Interlude Gendo Ikari paused as he turned in his chair and looked out the window of his office, gazing out at the fortress built beneath the earth in the Geofront. His round glasses gleamed as the black haired man returned to his desk, sighing at the paperwork that awaited him. "Yui...," Gendo sighed softly, feeling a immense weight of guilt and responsibility weighing him down. It had been a long time since Yui Ikari had been sent into Evangelion Unit 01, but it felt like an eternity to the man. He understood and accepted the necessity of the plan, but that didn't ease the deep loneliness he felt whenever he thought of her now. Yui had been his guide and light, and without her he simply felt rudderless. 'The only thing left for me is the Human Instrumentality project,' Gendo admitted, 'and fulfilling Yui's plans.' Maybe if Gendo had developed a lesser love for another woman he might have not been so driven, but that purpose was all that gave his life meaning, now. A knock on his office door thankfully pulled him from his thoughts as Gendo turned to answer it and call, "Yes?" Fuyutsuki entered the office confidently, his steel grey hair combed back neatly as he walked over to the desk. "We've heard back from Misato and Ritsuko's team," he said as he set the papers down by Gendo, "they were unable to capture the angel alive but they did recover a mostly intact corpse." "Good," Gendo nodded briskly, "with the way Angels tend to self destruct after battle, we've had limited samples to study." Confidently Fuyutsuki continued, "We have a transportation arranged to carry it back to NERV for further study." "Who'll be in charge of transporting it?" Gendo asked, knowing how potentially valuable the remains were. "Maya Ibuki," Fuyutsuki answered promptly, "she's one of Ritsuko's team, a steady officer and good under pressure." "Good. And the pilots?" Gendo asked after he finished. "The Angel was defeated quickly by Asuka," Fuyutsuki reported, "with no significant injury other than a bit of dehydration." "Fine," Gendo nodded, "we need her, Shinji and Rei available for their roles in the next stage of our plans. When can we expect them back at the base?" Fuyutsuki actually looked amused as he said respectfully, "I think their arrival hp..might be delayed a bit." "Eh?" Gendo looked at him curiously. Chuckling softly Fuyutsuki continued, "It seems Misato wanted to make it up for Rei, Asuka and Shinji missing their class' Okinawa trip, so she's taken the three of them down to the beach with Ritsuko as a added chaperon." "I rather doubt those two will be doing much watching," Gendo said wryly "No, probably not," Fuyutsuki conceded with a wry smile of his own. Somewhat more seriously he asked, "Would you like to call them in?" Gendo silently weighed the issue, considering several sides to the situation. On one hand he was somewhat disappointed that Ritsuko would not be doing the corpse examination immediately, but on the other hand he also knew how much the pilots needed breaks, too. Not only that, but this would give the pilots a opportunity to bond in a environment away from their usual haunts. "No," Gendo said after a moment, "let them have their day out. They'll be back to work soon enough." "True enough," Fuyutsuki agreed. Gendo looked thoughtful, "Have we heard from our contact at Jet Alone?" Fuyutsuki frowned, "They're repaired the damage they suffered in the attack of the dual-angels, and their pilot is recovering as well." "That's Mana Kirishima," Gendo dug up the name from his memory, "she was originally a candidate for Evangelion." "As picked by Marduk," Fuyutsuki agreed. "We're still trying to determine if she was chosen for Jet Alone because the list was leaked, or simply because of a combination of age and physical ability." "Keep checking, I'd like to know if it was a leak," Gendo ordered. He pushed up his glasses casually, "Have we confirmed SEELE's involvement?" "It's difficult to be certain with all the shell companies involved," Fuyutsuki said with a disapproving glance, "but yes, it appears much of Jet Alone's funding came from them." "But why?" Gendo mused aloud as he turned in his chair, spinning slowly around. "Do they seriously intend to use it against the Angels?" he wondered, "Or is it a possible trump card to use against NERV if needed?" "Either way they need to alter it to deal with AT fields," Fuyutsuki pointed out. "They have a human pilot," Gendo shrugged, "eventually they will crack the mystery of using the AT fields." "And yet your own contact is providing Jet Alone with samples of our technology?" even Fuyutsuki sounded a bit confused "This way," Gendo said with a evil smirk, "we'll know exactly what technology they have and how to counter it." "I see," Fuyutsuki nodded thoughtfully as he conceded the point. He paused before adding in a grim tone of voice, "I also included in the reports our latest information on the activities of NERV Inspector Ryoji Kaji." Gendo found the papers and looked them over, "Do you think he's our leak to the Japanese Military?" "It's possible," Fuyutsuki admitted reluctantly, "but we can't confirm it, yet. He's too damn slippery on his time off." "What's he doing that makes him so hard to track?" Gendo wondered. "Ah," Fuyutsuki actually looked embarrassed as he explained, "he's visiting rather high class prostitutes." Gendo's glasses slid down as he looked in surprise at his second in command, "Wait, what did you say...?" "It appears Kaji rather enjoys visiting several a night," Fuyutsuki confirmed uncomfortably, "it's possible one or two are his military contacts, while the others are...." "Yes, yes," Gendo waved that aside, blushing faintly. "We'll have to try to get bugs in the suites he visits most often." "We'll get on that as soon as possible," Fuyutsuki nodded firmly. He nodded to the sheets on Gendo's desk, "There are positive reports from the US and their Unit-03 and Unit-04 are nearing completion." "Good news," Gendo nodded thoughtfully, "and the S squared engine?" "Installed," Fuyutsuki said, "but they're being very cautious running the power up tests." Gendo made a face at that, "Understandable, considering the things that could go wrong." "I wish we could have handled the manufacturing of Unit-03 and Unit-04 here in Japan," Fuyutsuki confessed. "I'd rather have them here under our control too," Gendo agreed, "but to get the United Nations to fund NERV we needed to disperse the work." "It's not the control that bothers me," Fuyutsuki said seriously, "it's the potential for security breaches." Gendo raised his eyebrows, "So instead of Kaji do you think the United States is leaking information back to the Japanese Government?" Fuyutsuki nodded, "It's certainly possible." "So many enemies," Gendo muttered, "the Angels, SEELE, the government...." For a long moment Fuyutsuki let him stew then asked, "Sir, what should we do about this situation?" "Continue to monitor it," Gendo looked up at Fuyutsuki with a searching look, "and find me confirmation." Fuyutsuki stood up straight and saluted, "Yes, sir." With that he left, slipping out of the darkness and out into the well lit hallways. Gendo closed his eyes tiredly, then turned to a monitor built into his desk, dialing through images until he came across the one he wanted. Within the tank dozens of women floated in a sea of LCL, all possessing the eerie resemblance. "Yui," Gendo touched the screen as he murmured, "someday I will save you,,,
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