closely at Misato.)

Hikaru (whispering): Misato…shouldn't you be doing that. It isn't-

Asuka (exploding): Oh, for God's sake, Sixth Child! Misato is a big girl! She can handle herself! Now, then, the important part of the mission…

Misato (sighing): Asuka, it will be your job to get the code book from Hikaru and get your butt over to the dam. It will, then, be up to you to find the code for the emergency release on the dam's gates.

Asuka (blinking): Say again?

Misato (grimly): We are going to flood the area. Since the Angel is heading this way, we are hoping that it will be at the very least distracted by the sudden rush of water. If we are lucky…maybe our backup won't be needed at all.

Shinji: Misato?

Misato (waving her free hand at Shinji): Oh, nothing! Just thinking aloud!

(Misato shakes her head again.)

Misato (glancing at Rei, who now had Asuka's token over the twigs): Rei, it will be up to you to ensure that the opening mechanisms operate properly. Do all you can to make sure those gates open when they are supposed to.

Rei: Yes.

Misato (gently): And…be careful.

Rei: …

Misato (bringing her heavy gaze upon Shinji): Shinji, you will be posted at the ridge of the dam. It will be up to you to tell Asuka when to open the gates. Timing will be key here and we are only going to get one shot at this. Make sure it counts.

Shinji (smiling wanly): Sure thing, Misato.

Misato (shivering): And…keep focused.

Shinji (blinking): Of course.

Misato (nodding with finality): Okay, people. Let's do this!

-------------------------------------

Shigeru (looking up from his console at the main screen ahead): Satellite locked. Ready for drop.

Natasha (standing behind Shigeru and Hyuga): What about the Children? What about their locations?

Hyuga: We are still having severe interference from the Target. For that reason, we have designated an area near the dam for drop. Shinji and Rei should just be starting their hikes now.

Natasha (nodding): Very well, drop the OSPE.

Shigeru (his fingers rattling out the commands): Commencing OSPE drop. Two minutes until package is on-site!

---------

(High above, the NERV OSPE satellite holds its position over. The crimson NERV logo on the vessel's hull glows like fire in the light of the rising sun. The bottom of the satellite opens like a pupil gazing out into complete darkness and an OSPE package locks into place. The black, domed heat-shielding of the OPSE lowered out the bottom of the vessel. Suddenly, a massive mechanism like the pump-action handle of a shotgun rises upon the top of the satellite and hammers down. The package fires out of the bottom of the satellite with an explosion of sparks. Several dozen retro-rockets flare to life, keeping the satellite from drifting off into outer space.)

(The OSPE package has already become a burning firefly against the blue world underneath it.)

--------

(She is a shadow dancer against the rising sun. Golden fields of long grass sways before her, slapping against her slender thighs as she sprints on toward her designation. Her body only now is warming up. The plug suit wasn't much against the chill of early fall without the heat-element flowing through super-slender veins in the lining.)

Hikaru (turning her head toward the mountain range, thinking): That sound…It is a already coming! Oh, God! Is it hunting us?!

(Hikaru shakes her head violently and jumps over a small pool of sitting water that had appeared before her. A second later, her foot sinks in to her ankle in a patch of pudding-like mud.)

Hikaru (gasping): Damn it!

(She staggers as she pulls herself free.)

Hikaru (fiercely, thinking): I'm not scared! I'm not!

(Her frantic breathing.)

Hikaru (thinking): Why would I be scared?!

(A distant, relentless thud of approaching footsteps.)

Hikaru (glancing over her shoulder, eyes wide, thinking): Oh, Shinji…

(Just then, the world heaves under Hikaru's feet, knocking her to the ground again. A sound like a thunder-strike comes right behind the impact and a rush of heat flows over Hikaru's back.)

Hikaru (pushing herself to her hands and knees, looking over her shoulder): My God! What was that?!

(A distant cry echoes through the valley. It is not human or even sorrowful. It is a cry of defiant challenge.)

Hikaru (thinking): I have to keep moving!

(A small, single story building appears before the Sixth Child and she breaks away from the field, her feet slapping against an aging, abandoned road. Cracks and potholes covered the black-top like age-spots. Hikaru races to the building and tries to open the door, but it is locked.)

(The Angel makes a sound like laughter. There is a harsh rush of sound and suddenly Hikaru feels the air punched out of her lungs. The Angel's head is peeking from behind one of the mountains. It is grinning.)

(Hikaru falls onto her side with her numbing fingers reaching for her bracelet. The click of the Call button seems very far away.)

Hikaru (coughing weakly): Help…me…

---------

(A screen beside Touji's face flickers to life and he finds himself gazing at Ritsuko.)

Ritsuko (quickly): Touji, we have a problem!

Touji (blinking): W-What-

(Suddenly, the arms holding Unit 03 release and Touji is in free-fall.)

Touji (screaming): What are you doing?!

Natasha (her face appearing beside Ritsuko's): I-It's Hikaru! That-That goddamned creature is killing her!

Touji (eyes snapping wide): What?!

Touji (thinking): Hikaru…that sweet girl that has a thing for Ikari.

Natasha (her voice on edge, blinking rapidly): Her life-signs are dropping!

Touji (trying to get his EVA's feet under him): W-What am I supposed to do?!

Ritsuko (a map appearing under her face): We are putting you down several kilometers from the Target. In the weapon pod, that will land with your EVA, you will find a Solo NR-244 Rocket launcher.

(The blueprints and image of the weapon appears on a window under her face.)

Ritsuko (calmly): With the Solo you will target the Angel and let your presence be known-

(The earth rushes up to greet Unit 03 and the EVA tumbles across the ground like a rag-doll. A warning chime sounds and the active power-time clock begins to tick down.)

Touji (growling as he urges his EVA to its feet): This is impossible!

Touji (thinking): Oh, God! I'm sorry, Ikari-

Ritsuko (scowling): It is not impossible, Touji! The pod is about 143 meters from you. Get up!

Touji (snapping): Okay! Okay, you witch!

Ritsuko: …please, hurry…

(Unit 03 comes unevenly to its feet. Its slender frame sways as its inexperienced pilot attempts to move it toward the silver pod with the NERV logo emblazoned on its side.)

Natasha (her voice dying): Heart-rate slowing.

(Touji grits his teeth as it seems like the EVA wants to resist his commands.)

Maya (her voice in the background): I can't believe that Unit 03 is moving with ratios this low-

Touji (growling): You beast…move! Move!

(Unit 03's fingers reach for the pod and it opens eagerly at the EVA's touch. The Evangelion picks up the rocket launcher in a trembling grasp.)

Ritsuko (slowly, calmly): Okay, Touji, I need you to just line up your crosshairs with the projected attack path. That all…

Touji (looking around on the screen before him): What projected path?! There nothing-

(The crosshairs and triangular "projected path" appear before the Fourth Child and he blinking.)

Ritsuko: Don't worry, Touji, we are here to help you.

(Touji nods as Unit 03 brings the rocket launcher up.)

Natasha (hoarsely): Touji-!

(Touji jerks in surprise and a rocket is away.)

-------

(Elsewhere…)

(Hikaru pushes open the front door with a sob, her heart racing. Something was very, very wrong… She leans against the door frame, her hands wrapping around the door-jam.)

Hikaru (whispering): No…it isn't possible…

(There is a Tarot card in her fist. She can't look at it.)

Hikaru (wailing, her book-bag falling with a thud to the wooden floor): Mother…! Father…! Where are you?!

(No answer. There isn't a sound. Not one. It is as if the apartment had frozen solid, leaving silence as the only remaining resident.)

Hikaru (breaking away from the door as if she can't stand dependency any longer): Mother! Father! Someone! …anyone…!

(She doesn't take her shoes off at the door and staggers through the main hallway, heading toward the kitchen. She can't feel her hands or feet. It feels like they are encased in ice. Her heart is beating so fast and hard that it feels like the hallway walls on either side of her are pulsating.)

Hikaru (whimpering): Mommy… Daddy…

(The kitchen door is shut…)

(Her free hand reaches for the door.)

(She pushes the door open. Her lips move, but not a sound comes out. The Card of Death flutters to the kitchen floor, stained by the pooling liquid standing there…)

--------------------------------

(Hikaru's eyes snap open and she gasps for breath that doesn't seem to come fast enough. Her fingers are tingling as if they were asleep. An explosion's echo rings back at her and she turns her head weakly toward the sound.)

(The Angel's head is still visible, but now its focus is now at a distance.)

(There is a familiar voice screaming desperately from the communications bracelet at Hikaru's wrist.)

Natasha (shouting frantically): Hikaru! Hikaru! Can you hear me?!

Hikaru (very hoarsely): I'm here.

(There is a long moment of quiet on the other side of the line. Then,)

Natasha (very softly): Thank God…

Ritsuko (her voice chiming onto the bracelet): Hikaru, can you stand?

Hikaru (wincing): I-I think so.

Ritsuko (sighing): Good, move. We don't know how long the Target will stay focused on something so far away.

Hikaru (confused): What-

Ritsuko (sharply): Just move! I'll explain it all to you later if you want!

Hikaru (quietly): Yes, ma'am.

-------------------------------------

Touji (tensing in his seat): Now what? You've got its attention, Doc!

(Ritsuko studies the map projected before her. Roughly three and a half kilometers to the OSPE, the pilot/EVA ratios are just barely above compatibility, and the active-time clock continues to click down.)

Maya (whispering): Oh, God, ma'am…

Ritsuko (her eyes flickering from the map, to her laptop, to the EVA report board): Something, just one thing…

(A Voice-Only icon flickers to life next to Ritsuko's face.)

Gendo (quietly): What now?

Ritsuko (coldly): Sir, we will-

Gendo: I will not lose a perfectly good EVA because of a few issues your staff has with attack methods.

(Ritsuko sees Maya's back snap straight as she turns slowly toward the doctor.)

Gendo: Chose. Now.

Touji (shouting): Ritsuko! That…Thing is almost on top of me here!

Gendo (whispering): If you can buy his life, would you bet a few seconds of torment?

Ritsuko (choked): Sir…

Gendo (softly): Save the boy, Ritsuko.

(Ritsuko slowly turns toward the command console. Maya sees the look in Doctor Akagi's eyes and she jumps to her feet.)

Maya (screaming): No! Ma'am-

Ritsuko (gently as she flicked open the clear cover and pressed the red button): You both can hate me later.

(Click.)

----------------------------

(The whole Evangelion slumps as the Angel approaches, startling Touji with the sudden numbness that caresses the back of his mind. Then…he feels it. The Beast hiding in the depths of Unit 03 awakens and Touji gasps.)

Touji (panting as his screen fades to red): …no…

(The Angel's head lifts and it grins at the immobile EVA. Its limp paw reaches out for Unit 03 when something happens. Unit 03's mouth drops open and the EVA's breathing can be heard against the still silence. The Angel pauses, unsure.)

(Suddenly, Unit 03's head rears back and it roars, celebrating its creation. The Angel launches itself toward the EVA frantically, but Unit 03's head snaps back down and it gazes at the Target. Then, its hand is coming up and the Angel is caught by the neck. The Angel writhes in the EVA's grasp as if it has no spine. Its feet kick at the ground under it. The EVA grins and breaks into a sprint, the Angel held before it like a shield. A second later, the two hit a mountain side and the force of the blow carry the them uphill in an explosion of dirt and broken branches.)

(The EVA appears at the top of the mountain, straddling its stunned opponent. Its fists flash down in a frenzy of bloodlust, seeking to pound the Entity into the very earth.)

Touji (jerking the butterfly handles frantically): Goddamn it! Make it stop! I only have :15 seconds of power left!

------------

Ritsuko (her fingers rattling on the keyboard, thinking): God…who knew the First had so much rage-

(On-screen: Access Denied.)

Ritsuko (blinking): What?! This is impossible!

Maya (quietly as she rolls a seat up beside Ritsuko, her eyes downcast): Ma'am?

Ritsuko (her hands beginning to tremble): Oh, God! Touji! I can't make it stop!

Maya (her fingers moving in slow, subdued strokes): Ma'am…Firewall engaged…

(Ritsuko blinks and looks over at Maya. The younger woman refuses to meet Doctor Akagi's eyes.)

Ritsuko (whispering): I'm so sorry, Maya.

Maya: ……it's done.

Ritsuko (looking back to the view screen, the EVA is paused mid-strike): Touji! Can you speak!

(The EVA slowly comes to its feet and begins walking downhill toward the small crater containing the OSPE.)

Ritsuko (rising her voice): Touji?!

(Quiet murmuring.)

Ritsuko (tilting her head as she leaned forward): W-What is that?

Maya (softly): I-It sounds like a prayer…

(Ritsuko touches the volume knob on the control console and the murmuring became understandable.)

Touji (softly, slowly, numbly): …Hidaka…

…Hikari…

…Hidaka…

…Hikari…

Ritsuko (leaning back in her chair): What…?

(She and Maya listen for a long moment, then she slowly reaches out and turns the volume back down.)

------------------------

(The path to the dam entrance is thickly covered with overgrown weeds and brush. While plug suits were excellent when interfacing with an Evangelion, it fell a little short when it came to protecting a body from thorn-covered branches.)

Rei (quietly): You are tired.

(Shinji's head is hanging while bracing his hands on his knees, breathing deeply.)

Shinji (panting): It's nothing to worry about.

Rei (lifting her wrist before her face, gazing at the chronometer there): We are not behind schedule. If you need rest, then we may do so.

Shinji (forcing his back to straighten and a smile to light his pale features): I'm fine, Rei.

(Rei gazes at Shinji's knees for a long moment, then turns back toward the path.)

Rei (distantly): You have blood on your plug suit.

(Shinji silently brushes at his knees, trying to erase the stains on his hands.)

Rei (ducking slowly under a moss-covered branch): Why must humans lie? For what purpose does it serve?

Shinji (closing his eyes as a moist leaf brushed past his cheek): I'm sorry, Rei. I didn't mean to insult you.

Rei: …

Shinji (rubbing the back of his neck): I guess…I wanted to protect you.

(A red eye gazes over the First Child's shoulder.)

Rei (slowly): Protect…me?

Shinji (thickly): Yeah…

(Rei looks down at the wet earth under her silent feet. Her eyes are puzzled.)

Rei (softly): You…confuse me.

Shinji (smiling gently): Well, life rarely does make sense.

Rei: …

Shinji (lifting his head): We are here.

(The forest seems to blur into slate-colored metal as the Children lift their eyes to the wall of the dam. A small, quiet stream leaks from the massive structure's base. Shinji gazes at the water for a long moment, then)

Shinji (whispering): Soon, this tiny brook will be several hundred times larger. I hope Misato and Hikaru get out okay.

(Rei says nothing as she walks up to the ground-level access hatch. Her slender hand touches the hatch handle and presses on it. It doesn't move.)

Rei (looking over her shoulder at Shinji): …it is locked.

Shinji (pulling a tire-iron out of the small duffel bag he had slung across his shoulder, sighing): I got it…

---------------------------------

(Hikaru carefully steps on the glass-covered floor of the dam administrative office. After having tried the front door and finding it locked, she had gone about shattering one of the office's windows.)

Hikaru (softly): I'm sure the company will not mind.

(It is very dark inside the office's front room and Hikaru hurries toward the door leading deeper into the structure. She opens the door and steps out into the hallway. The ceiling is caved in at parts, letting the rising sunlight in. Nature had begun to reclaim that which had been taken from it. Vines, wildflowers, and grass were sticking up through the slats of the floor.)

Hikaru (whispering into her wrist unit): Ms Natasha? Are you there?

Natasha (slowly, her accent thicker than normal): Yes, yes, I am here.

Hikaru (stepping carefully, but quickly around the flowers): I am heading toward the back of the office. Do you have the safe code, yet?

Natasha: We have it. The MAGI had some trouble, but we have it.

Hikaru (her brows lifting as she pushed the main office door open): You put the MAGI to work on this? What about the Angel-?

Ritsuko (stiffly): The MAGI are powerful enough to keep track of an Angel and perform a simple search such as this will no problems!

Hikaru (blinking): I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that the MAGI were inferior…

Ritsuko (sighing): I know that, Hikaru. I'm just…a little on edge right now.

(Hikaru looks around the office and lifts her wrist high so that the tiny lamp could give her a view of the place. Papers cover the floor like carpet while the rotting, leather chair lay on its side behind the worn, wooden desk at the back of the room. The safe sat beside it. Hikaru tosses her hair back over her shoulder with a flick of her wrist.)

Hikaru (firmly): Okay…let's just get this done.

Hikaru (thinking): While we still have a chance!

------------------------------

(Her breath is a painful, wheezy sound her ears. The foothills around the town have become rising blurs on either side of her. It seems like the world has narrowed down to a single, twisting dirt path before her.)

Misato (coughing): I was never…on very good terms with nature…

(The thundering of combat and the howling of inhuman beasts warps in and out of Misato's focus. Her head never lifts from its bowed position just above her chest. Her eyes are always on her feet, reassuring her spinning, fevered mind that she is still moving through time and space. The scrape of her crutch is distant and annoying as a dull ache at the back of her head.)

Familiar Voice (quietly): Do you think that the Children will make it?

Misato (rasping): There is…no other…option…

Familiar Voice: Why do you say that?

Misato (grimly): There is…no life…if they fail…

(Pause)

Familiar Voice: I suppose that you are right on that one… Is it right to depend so much on ones so young?

Misato (scowling suddenly): I know that you never agreed with that idea.

Familiar Voice (gently): And I think that you silently agreed with me.

Misato (biting her lip): …

Familiar Voice: You look like you are going to cry.

Misato: …

Familiar Voice: Isn't it a little late for tears?

Misato (choking): God damn you! STOP HAUNTING ME!!

(Misato's dragging foot catches an exposed stone in the path and she collapses to the ground with a whimper of pain.)

Familiar Voice: Is that what I'm doing?

Misato (her eyes closed): That…or I'm haunting you…

Familiar Voice (soothingly): Now that's a novel concept.

(Misato's free hand moves and she reaches out blindly to path before her, her fingertips slick with blood.)

Misato (coughing): …help…

(Silence)

Misato (her hand falling to the dirt): You were never…there…when…I needed……you…

-----------------------------

(Hikaru's legs are on fire as she tears through the high grass, her frantic eyes on the horizon. Somewhere, the Evangelion and Angel battle again. She had heard the sound of a OSPE cable being attached, but not without some fumbling. The pilot was either inexperienced or terrified. She could understand both feelings.)

Hikaru (thinking): I'm…not going to make it…

Hikaru (thinking): It's-It's like before…

Hikaru (thinking, tears forming): I-I'm never…in time…

Hikaru (wailing, falling to her knees): STOP IT!!

Asuka (at a distance): Hikaru?! What the hell are you doing?!

(There is the sound of rapid footfalls.)

(Hikaru wipes at the tears, but they still fall. The tall grass before her parts and a furious Asuka Langley Soryu appears. Her anger fades as she sees the Sixth Child on her knees in a puddle of water, sobbing uncontrollably.)

Asuka (whispering): Mein Gott…

Hikaru (her ebony hair falling about her face): Oh…God…Asuka, I see them…

(Asuka comes down to her knees and grasps Hikaru by her shaking shoulders.)

Asuka (firmly): Hikaru…please, we have a job to do…think of Misato…of-

Hikaru (her head snapping up, her eyes wide): Misato! Oh-Oh my God!

Asuka (alarmed): Wh-What's wrong with you-

Hikaru (bolting to her feet, her fingers digging into the old paper of the emergency manual): Oh-Oh, I must go! I must go!

(She starts to sprint away, but Asuka snags her arm.)

Asuka (shouting): What's wrong with you, Hikaru?!

Hikaru (struggling against Asuka's grip, crying): Misato-Misato's hurt bad! She's dying!

Asuka (her eyes snapping wide): What?!

(There is a distant howl, stunning the two girls into silence.)

Hikaru (her eyes on the distant horizon): I-I must go to her-

Asuka (hissing): No! I will take care of this-

Hikaru (focusing on Asuka for the first time): No.

Asuka (bringing her flushed face right into Hikaru): Now listen, rookie-

Hikaru (whispering): Shinji needs you.

(Asuka opens her mouth, but the words die on her tongue. She turns her face away so that her eyes are hidden from the Sixth Child. The moment of hysteria has passed from Hikaru's mind. Her lip grows hard.)

Hikaru (touching Asuka's shoulder): Please…go to him.

Asuka (turns suddenly on Hikaru, her eyes like twin, blue flames): I-I trust Misato's life with you.

(The Second Child seems to want to say more, but emotion closes her throat. Silently, Hikaru nods her head and hands the manual to Asuka.)

Hikaru (softly): Good luck, Asuka Langley Soryu.

Asuka (chuckling thickly): I…don't need luck. I have my skill.

(Hikaru offers Asuka a bleak smile, then turns and sprints away. Asuka is left standing in the center of the field, grass rising around her like silent flames. Abruptly, she shakes her head violently and turns toward the dam. Nothing remains of her emotions, but a few stray tears glistening on her cheeks.)

-----------------------------------

(Shinji is in a dark stairwell. He is leaning against the concrete wall beside him, panting with growing exhaustion. The hum of automated systems seems to make the cold wall under his face pulse with life.)

Shinji (whispering): I shouldn't…be here.

(He knew he was bleeding again. Ritsuko had warned him against pushing himself. Unfortunately, Angels rarely gave any thought to the limits of human beings.)

Shinji (taking a deep breath): But…people need me. God…if Asuka so me now.

(The Third Child doesn't want to think about the merciless torment he would get the from flaming-haired girl. He would never live it down.)

Shinji (forcing his body to stand on its own again, thinking): Come on, Shinji. Just one more flight of steps!

(The boy begins to stagger up the steps once more, his right hand is wrapped tightly around the handrail.)

Shinji (softly): Everyone's got to do their part…

(FLASHBACK: Rei (her eyes deep crimson): I will go to the valve chamber now.

(The two Children are in the dark main corridor of the dam. The girl is turned away from Shinji, lifting her wrist to her face so that she could view the chronometer. He pale, green light of the digits made Rei's face appear as if it were carved of stone, so cold and emotionless…)

Shinji (reaching out to her): Rei…

(Her eyes flicker over to him, taking in the outstretched hand and his uncertain eyes as if from a distance.)

Rei: …?

(Shinji looks at his hand and hastily lets it drop to his side. Shinji summons up a weak smile.)

Shinji (weakly): Well, I guess we part ways, then.

Rei (still watching him): …yes.

Shinji (quietly): G-Good luck to you, Rei. I'll see you when this is all over.

Rei: …

(There is a distant sound of thunder and the inhuman howls.)

Shinji (shivering, turning away, toward his destination on the other side of the dam): W-Well, I'll be going-

Rei: Shinji…

(He looks over his shoulder at the First Child and is shocked at how haunted she looks. Her eyes are now like pools of obsidian.)

Shinji (blinking): Y-Yes?

(Rei turns away from Shinji and begins to walk away. Her voice is almost lost in the hall, but her words send fingers of cold down his spine.)

Rei: Walk in light, Shinji…

(Shinji had wasted precious seconds gazing after the First Child, his heart aching in a way he had not felt in a long time…)

(Present)

Shinji (wondering quietly): What did she mean by that? Was she wishing me well? Even if she was…that dream…

(The earth suddenly heaves violently under Shinji's feet and he falls to his knees painfully on the cement steps. He now clings to the handrail with both hands, while his eyes look around wildly.)

Shinji (breathing hard and fast): Wh-What was that?!

(The Angel's howl came again and Shinji knew. The Angel is at the front gate.)

Shinji (dragging himself to his feet): Am I too late?!

(He limps toward the door at the top of the steps. There is sunlight now burning underneath it, lighting Shinji's grim face.)

(He reaches for the knob and opens the door. The door's hinges whine loudly, protesting the sudden use after being unused for so long. The light beyond is surprisingly bright, blinding Shinji even as he lifts a hand to shield his eyes.)

(The floor trembles again and Shinji lowers his hand. The dam's edge stretches out on either side of the boy. He looks up and gasps as he finds the Angel only a few hundred yards away…wrestling with…with…)

Shinji (hoarsely): No…

-----------------------------

(The floating holographic charts around her do nothing to reassure Ritsuko. Standing in the center of the small control center, the charts hang around her like hovering clouds. Her arms are crossed over her chest and her eyes are narrowed behind her reading glasses. It does not look good.)

Maya (quietly, tightly): His heart-meter is almost off the chart. He's a few moments away from heart-failure!

(Ritsuko reaches up and rubs her eyes under the glasses. On the main screen over the observation panel, Unit 03 is fighting for its life. With Progressive Knife in hand, the Evangelion tries to stab at the Angel's head. The Entity hisses at this and grabs the EVA's wrist in its over-sized grasp. With a deceptively lazy motion, the Angel tosses the EVA into the nearby forest. Trees shatter and dusts explodes from the site. The target grins at this and launches itself at the EVA.)

(What's worst is that Touji either cannot or will not answer hails from Ritsuko or Maya.)

Maya (her head bowed): It…It's too much for him. He's shutting down.

Ritsuko (distantly): No…

Maya (exploding, spinning in her chair toward the doctor): Ma'am, his heart is going to explode, his syncho-ratio is all but non-existent, and his ego-barrier is fluctuating! T-That THING is going to eat him alive!

(Ritsuko stares at Maya in wide-eyed shock. The younger woman has been pushed beyond her limits several times in that single day. Something has snapped within her, making her speak her mind where before she would have kept her peace.)

(Maya slowly turns from Ritsuko and stares at her console.)

Ritsuko (biting her lip): Maya…I-

(Klaxons scream and Ritsuko turns frantically back to her holograms. They tell her about her worst nightmare.)

Maya (a hand rising to her lips): T-The Angel is attacking.

(The energy spike, like before, flickers to life on the charts, revealing the scientific side to what the forward screen was broadcasting. The Angel is crouched over Unit 03, its head bowed as if in mediation, its mouth hangs open. It is howling and all the charts around Ritsuko are going haywire.)

Ritsuko (shouting as she turns to the young woman beside her): Maya!

Maya (her fingers racing): Engaging the NNT!

----------------------------

(His vision is tunneling down until he is almost enclosed in total darkness. It doesn't hurt. Really. More, it is a sort of numbness that grows from the death of the mind. Strangely enough, Touji can't find the strength to really care.)

(It has been a long fight and he lost. There is no dishonor in losing in the face of an unstoppable force.)

Distant voice: ….Touji!

(Touji's head rolls forward slightly and he gazes at his lap so that he doesn't have to look at that horrible face over him. His only real regret is that he is leaving Hikari and Hidaka behind. At least, they would have each other. Hikari was good at taking care of people and she would see to it that Hidaka was never left wanting anything.)

Distant voice (more loudly): …Touji!…Come on!

(The beast is there, within the EVA…or perhaps it has always been within him. The darkness within his own soul that has always lured just outside of his consciousness. The darkness that lays in every human soul. Maybe he should give up to that beast…let that beast deal with this physical demon. It would serve the monster right to fight with its own kind. Fight fire with fire, as they always said.)

Distant voice (desperate): Come on, Touji! Fight back!

(Suddenly, it feels like a heavy weight has been lifted from his chest and the Fourth Child gasps frantically. On a tiny, holographic screen beside his face, Touji sees that the Neutral Noise Transmitter has suddenly come online.)

Touji (slowly, as if not understanding): Ritsuko…

(Suddenly, she is there, her eyes on the edge…he had been so sure that she didn't possess an emotional bone in her body.)

Ritsuko (fiercely): Get up, Fourth Child! You've got about a minute!

Touji (softly): What about…Asuka…?

Ritsuko (grimly): She…just barely got inside the dam, she's on her way to the control room now. Hang on…

(There is a click of connection and a voice that has been calling to Touji for the last few moments blares through the EVA's plug.)

Shinji (hysterical): Touji! Touji! Oh, God! Talk to me!

(Touji wincing even as he reaches slowly for the butterfly handles of the EVA. The Angel is just now becoming aware that its attack is doing nothing to its victim. Its large hands are now coming into view.)

Touji (shouting): I hear you, Ikari! God! Are you trying to deafen me?!

(There is a sudden, stunned pause. Then,)

Shinji (almost breaking down): O-Oh, thank God!

Touji (shaking his head): Get a hold of yourself, Ikari.

Ritsuko (gently): I…thought that would get your attention.

(Touji can see the EVA's hands catch the Angel's wrists. The boy clenches his teeth as he forces the EVA to bring up a foot and slam it into the Angel's torso. The Angel sails back, plowing into a nearby field.)

Touji (gasping): Man, Ikari. How the hell do you do this day in and day out? It's hard work!

Shinji (a smile on his voice): A lots of practice and patience.

Touji (growling as he makes the EVA come to its feet): Well, I'm a little short on both right now!

Shinji (quietly): You're doing fine… Just hang in there…Asuka…she's almost there…

----------------------------

(Within the depths of the dam, Asuka is running like the devil is on her heels. After almost being stepped on by Unit 03, she is not willing to take any chances.)

Asuka (muttering): Stupid, amateur pilots… They are going to kill someone someday.

(The thought of rookie pilots draws the thought of Hikaru back to her mind. On the tail of that thought comes the sight of Misato resting in the rundown remains of the rural restaurant.)

Asuka (thinking bitterly): Of course Misato would never tell any one of us! She is too concerned with important things to think about her own health. But if she…if she dies before I'm done with her…then I will…I will…Arrgh!

(The Second Child turns the corner sharply, her eyes fierce with thoughts of revenge…and the possibilities. Suddenly, she is at the power generator chamber. This is where she would input the codes that would kill those generators for good. This dam would become permanently unusable after this little operation.)

Asuka (thinking): All this for that wimpy-looking, cheating thing-

Rei (her voice just above the sound of humming generators): You are behind schedule.

Asuka (her head snapping up): Huh? Oh…well, everyone cannot be a Wonder Girl, Rei!

(Rei is standing high over Asuka, at the valves. Now that her job of ensuring that the valves were still operational is finished, the girl now simply…waited. Asuka thought it was a little creepy, but she has better things to worry about.)

(Asuka hurries forward and slaps the manual down on the metal mesh of the floor. Her fingers flip through the pages quickly, more aware of the time that she is going to let Rei know. The manual is organized in simple language so that a distressed mind could easily comprehend them. A distressed mind…Asuka almost laughs, but turns the next page.)

Asuka: Talk to me.

Rei: …?

Asuka (glancing up under a fall of red hair): …I would prefer that what may be my last moments on this planet to not be in silence.

Rei (blinking slowly): What do you want me to say?

Asuka (blowing a breath of frustrated air): I don't know! Something! What are you thinking?! What are you feeling?!

(Rei studies Asuka for a long moment and the Second Child gives up on her. She comes to the page that she is looking for and sees what she must do.)

Rei (softly): Concern… I feel concern.

(Asuka almost trips over her own feet. Her eyes flash up at the First Child again, but the girl is looking away, as if she can see beyond the cement walls around them.)

Asuka (quietly): I…don't believe it…

(Asuka has the strangest feeling that she is looking at someone else. Once again she is struck by the sensation that she doesn't really know the girl named Rei at all, even after all the pain and suffering they have been through together.)

Ritsuko (shouting voice coming from Asuka's wrist): Where's our diversion?!

Asuka (staggering into motion): Coming!

-----------------------------

Shigeru (turning from his station): Ma'am, we've got massive activity from the dam! The generators are shutting down and the emergency flood gates are beginning to open!

Natasha (a cocky grin on her lips, her arms crossed under her breasts): Excellent-

(Warning klaxons blare and Natasha blinks in surprise.)

Natasha (sharply): What's going on?!

Hyuga (shouting): I-It's the dam! The plan is working…only too well! Years of disrepair have left the walls weakened!

Natasha (taking a step forward): Y-You mean-

Hyuga (his eyes horrified behind his glasses): It's breaking apart!

Natasha (shouting): Get our people out of there! Order all the Children to evacuate!

(Even as she gave the order, NERV is transmitting the retreat order. Even as the order is given, Natasha can only watch. She can't feel anything. All she can think about…over and over again, is the fact that they had sent children to die…)

---------------------------

Rei: Pilot Soryu-!

Asuka (jumping to her feet): You don't have to tell me! I hear!

(Asuka turns toward the corridor of which she had come, but a sound breaks through her thoughts, stunning her. She turns her blue eyes toward the far wall behind the silent generators. She had almost missed the sound over the roar of now freed water, but she can now see the crack running up the wall. Suddenly, a narrow jet of water sprays out from the crack, hitting the safety rail about a meter from Asuka. The beam of water bends, then cuts through the metal bar. Asuka gazes at it in terror, backing away from the solid spray of water.)

Rei (calling out): Pilot Soryu!

(Asuka looks up and Rei is waving her to her.)

Rei (almost emotional): You will never make it if you go down the corridor. Come with me!

(Asuka hesitates for a moment and another crack appears in the wall.)

Rei: Asuka…

(Asuka reacts as if touched by a live wire. She bolts toward the metal staircase that leads the way up to the catwalk where Rei is waiting. There is a sudden hissing sound and a section of the wall gives away. The blast of water hits the massive cylinders of the generators and the supports of the equipment screams in protest.)

Rei: Asuka-

Asuka (snarling): Coming! Coming!

(Asuka runs up the stairs as fast as her slender legs can carry her. Rei waits at the top of the staircase, cool and watching. It is as if the First Child doesn't realize that the chamber is about to implode around their ears.)

Asuka (shouting, throwing her hands in front of her as she neared Rei): Don't wait for me, Rei! Move!

(In a single motion, she spins the First Child around and pushes her ahead of her. There is suddenly a series of pops and suddenly Asuka is pushed against the safety rail. Her head hits the bar and she falls into unconsciousness.)

-------------------------------

(Shinji is sprinting toward the end of the dam where the cement merges with the rising land. Even as he runs, he can feel the floor under his feet giving away. It would not be long before the whole dam would be wiped from the face of the planet.)

(The Angel and EVA are directly in the path of the now tidal-wave size wall of water rolling away from the crumbling form of the dam.)

Shinji (lifting his wrist to his lip, crying out): Touji! Watch out! It's coming!

Touji (panting): What's…coming?

Shinji (turning a frantic gaze over at Unit 03): What do you think?!

(A shocked silence)

Touji (shouting): Damn it!

(The tidal wave is almost to the two massive combatants. Suddenly, Unit 03 slashes the Angel across the face and turns about. The ground around the Evangelion's foot explodes as Unit 03 launches from the wave's destruction path. It manages to get about five steps away before it is snagged from behind. Touji turns the EVA's head about. The Angel had wrapped a hand around the Evangelion's OSPE cable. It is snarling.)

Ritsuko (crying out): Touji, disengage your cord! Now!

(Touji's hands snaps out just as the cable goes taunt, dragging the EVA violently toward the destruction path. Unit 03's hands reach out and clawed into the soft earth, creating twin trails of plowed soil behind them. Suddenly, the cable ejects from the EVA's back with a shower of sparks.)

(The cable jets away like a snake caught in the claws of a ravenous bird of prey. The Angel is no longer visible, having been caught right in the center of the wave. The flood spreads, washing over the surrounding forest and wiping the ghost town away in a flow of violent water.)

(Slowly, the flood source empties itself and the world seems to take a moment of silent. Then, Unit 03 slowly comes to its feet and begins to wade through the water. It tracks the cable that still remains taunt. The EVA's pilot is grim, tightening Unit 03's grip on the Progressive Knife.)

(He finds it about a kilometer away from the dam, slowly dragging itself onto an island of higher land. One of its arms are gone and it can't seem to keep its head lifted.)

Ritsuko (slowly): It is already regenerating.

Touji (watching the Angel continue to drag itself): This is…pathetic, Ritsuko.

Ritsuko: Don't doubt for a moment that it will continue the battle the moment it is able. It isn't finished until it is destroyed…

(The Angel pushes itself on its back and it notices Unit 03 for the first time. It seems to be watching him…)

Maya (looking to Ritsuko suddenly): Power reading!

Ritsuko (clenching her teeth): Touji!

(The Angel opens its mouth and the space around it seems to distort. Touji grunt as he feels the breath knocked from him.)

(The Evangelion rises its Progressive Knife and Touji feels somewhere in the EVA a keen sense of joy. The Fourth Child closes his eyes as he lets the knife plunge down…)

------------------------------

(Shinji kicks at a fragment of the dam that had blown away from the structure when it had been destroyed. The Angel is dead. Shinji had seen the explosion in the distance and knew that it was only a matter of time before NERV came to collect its own. )

(This time it had been so close, Shinji doesn't even want to consider the next time. In the ongoing war against the enigmatic Angels, Shinji knew that there was a time when his luck, along with everyone else's, would run out. This battle had proved it.)

(The Angels were learning.)

(Shinji lifts his eyes and feels like he has been punched in the gut. Rei and Asuka lay before him, Asuka's body is still partially in the water while Rei's hand is wrapped around the Second Child's wrist. Both are not moving.)

Shinji (shouting): Rei! Asuka!

(He runs to them, collapsing to his knees between them. He reaches out to their joined hands carefully, frightened at what he might feel…or not feel when he touched them for their pulses.)

(Shinji touches them.)

(After a moment, Shinji lets out a sigh of relief and smiles at them.)

Shinji (whispering): You two took years off my life!

(A wash of heat makes the young Ikari look up to the sky. A NERV VTOL transport is hovering over the site, flashing its lights at him. He spots Hikaru in one of the windows and waves.)

Shinji (slowly, looking down at the two girls beside him): Let's go home…

----------------------------

(A few days later…)

Shinji (throwing the door wide): So…what do you think?

(The apartment is quiet, but it isn't an uncomfortable quiet. The sun is shining brightly through the windows, casting the apartment's traditional floors and walls in warm hues.)

Asuka (pushing past Shinji, a bandage about her head): Hmmm, I'm impressed, baka. Who helped you find this place?

Hikaru (sliding past Shinji with a smile): I happen to think Shinji perfectly capable of finding a place like this! He is a romantic, after all.

Asuka (snorting as she slipped her shoes off): Romantic my as-

Touji (chuckling): You're just jealous, Asuka. You're just mad that you didn't find this place first!

(Touji stepped inside and kicked off his high-tops.)

Touji (calling over his shoulder): Hey, Ikari, did you stock this place with food and stuff?

Shinji (blinking, then flushing): Um…no.

Hikari (shouting as she stepped out of her sandals): Touji! Don't ruin it! Need I remind you that I brought dinner? You were supposed to bring up the cooler!

Kensuke (huffing as he leaned against the front door's frame): Yeah…you left it to me to carry this heavy thing up here!

(Touji has the grace to look embarrassed before stepping into the living room that branches off from the main hall.)

Touji (his embarrassment forgotten): Damn! Check out this view! You've got a window looking out on the mountains!

(Kensuke sighs deeply and deposits the cooler on the wood floor.)

Hikaru (poking her head out from the door leading to the kitchen, looking at Shinji): Shinji, who put these plants in here?

(Shinji hesitantly raises his hand. Hikaru grins at him and blows him a kiss.)

Hikaru (sweetly): Nice touch. Breathes life into the apartment.

Asuka (snapping): Hey! Stop making kissy faces at Shinji and help me open up the apartment! When was the last time this place had some fresh air?!

Hikaru (snorting as she disappeared back into the kitchen): You must have hit your head harder than you thought. It isn't stale in here at all!

Hikari (sighing as she walks toward the kitchen, nodding for Kensuke to pick up the cooler again): You guys…!

Kensuke (groaning as he straightens with the cooler in his hands): Why do I always get stuck with this sort of stuff?

(Shinji shakes his head after his friends and turns to the girl whose opinion means the most of all.)

Shinji (a little nervously): Well…Rei? What do you think of it?

(Rei is gazing at the setting sun when she finally turns to face him. She steps past him, but doesn't move far into the apartment. Instead she closes her eyes and is silent.)

Shinji (frowning): Rei?

Rei: …it…

Shinji: …?

Rei (looking over at him): …it…is…perfect.

(Shinji gapes at her for a few moments, then,)

Shinji (smiling sheepishly): Really?

Rei: Yes.

Shinji: …well, it…does fit you.

(Rei slowly steps toward Shinji and he blinks. Carefully, as if afraid he would bolt at sudden moment, Rei turns her face toward his. Shinji feels his heart begin to pound and he wonders what he would do if Rei…if she…)

(Rei kisses Shinji's cheek and he stares at her.)

Rei (her smile soft, gentle, and infinitely precious): Thank you…Shinji.

Shinji (blushing with pleasure): Anytime, Rei…

(The two Children gaze at each other for a long moment, content in just being in each other's presence.)

Hikari (her voice drifting from the kitchen): Who wants tea and who wants pop? You can't have both, Touji!

Touji (whining): Oh, come on, please, Hikari?

Asuka (suspicious): Where are you going with that second pop, Hikaru?

Hikaru (a grin on her voice): I'm sure Shinji's thirsty, too.

Asuka (hissing): Shinji can get his own pop!

Kensuke (calling): Hey, Shinji! Hurry up! You've got to tell us how you found this place!

Shinji (smiles at the First Child): Welcome home, Rei.

(Shinji begins leading Rei toward the murmur of friendly voices. Rei takes it all in with a sigh. The apartment around her feels alive with Shinji's careful consideration and kindness. This is where she belongs. This is where she feels…human.)

Rei (quietly): I am home…

-------------------------------

To Be Continued…

Author's Notes:

All right! I did it! Chapter 8 is finally finished! It can stop haunting me now…

I realize that this chapter was a long time in coming and I apologize for that. Due to deadlines at school and so many things to take care of in my life, I was not able to truly focus on the story until just recently. I can only hope that this chapter met the expectations of those who had been asking for it for some time now.

I would like to thank those of you who wrote me and badgered me into finishing the chapter. If it hadn't been for the fair amount of email I got on the matter, who knows what would have happened!

Now then, I know that some of you will probably ask me what happened to Misato at the end of the chapter? As always, every one of the chapters in this series are connected one away or another. It is very, very likely you all will find out the details in the next chapter.

Second, I would like to say that while the Angel in the story is similar to the Angel that "mind-raped" Asuka, it is not the same. Where that Angel had gone in and taken what it wanted from her him, this Angel killed its victims by flooding their minds with the knowledge of the Angels. It would seem that these creatures tagged "Angels" by the human race hold some very terrible knowledge, indeed.

I know that there are times that there are scenes which are not always straight forward in this series. I began this story, hoping to be able to somewhat mimic the feel of the original series. I'm sure I've said this before, but I would like to think that I leave something to the reader to figure out on their own.

Of course, I have to thank my pre-reader for this Chapter, Godsend777 (The Death of One and a great many others!). Without him, I would have been forever lost.

If you do have questions or simple (and much valued) C & C, please write to me at gargoyle64@hotmail.com. Next time, Chapter Nine: "The Way You Shine When You Smile"/ Things Left Unsaid. The normal teasers: Artistic hands, Monsters fought with Inner demons, and the unbearable… See you there!

The Characters and concept of Neon Genesis Evangelion are property of Gainax. I created this "scenario" in the spirit of the TV series. I made it in the hope that it would open up people's minds and give something to a series that really touched me. This little series that I have created is a piece of fan fiction thought up by yours truly, so if you are going to copy or distribute this work, please give credit where it is due, k? Now enjoy!

By N. T. Martin

-----------------------------------

Background:

A long, long time ago…there was the beginning of a chapter of SBTA. It was the eighth of its kind and far larger than any of its predecessors. Due to its length, the author believed that the only way to present this to fanfiction readers everywhere was to divide the chapter into two parts. The first part, published on the Net Oh-so-long ago…ran along these lines…

In the beginning, Shinji found out that Rei had been missing a great deal of school without his conscious knowledge. Concerned and a little guilt-stricken, the Third Child sought out Ayanami.

In the meantime, the mysterious Child of Seele was questioned for his failure to eliminate the remains of the Ikari family. When proving to be less than polite, Seele dismissed him from their presence, his future in the balance.

Back in Tokyo 3, Shinji comes to Rei's apartment, only to find the girl on the roof of the apartment building. She is playing the flute given to her by Misato, oblivious to the world around her until Shinji approaches her. Her sudden resistance to the idea of staying at the apartment any longer pushed Shinji to offer to have her moved to a place where she "belonged."

We were suddenly shown Touji and Hikari on a date of sorts. As beautiful as the park was around him, Touji could not bring himself to enjoy it. In his mind, he was at war with a past that had been beyond his control.

Once again, the Children are summoned to face an Angel. In flight, Shinji can't help but feel unsure of himself and his abilities. He feels that there will come a time when his luck will just run out.

Natasha meets with Gendo, expecting to be tried and excluded for her obvious, covert connections with Seele. To her surprise, Commander Ikari comes up with an…alternate course of action.

On the battlefront with the unbalanced appearing Angel, careless decisions and assumptions cause NERV to lose all four active-duty EVAs in an instant.

New plans shift into motion and Unit 03 is pulled out of stasis and its pilot was ripped from his young sister's arms.

Chapter 8.1 ended with Shinji trapped within his plug as it sunk toward the bottom of a lake…

------------------------------------------

(In a part of the forest, a plug rests against a grove of trees. Steam drifts away from the plug's exhausted jets and for a moment, all is silent… Then,)

(LCL sprays rapidly from side vents and the hatch slides open.)

Asuka (shouting): Goddamn it! I can't believe it!

(The Second Child glares out at the world from her pilot seat.)

Asuka (thinking): All I could do was sit back like some spectator as that…that monster shot me out of my EVA!!

(Asuka stares at the shadows playing with night's darkness on the dirt around her downed plug. Then, with a scream of rage, Asuka tears the red receptors out of her hair and fling them away from her. They spin through the air and vanish into the underbrush. Asuka's hair flows together in a thick mane that trails down her back.)

Asuka: …

(The girl wraps her arms around her up-drawn knees and gazes down at the controls before her. Once again, an Angel had crept into her mind, only this time, it had been filling her head with nonsense and static. The Second Child shivers as she remembers the feel of her brain on fire.)

Asuka (muttering): They didn't tell us to expect that…

(Silence)

Asuka (pressing her cheek against her knee): But, then, they never tell us what to expect. It is almost like they expect us to know what to do!

Hikaru (softly): Does knowing that make you feel better?

(Asuka gasps and lifts her head to gaze up. The Sixth Child is standing at the top of the small slope before Asuka's plug's resting place. Hikaru's dark hair is still wet with LCL, causing it to lay flat against her head.)

Asuka (quietly): You look like a drowned rat.

Hikaru (her small, wrist lamp reveals a smile threatening the girl's lips): Kind and generous as usual, I see.

Asuka (standing a little unsteadily): Now is not the time to be politically correct. We have a job to do!

Hikaru (gesturing to the Second Child's plug): And just what do we have to do? Unless you've missed it, we are without our EVAs now.

Asuka (picking her way to the ground): We have a responsibility to find the others. Rei will just gaze into space unless you order her to survive…and Shinji will just find himself walking in circles because he doesn't have any sort of sense of direction!

Hikaru (grinning): I don't know about that… You don't have much respect for the Third Child, do you?

Asuka (walking up the path that led to Hikaru): Well…I have known him a lot longer than you have.

Hikaru (touching a finger thoughtfully to her cheek): So…it always comes back to that.

Asuka (walking past Hikaru): Always…

-----------------------------------

Misato (wincing): Ouch! Ouch…ouch!!!

(Something is burning close by and the Major opens her eyes.)

Misato (vaguely, trying to understand what was going on around her): What the…hell?

(If life was fair, she won't have remembered. If life was kind…perhaps, she would never have become a member of NERV. As it was, the answer to her question came suddenly and brutally. They had been shot down…like birds out of the sky.)

(FLASHBACK: Pilot (over the PA): Major! Serious energy readings from the target!

Misato (turning away from her holographic view screen, which she had been using to try and contact the Children): What now?!

Pilot (frantic): Oh my God! It's attacking the transport flight!

(Misato feels her stomach drop as the realization hits her. It was all a trap. The physical appearance of the Angel had caused her to let her guard down…as had Asuka. She had let appearances cloud her judgment. Now, she could feel the shock-wave of a near by B-969 exploding near her transport.)

Misato (screaming as she hit the Call button): Pilot, evasive maneuvers!!!

Pilot (his voice breaking up): Too…late-!

(Misato doesn't know what the Angel hit the transport with, but it was powerful. Arcs of electricity ripple through the passenger cabin as the power is the knocked out. If Misato hadn't been strapped into her seat via her safety harness, she would have surely flown across the cabin into the metal wall opposite of her as the transport dips wildly out of control.)

Misato (her hand reaching for the Call button against the violent G-forces pulling at her body): P-Pilot?! Pilot, respond!

Misato (slumping forward in her harness, her hand pressing against her aching brow): W-Who-

Misato (images rippled through Misato's skull as if her head were a TV and she had lost the remote to a psychopath): Wh-Why?! Why are you-

Misato (her eyes fluttering as her brain began to flatter under the hotwire link): …S-Stop…

Misato (her head falling forward): God…

(Present)

(Misato reaches for the release lever for her harness, but lets out a little cry when she shifts her body. Her eyes search in the gloom and she looks down at her right leg. The overhead grating had fallen and part of it had come down on it, just below the kneecap. She can see the blood welling up from the wound.)

Misato (whispering in horrible pain): Damn…

(Pushing the pain away, Misato reaches for the lever and releases herself. Misato touches the hard, cold metal and grits her teeth. She grabs the grate's edge and lifts. A whimper of pain escapes her lips, but she doesn't let go. With her eyes squinting against agony, arms trembling with effort, she pushes the slab of metal away from her and drags her leg out from under it.)

Misato (gazing down at her bleeding shin): Hurts so damned much…must be broken…

(Misato looks about herself and finds a little, white plastic case set on the wall several meters to her left. Misato drags herself to her feet, only fall back.)

Misato (hissing through her teeth): This is going to be a problem.

(She braces her right hand against the fallen grating in the center of the chamber and tries again. This way, she staggers to the plastic case and pulls it off the wall. She sits down on the bench again and rummages through the first-aid items. She finally pulls a roll of white gauze from the case and wraps her shin very carefully.)

Misato (muttering): It isn't like I'm not used to this…

(Something seems to whisper through the cabin of the transport. Misato's eyes are downcast and she is not steady at all…)

Voice: What?

Misato (calmly): Pain.

Voice: Oh, and why is that?

Misato: Well, it seems like for as long as I've lived, I've had to deal with some sort of pain or another.

Voice: Really?

Misato (cutting and securing the bandage): Yeah. When I was a little girl, before I discovered FM radio and headsets, I used to try and shut out the sound of my parents fighting... I wasn't really good at it.

Voice: They fought a lot?

Misato (resting her head back against the wall for a moment): More often than not. I hated it. In the beginning, I would think it was because of me…and I cried.

Voice: You don't cry often.

Misato (her smile a little sad): Maybe I should try it sometime. It's a great release…or at least it used to be.

Voice: Maybe.

Misato (looking around slowly for something that could be used as crunches): As I grew up, I hid myself behind a bright attitude and a blinding smile.

Voice: I remember.

Misato (combing her fingers gingerly through her hair, as if to fix the damage done by the crash): It's really funny that I became such good friends with Ritsuko. She was really the total opposite of me. But at least we did share something in common.

Voice: What was that?

Misato (standing up carefully on her one foot and hopping slowly over to a place were a long, twisted pipe was poking out from under the grating): Family. It was something that neither of us ever talked about. Oh, sure, I picked things up like the fact that Ritsuko's mother was a bitch. I'm sure that Ritsuko knew that my father didn't come home a lot, especially when my mom was calling me at the dorm once or twice everyday.

Voice: Maybe Ritsuko thought your mother was just clingy.

Misato (snorting as she thought of her once dark-haired friend): Ritsuko is hardly the type to be fooled by appearances. That's why she's the Chief Scientist and I'm just a lowly Major.

Voice: I think you carry your title with the pride befitting a queen.

Misato (giggling slightly): I would like to think so, too.

(Misato pulls the pipe free of the wreckage and tests it for durability. When it proves that it can hold her weight, Misato makes for the emergency exit.)

Misato (softly): Then there was my father…

Voice: Ah, your infamous father.

Misato: Yeah. I told Shinji about him once. I guess my dad is nowhere near the bastard that Shinji's father is…but it is something that joins us.

Voice: As if you need anything more to connect you with Shinji.

Misato (wiping her cheek and frowning at the blood that smears her hand): I guess…but he still shuts me out every once and a while.

Voice: Even the closest son needs a little privacy from his mother.

Misato: …

Voice: He's grown up to live by himself.

Misato (a little bitter): That's no way to live.

Voice: It might be up to you to show him how to live with others. His dad never was much of a humanist.

Misato: Neither was my dad. Did you know that I still don't know if he saved me because I was his daughter or because he needed someone to tell the others what had happened.

Voice: That's horrible.

Misato (resting her shoulder against the wall beside the emergency exit, panting lightly):Yeah. He never told me that he loved me. Even in the end.

Voice: Some fathers are like that. It is hard for them to express their love for their children. You never did understand that guys are different from girls.

Misato (chuckling, reaching blindly for the release hatch): Well…I do know about the most important difference!

Voice: Ah…Major Katsuragi, get your mind out of the gutter.

Misato (covering her giggles with a hand): Sorry.

(The hatch gives away under her hand and the door swings open slowly. The night is silent save for a gentle breeze whispering through the leaves of the surrounding forest.)

Misato (quietly): I don't even remember my father's face anymore.

Voice: It was a long time ago.

Misato: Not that long ago. As it was, I had been wounded and was delirious with pain and grief by the time they found me.

Voice: …

Misato: Ikari…the bastard.

Voice: Funny how he left for the ship a day before the Second Impact.

Misato (resting heavily against her crutch): It is.

Voice: Your father saved you.

Misato: Yeah.

Voice: Rather than torture yourself over it, why not just believe that he do so to show that he loved you.

Misato (whispering): What if it isn't the truth.

Voice: Who cares? All that matters is what you believe. …he's not here to tell you otherwise.

Misato (closing her eyes): That's true.

-----------------------------------

(She is standing in the corridor before him in her lab coat, blue, zip-up shirt, and, mini-skirt. Her hands are in her pockets and she watches him…carefully.)

Ritsuko (quietly): I thought I would never see you here again.

Touji (hanging back in between his two "escorts"): Did I have a choice?

Ritsuko (sighing as she shook her head slowly): The alternative was not really one that you would have been able to live with.

Touji (looking at the metal plating of the wall beside him): You could be surprised by how much I can live with… Actually, I'm sure that you know that much quite well.

Ritsuko: …

Touji: So what now? I'm here. What do you want me to do?

Ritsuko (nodding to the escorts, dismissing them): Come with me.

(Touji falls into step behind the doctor. Ritsuko bites her lip as the painful silence grows. Only the light click of her high-heels and the occasional squeak of Touji's sneakers breaks the tomb-like quiet.)

Ritsuko (clearing her throat carefully): How have you been?

Touji: …okay.

Ritsuko (a little impatiently): And your sister?

Touji: She's okay…too.

Ritsuko: How's life?

Touji: Okay.

Ritsuko: School?

Touji: Okay.

Ritsuko: You have been hanging around with Shinji too long.

Touji: …

Ritsuko: It's okay to feel sorry for yourself every once and a while, but to hold on to it like a lifeline is never healthy.

Touji: Yes, doctor.

Ritsuko: …

Touji (softly): Did you know that my sister is crying her eyes out right now?

Ritsuko (closing her eyes): No, I didn't know that.

Touji: Do you have a family?

Ritsuko: …no.

Touji: Well, I would like to know just how it feels to rip a little girl's last family member away from her? She's not dumb-

Ritsuko (glancing over her shoulder): You speak like you are already dead.

Touji (shoving his hands into his jeans pockets): No matter what you think, I'm not Ikari. I don't have some natural ability to deal with monsters and demons.

Ritsuko: …

Touji (quietly): But I will do it. You know why? Because I care about my little sister. She's my life and must live on to see this thing through.

(Silence)

Touji: I have one demand, though.

Ritsuko: Aren't we confident…

Touji: I-I…

(Touji searches for the strength that he isn't sure he has.)

Touji (whispering): I-I want to see…Hikari, one last time.

Ritsuko (looking over her shoulder): You realize that this is a restricted area to civilians.

Touji (smirking): I'm sure you can pull some strings or something.

Ritsuko: …

Touji (trying to keep his voice steady): Please?

Ritsuko (closing her eyes, sighing deeply): I'll see what I can do.

Touji (whispering): Thanks, Ritsuko…

---------

(It seems like he had never left her earlier that same day, and yet it seems like a lifetime ago. She stands at the lake's edge, gazing out at the amber water. The light seems to make the girl glow like a golden skinned sprite, elusive and ready to vanish at a moment's notice. Her eyes are kind and her lips are slightly parted in simple innocence that makes Touji flinch.)

Touji (moving slowly toward her): …

Hikari (sighing, her head bowing): Hello, Touji.

(Now that he has her here, he isn't sure what to do with her. There are so many things he wants to say to her, so many things he wants to share. It isn't fair. Maybe he is just a coward at heart. A strong man would be able to say what needs to be said and move on to face his destiny.)

Touji (whispering): I'm no better than Ikari…

Hikari (turning toward him): Well, you do have trouble from time to time saying what you mean.

(Touji's eyes drink in the sight of her. She is wearing a forest green sweater and a black, knee-high skirt. It is the sweater that makes her eyes look black and her face pale. Maybe she just really was pale. Touji turns his eyes away because he can't look into hers any longer.)

Touji (quietly): Something that always scared me about you-

Hikari (blinking): You were afraid of me?

Touji (smirking at himself): Yeah…a little. Do you know why?

(Hikari silently shakes her head.)

Touji (forcing his eyes to look into hers): You have always been so strong. You always seem to know what to do. People look up to you to do the right thing and be a force of guidance.

Hikari (blushing slightly): Touji…

Touji: I have never really taken myself seriously. You know, like I have you to keep me in line so I don't have to worry about that.

Hikari (turning away suddenly): Is that all I am to you? Some safety net to ensure that you don't go over that simple line of common decency?!

Touji (slowly, his eyes confused): No…actually, I think it is that part of your nature that…held me back. We are so different from one another. Maybe…I was afraid of being anything more to you than some charge that you had to keep an eye out for.

Hikari (staring at the lapping water before her): …

Touji (remembering his sister with a small smile): But, I have enjoyed my time with you... I never really knew there was another side to this bossy, old Class Rep. I'm glad I knew you.

Hikari (her shoulders trembling, whispering): Touji…

Touji (running shaky fingers through his hair): But…I have one more thing to ask of you…

Hikari: …

Touji (his jaw flexing as he searched for the right words): I…that is…Hidaka…you see…

(Touji sighs.)

Touji: Could you watch out for my baby sister? As much as she would like to think she is old enough to take care of herself, she still needs a little guidance from time to time. A helping hand if you will…

Hikari (whispering): What are you saying?

Touji (looking away): I have…things…I-

Hikari: You said you never had to do such things again… You assured me that it was over!

Touji (a cynical grin tilting his mouth): I guess…I spoke too soon.

Hikari (shouting): How could you?!

Touji (blinking): Huh?

Hikari (spinning away so she didn't have to face him, choked): How could you even think about piloting again?! You barely walked-came away alive last time!

Touji (whispering, reaching out to touch Hikari's shoulder): …because I have to.

Hikari (spinning back to him so his hand fell away): Why?! You explain this to me! You have all the answers! Tell me why?!

Touji (shocked): Hikari…you are crying…

Hikari (wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand): …so what if I am… You can't ask this of me…not again.

(Touji suddenly realizes that he is lousy at comforting women. He never has the right words, the poetry that would make it all seem better. Not for the first time that night, he cursed himself for being so clumsy with his tongue.)

Touji (whispering): Hikari…I-

(Suddenly, he feels a touch at his cheek and he looks up in time to feel Hikari's lips against his. It is a gentle, sweet kiss that seems to shock Touji into immobility. He can't hear the water or the air filters for the Geo-Front anymore.)

Hikari (whispering): How long?

Touji (blinking, trying to understand simple words): …I-I don't know.

Hikari (wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her forehead against his neck): Stay with me as long as you can.

Touji (wrapping his arms carefully around her shoulders): So…you are okay with this-

Hikari: No.

Touji: Then…

Hikari (her voice catching): I will chew you out when you get back.

Touji (smiling despite himself): I'll hold you to that.

(He will have to leave soon…there is a briefing waiting, but for the moment, Touji's world is narrowed down to include only one other person...)

--------------------------------------

(There is a sweet sound in the air. It seems to make the breeze glow and the flowers in the simple, violet hued vase seem so much more colorful. It was like looking at a rainbow manifested in physical form.)

Shinji (thinking): What is that?

(The sound is so familiar and he almost whimpers as the memory hangs just beyond his reach. As it is, he begins to move on unsteady feet. The room around him is so much more bigger than him. The unfamiliar ceiling rises high overhead and the kitchen table next to him towers over him.)

Shinji (whispering): Where?

(The song seems to call to him, to guide him, to summon him. Empty rooms lay open to both his right and left as he walks down the hallway. Blinding, bright light burns through the curtained windows, flooding the home with a wash of whiteness. Details seem so much more vague to Shinji's young eyes as he looks about, searching.)

(More notes, more tenderness turned to music. Shinji finds himself at the room at the end of the hall. The door is partially shut and it seems the light is brightest within this room. Sunlight was never so sickening, yet so sweet.)

(Shinji struggles with the door and looks into the room beyond. The source of the haunting sound is a woman sitting serenely in rocking chair. Her flowing kimono is wrapped about her slender frame, making her seem more like a wisp of smoke rather than an actual woman. The room is a mere impression about her as the sunlight behind her head blurs her features. She lifts a long, silver flute to her lips and breathes into it. A spinning note is born and Shinji reaches a tiny hand toward the woman.)

(She lifts her mouth away from the flute and smiles.)

Woman (gently): What is it, Shinji? Feeling lonely?

Shinji (whispering, tears springing to his eyes): M-Mama-?

---------

Rei (softly): I am not your mother.

(Shinji blinks slowly and tries to understand what had happened to the beautiful, white-washed room and the woman in the kimono.)

Shinji (rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand): R-Rei?

Rei: Yes.

(Shinji gazes up at Rei and tries to figure out at the strange angle of which he is gazing at the girl. It is then that he realizes that his head is laying on Rei's lap.)

Shinji (blushing): Rei, why…?

Rei (quietly, looking away): I…did not wish you to lay with your head on the hard ground.

(Shinji slowly sits up and holds his head when the world spins about him. He feels cloth against his cheek and looks at his hands. They are bandaged tightly, though there is red coming through still.)

Shinji (whispering against the strangely silent night): What happened?

(Rei's hand slid into his field of view, pointing to the lake some thirty meters from their position. The very tip of his plug could be seen on the surface of the water, toward the middle of the lake.)

Shinji (shaking his head): W-What happened? I thought our entry plugs were supposed to float!

(Rei's finger drifts to point at the sharply-angled boulders that border the lake. Before Rei's finger, Shinji can make out shards from his shattered plug laying on the ground.)

Shinji (slowly): I see.

Rei: I was almost too late.

(The First Child suddenly comes to her feet and walks away from the lake, toward the small assortment of supplies she had managed to carry from her plug. Shinji gapes at the shards of white armor for a moment, then comes to his feet.)

Shinji (cautiously, staring at the girl's back): Rei? Y-You sound almost like…you almost failed in a duty…

Rei: …

Shinji (walking slowly toward the girl): I'm grateful…but it is not always up to you to save me, to take the shot when someone has to-

Rei: I am not going to let you die.

(Shinji stops and watches the First Child with haunted eyes.)

Shinji (softly): We all have to die someday-

Rei: Not now. I won't let you.

Shinji: Why? No one is ordering you to protect me any longer.

Rei (quietly): Is it wrong that I want to protect you?

Shinji (shaking his head as he comes beside Rei): No, but not at the cost of your own life, Rei! There is a certain point where you must think of yourself-

Rei: No.

Shinji (spreading his hands before him): But-

Rei: No.

(Shinji blinks as he hears something he had not heard in Rei's voice for a long time. He had seen anger in her eyes…once, long ago. He had told Rei that he didn't believe in his father's work. Rei had reacted…insulted. While Shinji was sure that his father would have cared less if he had told the older Ikari to his face, this girl, Rei Ayanami, had struck Shinji for such a comment.)

(Now she is getting angry when Shinji tells her to think about herself rather than him.)

Shinji: Why?

Rei: …

Shinji: Why do you care so much, Rei?

(Rei picks up a nutrient bar and lays it in the palms of her cupped hands. She turns toward Shinji and offers it to him. Shinji glances at Rei's down-turned face and finally takes the bar from her slender hands.)

Shinji (softly): Thank you.

(Shinji pauses, then opens the wrapper. The sound of the foil wrapping in the darkness is very loud. Shinji takes the whole bar out of the foil and breaks it into two.)

Shinji (offering a half between his fingers): Here. You don't eat often enough…do you?

(Rei blinks at the offered piece of bar and for a moment, Shinji thinks she is going to refuse it. Then, she gently takes the hard-packed, half bar from Shinji.)

Rei (very softly): Thank you.

Shinji (wincing as he bites into the bar): Not much on taste…

Rei (gazing down at the bar as she chewed slowly): No.

Shinji (looking up at the sky through the branches): I wonder how the others are doing?

Rei (closing her eyes): We will know soon. It waits.

Shinji (blinking): Huh?

Rei (a slight shiver caressing her slender frame): …

------------------------------------------

Asuka (almost whispering): It's too quiet around here!

(The Second and Sixth Children are hiking through a rather lush area of the forest. Both girls are constantly pushing branches out of their faces, only to be slapped by the next one…well, rather Asuka was getting most of the slapping. She is in the lead.)

Hikaru (ducking under another flying branch): I've noticed that, too. It's strange. It's almost like-

Asuka (sharply): Don't say it! I can hardly see as it is! The last thing I need is to think that around the next tree I'm going to stumble across some corpse!

(Asuka doesn't see the shadow loom just behind her, but she does feels the moist fingertips brush the nape of her neck. She lets out a ear-piercing scream and stumbles off the "path" into a nearby bush.)

(Hikaru's wild laughter.)

(The Second Child glares viciously out the bushes at the other girl.)

Asuka (growling): That was not funny!

Hikaru (wiping a tear from her eye): Y-You didn't see your….face!!

(More laughter.)

Asuka (pushing herself out of the bush, eyes narrowed in the twilight): If you are so confident, then why don't you lead!

Hikaru (holding up her hands): Oh no, you are doing such a good job!

Asuka (hissing under her breath as she walks back to her place in front of Hikaru): Idiot.

(They continue, but Asuka looks over her shoulder every once and a while to make sure that Hikaru is behaving. In the drifting patches of moonlight filtering through the leaves overhead, the Sixth Child's face is all innocence.)

Asuka (whispering): Weirdo.

(Silence.)

Hikaru (softly): Asuka?

Asuka (snapping): What?

Hikaru: Do you think Shinji and Rei are okay?

Asuka (blinking as she slowly pushes a low limb out of the way): …I don't know.

Hikaru (wrapping her arms about herself as she looks off into the forest): You couldn't even…sound a little optimistic?

Asuka: Nothing is for sure.

Hikaru (whispering): That would almost be too much for me. I-I would want to be there if Shinji…if he-

Asuka (hissing): Well, you're not with him right now! So you will just have to wait and see!

(Silence)

Hikaru (slowly): How would you feel if you rounded the corner and suddenly came upon Shinji's shattered body?

Asuka (eyes growing wide): …!

Hikaru (gently): Would you cry, Asuka-?

Asuka (firmly): Crying solves nothing! Nothing ever gets done from crying! I…should know.

Hikaru: But it helps you sometimes. If nothing else, it can clear the air-

Asuka: It solves nothing.

Hikaru: …

Asuka (looking up into the sky): I pray that you never understand, Sixth Child.

-----------------------------------

Touji (softly): I don't understand. I just don't understand.

Ritsuko (her hands jammed tightly into her lab coat pockets): I'm surprised. You of all people should understand how this worked.

Touji (peeking over at Ritsuko, stumbling a little when the open lift began to rise): What does that mean?

(Ritsuko closes her eyes and she feels like she is losing a little bit more of her soul.)

Ritsuko (thinking): I wish…things were different. They are only children…

Ritsuko (opening her eyes, watching the neon-pink/orange liquid flow by): There is no easy way for this.

Touji (blinking): …no easy way?

(The lift stops and Ritsuko leads the way to the entrance door.)

Ritsuko (softly): Through here.

(She opens the door and it is lit within. Unlike the time with Shinji, Ritsuko had the room prepared before time. Gendo had no personal interest in this…this time.)

Touji (stepping into the room): I thought EVAs were rare.

Ritsuko (thickly): They are.

(The Four Child turns his head and he finds himself staring into the dark vintage of his nightmares. He begins to tremble and his left hand begins to convulse.)

Touji (whispering): How…?

Ritsuko (looking at the boy's twitching left hand): I think you know the answer to that.

(Touji staggers slowly out into the middle of the center catwalk and gazes up at the EVA.)

Touji (slowly): I saw the video footage. This shouldn't be…

Ritsuko: …

Touji (turning violently on Doctor Akagi): Why did you bring Unit 03 back?!

Gendo (calmly): Because we had a use for it.

(Touji spins about and finds Shinji's father, the one that the Third Child never talked about, standing beside him on the catwalk.)

Ritsuko: …Commander.

Gendo (gazing up at the mask of Unit 03): This was a failed project. It should never have been brought back.

Touji (bringing himself before the Commander, his eyes just below Gendo's): Then, send it back where it came from! You are the high and mighty NERV! Send it back to the Hell you sent it to before!

(The Commander looks down at the impudent Child before him. His eyes flash coldly behind his glasses.)

Gendo: That is not an option. You will pilot Unit 03.

Touji (shouting right at the cold face before him): I refuse! I'm not some wuss you can boss around! I don't give a goddamn about you or NERV!!!

(With that, Touji spins on his heel and stalks back toward Ritsuko and the door. He had to…get away from this horrible Creation.)

Gendo (hands folded behind his back): What about your sister?

(Touji stops, his back still turned to the Commander. His hands ball in to fists at his sides.)

Gendo (his eyes tracing the contours of Unit 03's head): What about Hikari Horaki? Or your classmates, or their families.

Touji (his eyes wide with realization, choked): Oh my God…

Gendo: Do you believe you have a choice?

Touji (bowing his head): Bastard.

Gendo: …

Ritsuko (taking a step toward the Fourth Child): Touji…

Touji (quietly): I'll do it.

Ritsuko: …

(The Fourth Child turns and gazes at Gendo Ikari. The man is not looking at him, but rather the EVA.)

Touji: But God have mercy on your soul if it goes out of control again.

Gendo (turning away, walking out the opposite door of the chamber): A little too late.

----------------------------------

Asuka (gazing on grimly): …

Hikaru (quietly): It is kind of like a ghost town.

Asuka: Yeah…

(Before the two girls, an abandoned town spreads across the country-side. In the silent twilight, Asuka can't be sure, but she thinks she can see a foot-print the size of a semi-truck sitting right in the middle of a rice field.)

Asuka: This is stupid. We can go around-

Hikaru (blinking): But this is the fastest way to get to Tokyo-3. If we go around, who knows how much time we will lose.

(Asuka growls and begins stalking toward the town. Hikaru trots along behind the Second Child, gazing at Asuka's fierce features in the moonlight.)

Hikaru (softly): Asuka-

Asuka (hissing): What?!

Hikaru: This is it, isn't it?

Asuka (her back stiff): I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about!

Hikaru (moving quicker so that she was along side Asuka): I can read, you know! Did you think that I didn't read up on all the Angel Attack reports available before I came here?!

Asuka (her mouth tightening): Everybody always rejoices whenever I mess up!

(Asuka cups her hands to her mouth.)

Asuka (shouting at the top of her lungs): Hey! Everyone! Asuka isn't perfect! Good God! The Bitch is actually human!!!

(Asuka's voice echoes back at the two as the Second Child lowers her hands.)

Hikaru: …everyone makes a mistake from time to time.

Asuka (choked): Who cares… Do you think that makes any difference to the people that saw my EVA that day? Did you think I didn't…find out?

Hikaru (slowly): …find out…?

(Asuka stops in the middle of the dirt road that leads into the town. Her eyes turn to the overgrown rice fields to the place.)

Asuka (very quietly): There.

(The Sixth Child looks across the fields to a shattered shack sitting on the edge of the field. A deep, fumbling footprint overlaps the wreckage.)

Asuka (walking again, though slowly): Kudo Yuri and Sano Kintaro. I-I didn't know. By the time I saw the shack, it was too late.

Hikaru: Asuka…

Asuka (shaking her head, her blue eyes gazing out at the shack): I just…didn't know. My debut fight on Japanese soil…and this happens…

Hikaru (gently): It couldn't be helped. You were fighting for your life.

Asuka: …

Hikaru: It's in the past now.

Asuka: I…

(There is a sound of wood breaking. Both girls jump and look wildly toward the town. A series of curses ring up to them.)

Hikaru (blinking): That voice sounds very familiar.

Asuka (striding towards the town): I just hope she didn't find any booze that may have been left behind!

(The girls jog into town and look about. It is a old, traditional town with simple, sliding wood doors, dirt streets, and slanting roofs. Tattered banners hang over doorways, revealing the locations of former businesses. An lonely, abandoned furin [wind bell] tingles in the breeze.)

(It is hardly the metropolis that Tokyo-3 is.)

Hikaru (trotting): Over there.

Asuka (groaning): Please, don't let her have found any, yet!

(The two Children come before the door of a restaurant and find a very disoriented Major Katsuragi laying on her back with the shattered door under her, gazing up at the rotting, wood ceiling.)

Misato (murmuring): Damned, cheap metal!

Hikaru (looking over at Asuka): What is she talking about?

Asuka (shrugging with a toss of her hands): In her state, anything is possible.

Misato (squinting as she lifts her head from the wood floor): Asuka? Hikaru? Is that you?

Asuka (taking a step forward): Yeah, we're here, Misato-

(It is then that the Second Child notices the blood. Because of the Major's black skirt and top, Asuka had missed the blood that was soaking the Major's sleek, black dress. For all intents and purposes, it looks like Misato had been used as a doll by some frustrated child.)

Hikaru (rushing forward): Oh, God! Misato! You look terrible!

Misato (sighing heavily): You really know how to lift a girl's spirits, Hikaru.

(Asuka kneels down beside Misato and unconsciously hides her eyes in the dark shadow of her bangs. The invincible Major Katsuragi was sitting there, bleeding to death on the filthy floor of some boarded-up sushi restaurant. Maybe Asuka just didn't want Misato to know that the girl was really concerned…or maybe the suddenly bright starlight was hurting her eyes.)

Asuka (resting a hand on Misato's feverish shoulder): Hikaru, go see if there is a first aid kit anywhere around here! If that fails, find some sheets or something we can rip up!

(Hikaru cast a worried glance at the Major then ran off on her mission.)

Misato (giggling softly): Wow, if you keep that up, you might end up with my job someday!

Asuka (sitting down on the floor beside Misato, crossing her legs in front of her): As if! Why would I want to be a button-pusher when I'm an EVA pilot?

Misato (sighing as she lays her head back): Good point. Why would you want to be in a job where you don't put your life on the line on regular basis?

Asuka (glaring over at Misato): You are a fine one to talk!

Misato: …

(Silence)

Asuka (very quietly): What now, Misato?

Misato (closing her eyes): Now, we wait for the sun to come up. It's never good to fight your nightmares at twilight.

Asuka: …when has that ever stopped them?

---------------------------------------

(It is a presence that he has only felt once before.)

Maya: All readings normal. No sign of rejection.

(It is alien…cold with a heart painted in darkness. It is primal, yet vastly intelligent.)

Ritsuko: Let's take this slow. We cannot afford to have an…incident at this stage in the game. Maya, call up my Lifeguard Program.

Maya (confused): Ma'am?

Natasha: What is that?

Ritsuko (vaguely frustrated at having to explain herself): It is almost like a firewall for high-security database. In this case, it forms a sort of flexible barrier in between the EVA and the Fourth Child.

(It's funny how people talk about you when they think you aren't listening.)

Natasha (slowly): Oh…and this does what?

Ritsuko (sighing sharply): Let's put it this way, Lieutenant. If Unit 04 goes berserk, we can almost guarantee that we can disconnect the pilot and eject him with minimal mental stress!

Natasha: …huh.

Hyuga: Approaching Borderline! Five seconds!

Ritsuko: The moment of truth.

(Would it devour him again? Like last time? Would it go on a rampage? Would it hurt someone? What was he doing here?!)

Hyuga: Four…

Touji (thinking): I do this…for Shinji…

Hyuga: Three…

Touji (thinking): I do this for……Asuka…

Hyuga: Two…

Touji (thinking): I do this for my sister…

Hyuga: One!

Touji: …Hikari…

(It is there. Like before. Dark. Vicious. Like a caged lion. It wants to rip him to shreds.)

Touji (his eyes fluttering, thinking): Nothing…human made…this…

Maya (excited): Connection successful!

Touji (whispering): If it is a success…why do I feel so dirty?

Ritsuko (her face appearing beside his): You are just feeling the aftereffects of Connecting with an EVA. The feeling will pass in time.

Touji: …

(Within the Command Center.)

Gendo (his hands folded like a shield before him): Any sign of contamination?

(Ritsuko turns away from the image of Unit 03 to gaze up at the Commander.)

Ritsuko (gritting her teeth): No, sir. It appears that the Ego-Barrier is holding this time.

Gendo (his eyes hidden within his glasses): What is the Fourth Child's synchro-ratio?

Shigeru (tapping at his keyboard): It is at 60.09%, sir.

Natasha (a hint of a grin on her lips): Just enough to move his EVA.

Gendo: Just enough is hardly what we are looking for. Fighting Angels is a task that requires a pilot that is comfortable in the cockpit.

Ritsuko (thinking): I don't remember the last time Shinji, Asuka, Hikaru, or Rei mentioned that they were comfortable in their EVAs.

Ritsuko (her back ramrod straight): Sir, we don't have a lot of time.

Gendo (his attention drawn back to her): How very true.

Ritsuko (taking a step forward): The EVA works. The pilot is synchronized with Unit 03. Give him a chance to bond with it-

Gendo (slightly impatient): We don't have time for extensive training exercises just so the boy can get his feet wet! This is what the Dummy System was created for-

Maya (standing suddenly, her back to Gendo): Sir!

Ritsuko (startled, looking over at the younger woman): Maya, what-

Gendo: What do you want?

Maya (trembling slightly): I-I can't do it!

Gendo (his glasses flashing in the dim light): You can't…what?

Maya (her head shaking slightly, violently): I-I just can't do that…again! I refuse to initiate the Dummy Plug System!

Ritsuko (her mouth gaping): Maya-

Gendo (coldly): Even if I made it a direct order, Lieutenant? Do you realize that doing so would constitute insubordination?

(The Command Center is silent. Maya still hasn't turned to face the Supreme Commander. She stands stiffly at her station, Shigeru and Hyuga staring up at her with shocked, but sympathetic eyes. They all remember what had happened on that day, so long ago. Ritsuko suddenly turns to face the Commander again.)

Ritsuko (firmly): Sir, may I offer a suggestion?

Gendo: …?

Ritsuko: Have the Fourth Child walk the EVA to the transport-

Gendo: What-

Ritsuko (pushing forward): If he can become even mildly familiar with the EVA and its workings, then I'm sure we can guide him through the fight.

Gendo: …

(Silence is absolute in the cavernous chamber.)

Gendo (quietly): I expect results. I am placing the outcome of this mission in your hands, Doctor. Lieutenant Karpov…you will assist her in any way she wishes.

Natasha (flicking a glance over at the Commander): Yes, of course…sir.

(Gendo's platform creaks, then lowers out of view. Ritsuko gazes after the Commander for a moment, then turns to Maya, who still stands at the forefront of the Command platform. Ritsuko pushes a shaky hand through her dyed hair and walks slowly over to Maya's side.)

Ritsuko (gently): Maya-

Maya (choked): I'm sorry, sempai… I'm so sorry! I just couldn't stand to think about the Dummy System again… I just…snapped…

Ritsuko (slowly): It's okay, Maya. Why don't you go get a cup of coffee? I will join you in a moment. Everything will be fine.

Maya: …

(The younger woman turns away from her station and walks very slowly out of the Center. Secret looks flicker about the Command towers. Ritsuko ignores them. She turns to the image of Unit 03, her eyes narrowed.)

Ritsuko (very softly): Don't you dare fail me…

--------------------------------------

(He looks around and sighs deeply.)

Shinji (softly): Rei…?

Rei: …?

Shinji: We are lost.

Rei: …

(The First and Third Children are surrounded by dark, deep shadows. Leaves seem to have become their world and Shinji is finding that it can be a little intimidating to be in a place where nature rules so completely.)

Rei (reaching out and touching a dew-laden leaf beside her face): It would seem that we were lost the moment we came here.

(Shinji glances quickly over at the girl, but she seems to be fascinated by the vein-work on the leaf before her.)

Shinji (bowing his head): I-I'm sorry.

Rei (her crimson gaze shifting from the leaf to the Third Child): Why?

Shinji (quietly): I didn't get a chance to look at my instrument panel before I blacked out… Maybe I would have some idea…where…

Rei: …

Shinji (pushing through a grove of leaves): I can't do anything right…

(A wall of sickly green material lays before appears before him.)

Shinji (blinking): What the hell-

Rei (her eyes snapping wide): Shinji! Step back!!

(The wall of sickly green moves.)

(Shinji feels his eyes lift even as his mind refuses to believe, refuses to understand what he is looking at. His neck stretches back and he stares. It turns toward the two Children.)

Shinji (whispering): No…

(Its body moves with a fluid, dazed grace that is stomach-turning. It is grinning.)

Rei (her eyes burning): You can't have him.

(The Angel howls and it is throwing its foot down toward the Children with enough force to flatten trees with the air stream generated alone. The sole of the Entity's foot blocks out the moonlight and Shinji closes his eyes.)

Shinji (his mind closing down so that only one thought remains): I'm so sorry. I love you, -

(Rei's scream shocks Shinji even as the Angel's foot comes down with enough force to emit a thunderclap…)

------------------------------

Hyuga (shouting as he turns from his station): Activity!!

Natasha (turning toward him): What is it?

Hyuga (his fingers dancing, bringing up the holographic Threat Board): The Angel is…attacking.

Natasha (crossing her arms under her breasts as she gazes at the Board): Attacking what? Trees? Has the thing lost its mind?

(Ritsuko's face appears on a secondary screen in the Command Center.)

Ritsuko (annoyance flashing over her sharp features): What is the alarm for?

Natasha: The Angel is attacking the forest around it. It seems to have gone berserk.

Ritsuko (frowning): That's bizarre. Have you run scans on the area?

Natasha (nodding to Shigeru): As we speak.

(Ritsuko turns from Natasha's image and rubs her lower lip.)

Ritsuko (thinking): Angels have never really displayed mental instability. They have simple objectives. Simple parameters. It is not normal for an Angel to do something for no reason. Maybe the deformity is more than just physical-

Natasha (turning back to the view screen suddenly, her eyes wide): Doctor! We have two readings in the Angel's destruction path!!

(Ritsuko hears a gasp and looks over at Maya, who has been watching after Unit 03 as it made its way toward the EVA elevator. That particular elevator was definitely out of the way, but it was giving Touji a chance to get somewhat familiar with piloting.)

Ritsuko (slamming her palm on the control console): Damn it! It's not enough time! Any idea-

Gendo (an icon appearing on a screen beside Ritsuko, his voice coming up over a Voice-Only channel): I have already handled this, Ritsuko. You continue with your…experiment.

Ritsuko: Sir-

(The icon vanishes and Ritsuko gazes into space for a long moment.)

Maya (carefully): Ma'am-

Ritsuko (very quietly, her back still to the younger woman): How is the Fourth Child doing?

Maya: …he has reached the second check-point. One more to go. Your Firewall program is working as expected… Ma'am, why-

Ritsuko (turning her profile to Maya): 'Why is this EVA so difficult to control?' Was that what you were going to ask?

(Maya nods silently.)

Ritsuko (closing her eyes): Unit 03, like Unit 04, was built quite some time after Ikari Yui's passing. Let's say that the…understanding was not put into the later EVAs that the original three had.

Maya: But, ma'am, Unit 00-

Ritsuko (very softly): Let's focus on one problem at a time, shall we?

Maya (turning her eyes back to her readings): Yes, ma'am.

--------------------------------

(Shinji slowly opens his eyes and finds that he is in a sphere of fire. He blinks, for he is sure is he is dreaming. His eyes turn and he finds Rei on her knees beside him, her arms crossed before her chest, her hands gripping the sides of her neck. It looks for the world like she is trying to contain something horrible within her. There are tears of agony trailing down her face and she whimpers under her breath.)

Shinji (whispering): Rei…

(He looks up and gapes in utter shock. The foot of the Angel is stopped dead overhead, trying to break through the wall of fire protecting the Children.)

Shinji (slowly): An…AT Field…Rei…

Rei (choked, her body convulsing): …run…

Shinji: No.

Rei (coughing, her own red blood sprinkling the white material over her thighs): I can't hold…this… I-

Shinji (softly): I will protect you.

Rei (whimpering): …Shinji…no…

Shinji (moving closer to Rei): Don't be afraid. I am here.

Rei (her eyes cracking open to cast a glance at Shinji): I understand…now-

(Suddenly, there is a scream in the air. For a moment, Shinji thought Rei was wailing again, but then, he realizes that the sound isn't even organically made. Shinji looks up in time to see the flight of missiles slam into the Angel. There is no AT Field to stop the rockets from scorching the Angel's flesh.)

Shinji: Who-

(He can see a UN rocket platform rolling up onto the ledge beside the two. Shinji turns his eyes away even as he hears the howl. The shock wave washes over and past the two Children as if they were a boulder in the mad rush of a flashflood. Shinji is shocked that he can actually hear the screams of the poor soldiers inside the platform.)

(Rei gives a little cry and collapses against Shinji. The Third Child catches her awkwardly. It is completely silent in the surrounding forest as the men inside the platform pass from life.)

(Shinji looks down at Rei and feels a moment of fear until he sees that she is breathing.)

Shinji (sighing): You took years off my life…

(He can feel the attention of the Angel on him again. Shinji doesn't look at the Entity. Rather, he pulls Rei's arms around his neck and links his hands beneath her rump. He grunts and staggers to his feet.)

(The Angel growls and Shinji shivers.)

Shinji (whispering to Rei's unconscious face resting over his shoulder): Hang on.

(Shinji bolts with the world turning into exploding footsteps, clouds of dust, and flying hunks of rock. The trees seem so far away…)

-------------------------------------

(His head hangs even as the EVA moves forward. He is tired.)

Touji (slowly): I don't understand how this works. You brought me here, put me through all of this, only to throw my life away?

Ritsuko (her eyes glaring out from the holographic screen): I didn't say that! Do not twist my words!

(Doctor Akagi sighs and stares at the console before her. The window displays flicker and pulse before her eyes and she can almost let herself float away. She won't have to care anymore. She wouldn't have duties, responsibilities, or consciousness to deal with. There would be no lies that she had to maintain like so many frail flowers in a garden…)

(But she had made a promise.)

Ritsuko (softly): I would like to think after all we have been through, that you would know me better than that.

(The Fourth Child looks away from her and gazes out at the butterfly control handles in his hands.)

Ritsuko (her hands trembling slightly before her): I know…it has been hard for you-

Touji: You don't have much of a bedside manner, doc.

(Ritsuko flinches and is silent once more.)

Touji (his eyes staring into space, his mind trapped in the past): You fixed me up…tried to make it so that I would appear to be normal. But you were never there afterwards. You let those cold, indifferent bastards at the hospital handle me! You turned your back on me!

(Unit 03 came before the Evangelion elevator. The heavy-duty, super reinforced platform sat before the slender Creation in the dim lighting of the access corridor. The EVA's dark form fades into the still shadows.)

Ritsuko: You don't understand.

(Touji takes a deep "breath" and forces the EVA to step onto the platform. The power cord detaches itself from Unit 03 with a sudden shower of sparks. The EVA fumbles with the waiting plug sitting in the corner of the platform.)

Touji: What? You didn't want to see the monster that you had sowed together? What was that movie from the early 1900's that dealt with that? Frankenstein…yes, that's it.

Ritsuko (suddenly furious): You are not a monster!

(Touji's eyes coldly refuse to meet hers.)

Touji: You don't understand how it has been…

(Silence.)

Ritsuko: …I am listening.

(Touji smirks, but he feels something inside himself… Surprise. This woman. The one who had fixed him up like some broken doll…he had always hated her. Strange as it was, he had never felt any gratitude towards the doctor who had made him…normal.)

Touji (thinking): Why is that? I should worship the ground on which she walks on! She gave me my life back… What the hell is wrong with me?!

(The armored panels of NERV flow past Unit 03 as it nears the surface. Touji can "hear" the distant whine of the B-969 transport.)

Touji: There are times when I just wish that NERV had never found me…

Ritsuko (her lips twisting slightly, to herself): As least we share something in common.

-------------------------------

(The sound of tea boiling makes the silence bearable. Misato is resting against one of the standing walls in the abandoned restaurant. Asuka had found some candles which were now lit about the chamber, revealing the stripped walls, rotting floor mats, and rusting kitchen grills.)

Hikaru (stepping out into the kitchen): The tea is almost ready.

(She gazes at Misato for a long moment.)

Hikaru (softly, twisting her hands before her): I-I'm sorry if I insulted you earlier, Major.

(Misato sighs and turns her head painfully toward the girl.)

Misato (her lips threatening to break into a weak smile): Don't worry…Hikaru. I know that you were simply speaking your mind.

(Pause)

Misato (grumbling): No matter how painful it may be…

(The Sixth Child comes to kneel before Misato and checked the Major's bandages. Misato's breathing is a little shaky and Hikaru's jaw tightens.)

Hikaru (whispering): Why didn't you say anything?

Misato (frowning tightly): About what?

Hikaru (her violet eyes seemingly black in the dark candlelight as she gazed closely into Misato's): You are having problems breathing. …you are bleeding inside.

Misato (turning her face toward the gaping hole that used to be the front door): T-That…is not important right now, Pilot Sohma. We still have a mission-

Hikaru: Do you think that defeating the Angel will mean anything to Shinji or Asuka if you die?

Misato: …

Hikaru (her hand touching Misato's): We'll get you out of here. I know it will be tough…but just stay with us, okay?

(Misato forces her eyes to meet Hikaru's. It is hard to face someone who sees you as you are.)

Misato (thinking): I must be getting really sloppy if I can't even reassure a 14-year-old girl!

Asuka (stepping into the restaurant with a bundle of old blankets in her arms): Aren't we getting chummy?

Hikaru (grinning slightly): Asuka… Just once I would like to hear something nice come out of your mouth when you walk in the door.

Asuka (dropping the blankets in a heap at Hikaru's and Misato's feet): What do you mean, nice? I'm nice! I'm nice all the time!

Hikaru (waiting expectantly): …?

Asuka (snorting, shrugging it off): Okay, not all the time!

Hikaru (chuckling): It's a start.

Asuka (crossing her arms over her waist): There's not much, Misato. This was all that was left. Mein Gott, people are greedy!

Misato (adjusting position slightly against the wall): Well, I'm sure they weren't thinking about two EVA pilots and a lost Major staying in their humble town when they left, Asuka. We'll make due with what we have.

(Asuka gazes down at the blankets and she finds her hands trembling slightly at her sides. She balls her hands into fists to stop the shaking.)

Asuka (quickly): Is that tea I smell?

Hikaru: Yeah-

Asuka (spinning on her heel, heading for the kitchen): I'll get it!

Hikaru (softly): It might not be done yet…

(Silence)

Hikaru (bowing her head): Asuka…

(There is some sudden clanging about the kitchen as Asuka moves pots and the tea kennel around the stove. Then,)

Asuka (looking down, frowning): What the hell is this?

-------------------------------------

(The conference room has a layer of tension that seems to press down on everyone in the chamber. The last 15 hours have not been easy on anyone present.)

Fuyutsuki (his hair mangled about his narrow skull): This is a very disturbing development.

Gendo (hands folded before his face): Indeed. The Angels have never, in recent time, attacked human beings directly.

(Silence)

Ritsuko (leaning back in her chair): No two Angels are alike. Thus far, every Entity has been unique with its own limits and weaknesses.

Gendo: …have you come up with this Angel's weakness yet?

(Ritsuko glances over at Maya who quickly taps a key next to her hand. The presentation screen at the head of the room flashes.)

Maya (glancing briefly, nervously over at the Commander before beginning): During the initial contact with the Angel, we detected a definite lack of defenses when Unit 02 attacked.

Natasha (her cheek in her palm, her finger drawing an invisible design on the table): So we surprised it. So what?

Ritsuko: So, we may be able to use this slow reaction time to our advantage.

Maya (quietly): It will certainly help Pilot Suzuhara out.

Gendo (leaning forward slightly): How is the Fourth Child?

(Ritsuko studies the Commander for a moment.)

Ritsuko (murmuring): Well enough. Considering how he hates the Evangelions, his sychro-ratio is pretty high.

Natasha (softly): He realizes what's at sake. I'm surprised…I had no clue there was more to that boy.

Ritsuko (her eyes flashing in Gendo's direction): Everyone has their own hidden layers. Some are more apparent than others.

(Gendo's eyes are hidden.)

Ritsuko: There is a problem, however.

Fuyutsuki (his brow arched): "Problem?"

Ritsuko (nodding over to the geological map that was displayed on the wall): The area. It is pretty flat were the Angel is. A surprise attack will be impossible without some sort of cover.

Fuyutsuki: I see.

Ritsuko (folding her hands on the table before her): There's more.

Natasha (eyes down): This should be good.

Ritsuko (focusing on the map): There is no life in the forests.

Natasha: Say again?

Ritsuko (looking at those around the table): The forests that surround the Angel…they are devoid of life of any kind. It seems that this Entity has a rather…nasty effect on those around it.

Gendo: The transport flight.

Ritsuko (her lips tightening): Exactly. We've already taken measures to insure the Fourth Child's safety.

Gendo: What measures?

Maya (her finger clicking another key): We have connected a Neutral Noise Transmitter directly to Unit 03's nerve path. The Angel attacks using sound in ways they have never seen before.

Ritsuko (gesturing toward the screen): Thus, the Transmitter will emit sound-waves to create a sphere of dead noise around the Evangelion.

Maya (gazing at the small, spherical attachment displayed on the back of Unit 03's neck): However, the design is in no way complete…there is a distinct possibility of failure after anything more than 60 seconds.

Natasha (gruffly): That's not much time.

Ritsuko (glaring at the Lieutenant): It's better than nothing, Lieutenant Karpov. It will give Pilot Suzuhara a fighting chance!

Maya (muttering): All we need is the distraction-

(Just then, the desk-side phone rang…)

---------------------------------------

(Misato would have looked ridiculous with the Hello Kitty phone pressed to her cheek if this had been a normal situation. Unfortunately…)

Misato (quietly): I'm doing okay and I have two of the Children here with me.

Fuyutsuki: What is your situation, Major?

Misato (looking over at the two girls before her): Frankly, sir, we've had our butts kicked. The girls have a few minor nicks and bruises. I think I have a broken leg.

Gendo (coming onto the line): Where are the First and Third Children, Major Katsuragi?

(Misato's hand trembles slightly on the phone.)

Misato (her voice dead): Missing.

Gendo: I see. You've lost them.

Misato: Sir.

(Fuyutsuki suddenly comes back on.)

Fuyutsuki: In any case, we had brief contact with Pilots Ikari and Ayanami.

Misato (sitting upright swiftly, wincing at the sudden motion): You did?! Where are they?!

Fuyutsuki (slowly, as if considering his words): Well, we picked up their readings several clicks from your position.

Gendo: There was an incident.

Misato (her eyes narrowing, very quietly): What happened?

Gendo: The Angel attacked them.

(The phone slips from Misato's numb fingers as the room spins around her head.)

Hikaru and Asuka (shouting): Misato!

(The Major falls unconscious on the hard wood floor. There is silence on the other end of the phone.)

(The Second Child grabs the phone.)

Asuka (snarling): What did you say?!

Gendo (coldly): That's is irrelevant to you, Second Child.

Asuka (standing up, her eyes glowing viciously): You will tell me what you said!

--------

(The Conference Room.)

Ritsuko: Sir!

(Gendo gazes at Doctor Akagi for a long moment. The blond woman is standing, her hands balled into trembling fists at her sides. The Commander reaches out and switches over to speaker-phone.)

(Gendo is watching Ritsuko as he leans back in his chair and waits. He doesn't have to wait long.)

Asuka (her voice echoing in the small, dimly lit chamber): Explain yourself, Commander!

(Gendo's tiny smirk is almost missed by Ritsuko. She quickly speaks.)

Ritsuko: There have been…problems, Asuka.

Asuka (her voice chilled): What problems?

Ritsuko (bracing her hands on the table before her): At 21:54 yesterday…the target attacked Rei and Shinji. Despite our best efforts…the two have disappeared from our scanners.

--------------

(Asuka looks up and finds Hikaru watching her from Misato's side. Asuka opens her mouth and can feel the words coming despite her disbelief.)

Asuka (very quietly): So Shinji and Rei have disappeared.

(The Sixth Child turns her eyes down to Misato and lapses into silence.)

Ritsuko: It is too early to tell anything.

Asuka (looking at Hikaru): Sixth Child, go see if you can find Misato a pillow.

(Hikaru looks stunned at the sudden order, but she doesn't question it as she comes to her feet and walks slowly out the doorway.)

Asuka: What now?

(There is a shocked silence on the other end of the line. Then,)

Ritsuko (carefully): Asuka…I'm sorry.

Asuka: About what?

Ritsuko (slowly): Shinji…I know that-

Asuka (shrugging): People seem to have a strange idea about me and that baka. I'm sure he has somehow saved himself. He never does seem to know when to take a hint.

Ritsuko: …

Asuka (crouching down next to Misato and the phone's cradle): We will contact you again when Misato comes to.

Ritsuko (quickly): We haven't forgotten you. If the need arises, we will call immediately.

Asuka (nodding): Whatever. It's good to know we aren't forgotten.

Ritsuko: …help's on the way.

(The connection went dead before Asuka can ask about that parting shot. There is no sound or anything to fill the void of quiet. There are no insects chirping. There are no night birds calling into the darkness. Just the vague, erratic ringing of the wind bell that seems to reassure Asuka that not only was this town abandoned by humankind, but nature as well.)

(Asuka sighs as she comes slowly to her feet. She glances at Misato, checking to see if the Major was breathing as well as could be expected. Then, she punches the hard wood wall with all her might. The violent crack seems to echo through the vacant restaurant.)

(Asuka falls to her knees, her bloody knuckles leaving a red trail as they slide down the wood with her. Her shoulders are shaking.)

Asuka (hoarsely): Not again…

-------------------------------------

(Hikaru slides open a household's door. The home is a wreak with moss growing in the main hallway. The shadows hide much of the damaged walls, but Hikaru can see the stars through the gaping holes in the ceiling.)

(It feels like home.)

(The Sixth Child shakes her head and steps into the hallway, the floorboards creaking under her weight. She walks slowly through the household, her hands folded respectively before her, as if she is visiting the spirits that lurked there.)

Hikaru (whispering): She was hurt.

(She pushes open a bedroom door and finds a moldy futon with a small pillow. She smiles slightly and steps carefully into the bedchamber. Her smile remains until she sees the tiny, forgotten doll next to the bed. It is missing a button eye, but it was well-loved. Its lumpy, thread-worn body spoke of years of hugs and snuggles. Its single-digit hands are stained with remains from tea-parties gone messy.)

Hikaru: Oh my…

(The Sixth Child trots over to the doll and picks it up to cradle it gently in her lap.)

(FLASHBACK: Voice: And this is your big brother, Ryo, Hikaru.

(Time jumps and a man's head is bowed over red and black armor.)

(Ryo (choking): Don't worry, Hikaru…it's not your fault… )

(Present)

Hikaru (blinking, struck by cold): B-Big brother?

(A shadow falls over her and she turns to look up into a pair of crimson eyes. Hikaru studies the pale face, the cold, burning eyes…and then she screams.)

----------------------------

Voice (concerned): Are you okay? Speak to me, Misato!

(Misato wants to sleep. She is so tired and the world is so cruel.)

Voice (pleading): Please, Misato, look at me!

(Her eyes flutter, then she opens her eyes slowly, focusing with some difficulty.)

Misato (slowly, not understanding): Shinji?

(The boy's face comes into focus as the Third Child sighs.)

Shinji (smiling): Yes, I am here.

(Her hand comes up, reaching for him. He catches her hand hesitantly between his own.)

Misato (whispering): Y-You must stay away from Unit 01…

Shinji (blinking): What are you taking about, Misato?

Misato (her hand tightening in his): You don't…understand what that thing is…it can-

Asuka: Whoa, Misato is losing it.

Hikaru (kneeling before the Major): She has had quite a hard time.

Misato (shaking her head, closing her eyes as if to clear it): Where are we?

Asuka (crossing her arms under her breast): The same place we have been for the last three hours.

Misato (resting her head back against the wall): The town.

Asuka: Exactly.

(Misato looks about her slowly and finds all the Children surrounding her. Shinji and Hikaru are kneeling before her while Asuka and Rei are behind them.)

Misato (sighing with relief): You are all here.

Rei (distantly): We are not ghosts yet.

Hikaru (wincing, glancing back at the First Child): I told you I was sorry, Rei. I really didn't mean to scream into your face-

Asuka (smirking): But with a face and figure like Rei's, it's understandable to think her something other than human.

Rei: …

Misato (frowning): Asuka.

Asuka (snorting): It's true!

Hikaru: I think Rei has a beautiful face and a very feminine figure!

Misato (nodding): There are women I know who would kill to have skin like hers!

Asuka: Yeah, old, traditional dancers-

Shinji (looking at Rei): Um, guys?

(The others glance over at Rei to find the girl's cheeks pink.)

Rei (very quietly): You embarrass me.

---------------------------------

(The Entity lifts its head from its chest slowly, as if every second it uses its neck is an effort.)

(Silence)

(The Entity ignores the distant flashing of NERV aircraft and lookout posts. They are not important. The target turns its head toward a mountain range rising out of the purple horizon. It takes its first step.)

----------------------------------

(Three places are connected by the simple act of transmitting waves interacting with one another. However, to the people that those waves effected, it makes it feels like they are not so alone.)

Misato (nodding thankfully to Hikaru who holds the phone to her cheek): So the Angel is on the move again.

Natasha (studying the Command Center Threat-board): Yeah, it's heading right for you. ETA 30 minutes.

Misato (sighing deeply): I see.

Ritsuko (grimly): Your support will arrive in about 28 minutes.

Misato (cautiously): Our "support"…what sort of support is this? We know what sort of results we get when we pit our best weapons of war against these things. It just doesn't work.

Ritsuko (leaning back in her chair, letting it roll slightly): I think this time it will.

Misato (very quietly): …what did you do?

Ritsuko (closing her eyes to the sight of the tiled ceiling): Do? Rather, you should probably remember the time you couldn't tell Shinji about a certain pilot.

Misato (her eyes snapping wide as they turned to the Third Child): …no…

Shinji (leaning forward): What's wrong, Misato?

Ritsuko (rubbing her eyes with her hands): I would suggest you focus on the mission, Major. Let the boy hate you later, but let him do his job.

Misato (whispering into the phone): You have no clue how painful that can be…

Shinji (his eyes growing dark with concern): Misato?

Misato (forcing a girlish laugh): Oh, it's nothing, Shinji! It's just so distracting to have such a handsome guy concerned for my safety!

(Shinji looks around for a moment, then blushes brightly as he realizes what she had said. He quickly sits back on his heels again.)

Shinji (searching for something to say to take the feminine attention off of him): …o-oh!

(Asuka smirks, Hikaru giggles, and Rei turns her eyes back to Misato. Misato sighs secretly and turns her attention back to the conversation on the phone.)

Misato (seriously): So…do we have a plan? You aren't going to send our "support" in on a suicide mission…are you?

Ritsuko (glancing at Maya who was briefing Touji on the operations of the assault rifle and Progressive Knife): No…we have taken precautions this time, but we are going to need your help.

Misato (chuckling darkly): There isn't much we can do on this side. Moving mountains is definitely out!

Natasha: Major, do you remember the last Angel Attack that occurred in the area you are in now?

Misato (flashing a brief, unseen glance at Asuka): Yeah…?

Natasha (crossing her arms under her breasts): What do you remember about the geography of the place?

(Silence)

Misato (slowly): The dam…

Natasha (a grim grin appearing on the Lieutenant's lips): Exactly.

Ritsuko: We have found that the way that the Angel attacks, while vicious in its single-mindedness, is flawed for the very same reason.

Misato (frowning): Meaning?

Natasha: The Angel can't focus on two things at once.

Misato (gaping as understanding dawned): You want us to blow the dam.

Ritsuko (looking up at the image of the inverted EVA under the B-969 transport): You were always a quick one, Misato.

(Misato breathes heavily for a few moments, drawing a frightened glance from Hikaru. Misato offers a weak smile to the Sixth Child.)

Misato (softly): What about us? As I remember from the original briefing, this town is in low country. It will become heavily flooded should the dam go.

Natasha (nodding): Exactly the point. You are going to have to move to higher ground.

Misato (eyes locked with Hikaru's): I'm not sure we can do that.

Natasha: …

Ritsuko: …just how banged up are you, Misato?

Misato (whispering): The air is really hard to breathe around here…

Asuka (raising a brow at that): What are you taking about, Misato? This is the country!

Misato (wincing): That's the point, Asuka…. I'm a city-girl.

Asuka (shaking her head, muttering to herself): Weirdos…all of them.

Natasha: This could be a problem.

Ritsuko (staring at a point in front of her): Can you walk?

Misato: Not very well.

Ritsuko (thinking): What if she d-?

Ritsuko (folding her hands in her lap): Do any of the Children know?

Misato (rolling her eyes toward an opposite wall, as if searching for a calendar): The Sixth…

Ritsuko (nodding as if coming to a decision): Okay, you don't have much time. You are going to do it like this…

-------------------------------

(The sun is just now peeking over the ridge of mountains, casting a pale, orange glow on the town below.)

Misato (leaning heavily on a crutch that had been found in one of the houses): …we are going split into two teams here. Asuka and Hikaru, you are going to be doing a lot of running. We don't have much time and you two are the fastest of us all.

(The Major turns toward Shinji and Rei.)

Misato: Shinji and Rei, you two are going to be responsible for the dam. Shinji…you will be in charge of supervising the effort.

Shinji (nodding as he looked around at the others): Okay.

Misato (pausing for a breath): Your suit's communication bracelet runs on battery pack. All of your suits have about twenty-five minutes of life at full-power. Which means…

(Misato shivers slightly under the thick blanket Hikaru had wrapped around her shoulders.)

Misato (firmly): All of you are to restrict suit activation to when you need to! Meaning…no communication and no heating.

Asuka (setting her hands on her hips): Misato! It's freezing out here! These things are skin-tight and without power it will feel like we are running around buck-

Misato (scowling): Deal with it, Asuka! You will be running so you won't be feeling it too much!

(Asuka snorts and looks away to the horizon.)

(Misato sighs and points down at the miniature model at their feet with her finger. A salvaged doll house represents the town, while a pile of twigs is the dam, and a rock is the dam's local office.)

Misato (muttering): Rei…

Rei (quietly as she kneels down next to the model): Yes, ma'am-Misato.

(The Major smiles tiredly at the girl's attempt to work on familiarity.)

(Rei picks up Misato's two ear-studs off the dirt and waits.)

Misato: Hikaru will head for the dam's administrative office that is southeast from this location. Hikaru, within, you should find the safe in the main office.

Hikaru (frowning): How are you so sure-

Misato (watching Rei's hand move Hikaru's token to the rock): The dam's sponsor left the area in a hurry. The office is intact. In the safe, you will find master codes that is essential to this mission.

Hikaru (staring at the rock): How will I get inside the safe?

Misato (shaking her head as if to clear it): When you reach the office, you will activate your suit's battery and get in contact with Lieutenant Karpov at NERV HQ. The MAGI will have found the code by then…we hope.

Hikaru: God…

Misato (her eyes flashing dramatically): Once you have successfully opened the safe and gotten the code books, you will run northwest, toward the dam. Half way there, you will hand the code books off to Asuka-

Hikaru (grimacing): Why can't I take the books all the way to the dam?

Asuka (snapping): Because you can't be trusted with something so important, rookie!

Misato (calmly): Actually, because you will have run over three kilometers by now, at your best speed. We need someone fresh to run the rest of the way and handle the operation at the dam.

Hikaru: But-

Misato (her voice a shade softer): And I will be evacuating toward the landing zone just beyond the mountain range for pick-up. It is a lonely trip…all alone.

(Hikaru pales slightly at that and looks closely at Misato.)

Hikaru (whispering): Misato…shouldn't you be doing that. It isn't-

Asuka (exploding): Oh, for God's sake, Sixth Child! Misato is a big girl! She can handle herself! Now, then, the important part of the mission…

Misato (sighing): Asuka, it will be your job to get the code book from Hikaru and get your butt over to the dam. It will, then, be up to you to find the code for the emergency release on the dam's gates.

Asuka (blinking): Say again?

Misato (grimly): We are going to flood the area. Since the Angel is heading this way, we are hoping that it will be at the very least distracted by the sudden rush of water. If we are lucky…maybe our backup won't be needed at all.

Shinji: Misato?

Misato (waving her free hand at Shinji): Oh, nothing! Just thinking aloud!

(Misato shakes her head again.)

Misato (glancing at Rei, who now had Asuka's token over the twigs): Rei, it will be up to you to ensure that the opening mechanisms operate properly. Do all you can to make sure those gates open when they are supposed to.

Rei: Yes.

Misato (gently): And…be careful.

Rei: …

Misato (bringing her heavy gaze upon Shinji): Shinji, you will be posted at the ridge of the dam. It will be up to you to tell Asuka when to open the gates. Timing will be key here and we are only going to get one shot at this. Make sure it counts.

Shinji (smiling wanly): Sure thing, Misato.

Misato (shivering): And…keep focused.

Shinji (blinking): Of course.

Misato (nodding with finality): Okay, people. Let's do this!

-------------------------------------

Shigeru (looking up from his console at the main screen ahead): Satellite locked. Ready for drop.

Natasha (standing behind Shigeru and Hyuga): What about the Children? What about their locations?

Hyuga: We are still having severe interference from the Target. For that reason, we have designated an area near the dam for drop. Shinji and Rei should just be starting their hikes now.

Natasha (nodding): Very well, drop the OSPE.

Shigeru (his fingers rattling out the commands): Commencing OSPE drop. Two minutes until package is on-site!

---------

(High above, the NERV OSPE satellite holds its position over. The crimson NERV logo on the vessel's hull glows like fire in the light of the rising sun. The bottom of the satellite opens like a pupil gazing out into complete darkness and an OSPE package locks into place. The black, domed heat-shielding of the OPSE lowered out the bottom of the vessel. Suddenly, a massive mechanism like the pump-action handle of a shotgun rises upon the top of the satellite and hammers down. The package fires out of the bottom of the satellite with an explosion of sparks. Several dozen retro-rockets flare to life, keeping the satellite from drifting off into outer space.)

(The OSPE package has already become a burning firefly against the blue world underneath it.)

--------

(She is a shadow dancer against the rising sun. Golden fields of long grass sways before her, slapping against her slender thighs as she sprints on toward her designation. Her body only now is warming up. The plug suit wasn't much against the chill of early fall without the heat-element flowing through super-slender veins in the lining.)

Hikaru (turning her head toward the mountain range, thinking): That sound…It is a already coming! Oh, God! Is it hunting us?!

(Hikaru shakes her head violently and jumps over a small pool of sitting water that had appeared before her. A second later, her foot sinks in to her ankle in a patch of pudding-like mud.)

Hikaru (gasping): Damn it!

(She staggers as she pulls herself free.)

Hikaru (fiercely, thinking): I'm not scared! I'm not!

(Her frantic breathing.)

Hikaru (thinking): Why would I be scared?!

(A distant, relentless thud of approaching footsteps.)

Hikaru (glancing over her shoulder, eyes wide, thinking): Oh, Shinji…

(Just then, the world heaves under Hikaru's feet, knocking her to the ground again. A sound like a thunder-strike comes right behind the impact and a rush of heat flows over Hikaru's back.)

Hikaru (pushing herself to her hands and knees, looking over her shoulder): My God! What was that?!

(A distant cry echoes through the valley. It is not human or even sorrowful. It is a cry of defiant challenge.)

Hikaru (thinking): I have to keep moving!

(A small, single story building appears before the Sixth Child and she breaks away from the field, her feet slapping against an aging, abandoned road. Cracks and potholes covered the black-top like age-spots. Hikaru races to the building and tries to open the door, but it is locked.)

(The Angel makes a sound like laughter. There is a harsh rush of sound and suddenly Hikaru feels the air punched out of her lungs. The Angel's head is peeking from behind one of the mountains. It is grinning.)

(Hikaru falls onto her side with her numbing fingers reaching for her bracelet. The click of the Call button seems very far away.)

Hikaru (coughing weakly): Help…me…

---------

(A screen beside Touji's face flickers to life and he finds himself gazing at Ritsuko.)

Ritsuko (quickly): Touji, we have a problem!

Touji (blinking): W-What-

(Suddenly, the arms holding Unit 03 release and Touji is in free-fall.)

Touji (screaming): What are you doing?!

Natasha (her face appearing beside Ritsuko's): I-It's Hikaru! That-That goddamned creature is killing her!

Touji (eyes snapping wide): What?!

Touji (thinking): Hikaru…that sweet girl that has a thing for Ikari.

Natasha (her voice on edge, blinking rapidly): Her life-signs are dropping!

Touji (trying to get his EVA's feet under him): W-What am I supposed to do?!

Ritsuko (a map appearing under her face): We are putting you down several kilometers from the Target. In the weapon pod, that will land with your EVA, you will find a Solo NR-244 Rocket launcher.

(The blueprints and image of the weapon appears on a window under her face.)

Ritsuko (calmly): With the Solo you will target the Angel and let your presence be known-

(The earth rushes up to greet Unit 03 and the EVA tumbles across the ground like a rag-doll. A warning chime sounds and the active power-time clock begins to tick down.)

Touji (growling as he urges his EVA to its feet): This is impossible!

Touji (thinking): Oh, God! I'm sorry, Ikari-

Ritsuko (scowling): It is not impossible, Touji! The pod is about 143 meters from you. Get up!

Touji (snapping): Okay! Okay, you witch!

Ritsuko: …please, hurry…

(Unit 03 comes unevenly to its feet. Its slender frame sways as its inexperienced pilot attempts to move it toward the silver pod with the NERV logo emblazoned on its side.)

Natasha (her voice dying): Heart-rate slowing.

(Touji grits his teeth as it seems like the EVA wants to resist his commands.)

Maya (her voice in the background): I can't believe that Unit 03 is moving with ratios this low-

Touji (growling): You beast…move! Move!

(Unit 03's fingers reach for the pod and it opens eagerly at the EVA's touch. The Evangelion picks up the rocket launcher in a trembling grasp.)

Ritsuko (slowly, calmly): Okay, Touji, I need you to just line up your crosshairs with the projected attack path. That all…

Touji (looking around on the screen before him): What projected path?! There nothing-

(The crosshairs and triangular "projected path" appear before the Fourth Child and he blinking.)

Ritsuko: Don't worry, Touji, we are here to help you.

(Touji nods as Unit 03 brings the rocket launcher up.)

Natasha (hoarsely): Touji-!

(Touji jerks in surprise and a rocket is away.)

-------

(Elsewhere…)

(Hikaru pushes open the front door with a sob, her heart racing. Something was very, very wrong… She leans against the door frame, her hands wrapping around the door-jam.)

Hikaru (whispering): No…it isn't possible…

(There is a Tarot card in her fist. She can't look at it.)

Hikaru (wailing, her book-bag falling with a thud to the wooden floor): Mother…! Father…! Where are you?!

(No answer. There isn't a sound. Not one. It is as if the apartment had frozen solid, leaving silence as the only remaining resident.)

Hikaru (breaking away from the door as if she can't stand dependency any longer): Mother! Father! Someone! …anyone…!

(She doesn't take her shoes off at the door and staggers through the main hallway, heading toward the kitchen. She can't feel her hands or feet. It feels like they are encased in ice. Her heart is beating so fast and hard that it feels like the hallway walls on either side of her are pulsating.)

Hikaru (whimpering): Mommy… Daddy…

(The kitchen door is shut…)

(Her free hand reaches for the door.)

(She pushes the door open. Her lips move, but not a sound comes out. The Card of Death flutters to the kitchen floor, stained by the pooling liquid standing there…)

--------------------------------

(Hikaru's eyes snap open and she gasps for breath that doesn't seem to come fast enough. Her fingers are tingling as if they were asleep. An explosion's echo rings back at her and she turns her head weakly toward the sound.)

(The Angel's head is still visible, but now its focus is now at a distance.)

(There is a familiar voice screaming desperately from the communications bracelet at Hikaru's wrist.)

Natasha (shouting frantically): Hikaru! Hikaru! Can you hear me?!

Hikaru (very hoarsely): I'm here.

(There is a long moment of quiet on the other side of the line. Then,)

Natasha (very softly): Thank God…

Ritsuko (her voice chiming onto the bracelet): Hikaru, can you stand?

Hikaru (wincing): I-I think so.

Ritsuko (sighing): Good, move. We don't know how long the Target will stay focused on something so far away.

Hikaru (confused): What-

Ritsuko (sharply): Just move! I'll explain it all to you later if you want!

Hikaru (quietly): Yes, ma'am.

-------------------------------------

Touji (tensing in his seat): Now what? You've got its attention, Doc!

(Ritsuko studies the map projected before her. Roughly three and a half kilometers to the OSPE, the pilot/EVA ratios are just barely above compatibility, and the active-time clock continues to click down.)

Maya (whispering): Oh, God, ma'am…

Ritsuko (her eyes flickering from the map, to her laptop, to the EVA report board): Something, just one thing…

(A Voice-Only icon flickers to life next to Ritsuko's face.)

Gendo (quietly): What now?

Ritsuko (coldly): Sir, we will-

Gendo: I will not lose a perfectly good EVA because of a few issues your staff has with attack methods.

(Ritsuko sees Maya's back snap straight as she turns slowly toward the doctor.)

Gendo: Chose. Now.

Touji (shouting): Ritsuko! That…Thing is almost on top of me here!

Gendo (whispering): If you can buy his life, would you bet a few seconds of torment?

Ritsuko (choked): Sir…

Gendo (softly): Save the boy, Ritsuko.

(Ritsuko slowly turns toward the command console. Maya sees the look in Doctor Akagi's eyes and she jumps to her feet.)

Maya (screaming): No! Ma'am-

Ritsuko (gently as she flicked open the clear cover and pressed the red button): You both can hate me later.

(Click.)

----------------------------

(The whole Evangelion slumps as the Angel approaches, startling Touji with the sudden numbness that caresses the back of his mind. Then…he feels it. The Beast hiding in the depths of Unit 03 awakens and Touji gasps.)

Touji (panting as his screen fades to red): …no…

(The Angel's head lifts and it grins at the immobile EVA. Its limp paw reaches out for Unit 03 when something happens. Unit 03's mouth drops open and the EVA's breathing can be heard against the still silence. The Angel pauses, unsure.)

(Suddenly, Unit 03's head rears back and it roars, celebrating its creation. The Angel launches itself toward the EVA frantically, but Unit 03's head snaps back down and it gazes at the Target. Then, its hand is coming up and the Angel is caught by the neck. The Angel writhes in the EVA's grasp as if it has no spine. Its feet kick at the ground under it. The EVA grins and breaks into a sprint, the Angel held before it like a shield. A second later, the two hit a mountain side and the force of the blow carry the them uphill in an explosion of dirt and broken branches.)

(The EVA appears at the top of the mountain, straddling its stunned opponent. Its fists flash down in a frenzy of bloodlust, seeking to pound the Entity into the very earth.)

Touji (jerking the butterfly handles frantically): Goddamn it! Make it stop! I only have :15 seconds of power left!

------------

Ritsuko (her fingers rattling on the keyboard, thinking): God…who knew the First had so much rage-

(On-screen: Access Denied.)

Ritsuko (blinking): What?! This is impossible!

Maya (quietly as she rolls a seat up beside Ritsuko, her eyes downcast): Ma'am?

Ritsuko (her hands beginning to tremble): Oh, God! Touji! I can't make it stop!

Maya (her fingers moving in slow, subdued strokes): Ma'am…Firewall engaged…

(Ritsuko blinks and looks over at Maya. The younger woman refuses to meet Doctor Akagi's eyes.)

Ritsuko (whispering): I'm so sorry, Maya.

Maya: ……it's done.

Ritsuko (looking back to the view screen, the EVA is paused mid-strike): Touji! Can you speak!

(The EVA slowly comes to its feet and begins walking downhill toward the small crater containing the OSPE.)

Ritsuko (rising her voice): Touji?!

(Quiet murmuring.)

Ritsuko (tilting her head as she leaned forward): W-What is that?

Maya (softly): I-It sounds like a prayer…

(Ritsuko touches the volume knob on the control console and the murmuring became understandable.)

Touji (softly, slowly, numbly): …Hidaka…

…Hikari…

…Hidaka…

…Hikari…

Ritsuko (leaning back in her chair): What…?

(She and Maya listen for a long moment, then she slowly reaches out and turns the volume back down.)

------------------------

(The path to the dam entrance is thickly covered with overgrown weeds and brush. While plug suits were excellent when interfacing with an Evangelion, it fell a little short when it came to protecting a body from thorn-covered branches.)

Rei (quietly): You are tired.

(Shinji's head is hanging while bracing his hands on his knees, breathing deeply.)

Shinji (panting): It's nothing to worry about.

Rei (lifting her wrist before her face, gazing at the chronometer there): We are not behind schedule. If you need rest, then we may do so.

Shinji (forcing his back to straighten and a smile to light his pale features): I'm fine, Rei.

(Rei gazes at Shinji's knees for a long moment, then turns back toward the path.)

Rei (distantly): You have blood on your plug suit.

(Shinji silently brushes at his knees, trying to erase the stains on his hands.)

Rei (ducking slowly under a moss-covered branch): Why must humans lie? For what purpose does it serve?

Shinji (closing his eyes as a moist leaf brushed past his cheek): I'm sorry, Rei. I didn't mean to insult you.

Rei: …

Shinji (rubbing the back of his neck): I guess…I wanted to protect you.

(A red eye gazes over the First Child's shoulder.)

Rei (slowly): Protect…me?

Shinji (thickly): Yeah…

(Rei looks down at the wet earth under her silent feet. Her eyes are puzzled.)

Rei (softly): You…confuse me.

Shinji (smiling gently): Well, life rarely does make sense.

Rei: …

Shinji (lifting his head): We are here.

(The forest seems to blur into slate-colored metal as the Children lift their eyes to the wall of the dam. A small, quiet stream leaks from the massive structure's base. Shinji gazes at the water for a long moment, then)

Shinji (whispering): Soon, this tiny brook will be several hundred times larger. I hope Misato and Hikaru get out okay.

(Rei says nothing as she walks up to the ground-level access hatch. Her slender hand touches the hatch handle and presses on it. It doesn't move.)

Rei (looking over her shoulder at Shinji): …it is locked.

Shinji (pulling a tire-iron out of the small duffel bag he had slung across his shoulder, sighing): I got it…

---------------------------------

(Hikaru carefully steps on the glass-covered floor of the dam administrative office. After having tried the front door and finding it locked, she had gone about shattering one of the office's windows.)

Hikaru (softly): I'm sure the company will not mind.

(It is very dark inside the office's front room and Hikaru hurries toward the door leading deeper into the structure. She opens the door and steps out into the hallway. The ceiling is caved in at parts, letting the rising sunlight in. Nature had begun to reclaim that which had been taken from it. Vines, wildflowers, and grass were sticking up through the slats of the floor.)

Hikaru (whispering into her wrist unit): Ms Natasha? Are you there?

Natasha (slowly, her accent thicker than normal): Yes, yes, I am here.

Hikaru (stepping carefully, but quickly around the flowers): I am heading toward the back of the office. Do you have the safe code, yet?

Natasha: We have it. The MAGI had some trouble, but we have it.

Hikaru (her brows lifting as she pushed the main office door open): You put the MAGI to work on this? What about the Angel-?

Ritsuko (stiffly): The MAGI are powerful enough to keep track of an Angel and perform a simple search such as this will no problems!

Hikaru (blinking): I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that the MAGI were inferior…

Ritsuko (sighing): I know that, Hikaru. I'm just…a little on edge right now.

(Hikaru looks around the office and lifts her wrist high so that the tiny lamp could give her a view of the place. Papers cover the floor like carpet while the rotting, leather chair lay on its side behind the worn, wooden desk at the back of the room. The safe sat beside it. Hikaru tosses her hair back over her shoulder with a flick of her wrist.)

Hikaru (firmly): Okay…let's just get this done.

Hikaru (thinking): While we still have a chance!

------------------------------

(Her breath is a painful, wheezy sound her ears. The foothills around the town have become rising blurs on either side of her. It seems like the world has narrowed down to a single, twisting dirt path before her.)

Misato (coughing): I was never…on very good terms with nature…

(The thundering of combat and the howling of inhuman beasts warps in and out of Misato's focus. Her head never lifts from its bowed position just above her chest. Her eyes are always on her feet, reassuring her spinning, fevered mind that she is still moving through time and space. The scrape of her crutch is distant and annoying as a dull ache at the back of her head.)

Familiar Voice (quietly): Do you think that the Children will make it?

Misato (rasping): There is…no other…option…

Familiar Voice: Why do you say that?

Misato (grimly): There is…no life…if they fail…

(Pause)

Familiar Voice: I suppose that you are right on that one… Is it right to depend so much on ones so young?

Misato (scowling suddenly): I know that you never agreed with that idea.

Familiar Voice (gently): And I think that you silently agreed with me.

Misato (biting her lip): …

Familiar Voice: You look like you are going to cry.

Misato: …

Familiar Voice: Isn't it a little late for tears?

Misato (choking): God damn you! STOP HAUNTING ME!!

(Misato's dragging foot catches an exposed stone in the path and she collapses to the ground with a whimper of pain.)

Familiar Voice: Is that what I'm doing?

Misato (her eyes closed): That…or I'm haunting you…

Familiar Voice (soothingly): Now that's a novel concept.

(Misato's free hand moves and she reaches out blindly to path before her, her fingertips slick with blood.)

Misato (coughing): …help…

(Silence)

Misato (her hand falling to the dirt): You were never…there…when…I needed……you…

-----------------------------

(Hikaru's legs are on fire as she tears through the high grass, her frantic eyes on the horizon. Somewhere, the Evangelion and Angel battle again. She had heard the sound of a OSPE cable being attached, but not without some fumbling. The pilot was either inexperienced or terrified. She could understand both feelings.)

Hikaru (thinking): I'm…not going to make it…

Hikaru (thinking): It's-It's like before…

Hikaru (thinking, tears forming): I-I'm never…in time…

Hikaru (wailing, falling to her knees): STOP IT!!

Asuka (at a distance): Hikaru?! What the hell are you doing?!

(There is the sound of rapid footfalls.)

(Hikaru wipes at the tears, but they still fall. The tall grass before her parts and a furious Asuka Langley Soryu appears. Her anger fades as she sees the Sixth Child on her knees in a puddle of water, sobbing uncontrollably.)

Asuka (whispering): Mein Gott…

Hikaru (her ebony hair falling about her face): Oh…God…Asuka, I see them…

(Asuka comes down to her knees and grasps Hikaru by her shaking shoulders.)

Asuka (firmly): Hikaru…please, we have a job to do…think of Misato…of-

Hikaru (her head snapping up, her eyes wide): Misato! Oh-Oh my God!

Asuka (alarmed): Wh-What's wrong with you-

Hikaru (bolting to her feet, her fingers digging into the old paper of the emergency manual): Oh-Oh, I must go! I must go!

(She starts to sprint away, but Asuka snags her arm.)

Asuka (shouting): What's wrong with you, Hikaru?!

Hikaru (struggling against Asuka's grip, crying): Misato-Misato's hurt bad! She's dying!

Asuka (her eyes snapping wide): What?!

(There is a distant howl, stunning the two girls into silence.)

Hikaru (her eyes on the distant horizon): I-I must go to her-

Asuka (hissing): No! I will take care of this-

Hikaru (focusing on Asuka for the first time): No.

Asuka (bringing her flushed face right into Hikaru): Now listen, rookie-

Hikaru (whispering): Shinji needs you.

(Asuka opens her mouth, but the words die on her tongue. She turns her face away so that her eyes are hidden from the Sixth Child. The moment of hysteria has passed from Hikaru's mind. Her lip grows hard.)

Hikaru (touching Asuka's shoulder): Please…go to him.

Asuka (turns suddenly on Hikaru, her eyes like twin, blue flames): I-I trust Misato's life with you.

(The Second Child seems to want to say more, but emotion closes her throat. Silently, Hikaru nods her head and hands the manual to Asuka.)

Hikaru (softly): Good luck, Asuka Langley Soryu.

Asuka (chuckling thickly): I…don't need luck. I have my skill.

(Hikaru offers Asuka a bleak smile, then turns and sprints away. Asuka is left standing in the center of the field, grass rising around her like silent flames. Abruptly, she shakes her head violently and turns toward the dam. Nothing remains of her emotions, but a few stray tears glistening on her cheeks.)

-----------------------------------

(Shinji is in a dark stairwell. He is leaning against the concrete wall beside him, panting with growing exhaustion. The hum of automated systems seems to make the cold wall under his face pulse with life.)

Shinji (whispering): I shouldn't…be here.

(He knew he was bleeding again. Ritsuko had warned him against pushing himself. Unfortunately, Angels rarely gave any thought to the limits of human beings.)

Shinji (taking a deep breath): But…people need me. God…if Asuka so me now.

(The Third Child doesn't want to think about the merciless torment he would get the from flaming-haired girl. He would never live it down.)

Shinji (forcing his body to stand on its own again, thinking): Come on, Shinji. Just one more flight of steps!

(The boy begins to stagger up the steps once more, his right hand is wrapped tightly around the handrail.)

Shinji (softly): Everyone's got to do their part…

(FLASHBACK: Rei (her eyes deep crimson): I will go to the valve chamber now.

(The two Children are in the dark main corridor of the dam. The girl is turned away from Shinji, lifting her wrist to her face so that she could view the chronometer. He pale, green light of the digits made Rei's face appear as if it were carved of stone, so cold and emotionless…)

Shinji (reaching out to her): Rei…

(Her eyes flicker over to him, taking in the outstretched hand and his uncertain eyes as if from a distance.)

Rei: …?

(Shinji looks at his hand and hastily lets it drop to his side. Shinji summons up a weak smile.)

Shinji (weakly): Well, I guess we part ways, then.

Rei (still watching him): …yes.

Shinji (quietly): G-Good luck to you, Rei. I'll see you when this is all over.

Rei: …

(There is a distant sound of thunder and the inhuman howls.)

Shinji (shivering, turning away, toward his destination on the other side of the dam): W-Well, I'll be going-

Rei: Shinji…

(He looks over his shoulder at the First Child and is shocked at how haunted she looks. Her eyes are now like pools of obsidian.)

Shinji (blinking): Y-Yes?

(Rei turns away from Shinji and begins to walk away. Her voice is almost lost in the hall, but her words send fingers of cold down his spine.)

Rei: Walk in light, Shinji…

(Shinji had wasted precious seconds gazing after the First Child, his heart aching in a way he had not felt in a long time…)

(Present)

Shinji (wondering quietly): What did she mean by that? Was she wishing me well? Even if she was…that dream…

(The earth suddenly heaves violently under Shinji's feet and he falls to his knees painfully on the cement steps. He now clings to the handrail with both hands, while his eyes look around wildly.)

Shinji (breathing hard and fast): Wh-What was that?!

(The Angel's howl came again and Shinji knew. The Angel is at the front gate.)

Shinji (dragging himself to his feet): Am I too late?!

(He limps toward the door at the top of the steps. There is sunlight now burning underneath it, lighting Shinji's grim face.)

(He reaches for the knob and opens the door. The door's hinges whine loudly, protesting the sudden use after being unused for so long. The light beyond is surprisingly bright, blinding Shinji even as he lifts a hand to shield his eyes.)

(The floor trembles again and Shinji lowers his hand. The dam's edge stretches out on either side of the boy. He looks up and gasps as he finds the Angel only a few hundred yards away…wrestling with…with…)

Shinji (hoarsely): No…

-----------------------------

(The floating holographic charts around her do nothing to reassure Ritsuko. Standing in the center of the small control center, the charts hang around her like hovering clouds. Her arms are crossed over her chest and her eyes are narrowed behind her reading glasses. It does not look good.)

Maya (quietly, tightly): His heart-meter is almost off the chart. He's a few moments away from heart-failure!

(Ritsuko reaches up and rubs her eyes under the glasses. On the main screen over the observation panel, Unit 03 is fighting for its life. With Progressive Knife in hand, the Evangelion tries to stab at the Angel's head. The Entity hisses at this and grabs the EVA's wrist in its over-sized grasp. With a deceptively lazy motion, the Angel tosses the EVA into the nearby forest. Trees shatter and dusts explodes from the site. The target grins at this and launches itself at the EVA.)

(What's worst is that Touji either cannot or will not answer hails from Ritsuko or Maya.)

Maya (her head bowed): It…It's too much for him. He's shutting down.

Ritsuko (distantly): No…

Maya (exploding, spinning in her chair toward the doctor): Ma'am, his heart is going to explode, his syncho-ratio is all but non-existent, and his ego-barrier is fluctuating! T-That THING is going to eat him alive!

(Ritsuko stares at Maya in wide-eyed shock. The younger woman has been pushed beyond her limits several times in that single day. Something has snapped within her, making her speak her mind where before she would have kept her peace.)

(Maya slowly turns from Ritsuko and stares at her console.)

Ritsuko (biting her lip): Maya…I-

(Klaxons scream and Ritsuko turns frantically back to her holograms. They tell her about her worst nightmare.)

Maya (a hand rising to her lips): T-The Angel is attacking.

(The energy spike, like before, flickers to life on the charts, revealing the scientific side to what the forward screen was broadcasting. The Angel is crouched over Unit 03, its head bowed as if in mediation, its mouth hangs open. It is howling and all the charts around Ritsuko are going haywire.)

Ritsuko (shouting as she turns to the young woman beside her): Maya!

Maya (her fingers racing): Engaging the NNT!

----------------------------

(His vision is tunneling down until he is almost enclosed in total darkness. It doesn't hurt. Really. More, it is a sort of numbness that grows from the death of the mind. Strangely enough, Touji can't find the strength to really care.)

(It has been a long fight and he lost. There is no dishonor in losing in the face of an unstoppable force.)

Distant voice: ….Touji!

(Touji's head rolls forward slightly and he gazes at his lap so that he doesn't have to look at that horrible face over him. His only real regret is that he is leaving Hikari and Hidaka behind. At least, they would have each other. Hikari was good at taking care of people and she would see to it that Hidaka was never left wanting anything.)

Distant voice (more loudly): …Touji!…Come on!

(The beast is there, within the EVA…or perhaps it has always been within him. The darkness within his own soul that has always lured just outside of his consciousness. The darkness that lays in every human soul. Maybe he should give up to that beast…let that beast deal with this physical demon. It would serve the monster right to fight with its own kind. Fight fire with fire, as they always said.)

Distant voice (desperate): Come on, Touji! Fight back!

(Suddenly, it feels like a heavy weight has been lifted from his chest and the Fourth Child gasps frantically. On a tiny, holographic screen beside his face, Touji sees that the Neutral Noise Transmitter has suddenly come online.)

Touji (slowly, as if not understanding): Ritsuko…

(Suddenly, she is there, her eyes on the edge…he had been so sure that she didn't possess an emotional bone in her body.)

Ritsuko (fiercely): Get up, Fourth Child! You've got about a minute!

Touji (softly): What about…Asuka…?

Ritsuko (grimly): She…just barely got inside the dam, she's on her way to the control room now. Hang on…

(There is a click of connection and a voice that has been calling to Touji for the last few moments blares through the EVA's plug.)

Shinji (hysterical): Touji! Touji! Oh, God! Talk to me!

(Touji wincing even as he reaches slowly for the butterfly handles of the EVA. The Angel is just now becoming aware that its attack is doing nothing to its victim. Its large hands are now coming into view.)

Touji (shouting): I hear you, Ikari! God! Are you trying to deafen me?!

(There is a sudden, stunned pause. Then,)

Shinji (almost breaking down): O-Oh, thank God!

Touji (shaking his head): Get a hold of yourself, Ikari.

Ritsuko (gently): I…thought that would get your attention.

(Touji can see the EVA's hands catch the Angel's wrists. The boy clenches his teeth as he forces the EVA to bring up a foot and slam it into the Angel's torso. The Angel sails back, plowing into a nearby field.)

Touji (gasping): Man, Ikari. How the hell do you do this day in and day out? It's hard work!

Shinji (a smile on his voice): A lots of practice and patience.

Touji (growling as he makes the EVA come to its feet): Well, I'm a little short on both right now!

Shinji (quietly): You're doing fine… Just hang in there…Asuka…she's almost there…

----------------------------

(Within the depths of the dam, Asuka is running like the devil is on her heels. After almost being stepped on by Unit 03, she is not willing to take any chances.)

Asuka (muttering): Stupid, amateur pilots… They are going to kill someone someday.

(The thought of rookie pilots draws the thought of Hikaru back to her mind. On the tail of that thought comes the sight of Misato resting in the rundown remains of the rural restaurant.)

Asuka (thinking bitterly): Of course Misato would never tell any one of us! She is too concerned with important things to think about her own health. But if she…if she dies before I'm done with her…then I will…I will…Arrgh!

(The Second Child turns the corner sharply, her eyes fierce with thoughts of revenge…and the possibilities. Suddenly, she is at the power generator chamber. This is where she would input the codes that would kill those generators for good. This dam would become permanently unusable after this little operation.)

Asuka (thinking): All this for that wimpy-looking, cheating thing-

Rei (her voice just above the sound of humming generators): You are behind schedule.

Asuka (her head snapping up): Huh? Oh…well, everyone cannot be a Wonder Girl, Rei!

(Rei is standing high over Asuka, at the valves. Now that her job of ensuring that the valves were still operational is finished, the girl now simply…waited. Asuka thought it was a little creepy, but she has better things to worry about.)

(Asuka hurries forward and slaps the manual down on the metal mesh of the floor. Her fingers flip through the pages quickly, more aware of the time that she is going to let Rei know. The manual is organized in simple language so that a distressed mind could easily comprehend them. A distressed mind…Asuka almost laughs, but turns the next page.)

Asuka: Talk to me.

Rei: …?

Asuka (glancing up under a fall of red hair): …I would prefer that what may be my last moments on this planet to not be in silence.

Rei (blinking slowly): What do you want me to say?

Asuka (blowing a breath of frustrated air): I don't know! Something! What are you thinking?! What are you feeling?!

(Rei studies Asuka for a long moment and the Second Child gives up on her. She comes to the page that she is looking for and sees what she must do.)

Rei (softly): Concern… I feel concern.

(Asuka almost trips over her own feet. Her eyes flash up at the First Child again, but the girl is looking away, as if she can see beyond the cement walls around them.)

Asuka (quietly): I…don't believe it…

(Asuka has the strangest feeling that she is looking at someone else. Once again she is struck by the sensation that she doesn't really know the girl named Rei at all, even after all the pain and suffering they have been through together.)

Ritsuko (shouting voice coming from Asuka's wrist): Where's our diversion?!

Asuka (staggering into motion): Coming!

-----------------------------

Shigeru (turning from his station): Ma'am, we've got massive activity from the dam! The generators are shutting down and the emergency flood gates are beginning to open!

Natasha (a cocky grin on her lips, her arms crossed under her breasts): Excellent-

(Warning klaxons blare and Natasha blinks in surprise.)

Natasha (sharply): What's going on?!

Hyuga (shouting): I-It's the dam! The plan is working…only too well! Years of disrepair have left the walls weakened!

Natasha (taking a step forward): Y-You mean-

Hyuga (his eyes horrified behind his glasses): It's breaking apart!

Natasha (shouting): Get our people out of there! Order all the Children to evacuate!

(Even as she gave the order, NERV is transmitting the retreat order. Even as the order is given, Natasha can only watch. She can't feel anything. All she can think about…over and over again, is the fact that they had sent children to die…)

---------------------------

Rei: Pilot Soryu-!

Asuka (jumping to her feet): You don't have to tell me! I hear!

(Asuka turns toward the corridor of which she had come, but a sound breaks through her thoughts, stunning her. She turns her blue eyes toward the far wall behind the silent generators. She had almost missed the sound over the roar of now freed water, but she can now see the crack running up the wall. Suddenly, a narrow jet of water sprays out from the crack, hitting the safety rail about a meter from Asuka. The beam of water bends, then cuts through the metal bar. Asuka gazes at it in terror, backing away from the solid spray of water.)

Rei (calling out): Pilot Soryu!

(Asuka looks up and Rei is waving her to her.)

Rei (almost emotional): You will never make it if you go down the corridor. Come with me!

(Asuka hesitates for a moment and another crack appears in the wall.)

Rei: Asuka…

(Asuka reacts as if touched by a live wire. She bolts toward the metal staircase that leads the way up to the catwalk where Rei is waiting. There is a sudden hissing sound and a section of the wall gives away. The blast of water hits the massive cylinders of the generators and the supports of the equipment screams in protest.)

Rei: Asuka-

Asuka (snarling): Coming! Coming!

(Asuka runs up the stairs as fast as her slender legs can carry her. Rei waits at the top of the staircase, cool and watching. It is as if the First Child doesn't realize that the chamber is about to implode around their ears.)

Asuka (shouting, throwing her hands in front of her as she neared Rei): Don't wait for me, Rei! Move!

(In a single motion, she spins the First Child around and pushes her ahead of her. There is suddenly a series of pops and suddenly Asuka is pushed against the safety rail. Her head hits the bar and she falls into unconsciousness.)

-------------------------------

(Shinji is sprinting toward the end of the dam where the cement merges with the rising land. Even as he runs, he can feel the floor under his feet giving away. It would not be long before the whole dam would be wiped from the face of the planet.)

(The Angel and EVA are directly in the path of the now tidal-wave size wall of water rolling away from the crumbling form of the dam.)

Shinji (lifting his wrist to his lip, crying out): Touji! Watch out! It's coming!

Touji (panting): What's…coming?

Shinji (turning a frantic gaze over at Unit 03): What do you think?!

(A shocked silence)

Touji (shouting): Damn it!

(The tidal wave is almost to the two massive combatants. Suddenly, Unit 03 slashes the Angel across the face and turns about. The ground around the Evangelion's foot explodes as Unit 03 launches from the wave's destruction path. It manages to get about five steps away before it is snagged from behind. Touji turns the EVA's head about. The Angel had wrapped a hand around the Evangelion's OSPE cable. It is snarling.)

Ritsuko (crying out): Touji, disengage your cord! Now!

(Touji's hands snaps out just as the cable goes taunt, dragging the EVA violently toward the destruction path. Unit 03's hands reach out and clawed into the soft earth, creating twin trails of plowed soil behind them. Suddenly, the cable ejects from the EVA's back with a shower of sparks.)

(The cable jets away like a snake caught in the claws of a ravenous bird of prey. The Angel is no longer visible, having been caught right in the center of the wave. The flood spreads, washing over the surrounding forest and wiping the ghost town away in a flow of violent water.)

(Slowly, the flood source empties itself and the world seems to take a moment of silent. Then, Unit 03 slowly comes to its feet and begins to wade through the water. It tracks the cable that still remains taunt. The EVA's pilot is grim, tightening Unit 03's grip on the Progressive Knife.)

(He finds it about a kilometer away from the dam, slowly dragging itself onto an island of higher land. One of its arms are gone and it can't seem to keep its head lifted.)

Ritsuko (slowly): It is already regenerating.

Touji (watching the Angel continue to drag itself): This is…pathetic, Ritsuko.

Ritsuko: Don't doubt for a moment that it will continue the battle the moment it is able. It isn't finished until it is destroyed…

(The Angel pushes itself on its back and it notices Unit 03 for the first time. It seems to be watching him…)

Maya (looking to Ritsuko suddenly): Power reading!

Ritsuko (clenching her teeth): Touji!

(The Angel opens its mouth and the space around it seems to distort. Touji grunt as he feels the breath knocked from him.)

(The Evangelion rises its Progressive Knife and Touji feels somewhere in the EVA a keen sense of joy. The Fourth Child closes his eyes as he lets the knife plunge down…)

------------------------------

(Shinji kicks at a fragment of the dam that had blown away from the structure when it had been destroyed. The Angel is dead. Shinji had seen the explosion in the distance and knew that it was only a matter of time before NERV came to collect its own. )

(This time it had been so close, Shinji doesn't even want to consider the next time. In the ongoing war against the enigmatic Angels, Shinji knew that there was a time when his luck, along with everyone else's, would run out. This battle had proved it.)

(The Angels were learning.)

(Shinji lifts his eyes and feels like he has been punched in the gut. Rei and Asuka lay before him, Asuka's body is still partially in the water while Rei's hand is wrapped around the Second Child's wrist. Both are not moving.)

Shinji (shouting): Rei! Asuka!

(He runs to them, collapsing to his knees between them. He reaches out to their joined hands carefully, frightened at what he might feel…or not feel when he touched them for their pulses.)

(Shinji touches them.)

(After a moment, Shinji lets out a sigh of relief and smiles at them.)

Shinji (whispering): You two took years off my life!

(A wash of heat makes the young Ikari look up to the sky. A NERV VTOL transport is hovering over the site, flashing its lights at him. He spots Hikaru in one of the windows and waves.)

Shinji (slowly, looking down at the two girls beside him): Let's go home…

----------------------------

(A few days later…)

Shinji (throwing the door wide): So…what do you think?

(The apartment is quiet, but it isn't an uncomfortable quiet. The sun is shining brightly through the windows, casting the apartment's traditional floors and walls in warm hues.)

Asuka (pushing past Shinji, a bandage about her head): Hmmm, I'm impressed, baka. Who helped you find this place?

Hikaru (sliding past Shinji with a smile): I happen to think Shinji perfectly capable of finding a place like this! He is a romantic, after all.

Asuka (snorting as she slipped her shoes off): Romantic my as-

Touji (chuckling): You're just jealous, Asuka. You're just mad that you didn't find this place first!

(Touji stepped inside and kicked off his high-tops.)

Touji (calling over his shoulder): Hey, Ikari, did you stock this place with food and stuff?

Shinji (blinking, then flushing): Um…no.

Hikari (shouting as she stepped out of her sandals): Touji! Don't ruin it! Need I remind you that I brought dinner? You were supposed to bring up the cooler!

Kensuke (huffing as he leaned against the front door's frame): Yeah…you left it to me to carry this heavy thing up here!

(Touji has the grace to look embarrassed before stepping into the living room that branches off from the main hall.)

Touji (his embarrassment forgotten): Damn! Check out this view! You've got a window looking out on the mountains!

(Kensuke sighs deeply and deposits the cooler on the wood floor.)

Hikaru (poking her head out from the door leading to the kitchen, looking at Shinji): Shinji, who put these plants in here?

(Shinji hesitantly raises his hand. Hikaru grins at him and blows him a kiss.)

Hikaru (sweetly): Nice touch. Breathes life into the apartment.

Asuka (snapping): Hey! Stop making kissy faces at Shinji and help me open up the apartment! When was the last time this place had some fresh air?!

Hikaru (snorting as she disappeared back into the kitchen): You must have hit your head harder than you thought. It isn't stale in here at all!

Hikari (sighing as she walks toward the kitchen, nodding for Kensuke to pick up the cooler again): You guys…!

Kensuke (groaning as he straightens with the cooler in his hands): Why do I always get stuck with this sort of stuff?

(Shinji shakes his head after his friends and turns to the girl whose opinion means the most of all.)

Shinji (a little nervously): Well…Rei? What do you think of it?

(Rei is gazing at the setting sun when she finally turns to face him. She steps past him, but doesn't move far into the apartment. Instead she closes her eyes and is silent.)

Shinji (frowning): Rei?

Rei: …it…

Shinji: …?

Rei (looking over at him): …it…is…perfect.

(Shinji gapes at her for a few moments, then,)

Shinji (smiling sheepishly): Really?

Rei: Yes.

Shinji: …well, it…does fit you.

(Rei slowly steps toward Shinji and he blinks. Carefully, as if afraid he would bolt at sudden moment, Rei turns her face toward his. Shinji feels his heart begin to pound and he wonders what he would do if Rei…if she…)

(Rei kisses Shinji's cheek and he stares at her.)

Rei (her smile soft, gentle, and infinitely precious): Thank you…Shinji.

Shinji (blushing with pleasure): Anytime, Rei…

(The two Children gaze at each other for a long moment, content in just being in each other's presence.)

Hikari (her voice drifting from the kitchen): Who wants tea and who wants pop? You can't have both, Touji!

Touji (whining): Oh, come on, please, Hikari?

Asuka (suspicious): Where are you going with that second pop, Hikaru?

Hikaru (a grin on her voice): I'm sure Shinji's thirsty, too.

Asuka (hissing): Shinji can get his own pop!

Kensuke (calling): Hey, Shinji! Hurry up! You've got to tell us how you found this place!

Shinji (smiles at the First Child): Welcome home, Rei.

(Shinji begins leading Rei toward the murmur of friendly voices. Rei takes it all in with a sigh. The apartment around her feels alive with Shinji's careful consideration and kindness. This is where she belongs. This is where she feels…human.)

Rei (quietly): I am home…

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To Be Continued…

Author's Notes:

All right! I did it! Chapter 8 is finally finished! It can stop haunting me now…

I realize that this chapter was a long time in coming and I apologize for that. Due to deadlines at school and so many things to take care of in my life, I was not able to truly focus on the story until just recently. I can only hope that this chapter met the expectations of those who had been asking for it for some time now.

I would like to thank those of you who wrote me and badgered me into finishing the chapter. If it hadn't been for the fair amount of email I got on the matter, who knows what would have happened!

Now then, I know that some of you will probably ask me what happened to Misato at the end of the chapter? As always, every one of the chapters in this series are connected one away or another. It is very, very likely you all will find out the details in the next chapter.

Second, I would like to say that while the Angel in the story is similar to the Angel that "mind-raped" Asuka, it is not the same. Where that Angel had gone in and taken what it wanted from her him, this Angel killed its victims by flooding their minds with the knowledge of the Angels. It would seem that these creatures tagged "Angels" by the human race hold some very terrible knowledge, indeed.

I know that there are times that there are scenes which are not always straight forward in this series. I began this story, hoping to be able to somewhat mimic the feel of the original series. I'm sure I've said this before, but I would like to think that I leave something to the reader to figure out on their own.

Of course, I have to thank my pre-reader for this Chapter, Godsend777 (The Death of One and a great many others!). Without him, I would have been forever lost.

If you do have questions or simple (and much valued) C & C, please write to me at gargoyle64@hotmail.com. Next time, Chapter Nine: "The Way You Shine When You Smile"/ Things Left Unsaid. The normal teasers: Artistic hands, Monsters fought with Inner demons, and the unbearable… See you there!