Gendo Ikari looked off into the distance, the black haired man's expression troubled. "The scrolls predicted a certain order in the arrival of the angels," he murmured softly, "but strangely, that hasn't happened." Fuyutsuki raised his eyebrows, the older man looking oddly dignified as he stood by Gendo's desk, the floor beneath them covered by odd symbols. "Which means?" he asked, curious about how the man was analysing the situation. Gendo frowned, "It seems that SEELE can no longer rely on the scrolls to guide mankind's destiny." A faint smile, "It must have come as quite a shock." Fuyutsuki nodded agreement, "Will this effect our plans?" "We'll continue with our efforts to achieve Instrumentality, of course," Gendo said confidently, "but we have to be prepared for the unexpected, too. I want to move up the arrival of EVA-03 and we need our allies to work harder to prepare the other Evangelion Units." "Understood," Fuyutsuki made a note. He hesitated, "Do we know why the Scrolls are no longer accurate?" Gendo looked off into the distance for a moment, his glasses gleaming. "I looked at some of the translations, including the battles against the Angels," he said quietly, "they mention a boy who's purpose is to battle them." "So we need to recruit a male pilot?" Fuyutsuki asked. "No," Gendo shook his head with a faint smile, "I think they were talking about Shinji." Fuyutsuki looked at him in confusion, "But she's a... I mean, that can't be right." "I think that's the first difference between the scrolls and reality," Gendo said frankly, "and I suspect that it won't be the last." In another part of the complex Shinji Ikari sat in the simulator, her expression faintly amused as she squeezed off another round of bullets. The simulated Angel disappeared and shje moved on even as she said, "So what's next?" Ritsuko Akagio smiled from where she stood I the control room, her white labcoat swirling around her legs. The blonde took out a ten hundred yen note and passed it over to Misato, "Looks like you win our bet." "Thank you," Misato smirked as the black haired woman purred, "I told you she'd do well in the simulator." "Keep in mind your rearming points," Ritsuko reminded her, "the locations in the city where you can replace your rifle are also echoed in the simulation." "Understood," Shinji nodded as she made her Evangelion sweep the city, also keeping an eye on her weapon's readouts.Another Angel popperd up and she dropped and rolled, coming up in firing position only to be nearly struck by a tentacle. "That was close," Misato winced as Shinji nimbly jumped her Evangelion back, spraying the Angel with simulated bullets. "Nice to see our prodigy isn't perfect," Ritsuki commented mildly. Talking to Shinji she said, "Also try to remember that the Angels aren't limited to a humanoid form, they could come in all shapes and sizes." "Right," Shinji said with a flash of irritation, her eyes narrowed with annoyance as she proceded to kill the Angel with extra bullets. Ritsuko grinned as she murmured to Misato, "She does have a temper." Behind Ritsuko and Misato the door swished open and a figure entered the room, watching the screen with thoughtful red eyes. Rei Ayanami's light blue hair fell into her eyes, her school uniform swirling around her legs. "Rei," Misato looked a bit surprised to see her there as she asked, "did you have a simulator session booked?" "No," Rei shook her head slightly, her eyes moving to watch the black haired young woman up on the screen. "How is Shinji doing?" she asked in her soft way. Misato and Ritsuko exchanged faintly surprised glances, knowing that Rei's interest was unusual to say the least. "She's doing quite well," Ritsuko answered her mildly, "though Shinji's not quite at your level, yet." "Hmm," Rei nodded slightly then without a word turned and left the room. "Well that was odd," Misato blinked. Ritsuko shook her head, wondering what was going on with the enigmatic young woman. Not that understanding Rei was easy at the best of times, but she seemed even more mysterious around Shinji. "Think Rei likes her?" Ritsuko asked as they watched Shinji fight. "Dunno," Misato put her hands in the pockets of her jacket, "she seems more... interested, when Shinji's around." "True," Ritsuko nnodded, having observed that in the two girl's interactions. "Oh, you'd better get your good dress out," she said to Misato. "Huh?" Misato looked confused by the change of topic. "You did remember the wedding we're going to?" Ritsuko reminded her. A chuckle, "Yet another of our friends is getting married." "What is it with them?" Misato shook her head with amusement, "They're rushing to the altar like lemmigs to the sea." "Now there's a vivid thought, m'love, " Ritsuko laughed softly at that. Turning around to see Shinji in pitched battle with yet another Angel she asked her, "Do you want to keep going or pack it in for the rest of the day?" "Just let me finish this," and Shinji ducked a blow, her rifle blazing at nearly point blank range to destroy her opponent. A few moments later and Shinji had changed out of her blue plugsuit into a girl's school uniform, today. Oddly she wore both the boy's and girl's uniforms to class, a unique gesture that the staff hadn't objected to so far. It fit the girl's personality in some ways, being so mild mannered most of the time but fierce battling the Angels. 'Or dealing with Gendo,' Ritsuko noted. Aloud she said, "How would you like to join Misato on an excursion, Shin-chan?" "What sort of excursion?" Shinji asked, putting her school bag over her shoulder casually as they walked to a lift to the surface. "The Evangelion Unit-02 is on it's way here," Misato explained, "we're transportig it and it's pilot here by sea. Tomorrow, I'll be going out via helecopter to meet them." "The pilot," Shinji tried to remember, "that's Asuka, right?" Ritsuko nodded, "Asuka Soryu Langley, correct. She's something of a prodigy, too, as well as arguably a genius." "Have you met her?" Misato looked curiously towards Ritsuko, "So far, I've only seen a photograph and her files." "Once, I interviewed her for Gendo," Ritsuko said. She looked over at Shinji, "So what do you think?" "I'll go, as long as I get to miss school," Shinji grinned impishly. Misato laughed at that, "Yeah, you'll have to." She looked thoughtful, "You could even invite your classmates along." Shinji thought of the crush Aida still had I her and winced. "No, I don't think so," she said, "this is Nerv business, after all." "Right," Ritsuko looked amused. She hesitated and added, "Hmm, I wonder if Rei Ayanami would want to go along?" Misato blinked, "Not a bad idea, but Gendo might disapprove of our having all three pilots away from here." "Still, it can't hurt to ask," Ritsuko nodded. Shinji had a faint blush to her cheeks but she kept her voice even, "I'd like that."
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