Chapter 3: New Surroundings, New People


As the evening went by, Rei had unpacked a good portion of her belongins from both the boxes and her traveling bag. She has also hung up her leather jacket in the room's closet so it wouldn't get messed up.

However, she then saw a box marked "Rei's Television", in which she muttered to herself "Shit. I can't lift that son of a bitch myself. Maybe i'll meet some people tomorrow who can help me out, so let's see what else I can unpack instead".

She then runs by another box that says "Rei's Guitar" and says "There we go. My guitar!", opens it and takes it and its amp out.

She then plugs the amp into the wall, then plugs the guitar into the amp and starts strumming with a pic in hand.

For about 10 minutes, she plays whatever comes to her head, even attempting to perform a made-up solo, only to break one of the strings.

"Shit.", she blurts out after the string broke. "I wonder if anyone else around town plays guitar. Maybe i'll ask at school tomorrow."

She then sets her guitar down, opens her traveling bag and pulls out her cellphone and looks at it.

"11:46 PM?!? Damn. I need to get some sleep. I got quite an eventful day ahead for myself.", she muttered to herself, in which she then proceeded to pull out a pair of pajamas to wear for bed.

She then proceeded to strip down only to bra and panties. She then put her pajamas on, turned the lights off and layed in bed to rest her eyes and fall asleep.






"Hi. This is Rei Ayanami. She's the daughter of old friends from college", Yui Ikari tells a short haired brunette woman wearing a lab coat

"Hiya. I'm Rei. Nice to meet ya", a nine year old Rei introduces herself to said woman

"Well, its nice to meet you too, Rei. My name is Dr. Naoko Akagi. I work with Yui, so the two of us need to get to some important matters, so why not you go with my daughter while you leave us grownups to do our work", Naoko politely told Rei. She then nugged her head into a different direction and yelled out "RITSUKO! Come out here and watch this child for the two of us!"

"Alright, mother, i'm coming.", Ritsuko called back out. Her voice is somewhat different than it is in current times, perhaps due to it being unharmed by tobacco consumption or its consumption has yet to take its toll.

All of a sudden, a somewhat younger looking Ritsuko walks into view, sees Rei and says "Hi there, young one. I am Naoko's daughter Ritsuko. What's your name?"

the 9 year old Rei giggles, then replies "My name is Rei Ayanami. I am nine years old. Can you play with me?"

Ritsuko, after seeing Rei sporting a big, adorable smile, then takes her hand and says "Follow me. We'll play a game of hide and seek. How does that sound?"

"Oh boy, I love hide and seek", Rei replies. "I play it with mommy and daddy all the time"

"That's good to here", Ritsuko replied with a smile.


Inside the lounge room of Gehrim, Ritsuko tells Rei "Alright, Rei. You count to 30 with your eyes closed while I go and hide. After you're done counting to 30, you must go and find me, okay?"

"Cool. So, I start counting?", Rei asks

"Yes, but you also need to close your eyes as well", Ritsuko replies

"Okay!", Rei joyfully responds. She then puts her hands over her face and starts counting to 30. Ritsuko then walks away to look for a place to hide.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10", Rei counts as her hands as covering her eyes shut.


Ritsuko, while walking around, finds a fairly easy to find corner to hide by. 'I hope she can find me easily and not get lost", Ritsuko muttered in a worried tone.


"25, 26, 27, 28...29...30! Ready or not, here I come!", Rei then giggled as she moved her hands away from her face & began to skip out of the room.


"La la la la la la", Rei chanted as she frolicked through the hallways of Gehrim. However, she immediately stopped as she saw an open door with a shadow of a woman standing in the room

"Could she be in...HERE!?!", Rei yelled in joy as she then jumped into the room, only to see Naoko standing in the room, mumbling something to herself.

"Hello.", Rei called out to Naoko. She did not respond.

"Miss Naoko, are you okay?", Rei asked her in a concerned tone.

"Did you just call me Old Hag?", Naoko sternly growled.

"Ummmm...no, Miss Naoko.", Rei replied in confusion.

"Did...you, just call me 'OLD HAG?!?', Rei?!?", Naoko growled in response.

Rei suddenly began to shake in fear, whimpering out "You're scaring me."

"If you call me old hag ONE MORE TIME, you'll be in big trouble!", Naoko barked out in a deranged, trance-like matter

Tears began to flow through Rei's eyes as she then slumped down and cried "Ma..ma...mommy, daddy. I'm scared. I need help!"

All of a sudden, Naoko suddenly darted towards Rei and grabbed her by the neck with both hands, strangling her.






and then...she woke up, gasping and panting.

The dream had caused her to break a sweat, resulting in her pajamas to be slightly wet. Rei then realized that she's back in her apartment room that's filled with unopened packages containing.

She then placed her left hand firmly on her chest and stroked her face with her right hand.

"I...I certainly hoped not to remember that again", Rei mutters as she tries to calm herself down.

She then grabbed her cellphone to check the time

"6:56 AM? Shit.", she tells herself. "I need to get ready before Kaji comes by to take me to school."

Rei then jumps out of bed and run towards a bag that contains the words "Bathing Accessories" on it. She opens it up, pulls out a bottle of shampoo and conditioner, as well as a bar of soap. She then runs towards the bathroom, sets them down and runs back to the livinig room. She then opens another box containing wash rags and towels and pulls out exactly one towel and one wash rag to use. She then runs back to the bathroom, strips down to her birthday suit, grabs the bar of soap, the bottles of shampoo and conditioner and steps inside the shower. She then starts up the showing and begins to clean herself up.

After taking a shower, she wraps the towel around her naked body and opens the bathroom accessories box again, this time pulling out a toothbrush and toothpaste. After she grabs said items, she runs back to the bathroom yet again. This time, however, she stands by the sink, squeezes some toothpaste out of its tube onto the toothbrush and starts to brush her teeth.

After brushing her teeth, she then takes the towel off, dries her hair with it and tosses it on the bathroom floor. She then grabs her traveling bag and puts on black bra and panties.

She then decides to take a look inside another cabinet, only to find something wrapped in black in there. She pulls it out, sees a note on that the reads "Your New School Uniform" and opens it up.

The bag reveals a white shirt, a blue one piece skirt, a red ribbon, black socks and white loafers.

"Eh. So this is my new school uniform.", Rei mutters. She then sets it aside, finds another box with the word "Clothes" written on it. She opens it up and pulls out a different school uniform, which consists of a white shirt, a red tie, a beige vest, a dark grey skirt and its own black socks and white loafers.

She then sets both school uniforms side by side each other and mutters "Well...lets see. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, i'll wear the new uniform and on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, i'll wear my old uniform. Since today is Monday, the new uniform it is."

She then grabs the new school uniform, puts it on and says "At least it fits me. That's all it matters, since I don't really care about wearing these damn things."

Now that she's all ready, she sits by, waiting for Kaji to arrive to drop her off at school. Her first day of school in Tokyo-3.

For what seems to be about 10 minutes of sitting around, she then hears the doorbell go off

"Come inside.", Rei responds.

The door opens up to reveal Kaji, still wearing the clothes he wore the other day. He then asks Rei "So, you're ready for your first day at your new school?"

"Absolutely", she responds.

"Okay then", Kaji replies "Let's get going."

Rei then gets her shoes on and follows Kaji out of the apartment room. After she closes the door, she locks it with her keys and follows Kaji to his car.



As Kaji drives, he then asks Rei "By the way, there's something I like to know about you that's been bugging me since yesterday"

"Was is that?", Rei replies

"Your hair. Why is it blue? Did you dye it or are you wearing a wig?", Kaji replies back

"Here we go again as always", Rei grumbles to herself. She then responds "Well, as my parents have always told me, I was born that way."

"You're serious?", Kaji replies, dumbfounded by what he just heard "There's no way at all that blue is your natural hair color"

"It is. Trust me, if mom and pops were here, they would defend my statement till the end. My mother, in fact, gave birth to me and said that ever since my hair grew in, it was always like that.", Rei quickly replied

Stunned by the information he received, Kaji then said "Well...you're lucky. You're certainly a one of a kind. Sure, i've seen people born with natural red hair, but not blue. Its just...awesome."

"Well, thank you, Kaji. I like to hear people say that its awesome that my hair is naturally blue. Too bad a few rotten eggs back in Elementary School didn't find my hair color to be awesome", Rei responds with a slight frown. "But even then, virtually everyone I met found it cool that my hair is blue."

"Well, that's nice to hear", Kaji replied "At least you're in middle school these days, right?"

"Yup. I guess you figured that one out by caculating how old I am", Rei responded

"Obviously.", Kaji smirked as he replied. He then pulled up by the school and told Rei "Alright, here's the school. I'll be back when you get out."

"Alright.", Rei responded. As she got out of the car, she then turned to him and asked "So...when are you going to leave for Germany?"

"In a week. That means that starting next week, you're going to have to walk to and back from school and Nerv all by yourself. You think you can manage to do that without my held?", Kaji replied

"Absolutely. I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself.", Rei remarked. "However, since i'm still new here, I appreciate your help on getting me used to the surroundings"

"You're welcome.", Kaji replied.

As he was about to leave, Rei then remebered her situation back at her apartment room with the packages and asked Kaji "By the way. When we're done with all the stuff today, can you help me unpack and get my room all spiffed up?"

"Sure thing, Rei." Kaji immediately responded "Now you might want to hurry up and not be late to class, okay?"

"Alrighty then...bye", Rei replied as she waved goodbye and ran towards her classroom.

After Rei found her class, Kaji then muttered to himself "That kid sure is nice. I liker him. Smart, spunky and likeable. I wish I could be her guardian". He then picks up a file that has a photo of a teenage girl with long red head, two bright red things on her head that appear to be hairclips and is wearing a yellow dress. As soon as he looks at the picture, he gulps and mutters to himself "Oh man. I have to be her guardian until she's needed to be transferred her." and proceeds to groan.



"Class 2-A. So this is my classroom.", Rei replies as she stands in front of the door of the classroom. She then opens the door and sees a bunch of other kids in there, as well as an old man, who she assumes to be the teacher.

She then walks towards the old man and tells him "Excuse me."

"Yes.", the old man asks

"Ummmm...my name is Rei Ayanami. I am transferring here from Iwanuma, Miyagi.", Rei tells the old man.

"Well...take any seat you see. I'll supply you a list of what supplies you need at the end of day.", the old man replies.

Rei then sits down on a vacant chair near by a window and remarks "Well...since school is always a bore, I might as well sit by where I can get a view of the world"

She then stairs out of the window for about a minute until someone clamps down their hands on Rei's shoulders and says "Look who joined class", startling her in the process

Rei then recognized the girl's voice, due to her british accent, turned around and said "Whoa. You made me jump"

Standing by her was the same teenage girl she saw by the screening room the day before.

"So you're the First Child, eh? I've been waiting to meet you.", the girl then tells Rei

"Yup, that's me." Rei replied "My name is Rei Ayanami, so what's your name?"

"Well, nice to meet you, Rei", the girl responded back. She then struck a pose and said "My name is Mari Illustrious Makinami. I transferred here all the way from Blackpool, England several months ago"

"Mari, sit your ass down.", the voice of another teenage growls.

Mari then turns her attention towards a girls with freckles and black pigtails and replies "Sorry, class rep. I was introducing myself to my new coworker. I thought that wouldn't be a problem at all"

"You can do that AFTER class", the class rep replied with a sneer.

"Fine", Mari groaned, in which she then sat next to Rei in a vacant chair of her own. Mari then quietly muttered "Hikari. Piss off"

After that, Mari then shifter her attention back towards Rei and said "Well...since class is in session, we can resume our introduction later."

"Yeah. That's fine with me. The last thing I want to do is pick a fight with Little Bo Peep on my first day here", Rei responded.

"Don't worry about Hikari.", Mari cheerfully replied. "She does that to everyone that tries to have some sort of fun around here in class. Poor Toji and Kensuke over there are even bigger targets to her wrath of authority"

"Damn. I hope I don't get in her way during my stay here.", Rei responded.



On the other side of the room, two boys were oogling at their new classmate. One has freckles and wore classes, while the other was tan and wore dark clothing.

"You see the new babe, Kensuke? Man, she's hot", the tan kid told his pal.

"Yeah. What I really want to know is if blue really is her hair color. That would be a first", Kensuke replied. "Still, on the other hand, Mari just knocks my socks"

"Actually, I love to be caught in a room with both, because as they all say...'Two is better than one!', Kensuke. Remember that", Toji replied back.

"So...once school lets out, we should introduce ourselves to them.", Kensuke added.

"You know...since the new babe just arrived here, she might need some help unpacking.", Toji suggested.

"Yeah! That's a great idea, Toji. Not only we'll get to talk to the babes, we can also get on the right foot with them. I sure can't wait to talk to Mari in person.", Kensuke replied in joy.

"Shut up, you two!", Hikari yelled at Toji and Kensuke.

"Yes, class rep.", Toji and Kensuke both sighed as they replied.



After school let out, Rei and Mari walked out of class, talking about random things when they were then approached by Toji and Kensuke

"Ummmm...hi there. So you're new, right?", Toji asked Rei.

"Hi. Nice to meet both of you. My name is Rei Ayanami.", Rei replied as she then shook both Toji and Kensuke's hands.

"Since you're new here....we presume that...you have have some things to unpack, right?", Kensuke asked

"Wait...you need help unpacking?", Mari added. "I think we three should help Rei unpack her belongings."

"Well, count me in too", the voice of a man called out.

"Oh. Hi Kaji. So you want to help Rei out as well?", Mari replied.

"I already promised her to do so this morning", Kaji replied back.

"Well...thank you all, I would really appreciate it", Rei replied to them all in admiration of their willing to help her unpack.

"Well, then. Let's go to Rei's apartment room and get started!", Kaji replied in joy.


As they drove to the apartment complex, Kaji told Rei "So you met some friends today? That's a good start."

"Yeah. Its best to stick together than to make enemies", Mari replied back.

Toji then leaned towards Kensuke and whispered "Why don't you speak to Mari like you want to? You said that you wanted to and now that you're by her, you're freezing up all of a sudden."

'I...I...i'm afraid, Toji.", Kensuke whispered in response.

"What? Afraid ofr rejection?", Toji whispered back. "Better to try now than to never do so"

"Well...maybe.", Kensuke whispered to Toji

"Ooookay, then. Suit yourself", Toji finished whispering


Inside Rei's apartment, Toji asked Rei "So...about your hair. Is that your real hair color?"

"Why is this always the first thing everyone asks about me?", Rei groaned to herself

"Yeah. Tell us about the hair. I like to know why my coworker's hair color is blue", Mari added.

"Uuuuugh.", Rei groaned to herself again

"Indeed, Rei. I like to know as well", Kensuke added in as well

"Okay. Here I go", Rei told herself. She then looked at the other kids and said "My folks have told me from time to time that I was born like that. When I was a little kid, when my hair started to grow, they said that it was blue. Much like how it is now. They asked the doctor why my hair is blue and the response was that it must have been a rare genetic mutation. They said that this also explains why my skin is so pale and why my eyes are red, though they never explained why my facial features are not...ahem...asian like a lot of you are."

As soon as she finished telling what she had to say, the room was silent.

Kensuke then said "Wow...just...wow. That is...so AWESOME!!!"

"No shit, Kensuke. A girl with natural blue hair. So rare, its amazing", Toji added.

"That's cool, Rei. Real cool", Mari added in as well

"Now, then.", Kaji told all four children. "With that said, we got a lot to do for Rei before the day is over."

"Thanks, Kaji.", Rei replied. "Let's get focused on making my apartment room looking spiffy.

and thus, for about several hours, Kaji and the four children all unpacked each box and situated the room to Rei's liking


After they had finished, Toji and Kensuke said "Well, we gotta go home to our respective parents. Its getting late"

"Yeah.", Mari added. "You start you synch tests tomorrow, Rei. Don't want to be tired while testing. See you tomorrow."

After Mari, Toji and Kensuke left, Kaji then said "Okay, I better hit the road myself. Same time tomorrow, except you'll be heading to Nerv instead of school, okay?"

"Oh...really?", Rei responded. "That'll be...interesting" She then muttered to herself "and I still wish it was blue."

"Anyways, goodnight!", Kaji told Rei as he left

"Bye, Kaji.", Rei replied as she waved.

After Kaji left, Rei then told herself "Another eventful day done. Now...since I got my computer, TV, game systems, stereo and such set up, I should watch a movie before I go to bed"

She then looks through her DVD box and picks up the movie "The Burning"

"Heh. The Burning. Nothing beats a good old slasher film", Rei said

She then popped the movie into her DVD player and sat on her couch to watch it...only to pass out on the couch as the film played, sending her into the next day without warning.

Another great chapter. Very low key chapter for the intense stuff later on. I love how you've given Kaji a bigger role and sort of made him a big brother type to the kids (kinda like how Misato was a big sister type in the series.)

low key being the key phrase, since although some might find my take to be a tad boring compared to other fanfics right now, that's because i'm trying to establish a much slower pace, in which it starts out slow and then gains momentum, only to get more frentic, bizarre & nightmarish, right until the apocalyptic conclusion entitled "The End"

but don't worry. For those wondering "Where the hell is the action and where the hell is Shinji?", that and more will be on its way in the upcoming chapters

Heh, like how you've worked in people actually wondering about Rei's hair color in the fic and it seems they're getting a bit longer as well. Anywho more good stuff so far though I got to point out a typo for ya:

The line, "All of a sudden, a somewhat younger looking Ritsuko walks into view", more then likely should read, "All of a sudden, a somewhat younger looking Naoko walks into view".

no, its not a typo


you must have misread it. I didn't make no typo at all


the hair thing will, indeed, be a running gag. Also, when Asuka shows up, expect plenty of moments of Rei getting robbed of any meat in her orders (My version of Rei ain't a vegetarian. not in my house at all!)

Sorry there, the first time I read it I was thinking it was done from past Rei's preservative but rereading it I found it was actually from modern Rei remembering past Reis prescriptive!

exactly


In a later chapter, we'll get to see the rest of this aborted tragedy, since the Ikaris did save Rei's life from death


In fact, if you payed attention, something was obviously not right about Naoko at all for her to suddenly shoot out of orbit and accuse Rei of calling her an "Old Hag"

I like the blue hair gag though I find it strange at the same time. They live in Japan, cosplay central. They should be use to weird hair colors. I'm glad Rei is a proud omnivore this time:) The vegan thing always bothered me. Also, for a Japanese raised teen, she sure acts American. I'm glad your not introducing Shinji till later. It will make Shinji/Rei more meaningful. (As much as I hate to say it: See Shinji/Asuka in the series.)

DevRei17 wrote:Also, for a Japanese raised teen, she sure acts American.

there's a very good reason why. This will ultimately make sense once the tale is in its final stages

now...the hair color thing. While they obviously know that there's cosplayers and such running around, NO ONE expects for someone to walk around with blue hair 24/7, so what's why they ask, only to hear that her hair color IS naturally blue

& as always, Rei's like because she's been asked this question since the very day she grew hair as a very young child

Did she do her sum drugs? Yeah she did seem kinda out of it but working for black occult backed organization will do that to you.

Its possible


now, for a brief preview of what's to come, the Sachiel fight is going to be nuts, because first it fights Rei and Unit 00, then Shinji and Unit 01, only for that to completely bomb (Because of Unit 01 not being totally efficient) and then...it gets crazy

Can't wait for it!
Will Rei and Shinji trained together and have a “Both of you, dance like you want to win!” type fight?

Chapter 4: The First Time is Always the Best


6:10 AM. Tuesday.

Rei's second full length day in Tokyo-3 is about to begin.

However, her slumber was awaken by some loud knocking at her door.


"Rei! Get your bloody arse up! They want you at HQ immediately", Mari screamed as she banged on the door.

"Hold on, hold on. I'll be there.", Rei muttered, despite being tired and barely awake.

She then realized that she fell asleep in her new school uniform and knowing that Mari wasn't going to wait any long, she immediately turned off the TV and DVD player, grabbed her keys and cellphone, got by the door, put her shoes on and get out of the apartment room, in which she was confronted by a slightly annoyed Mari, who's face is all red and her hands are slightly bruised up.

"What took you so long? I tried to call you on the cell and you didn't answer", Mari informed Rei "Still in the school threads, eh?"

"Yeah. I fell asleep on the couch while I was watching an old horror movie.", Rei replied. "Not the first time i've done so"

"Ah, so you fell asleep on the couch with the telly on. Did you turn it off by any chance?", Mari asked Rei.

"Ummm...what's a telly?", Rei asked Mari.

"Oh. My mistake. Back in my home country, we called what you call televisions and TVs tellies.", Mari tells Rei. "At least you got a nice telly. Mine's complete bollocks. Anyways, we gotta go. They sure aren't going to be pleased that you're running late"

"Okay, okay, Mari. That's why I didn't change into my street clothes. I didn't want to drag", Rei told Mari.

"Fine with me. That school uniform, strangely enough, fits you very well. Almost like something that you would wear all the time.", Mari informed Rei. "Though I know that you probably wouldn't, judging by your street clothes. Some bands you listen to, eh?"

"Yeah. Now you're draging the two of us down. Didn't you say that we were in a hurry? Well, let's go!", Rei ordered Mari.

"That's right.", Mari nodded and thus both of them ran.



As they ran to Nerv HQ, Rei asked Mari "By the way, where's Kaji? Surprised that you came by and not him."

"He had some business to attend to, so he asked me to wake you up and follow me. I know the best route to Nerv on foot, so you'll be alright.", Mari replied

"Yeah. In fact, he told me that he's leaving for Germany next week. Something about becoming the guardian of The Second Child. Have you met her?", Rei asked.

"Actually, no. I haven't.", Mari replied. "Nor have I met the Third Child. Have you met him yet?"

"Not really. But I really want to. I knew the Ikaris for quite a few years now, but I never, ever managed to meet their son, so in a few months I finally will. A moment that has been in the making for years.", Rei told Mari

"So...I seems like you're..ahem...dying to meet him.", Mari replies with a smirk on her face.

Rei then blushes and replies "Well...yeah.". However, she then stops and stays quiet.

Mari then says "What's wrong, Rei. Did I embarrass you?"

With her cheeks all red, Rei then replied "Okay. We better waste time now."

"You're right. Let's go!", Mari ordered and thus they contiuned to make their way towards Nerv HQ.



Once they arrived at Nerv HQ, they were then approached by Yui, who told them "Wow. You two are early. We wern't expecting you to be here until 9 o' clock AM, so why the rush?"

All of a sudden, Rei turned her head towards Mari and said "Okay. Why did you have to wake me up this early when you knew that we didn't have to be here until several hours later?"

Mari, looking equally surprised, replied "To be honest, I didn't even know when I was supposed to get you over here. All Kaji did was that I had to immediately take you to Nerv and I interpreted that he meant that it had to be now."

Despite hearing what Mari said, Rei didn't quite buy it and said "I really hope you're not bullshitting me."

All of a sudden, Gendo's voice boomed "Oh no we're not, you two. In fact, since you're here, let's get started right now so you two can take the rest of the day off."

"Sure.", Rei replied.

"Okay, Mr. Ikari. Will do.", Mari replied as well



Yui and Mari had then taken Rei to the changing room so she can try her plug suit on.

"Rei", Yui told Rei while holding a mostly white baggy suit "This is your plug suit. With the exception of an emergency, you are required to wear it."

"So...how do I put it on? It seems awfully baggy.", Rei replied

"Oh. As soon as you put it on, you press a button on your left wrist, it'll fit you like a glove.", Yui told Rei.

"Yeah. It's great. You'll get used to it soon", Mari added as she was changing behind a curtain.

Yui then handed Rei a headset with wing-like edges on them and told her "You need to wear this too. It's required for the synchronization of you and the Evangelion."

Rei grabbed the headset and situated it on her head and said "Funny. It doesn't feel like I have anything on there."

Yui then said " Good. Alrighty, i'll see you two in the entry plug room.", and walked away.

Rei then stripped down to the nude and put on the plug suit. After she got it situated on her, she then pressed the button Yui told her to press, only for the plug suit to go from being baggy to completely fitting her perfectly.

"Wow. This feels great. Almost like...a..a..", Rei muttered, only for Mari to cut her off by saying "A second skin? Yeah. it sure is. So...you're ready to go and do your first synch test?"

"Yup.", Rei replied.

"Well...come on then, lets go", Mari replied.

So Rei then walked out of the room and ran into Mari, who was wearing a plug suit of her own, which was mostly green, with the exception of two big white spots around her breasts, two white stripes each on both sides of her waist, a red circle in between her breasts, some black markings on it, as well as it being black underneath her arms and whatnot.

Mari then muttered "Well, your plug suit is quite...white. Its cool"

"Same for you", Rei replied.

So the two then made their way into a room in which Yui was standing in and said "Well, then. Since Mari knows the roll, she can get into the plug by herself", in which Mari proceeded to walk into another door. Yui then turned her head towards Rei and said "As for you, Rei. I'll show you the way." and thus they walked into a different door next to the one Mari entered.



"LT. MAYA IBUKI, YOU ARE NEEDED IN THE SYNCH ROOM COMMAND CENTER. I REPEAT, LT. MAYA IBUKI, YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUIRED IN THE SYNCH ROOM COMMAND CENTER.", a voice calls out through the speaker system

"Oh man. I'm late. I gotta hurry!", the voice of a woman in her early-to-mid 20s shouted out in a panicked tone as she rushed to get to the room she's required to be in. Despite trying her best to avoid running into either a coworker or a wall, she nearly did so, she managed to barely avoid hitting anything.

"Why is she always late, Aoba?", a man in a standard issue Nerv uniform wearing glasses asked another man, who has long hair"

"Beats me, Hyuga. With the exception of doing tasks and following Ritsuko around like a pet, she's hardly around, so who the hell knows what she's up to.", the long haired man in the Nerv uniform apparently named Aoba replied.

"Oh well. She'll be here as always.", Hyuga replied back. "At least she shows up period."

This woman in particular named Maya Ibuki is running through the hallways, trying to get to her destination the fastest she can. She has short black hair and is wearing the female variant of the Nerv uniform. She had joined Nerv a year ago and thus is the assistant to Dr. Ritsuko Akagi.

"Excuse me", Maya told some fellow Nerv employees as she continued to make her way to her destination

"Sorry i'm late.", Maya panted as she stepped inside the synch room commander center. Ritsuko rolled her eyes as she saw Maya make her way towards her post. Yui, on the other hand, just shrugged.

"Always late.", Ritsuko muttered to Yui.

"Yeah. I wonder why.", Yui replied.



Rei is now situated in her plug for the first time. "So this is it. I'm about to actually be inside this thing. Too bad all I have to do is sit inside it and relax. No combat. No action. Just sitting."

However, this orange stuff started to pour in, quickly filling the cockpit up.

"What is this orange crap that's coming in?", Rei panicked as she was confused by the sight she was witnessing."

"Don't worry. It's LCL. Breathable liquid. You'll be fine.", Yui told her as the liquid contiuned to fill Rei's cockpit

"Oh, the stench.", Rei blurted out as soon as she got a whiff of the LCL's smell and thus the entire cockpit was filled with the stuff...and then it vanished.

"Huh? Where's that orange juice crap?", Rei said to herself as she noticed that her cockpit wasn't filled with that stuff anymore, but instead, she was sent into a psychedelic blur of colors, lights and swirls, only to then find herself properly inside the Evangelion.

"Okay, Rei. All you need to do is relax and see if you can synchronize with your Evangelion.", Ritsuko told her while Yui nodded her head.

"So...I just relax and think happy thoughts?", Rei replied.

"Pretty much...unless you're in combat.", Mari then muttered, in which she can be heard through the Evangelion's inner speaker.

"So..okay, then. Just sit back and relax, right?", Rei asked.

"Exactly.", Yui told her and Rei did exactly that. Just sit back and relax.



"Wow. I didn't expect her to synch that well for just being in there for the first time', Ritsuko pondered.

"Yeah. Seems like that...there's a very strong bond between them. Almost like Rei's suddenly being back at something she lost years ago.", Yui replied

"Yes. And that means that she'll be very efficient in combat, in which the combat training will commence in a few days", Gendo responded. He then realized something and told his wife "I need some matters to accomplish right now. Excuse me"

"Alrighty, darling. I just hope you're not lying about something", Yui responded back.

"Don't worry, i'm not.", Gendo replied to Yui and left.



"Well. Since we got nothing else to do today, I might as well just kick back and play guitar", Aoba told his coworker Hyuga

"I can just watch tonight's programming while i'm at it.", Hyuga replied.

"I hope that doesn't mean another pointless documentary about the so-called 'great' Professor Naomi Mifune. In fact, what's the whole big deal about her?", Aoba asked.

"You see, Aoba", Hyuga replied "From what research I did on her, she was a brilliant mind. One of a kind in the field of robotics. Every mech made today has been influenced by Naomi's advancements in the field. Heck, I even heard that she was good friends with Ritsuko's mother, the creator of the MAGI before Naoko passed on.". He then turned his head towards Ritsuko and asked her "With that said, its obvious that you must have known Naomi well, right?"

"I don't want to even talk about her.", Ritsuko shrugged and walked out of the room.

"Odd.", Hyuga muttered at Ritsuko rejecting his offer at her to tell stories.

"Heck, with Maya being all hurdy gurdy about her 'senpai' Ritsuko, I wonder what she thinks about the so-called real innovator that is Naomi.", Aoba muttered

However, they both realized that Maya was no where to be found.

"Shit. She's gone again.", Aoba scoffed.

"Like always.", Hyuga replied "Heck, with the exception of during these tests with the children, meetings and when she's clinging behind Ritsuko, she's nowhere. Not even around town."

"Strange indeed.", Aoba spouted.



Inside a dark room. Gendo sat in a chair, with both hands in front of his face, clamped together.

"Commander Ikari.", a cold, deep, sinister, booming metallic voice then growled. "The old men better not be thinking about their own gain"

"Trust me, they are. In fact, once the Angels arrive, I assure you that the commitee will start popping up here more frequently.", Gendo replied to the voice.

All of a sudden, two red lights showed up and a black figure in a black cape walked into the view. A demonic looking helmet was where the lights were illuminating from.

"I hope you haven't told anyone of my presence yet, Commander Ikari", the figure then growled

"and if I did, Nerv would be ruined. You would be in front of the UN hearing various offences against you and the world would be doomed.", Gendo replied.

"Indeed. Also, i've heard that the old men have mentioned about something. Something they call 'The Human Instrumentality Project'. What exactly is this thing?", the figure asked.

"My wife Yui is opposed to it and if I considered it, she would kill me", Gendo replied

"Even if she passed on, would you consider it as an option?", the figure asked.

"Absolutely not. In life or even after death, I would not disobey my wife's wishes.", Gendo replied.

"So...have you kept my presence a secret from everyone else liked you promised a year ago?", the voice asked.

"Like I said from time to time, Dark One. The only person who knows you're here is me. No one else. Not Seele, not my wife, not Dr. Akagi, not Fuyutsuki. No one. Just me. Our meetings do not exist to everyone else except the two of us.", Gendo informed The Dark One.

"Good. Until we need to speak again, i'll be lurking, in the shadows.", The Dark One growled as he vanished into the shadows, leaving the room to be completely silent.

About a minute later, Yui, Fuyutsuki and Ritsuko walked in.

"So we shall discuss who we should send in to the first Angel battle when it happens?", Fuyutsuki asked Gendo.

"Rei needs her combat training", Gendo muttered. "and since Seele predicted that the Third Angel will not surface until the beginning of next year, we need to give her as much training as possible."

"But what about our son Shinji? We're not going to have him transfered until next year as well?", Yui ponded in a worried tone. "So if we're giving the First and Fifth Children so much training, why aren't we going to have our son over here until later?"

"He can wait", Gendo replied. "The Second is alreadly well trained enough, but we don't need her here yet, either and Kaji is off to be her guardian starting next Monday, so we're in good condition."

"I suppose", Ritsuko added in.



"After cleaning up in Nerv's own showers, Rei got back into her school uniform and said "Why..just why did I have to fall asleep in this monkey suit?"

"Like I said, Rei.", Mari told her "You look good in it"

Rei shrugged and said "Ugh. Let's go back to my place. I'm going to have to wear this thing again tomorrow, so I want to change into something better."

"Sounds great. Got any movies to play on your telly?", Mari asked.

"Yup. Let's go", Rei told Mari.



About 23 minutes later, Rei and Mari had both arrived at Rei's apartment room. The first thing Rei did (Besides taking her shoes off immediately before stepping into the door, which is a Japanese custom) was grab some sweatpants and a T-Shirt and ran into her bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

After switching clothes, she emerged from the bathroom wearing grey sweatpants and a plain dark grey T-Shirt.

"Real fancy, aren't you", Mari sarcastically muttered.

However, before they could do anything, they heard knocking at the door.

"I'll get it", Rei called out as she ran towards her front door. As she opened it, she saw Toji and Kensuke standing in front of the door.

"Well, here's today's school work.", Toji said as he handed Rei's schoolwork to her.

Kensuke caught Mari and called out to her "Since you're here too, here's your schoolwork of the day as well"

Mari then pranced towards Kensuke, snatched it from her hands and said "Thank you, handsome", and pranced back to Rei's couch. Kensuke began to gasp over the fact that Mari was right in front of him, until Toji nugged him in the side with his elbow.

"So...can we come in?", Toji asked Rei.

"Sure thing. Me and Mari was going to watch a movie, but you guys can come in and join us.", Rei told them.

"Great.", Toji replied, in which he and Kensuke took off their shoes and stepped inside.



"So...what movie are we going to watch?", Mari asked.

"This movie", Rei replied as she held up a DVD case of a movie called Streets of Mayhem

"The hell is that?", Mari replied "It looks like some real bollocks schlock"

"Oh come on, Mari" Rei told her "Its a fun action movie"

"Oh great. I love them crazy action films", Kensuke joyfully screamed.



About 30 minutes into the movie, we saw a big man walking around, beating up various gangbangers and punks in various gruesome fashion. Some guy with nunchucks walked up to the main guy and muttered 'I will take you down, big man.". However, he stood no chance to the main guy's shotgun, blowing him away.

"Wow. I never expected this babe to like these kind of movies", Toji remarked

"See. Everyone has a surprise in them", Rei replied.

They then took a look at Rei's guitar and Kensuke said "Hey! Don't you play guitar?"

"Yeah.", Rei responded.

"Can you play on it for us?", Toji asked

"I broke a string the other day.", Rei said as she frowned "Do you know anyone town that plays guitar?"

"Nope.", Toji replied.

"Not at all.", Kensuke added

However, Mari suddenly stood up and said "Wait. There's that one guy that works for Nerv. He's got long hair and it seems like that when he's not working, he air guitars and reads various music magazines, so when you get the chance, you should ask him"

"Great.", Rei replied. "Thansk for telling me. I'll do that when we're needed back there."



As it got late, Toji, Kensuke and Mari had to leave, so they left and once again, Rei was by herself. To make sure she wouldn't repeat what she did the night before, she got into her pajamas, turned the TV and lights off and went to bed.

Another great laid back chapter.
The Dark one? I wonder...

I don't think it'll be too long before things start picking up, because I like to get the ball rolling

DevRei17 wrote:Can't wait for it!
Will Rei and Shinji trained together and have a “Both of you, dance like you want to win!” type fight?

I have no clue how that fight will happen, though having Asuka actually getting the shaft in that operation this time MIGHT happen (Unlike where the brat got her way in the series and manga)

Asuka getting the shaft?
Such pleasent words to my ears.

Well...sometimes she will, but others Rei and Mari's requests will be (Sadly) shot down by Misato, saying that since Asuka lives with her, she gets first dibs to be in the missions while Rei is shafted to back-up (Of course, this isn't smart, due to Unit 00 being a lot more effective and stronger than it was in the original series, manga and Rebuild)

Heck, even Mari tries to ask Misato if she & Asuka could switch positions (Since Mari does a lot of underground survelliance), but again, it doesn't happen :(


But how exactly the events from when Shinji and Asuka show up until when Unit 03 gets transferred...I don't know what exactly will happen

I think you can make Asuka suffer a little by not letting her get all the spotlight.

Another nice little build up episode ya got there GasMask, I love how NERV seems to have a rule or bylaw somewhere that specifically states that no new Eva pilot can in any situation no matter how dire ever be told prehand about the fact their lungs are going to be pumped full of LCL though I'm still waiting for someone to do a scene where someone shows a pilot vomiting back up that shit after the fight (looks like that will have to wait until I do my fic ).