DAMNED PLUG SUITS

Misato crept out of bed stretching her muscles, and arching her back. She was almost like a cat. If she could have put her
foot behind he ear, she would probably have scratched too. She got up, and brushed her teeth, and hair. Then went to
Shinji’s room to wake him.

She closed the door. <Don’t tell me. He is in Asuka’s room, I would be willing to bet. That little seductress. I just hope she
is not leading him on, just to dump him at her earliest convenience. >

She opened Asuka’s door, and found Shinji and Asuka embraced asleep, but at lease they were both halfway covered.
She shook her head, and wondered how to wake them. She got an idea, closed the door, and went down the hall.

"Shinji!!!! Asuka!!!! It’s time to get up! We have Synch tests today!" Then she hurried to the living room to listen to the
scrabbling Shinji trying to get to his room as quickly as possible.

Misato walked silently down the hall, and entered her room to get dressed.

Shinji was dressing as quickly as he could, hoping that Asuka and He would not be found out. He had been sleeping
peacefully just 30 seconds ago, and now he was preparing to go to work.

Asuka lazily dressed, wondering what she should wear. Shinji could get by with his wardrobe; all he had was white shirts
and black pants. She didn’t see how he could wear it. He could wear some of the stuff she bought for him, but that was
doubtful. He probably would only wear it for special things. Going to work and school was just to ordinary to waste on his
new clothes.

She picked her yellow flower print dress, and slipped it on, and then picked a pair of open toed shoes. She left her room,
and went to the living room to wait. Misato was already there, and Asuka caught her looking at her a little funny a couple
of times, but couldn’t really place the emotion behind it.

Shinji picked his customary blue undershirt, white shirt, and black pants. Then picking up his headphones left his room.
He found Misato and Asuka in the living room.

"Ready? OK, lets go!" Misato said cheerily.

They piled into the car, and drove almost totally silently to NERV HQ. The traffic was light, and they got there pretty
quickly.

The car train rushed them down into the Geofront, red warning lights whizzing by, punctuated by the loud whirring

"What’s so special about these synch tests, anyways? I thought they were the same thing every time." Asuka stated
about halfway through the trip.

"Well, they are, for your part. All you have to do is just do the same as always. Synch with the simulation body, and then
relax. On the other end, they will be loading all of your data into the Magi to be processed, and then it will be implemented
in our new training programs."

"What is so new about them? We aren’t going to be doing live training anymore?"

"Well some. But the rest of the time we will be doing simulation. Ritsuko had finished with the base programs for the
simulation. She will start the filler stuff in a few days. It is going to simulate just about everything. The Magi is working
overtime, extrapolating possible Angel designs that we haven’t thought of. These will be loaded into the program, and
you will be training against them. We plan to start you off against previously fought angels to get you used to the system.
Then you will start with the new ‘Neo-Angels’. It sounds like a pretty effective plan." Misato said at length.

"Well, I guess, but I don’t see why we have to do more tests for some dumb program."

"The program, like I said, will simulate everything. Even the feelings you get from the Eva, without the harmful situations
you might find yourselves in."

"Oh, so not only will we be fighting the Angels, but we will be experiencing the pain and mind altering effects from
synchronization. Great!"

Misato let is stay at that. She didn’t want to talk about it. She had originally lobbied for that particular part of the program
to be left out. It should be like a video game. Just video and audio stimulus. But no! It has to be as real as possible.

The car train emerged, and the brown yellow light spilled into the car. They descended a little farther, then moved the car
into the parking lot near HQ. Shinji and Asuka headed for the locker rooms, while Misato went for her office.

The locker rooms were empty as normal. Shinji felt a little apprehensive about the test, but was glad that he was alone to
let it out. He was always nervous about the Eva. It was such a mystery. A mystery that no one was willing to tell him
about. He could sense something there. Something just on the verge of tangibility. It scared him. Not knowing what it was,
he was frightened of it. It was familiar, but he couldn’t place it. Then there was the LCL. It had the consistency of water,
but it smelled like blood. The cockpit was comfortable, but he didn’t like the way it comforted him. It was that same feeling.

The plug suit squeaked, and made funny sounds, like plastic rubbing against plastic. He pulled the loose fitting thing on,
then vacuum-fitted it tightly to his skin. He was thankful for it. This same type of suit had kept him alive just a few more
minutes in the 12th Angel for him to…to… to what? He didn’t remember exactly what happened. He could see it, but he
couldn’t control it. The Eva ripping it’s way out of the Angel violently, blood spewing every where.

He suppressed a shudder. It was frightening also to think that he was piloting something that was prone to berzerker
episodes. He wondered about that. Why was his Eva the only one that did it? Why was his Eva the only one that
accepted it’s pilot so easily. Why was his the only one that had activated itself with no power attached or stored in it’s
reserve?

He stood, and left the locker room, standing outside in the hall. He waited for Asuka. Then He waited longer. After a little
more, he decided she might not be coming out. He moved over to the Women’s door, and cracked it. "Asuka, are you
alright?"

"Yeah. I just don’t feel like hurrying. Are you going to stand there, or are you coming in?"

The question surprised him. He had not figured on entering, but then, he had never been invited to the women’s locker
room before. He opened the door enough to admit him, then sat down out of line of site from Asuka.

"What are you doing, Shinji?"

"I didn’t want to alarm you, and I didn’t think you wanted anyone watching you dress, so I just sat on the other side of
these lockers."

"Dumkopf! It’s not like we don’t know each other. Come over here so I can see who I am talking to!"

Shinji moved to the other side where he saw Asuka pulling her own plug suit on. This was not the first time he had seen
her in the nude. However it was the second. The first was when they had to do the clean room environment tests, and
were forced to strip and wash, and then get in their plugs. Shinji had grown a lot that day…

"Asuka, " he said gazing upon her, "you are the most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed."

"Shinji, I am sorry that I have treated you the way I have. My first reaction to you coming into the women’s locker room is
one of anger, but then it turns to love."
 

"I thought we went over this already. The things that happened in the past are exactly that. It's in the past. It doesn’t
matter. I just-"

"Shut up and kiss me, stupid. For good luck or something."

Asuka stood up, and walked over to a stunned Shinji. She leaned forward, and kissed him, reaching with her right hand
behind his head.

This time it felt different. She didn’t want to break the kiss. The heat rising in her body forced her to stop, and she looked
at Shinji surprised. Silently she walked from the locker room, her mind a torrent of feelings and emotions too new to
understand.

Shinji watched her leave, unable to figure out what just happened. He couldn’t figure it out. He had felt something.
Something fleeting, that he couldn’t identify. He stood there for a few minutes, staring at his reflection in the mirror.

"Would all Project E prime personnel please report to the Pribnow box, repeat would all Project E prime personnel please
report to the Pribnow box."