Intermission (What's going on here?) Part 2

Meanwhile, outside Gendo's office . . .

Major Misato is not in a good way right now. Someone who she'd cared for under her command has gone missing, assumed killed.

And DAMNIT it wasn't FAIR! Here it was, though for unknown reasons and just HOW, a bunch of strangers (some with appearance out of myth for God's sake) come out of nowhere and actually defeated an Angel and in the process saving Rei's unit (and her life . . . she'd been only seconds away from throwing the self destruct, despite Misato's frantic orders to eject her Entry Plug and escape).

Oh, for whatever reasons afterwards Rei HAD ejected (in delirium from the aftereffects of nearly being assimilated, Misato guessed).

However . . .

Rei's capsule was found . . . in pieces. Exploded!

Rei was . . . dead. DEAD! Her life snatched out of the cruel jaws of death and only to be victim of some kind of malfunction, cause unknown.

She was . . .a bundle of nerves, shall we say. An emotional wreck.

She hadn't cried like this since she'd nearly lost Shinji, earlier on from another incident (Angel related, of course).

She really hated Angels, and this latest wasn't helping. . .

There had been odd reports of strange contacts. Indeed, she'd heard of one rumor of out of a squad of soldiers who'd been around gaurding and patrolling the area of Unit 00's resting place of . . .

Soldier's being ATTACKED. One patrol had been nearly wiped totally out, with a lone survivor who HAD defeated the . . . wizard (?). Right now Section 2 (the "spook section") was interrogating him for details. There had also been stupid rumors about some kind of strange book the wizard had that had everyone who came near it getting the "heebie- jeebies" (now under strict quarantine and control somewhere in NERV, somewhere).

There had also been reports of some kind of attack where another group had been attacked (or provoked an attack) by some short, humanoid . . . foxes (kitsune from old?). Some of the more seriously injured had been touch and go, but were now stable (again rumor).

Then somebody had been complaining about something about a lot of vending machines having been ransacked (and he couldn't have gotten his coffee fix whilst on break), but . . . but . . .

Hm, that last one would have been really interesting if anyone would have noted that some of the animal tracks in the dirt (fox prints) had something odd too it. Standing on two legs odd, but then again . . .that little factoid had been overlooks (outright missed) by the "city slicker" member of that particular patrol.

Right now Misato couldn't care less. She was too much in grief over Rei. Grieving in a quiet, out of the way corner of NERV . . .

So it took a lot of ringing of her own personal cellphone for her to answer it after several times . . . and when she had answered listlessly: "Hello?"

Misato's yelp of joy soon is followed up by an enraged outburst when Rei (the caller) drops a bombshell on her.

"What do you MEAN that Commander Ikari's actually trying to initiate Third Impact?!" she shouts into her cellphone.

On the other end, Rei glances at Inquirer, who's furiously working on her laptop, which is spliced into the very payphone Rei's using (throwing off traces and attempts to severe the connection by those who control the phone company under the sake of national security).

Inquirer had smiled slightly at Rei's questioning her information warfare skills. Honestly, Rei hadn't figured on this phone conversation lasting as long as it had! She'd expected only to get out that she was revoking herself as an Eva pilot, severing ties with NERV, and warn about Commander Ikari and Third Impact and that would be all. Surely the spooks who oversaw what was monitored (certain phonelines and phones to certain key NERV officials) would severe the line.

Had happened to Shinji when a friend had called and asked the wrong questions. Innnocent questions, but certain buzzwords automatically flag the officials and then the severe.

Inquirer has smiled slightly, saying something about if she could give the NSA the run around then she should be good here. And boy by the way she's going at it (and the line still being OPEN), she'd been right.

The speed that Inquirer was typing was . . . inhuman!

. . .

Then again, she'd said as much (but still) . . .

"Uh . . .here's why you need to not trust Gendo," continues the young Angel. "In his right hand he had the embryonic Angel known as Adam implanted. If it, Lilith, and me are joined, then . . . .Third Impact, Misato. Do you understand? That is why I cannot return, Misato! I am NOT going to be part of it, period!"

Misato, meanwhile, is trying to take it all in.

"B-but why would he need you for Third Impact?" she sputters. "Only Angels can . . .cause that."

The last part of it is a trailing off kind of voice. A voice which the owner suddenly realizes something.

"Gendo used Angel DNA to make you . . .didn't he?" she whispers, horrified.

"It didn't express itself until just now but yes," Rei said softly. "I fear that I could be called the 18th Angel, but I'll be damned if I'm going back to NERV and the Geofront."

"Eighteenth? Eight....huh?" Misato sputters, blinking again stupidly. Too much too quickly for her to manage anything more eloquent for our dear major, alas."B-but only sixteen Angels have attacked! Where's the 17th if you're the 18th?!

"He's dead," a female voice NOT Rei's (Inquirer's) adds from her microphone (part of the machinary she'd spliced into the payphone). "It was a humanform Angel SEELE sent in the disguise of the Fifth Child in order to replace . . . the Third Child since her inability to pilot her Eva.

"Before you ask I'm one of the magic users who defeated the Angel who attacked Rei and Unit 00," Inquirer continues in the middle of Misato demanding JUST that. "Major, we do not have TIME for niceties so shut UP and listen HARD! I cannot hold off Section 2's attempts to locate the origin of this call. Time is NOT your friend so listen!"

Then, after muttering about the bloody phonesystem having something wrong with it, like there were no satelite linkups or long distance service lines period, she turns the line back to Rei.

"Before we leave we have a . . .way out for the justification for Third Impact," Rei finishes off. "Once we leave I will not return. Cannot return and do NOT want to return. But that said the gift and the location of said gift . . ."

Soon Rei hangs up, leaving Misato staring dumbly at her cell phone, then at herself in the mirror.

Shaking herself out of the shock induced stupor . . .

She has things to do . . .and soon enough, just as soon as either though what Misato learned or what was revealed while in the company of that general, the result's the same: the Angel called Adam being removed. . . .which scared the crap out of the operation specialist when it suddenly burst into flame, not even leaving a fine ash.

Rule 5792

Ditto for that . . . thing down in Central Dogma: Lilith. The Champions finally got to a spot for transporting out . . . which I have them in a holding pattern . . .more on that here in a bit.

They've done good...

And what they find (in Misato's apartment of all places) the gift left behind . . . .the stars were now in reach. That and letters from Rei addressed to both Shinji and Fred Takahashi appologising for having to leave but explaining why. A little extra is left for Fred, thanking him for what he'd done, but that's by the by . . .

If . . . the neighbors played nice. I kind of STOP cheating and making the thought of going out beyond the area of Tokyo 3. While perhaps it would have been nice for them to KNOW that they're on another world a bit EARLIER than now (and maybe have told the Champions that fact), I find that it would have been . . . messy for those who crossed what ammounted to a line of death.

Wasn't easy. Ditto for those native to this world, but that's by the by (the centaurs and Champions were a special exception to the "line of death" rule . . .long and dry set of procedural doctorine I shan't bore you with right now). At least I'll be able to clue them in (the Champions) on where they'd actually been . . .and how can I help it if they'll double back and drop off the centaurs (who may be useful as mediators for two VERY different groups: those of Tokyo 3 and their homeland).

Right now I have to take care of Rei . . .she still is a walking, talking paradox that cannot be tolerated as she stands right now by the reality's physics she's heading for, you know . . .

1. That and I have an offer for her...

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