With all of the outbursts happening in the room, Isaac felt like this was going to be an interesting group of people. All of them had unusual traits that he had never seen in a normal boy or girl. He wasn't exactly sure if this was a good thing or not. With all of the exclamations for 'when was lunch', Isaac soon realized that he hadn't ate since coming to Tokyo-3.

When Doctor Johann revealed the news about them having to go to school here in Tokyo-3 Isaac thought that it was....interesting. The idea was exciting, but when he thought about the other children in school he couldn't help my smile about it. They weren't normal, but then again what fourteen year old was exactly normal. Going to school would probably to help the children live a somewhat normal life while doing whatever Nerv had in mind.

At Katla's outburst and her leaving the room, Isaac felt a bit worried for the girl. Girls his age never acted that way. Period. Maybe she is nervous about the whole thing like he was. Standing up slowly, Isaac decided to follow after the girl, "Yeah, lunch would be great right now. I haven't had anything since getting here." Isaac paused his speech as he started to walk out of the room and continued talk while nervously brushing the back of his head. "I'll be right back. I just need to use the restroom."

While leaving the room he looked down the hallway and saw Katla staring at the wall as if there was something there. At a closer look Isaac wasn't sure if he could see her lips moving or not. When Isaac got close enough, he opened opened his mouth and began to talk nervously."Hey..uhhh.." While blushing, Isaac tried to recall her and began to think if she even mentioned it. "Are you ok? You seemed a bit uneasy in there." Isaac nervously said as he pointed to the room that the came from. " I just wanted to make sure you're doing ok with being here and all. You seemed almost as nervous as I was about this whole moving here and all."

When the doctor reveled that all of them were going to be going to school, Akio felt a little uneasy. Excited at the prospect of going to a some what normal school after going to a private school up to this point, he was also apprehensive about being around a bunch of new people.

"WHEN IS LUNCH?" Katla blurted.

Akio quickly turned his head to look as Katla quickly excused herself from the room. Her outburst reminded him of when his two older brothers still lived at home and all of their antic's they would pull each day. Akio smiled as he began to warm up just a little to this new group of people. While they all share one common thing, being an Eva pilot, they are each different in so many ways. Akio began to relax a little.

He began to scratch the back of his head and said "Come to think of it, I am kind of hungry."

Johann sighed. Clearly this was a losing battle.
"Alright, you're all dismissed for now. The cafeteria is a few levels up, you can't miss it. Don't leave the building until you meet up with the Major though. I'll send her along to deal with the rest of your orientation." He explained, thoroughly giving up. Making his way out of the room, he headed back for the Command Centre. All of this data now needed looked at and processed. Also, if he could find the time he would change 04's designation to 'Huge Bitch'.

Tokei eyed Katla with mild amusement as she hurriedly left the conference room. Returning her gaze to the doctor, she heard him say, "Don't leave the building until you meet up with the Major, though. I'll send her along to deal with the rest of your orientation." Her gaze tracked him as he exited the room.

It wasn't in her nature to think about how her behavior had affected anybody else during the conference. Tokei stood up, reflexively brushing the nonexistent grime from her plugsuit as if she were back at her old R&D lab. "I'm off to the cafeteria. See you guys there," she announced. Without waiting for reactions, Tokei made her way over to the door, letting herself out.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Tokei immediately began walking in the opposite direction from where she had made out her destination to be. The guards hadn't even covered her eyes when they removed her from the bay, and her memory was near-photographic. Walking as briskly as she could without attracting too much attention, Tokei began making her way towards Bay-03. Whether the doctor liked it or not, she was going to complete her tests. Mother, I promise you at least that much.

"Quite the display child, I can hear your embarassment from here.."
"Mother, you're becoming increasingly rude in your manifestations...I'd appreciate it if you could revert back to your kindness and dismiss yourself to the nearest afterlife."
"She has jokes now... I'm just trying to help you Kitty, you know those other pilots in the room just want to hurt you. They work for NERV remember? You know what they did to your father and I... you know they took away the childhood you never had...Look at that Isaac kid, spoiled rotten because he never had the displeasure of growing up tied to this organization! And pilot of unit 04, you just know the minute you get into your EVAs she's going to take advantage of you my sweet, sweet girl..."

Katla was covering her ears now, bursting inside with these self-doubts.. Her mother was partially right, nothing good could come of this agency. But for now, play it safe, keep to your research, check out the lab, compare your notes to the doctors for now, and above all keep CALM. Katla turned back to her mother "You're right Mamma... I-"

Kat suddenly became aware of footsteps coming up behind her, "Hey...uhhh...Are you ok? You seemed a bit uneasy in there." It was the Commanders son, she new it from the picture she had received in her files at Bethany.

"I just wanted to make sure you're doing ok with being here and all. You seemed almost as nervous as I was about this whole moving here and all" he continued. She turned slowly to face him, the first real time she got a good look at one of the other pilots.. Golden eyes, messy brown hair.. He was an American, and his demeanor almost nothing like his fathers. Katla stood up straight..."I'm fine, minor complications due to the poor ventilation systems in the common rooms--probably due to the ax2 filters they've constructed in the bay wings in the geofront, I'll recuperate shortly after I've had some sustenance." Silence..."I was just heading to the cafeteria.." she quickly added.

Tokei's slender frame walked out of the room, her graceful movement, fluid motion, and strength in her frame were all red flags in Kat's eyes, she was an excellent pilot. Her heart fluttered at the idea of someone loving EVA as much as she, and was already planning opportune moments to get to know her. She let out a dreamy sigh, and her frame of sight returned to Isaac's waiting face..

"Oh! I-.. I'm not nervous about piloting whatsoever, it is my calling... EVA is a wonderful thing that completes me, cradles me in its warm LCL, protecting me from the evil's of the world." Her words started to wander ..."EVA is my... home...eva is my..." Flashes of her mother and father started before her eyes, before she snapped out of it..

"I have to go! S-see you in the cafeteria!" Kat ran down the corridor after Tokei when she suddenly noticed that she wasn't heading to the cafeteria.. but to Bay 03.

And just like that, the room emptied. Hey, what'd I miss? Raglan snapped out of his daze. He was bright. Very bright, but that made him prone to zoning out - Believing he already knew, or had been briefed, on everything important already. The doctor and other pilots had gone without him. Damn it, why'd they leave me alone here? The initial meet had been a bit of a joke. The doctor wasn't suited for the role, but Raglan didn't blame him - The Commander had probably dumped the responsibility on him at the last minute. The mysterious Commander Kenny, living up to his reputation as usual. Heh.

Hefting his bag over shoulder, Raglan hurried out the door in pursuit.

---

He found most of the others in the cafeteria, just starting to eat and exchanging words here and there. Grinning, he approached the table and gave a nod to the group. The seat opposite Kenny was vacant. "You're Isaac, right?" Raglan said offering his hand.
"Yep, that's right... But how...", Isaac shook his hand, his sentence trailing off.
"Ah, I guess I'm vaguely familiar with all the other pilots. Not personally. Just through reports, files and stuff. I have a lot of free time back on Tabgha, so I dive into work sometimes. But you're a new recruit, it must all be pretty daunting, I'm sure - I'll bet Major Kiyoshi will brief you properly later though. After all, there are supposed to be procedures, regardless of some of the other pilots actions, and Dr Idle's behaviour back at the briefing. Excuse me a moment..." Raglan went and ordered a hamburger and a ginger ale. FOC, of course. The food pickings at Nerv HQ we're infinitely more agreeable than what they had back on the moon. He returned to his seat, food and drink in hand.

"...So Isaac, what kind of music you into?"

Qi watched as everyone dispersed for lunch. Back at Golgotha meals were delivered to the staff, so the idea of going to get it was something new. Getting up, he walked out of the room only to nearly be bowled over by Katla. Looking either way, it occurred to him, the Doctor had said the Cafeteria was somewhere above, but how to get there was another matter entirely. Looking towards the direction the Unit-05 pilot had taken off in, he followed leisurely. At the very least he might be able to ask her for directions if nothing else. Humming to himself, he began to wonder how long this trip would last.

Shirou watched as Tokei practically sprang from her chair and left the room. He had intended to chat with her about her Eva - since his brothers were currently working on it, maybe they could help ensure that maintenance went well. He too took to his feet, but most of the others had made it out of the room already. He sighed, and headed to the door. "See you around, Doc," he said to Idle with a wave.

He headed to the elevator, which he noted had just departed this floor. "What misfortune," he muttered. He glanced about for an easily accessible set of stairs. Upon seeing none, he simply pushed the up button, and waited. Note to self, find a map of this place. If I can't climb on the catwalks, I can at least make stairs fun. Not to mention it has to be faster than this, he thought, watching the numbers tick up, and then back down. Finally, the door opened with a ding.

He stepped in, and then reached an immediate problem - Johann hadn't mentioned a specific floor. He began to panic - What should I do? I... I could press all the buttons and check at each floor. No, no, that's a terrible idea.

(OOC NOTE: I'm about to do something I just remembered from another RP, and if Atropos likes this idea I will update my post with the ensuing conversation. If not, I'll just change the following bit to be a hapless staffer. Typically this sort of thing is done with prior planning, but I thought it would be a good idea to introduce now. See the original thread for explanation)

Thankfully, he was interrupted by a hurried "Hold the door!" He obliged, and was somewhat relieved to see Shiori, the only pilot from HQ, enter the elevator and push a floor button.

"I'm glad I ran into you - wasn't sure which floor the cafeteria was on. Don't think we've been introduced yet though, I'm Shirou," he said, offering his hand in greeting.

"Pleased to meet you," she said, taking it. "It's nice to finally have some other pilots around. Do you think we'll get along?"

He was about to answer this, but Shiori followed through on her current train of thought.

"Now, Johann seemed pretty tense in there, but he's not really that unkind. I've spoken with him a few times, and he seems to actually care about us, y'know, as people. The Commander's a scary guy. To tell you the truth, he doesn't actually talk about Isaac that much; that was a lie."

"Eh, he seemed pretty on edge because of what's her name. I mean, she seemed pretty tense herself," he agreed. He thought for a moment, processing the second half of her statement. "Wait, so why did you lie about it? Was the Doctor telling him the truth? I mean, I joined because my father, brothers," he paused, "and mom, thought it was worth doing, and the research seems interesting, but it's like he just got pulled in out of nowhere."

He sighed. "I mean, Isaac - that's his name right? Isaac seems like a pretty good person, but he really doesn't know what he's getting into. Sorry I'm kind of ranting - it just doesn't seem like a good start. I mean, I think we'll all get along just fine, but it'll take time. Some of the others seem a little odd at times, but quirky can be a good thing in a friend, right miss...?"

Shirou couldn't recall having heard her name. He furrowed his eyebrows. He couldn't recall having been told anyone's name besides Dr. Idle, and Isaac just now. Sure, there were probably pilot reports he could have read or something, but he preferred to do things the old fashioned way.

"Shiori Takatsuki, the First Girl," she said. "As for why I lied? Because how would you feel, if your dad hated you? I mean, my dad's the only person left in the world for me. If he just up and left..."

Shirou grimaced. He understood all too well. His dad almost lost it when his mom died. If his brothers hadn't also been around, he was sure his dad's condition would have spiraled out of control. He knew his father didn't hate any of them - he just didn't know what to do without his wife. Thankfully, he'd gotten back on his feet and was as jovial as ever. But if I projected his attitude out from that time...

"I guess I didn't want to hurt him," she finally said. "Like you said, he doesn't know what he's getting into. We might as well try to ease the transition...I must be coming off like a total mental case right now. I'm not this bad most of the time, really!"

"I'll see you later," she said, and sprang out of the elevator as soon as it opened. Shirou reached out his hand and opened his mouth to stop her, but it was aborted before the sound came out of his vocal chords. He sighed, and exited, following the noise to the cafeteria.

I'unno, she didn't seem crazy to me.

Upon reaching the cafeteria, he entered the line and took in the selections with glee. Eden base didn't have much choice for logistical reasons. As he reached the front of the line, one selection stood out for him, and he pumped his fist with glee before stepping to the front and saying, "I'd like the fish and chips please."

He took an empty next to the other pilots, and removed his gloves before starting to dig in. He savored the food, the wonderful crunch, the subtle punch of vinegar, the smell... Good heavens, he could get used to food like this. He somewhat listened to the other pilots, but was thinking about all sorts of things.

(OOC: I am posting before Shiori, but what Isaac has to say does not relate to what is going on with Shiori. I can re-post this later if it becomes a problem.)

"I'm fine, minor complications due to the poor ventilation systems in the common rooms--probably due to the ax2 filters..." ax2 Filters?"..they've constructed in the bay wings in the geofront, I'll recuperate shortly after I've had some sustenance." What is she talking about? "I was just heading to the cafeteria.."

Isaac started to think about how different Katla was. Not just physically, but in the way she talked and acted. None of these people are normal. He saw her eyes stare beyond him for a moment and then she blurted something else out before Isaac could say anything. "Oh! I-.. I'm not nervous about piloting whatsoever, it is my calling... EVA is a wonderful thing that completes me, cradles me in its warm LCL, protecting me from the evil's of the world." Ok...she's either never been outside to see what the world has to offer, or she's crazy."EVA is my... home...eva is my..."

Isaac had a concerned look on his face. Was she really that stable to pilot and Evangelion? Not that Isaac even understood how people piloted them, or what an Evangelion was in the first place, but he was concerned for the girl's well being. There's more to life than piloting... "If you want maybe we-"

Isaac was cut off before he could even continue speaking. "I have to go! S-see you in the cafeteria!" With that last phrase, he saw the white haired girl run off in the opposite direction of the cafeteria, not that Isaac knew that. Before he could walk that way, he saw the other children walk towards an elevator and thought it was best to follow the crowd instead of the strange white haired girl.

____________________________________________________________

"...So Isaac, what kind of music you into?"

Isaac focused back into the conversation. He found himself incredibly hungry, but couldn't eat much of the Yokisoba Noodles he had ordered. He was so rapped up in his thoughts on the whole situation that he didn't feel like eating. "Music...I like pretty much everything. I think that you can find good in all different types of genres. Right now I have been listening to Sonic Youth, John Coltrane, Yo La Tengo, The Sword and FIDLAR. They all range from different types of styles. I guess I don't like being bound to any particular music." He started to like Raglan. He seemed like a good guy who was more normal...maybe...than the other children. "So I gotta ask, is it scary being in an Evangelion? Like does it make you paranoid or something?" Isaac thought as he remembered how driven Tokei was to be near her Evangelion and how much Katla loved her Evangelion. I wish I knew what it was like so I could understand how they felt.

"Hell, I probably won't pilot one since everyone else is already well oriented with piloting haha." He chuckled hoping that it was true. He wasn't sure why Nerv needed pilots, but he assumed it wasn't for building purposes.

Shiori left the conference room and quickly ducked into a nearby water closet. She grabbed an unoccupied stall and pulled out her notepad.

Isaac Kenny, she wrote. Pilot of Unit-01. Visibly reacted when I told him about father - use that. Knows nothing about what's going on here.
Akio Inoue: No impressions? Has a brother.
Tokei Akai: Egotistic. A nobody who climbed her way through the ranks by her own teeth, or someone chosen by fate? Observe.
Katla Whatever: INSANE. Definite issues. Observe.
Raglan Wyngarde: Kind enough - would do anything for a friend? Stay on good side.
Jie Qi: Spent most of the meeting staring at people silently. Possibly psychopathic.
Shirou Karigane: Most normal guy here - most probable to sway into our side.

She looked at the notepage briefly. Seems like a good pick, she thought to herself. Uh...let's check out Karigane first.
She left the washroom and looked for an elevator. As luck would have it, when she rounded the corner, Shirou himself was standing outside one, a light already on.
The doors opened, and he stepped inside.
"Hold the door!" Shiori shouted, running down the hallway. He obliged, allowing her to slip in. She pressed the floor button - A-6, the lowest floor above Central Dogma.
"I'm glad I ran into you - wasn't sure which floor the cafeteria was on. Don't think we've been introduced yet though, I'm Shirou," he said, offering his hand in greeting.
"Nice to meet you," she said, taking it. "And nice to finally have some other pilots around. Do you think we'll get along?"
As the doors shut, she was still talking.
"Now, Johann seemed pretty tense in there, but he's not really that unkind. I've spoken with him a few times, and he seems to actually care about us, y'know, as people. The Commander's a scary guy. To tell you the truth, he doesn't actually talk about Isaac that much; that was a lie."

Akio followed the others out of the conference room. Confused by the layout of the base, since it is much larger than the MIT base is, he remembered that he grabbed a map on his way in earlier and pulled it out.

"Ah... the Cafeteria is one floor up... so I should take this elevator here then." He said to himself. Noticing that most of the others had already gone up together and the second elevator containing Shirou and Shiori was leaving, he went up alone on the last remaining elevator.

Upon arriving in the cafeteria Akio noticed most of the others were sitting together and getting acquainted with each other. He walked up to the counter to see what was on the menu for today's lunch. One of his favorites, meat and vegetables with yakisoba noodles was featured so he smiled and ordered it.

Upon receiving his lunch Akio walked over where everyone else was sitting "Hi I'm Akio" He then stuck his hand out sheepishly, waiting for someone to shake hands with him.

Tokei peeked around a corner, checking for staff or security. Whether it was simply good timing or luck, the passageway was deserted. Tokei slipped out from behind the wall and walked over to the sealed entryway to the third bay. The guard had used a keycard to open it, but the seals always had manual opening devices in the event of an emergency. Tokei found it in seconds, wrapping the fingers of her plugsuit around the handle and pulling. With a pinch of effort, the casing came free, exposing the crank. If she had tried to turn it at that moment, the door would have opened; it would also have triggered an evacuation alarm. Tokei reached behind the crank, feeling around until she found the override panel. If she had a screwdriver, she could have turned the alarm device off in seconds. However, the situation required a bit more ingenuity than that. She was reaching in to remove a portion of the mechanism when she heard the footsteps echoing down the corridor. Someone had come in her direction. Without checking to see if it was staff, a pilot, or merely a lab technician, Tokei yanked the crank to one side, opening the door as little as possible. In the same movement, she grabbed the panel she had torn off and shoved it into the sensor that would detect the opening of the door. Whoever was following would see it and instantly know that there was someone in the bay, but it would give her the extra ten seconds. She hoped that nobody had actually been inside of the bay to observe her break in. It would have been disastrous to sabotage a security system only to be staring several lab techs in the face.

Tokei found herself near the top of the bay, where the technicians would have normally prowled around to keep an eye on the release bolts and hydraulic mechanisms. Ignoring subtlety, Tokei dashed down the narrow metal staircase, past the lock bolt of the left shoulder, finally arriving at the entry plug device. Following the movements of several years past, she slapped the control panel next to the plug and leapt into it, seconds before the lid slid shut. The actions would have triggered staff, letting them know that the Eva had started activation, but she was taking precautions this time. Nobody was removing her from that Eva.

In a normal plug, she could have sat down and have been ready to go. However, the configuration of this one made it almost as if the pilot was flying inside the Eva, in a skydiver's stance; belly down, arms out. Tokei carefully slid herself off the top of the seat and maneuvered herself into operating stance, snatching the spare neural clips off of the pilot handgrips. The plug clanked as it was sealed into position.

Most units activated on their own, with only the help of technicians. Being a test unit, this one was different. The pilot was capable of running the entire thing solo.

“Authorization Crimson-4. Pilot Tokei. LCL fill.” The unit responded, pumping the orange liquid into the plug. “Reject all incoming signals. Initiate contact.” The plug walls flashed in their customary spectrum of color, before granting her a full view of the bay.

The unit's eyes winked on.

Tokei ritually cracked her fingers, preparing to start the diagnostic test. Her unit couldn’t lift off, but it could still be configured. Tokei ritually cracked her knuckles.

“Full neural stimulation of biological sections, checklists on appendages to be filled to level 2250 and displayed plugside, weapons to be disarmed and calibrated. Begin full diagnostic.”

"So thats how you disable the intra-lock without setting off alarms.." Katla whispered to herself with a smirk. Tokei's frame was huddled around the manual crank, her body almost cocooning over it to keep people from seeing. Her sudden jerking motion of shoving the sensor into the frame startled Katla, and she whipped back behind the corner she was peeking from.

Kat heard movements from pilot 04 but was still too panicked to peek, she knew that Tokei got into the bay, and she had also managed to sabotage the alarm system. How badly she wanted to see her own EVA.. and it seemed that the fourth child was the only one who understood that ache. "Another time I guess..." Katla muttered to herself.

The base echoed with hums of the mainframe and engineers, "I guess this is home now..." She reached her hand into her sweater pulling out a necklace with a crystal vial and a mysterious orange liquid with subtle hints of warm red swirls. She delicately unscrewed the top, breathing in the scent "...momma."

Listening to Isaac's reply, Raglan was impressed. Not too shabby at all. It's going to be nice being able to talk serious music with someone at least. In his experience, Nerv staff didn't really have time for music. But those were the scientists he was thinking of mostly. The technicians and security personnel were all too eager with their AC/DC and what-have-you.

"So I gotta ask, is it scary being in an Evangelion? Like does it make you paranoid or something? Hell, I probably won't pilot one since everyone else is already well oriented with piloting, haha." The question kind of caught Raglan off guard, but he returned with a faultless grin nonetheless;
"Ah, truthfully, I couldn't really tell you unfortunately - I've never actually been in a completed or active unit myself. Only simulation body exercises [OOC: See here], which is kind of like VR routines. But.... It's really something we should probably wait for the Major to inform you of. I think... Yeah... I think it's a lot to take in. It's... It's a very important duty."
Isaac already seemed a bit taken aback by the course of events so far. Raglan didn't want to drop on him the fact that he may be piloting one of mankind's Ultimate All-Purpose Humanoid Decisive Battle Weapons; the Evangelion. That was a duty best left to someone else. An adult. Like Raglan mentioned earlier; there are supposed to be procedures for pilot induction, surely.

At the same time, the other half of the question smarted at Raglan. Does it make you paranoid or something? He simply couldn't say. He didn't know, and he hated not knowing. As well briefed as he was, his clearance wasn't anything above or different than most regular Nerv employees, and he didn't want the others to see his lacking. But, there's something else I won't say as well, Raglan thought. The fact that piloting the Evangelion may be...
The image of the Mark.06's massive form, laid across a barren white landscape appeared to him. Silent. Formidable. Mysterious. Unmoving. Alien. He quickly suppressed the line of thought.

Focusing on finishing his burger, Raglan washed the lunch down with his drink. Yep. The food here was going to be something to remark upon. He was already looking forward to trying some decent ramen or beef bowl later on, his grin turning into a genuine smile, if only for the barest moment. But it wasn't really the food. He guessed he was just relieved to finally be away from Tabgha and back on Terra Firma. He felt like he could finally breathe, resisting the urge to rub his throat.

"Hi I'm Akio", the newcomer said a tad sheepishly. Raglan greeted Akio and invited him to take a seat at the table.

Qi smiled as usual as he followed Katla and in turn, Tokei deeper into Nerv HQ. He had already surmised this was not the way to the cafeteria, mostly because the way here included stairs going down, but not up. Never the less, food was the least of his concerns. After all, plain boiled rice was his favourite, and you could get that just about anywhere.

Turning the corner, he stopped abruptly as he saw Katla, having herself stopped at the next corner on. Qi smiled brighter, flexing his fingers. Slinking up behind her, his feet didn't make a sound on the old tiled floor. Reaching out a slender hand, before he laid it on her, he caught a glimpse of her hands. The vial of liquid in her hand as she barely breathed a word.
"...momma." Qi's hand recoiled, his face changing from his cheerful disposition to one of confusion. Taking a step closer, his hand shot out.

Katla jumped as his hand wrapped around hers, his other palm against her back to steady her. He beamed at her.
"Sorry to startle you like this, I would have called out, but I didn't want you to spill it." He removed his hands, his eyes going to the vial then back to Katla. "You should be more careful with things so precious." he nodded, turning to look down the corridor Katla had been standing at. His eyes drifted from the emergency release to the cover jammed in the door. "Follow me, you're worried about her too, right?" he said brightly, leading the way. He probably wouldn't have even noticed the release had Tokei not already been through, but using her ground work, he knew exactly how to proceed. Reaching into the emergency release, he found the panel Tokei was trying to remove. From Katla's perspective, there was a sudden twist of Qi's elbow before he pulled the release. The door slid open, the jammed cover clattering to the ground, but no sound of alarms. Qi continued into the Bay undaunted.

Entering, he stared up at Unit-04. It was different from his own Eva, completely alien to him, and yet it seemed to suit its pilot very well. A myriad of equipment, testing material, schematics, it was a work in progress as she strived for something that Qi couldn't understand. Stifling his curiosity, he looked up as the eyes of the Eva came alive, his regular smile returning.
"Miss..." he hit a block. "Hm, now that I think about it, you never mentioned your name... " he muttered to himself before calling out again. "Miss Unit-04 Pilot, I don't think you're supposed to be in there." Qi called out cheerily. Heading onto the service elevator that would bring him to the Eva's shoulder level, he hummed quite contentedly.

"...Isaac seems like a pretty good person, but he really doesn't know what he's getting into. Sorry I'm kind of ranting - it just doesn't seem like a good start. I mean, I think we'll all get along just fine, but it'll take time. Some of the others seem a little odd at times, but quirky can be a good thing in a friend, right miss...?"

"Shiori Takatsuki, the First Girl," she said. "Well...I lied, because how would you feel, if your dad hated you? I mean, my dad's the only person left in the world for me. If he just up and left..."
She trailed off, lost in her own thoughts.
"I guess I didn't want to hurt him," she finally said. "Like you said, he doesn't know what he's getting into. We might as well try to ease the transition...I must be coming off like a total mental case right now. I'm not this bad most of the time, really!" She giggled nervously, then lapsed into silence.
When they reached their floor, she practically jumped out.
"I'll see you later," she said to Shirou, and then ran off. She did not go to the cafeteria; she hid in a janitor's closet.
Damn it, Shiori, she thought. You really just had to tell him everything, didn't you?
She buried her head in her knees.

"Ah, truthfully, I couldn't really tell you unfortunately - I've never actually been in a completed or active unit myself. Only simulation body exercises, which is kind of like VR routines. But.... It's really something we should probably wait for the Major to inform you of. I think... Yeah... I think it's a lot to take in. It's... It's a very important duty." Very Important duty?... The three words seemed to echo in his head as he thought about Nerv and what their purpose was. I need to know what I'm getting myself into. I'm not getting answers from these guys. I'm sure they feel this whole situation is best explained through an adult....but that isn't good enough!

Hearing the new comer Akio join the table, it was nice to have someone else be a part of the conversation. Both Akio and Raglan were really nice to be around. They began to converse with one another for a while regarding their hobbies and what they liked to do for fun. Akio was very interested into video games while Ranglan shared similar taste's in music. Maybe I misjudged them..sure they were all a bit eccentric, but I'm sure I appeared the same way to them.

"Well, I'm going to throw away my food. I'll be right back." Isaac stood up and walked away from the table to throw away the barley eaten Yakisoba Noodles. This was good, but I'm not feeling to hungry right now Isaac thought to himself while dumping the food into the garbage. Looking around the cafeteria, Isaac realized how big and busy it got in the last thirty minutes. Isaac looked back at the table, gave Akio and Raglan sign indicating 'be right back'. Isaac walked out of the cafeteria and made his way through the base. I need to find out what is going on here myself. I'm sick of not knowing what I'm getting myself into. With that thought, Isaac knew who he needed to find. I...I need to find my father and have him explain everything to me. Not just what an Evangelion or what Nerv's purpose is, but why he left me. the problem with this task is that he didn't know what his dad looked like, but he had the feeling he would know who he was after seeing him.

Upon entering the elevator, Isaac looked at the mass amount of buttons and tried to figure out which one to push. there was one particular button near the bottom that seemed different. Pushing the button, Isaac felt the Elevator move down the shaft for what seemed like an hour and tried to rationalize what he was doing.

As the elevator reached it's destination, it almost startled Isaac. When leaving the elevator, the hallways were absolutely empty of any occupants. "Hello?" Isaac said as his voice seemed to carry for a while and continued to proceed into nothingness. "Maybe I should head back..." he said under his breath, but his body felt different. Feeling anxious about being here, Isaac began to navigate through the corridors that eventually led him to a point where it was too dark to navigate. Isaac pulled out his phone and used the screen as a source of light through the poorly lit hallways.

Raglan Greeted Akio and invited him to take a seat at the table.

"Thanks" Akio said, smiling. He sat down and began to quickly eat. As he ate, he talked with Issac and Raglan about their different interests and hobbies. "I find that a good video game pulls you in and keeps you there, much like a good book" Akio said at one point, taking note of Raglan and Issac's taste's in music and comparing them to his own. It's so nice being able to relate to these people in some other ways, rather than just being a pilot Akio thought.

"Well, I'm going to throw away my food. I'll be right back." Issac said as he got up from the table. Akio noticed he had barely eaten any of his food and began to feel a little concerned about Issac's well being at the time. Watching as Issac stepped out of the cafeteria, motioning that he will be right back, Akio began to think. Maybe I should go after him and see if he is okay?... No maybe not, he probably just needs some time alone to take in everything that's happened today.

Akio finished his lunch. "So I wonder when we are going to meet the Major?" He exclaimed. "I have a few questions I need to ask, like when my belongings are going to arrive and how our living accommodations are going to be setup." He got up from the table, walked over to the tray return and put his tray into the slot and then walked back to the table and sat back down, expecting the announcement about the meeting to come at anytime.

Tokei winced, the pins-and-needles sensation flooding through her limbs. As the Eva calibrated each of its limbs, the nerves would be given a slight stimulation in the area being tested. The sensation slowly faded away, a coolness radiating in waves somewhere from her core, brushing away the feeling from the center of her body outwards. Tokei breathed in the scent of the LCL, relaxing. She was at home inside the Eva; this was where she belonged.

She examined the green matrix that had superimposed itself over the view of the bay. It was a 3-D model of her Eva, outlined in green neon lines. As she watched, each appendage blinked several times before filling its outline with the same neon green color.

Tokei once again spoke into the plug, “Deactivate checklist. Display synch ratio and weapons status.” The matrix blinked, switching to a screen displaying her brainwaves and another two screens with her weapon status. She surveyed her synch ratio, pleased with the result: a solid 96%.

As she was about to begin her weapon calibration, something flickered in her field of vision. She turned her gaze away from the test in front of her, only to observe that somebody else had entered the bay. Tokei swore briefly, watching the boy as he called the service elevator. “Run tests double speed. Disregard nervous stimulation degree.” Toke braced herself, before an incredible wave of pain burst over her knees and shoulders. Tokei gritted her teeth as the sensation passed, the outlines of the weapons blinking green. I guess I can’t run test number three yet, mom. Sorry about that.

The tests complete, Tokei dictated to the plug, “Deactivate checklist.” The plug obliged, the green matrix vanished. Tokei turned her attention to the boy that had followed her in, glad that she had set the signal rejection earlier. He wasn’t removing her from her plug. Tokei pressed a button on her hand controls, activating the external loudspeaker that had been used to warn technicians about movement. Knowing her words would carry loud and clear to the intruder, she spoke into the plug, “You should stand back. This is dangerous.”

"Follow me, you're worried about her too, right?" And with that, the boy waltzed off into the holding bay.

"Strange child that one..." Kat's mother appeared next to her.. "If you want to get to know these other children, you do know that you need to talk to them right?" Katla continued watching Tokei and Qi in silence..“You should stand back. This is dangerous.” came from the external speakers on the EVA. The sound echoed throughout the room, bringing joy to the fifth pilot. The EVA is awake... She said with a faint smile on her face.

Suddenly, a tapping could be heard, snapping her out of her observations. Katla's mother was walking towards the bay's catwalk. What does she think she's DOING?! In a panic Kat called after her mother in hurried, frantic whispers.. "MOTHER!"

"What do you think would happen if I pulled this alarm on the wall kitty?"
"MOTHER PLEASE! STOP!" Her whispy fingers clutched onto the handle slowly and deliberately.. her vapor-like knuckles slowly gained color and opacity.

"I'm doing this for you..."

The lever began to descend and Katla rushed into the room,running as fast as she could, threw herself up against the alarm, and locked the lever back into place. Nothing could be heard but her heavy breathing, and the sounds of the other pilots on the other side of the wall. They hadn't noticed.

Kat's mother disappeared in small plumes of her floral scent, wafting into nothingness. Panting, the fifth child pulled herself away from the wall, and skulked out, back into the cool hallway.