"So, how is she?" Misato asked as she watched Yui Ikari working away in the computer core, running simulations to try and determine what, exactly, might have happened to her son Shinji during the final confrontation with Adam. "Probably hovering on the edge of a nervous breakdown," Ami Mizuno said honestly, blue hair falling into her eyes. The doctor and psychologist took a drink of her coffee, "Understandable, considering her situation." "And you still cleared her to work?" Ritsuko asked with a frown, her blonde hair held back by a simple set of clips. "She's as psychologically healthy as one could expect o be," Ami said frankly. "She's carrying a load of guilt over her role in the creation of Evangelion, her soul is stuck in her son's body and it appears that he's trapped in the organic construct she created...." She shrugged, "Of course Yui is having problems dealing." "She seems so calm," Misato noted as Yui studied another set of results on a monitor screen, the boy's body she was in eerily intent. "I suspect she's trying to bury her reactions in work," Ami said, "as well as trying to catch up with everything that happened while she was trapped in Evangelion." "Are there any warning signs that we need to keep an eye on?" Ritsuko asked grimly. "You've all had some training to watch for stress related burnout," Ami sighed, "keep an eye on those symptoms. Other than that try to get her to take regular breaks and interact with other staff, that should help, too." Before Ami could leave the room Misato said, "By the way, Mizuno-san?" "Yes?" Ami asked curiously. "I was wondering if you were interested in a position here," Misato said, "from what I've seen, we could use someone of your skills." Ami looked pleased, "Thank you for offering." A regretful sigh, "My own research is at a critical stage, I can't really abandon it." "The offer's always open," Misato grinned as a young woman arrived to escort Ami out. Turning to look at Yui again Ritsuko murmured a few moments later, "I wonder how she and the Magi are getting along?" "Well, they don't seem to be killing each other," Misato offered brightly. "That's not comforting," Ritsuko winced. Down below Yui worked away even as she talked verbally with the now conscious and fully integrated computer system. "Your husband was a cad, you must admit," Magi said in her feminine tones, the voice almost holding a hint of amusement. "The more I hear about what he did after I was gone," Yui said as she worked, "the more I'm tempted to agree with you." A pause and she said in a sad tone, "But he didn't seem to be that way when we were married..." "Fair enough," Magi conceded. A frown, "Even worse, I can't believe that he threw my creator aside to pursue her daughter." "Ritsuko and Gendo were involved?" Yui raised her eyebrows in surprise. A frown, "That might explain her discomfort around me...." "I'm sorry," the Magi sounded contrite, "I didn't realize you didn't know." "I'd guess it's common knowledge in NERV?" Yui asked it, feeling grimly certain that she knew the answer. "Yes," Magi confirmed, "it became common knowledge when Ritsuko attempted to destroy the spare Rei clones." "Quite the soap opera here," Yui muttered, hitting a switch to run another computer simulation. What they were trying to do was reconstruct the series of events that had caused Shinji's consciousness to leave his body to enter Evangelion Unit 01 and her own to enter his body. So far, they were batting zero. "Insufficient data to generate result," came up on the screen again, the data scrolling by. Part of the problem was that they were trying to reconstruct the series of events via damaged image files, blurred memories and other odd occurrences between Shinji and the Unit-01. "Processing error, Abort or Retry?" the computer screen showed. "Damn it," Yui slammed a hand down on the counter, not even noticing the pain. "I wish we had more data on Rei's final transformation...." "I'm sorry," Magi sounded like she was, too, "my systems were under assault by the United Nations at the time, I was unable to properly record the event." "So we're back at step one," Yui mused. "Not necessarily," Magi answered a bit hesitantly. "In examining witness accounts of the events inside NERV, many individuals recall seeing phantom images of their loved ones." "If it was connected to the body switch," Yui quickly saw where the computer was going, "there might have been a residue left of the energies involved. Do you have that scan data on file?" "After the computer restart shortly after the reactivation of NERV by Misato Katsuragi, we performed a full sensor sweep of the facility," Magi confirmed, "the quantity of data involved is enormous, however." "How enormous?" Yui asked with a sinking feeling. "Several gigabytes worth," Magi confirmed. "Well," Yui sighed, "at least sorting it out will keep us busy." "Yui-san?" Maya smiled as she walked up. Setting a cup of coffee down beside her she asked, "How's it going?" "We're achieving new and unprecedented levels of bafflement," Yui answered wryly, picking up the coffee and drinking. Maya chuckled softly, "Is that so?" "I'm sorry we have little progress to report," the Magi added. "Are you eliminating some of the possibilities?" Maya asked. A smile, "From what I understand scientific progress often involves that." "True enough," Yui conceded. "Maya," the Magi quietly asked, "did you experience any unusual visions during the battle for NERV?" Maya hesitated, "Why do you ask?" "Several witnesses reported unusual phenomena," Magi answered promptly, "we were speculating that it might have a relationship with what happened to Yui." "I...." Maya trailed off uncomfortably. Feeling sympathetic to Maya Yui quietly said, "If you're not comfortable about it, you don't have to tell us." "It's all right, just.. do you promise not to tell anyone?" Once Maya got their agreement she continued, "I thought that Ritsuko's ghost had appeared, honestly. She held me, it was the most wonderful feeling.. then everything went black." She shrugged, "That's all I remember." "Thank you for your help," Magi said, sounding thoughtful. Yui nodded, "Yes, thank you." Turning towards the computer she asked, "So you think it might have been a out of body experience?" "It's possible," Magi conceded, "or a mass psychic phenomena." "We could be on to something," and with that Yui quickly went back to work. Watching the two busily at work Maya shook her head with a smile. "Well, at least that seems to have helped," she murmured before heading off to see what else she needed to do.
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