Kind Angel's Thesis - 2Teineina Tenshi No Teze
Kind Angel's Thesis
Neon Genesis Evangelion and all character belongs to Gainax Ranma 1/2 and all 
characters belong to Takahashi Rumiko No copyright infringement is intended.
Thanks to my pre-readers: 
Ben 
Aevan 
Ukie  
Kevin D. Hammel http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~khammel/
Please distribute this work unaltered and crediting the author. 
dzillman@ozemail.com.au 
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~dzillman/fire





(Story 2)
Ranma looked around the apartment he was in. He could tell it was an apartment, 
it had that small, squalid look that you just cannot get in a proper house. 
Let's see: bathroom, probably cleaned sometime in the mid eighties. Main room: 
fairly tidy. All right, fairly empty. It was tidy aside from the box of old 
bandages on the floor.
Bandages? If he was injured, that would explain why he was here. Ranma tried a 
few quick stretches. No, everything seems in place, he felt a little out of 
balance, as though he had not done anything for a while, but that was it. 
Maybe... maybe it was a head wound. That would certainly explain how he got 
here. Gently, Ranma probed his thick skull for signs of obvious injuries. 
Nothing.
Ranma sat on the edge of the bed and tried to think about it. A bed, now that 
was another funny thing. He never used beds. When he was on the road with the 
old man, they were always living rough. Which meant that if there was a soft 
pile of leaves to be found, Pops would take it, and Ranma would get the rocks. 
Then after he got to Akane's place...
"Don't even think about Akane."
Ranma had to speak out loud, the omnipresent silence in the apartment was 
getting too much to bear. Then another train rattled past. From his position on 
the edge of the bed, Ranma was sure he could count every single wheel on the 
train, it was so loud and so close. Not only that, but the noise just seemed to 
go on and on.
Even that distraction faded after a time and he realized that he needed to do 
something about his clothing situation. Here he was, sitting naked on his bed - 
he hoped it was his, he _really_ hoped it was his - and he had no idea where he 
was, or what was going on.
Walking over to the small dresser, he gritted his teeth and prepared to confront 
the last, most damming piece of evidence. No matter how hard he tried to deny 
it, there was a dress on the bed. A blue school dress. Why would there be a 
dress in his apartment?
Clenching his teeth, Ranma closed his eyes, then yanked open the top draw of the 
dresser. Slowly, carefully, Ranma opened one eye. Things were as bad as he 
thought. The entire top draw was filled with bras. Gulping, Ranma slammed the 
draw shut again. How did this happen? How on earth did could he be naked in a 
room full of girl's clothes.
Sitting on the edge of the bed again - don't even touch the dress at the moment 
- Ranma shuddered as he thought about it. He knew what had happened. He could 
even remember little bits of it, as though it was some sort of horrible dream he 
was only just waking up from.
After he tried to free the Angel in the Antarctic, he must have passed out. All 
that effort was too much. He was sure he could remember himself dying, feeling 
his body burn apart as he called for the Full Shi Shi Hokodon. His presence here 
gave lie to that idea; he seemed quite alive at the moment. Which means that 
there was one and only one explanation.
He must have thrown himself into some sort of coma after the blast. Ranma could 
picture it clearly, the people from the Katsuragi expedition arrive trying to 
find the cause of the bright lights. All they come across is a beautiful young 
girl, lying unconscious in a cooling puddle of water. Cute little Ranma-chan 
would have been brought back here, and she had some sort of memory loss. What a 
tragedy.
Ranma snorted. He could even vaguely remember doing girlie things, like wearing 
a swimsuit and stuff. Sure he'd done it before, but now he must have thought he 
was a girl.
"Yuck!"
But now he was back. He didn't know what brought him back, and he did not care. 
Saotome Ranma was back, and he was here to stay. Item number one: find Pops and 
Nabiki and.... and find out where Akane's grave was.
Then again, let's make that item number two. Item one is definitely find some 
clothes. Perhaps even item three, since food seem pretty important right at the 
moment.
'OK, clothes, clothes, there's got to be clothes here somewhere.'
Four minutes later.
"What sort of person was I? The only clothes I own are three copies of the same 
school uniform?"
Ranma waited for a train to pass. You can't have a conversation with yourself if 
you cannot hear what you are saying.
"Of course, I could just change back into a girl. It's not like anyone would 
notice or anything."
*Don't*
"Than again, maybe I shouldn't. I've been a girl too much recently. Oh, what the 
hell."
Ranma walked into the small bathroom area. He could not believe this place. It 
was cracked all over, and there was junk on the floor. When he was with the 
Tendos, his room had been spotlessly clean, and he had owned just as much stuff 
then. More even. He had his three favourite sets of clothes, a few disguises, 
and the odd swimsuit and stuff for his girl half. That's more than he has here.
"I'm going to have to do some serious cleaning soon."
Turning on the tap, he let the water run for a little while, admiring the way it 
changed from rust red to a clear stream. Cupping his hands under the water, he 
looked into the cracked mirror over the wash basin.
*Gasp*
'Gasp is right. My hair is disgusting!'
Dropping the water, Ranma turned his head this way and that, trying to 
understand what had passed for a hairstyle. It was neither short nor long, and 
what was worse, it just sat there. All the hair, just flopped down on his scalp. 
No life, no energy, no chaotic growth all over the place. No pig tail either. 
All right for some girls, but not for him!
"Man, I loved that pig tail. It took me so long to grow it too. I had that even 
before the Dragon Hair Soup. Hell, I've had that pig tail as long as I can 
remember. Grrr. I'm gunna grow that back. "How could I let them cut off my hair? 
It made me look so cute. No shop owner could resist a cute lil' redhead like me. 
Especially with a pig tail like that."
Passing a hand through his hair managed to go part way to the desired effect. 
The might not be a pig tail yet, but at least his hair had some life in it. 
Great spikes of hear shot off in every direction, for all the world looking like 
he had been fighting in a hurricane.
"Much better. Even Ryoga's hair had some class. Only losers like Kuno an' them 
have dumb hair that sits down. This is much better."
Looking down at the cold water flowing into the basin, Ranma felt disappointment 
course through him. He was finally back on his feet. Finally a guy again and he 
was going to have to change so he could get some clothes and food. He was just 
reaching for the cold, sex changing water when his conscience objected.
*Don't*
Ranma pulled his hand back from the water as though he had been stung. Look 
around: no-one here. Whew, it was just his over active imagination again. But, 
really, he was right. Becoming a girl was a curse, an he should treat it like 
that. All right, that's decided. He was not going out in public as a girl... Now 
how can he get some guy's clothes?
A quick search in the dresser turned up a needle and some thread, both obviously 
never used. Unused, as distinct from the state of the pain killers. The bottom 
draw held what was once a super size box of industrial strength pain killers, 
and it was almost empty. He had no idea what he was up to that would require so 
many pain killers, especially with his tolerance for pain. Sure, he was not as 
tough as Ryoga, but you can't be a martial artist of their level without 
becoming immune to the little things.
All right: needle and thread, and a pair of those school dresses. Tear here and 
here. OK, join that. Rip this bit. Sew, sew, sew. You pick up such useful things 
living on the road. Rip, sew. Hey presto! Instant pants! Admittedly they were an 
ugly pale blue colour, and not really the right sort of material, but they 
looked all right, and they would do the job. One of the white shirts was OK, 
just rip off the collar and no-one would really know.
Ranma took a quick stroll around the apartment. They might be makeshift clothes, 
and they might not fit properly, but they were almost right. Too bad that his 
feet would not fit the shoes. Must be bad lighting in here too, he could have 
sworn his feet normally looked bigger. Oh well.
Now to find some money. It really did not take long to spot the small purse near 
the door. When he opened it and looked inside, Ranma almost fell over. 'My God, 
I'm rich,' he thought. Counting through the yen, Ranma came up with a figure 
that would make Nabiki go green in envy. Everything else - ID card, mobile 
phone, purse - he ignored and tossed under the old bandages. Whoever he was is 
gone. Saotome Ranma is back in business.
"Ho, ho, ho! I'm going to have some fun today."
There did not seem to be any keys, and since there was nothing worth stealing, 
Ranma left the apartment unlocked. As he pulled the door shut, Ranma wondered at 
the strange appearance. It was a steel door, with a fancy doorbell / speaker 
system. It seemed really high tech, but... it was all old and worn out. Walking 
down the stairs, Ranma tried to puzzle it out. He was obviously loaded, but the 
place was a garbage heap. Everything was high tech and fancy, but it looked like 
no-one had done any maintenance in the last decade.
The city outside the apartment was just as much as puzzle. Ranma had been to 
most cities in Japan at some time or another. He had also visited some of the 
big cities in China. OK, he admitted that he was not as widely travelled as 
Ryoga, but who would want to be? In all his experience, he could not remember 
seeing a city like this one.
Wherever he was it was amazingly clean and tidy. The hardly seemed to be a scrap 
of litter anywhere, even here in what was obviously a mass housing development 
area. Now to find some shops.
Finding shops is pretty easy in a city: just head for the tallest buildings. 
Taking his own advice, Ranma headed off at a brisk walk. He felt a little out of 
condition, but it was nothing that a few weeks of sparring and training would 
not fix. If only he could figure out what was nagging at the edge of his 
consciousness.
Hmm, head for the tall buildings. What's one of the landmark buildings in Tokyo? 
Tokyo Tower. I don't see any Tokyo Tower. Which means that where ever he was, it 
was not Tokyo. Why would a team the size of the Katsuragi Expedition return him 
to somewhere other than Tokyo? Actually, now that he thought about it, he was 
pretty sure that Tokyo was the home of the expedition. Something strange was 
going on here.
Eventually Ranma began to pass more and more people. Some gave him a few strange 
looks, but no-one commented on his odd, home made clothes. As luck would have 
it, he eventually found exactly what he was looking for. a small shop tucked 
into the corner of a building. It was perfect in every regard. It specialized in 
Chinese clothing, and looked like the sort of business that Cologne would have 
set up if she preferred clothes to ramen.
When he first read the price on a pair of pants, Ranma almost screamed. It was 
daylight robbery. How could anyone charge that much and stay in business? A 
quick dash outside and a look in another shop confirmed his fears. Prices were 
awful everywhere. He was not rich, he was poor. What should have been a fortune 
was actually a pittance.
Juggling some figures in his head, Ranma did some rough maths. If he got himself 
some new clothes, and a bit of food, he would have almost nothing left. That's 
assuming he could actually pay for a meal with the change from the clothes. Who 
knows with these prices?
Back in the store, Ranma confronted the sales assistant and asked for some help. 
The girl serving him must have been about his age, maybe a year or two older, 
but she was so tall! He could not remember the last time he had met someone that 
tall. She towered over him by at least a foot. Wow, that must make her almost 
seven foot tall! I bet she has trouble buying clothes.
As he waited for the girl to come back with the red shirt, black pants and black 
slippers he had requested, he looked at the other stock in the store. Maybe the 
reason she worked her was because she was so tall. All the clothes she sold here 
seemed to be geared for giants. Ranma knew that he was pretty average for a guy, 
but most of the clothes here he would swim in. Hell, Kasumi was tall for a girl, 
and she was around his height; that meant that almost everything would be too 
big for her also.
As luck would have it, the sales assistant returned with just what he needed. A 
quick dash to the change room, and he was back in his best attire. All he really 
needed was a pair of leather arm braces and he would be set.
As he handed over his money, he congratulated the girl on how well she picked 
his size.
"Oh, it's nothing really. I've been working here for a few years, so you get 
used to it. Say, isn't today a school day?"
Is it? "Could be, I suppose."
"Well shouldn't you be in school then?"
Ranma snorted. "Nah, I never learn anything in school anyway."
She smiled in a friendly and slightly condescending manner. "OK, just be 
careful. You might get in trouble for being out of class. Besides, someone as 
young as you shouldn't be alone."
_That_ made Ranma nervous. He had seen that caring, mothering look on Ukyo 
before. And that reference to him being alone... Brrr, it sent shiver up his 
spine. Bad enough that he has an Amazon after him, now it looks like some 
giantess wants to be his fiancee. Time to leave, and leave quickly.
"Great. Thanks again. See you later."
Only the dust of his passage was left in the store.
Ranma was chewing on a pork bun when a pair of black clad legs appeared in front 
of him. He looked up. And up. And up. 'What is it in this town? Why is everyone 
so tall?'
"Yes, officer? Can I help you?"
"Yes, son. Perhaps you could tell me why you're not at school?"
Ranma stewed on that for a moment. 'I could tell him that this morning I 
recovered from amnesia. It was the first time I've been a guy in ages, and I've 
been thinking I was a girl for a while because all I have is girl's clothes. Oh, 
and also I just got back from an expedition to the Antarctic to try and get the 
super strength of an Angel that was buried in the snow. Why was I searching for 
an Angel? Well you see my father's perverted master summoned a demon which 
killed two of my fiancees, maybe even three. Oh, it's OK, I figure I have at 
least two or three more fiancees out there somewhere.'
"Um. No?"
The policeman raised a brow. "I think you should probably come with me."
Ranma sighed in defeat. Sure, he could run away, sure he could beat the snot out 
of any normal policeman, but the path of a true martial artist is honour. Honour 
means keeping commitments, and honour means not disobeying the cops, unless 
there's a good reason.
Placing a friendly hand on his shoulder, the policeman lead Ranma out of the 
shopping district. "How old are you son?"
"Mumph, about seventeen." Ranma managed to get out around the last of his pork 
bun. Of course his age depended on just how long he had been thinking he was a 
girl.
The policeman gave a knowing smile. "I don't suppose you've got any ID?"
'ID which shows me as a guy or a girl?' He wondered. "No."
A look of concern passed the man's face and he bent down to look at Ranma. "Are 
you feeling all right? You sound a bit uncertain. Did you get hurt by the 
Angel?"
'He knows about the Angel? My god, was I on the news or something?' "Yeah, 
actually I think I may have gotten a bit of a bang on the head. I'm a bit fuzzy 
on what's been happening recently."
Feeling hands going through his hair, Ranma bore the inspection with good grace. 
"I can't feel any bumps. How about we drop past a doctor before I take you to 
school?"
It was a rhetorical question, so they went regardless of what Ranma really felt. 
Needless to say the doctor found nothing wrong, the old Saotome healing powers 
just cannot be beaten. Nonetheless, the doctor gave him a medical pass at the 
request of the policeman.
It was approaching noon when Ranma finally arrived at school. It must have been 
his school before, since all of the girls wore the same sort of uniform that had 
been in his room. Finally, people his size. Except they all looked so young. 
Stopping outside a door, Ranma waited in the hall as the policeman summoned the 
class representative.
A cheery looking girl with two brown pony tails came outside and gave Ranma a 
slightly confused look.
"Horaki-san. I found this lad out on the street today. He seemed a bit confused, 
I think he may have been hurt when the Angel attacked. Would I be able to get 
you to look after him?"
Horaki Hikari, class rep of 2-A, gave a bow. "Yes, sir. I'll make sure he's all 
right. Do you know where he lives?"
Ranma looked around. "Hey, what am I, a side of beef? You can try asking me!"
Hikari gave him a smile and invited him to continue. "Um.. well, sure I know 
were I live. No problem."
The policeman smiled and thanked Hikari. As they watched him leave, she took 
Ranma's hand and drew him towards the class. "Hang on, this is 2-A."
"Yes... is there a problem with that?"
"Yeah, I'm just about graduating Senior High."
"Well, you don't look any older than fourteen to me."
Fourteen? Suddenly everything fell into place. That's why his balance felt off. 
That's why everyone was so big. It also explained the little things like why all 
the kids in this class looked to be the same size as him, even though they were 
so young. He had no idea how it happened, but somehow his meeting with the Angel 
must have made him younger, that would also explain why no-one thought he was 
actually Ranma when they found him. If they found a thirteen or fourteen year 
old girl, they couldn't connect her to the seventeen year old boy that was with 
the expedition initially.
Now if he was seventeen before, and he's fourteen now, that's... five... no, 
three years difference. Say hello to the fountain of youth!
Hikari pulled on his arm again. "Are you all right? You looked spaced out for a 
while... Err... I'm sorry, I did not catch your name."
"Yeah... Yeah, I was just thinking. My name? Oh, I'm Saotome Ranma."
Hikari smiled at him. He was pretty cute, as cute as Touji in his own way. "Here 
you go, you can sit at this desk next to me."
The classroom was filling up, but there were a few empty desks. If there had 
only been one, he may have been able to figure out who he thought he was. Then 
again... "Hey, Hikari, do you know any red haired girls. A bit shorter than me, 
and really cute?"
"Do you mind showing a little respect? We only just met."
"Don't worry, I respect you. Do you know her?"
"No, I don't. I can't think of any girls like that here. Do you know what her 
name is?" Hikari winced slightly at how abruptly that seemed to come out. Well, 
that was his fault for being so familiar with her. Then again, she was the class 
rep, not a dating service.
"Nah, sorry, I don't. Hey, Hikari, give me a yell when class is over."
"Do you mind? Oh, I give up."
Ranma put his head on the desk and tried to get to sleep. Whoever designed these 
desks must be some kind of idiot. They even had some big red plastic thing stuck 
onto the middle of the desk. Was he supposed to use it as a pillow or something? 
Oh well, teacher's here: nap time.
Ranma was just drifting off into that pleasant cotton filled state of almost 
being asleep when something the teacher said caught his attention. Well, almost 
caught it. Blinking his eyes and sitting up, Ranma tried to catch up on what was 
going on. Hmmm. Second Impact. Big meteor. Wow, something exciting must have 
happened in the last few weeks while he was amnesiac. Ranma wondered what 
country got hit.
OVER THREE BILLION DEAD?????
What the hell is going on here? How could three billion people die from a 
meteor? There's no way they would all be calmly sitting in class if a meteor 
that size had just hit. But... but the teacher did not look like he was joking. 
And none of the students were laughing. There's something really weird going on 
here.
Looking around the class, everyone was typing at computers... so that's what his 
pillow was. Fiddling around, he prized up the lid and saw a completely 
meaningless screen
Great, Ranma thought, how am I supposed to write down all this stuff he's 
telling me? It not that I wanna study or anything, it's just that I need to 
figure out what's going on.
Turning to his neighborhood, Ranma looked at Hikari. She was happily typing away 
at her little computer. 'Damn, I wish I knew how to use it... Then again, I 
wanna be able to take this with me when I go home, so it's not like it would do 
me any good on the computer.'
"Hey... Hikari... Hey..."
"Shhh!"
"Hey, you got any paper or something? I wanna write down what he's telling us."
Hikari turned and gave him a strange look. Leaning over so she only needed to 
whisper, she spoke. "Just type it into your terminal. That's what its there 
for."
"How?"
"What?"
"How do I type it in?"
How on earth could anyone not know how to use a school terminal? They have only 
been using them for the last fifteen years. Then Hikari realised, if Ranma had 
received a head injury in the Angel attack, he might be having a few memory 
problems. Reaching across to his desk, she quickly keyed into the system and 
brought up a word processor for him.
"There you go. I'll go through it after school with you. Just to help you 
refresh your memory."
"Yeah. Um, thanks."
Struggling to remember what the teacher had been saying, Ranma began to type.
Peck... Hunt, hunt, hunt... Peck... Hunt, hunt, hunt... Peck...
Why did they have to stick computers on his desk? They were so slow! He'd never 
get anything written down. Halfway through the word 'impact', Ranma gave up. 
He'd never needed to know typing, and he wasn't going to be a secretary, so 
there was no need to learn now.
Fortunately, the teacher was really boring. The thing that made him most boring 
was the fact that he seemed to talk about nothing other than Second Impact. 
Using his own knowledge of what happened in Antarctica, he managed to piece 
together a timeline of what must have happened.
He finds the Angel, and does the Full Shi Shi Hokodon. This knocks him out, and 
the Katsuragi Expedition finds him and brings him back to Japan. Now at this 
point he's in his girl form... maybe he got a bang on the head, or maybe he was 
in the cold to long after he passed out. Anyway, when he wakes up, he thinks 
he's a girl. About this time, that meteor hits Antarctica, big floods and stuff.
Now this means he must be in one of the more inland cities, could be almost any 
of them. He just didn't expect them to look so different from when he visited 
them as a little kid.
'What about the demon Happosai summoned?' He asked himself. It obviously was not 
around, that sort of thing would make the news too easily. Which meant it was 
killed by the meteor impact, or else the amnesia and his sex change had made it 
think he was dead... That sounds good, if it thought he was dead then it would 
have been forced to return to where ever it came from.
Ranma had everything sorted out and was relaxing back in his chair. He knew what 
was going on. All right, so he was a few years younger... he could still find 
his old friends. He was just drifting off and letting the pleasant drone of the 
teacher's voice soothe him to sleep when he heard something that shocked him 
back into startled wakefulness.
2015! The date is 2015! That's impossible! Loosing three years he could handle. 
But if it was 2015 now, and 2000 when he went to Antarctica, and he was 17 then, 
and 14 now... That was... um... 15 years! How could he have lost 15 years? It 
didn't make sense. What could have happened? If the Angel had taken off fifteen 
years, he would have been a two year old baby, but he would be seventeen again. 
But if he was fourteen now, and the Angel had taken fifteen years of that... He 
would not even have been born.
Something was seriously amiss here. There was only one thing to do in a 
situation like this: sleep on it.
After a time, Ranma realised that someone was shaking him, trying to get him to 
wake up. Opening his eyes, he expected to see Ukyo; there was no way that Akane 
would be that gentle. When he opened his eyes and saw the class rep. What's her 
name? Oh, yeah... Something-or-other Hikari. Looks like I have to keep using her 
given name then.
"Hey, Hikari. What's up?"
She gave him a scowl. "I can't believe you actually fell asleep in class. How 
could you do that?
"Well, he was pretty boring."
Hikari was stumped at that one, it was not as though she could actually deny it. 
"That's no excuse to fall asleep. You might have missed something very 
important."
"Did I?"
"Not that period... no... But the next period you did."
"Oh, well. I'm sure I'll find out what I missed when it's in the test."
"Ano..."
"Yeah, well thanks for all your help and stuff. I think I'd better get home or 
something."
As he headed out of the class, Hikari followed him and stared at her hands. 
Finally she looked up at his back and cleared her throat. "Ranma, would you mind 
if I walked with you? That way I can come and get you tomorrow before school... 
Just to make sure you're all right."
"Um... Sure, yeah, I guess."
They walked in silence for most of the distance. Hikari talked a little about 
school, but there was not a lot to say. When they got to his apartment block, he 
led her up to his room. Looking at the number on the door, she tilted her head 
to the side.
"Isn't this the same address as Ayanami Rei?"
"Err, is she a cute red head? Athletic type. Really bouncy and bubbly?"
"Not that I know. Actually she's got blue hair... maybe about the same length as 
yours if you bothered to comb it. Really quiet girl."
Ranma wave his hand dismissively as he opened the door and kicked off his shoes. 
"Nah, never seen her. Maybe she moved before I got here."
"Oh."
Somehow Hikari was relieved. Ranma wasn't seeing anyone at the moment then. She 
did not know who this red head was that he was interested in, but she certainly 
did not go to their school. Maybe she was his sister. She knew a few people that 
were still missing relatives since Second Impact.
"So I'll see you tomorrow then."
"OK, Hikari. You know, you're the best class rep I've ever met. Really kind, you 
know? Hey, have a nice night."
Ranma closed his door as Hikari walked away. Nice girl. Not as violent as all 
the ones he knew. Amazingly dedicated to her class rep job too.
Later that night as he lay on his bed, Ranma considered what he should do. Maybe 
if he learned how to use those computers they have everywhere he could track 
down Nabiki and Kasumi. Ucchan too. He needed to know that someone survived the 
demon's attack.
* * *
Fuyutsuki Kouzou was not a happy man. He was even less happy knowing that his 
boss - the habitually unhappy Ikari Gendo - was about to become even less happy. 
On a scale of one to ten for Bad Things to have to report, this rated up there 
at about nine or ten. Even an Angel attack would only rate a four: they were 
expecting those.
Finally summoning his courage, Fuyutsuki pressed the button that would open the 
door to Gendo's office. As the door slid open, Gendo looked up and steepled his 
hands together. There was no report due now. There were no Angels expected now 
either. There was no good news due now either. All that was left was bad news. 
News so bad that someone would actually come and bother him while he was 
working.
As Gendo schooled his features into an unreadable mask - as distinct from the 
uninformative mask he usually wore - Fuyutsuki walked up to his desk. Behind him 
the door slid shut with the same finality of poison gas being forced into the 
air. Fuyutsuki hoped that was not some sort of omen.
Keeping as much of his face hidden in the lengthening evening shadows as 
possible, Gendo looked at his guest. "How bad is it?"
"It is... serious."
Any lesser man would have run screaming at that announcement. The attack of the 
third Angel had not been serious once Shinji had arrived. Even the fourth 
Angel's near victory against Shinji had not been serious. Gendo angled his head 
slightly and waited for Fuyutsuki to continue.
Fuyutsuki waited for Gendo to ask. Actually, he waited for anything to happen so 
that he did not need to talk to Gendo. The silence proved too great, and 
eventually Fuyutsuki crumbled. Looking down at the man who had once been his 
student, Fuyutsuki tried to put as mild a tone on his announcement as possible.
"Rei missed her sync test today."
Gendo nodded. They had not even began to reach serious yet. Unusual, yes. 
Worrying, yes. Serious, no.
"Rei was not at home today."
Acceptable. This was a school day.
"Rei was not at school either."
This was getting progressively worse. The silence stretched unbearably. 
Realising that his friend did not want to speak, Gendo asked the obvious. "Did 
she answer her phone?"
"During the day? No."
"And at night...?"
"It... It got turned off."
Fuyutsuki was right. It was serious. Rei was the most responsible, mature and 
obedient child he had even known. At least, Rei II was. Rei I seemed to have 
been a bit of a trouble maker, but the late Doctor Akagi seemed to have provided 
a valuable lesson on that.
There was no explanation why Rei would not have been present for her sync tests. 
Nor would there have been any reason why she would not have been at school. 
Furthermore, Rei had never failed to contact them if there was going to be any 
sort of delay or inconvenience. In some ways she was overly dependable, possibly 
lacking in initiative.
"Have you contacted security?"
"No, not yet. I was trying to call her just before I came here. That was when 
the phone got turned off. It would seem that she does not want to speak to us."
Hiding his sigh behind his hands, Gendo knew whose fault that was. His son. It 
all seemed to come back to his son. If the boy had shown himself to be useful 
earlier, or even shown a little backbone, Rei would never have had these ideas. 
Gendo knew that he would need to have a talk with his son about responsibility 
some time in the future.
Shinji could wait, however. Rei was the one that was important.
"Alert them. Wait until tomorrow morning and send a team to her apartment. If 
this has just been a... aberration... we will let it slide. Prepare some search 
parties as well. We will not take chances."
Fuyutsuki nodded. All of that was ready now. He had intended to send NERV 
Security around to her home tonight, but he could understand Gendo's thoughts. 
Maybe this was her idea of rebellion. Maybe she just wanted a holiday.
Rising from his desk, Gendo clasped his hands behind him and walked to his 
friend. "Come, we must begin some alternate preparations. Have you tried making 
Rei III operational?"
As the door hissed open, the taller man nodded. "No success. We had an active 
body with no soul. Rei is still alive."
Frowning as they walked down the corridor, Gendo cursed silently. It had always 
been one of the flaws in the pilot program. They had never been able to truly 
create a person's soul. Even the existence of Rei's soul still confused most of 
the scientists. Some of them postulated that in some way it was Adam's soul, 
crossed with some human element. Souls were a dangerous mystery. What was worse 
was the fact that the soul could only exist in one place at one time. If Rei II 
was alive, there was no way that they could animate Rei III.
"We need contingency plans. Have the Marduk studies found anyone better than the 
Suzuhara child?"
"No. Not yet."
"That is unacceptable. Have them do the studies again if they need to. I want 
this city turned upside down. That boy can synchronise with the Eva, but not 
much more. For what we need, that is unacceptable."
Seeing the look that Fuyutsuki was giving him, Gendo sighed. Sometimes there is 
no real choice. "You're right. It is unreasonable to expect that anyone's test 
results will change. Tomorrow have them check every school in the Tokyo-3 
area... Check the suburbs too. Any children that have just moved here are to be 
tested. I mean tested tomorrow. Next week is not acceptable."
"I understand."
"Have you spoken to the Germans about the release of the Second Child to us?"
"They're adamant. They refuse to release the Second Child to us, or her Eva."
"That too is unacceptable. The fifth Angel will be here soon, that should be 
sufficient to convince them that only Tokyo-3 is under attack."
"If it isn't?"
"I shall speak to them. If there are unacceptable results at the Jet Alone 
demonstration, I shall insist that they provide us with the Second Child and her 
Eva."
"Will that be enough to make them comply?"
"No. It will not. I shall also contact SEELE. For once that might do something 
useful to us. I do not expect the Chancellor to be able to refuse our request 
after both Jet Alone and SEELE's pressure."
Fuyutsuki nodded. At the end of the corridor, Gendo turned to the main control 
room. It would be best to talk to the Germans there. They respected a show of 
power. Looking back at Fuyutsuki, he caught his eye. "Get me a pilot. Rei, 
preferably. But Suzuhara if we must. By tomorrow night I want a pilot ready to 
do Unit-00's reactivation tests."
Fuyutsuki nodded. He knew Gendo. If the safety of humanity demanded it, he would 
order Rei II recycled and Rei III activated. He hoped for both Gendo's and Rei's 
sake it would not be necessary. It might save humanity, but it would kill Gendo 
as surely as it would Rei II.
* * *
Shinji smiled as his friends sat down next to him. Maybe 'friends' was too 
strong a word, but he liked to think that they were his friends. He never really 
had any other friends, so he was not sure if Touji and Kensuke were friends. 
They met him before school everyday, and they spent most of their time together 
talking. He guessed that made them friends.
"Hey, Shinji, you seen Ayanami recently?"
"Not... Not for the last few days..."
Kensuke gave him a nudge in the shoulder. "Go on, admit it, there's something 
big going on at NERV. Am I right, or am I right?"
"I... I Guess. I know they were planning on doing the reactivation test for 
Unit-00 soon. Maybe they decided to bring it forward because the fourth Angel 
appeared so quickly."
Touji looked sceptical. "Listen, it's not that I mind Ayanami being away; she's 
pretty freaky. I just wanna know: why'd turning on the robot keep her away from 
school for two days?"
Shinji looked at his hands and tried to think of how he could best explain it. 
"Do you remember when I arrived... how Ayanami was all bandaged up?"
They nodded.
"That happened during the activation test for Unit-00... And they were going to 
make her pilot anyway against the third Angel."
Shinji clenched his hands and remembered that day. He never understood his 
father, and if that was the way that he thought, perhaps Shinji did not want to 
understand him.
Touji grabbed Kensuke around the head and rubbed his hair. "See, it's not just 
glory and piloting around the big robots. It's dangerous stuff."
"Aww, I still say I wanna try piloting it some time."
Shinji shook his head. Kensuke would never learn. Shinji hoped the boy would 
never need to learn what it was like to pilot an Eva. There was nothing pleasant 
about it.
Movement caught his eye and he spotted Hikari coming over to his desk with a 
sheaf of papers. Smiling he reached out and took them as she passed them over. 
"These are for Rei. Can I get you to drop them off with her?"
"Sure, Class Rep. But... Why can't you?"
Hikari blushed slightly. "Ranma had to go early today. It's those silly Marduk 
tests again. Apparently they asked him this morning, and he's off for the 
afternoon. So I'm heading over to his place after class. I'll drop of this 
afternoon's work."
"OK... I guess."
As Hikari walked away from Shinji's desk, she wondered how Ranma was taking to 
the Marduk Institute's tests. She remembered what it was like when she had taken 
them a while ago. It was the usual sort of thing for most people: IQ test, 
general health and an EEG. Well, that was all she had gotten, but she knew that 
Touji and a couple of her other class mates had received the full set that 
lasted around four hours. She wondered how long Ranma would spend there.
Oddly enough, Ranma was wondering exactly the same thing. He was pretty sure 
that he had failed the IQ test... he had fallen asleep during the middle of it, 
and he had also missed the second page. Oh, well. He never wanted to think for a 
living anyway, he usually just hit people.
After a short nap - the desks were much more comfortable without computers on 
them - Ranma was awakened by the same man he had first met. When Ranma had asked 
him what the tests were for, the guy had shrugged: "No idea. I just give 'em to 
people. Someone else figures out what they mean. You've got a physical next."
Ranma sauntered into the doctor's office and jumped onto the examination table. 
As he sat there, he watched the nurse flick through some of the papers. Even 
though she was sitting at the desk, he could see that she was fairly tall. Not 
only that, but she was reasonably good looking, in a stern sort of way. Ranma 
eventually ignored her. When you are used to being surrounded by stunning women 
like Shampoo, Ukyo or Miss Hinako - even tomboys like Akane - most women pale 
into the background.
Since the nurse was busy reading his file, Ranma got bored. Hopping off the 
examination table, he looked around the office and began to study the cut-away 
chart of the human body. The doctor had a skeleton too, but Ranma had seen Betty 
so many times he had already memorised all the bones.
When the nurse turned around, Ranma ignored her and kept trying to place the 
pressure points he knew in relation to the muscle and nerve groups the chart 
showed. "Mr Saotome? Are you ready to begin?"
"Yeah, sure, soon and the doctor gets here."
The blonde woman cleared her throat and he could feel her irritation. "I am 
Doctor Akagi. Would you mind coming back over here?"
Ranma shrugged and gave in. Sitting in the seat next to her he gave her as many 
answers as he could for the medical forms she was filling out. Everything went 
smoothly until they got to the physical examination part of the medical.
Ranma's first surprise was when he took off his shirt and gave himself a look 
over, he noticed the complete absence of scars. The life of a wandering martial 
artist who gets challenged by every man and his dog is not an easy one. Ranma 
had a catalogue of small scars, and could name how each and every one of them 
came into being. This from Happosai's moxibustion, that from Herb's Ki attack. 
But they were all gone.
Dr Akagi examined her patient as he seem surprised by something. Curiously, he 
seemed to be examining every limb and every inch of his body. Watching the way 
that he contorted himself to see the backs of arms or other areas, Ritsuko 
decided it would be most interesting when they got to the physical fitness 
section of the tests.
"Are you missing something, Mr Saotome?"
"Umm. Not sure really. I can't seem to find some of the scars I used to have."
"That's unusual. Have you had any medial treatment recently?"
Ranma tried to think of a time when he had not been receiving medical treatment 
for something or another. Usually a something like Akane's mallets. Even just 
thinking about that brought his good mood plummeting back to earth. "Yeah, I 
think the Angel hurt me a bit. I seem to have had a bit of a bang on the head or 
something."
Once more he was amazed by how calmly people took the mention of an Angel. Maybe 
the Katsuragi Expedition had brought it back or something... But that wouldn't 
explain why she accepted he was still injured from something that happened 
fifteen years ago. Oh, well. Maybe he had made the news or something.
After that comment the medical test went through without difficulty. Dr Akagi 
checked his skull - again - and eventually pronounced him as one of the 
healthiest people she had even examined. The only part of the examination that 
was... exciting... was when she needed to check for haemorrhoids. His scream of 
'Pervert!' could be heard throughout the building. How dare she try and grab him 
there?
When Ritsuko had him calmed down, she explained what the test was for. Sitting 
shaking on the examination table where he had leapt away from her, Ranma shook 
his head. It was bad enough having to go to a gynaecologist when he was in his 
girl form, but there was no way he was going to let a woman grab him there until 
they were married.
"No way! Not at all! Not a chance! No girl's grabbing my bits if I can help it!"
"Ranma, please. It's a perfectly normal test. I'm a doctor, so nothing is going 
to happen... All right, would you prefer it if I got an orderly in so that he 
can make sure that I don't do anything improper?"
"Improper!? The whole idea's improper. There ain't no way I'm letting you lay 
your hands on me! No way. If you try and do that again, I'm outta here!"
"OK, OK! Calm down Ranma. It's only one test. We can always leave it for some 
other time. OK, put your clothes back on. We only have two tests left to do in 
the basic set: you EEG and physical fitness."
When the doctor was out of the room, Ranma got changed. Shortly Ranma was under 
the encephelloscope and was having his brain tested. Widespread testing had 
shown NERV that all potential Eva pilots had similar brain patterns. A quick EEG 
cut down the testing work immensely. All of the rest of the medical exam was 
largely a smoke screen for this one test.
With the EEG and IQ test results under her arm, Ritsuko took Ranma to the 
fitness testing lab. It was filled with treadmills, heart monitors and all the 
other paraphernalia that the modern sportsman needed. Starting Ranma on the 
treadmill, Ritsuko looked over the results.
EEG was good. A scan like that definitely qualified him for further testing. The 
IQ test on the other hand was rather a worry. Ranma had managed to answer one 
and a half pages of eight. A pilot that stupid would be worse than one that 
could not synchronise. "Ranma, did you have a problem with the IQ test?"
Bent over the control panel for the treadmill, Ranma did not immediately notice 
Ritsuko's question. "No... I's a bit tired, but nah, it was pretty easy."
"You do realise that you completed less than a quarter."
"Hee hee. Sorry 'bout that. I sorta fell asleep." Ah! Figured it out! Now he 
could turn up the speed on the treadmill so that he wouldn't get bored and fall 
asleep on that too.
Looking down at the paper, Ritsuko failed to notice as Ranma ran progressively 
faster and faster. The whole time his heart rate only slightly increased. Since 
he seemed to have no trouble talking as the fitness test was underway, Ritsuko 
asked some of the IQ questions again. While Ranma was not the brightest of 
seventeen year old students, the extra three years of sleeping through classes 
managed to stand him in good steed when compared to an average fourteen year 
old. When she was finished the physical test, Ritsuko was suitably happy.
'I can tolerate a pilot with a low boredom threshold. Piloting an Eva will 
definitely leave no time for him to fall asleep.'
It was only as they were finishing the fitness tests did Ritsuko actually look 
at the settings on the machines they had been using. They were all maladjusted, 
and most were set to as level that would even have a fit adult gasping for 
breath. 'God this kid is fit!' Thinking about how often she had been working 
eighteen and twenty hour days, and how rarely she got to the gym, Ritsuko wished 
she was half as fit as he was.
Once she explained how he had qualified for the extended set of tests, Ritsuko 
calmed Ranma's complaints. Smiling happily, she picked up a phone and ordered 
takeaway. 'If only I could bribe the other people at NERV to work harder by 
offering to buy them dinner.'
More tests culminated in a simulated Eva synchronisation. Typically the first 
time anyone ever tried to sync with an Eva, they would barely register on the 
scale. The EEG test could screen out 90% of the population, but still almost 
everyone that made it to this level failed to achieve more than a 3% sync 
ration. 21% was the minimum acceptable for Eva bio-feedback.
Shinji, Rei and Asuka had all scored around 15% on their first test. It took 
practice, training and more practice to get a better score. After a time, the 
subconscious would learn to filter the right signals and the sync rating would 
improve. Currently Shinji was on 64%, Rei a quite satisfactory 57%, and Auska - 
the Second Child - was being challenged by Shinji since she was narrowly ahead 
on 66%.
Seating Ranma in the simulated entry plug, Ritsuko dimmed the lights and began 
to talk him through the procedure. When she saw the sync ratio climb to 16%, she 
was ecstatic. Shinji had scored a 17%, and he looked like he would be their best 
pilot yet. When Ranma's climbed to 18%, she was over the moon. Typically they 
could expect that the first two or three times they synchronised with an Eva to 
provide a linear increase in the sync ration. At this rate, he would be at 
Shinji's level within the week!
As the test continued, Ritsuko began to wonder if there was something wrong with 
the equipment. No-one had scored as highly as this boy. No-one had ever scored a 
rating like this. How could he possibly be so good?
A cold shiver ran down Ritsuko's back as she realised the only possible answer: 
he was an Angel. If he was, she could expect his sync ratio to hit 100% any 
minute.
After four minutes, Ritsuko was not sure whether to laugh or cry. They had found 
the perfect pilot. They had found someone that be able to make an Eva dance 
ballet. 57% for his first synchronisation! 57%! That was as good as Rei was 
scoring, and she had months of practice!
Sighing with relief, Ritsuko let Ranma out of the simulator. Gendo could relax. 
They might not have Rei, but they did have someone better. Next week, she could 
see Ranma with a sync rate that was in the eighties or nineties.
"Ranma, I am delighted to say that you have exceeded all of our expectations! We 
need you to be an Evangelion pilot. It is absolutely necessary that I speak to 
your parents today and arrange for their permission tonight. What's you're phone 
number?"
Ranma was stumped. There was a mobile phone in his flat, but he didn't think it 
was his. Besides, he did not know the number. "I'm living by myself actually, Dr 
Akagi."
"Well, in that case, permission is no problem. You'd be a ward of the state... 
so all we need to do is provide you a guardian and we're set! Excellent. We'll 
get you started tomorrow."
Ranma felt confused. Somehow he thought he had just been volunteered for 
something, but he was not sure what. "Umm. Can I go home now?"
Dr Akagi Ritsuko hardly heard him as thoughts ran through her head. Training 
this one would be a breeze. He was fit enough to undergo long periods in the 
Eva, and his Sync rate was already as high as an experienced pilot.
"Oh, yes... Home... Absolutely. I'll arrange for a taxi for you. Can't have our 
newest pilot walking around late at night, can we?"
'Pilot? Pilot for what? Hikari told him these were some sort of health tests.' 
"Dr Akagi? What is it you want me to do?"
"You'll work for NERV, Ranma. Just like Shinji and Rei. Don't worry, it's 
perfectly safe."
Ranma digested that. He had seen Shinji in the class previously. Anyone as 
skinny and nerdy as him must have some cushy job. For that matter, if they were 
getting girls to do it, he could handle it easily. He just wished he knew what 
they wanted him to do. 'Oh, well. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.'
Standing out the front of the Marduk Institute, Ritsuko reflected on the luck 
that had brought her Ranma. She had been involved in the testing today purely 
because there was such a rush to find a new pilot; now look what had fallen into 
their lap.
As the taxi drove up and parked in front of them, Ritsuko remembered one 
question she had forgotten to ask at the end of the medical exam. "Ranma, before 
you go... Do you know of any medical or psychological problems you might have 
that would prevent you from working at NERV?"
"Umm... Well... I don't like to say..."
"It's OK, Ranma. I'm a doctor. Anything you tell me will be in the strictest 
confidence."
"Oh, all right. I turn into a girl when I get splashed with cold water."
That surprised Ritsuko. He's a transvestite at that age? I guess kids grow up 
faster than I thought. "Never mind Ranma. That sort of thing doesn't really 
matter."
"Really?!"
"Sure! Lots of staff at NERV have similar preferences." Ritsuko could name three 
people off the top of her head that were gay. In this day and age it was not 
really much of a problem. She was surprised that someone Ranma's age already 
felt that way, but she was not the one to choose what was right and what was 
wrong.
"You have a nice night, Ranma. I'll send someone over to your school tomorrow to 
pick you up."
Ritsuko's mind was back on how best to train her new wonder pilot before the 
taxi was out of the driveway. First things first: call Gendo and have him 
designate Saotome Ranma as the fourth child! Ritsuko was almost giggling with 
excitement as she made the arrangements.
* * *
Shinji fidgeted slightly as he sat waiting. The bench was cold and hard, and 
worst of all: there was nothing to do while he waited. Nothing to do except 
brood over why he was here. No-one told him anything around here. All Misato had 
said was: "Shin-chan, your father wants to speak to you this morning."
Even when he begged, she wasn't allowed to tell him anything else. Now he was 
here, he had been waiting for half an hour, and his father still had not 
bothered to even open his office door and wave hello.
His uncomplimentary thoughts about his father brought a nervous blush to his 
cheeks when the door to the office opened. In the long shadows of the office, 
Shinji's father - Ikari Gendo - sat. He did not stand. He did not wave him in. 
He did not even acknowledge Shinji's existence. All he did was sit there. After 
six long, unbearable seconds, Shinji stood and shuffled slightly. Realising he 
was not going to get any better invitation to enter, Shinji walked in.
The only chair in the massive office was the one Gendo was using, so Shinji 
stood. Oddly enough, all four of the top NERV staff were there. Fuyutsuki, the 
man that Shinji had come to think of as his father's shadow; he was behind and 
to the left of the desk. On the right was Dr Akagi; although she was as sombre 
as the rest of them, there was a slight smile tinting her neutral features. It 
looked as though the doctor had some good news.
On the far left stood Shinji's guardian and the head of military operations at 
NERV: Katsuragi Misato. He was not sure, but from the way she stood, and where 
she stood, he thought she looked like she did not want to be there, maybe she 
did not agree with what they were saying. The way she stood, it almost said to 
him, 'don't worry, Shin-chan. I'm on your side.' Just remembering that she cared 
about him as a person as well as a pilot made it a bit easier.
"Shinji. Do you know where Ayanami Rei is?"
His father's words were as cold as ever. "N-no. I thought she was here doing the 
reactivation tests."
"Rei has gone missing. Until the fourth child can be trained as a pilot, or the 
second child arrives, you are our only pilot."
Without waiting for a reply, Gendo placed his hands on the desk and angled his 
face to catch the light in the room. "This means that you will be available 24 
hours every day. You will not be out of communications at any stage of the day. 
If an Angel attacks, you are our only hope. Is this clear?"
"Yes, sir."
Near Shinji he could see Misato shift slightly. She knew what was about to be 
said, and she didn't like it. "Further, it is our considered opinion that Rei 
would not have acted so irresponsibly if not for your actions. Being both my son 
and another pilot, Rei looked to you in some ways for guidance. She wanted to 
know how other people acted. "Your deplorable actions, your tantrums, your 
desertion from NERV... These things have obviously driven Rei to follow your 
example. You can consider it your fault that you Rei has left NERV. Because of 
the example that you set her, humanity has been stripped of its defences, and 
has only the slightest protection against the Angels."
Gendo pushed his glasses back on his nose as he watched his son. Shinji in turn 
watched his father, not revealing his turmoil at the accusations. "We will be 
having a new pilot starting here soon. His name is Saotome Ranma, and he is 
designated as the Fourth Child. He is a new student at your school. "Your 
actions are going to be a guide to him also, as you are the more experienced 
pilot. I will hold you accountable for any poor behaviour on his part. Any 
disobedience, dissent or improper attitudes that you display in his presence 
will be... dealt with. "Am I making myself clear?"
"Yes, sir."
"Dismissed."
Shinji was almost at the door when he heard his father's voice again. "Captain 
Katsuragi. Where are you going?"
Her voice was cold and clipped. "I am seeing to the welfare of your son: the 
Third Child. Is that acceptable?"
He must have nodded, because as soon as the door shut, Shinji felt her arm 
around his shoulder. "Such a cold, cold man. I'm sorry Shinji. I know it's not 
your fault."
Stopping part way down the hall, Shinji looked up her. "Misato-san... Will 
Ayanami be all right?"
"I hope so, Shinji... I hope so."
* * *
After school that day, Dr Akagi was waiting for Ranma. Today was the day she had 
been waiting for since she came onto the Eva project. Now was her chance to work 
with a genuine prodigy. A gifted child. Someone that under her direction would 
be able to take the control of an Eva to unparalleled levels.
She watched Ranma walking down the path from the main building. He was talking 
to a girl with brown hair done in two pony tails. Seeing the doctor, Ranma waved 
and walked over with the girl.
"Hey, sensei. This is my Class Rep, Hikari."
"Pleased to meet you sensei." The girl in question said, and gave a small bow.
Ritsuko nodded her head. "Hello, Hikari-chan. Come on, Ranma. We will be doing 
your first real synchronisation tonight."
That perked him up. "Cool, that means I don't need to do any homework, right?"
Noting the crestfallen look on the girl's face, Ritsuko relented. "Not 
necessarily. Miss, I shall be returning Ranma to his home at around 9:00. Do you 
wish me to stop past your place and take you along? After all, it is essential 
that our pilots have a high educational level."
Catching the grin that Ritsuko gave her, Hikari smiled back and nodded. Giving 
her address, she set off to do her own homework.
"Aww, geez. Why'd you have to go and do that? You coulda just told her I didn't 
have to do it. She woulda believed you."
Getting into the car, she shot him a look. "Oh, please, Ranma. Don't you think I 
can't see that she cares about you?"
"Cares? I can't believe how much she cares! She gotta be the most dedicated 
Class Rep I ever met. Every day it's: 'Ranma, do you want to eat lunch together? 
I could show you the notes for what you slept through.' Or 'Shall I come over 
and give you a hand in math since you fell asleep in class?'"
Ritsuko gave Ranma a concerned look as they drove. Just a short look, she was 
not a suicidal like Misato. "Do you have narcolepsy, Ranma?"
"Umm, no I think that's a fourth year class."
"No, no, no. Narcolepsy is a disease that makes you fall asleep at unpredictable 
times."
"Nah, the teacher's just really boring. Besides, getting up at 5 in the morning 
to train makes me tired."
"Really, what do you train?"
"I'm a martial artist. I'm the best there is."
"Really?"
"Oh, yeah. I've fought the best: Ryoga, Herb, Saffron. I won every time, so that 
makes me the best of the best."
Ritsuko gave a slightly condescending smile. "I'm sure you are."
The car was silent for a while, each person wrapped up in their own thoughts. As 
they began to enter the Geo-Front and descend into NERV, Ranma's interest 
returned. There might not have been much of a view for most of the trip, but the 
brief period where he saw the entire Geo-Front revealed in all it's glory was 
staggering.
Realising just how much people must be spending on NERV to warrant such a base, 
Ranma had another thought. Nabiki had taught him well - you can't get swindled 
that often without learning something. Giving Ritsuko a crafty look, Ranma 
smiled. "So... If I'm gunna be working here... do I get something in return?"
"Well, yes, of course. Naturally there's---"
"Right! What I want is... I wanna train with some martial artists here! Come on, 
someone in a place this big gotta be a fighter!"
"Um... I don't know what to say. I guess, well, sure. I can arrange that. I'll 
have a word to our chief of security and see if I can get you included in some 
of his classes. You don't mind training with grown men, do you?"
"Feh! If you reckon any of them's more grown than Lime or Mint, you've got 
another thing coming."
"Err.... Is that a yes?"
"If they're good enough, I'll train with 'em. Heck, I might even give a few 
classes."
Ritsuko smiled. With an ego like that, he'd be a perfect pilot. Lots of guts, 
but it seemed like he was willing to take orders.
Ranma smiled. Getting taken to the cleaners by Nabiki all those times had paid 
off. He knew Nabiki would be proud of just how well he had manipulated the 
doctor into giving him everything he wanted.
In the facility, Ritsuko took him on a quick tour and introduced him to most of 
their key staff. The thing that amazed her the most was his complete lack of 
reaction to Misato and her short skirt. Almost every boy she knew showed some 
kind of reaction to her, but Ranma didn't. Either he's had beautiful girls 
draping themselves over him until he's sick of it, or he's gay... Come to think 
of it, he hadn't noticed Hikari's interest. 'Oh, that's right! He told me after 
the tests that he was a transvestite. That explains everything.'
Leaving him with Misato, Ritsuko went off to prepare Unit-00. In the absence of 
Rei, he would be using that. Besides, they still needed to do the reactivation, 
and one pilot was as good as another.
Misato took Ranma down to the change rooms near the hanger, and gave him a plug 
suit to wear. "What's this for?"
"When you're in the Eva, the entry plug will be filled with LCL to reduce the 
effect of any impacts. The plug suit is there to help keep you safe and 
protected within the LCL. It also helps look after any... needs... if your in 
there for a long time."
Shrugging Ranma took the suit and went behind the barrier to get ready. There 
was a fair amount of grunting and puffing, but eventually he returned. "Hey, 
Misato! The suit's a bit baggy, but it fits. Oh, yeah, and there were all these 
extra bits, and no room for them."
Misato gasped as Ranma held up a handful of short pieces of piping and 
connectors. Solving the suit's 'bagginess' was easy, a press of a button and the 
suit vacuum sealed to his skin. As for the 'left-overs', Misato took Ranma for a 
quick walk then...
"Oh, Ritsuko-chan! I believe it's your turn to explain the plumbing connections? 
Hmm? I explained it to Shinji, so it's your turn now."
The scientist mumbled under her breath. "Damn! I was sure that Asuka was going 
to be our next pilot to come here."
Misato smiled and walked out of the room. Explaining the idea of catheters to 
Shinji had been bad enough, and he was a pretty meek and obedient kid. Now, the 
plumbing connections in a plugsuit were inherent to the design. To be able to 
pull them out must have taken quite a bit of strength. If he felt that 
strongly...
The door to Ritsuko's lab hissed open and Ranma came storming out. "NO WAY! I 
told you, I'm a guy! Ain't no-one taking that route with me!"
Since he was facing backwards so he could yell at Ritsuko, Ranma almost ran into 
the head of operations. Only at the last moment did he notice Misato. Spinning 
slightly to avoid taking them both to the floor, Ranma stalked past her, a 
massive scowl covering his face.
Looking stunned, Misato turned to her friend. "Let me guess... He didn't like 
the catheter?"
"Humph. We didn't even get that far. I'd only just explained the rear 
connections.
"Gee, from what you told me about his preferences, I thought he wouldn't mind at 
all. Oh, well. I guess I'd better go and get him. If he's going to be as great 
as you keep telling us, maybe we can arrange something."
After an hour of begging and pleading, Misato managed to get Ranma to concede to 
wear his 'modified' (or wrecked) plugsuit. They needed a pilot and if she had to 
accede to someone's foibles, she would. Heck, she wouldn't care if Ranma changed 
into a girl if he was as good as Ritsuko was saying.
They were just leaving the briefing room where Ritsuko had given a comprehensive 
description of today's tests. As the door hissed open, Ranma tagged Misato's arm 
and drew her to the side. "Hey, Misato-san... I'm a bit confused here. All I 
gotta do is sit around and synchronise once I'm in the entry plug?"
"That's about right. If things go well, we might get you to do some other 
activities to help familiarise you... but today all we're after is the initial 
synchronisation." "OK... So what am I actually synchronising with?"
Misato slapped her forehead. "The Eva of course! What else would we need 
fourteen year old pilots for?"
"Oh." The had continued walking when Ranma tried a deliberately nonchalant tone. 
"So... Misato-san... What's an Eva?"
"WHAT?! What do you mean 'What's an Eva'? Where have you been for the last 
couple of months? Everyone knows what the Evas are. Besides, didn't Ritsuko give 
you a briefing manual?
"Ritsuko?... Oh, you mean Akagi-sensei. Yeah. She gave me this little book in a 
plastic cover. On the cover it said something about 'Evangelion Project', and 
'authorised personnel only', so I didn't read it."
"Ranma... did it ever occur to you that since you work for NERV you are an 
authorised person? Or perhaps the reason Ritsuko gave you the book is because 
she wanted you to read it?"
"Of course it did! What do you think I am? Thick or something? I just didn't 
wanna read it and that was the best excuse I could think of."
Groaning as she palmed the entry button to the Eva test bay 2, Misato realised 
that even living with Shinji hadn't taught her anything about kids. It was times 
like these that she was really glad she broke up with Kaji. God know what their 
kids would have turned out like.
Leading Ranma into the room, Misato waved her arm to encompass the vista. "That 
is an Eva."
The 'That' in question was a robot. A giant robot. A really ugly giant robot now 
that Ranma had a decent look at it. It was taller than a building, uglier than 
Cologne and done in this stupid orange colour. "Geez, Misato. Couldn't you at 
least have painted it a decent colour? I thought these big robots were supposed 
to be black or red or something really cool. What's the deal with this one?"
"HEY! It works, OK?!"
After a short walk around tour, Ranma was shown to the entry plug and the test 
was started. From his point of view, it was pretty dull. All right, the entry 
plug kept changing colours, and every now and again he felt a little nauseous 
for the changing body perspective. Other than that it was 'sit there and be 
silent'. God, an Eva pilot was a boring job.
In the control room, Ritsuko was watching the readings with increasing curiosity 
and decreasing hope. "I... I don't understand it. 57%! It's just not possible. 
For his second sync, his score should have gone through the roof. Everyone else 
showed almost double or better. How can it stay at 57%? "Unless... Unless... 
Misato, after this test, I want you to get a team together and go over the 
security records for all of the Evas. Somehow, this boy must have been training 
in one. To produce a ratio like this must have taken at least... what, five or 
ten syncs at least. Somewhere we've got a security breach, and we need it 
plugged instantly."
Down in the entry plug securely nestled in the Eva, Ranma heard nothing of this. 
He was listening closely. Faintly, in the distance, he heard a voice. It was a 
voice that was calling to him. "Come," it said. "Join with me. Become one with 
me." As he sat there for over ten minutes, the voice grew faintly louder. Only 
one thing he knew sounded like that: the Angel from Antarctica. Somehow it was 
out there. It was out there and coming closer. Coming closer and he was the only 
one who could hear it.
As he opened his mouth to speak, he heard a voice echo through the entry plug. 
"Ranma, we've just detected an Angel entering Tokyo-3's airspace. Since this is 
your first official synchronisation with the Eva, we're going to send you up for 
some reconnaissance. "When we send you up there, just walk around a little and 
try and get a good look at the Angel. Do not under any circumstances attack it, 
or even get close to it, understand? Just observe. We will be sending up Shinji 
to actually destroy it. You'll be there as backup, but that's all."
Although he was unhappy at being given a secondary role in the encounter, Ranma 
didn't mind too much. At last he got to do something interesting with the robot. 
Walking slowly through the base, Ranma practised not tripping over his feet, or 
doing anything exceedingly stupid. He might be a master martial artist, but even 
though he had synchronisation with the Eva, it didn't feel like his body. The 
arms and legs were too long, and the balance was all wrong.
The Angel that Cologne described to his was supposed to be a heavenly warrior. 
Even if he had a giant robot strapped to him, his control was far too bad to 
even think of taking on something like that. Better leave it to an experienced 
expert like Shinji. The kid didn't look like much when he was at school, but if 
these people were willing to send him into battle to defend the city against 
something like an Angel, he must actually be one hell of a fighter.
Maybe Ranma should challenge him some time.
After a bit of a wait with the Eva strapped into the launch rails, everything 
was ready. Ranma was calm, the command staff was in the primary NERV control 
room, and Shinji was loaded and waiting in Eva-01, prepared to launch a few 
minutes after Ranma's reconnaissance.
Finally everything was in place. The Angel had stopped moving, and they had 
selected the perfect launch site: out of sight, and protected by a few 
buildings. Ranma should be completely safe, especially since the Angle had no 
obvious external weaponry.
Misato looked up at the screen. "EVA LAUNCH!"
Even as the acceleration was pushing Ranma into his seat, Lieutenant Aoba 
Shigeru started getting very strange readings from the blue, prismatic Angel 
that was situated over the Geo-Front.
"I'm getting a high energy reading from within the target!"
Everyone spun towards him. "WHAT?!" Misato shouted.
"It's accelerating on its periphery! Starting to converge!"
"Can't be--- a particle beam?!"
Just as the access doors to the surface opened and Unit-00 shot to the surface, 
the energy began to peak. Staring in horror at the screen, Misato yelled to her 
vulnerable charge. "No! Ranma! Get out of the way!"
Hampered by his unfamiliarity with the Eva, and even further hampered by the 
restraints that still held his Eva, Ranma was motionless for a precious second. 
By the end of that second, movement became a moot point. A ferociously powerful 
pink beam lanced out of the Angel. In an instant it had melted its way through a 
twenty story building and was boiling its way through the armour on the Eva.
Due to his synchronisation with the Eva, Ranma felt every instant of the attack. 
To all rational thought, someone had taken a blowtorch to his chest and was 
trying to burn their way through to his spinal column. Arcing his back in the 
control chair, he writhed in unimaginable pain.
Ryoga had never hurt him this badly, even dying had not hurt like this. The only 
time his heart had hurt so much was when he feared Akane was leaving with 
Shinosuke. His entire world began to fade from vision as he fought the pain, and 
dimly in the darkness he heard Misato's frantic voice calling for the Eva to be 
retrieved. Ranma was blessedly unconscious from the pain before the Eva began to 
move.
End Of Chapter

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