Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Shinji's Decision ❯ The Grand Tour/ The Last Sortie ( Chapter 9 )

Shinji's Decision

Part 9 - pre reader release v1 17/01/2002

Released: v2 25/01/02

By Jeff Mullier

Email: jmullier@idl.net.au

Copyright notice

Neon Genesis Evangelion and associated characters are copyright Gainax and associated companies.

Author Notes

I hope I haven't made any of the characters act wildly out of character.

Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks to Greg Thomas and Leonard Chee for pre reading this part.

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Shinji's Decision

Part Nine - The Grand Tour/ The Last Sortie

Ikari Apartment - Seven weeks after the destruction of Unit 01

Yui and Shinji are sitting down in the lounge room watching television. Yui turns her attention from the television and asks Shinji, "So Shinji do you have anything planned for the day after tomorrow?"

Puzzled by why he would have anything special planned for that day, Shinji asks Yui, "What do you mean mom? What's so special about it?"

Yui replies in a teasing tone, "Come on Shinji, surely you remember when you first saw your girlfriend?"

"That was a year ago! I guess with everything that has happened I have lost track of time."

"So are you going to take her anywhere?"

"I don't know. Since I don't know of anywhere special to take her that survived the ……explosions."

"How about the terraces overlooking Tokyo 3?"

Shinji give Yui a puzzled look before asking her, "How do you know about there?"

Yui smiles at Shinji as she explains, "Remember Shinji I could sense your memories while you were piloting Unit 01. There is another reason which may surprise you, your father and I used to go there occasionally ourselves."

Shinji looks at Yui in surprise as he replies, "Yes that is surprising."

"So are you going to ask any of your friends along as well?"

"Do you think I should ask anyone else? Hikari is her best friend."

"It's up to you Shinji."

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Ikari Apartment the next night

Asuka, Rei, Misato and Yui are sitting around the kitchen table having just finished eating dinner. Shinji is at the kitchen sink preparing some food. After noticing what Shinji is doing Asuka asks him, "You're not making breakfast already are you Shinji?"

Shinji turns around to face Asuka and answers; "No I am preparing a picnic lunch for tomorrow."

Asuka is surprised by his answer and asks, "A picnic! What's the special occasion and who's going?"

`She doesn't realise what tomorrow is.' "Yes a picnic, and don't you realise what tomorrow is?"

Irritated with Shinji's answer Asuka replies, "No baka, just answer the question."

With a smile on his face Shinji answers Asuka, "Do you remember what happened a year ago?"

Asuka's irritation due to Shinji not giving her a direct answer increases and she snaps at him, "No, just answer the question."

"I met you for the first time on that aircraft carrier."

Asuka's expression immediately softens after hearing this, "Oh." `He remembered! I had no idea that was a year ago.' She then asks him, "So where are we going?"

"A special place I know of on the outskirts of Tokyo 3."

Not satisfied with Shinji's answer Asuka angrily demands, "Come on and tell me baka."

Yui tries to calm Asuka down by telling her, "Asuka, Shinji said that it is somewhere special. Let him surprise you, do you really think that he would take you somewhere that wasn't special."

Misato also adds, "Yes, give your boyfriend the benefit of the doubt Asuka. Shinji knows how you would react if it wasn't up to your expectations."

Faced with both Yui and Misato ganging up on her, Asuka folds her arms in irritation and scowls at Shinji as she mutters, "Humph, Well it better be."

Seeing Asuka's reaction to Yui and Misato's comments, Shinji gives her a warm smile and tells her, "Don't worry Asuka, you will like it. I am sure of it."

This seems to have the desired effect as a few moments later a much calmer Asuka asks Shinji, "So who is coming?"

Not wanting to anger Asuka any further Shinji carefully answers as he is expecting her to become angry with him again, "Well I asked Hikari, but she wanted Touji to come along as well, and he wanted Kensuke ……. "

Asuka holds her hand up to stop Shinji, but to his surprise she turns to Rei and asks her, "You're coming as well, aren't you Rei?" When Rei hesitates in answering Asuka adds, "Come on Rei don't go into wondergirl mode."

Rei answers looking a little unsure of herself, "Yes I am."

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Bus Stop - Tokyo 3 the next morning

All of the children are sitting down on a bench at the bus stop awaiting the arrival of the bus. Since Shinji still hasn't told them where exactly they are going, Touji asks Shinji, "So where are we going Shinji? You still haven't told us."

Asuka gives Shinji an irritated glance before telling Touji, "You're wasting your time stooge. I tried last night to get him to tell me and the stubborn baka wouldn't tell me."

Touji nudges Shinji and asks him once more, "Come on Shinji, you can tell me."

Before Shinji has to avoid answering the question once more the sound of an approaching bus can be heard. Hearing the bus, Shinji checks his watch and then looks towards the bus. When he sees that it carries the right route number he tells his friends, "Here is our bus."

They all stand ready to board the bus. When the bus is close enough for Kensuke to clearly read the destination indicator, he smiles as he realises, `I know where you are taking us Shinji. I have caught this bus many times myself.'

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Ikari apartment - not long after the children have left

Misato and Yui are sitting down at the kitchen table having a drink, Yui is drinking tea and Misato is having a beer. Misato finishes the can she was drinking and gives a belch before asking Yui, "So, Yui what to you plan to do now since you have settled in?"

Yui answers, "I don't really know. Project E is all the only job that I have ever had. I was thinking of asking professor Fuyutsuki if I could help in some way towards making sure that the sacrifices that we have all have made in the name of Project E haven't been in vain and that there is really no other way of creating third impact."

"I would have thought that after everything that has happened to you and your family that you would have had enough of project E."

"Yes I have had enough of project E to last me a lifetime, however I feel that all of the suffering caused by the evangelions has been partly my fault since I was one of the main people whose research made the creation of those monsters possible. I have to make sure that we put an end to all of this madness."

"Have you heard what I have proposed to ensure that there is no known way that third impact can be triggered?"

"Yes, Kaji told me of your plan to destroy Lilith."

"What do you think of it?"

"While I dislike the idea of making any of the children pilot again, I believe that we have no choice if we are to end this insanity once and for all."

"Yes, I don't like the idea of asking one of them to pilot again, but it is the only way to do it. The only known way of cancelling an AT field is by using an eva."

"Yes it is. Kaji also told me that you plan to show and explain to the children a few of Nerv's remaining secrets once the plan is approved."

"Yes I do. After all that they have been through they deserve to know the truth."

"Yes they do."

Both Misato and Yui then fall silent, after a couple of minutes Misato breaks the silence by asking Yui, "So you really don't have any idea what you want to do now?"

"No I don't, other than I don't particularly feel like directly working with the evangelions."

"But I thought that was your area of expertise."

"It was, but after what I have been through with them I don't particularly feel like working that closely with them again. For what you intend to do, I imagine that there won't be any major problems. While I am not quite sure of my personal feelings for her, I do respect her judgement professionally, Doctor Akagi will be able to handle any problems that may arise."

Misato looks deep in thought for a few moments before telling Yui, "Well if you feel that way towards the evas, I do have an idea regarding what you could do to help."

"What's that?"

"You could help commander Fuyutsuki check SEELE's copy of the scrolls. You did say that you had dealing with edited copies of them when you were creating the evas and that means you will at least have some idea of what they referring to. There are so many to go through and understandably commander Fuyutsuki is being careful about who has access to them. You will be ideal for the job."

"That sounds acceptable. So when can you ask him for me?"

"Come on you can come into headquarters with me today and ask commander Fuyutsuki yourself."

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Bus stop in the mountains surrounding Tokyo 3

The bus pulls up at a bus stop located amongst some rice paddies and Shinji and the others get out. Asuka looks around and asks Shinji in a mildly irritated tone, "What's so special about some rice paddies Shinji?"

In an attempt to pacify Asuka before she really gets irritated with the surrounding scenery, Shinji quickly answers, "This isn't the place Asuka. It's just the nearest bus stop, where we are going will take us about fifteen minutes to walk there."

"It better be worth it baka."

Shinji tries to calm the angry redhead by telling her, "It will be Asuka, just believe me."

When he sees where they are Kensuke realises, `I was right, you're taking us to the terraces, aren't you Shinji?'

They then all follow Shinji and walk past the rice paddies and through a small forest and then through some fields full of sunflowers, before emerging at the cliff top terraces. A view of the distant Tokyo 3 greets them and everyone except Shinji and Kensuke gives a small gasp at the sight. Shinji places the backpack he has been carrying down on the ground and leads Asuka away from the main group. Touji and Kensuke go to follow but are blocked by Hikari who shakes her head at them and tells them, "Come on you two, you can give me a hand unpacking the picnic."

Once they have walked a short distance away, Shinji turns to Asuka and tells her, "See I did promise you somewhere special didn't I?"

Looking out at the view from where they are standing, Asuka smiles as she tells Shinji, "The view from here is awesome Shinji, when did you find this place?"

Shinji hesitates for a moment before answering, "I ended up here after wondering the city for a day after the fourth angel. I was feeling pretty messed up at the time. I sat here for nearly half a day thinking about everything."

"Yeah, well I don't blame you for doing that. You did have a rather hectic and dramatic first couple of weeks. You were thrown in the deep end unprepared. So where did you sit while you were up here thinking Shinji?"

Shinji hesitantly points to a spot on the other side of the safety fence near the cliffs' edge and hangs his head slightly and answers in an ashamed tone, "Over there on the other side of the fence."

Asuka walks over to near where Shinji indicated and after looking over the fence she comments, "It's certainly high here. You wouldn't want to fall over the edge." She then realises something, `Wait a minute, on the other side of the fence. You weren't going to jump were you? Is that why you seem ashamed of where you sat?' She then asks him, "And just why were you sitting on the other side so close to the edge Shinji? You weren't thinking of……"

Shinji hangs his head even lower and answers, his voice almost a whisper, "I did briefly think of jumping, but I couldn't. Strange as it may sound, I didn't have enough courage to actually do it."

"Well I am glad for once that you didn't have the courage to do something." `Where would we all be now if you had done it Shinji?'

Shinji gives a smile as he answers, "Yeah."

"Come on baka, let's get back before the stooges start getting dirty thoughts about what we are doing."

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Ikari apartment latter that day

Kensuke has connected his camera to the television set and with a grin on his face tells everyone, "Come and see this." Once everyone is watching he presses play and the image of the flight deck of the carrier `Over the Rainbow' taken from inside a landing helicopter appears on the screen.

Misato sees this and frowns at Kensuke while asking him, "I thought that I erased that disk?"

Kensuke grins at Misato, "I have ways and means, Misato."

By this stage the tape is up to where they meet Asuka for the first time, including the effects of the gust of wind on Asuka's dress, as well as Asuka's reaction towards the three boys for seeing what it revealed and Touji's reply. Kensuke informs his audience, "As you can see Touji and Asuka got off to a great start." After seeing what Touji did, Hikari frowns and gives him a light wack to the back of the head.

The tape continues showing the battle against the sixth angel as viewed from the bridge of `Over the Rainbow'. Once the battle has finished the scene switches to that taken from the wharf at New Yokosuka showing the battle damaged fleet. The `Over the rainbow' has already docked and the crew are descending the gangway from the carrier, Asuka can be seen amongst them. The camera then switches to the sight of the battle damaged Unit 02 being unloaded, but after hearing a comment made by Touji it quickly switches to the gangway where an rather embarrassed Shinji is descending. When this appears on the screen Kensuke comments with a smirk, "Of course there was the rather `interesting' clothing that Shinji was wearing."

When Misato sees this image she bursts out laughing and says to Shinji, "Hey I had forgotten about that, I wonder how much are you willing to pay me for not making this image public?"

Shinji turns bright red at the idea and asks Misato in an anxious tone, "Misato! You wouldn't?"

Misato ruffles his hair and tells him, "No I wouldn't Shinji. But your reaction was priceless, you're still fun to tease."

Also laughing at Shinji's embarrassment, Yui adds, "Well it was rather interesting choice of clothing Shinji. I will have to get a copy of this though, just so I can use it to embarrass you later." After hearing this Shinji just sighs and slumps in defeat.

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Commander Fuyutsuki's Office - 9 months after the destruction of Unit 01

Misato, Yui and Kaji are sitting in front of Fuyutsuki's desk. Ritsuko is standing beside Misato, Fuyutsuki informs them, "Colonel Katsuragi, Mrs Ikari, Doctor Akagi, the mission to destroy Lilith has been approved."

Misato replies, "At last, so when can we begin?"

"The completed mass production model evangelions are being delivered here tomorrow. We can undertake the operation against Lilith anytime after then."

"I will tell the children about the mission tomorrow then. I will also show and explain a few things to them afterwards."

"What do you intend to reveal to them?"

"The mass production units and their true purpose, Unit 03, the dummy plug room, the eva graveyard and Lilith down in terminal dogma."

Fuyutsuki nods before replying, "I see no problems with that. I will make one minor warning though"

Puzzled by Fuyutsuki's statement, Misato asks him, "In regards to what sir? What could possibly cause a problem?"

"Not that I see any problems, but just keep a close eye on Rei while you are in terminal dogma."

Confused why Fuyutsuki would make this suggestion, Misato asks him, "But why sir?"

"As you know from the letter that Gendo wrote you, the angel portion of Rei's DNA came from Lilith."

"Yes, he did mention that fact, what about it?"

"Just keep this in mind that she could almost be classified as the eighteenth angel, due to her genetics."

"You honestly don't think that she will turn on us do you?"

"No unlike the fifth, Rei has more human DNA than angel. She is a human with angel DNA, the fifth was the opposite, he had more angel DNA than human."

"So what are you worried about then sir?"

"As you know colonel, all of the security recordings of the battle against the seventeenth were classified Alpha level clearance. This just wasn't due to the nature of the seventeenth or by where the battle was held. The security recordings of the upper levels of terminal dogma show Rei watching the entire battle. Some of them would even suggest that she was the source of the mysterious second AT field that was detected."

"You mean that she can project an AT field?"

"Yes, although to do it too often would be detrimental to her health. She would most likely loose her ego border if she did that too often."

"But she has never shown any signs of having that ability before. If she is similar to the fifth, why hasn't her sync ratio been higher than it has been?"

"While Gendo brought her up to think that to piloting an evangelion and serving project E were her sole purpose in life, he never told her of her origins. As far as I know she never knew of the true nature of her origins, especially the angel part of it. As for her suddenly displaying her abilities, she did briefly meet the seventeenth not long after he arrived. Perhaps he said something to her that raised her suspicions."

"I see."

"I take it that you won't be revealing any of this to the children?"

"No I won't. I intend to keep this secret from the other children for Rei's sake."

"Very well, I am glad to hear that. It would serve no real purpose."

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Ikari Apartment - that night

Everyone is sitting around the table having just finished dinner. Misato unusually has a cup of coffee in front of her instead of the usual can of Yebisu. She has a quick sip of the coffee and tells the three pilots, "I would like the three of you to come to headquarters with me tomorrow."

Puzzled by Misato's request and the way that she is acting Asuka asks her, "What for Misato?" `Just why do they want us to go into headquarters for? And why is Misato acting so serious?'

"Ritsuko wants to run a synchronisation test to update your data. All three of you have all had some rather stressful experiences since your last successful test." `And that is an understatement.'

After hearing this a grin briefly appears on Asuka's face as she gleefully thinks, `Yes! I was hoping to prove that despite my little setback that I can still pilot Unit 02.' The grin quickly disappears as she then rolls her eyes in annoyance as she then gives her standard reply at hearing of a sync test, but lacking the usual conviction, "Well, I hope that we don't have to be there too long, those stupid tests are so boring." She then realises, `Hang on if Shinji destroyed the seventeenth angel and Adam why do we need to pilot anymore?' She then frowns and asks Misato, "If all the angels have been destroyed, then why do we need to have one of those annoying tests for anyway, Misato?"

Misato notices the tone of Asuka's rant about the sync test, `Asuka didn't object that much, or with her usual conviction. I think that she wants to prove both to herself and to everyone that she still can pilot Unit 02. It would also appear that she suspects something.'

After hearing that they are going to have a sync test which can only mean one thing, Shinji says to Misato in a worried tone, "But I thought that there are supposed to be no more angels left." The image of Lilith on the cross flashes through Shinji's mind, `Unless………. no wait there is still one angel left.' "….No there is one angel left, isn't there Misato? ……The one in terminal dogma."

Asuka looks at Shinji with a confused expression on her face, "Huh?" She then remembers a conversation that she had with Misato soon after Shinji self destructed Unit 01. "Yes Misato, there is still the second angel. That's what these tests are for, aren't they? We are going to destroy that angel."

`I was hoping to put off telling them the truth until later but the two of you have already realised what we are going to do.' Misato gives a sigh of resignation, before answering, "Yes, the two of you are right. We are going to destroy the second angel. There are also a few other things I want to show you."

After hearing this Rei just sits there with a thoughtful expression on her face. Wondering what Misato could be going to show them, Asuka asks her, "Show us what, Misato?"

Misato quickly looks at Yui before answering, "A few of Nerv's secrets. I can't tell you anything else at the moment, other than for all three of you to prepare yourselves to find out some rather disturbing information tomorrow."

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Simulation plug chamber - Nerv headquarters the following morning

Misato, Yui and Ritsuko are standing in the plug chamber control room. Ritsuko is working at one of the terminals analysing the data and Misato is watching her. Yui is staring out into the test chamber deep in thought All three children are in the simulation plugs. After a few minutes Misato turns to face Ritsuko and asks her, "So, how are they going?"

Ritsuko answers, "Take a look yourself. Surprisingly these are their best scores ever."

Both Misato and Yui walk over and take a look at the test readouts. After seeing the results Misato then comments to Ritsuko, "Well I think that both Shinji and Asuka have come to terms with their feelings about themselves and those towards the people around them. Especially since they both now know the truth about what happened to their mothers."

"Yes I have heard that Shinji remembered the truth about his mother even before she returned." A puzzled look appears on Ritsuko's face as she realises what Misato actually said, "Wait a minute…. Asuka's mother…. How did she find out…….you told her? When did you do that?"

"Yes, I told her when we had a rather lengthy discussion in her hospital room not long after Shinji self destructed Unit 01. She asked about what was so special about Unit 01, so I told her truth about what happened to her mother and also what happened to Shinji's mother. I thought that after all that she has been through that she deserved to know the truth."

Ritsuko shakes her head as she replies; "I don't want to know how you found out that piece of highly classified information back then Misato."

Misato gives a small grin as she tells Ritsuko, "Lets just say that I had some help from Kaji. Anyway I have told all of this to commander Fuyutsuki, and he has no problems with it."

"I see."

The control room falls quiet again for a few minutes until Misato gives an amused grunt before she tells Ritsuko and Yui, "You know it is rather ironic actually."

Wondering what in the world Misato is talking about, Ritsuko asks her, "What do you mean Misato?"

"By not telling the children the truth, commander Ikari denied himself of the chance to use the children to their maximum potential. I suppose that he was worried about loosing his precious `control' over them and their part in his beloved scenario."

Yui sighs before commenting, "Unfortunately yes, Gendo was a believer in the phrase `knowledge is power.' Even before my accident with Unit 01 he kept a tight control over Gehirn's secrets, especially any information regarding our true plan for the evas, for fear that the wrong parties; mainly SEELE would obtain it and use it against us. Myself and professor Fuyutsuki to some extent were the only two people the he could trust."

"Well, he did have his reasons. The results of SEELE finding out about your plan against them would have been rather drastic for everyone."

"Yes it would have."

An awkward silence then falls over the control room, after several minutes of this Misato asks Ritsuko, "So looking at their results, I take it that we will be using Asuka in Unit 02?"

Ritsuko replies, "Yes unless she has troubles synchronising with the actual unit. Which I doubt very much, if anything I would say that her ratio will probably be even higher."

Fifteen minutes later Ritsuko switches on the mike to the test plugs and informs the three pilots, "Ok you three we have finished the tests."

The hatches then open on all three simulation plugs and a mechanical arm retrieves the control consoles with the pilots still seated. Once they are on the access gangway they then make their way to the control room. Asuka is the first to reach the control room and although she feels good about the test, she anxiously asks, "So how did we go?"

Misato quickly answers her question, "Good work all of you. You all got your best scores ever, Asuka reached 80%, Shinji 75% and Rei 69%."

Asuka replies her face beaming with joy at the news that she has got over a her problem and gleefully yells out, "Yes, I am number one again! Now to go and have a shower and get changed."

"Don't get changed yet Asuka, we have one more little test for you."

Asuka rolls her eyes in annoyance and asks, "What now? And why just me?"

Misato tells Asuka with a grin on her face, "Oh I think you won't mind. Due to your test results, you are going to pilot Unit 02 in tomorrow's mission. We just want to check your readings actually in Unit 02."

`I did it. I have got one last chance to prove that I can do it. All on my own as well with no Shinji or Rei to help me. I just hope at the end of it I get the chance to test my theory about Unit 02 and mother.' Asuka then joyfully yells out, "Yes!" She then walks out of the simulation plug control room towards the evangelion cages. Both Shinji and Rei decide to watch the test before getting changed out of their plug suits and follow Asuka towards the evangelion cages.

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Unit 02's cage/ command centre

Unit 02 is in standby mode with the catwalks still surrounding its head and shoulders. Unit 02's head is slumped slightly forward and the unit's entry plug is sticking out of is back. Several technicians are waiting on the catwalks and Asuka enters the cage and walks over to the entry plug and climbs inside. Once Asuka is inside the plug, one of the technicians then closes the hatch. Once this has been done Misato asks Asuka, "Are you ready Asuka?"

Asuka quickly answers, "Yes." `Come on Asuka, you can do it, let's prove that you can still pilot this thing.'

Misato turns and asks Maya, "So how is she going?"

Maya replies, "Her status is stable, she does seem a little tense though."

"Well that's to be expected considering what happened the last two times she piloted."

Ritsuko adds, "It would appear that she has fully recovered from the problems that she was experiencing."

Misato replies, "Asuka can be very stubborn, she has to prove to herself that she can still pilot Unit 02. I suspect that she will have no problems though, since she has now come to terms with her feelings regarding what happened to her mother."

"Yes, she is certainly stubborn alright."

Maya then reports, "The entry plug and the pilot are ready."

Ritsuko then asks Misato, "Shall we proceed then?"

Misato answers, "Yes."

"Insert the entry plug."

Soon afterwards one of the cage technician reports, "Entry plug inserted, injecting LCL."

Once the plug is full of LCL, Maya reports, "Beginning A10 nerve connection."

"The conditions of the pulses and harmonics are good. All nerve links are completed."

The start up procedure continues and it soon reaches the final stages, Maya reads off the readouts of the last steps, "Checked up to 2590 on the list satisfied. 2.5, 1.7, 1.2, 1.0, 0.8, 0.6, 0.5, 0.4, 0.3, 0.2, 0.1, and rising, borderline cleared. Synchronisation level is stable at 85%!"

Hearing Asuka's sync ratio readings Ritsuko comments, "Well that's a lot better than the last time she piloted. That's even better than her test score."

Misato adds, "Yes, like I said she has to prove to herself and everyone that she can still pilot Unit 02."

Asuka's voice comes over the communications channel from Unit 02 and asks, "How am I going?"

"You have reached you best sync score yet Asuka, 85%."

Asuka gleefully replies, "Yes!" She then tells herself, `I knew that I could do it.'

Misato then orders ,"Release Unit 02."

Shigeru reports ,"Releasing all lock bolts. Unit 02 is now free."

"Asuka, proceed to the third test cage. You can have some weapons practice."

Asuka replies, "Rodger," and Unit 02 starts walking out of the cage through to the test cage.

Forty minutes latter Asuka's test has finished and she has returned Unit 02 to its cage. Once Asuka is out of Unit 02 she walks into the cage control room where Shinji and Rei are waiting for her. Misato tells Asuka, "Good work Asuka, we will proceed tomorrow as planned." She then turns to face the other two pilots as well, "Now all three of you, go and get changed. Grab some lunch as well and meet me in my office at one o'clock."

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Misato's office

Misato is sitting down at her desk, Touji and Yui are sitting down in chairs, Kaji is perched on the edge of Misato's desk and Ritsuko is over at a cupboard behind Misato making a cup of coffee. Shinji, Rei and Asuka walk into the office and Asuka immediately notices that Touji is in the room and asks in an irritated tone, "What's that stooge doing here?"

Since she expected Asuka to react in this manner, Misato sighs before telling her, "He is coming along with us Asuka. Touji was a pilot and he deserves to see everything as well."

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The Nerv air base on the outskirts of Tokyo 3

Seven large jet aircraft can be seen in the distance, as they approach the air base they become recognisable as C-1200 Evangelion transports. The transports are carrying the seven completed mass production units. Once the transport planes are close enough for Asuka to see what the evas look like, she comments, "Eeewwwww they sure are ugly."

Remembering what Fuyutsuki told him Shinji asks Misato, "They were actually going to be used against Nerv?"

Misato answers, "Regrettably yes, all nine of them."

Surprised by this news Asuka asks, "All at once?"

A grim expression appears on Misato's face as she answers, "Yes. And I hate to say it; I don't know if we could have defeated all nine of them. Even if we used both Units 01 and 02 against them."

"Surely with both the invincible Shinji and myself against them we could have beaten them."

Misato shakes her head as she answers, "Unfortunately they are not normal evangelion units for they are all equipped with S2 organs. We also believe that they may be able to regenerate any damage that they sustain, short of having either their core, S2 organ or entry plug destroyed."

Horrified by the implications of what Misato has just told then Asuka asks her, "You mean that they could be cut to pieces and as long as those three areas were undamaged they would be able to repair themselves?"

"Unfortunately yes they are able to do that. And with those abilities, nine of them against our two or possibly three evas I don't honestly know if we could have beaten them."

"So who were they going to get to pilot these monstrosities, Misato? Did this SEELE organisation have their own supply of pilots?"

"Not really, they didn't have pilots as such, they planned on using a dummy plug system."

After hearing this Shinji shivers at the memory of the tank full of Rei clones and looks away from Rei. He then starts to ask, "But… didn't Ritsuko destroy the …….the….."

Misato replies, "Yes, she did destroy Nerv's system, but SEELE had their own system."

Asuka asks, "Just what in the world was the dummy plug system Misato? I know that it was some form of auto pilot."

"This isn't the place to tell you Asuka. You will find out what it was soon enough though."

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Later on in the depths of Nerv headquarters

Misato, Kaji, Yui, Shinji, Rei, Asuka, Ritsuko and Touji are all standing in front of an armoured door. The door is marked `Evangelion Research and Assembly Lab

RESTRICTED AREA AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY

Trespassers shall be shot on sight, Violators will be liable for penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment, $100,000 fine or both.'

Misato walks up and swipes her security card through the reader and enters the security code on the keypad. The door slides open revealing a large room in near total darkness, the only light come from a few emergency exit signs. Standing at the doorway Misato tells the pilots, "Now all of you try not to be too shocked by what I am going to show you next."

Misato walks into the room and Asuka, Shinji, Rei, Kaji, Yui and Touji follow her. Once everyone is inside the door slides shut behind them. Misato then throws the light switch for the room, which reveals it to be an evangelion cage. It is the contents of this cage that immediately gets everyone's attention. Shinji stares at the cause of some of his worst nightmares in absolute horror and he starts clenching and unclenching his right hand into a fist. He yells in anger, "No! NO NO!!!!! HOW COULD THEY?……."

Asuka's right eye starts twitching as she angrily asks, "WHAT THE HELL?? WHY DID THEY REBUILD THIS MONSTER?"

Upon seeing Unit 03 once more, the colour rapidly drains from Touji's face and his left arm starts twitching and he grabs hold of the handrail with his right hand as his artificial left leg threatens to give way from under him. He shakily asks, "....No….why?"

Unseen by anyone else, even Rei frowns slightly at the sight of Unit 03.

Embarrassed Misato tells the horrified children ,"Look I only found out myself after my promotion, I wasn't too pleased either to find out that this beast still existed. If I could, I would have this thing destroyed right away."

Still shaken Touji asks Misato, "So who was going to pilot it?" When Misato hesitates in replying, he composes himself and then asks her in a horrified but angry tone of voice, "Surely Nerv didn't expect me to pilot it again after what happened last time I was in it? This godanm monster cost me my left arm and leg last time I was in it."

Misato tenses up and gives Shinji a quick glance before replying, "No, the fifth was going to pilot it."

Asuka asks, "You mean he wasn't meant to be my replacement?"

"No, but since this monster wasn't quite finished, commander Ikari decided having him to pilot Unit 02 while you were ….. sick was the most expedient way of having another operational evangelion."

Asuka just quietly answers, "I see…." `So they hadn't entirely written me off then after all.'

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Eva Graveyard

Lead by Ritsuko, everyone walks into what was once a test chamber control room. The observation windows now show the former test chamber to be filled with scores of eva skeletons. Both Yui and Shinji tense up after entering the control room, as they both remember what happened here in 2004. Once everyone is in the room, neither Ritsuko or Misato make a move to start explaining this room to the pilots, however they both glance at Yui, since she knows what happened here more than anyone. Yui sees the looks that she getting from both Misato and Ritsuko and takes a deep breath to calm herself before explaining, "This is the original test chamber. It was in this room that my accident with Unit 01 happened."

Ritsuko then adds, "After that happened, commander Ikari apparently couldn't bear to come in here again, so he turned the chamber into a dumping ground."

Yui replies, "Yes, we dumped the remains of the failures elsewhere in my time."

Asuka who has been looking through the windows towards the eva skeletons then asks, "There are so many dead evas."

"Yes it was an extremely difficult process in creating an evangelion, most of these bodies are those failures. We tried several times to create a evangelion using material obtained from Lilith, but Unit 01 was our only success, the others ended up here."

Asuka then realises something, "Wait a minute, you're saying that our evas were made using samples from the first two angels?"

"Yes they are, Units 00, 02 and all of the other evas were created from samples obtained from Adam before second impact. Like I said Unit 01 was the only successful evangelion created using material from Lilith."

"So that was another reason why Unit 01 was so special?"

Ritsuko answers, "Yes that is what made Unit 01 so special and is why Shinji's destruction of Unit 01 ended both of the known ways of creating third impact."

After hearing this Asuka looks at Ritsuko with a stunned expression and asks, "Both methods?"

"Yes, that was the other purpose of the mass production units. By all nine of them attacking Unit 01 in a certain manner they could start third impact without either Adam or Lilith."

Both Touji and Asuka stare at Ritsuko in shock after hearing this. Asuka briefly glances at Shinji and when she notices that he hasn't reacted to this startling piece of information she asks him, "Shinji….. you knew about this?"

Embarrassed Shinji replies, "Yes, but I only found out about it when commander Fuyutsuki came and saw me in hospital the day before father's funeral."

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Dummy plug room

Misato leads Yui and the children into the room. Shinji hesitates at first but then enters the room, his attention fixed on the cylinder in the centre of the room as he tries to avoid looking at the tank surrounding the room. The tank is filled with rather murky LCL; there is a rather thick layer of silt on the bottom of the tank. Floating in the murky LCL is the odd stray strand of blue hair.

Ritsuko turns to Asuka and says to her, "You were asking about the dummy plug system earlier, Asuka? Well this was the heart of Nerv's dummy plug system."

Asuka replies, "What do you mean?"

"As you now know, Rei is a clone."

"Yes……" `But what does Rei being a clone have to do with the dummy plug?'

"The tank around this room was filled with dozens of clones of Rei. These clones as well as being spares were also the heart of the dummy plug system."

Having heard this Touji looks at Rei in amazement, `They used clones of Ayanami for the dummy plug! She is always so passive, who would have thought she was capable of such violence.'

While Ritsuko is explaining the dummy plug system, Shinji is still looking at the cylinder at the centre of the room, seemingly not listening. Rei is standing next to the wall tank staring intently into it and has placed her hand on the tank wall. As she studies the discoloured LCL and the silt on the tank bottom, a tear runs down her cheek as she contemplates, `This is where the replacements were but they all are now all dead. I am saddened because of this but I am also relieved, like Shinji told me, I am now unique. I am no longer replaceable or anyone's tool, I am now my own person.'

Yui then asks, "So just how were these clones the heart of the system then Doctor Akagi?"

"They were soulless copies of Rei, they enabled us to operate an eva without using a conventional pilot, either by remote or loading one directly into an eva via an entry plug. Some degree of control was obtained using the Magi, but these were limited to simple overall commands."

Yui momentarily frowns and looks deep in though before commenting, "Yes we did originally look at some form of remote control for the evas, but could never get it to even look like working."

"Yes, it was because of Rei's background that we could get the system to work."

To Ritsuko's surprise Shinji turns around from his study of the cylinder and asks, "So who did SEELE use for their version of the dummy plug? They didn't use Rei as well, did they?"

After Shinji's unexpected question Ritsuko looks at Misato hoping that she will answer this awkward question. Misato sighs as she tries to work out how to break the news, `I was hoping to avoid this. I hope that Shinji doesn't react too badly to this news.' She then answers, "Unfortunately they didn't use Rei, they used a much more disturbing candidate."

Puzzled by Misato's answer, Asuka asks, "Who did they use then?"

Misato reluctantly answers, "They used the fifth child."

Shocked by Misato's answer Asuka yells, "WHAT! But wasn't he an angel?"

Shinji frowns and tenses up after hearing this news, but he calms when Yui places her hand on his shoulder and gives him a reassuring smile. Misato quickly glances at Shinji to see how he is reacting to this news before answering Asuka's question, "Unfortunately yes he was, and that was the very reason that they used him as well as sending him to us as a pilot."

Before Shinji has a chance to respond to Misato's statement, Asuka yells out, "WHAT!! They knew that he would attack us?"

"Yes, for SEELE would have won no matter what the outcome of the battle against the fifth."

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Terminal Dogma

Misato swipes her security card through the reader and types in her access code and the large armoured doors slowly rumble open revealing the image of Lilith crucified on a large cross, surrounded by a sea of LCL. Touji and Asuka gasp at the sight of Lilith, Rei looks up at her with a thoughtful expression on her face. Shinji is standing at the rear of the group, reluctant to enter the chamber as it brings back bad memories.

Misato then leads everyone into the chamber and announces, "This is Lilith, the second angel."

Asuka then sees the sea of orange liquid and immediately suspects what it is. She then sniffs the air and frowns as her suspicions are confirmed, "Just what is that orange stuff? Is it LCL?"

Shinji shudders once he finally walks inside the chamber and he only briefly looks around the room before fixing his attention on Lilith. He soon notices something is different, "Uh… Misato, something is different about the angel….. wasn't it missing its legs when I saw it?"

Puzzled by Shinji's question Misato looks at the angel and she then notices that Lilith's legs have regenerated. Surprised by this unexpected occurrence she shouts, "Huh? What the hell?" `He is right though. Shit why didn't I notice that before?' She turns to face Ritsuko and asks her, "Any idea what has happened?"

Ritsuko answers, "The angel had the lance of Longinus stuck in its chest, this stopped it regenerating. Once the lance was removed it was only a matter of time until it started regenerating."

"Will this have any affect on our plans?"

"I don't know Misato. Despite the length of time that Nerv has held Lilith, there is very little we know about her other than her role in third impact."

Yui adds, "That is true. Adam was always the main subject of Gehirn's research. Other than taking enough samples to allow us to try to create various evangelions, we never paid Lilith much attention, since she was in a dormant sate we never paid any attention to what her powers as an angel might be other than her role in third impact."

"I see, so we will have no idea on how she will react to our plans?"

"Unfortunately, no."

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Misato's Apartment that night

Misato asks Asuka, "I know that you saw and heard of some rather disturbing things today Asuka. Will you be alright to pilot Unit 02 tomorrow?"

In her once usual confident and determined tone Asuka answers, "You try and stop me Misato."

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Hikari Residence

Hikari is cooking some food when the phone rings. She stops what she was doing and walks over to the phone and answers it, "Hello, Horaki residence."

Touji greets her with a simple, "Class rep."

Surprised by Touji calling at this time of day she replies, "Touji!"

In a worried tone of voice Touji tells her, "I was wondering if I could talk to you tomorrow about a few things."

Hikari notices Touji worried tone and asks him, "What's wrong Touji? You sound worried about something."

"I will explain tomorrow. Do you want to go on a picnic to that place that Shinji showed us? I will explain everything then."

Worried about what Touji might be going to tell her she asks him, "Explain what? Nerv didn't ask you to pilot again today did they?"

"No they didn't. Sorry I can't tell you anything now class rep. Like I said I will explain everything tomorrow, so are you available?"

"Yes I am. I will make something for us to eat"

"Thanks class rep, see you tomorrow at ten o'clock then."

"Yes, goodbye Touji."

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Terraces overlooking Tokyo 3 - the next day

Touji and Hikari have arrived at the terraces and have unpacked their picnic and are starting to eat. As they start to eat Hikari tells Touji, "This is a really nice place that Shinji showed us."

In an ashamed tone Touji replies, "Yeah. I just wish that he had originally found it under better circumstances."

"What do you mean, Touji?"

"Apparently he came here after the second angel attack, you know the one where Kensuke and myself nearly got crushed by his eva. He was pretty messed up at the time and that was partly my fault."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Let's just say that before that angel attack, we had an argument. I blamed him for my sister getting hurt in the first angel attack."

Hikari gives him a dark look as she angrily replies, "Touji! How could you?"

"I didn't know any better at the time. Anyway we sorted it out before he went to leave Tokyo 3 soon afterwards."

"Well that does answers a few questions, I thought something happened between you two. I did notice that you did appear angry with Shinji once you found out that he was the pilot. But the next time I saw both of you after he went to leave, the two of you were friends."

"Yeah. I am glad that we become friends, I just wish that it was under better circumstances."

"I am glad that you and Kensuke become his friends. I don't know that he could have lasted as long as he did otherwise."

"Yeah, he has had a pretty tough time, with everything that has happened to him piloting his eva."

Hikari quickly looks at Touji's left arm and leg before answering in a sad tone, "Yes he has. All of the pilots have." The two then continue eating in silence for the next few minutes. When she has nearly finished her lunch Hikari asks Touji, "So, what did you want to tell me Touji?"

"Well, although Nerv didn't ask me to pilot again, I did see something that I hope to never see again. Shinji's dad had that monster rebuilt."

Shocked by this Hikari replies, "They rebuilt it? But I thought that it was torn to shreds."

"Yeah so did I. But the scary thing is that wasn't the most disturbing thing that I found out yesterday."

Worried by what this might mean Hikari pushes the remainder of her lunch to one side and asks, "What do you mean, Touji?" Touji then starts to explain to Hikari everything else that was revealed to the pilots yesterday.

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Command Centre

All of the bridge personnel are seated at their usual places; Fuyutsuki is the only person on the command level of the bridge as Misato is down on the operations level in her capacity as operations director. Both Ritsuko and Yui are standing with Misato, Shinji and Rei are sitting in some seats to the rear of the operations level.

Misato looks up at Fuyutsuki who gives her a nod, she then orders, "Asuka you may proceed with the mission."

Asuka quickly replies, "Acknowledged, heading towards the main shaft."

Shinji walks over to a microphone and speaks into it, "Asuka."

"Yes Shinji."

"Good luck."

Asuka gives a confident smile as she tells Shinji, "I don't need luck, I have my skill as an Eva pilot."

After hearing this Shinji an amused grin appears on his face and he shakes his head, `Yep, Asuka is back to normal alright.'

Carrying a progressive axe, Unit 02 makes its way to the main shaft and climbs on the linear carriage which then begins to lower Unit 02 to the level of terminal dogma. Once the carriage has reached the bottom of the shaft Unit 02 hops off and walks over to the large armoured door protecting terminal dogma. Once Unit 02 has reached the door Asuka reports, "I have arrived, awaiting door opening."

Misato replies, "Understood, opening heaven's gate now." The door to terminal dogma slowly slides opens, revealing the sight of Lilith hanging on the cross surrounded by a sea of LCL. Unit 02 walks thorough the doorway and makes its way towards the angel.

Once Unit 02 has entered terminal dogma Asuka reports, "I have sighted the target."

"Understood. Attack when ready."

Unit 02 then grips its progressive axe in both hands and slowly advances through the sea of LCL towards Lilith ready to attack. Before Lilith comes in Unit 02's range, the orange pattern of a AT field suddenly appears, throwing Unit 02 backwards, which lands on its back into the sea of LCL with a large splash. The appearance of the AT field also causes the alarm klaxons to sound in the command centre and the main screen fills with the familiar hexagon emergency message, a sight that Misato thought she had seen the last of. Surprised by this unexpected development Misato yells in surprise, "WHAT THE HELL?"

Maya quickly reports, "Its an AT field, the strongest we have ever detected. Even stronger than the one detected during the attack of the seventeenth."

While commanding Unit 02 to stand back on its feet, Asuka asks in an annoyed tone of voice, "I thought that this angel wasn't going to cause any trouble."

Misato answers Asuka's question, "True we expected no trouble. Remember what Ritsuko and Yui said yesterday, about how despite the length of time that Nerv has held Lilith we don't know much about her."

A determined expression appears on Asuka's face as she says, "Well I will soon teach it not to mess with Asuka Langley Sohryu and Unit 02."

"Well Asuka to do that, you will need to spread your AT field to maximum to neutralise the angel's."

"Already working on it Misato." Unit 02 deploys it's AT field, however it appears to have no effect on Lilith's AT field. Seeing that she is not having any effect Asuka grits her teeth in determination as she thinks, `Gggggggrrrrrr, come on. You can do it Asuka, you have to do this.'

Anxious to see if Asuka is having more success, Misato asks Maya, "Is her field neutralising the angel's?"

Concerned by the implications of what her readings are telling her, Maya replies, "No. Although Asuka's AT field is the strongest that it has ever been, it still isn't strong enough to neutralise the angel's."

Asking no one in particular Misato says, "So what do we do now?"

Ritsuko simply answers, "We try again later. We may have to use either Shinji or Rei in one of the mass production series units to help Asuka. We may even need all three to have any chance of success."

Misato then orders, "Asuka, pull back and we will try another method of attack."

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Terraces overlooking Tokyo 3 at the same time

Touji has finished telling Hikari about what he saw yesterday and she is just sitting there staring at him in shock. Touji is slowly finishing off the contents of Hikari's bento box, when the all too familiar sound of the angel evacuation alarms can be heard coming up from Tokyo 3. Worried by this Hikari turns and looks at Touji and asks him, "An angel attack! How?"

Touji replies, "Nerv were going to try to destroy the angel that they have been holding today. Misato's plan mustn't be quite working out as she hoped. I just hope that the red devil can do it on her own. I would hate it if either Shinji or Rei had to pilot any of those monsters."

Hikari angrily asks Touji, "What about Asuka? Do you hate her so much that you want to see her suffer?"

Touji defensively replies, "No, don't get me wrong, she wanted to do it. It was like she had to prove something. Shinji didn't really tell me what happened to her before, but I got the impression that it affected her pride badly."

Hikari sadly answers, "Yes it did."

"Don't worry, she will be alright. If there is one thing that I have learnt about the red devil is don't mess with her when she is pissed off."

Hikari gives Touji a small smile of gratitude as she replies, "She will be Touji." She then looks around and asks, "Do you think that we should look for a shelter?"

"No we should be alright way up here. I don't think that there are any close by anyway."

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Command Centre/ Terminal dogma

Having heard that they intend to try later with either Shinji or Rei helping her Asuka comments to herself, `No I have to do this on my own. I can do this.' She then answers Misato's order, "No I want to try something else first." A look of extreme concentration appears on Asuka's face as she mentally asks her mother, `Come on mother help me. I know that you are there, help me beat this angel.'

Asuka's efforts soon show results and Maya reports in an amazed tone, "Doctor Akagi, maj…colonel Katsuragi, Asuka's sync ratio is climbing rapidly."

Curious to find out just how high Asuka's already high ratio has risen, Ritsuko asks Maya, "What is it?"

Maya looks at the readout and answers in a shocked voice, "………225% and still climbing."

A stunned Misato asks, "Asuka? How is she doing this?"

Even Ritsuko is surprised just how high Asuka's sync ratio has risen and looks deep in thought for a few moments before answering, "I would say her mother. Similar to what happed to Shinji in Unit 01 against the fourteenth angel."

The implications of this worry Misato and she asks, "You don't think that she will reach 400% and be absorbed like Shinji was, do you?"

"I don't know. It is all up to Asuka and her mother's spirit."

Having heard just how high Asuka's ratio has risen, both Fuyutsuki and Yui suddenly remember an entry in the scrolls regarding possible methods of creating third impact that they totally disregarded and they both pale, since it would appear that the events mentioned in this entry appear to be occurring. The entry read, `When that which is made from Adam is awakened and comes into contact with Lilith, mankind will become one and return its original state.'

Yui turns to Misato and frantically tells her, "Misato you have to get her to calm down. If she hits 400% we are all doomed."

Worried by the implications of what Yui has just said Misato asks her, "What do you mean by that?"

"It was a case so remote that we disregarded it, considering that Unit 02 has always been our most stable evangelion, but if Asuka's sync ratio hits 400% and awakens Unit 02 it is all over……"

"……You don't mean…"

"Unfortunately yes, third impact."

Misato asks Maya, "What's Asuka's sync ratio now?"

Frowning as she frantically types away at her console, Maya answers, "Having two AT fields of this strength so close together is starting to interfere with our sensors. The signal from Unit 02 is starting to break up with all of the interference. The last clear synchronisation ratio reading was 375%."

Misato then looks up and sees on the main screen what is happening in terminal dogma and cries out in horror, "Oh my god……… No, Asuka……. Try to stop it." For barely visible through the static on the main screen, the image of Unit 02 dropping its progressive axe can be seen, Unit 02 however is still slowly approaching Lilith without any obvious hostile intent towards the angel.

Seeing this as well, Shinji frantically screams out, "ASUKA……….."

************************************************

Well that's it for part 9.

Again any comments etc appreciated.

Stay tuned for part 10 - To the Brink/ Memorial Service