|
In the last chapter, we were in introduced
to Conrad and Angela. These two seem to know more than what
they let on to others. Shinji's suspicions grows as Conrad
is linked more and more to the strange episodes he's been
having lately… But what is their aim? Conrad revealed
to Shinji the identity of Unit-03's pilot when no-one else
would. How did Conrad know? Shinji wonders, but saves the
question for later as he boards Unit-01 in an effort to save
Touji. Shinji is however was not strong enough to defeat Angel,
thus, Commander Ikari activates the Dummy Plug even though
Shinji was willing to fight. Under the Dummy Plug's control
Unit-01 easily subdues the Unit-03. But before it could proceed
on to tear it fully apart, the Dummy Plug is shut down and
control was restored to Shinji. The command for its shutdown
however, did not come from NERV.
How do Conrad and Angela know so much? Why
does Shinji continue to be struck by ever more violent flashbacks?
What is the meaning of his dream? How did Angela manage to
override the Dummy Plug? Will I be able to get to go to finish
all the drawings I promised to people without failing the
semester?
Ask and thou shall receive in due time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Debriefing
The four pilots quietly stood in front of
Commander Ikari. They had all already changed from their Plug
suits into more casual wear.
Rei stood in the far left, she was as always,
silent and expressionless.
Asuka stood next to her, directing a vicious
glare towards the other two on her right.
Who were both in turn, were ignoring her and
glaring at the Commander.
Misato had previously insisted to be present
but they forced her to stay in the infirmary and rest.
Before the debriefing, Shinji had already
explained to Touji what had happened. Of how it was an Angel
that had taken control of Unit-3. Of how he had tried desperately
to save him. And of how his father snatched control from him
until someone had shut the Dummy plug down. Of course, Shinji
had also begun to lament on how he should have been strong
enough to save him without the Dummy plug's intervention.
Due to the fact that if it hadn't shutdown when it did, it
would have surely killed Touji too. However, Touji told him
to stop whining and see that he couldn't have done anything.
After all, it was obviously one specific individual's fault;
Commander Ikari.
Gendo: Pilot Ikari, who exactly informed you
about the identity of the 4th children?
Shinji was originally indecisive about answering
this question truthfully. Should he tell his father about
Conrad? About how he had told him just before the battle or
even about the dreams…? No… as far as he could tell,
Conrad was to be trusted, he would get the answers from Conrad
himself. He also had a pretty clear idea of what sort of things
his father might do if he ever found out the truth.
Shinji: The pilot himself sir…
Gendo: ?
Asuka: ?
Gendo: I was given the impression that the
4th had not told anyone about his recruitment prior to the
attack.
FLASHBACK
Touji: How the heck could he have known?…
I didn't tell him 'nothin…
Shinji: … no… he must have a
valid explanation, just don't mention him ok? Or my dad…
Touji: Say no more man... I know what you
mean…
END FLASHBACK
Touji: Errrmmm… right… I left him
a note… Sir…
Commander Ikari seemed hesitant to accept
the answer, but he did not press on the subject, he had more
important issues to deal with. Like for example, hunting down
the person responsible for hacking into the Magi and shutting
down the Dummy plug.
Gendo: Very well, you are dismissed…
Before long, the pilots left on their own
ways, leaving without saying another word to anyone or even
each other.
The day after
All is quiet in Angela Lervino's apartment.
Silence filled it's comfortable interior early that morning.
Several sparrows had perched themselves just outside the window,
bathing in the fresh sunlight of the new day. Suddenly, the
ringing of the phone broke the peaceful atmosphere. Angela
quickly came out of her room and picked it up before the noise
woke Conrad, who was sleeping comfortably in his room.
Angela: Hello?
She immediately recognized the voice on the
other line.
Angela: Si…. Capisco…
( Yes… I understand… )
Angela: Ma signore? Perche…
( But sir? Why… )
Angela: Oh…
Angela: Capisco… devo ricuperalo dallo
stesso posto?
( I understand… I have to pick it up from the same place?
)
Angela: Si signore…
( Yes sir… )
Angela placed the phone down and stared outside
the window. She could not help but feel a little sick of this
game. She wanted to be able to live her own life without the
interference of others, but it wasn't possible and she knew
that. She had made a decision long ago and there was definitely
no turning back. Not that she really regretted her choice
in the lest, it was more the fact that she missed having her
own life than anything.
She quickly grabbed her jacket and silently
left the house. Leaving Conrad behind, still asleep, allowing
him rest further. He'd probably be late for school but she
wasn't really bothered by that. He'll probably get into a
whole load of trouble with his Sensei but that can only teach
him to set his own alarm clock.
And anyway, she needed to concentrate to her
task at hand. Today she had to work again. She had been given
her orders, OMBRA had made it very clear. It was gonna get
messy.
At school
Shinji and Touji are both taking in turns
staring at the door of their classroom, expecting Conrad to
walk in at any moment. But they were in for a long wait, as
the bell rung and lunch went by without a sign him ever showing
up.
At the end of school the two Eva pilots decided
to matters in their own hands and go and find Conrad themselves.
Shinji: How are we gonna find him? He never
told us his address…
Touji: Hehehe.. he doesn't have to…
Kensuke: Hey guys! Shall we get going then?
Shinji: What are you talking about?!
Touji: Don't worry Shinji… I asked Kensuke
to find out where Conrad live, in exchange he'd like to come
with us.
Shinji: But… ( whispering ) I thought
this was a private matter.
Kensuke: Hey! I deserve to be in on it too!
Considering you kept in the dark out Touji being a pilot!
I had to hack into the school's database to pull out his records
to find his address.
Shinji: You did what?!
Kensuke: Yep that right. My best work yet,
mind you. They'll never trace me… hehehe.
Touji: Well… did you find anything else
in his records other than his address?
Kensuke: Well, it's very strange… He
seems to have a recorded history going back five years, then
it completely stops. But, it might just be because he was
only adopted officially at that time…
Shinji: …
Touji: Hmmm… well… we're not gonna
get any answers standing here, let's go!
So it was, that the three stooges set themselves
the task of finding their fellow classmate. In hopes of finding
the answers to the various questions which were passing through
their minds.
In the mean time, Major Misato Katsuragi and
one Agent Kaji Rouji were in the process of observing in secret,
one of a very few meetings amongst the majority of SEELE placed
agents within the NERV ranks. The location was amidst the
thick foliage of the Kasahara Memorial Park in the 6th district.
Misato and Kaji were hiding behind some small bushes, about
a hundred meters from the enclave of SEELE moles. They couldn't
get any closer because the agents were all pretty careful
to keep a lookout for any prying eyes.
Misato: Why did you bring me here?
Kaji noted that even though she'd ask the
question, Misato did not lowered her binoculars or take her
eyes off the agents. She was probably memorizing their faces,
he summarized, which already numbered more than twenty of
them as far as he could see.
Kaji: I got a letter a few days ago…
Misato: Go on…
Kaji: It was very interesting read but I originally
thought that it was just a whole load of bull…
Misato: But..?
Kaji frowned, hating the fact that he'd become
so predictable to Misato.
Kaji: But… Yesterday… the 13th angel….
Misato: …?
Kaji: …the letter contained details of
the incident…. Prior to it having happened…
Misato ( turning around to face him ): What!?!
Kaji: Soon after the incident, I also received
another letter. This time it told me that SEELE have been
planning certain 'scenarios'. Although it did not tell me
much about them, except that it will not do us any good and
that our own Commander Ikari doesn't have plans too different
from them too.
Misato: So?
Kaji: Well… since I was once working
for SEELE and all…
|
Misato: What are you saying?!? That
you were a spy for both the Japanese Government and
SEELE?!
Kaji: Well… if you put it that
way… yeah…hey! Wait a minute… you knew
about the Japanese Government bit?
Misato: Don't take me for a fool Kaji.
NERV Intel is not comprised of incompetents. Anyhow,
what are you going to do now?
Kaji: Well… I did considered telling
the Government about SEELE's plans, but they have too
many people in high places even within the Government.
I would achieve nothing and would get eliminated at
the same time.
Misato: So what are you going to do?
Kaji: I'll have to stay on the sidelines…
and see what happens…
|
|
Before he could finish his sentence, Kaji
was interrupted by multiple loud cracks in rapid successions,
followed by several shouts and cries from out of the distance.
The pair quickly concentrated their sights back towards the
meeting to find that the SEELE agents had scattered and had
taken cover from an unknown attacker. Misato recognized how
they had taken formation as if to defend against sniper-fire.
It didn't take her long to spot several bodies lying lifelessly
on the ground, all with their heads missing. Before long,
a SEELE agent had stumbled too far out from behind a tree
was killed before her very eyes. Misato had never seen anything
like it. The man was barely exposed when something shredded
the tree in half, along with the man's head, which seemed
to simply implode simultaneously with it.
Misato could not help but turn away from the
gory sight. Although she'd seen men die by heavy gunfire before,
she'd never seen or heard of anything that capable of such
damage to a living target. She also became aware of the strange
fact that the air was saturated with raw energy. She could
feel the tingling sensation of the hair on her neck standing
on their ends. She came to the conclusion that it had to be
an energy weapon of some sort, similar to the ones used by
the Evas, but man-sized.
At this point Kaji suddenly noted the gun
barrel jammed behind his spine. He slowly turned around to
find that a SEELE agent had found them.
Kaji: Err… Misato….?
Misato ( not turning around ): What!!? Will
you quit that! I trying to see what's happening here…
Kaji: I think it would be best if you turn
around…. Slowly…
Misato ( understanding what was happening
and turned around slowly ): Oh….
SEELE Agent: Where's the shooter? Traitor…
Now that was a great one, the SEELE agent
thought that they were the spotters for the sniper. Things
are not looking pretty from the point of view of either Kaji
or Misato.
SEELE Agent: Where's the shooter!!? Tell you
or you both die!
The agent emphasized his point by shoving
his gun against Misato's temple.
Kaji: Oh come on Mishiro! Do you really think
that I would turn you in… and then dare to show my face
for your execution?
Misato: You know this guy?!
Kaji: Err… yeah, I met him a coupla times
in previous SEELE agents gatherings.
In the background, the load crack, which marked
the sniper's shot, became a constant as one by one, SEELE
agents were being terminated. There were pauses between shots,
but whether it was for the weapon the sniper was using to
recharge or for him or her to move into a new position was
unknown.
Mishiro: Shut up you! Major, you better tell
your shooter friend to stop or Kaji here is going to take
a bullet straight into that pretty face of his…
Misato: I don't know where the fucking shooter
is!!
Mishiro: Ah… Very well…
The agent turned towards Kaji and took aim
right between his eyes.
Kaji: Dammit Mishiro! I always knew you were
an asshole!
Misato: Noooo!!!
Crack!!!
That was when her sight was filled with an
explosion of blood. She turned away reflexively and felt incredibly
sick. She then realized however that what she heard could
not have been from the pistol the agent Kaji knew as Mishiro
was carrying. And there was far too much blood. She turned
around again, wiping the gore off her face.
Kaji: That… was a close call…
Misato: W… what happened?
Kaji ( attempting to clean himself off as
much as he can ): Whoever that sniper is, I could kiss them
right now…
Misato: You mean the sniper got him?
Kaji ( sarcastically ): You think…?
Kaji indicated to the body of the former agent
known as Mishiro, which was still twitching on the ground
nearby, having yet to realize that it was indeed dead due
to a missing head. Total silence eventually returned to Kasahara
memorial park again, the shouts and cries had stopped completely.
Misato and Kaji, found themselves as the only living souls
nearby.
It seems that the sniper had taken care of
all of the SEELE agents, twenty-four agents with twenty-four
shots, a true massacre.
Misato spared no time in contacting NERV and
calling in a cleanup team. They quickly closed off the park
and searched for any evidence of the assassin they could find.
Unfortunately for them, the sniper was by then far gone, leaving
behind the two dozen headless bodies of former SEELE/NERV
employees across the park.
The sound of a buzzer echoed across the interior
of the Lervino apartment. Conrad Lervino was at this time
still in his bed. At first, he simply tried to block it out,
but it soon became apparent that whoever was at the door was
not going to go away anytime soon. With all the will he could
manage, Conrad dragged his own lazy ass to the door.
Conrad: Yeah! Yeah! I'm coming!! Keep your
hats on!!
With a wide yawn, the boy pressed the open
switch for his door.
The trio that stood outside stood and stared
at him. They quickly realized that he must have been sleeping
the whole day.
Conrad: Oh… it's only you guys... I'm
going back to sleep…
Shinji: ?!
Touji: Err....
Shinji: Hey! You're not going anywhere until
we have some answers!
Kensuke: Damn right!
Touji: Kensuke... you don't even know what
we're gonna ask about...
Kensuke: I know that! I'm just trying to support
Shinji...
Conrad: Hmmmm..... Oh hell... just come in...
and don't forget to shut the door...
Soon, Conrad had settled his guests on the
couch, and walked himself over to the kitchen stall.
Conrad: Anyone for some coffee?
Shinji: Err... no thanks
Touji: Naaa I don't drink that stuff
Kensuke: Actually, I'll have some...
Conrad: Milk?
Kensuke: Sure...
Conrad when on to make the coffee in silence
and when he was done, pass a cup to Kensuke. He himself grabbed
his cup and seated down in the couch opposite the trio.
Conrad: So... what do you want to know?
Shinji: How did you know Touji was the pilot
of Unit-03?
Kensuke: Yeah! And how come you didn't tell
us when we asked you if you knew where he was?
Conrad ( raising an eyebrow ): Hmmm.... By
the way... judging by your uniforms... I overslept?
Touji: Damn right you did you idiot! The Sensei's
gonna be pissed at ya when he hears why you didn't come to
school.
Shinji: Let's just stick with the first question
please...
Conrad: Ok, Ok, just asking.... Anyway, Angela
works in one of NERV's security branches, she heard about
you being recruited… so she told me… but since you
didn't mention it before I thought it wasn't my business to
tell the others, until the Unit-03 incident that is. I realized
that it was something that you would need to know Shinji,
it is better to go out there knowing what you will face.
Touji: …
Shinji: So how did you know about Unit-03
being possessed by the Angel?
Conrad: Nothing secret about that… same
as before… Angela rang me just after the sirens went.
Shinji: Your mom tells you a lot of things…
Conrad ( frowning ): Step-mom, but we're as
close as anyone could get to the real thing.
Just then, they heard the sound of the apartment
doors open and close. Shinji wanted to ask further questions
alone with Conrad, but he would have to wait. He had given
satisfactory answers to questions but there was still something
that Shinji felt was out of place. Like if there was more
to it that meets the eye. The newcomer turned out to be Angela,
who took off her boots at the door and walked in carrying
a big violin case.
Angela: Oh, it's you guys, you're Conrad's
schoolmates right?
Kensuke: That's right ma'am.
Angela: Don't call me that, makes me sound
old, just call me Angela.
Shinji: Errr, I didn't know you played Angela.
Angela: Well…. Yes.. I play, but not
very often…
Shinji: That's alright, I play the Cello myself,
though very rarely.
Angela: We should play a duet sometime, I
haven't had a chance to do that for some time now.
Shinji ( smiling ): I'd like that.
It had taken ages for the NERV team to clean
up the mess of that was the remains of the SEELE agents. Not
surprisingly when news reached SEELE that nearly all their
NERV infiltrators were massacred, panic was in the minds of
many of its members. An emergency meeting was immediately
called to discuss what was to be done.
As per usual, the meeting took place within
the confines of a virtual black room, each of the members
represented by individual monoliths.
SEELE 03: This is outrageous! Twenty-four
of our best-placed agents, killed in one go!
SEELE 05: Who would dare such a thing?
SEELE 02: Ikari?
SEELE 01: No, it could not have been him...
even he would not have the audacity to prompt such an attack.
SEELE 06: So who?
SEELE 04: Just one moment, I'm receiving information
right now.
SEELE 06: Well come on, out with it! What
have you got!
SEELE 04: …This… this is not good…
SEELE 01: Who did this?
SEELE 04: OMBRA.
SEELE 01: ….
SEELE 03: This can't be! We disbanded OMBRA
over ten years ago!!!
SEELE 13: Well it seems that that was only
happened officially…
SEELE 07: Is there anything else we need to
know?
SEELE 04: Yes… Angela Lervino and the
Fallen are still alive.
SEELE 02: I thought we took care of them already!
SEELE 04: Well, obviously they got away again,
they are now in Toyko-3. We suspect that Lervino has joined
OMBRA and it was her who directly eliminated our agents.
SEELE 07: Yes… Her Modus Operandi certainly
fits our profile of how our agents were assassinated. Effective
sniper fire, one shot, one kill. And of course, she used an
Ion rifle, most likely provided by OMBRA.
SEELE 02: She was the best. That was why we
used her, pity about her morals…
SEELE 05: Damn it, when we disbanded OMBRA
they barely even had an Ion rifle on the drawing boards. It's
been ten years and we ourselves don't even have a working
prototype yet!
SEELE 13: That is because we never really
concentrated on research on any area other than technologies
that will help us in achieving Instrumentality. Interference
from an organization we help create and then disbanded already
was not considered in our scenarios.
SEELE 04: We should immediately dispatch our
people to eliminate Lervino and the Fallen… they must
not be allowed to interfere with our plans…
SEELE 13: No, it's too late for that…
plus it would not be wise, they are now under the protection
of OMBRA, and Lervino herself must not be underestimated,
she has already escaped us several times now.
SEELE 04: So what are we supposed to do? Certainly
she will not stop here?
SEELE 13: Simply observe her moves, warn our
agents and inform Ikari about her. After all, she was also
able to gain a position in NERV's security division under
his nose.
SEELE 01: Very well, that is how we shall
proceed then. This is going outside of our original scenario
parameters. We must correct these problems soon or there will
be trouble. Make sure that we get more people back into those
positions we lost as soon as possible.
SEELE 03: What about our AWOL agent?
SEELE 01: Dispose of him.
With usual abruptness, the gathering of conspirators
come to an end. Each of the monoliths vanished simultaneously,
eager to proceed towards their various tasks.
Misato felt terribly tired by the time she'd
got home. She had spent hours finishing of that report that
the Commander had demanded of her before she was allowed to
leave. Even after that she took a shower to clean herself
off. After all, she couldn't come home covered with blood.
Shinji and Asuka were already asleep. Misato
removed her jacket and placed it on the back of a chair in
the dining room. She finally sat down herself laying forwards
with her head on her arms. Even though she'd changed her cloths,
she could still smell it. How ironic. It was exactly how the
children smelled like after they'd been dipped for hours into
the LCL.
She was still puzzled over the events of the
day, there were matters, which seemed out of place lately.
Things she could not explain. But all it did was make her
ever more determined to find out the truth. With Kaji's help
of course.
Kaji.
Misato thought back to when she'd thought
he'd been shot right in front of her. She'd thought her heart
had stopped right there and then. That moment had made her
realize how much she still felt towards him. If he had died
there she didn't know what she would have done.
And what of the assassin?
Misato retraced back to when Ritsuko had given
her insight on the matter. The weapon used was suspected to
be of superior design to anything thought to have been developed
for personal firepower. Sure, they had developed energy weapons,
but they were mostly around Eva-sized. And it would be long
until they even managed to come up with even a tank sized
positron weapon. Ritsuko had then kept on babbling something
about her theories on how the weapon must utilize charged
ion particles to the break down molecular bonds. The sensation
she felt that made her hair stand on end was the aftereffect
of spent particles dispersing in the area. Ritsuko mentioned
that NERV had never even entered the field of ionic weapons.
Therefore it left out the possibility that the technology
came from them. Could it be some government had developed
that technology in secret? Unlikely. But what of SEELE? No,
why would they provide technology to eliminate their own agents?
The answer would not come easily. There were
too many gaps, she obviously needed more clues. Nothing she
could do for now. Therefore, Misato did the only thing she
could do.
She proceeded to drown about a dozen cans
of Yebisu before eventually passing out peacefully at the
table.
Little did she know that at that very moment,
Kaji was very much in danger of having his head blown off
for the second time in a day.
In one particular apartment in downtown Tokyo-3,
the lights have been cut off, and five men were conversing.
Or rather, one man was talking whilst the other four were
preparing to make him 'disappear'.
Agent Kaji Rouji was not a bad man. He just happens to have
worked for them. As a result, when you piss off bad men, they
tend to send someone around to have a 'word' with you. In
Kaji's case they sent four, just to be on the safe side.
Kaji: Err… boys, can't we come to an
agreement of some sort?
Inside his head, Kaji happened to be wondering
why did he always happened to end up in these sorts of situations
the whole time. He reasoned that it might have something to
do with in his lifestyle and that it would probably be healthier
for him to find some other job. He was brought back to reality
when felt a cold silenced 9mm barrel was pressed against his
temple.
Kaji: I mean... come on… it's the second
time in one day…
What he did not expect was that for also the
second time, someone else had come and save his face from
being blown off. As soon as the apartment's automatic door
was overridden, a short burst from a powerful but compact
machine-pistol opened up from the still opening doors. Seeing
his chance, Kaji snatched the 9mm pistol from a surprised
SEELE agent and let loose a couple of rounds at the man' chest.
The rounds struck the agent, knocking him down, but unfortunately
he was wearing a bulletproof vest underneath his suit and
only resulted in knocking his breath out. Kaji however, did
not realize this and unwisely choose to ignore the fallen
man. A vest did not, however save the agent who was standing
at guard at the apartment door as a newcomer unleashed a heavy
barrage of shells at him at point black range. A pair of broken
shades fell clumsily on the floor followed by the body of
its now deceased owner. The remaining two SEELE agents converged
their shots on the newcomer, who dodge them by hastily retreating
back outside. Kaji, took this as his queue and raised out
of cover to fire several snap shots at the duo. He aimed for
the heads and took one of the men down. His partner, seeing
that he was now outnumbered, tried to make a run for it. He
didn't quite make it as both the mysterious figure and Kaji
opened fire on him from inside and outside the apartment,
the poor sod didn't have a chance.
Angela signed heavily as studied at gore covered
room whilst securing her weapons back in their holsters underneath
her jacket. She then finally allowed herself to relaxed. This
did turn out to be a busy day for her indeed. However, without
turning around, she could still sense that there was a gun
trained on her.
Angela: You can put that away now…
Kaji, wasn't to be convinced that easily though,
years in the business of espionage has taught him to not trust
anyone that easily, even the ones who seemed to have just
saved his life.
Kaji: Who are you? Who are you working for?
Calmly, without any sudden moves, Angela turned
around to face him. He suddenly recognized her, having seen
her around more than once at NERV.
Kaji: What the? Angela Lervino? But you're
part of NERV security…
Angela ( frowning ): Heh Heh, about as much
as you were NERV special service…
Kaji:… then who else?
Angela: I'll tell you later… right now
you better come with me…
Just then, the agent whom Kaji thought he'd
taken down at the beginning managed to get his hands on another
pistol and opened fire. Even Angela didn't see it until it
was too late. She fell clutching her shoulder and gritting
her teeth in pain. Before the agent could do anything else,
Kaji shot him and this time he made sure that the man stayed
down.
Kaji quickly rushed over to Angela to try
to help her in anyway… when he got there, she proceeded
to deck him in the gut with her good arm.
Kaji: Ufff! Hey!? That hurts! What was that
for?
Angela: That was for not bloody make sure
that he was down for good you prick! I saved you brain from
being smeared all over the ground twice already and you go
and get me shot! What an ungrateful bastard!!!
Kaji: Sorry… so I take it was you at
the park too…
Angela: Of course, now help me up, and we'll
get you out of the country for a while, there are some people
who would like to see you. They'll keep you safe from SEELE.
Kaji: So you expect me to just trust you and
leave my previous employees just like that?
Angela: Oh, I see, so you rather that I would
have let them finish their job? Everyone who counts knows
exactly where you stand. Hell, even NERV have no further need
for you. So far the only reason you're still alive is that
they were feeding you information. Way I see it is that you're
stuck between a rock and a hard place…
Kaji: How did you know they were planning
a hit on me?
Angela: You kidding? Their agents are a joke.
I can spot them a mile away. Plus, I have my sources.
Of course, knowing Kaji, when he help her
up, he HAD to mistakenly brush his hands against certain parts
of Angela which she certainly did not appreciate. Turning
around to face him, Angela was wearing a look that could kill.
Angela: Do that again and you're going to
know what your balls taste like…
Kaji: Err… ok….
Now, come on, my car's a block away.
He could see that this woman was not be messed
with. Better not piss her off even more, he thought. Instead
of dwelling on is mistake, he decide to ask a question that
was at the back of his head ever since he realized that remaining
in Tokyo-3 was not an option.
Kaji: But what about…
Angela: The major and the kids? Don't worry
I'll watch them… they'll be alright.
Kaji: I better leave Misato a message though,
or she'll think I ditched her…
Angela: Fine, write her a note though, I'll
pass it to her when you're safe.
With a nod, Kaji quickly searched through
mess that was now his apartment for a pen and paper. Fifteen
minutes later, the police arrived at the scene, alerted by
the sound of gunfire. But by then, all traces of Angela and
Kaji were gone.
The next morning, Misato was woken by the
sound of the phone ringing. Painfully, she reached for the
phone, her head feeling like it had been run over by a truck
several times.
Misato: Hello?
The news that she was about to receive was
not the sort that she required at this time in the morning.
Misato: ….
Kaji was missing, his apartment trashed, four
dead men inside. Really, not something she liked combined
with a hangover.
On the other end of the line
Hyuga: We found rounds from a H&K G-44
case-less machine-pistol, we're tracing them now but we don't
hold any real hopes considering it was a professional hit.
We also found some blood belonging to a fifth person but were
are still unable to identify them, we couldn't find any records
of the DNA sample in our databanks. It's definitely not Kaji's
though… Wait… This just in, we have him spotted
at the airport at 0200 on a fight to Toronto. He met up with
a woman there. We believe they then took another fight to
somewhere in Europe.
Suddenly, Hyuga heard something that sounded
awfully like Misato's phone being hurled across her room.
Click.
Hyuga: Hello? Major? Are you there?
Aoba: I told you shouldn't have called her
this early.
Back to Misato's apartment
At this point, Misato was fuming. The damn
fool managed to get himself into trouble, and first thing
he does of course was to turn tail and run. Then goes on to
meet up with some woman in Canada. How typical of him. She
was glad however, that he managed to somehow escape those
four agents who were probably sent to eliminate him, glad
because she still had a chance to rip him a new asshole.
Asuka: Hey Misato! Who the hell was that?!
There are people trying to sleep here!!
Misato: Grrrr… it was nothing.
Asuka ( not believing her ): I don't think
that someone would dare wake you up if it wasn't important!
Misato: Why not?! You do it the whole time!!
Asuka: Yes but I'm indispensable, so you can't
kill me even if I tick you off!
Misato: Don't count on that little girl!
Shinji ( in his room, burying his head under
his pillow ): Damn it… here we go again…
Sometime later in the Geo-front
Major Misato Katsuragi wandered through the
corridors of NERV headquarters. She was still quite pissed
off at receiving annoying news about Kaji first thing in the
day. But at this point, she didn't know whether to feel lonely
or happy. He could have left at lest a message for her. Suddenly
she sensed that someone was behind her, she usually felt it
when she was with the children as their every move was monitored
by Section Two, but it was different this time. Firstly because
she wasn't with the children and secondly because she would
be able to at least spot Section Two agents, right now, she
could only sense on instinct that there was someone following
her. She was not in the best of mood to play games so she
decided to confront whoever it was. She turned around the
corner and waited. Before long, a familiar figure wearing
an armband walked straight in front of her.
Misato: YOU!!!!
Angela couldn't do much at this point but
grin and pass Misato a piece of paper.
Three figures were currently residing, within
the confines of the office of Commander Ikari. A NERV Intel
agent stood in front of the large desk. The Commander stood
with his back turned towards the man, himself, staring out
into the Geo-front through the window of his office. Sub-Commander
Fuyutsuki, as always stood by him, ready to advise in any
matter.
Intel Agent: We have received reports that
a rogue agent has infiltrated our security ranks. From what
faction we do not know, but it is likely that it was this
agent that assassinated the twenty-four SEELE agents yesterday.
Gendo: Who is this agent?
Intel Agent: The name she is known by is Angela
Lervino, but we do not know if this is her true name. It seems
that all the records we have found on her seem to be flawless.
They are too perfect to be true, which suggests they have
been replaced.
Fuyutsuki suddenly noted that Gendo had stiffened
temporarily when the name was mentioned, a rare event, which
meant that he knew more than he was letting on.
Gendo: I see. How did she manage to avoid
detection until now?
Intel Agent: We are not too sure about it
Sir. It would seem that the Magi itself recommended her employment,
and we strongly suspect that it was SEELE itself who leaked
her identity to us. Probably as revenge for the loss of so
many agents.
Gendo: Or it could be a diversion.
Intel Agent: Excuse me Sir?
Gendo: A diversion. Whilst we keep an eye
on her, they slip in new agents to replace the lost ones.
No, we will concentrate on screening the new recruitment for
SEELE agents. You will assign a team to shadow this Angela
Lervino but they are to do nothing more, simply observe.
Fuyutsuki: Ikari, is that wise? She might
be the one who hacked into the Magi and ordered the shutdown
to the dummy-plug. That would mean she is a treat to us in
the future.
Gendo: She has yet to direct an attack towards
NERV at this point, when she could have already done that
already and gotten away with it. Not even a single attempt
has been detected in someone hacking into any of the high-level
files of the Magi. The only thing she has achieved is to prevent
the dummy-plug from completing its elimination of the 13th
Angel. The only difference from the two scenarios was the
survival of the 4th child and that the 3rd would finish off
the Angel instead. If she continues to work as to cleanse
our ranks of SEELE agents then there are no problems. Until
she proves to be a treat, she will be left alone. That is
all.
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