8th June 2015
NERV Offices - 0915 hours
Three weeks had passed since Asuka and Shinji had come into contact with the twins that had called themselves Israfel. Most of that time had been spent with the Agents investigating the whereabouts of the twin's parents and what caused their home to be burnt down. Each day had been a frustrating cycle of going back and forth between locations, filing various reports and speaking to supposed witnesses, only to end up back where they started. After two weeks of this they both decided to drop the investigation, realizing they weren't going to get anywhere.

The investigation into the twins themselves was handled by someone else in NERV, Shinji and Asuka never heard another word about it, despite being the ones to track them down and eventually stop them. Of course they both heard nothing about the investigation, Shinji even wondered if there was an investigation or if they were just being told this to keep them quiet.

The situation regarding Shinji's father had also came to a halt since that day, Shinji had wanted to mention it but every time he was about to say something he stopped himself, not thinking it was worth it. He still wondered though, just what the girls meant that night when they told him it was his father who made them like that. He was wrapped up in this thought when he felt something blocking his way as he walked along. He stumbled backwards and looked up, only to see Asuka's eyes glaring death in his direction.

"Uhh, sorry."

"So you should be, watch where you're going next time, Ikari."

"Sorry"

"You've already said that once, where were you going anyway? You've already passed the office."
Shinji turned and noticed that he was so wrapped up in his thoughts he had indeed walked right past the office. He turned to her and grinned slightly.

"I was just walking."

"What, in a corridor of this size? Not really many places to wander to. Speaking of which, I want to ask you a few things when we actually get inside the office."

She walked past him and he turned to follow her into the office. Once there, he took off his jacket and took a seat behind his desk. Asuka stood in the center of the room, her eyes following him as he sat. She immediately spoke when he sat, a mischievous smile on her face.

"Agent Ikari, you know this office we're in."

He looked at her and nodded slightly.

"Yes..."

"Well I've been thinking, why is it the only one on the basement level and why is it there are three agents crammed into what looks like little more than a converted storeroom when we could be in one of the nicer ones on a higher level?"

Shinji took in her question and looked around the office, he had to admit that since Asuka and Rei had been assigned to work with him the office was looking a bit more crowded, especially considering Asuka wasn't the tidiest of workers and Misato was also coming in quite often.

"It's near to the unsolved case files?"

"Go on..."

"And it... is a converted storeroom."

"Converted by who?"

"Me..."

"Why would you do that? And don't tell me it's near to the unsolved case files because I'm not buying that explanation."

"It's... away from other people."

Shinji lowered his eyes as soon as he made the comment, awaiting some sort of verbal attack from Asuka, the attack he expected never came however as she merely nodded and went over to her own desk. Once there she spoke again.

"Maybe we should think about putting in a request to move to a larger office though, and maybe one with a window."

Shinji didn't respond, yet he actually thought about it, the idea was a good one, except if they did move he'd have to deal with the other Agents, the ones who, unlike Asuka and Rei, ridiculed him and would rather he just left NERV.

"Maybe"

"Oh come on, put some enthusiasm into it, surely dealing with a few people are worth it, at least we won't be sat in the darkness looking at blank walls anymore."

"Maybe"

"Are you stuck in a loop again? Moved on from 'sorry' to maybe?"

He grinned and replied.

"Maybe... I don't know, this room sort of has a charm to it."

"What do you mean a charm to it? It's dull, it's dark, it's on the basement level and the coffee machine keeps breaking, I have to keep traveling up to the fourth floor for my hourly caffeine fix."

"Can't you just cut down on caffeine?"

She looked up at him with a mock look of horror.

"Are you joking, that stuffs the reason I joined NERV. Excitement, adventure and all the coffee you can drink."

He laughed and she continued.

"But seriously, Katsuragi isn't on this floor and we have to answer to her all the time. Anyway, it'd be more convenient for us and who cares what the others say about you or us, we're the ones who got the note of commendation from the director for our work on the Israfel case aren't we? Just because we're more open minded."

Shinji looked up in surprise, the last statement was one of the last things he'd have expected to hear from Asuka.

"You mean you believe in aliens and the paranormal now?"

"Well... I didn't really say that now did I, but I will admit I've seen some things I can't explain between regenerating men, levitating mafia bosses and shape shifting twins, I admit there is more out there than what we know, maybe not Aliens but if it means a window I'll say I believe in it."

"Is a window that important to you?"

"When I was an agent in training I dreamt of an office with a big window"

"Really?"

"Well... no not really, I actually dreamt of myself being hailed as being one of the best NERV Agents there is, but I'm sure my office then had a big window."

They laughed at the comment for a bit, Shinji was about to respond when the phone on his desk rang. He placed his hand on the receiver and called over to Asuka.

"Maybe we could buy one and place it in the middle or something, best of both worlds."

Shinji picked up the phone and almost immediately the other person began speaking, the voice however was not that of a normal person, it was slow speaking and mechanical.

"Is that Agent Ikari?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"A friend, is Agent Sohryu with you?"

Shinji glanced up at Asuka and replied.

"Yes, she's here."

"Good, I want you both to meet me at the café opposite the subway station near the NERV building. Come quickly."

"Hold on a minute, who is this?"

The line went dead as Shinji put the phone down. Asuka looked at him, expecting an explanation from him.

"I don't know, but who ever it is wants us to meet them now."

"Did they say why?"

"No, they just said they were a friend."

"Do you think we should go?"

"I'm not sure, last time I got a strange call it turned out to be useful, the time before that you received one and it was useful. The third could be anyone though, we don't know if we can trust this person."

"Well if we can't I guess two out of three ain't bad."

Tokyo-3 Central Café - 0930 hours
The two of them entered the café and looked around, it was completely empty save for the person behind the counter and a white haired man in a suit sitting at one of the tables. Shinji glanced over at him, he was smoking a cigarette and appeared to have some sort of small device attached to his head, near his eyes. Shinji recognized it straight away, a special ocular implant capable of, or as the adverts said, performing miracles. A special device reserved for the stupidly rich or for those of major importance, it didn't take Shinji long to realize just which category this person would have fell into. They both made their way over to him and Shinji spoke first.

"You're the person who contacted us, aren't you?"

The man turned towards him and smiled slightly.

"Yes I am, sorry about the voice masking, there are many people however working against me who would have loved to track me down."

"I see, and just who are you?"

"A friend, please sit down, there is much I have to tell you both."

The two agents sat on the opposite side of the table from the man and awaited him to speak again.

"First off allow me to introduce myself, my name is Spender, C.G.B. Spender. I have been following your work let me tell you, what you have done so far has attracted a great deal of attention from my co workers. Some of it good and some bad, they're not sure what to make of either of you."
Asuka cut in.

"And just who is it you work for?"

"That I cannot reveal, all I can say is I work for a special committee linked to the Japanese government and NERV. By being here today I am risking a lot, I wanted to speak to you about the cases you have both been on recently."

Shinji looked him over, not sure of whether to trust the man or not.

"Go on..."

"As you may have realized NERV has been covering up certain details of those cases to hide the truth from you both. The truth being the identity of the people you have been tracking down. Sachiel, Shamshel, Ramiel, Gaghiel, Israfel, I expect that you have noticed the links between them all?"

"The liquid known as LCL and the field of light they produce?"

Spender looked at Asuka and smiled.

"Correct Miss Sohryu, they are not any random people. They are the remnants of a project started long ago. A project that was started thirty years before the impact incident and was ended on the very same day of impact"

"What project?"

"It goes under many names, the Angel project, Human Instrumentality Project. It was started by an organization called GEHIRN."

"What was the aim of the project?"

"Genetic enhancement Ikari, to create a race of genetically enhanced super soldiers, if you will. The products of which were termed Angels, there were thirteen of these Angels created. You have already seen and taken out five."

Shinji and Asuka glanced at each other and then back to Spender, waiting for him to speak again.

"The angels you see were not what GEHIRN expected and were out of control. Probably due to the test subjects, they were experimenting on criminals, the jobless, young children and anyone who wanted a quick bit of cash. NERV was aware of this and put together what is known as Project Evangelion. That is where you two and Ayanami come into it, you were their chosen three."

"Why us?"

"They need people they can easily keep quiet, you Agent Ikari have quite the reputation among your coworkers and among mine. The only difference is my coworkers are frightened of you because you're the closest to the truth out of anyone. Agent Sohryu, not so long out of the academy and the skeptic, surely you must have thought it strange your first assignment was to someone who was little more then a joke between agents? No, it was no coincidence, you were chosen, just as Shinji was."

Shinji swallowed hard and thought about Spender's words. He had been chosen to take out the angels just like Agent Sohryu had been because people were frightened of him? It was hard to believe, even for him, he looked up and responded.

"What about my father, where does he come into this? He was there a few weeks ago when I ended up in that hospital. What does he have to do with this?"

"I had a feeling you'd be asking that question Shinji. I do not have all the answers for you but I will say your father is known to us. He was involved with GEHIRN and is also one of the people who put your name forward for the Evangelion project. Now if you'll excuse me I have to leave, my coworkers will be wondering where I am."

Spender stood up and made his way out of the café, leaving Asuka sitting next to a shocked Shinji. Shinji felt his right hand clenching and unclenching nervously as Spender's words kept running through his minds. Not only had he been chosen but it was by his father. He heard Asuka speaking but it was distant to him.

"Agent Ikari, are you alright?"

He felt his anger rising as he thought of it more, there was a burning sensation behind his eyes as he blinked away forming tears. Without thinking, he quickly stood up and immediately moved out of the café, Asuka following him quickly. They got outside and Asuka grabbed hold of his arm and swung him around to face her.

"Agent Ikari, what's up with you?"

"Didn't you hear him, my father he's... he's been there all along, he's the reason for this. He abandoned me but he's been there all along, he's been watching me all along, even my job and work, it's all because of him."

Asuka cut him off and responded quickly.

"And think how I feel learning that everything I've done up until now has been scrutinized like a scientist studying a creature under a microscope. You're not the only one to learn something big today."

"I know...but..."

"Look, despite what Spender just said, there's no proof of it. Everything he just said could have been a complete lie."

"Then why was my father at that hospital that time then?"

"I don't know, it could have been any reason."

"I should have known all of this I've done would have been for nothing. I'm just some useless tool of my fathers to be discarded when the jobs complete."

"Stop talking like an idiot, just because he put your name forward for ‘Project Evangelion' doesn't mean you're a tool of his. If he put your name forward he must have thought something of you right?"

Shinji didn't respond, instead he just looked down at the ground while Asuka kept on speaking, her anger rising up at the brown haired agent in front of her.

"As far as I'm concerned everything we've done has been our work and under instructions from the director of NERV. Not Mr. Spender, not your father and not anyone else. I'm not going to let some story from an anonymous man with expensive implants and a smart suit get me to start questioning everything. If you want to believe everything and give up like an idiot then go ahead."

"Sorry."

"There you go with the apologizing again, you really don't realize how annoying that is do you?"

"No, but what else am I meant to say?"

"I'll think of something, look lets just put aside what Mr. Spender has said for now. I'm not saying it isn't true but if it is there is nothing we can do at the moment but wait and see what happens. On that note we shouldn't tell anyone about this."

"Right."

Unknown Location
Spender moved into the darkened room and headed straight for the head of the table, as he moved, the heads of the others already sitting turned as he moved past them. He took a seat at the end of the table and looked straight on at the shadowed faces of all the others in the room. The rest of the committee, as they were known, representatives from each of the worlds major powers, each one working in secrecy, hidden deep within their respective countries governments.

As soon as Spender sat down one of the other members of the committee, an American turned to him and spoke.

"I'm sure you are aware of why we asked to have this committee meeting."

Spender looked up smiling and nodded.

"Yes I am aware."

"Then you understand our concerns."

"Yes I understand, however there is no reason to be concerned. Please let it be known that my contact with Agent's Ikari and Sohryu was purely for the benefit of this committee."

"Benefit? We delegated the handling of the Evangelion subjects to director Ikari, there is no reason for us to be involved."

"You are not thinking of the big picture, we placed Gendo Ikari in charge of ensuring the subjects were subjected to the Evangelion serum and making sure the instructions for the Angels was handed to the subjects. However Gendo Ikari has failed to gain his Agents trust, which means I had to step in."

"In what way?"

"Agent Ikari is eventually going to find out it is his father who is pulling the strings and when that happens he is going to want nothing to do with his father, or perhaps NERV. If that happens we cannot rely on just Agent Sohryu to take down the rest of the Angels, despite her being our first choice, and we certainly cannot rely on Agent Ayanami either. We need Gendo's son on our side, that is why I met with him, to gain his trust."

"You also revealed the nature of the Angels to him."

"Yes I did, purely to gain his trust. We cannot rely on Gendo Ikari to finish this job, we must use other means. Nothing else has been revealed to Agents
Ikari and Sohryu and what was revealed is not of any use to them anyway."

"Do you think gaining their trust will aid us?"

"Of course, trust is the most valuable resource on earth. If they trust us we can control them, even if they do not know it. Do not worry, as Chairman of this committee I only act within SEELE's best interests."
The rest of the committee murmured in agreement as Spender looked on, awaiting the American's next question.

"Understood, I'm sorry for doubting you Chairman Keel. I was just concerned that is all, we have waited too long to let our plans go to waste."

"Your concerns are noted but not required, I am just ensuring we have a backup plan, should Director Ikari fail us."

9th June 2015
Directors Office - 1030 hours
"Agent Kaji welcome."

Kaji closed the door behind him and stepped into the darkened office, Kaji was surprised that any normal person could work in an environment like this, and then again Director Ikari wasn't what he'd call a normal man. He looked over behind Ikari and saw Deputy Director Fuyutsuki standing behind Gendo silently.

"Director Ikari, Deputy Director Fuyutsuki, we meet again."

Fuyutsuki stepped forward into the light and spoke, a solemn look on his face.

"I only wish it was under better circumstances, what do you have to report?"

"Straight to business, huh?"

Kaji smiled and waited for a response, receiving none, he launched straight into his report.

"As you know, yesterday at nine fifteen hours Agent Shinji Ikari was contacted in his office from a caller asking to meet both he and Agent Sohryu in a café near the Tokyo-3 Central Subway Station. As you have both requested I followed both Agents and observed their meeting with the caller."

Fuyutsuki and Gendo looked at each other, Fuyutsuki spoke once again.

"What was their meeting about, Agent Kaji?"

"I am not certain, I would not have been able to get into the café without being sighted by either of them. The meeting however did seem to have an effect on both Agents and lasted some time."

"In what way?"

"Shortly after the meeting took place and the person left, Agent Ikari promptly stood up and ran out of the café, only to be pursued by Agent Sohryu. They then had what seemed like a heated discussion outside of the café."

"I see, and who was the person they met with?"

"This is the part that's going to shock you both, it certainly surprised me."

Gendo interjected himself, at this point speaking in a harsh tone.

"Get to the point, Agent Kaji."

"Committee Chairman Keel."

"I see, that is all Agent Kaji, you may now leave."

"Yes, Director."

Fuyutsuki watched as Kaji exited the room, when the door closed he turned to Gendo and spoke quietly.

"It would seem the old man has an agenda."

"Yes it does, this might impact our plans."

"How so?"

"Keel is not stupid, he will want to control them and to gain their trust so he can use them for his own means, we cannot allow him to do that. We have our own agenda to carry out."

"Contacting the Agents though, the committee couldn't have been too pleased."

"I wouldn't imagine so, then again Keel is a very persuasive man."

"So what should we do?"

"Wait, we do not know what Keel told them and as far as he is concerned we are still working according to SEELE's scenario. We will observe for now and if need be then we will interfere. We cannot allow our own plans to be compromised because of one careless mistake."

Misato's Office - 1115 hours

Shinji & Misato were discussing all that has happened, despite him living back with Misato they have not had the time to discuss anything. Misato tried to get information out of them about what has happened but Shinji, as always, refused tell her anything, scared that if she knows it might endanger her.
Shinji paused for a moment before he knocked at the door, not entirely sure he wanted to go through with this. He could just turn around, go back to his office and pretend to do some paperwork, but then even if he did he'd have to face Misato on the night and she'd most likely berate him for not turning up now. Besides, he had been putting off this discussion with her for three weeks now.

'She has a right to know what's happened, or at least most of it.'

He brought his hand up again and knocked on the door, he waited for a moment until he heard Misato's voice asking him to come in from inside the room. He opened the door and found her sat behind her desk, papers all over the desk and a cup of coffee in her hand. It always amazed him how Misato was able to work in such a messy environment, it had been a question he asked himself when he was fourteen and again now when he was twenty eight.

She turned to him and smiled warmly, Shinji smiled back and took a seat near her desk. He glanced over the various documents on the desk, most of it just menial paperwork relating to the last case he and Asuka worked on and also any investigations since then. He didn't get a good chance to look at them as Misato began to speak.

"Shinji, it's good to see you."

"Yeah, sorry I didn't get a chance to speak with you when you asked. I've been busy."

"It's alright I understand, we haven't really been able to talk at home either because we haven't been there much."

"Yeah I know."

She looked at him, not quite sure of how to proceed, she had wanted to speak to him for sometime knowing how the news of his father affected him and wanted to help him. Now that she actually got to speak to him she didn't know what to say. It wasn't easy trying to speak to someone of his age about this sort of thing, if he was fourteen again she'd probably be able to say something. She decided just to stick to the basics for now.

"So, how have you been?"

"I'm alright."

He was lying, Misato could tell immediately, the tone in his voice gave it away every time. They sat in silence for a few moments until Misato asked another question.

"Shinji, why haven't I been informed about anything you and Agent Sohryu have been working on for the past few weeks?"

"What do you mean, you know about the cases don't you?"

"Yes I know but not from you. Ever since we picked up Asuka from the cruise ship you haven't told me anything. Everything I've been told has came from formal reports and word of mouth. Don't you trust me?"

Shinji lowered his head and spoke quietly.

"I do, I just..."

"I understand that you're going through a rough time because of finding out about your father but I want to help you. I want you to tell me about what's happening."

"I know that it's just, everything is happening so suddenly, I need to figure it out myself first."

"Then let me help you, I want to help you sort things out. It's just I don't like having to find out about you from other people."

"I'm sorry I just didn't want to get you involved yet."

Shinji regretted the words the moment they left his lips, he quickly tried to correct himself when he noticed Misato looking hurt.

"I didn't mean that, I just...didn't want to get you or Asuka involved. She only got involved because she said she owed it to me. You and Asuka are needed by NERV to do a good job, I'm not needed I'm just here because..."

"Shinji you know that's not true."

"It is though, NERV doesn't need people like me. I'm not risking anything you..."

She cut him off angrily and brought her hand down on the table, startling Shinji.

"Stop talking like that, if you honestly think that then hand in your resignation now because I don't want to have an Agent who thinks like that reporting to me. I'm not going to stop you Shinji but if you do leave keep in mind what you're leaving behind. You are needed by NERV whether you think it or not, if you weren't needed why would you be the one getting commended for bringing down those twins, why would you be the one chosen to take out Ramiel."
Shinji stood up and found himself shouting back at her.

"Because my father chose me to do it, because he had a use for me!"

The words slipped out so easily he fell back into his chair, his head buried between his hands as Misato looked at him sympathetically. She slowly stood up and put her arm around the young man, trying to console him. She whispered in his ear.

"What do you mean he had a use for you?"

"He...Me and Asuka were contacted by someone yesterday, he said he had been following the cases and he knew about my father being at the hospital. He called the people we have been against 'Angels' and said it was my fathers doing that I was chosen to take out Ramiel and also that I was given the other cases. Everything I've been doing, thinking I've been getting nearer to the truth is just bullshit planted by him to make me believe I was doing something worthwhile."

"Shinji...did you actually believe this person who contacted you?"

"Not at first but he knew, Misato, about each of the cases, he knew the names and the people involved. He knew about my father being at the hospital, he knew it all."

"Was Agent Sohryu with you?"

"Yes she was."

"And what did she say?"

"She told me to not believe what was said."

"Then that's what you should do."

Shinji was about to speak again but Misato placed her finger across his lips, silencing him, and spoke again.

"Shinji, listen to Agent Sohryu and forget about it for now and focus on what you can prove. Work on finding out what you can and forget about whether or not your father chose you to do those tasks because it just sounds like someone trying to throw you off."

"I can't just forget about it though, he's involved, Misato, I know he is, I just can't prove it."

"Maybe he is involved but it's been you who's done everything up to this point, your father didn't tell you to investigate Sachiel did he?"

"No..."

"He didn't tell you or Agent Sohryu what to do, or control you during any of the other cases did he?"

"No..."

"No, it's been you, if he chose you to do a task then it must show he has faith in you in some way, but I can't see how he could have done, he's not a part of NERV. You can't just think you're worthless because of what one person said."

He looked up at her and smiled slightly as she lifted her arm from his shoulder, he spoke quietly.

"Maybe you're right."

She hugged him and then returned to her seat.

"I am, now that we've established that I have something for you and Sohryu to work on."

"What is it?"

Main Office - 1115 hours

Asuka sat at her desk looking around the now devoid of life office, she looked up and spotted a small fly hovering around the light and watched it for a few moments before returning to staring blankly at the opposite end of the office. The hum of the three computers was beginning to drive her insane, she couldn't understand how Shinji could have spent so much time working down here on his own.

'We definitely need a new office, this is so boring.'

The door to the office began to open and Asuka found herself eager to talk to whoever was about to step through, just to alleviate some of the boredom. Much to her annoyance however the person to step through was the person she would have least liked to speak to at that moment in time. She watched on as Ayanami walked into the office and moved over to her desk, not even glancing in Asuka's direction.

"Welcome back."

"Thank you."

The room fell into silence again, however this time it was accompanied by the sound of Rei using her computer. A few more moments passed until, much to Asuka's surprise, Rei began to speak.

"Agent Sohryu."

"Mmmh."

Asuka looked across to Rei and found her looking over towards the door, seemingly struggling with whatever it was she wanted to say. Asuka sighed and replied again in an annoyed tone.

"Yes, what is it?"

A few more moments passed until Rei eventually turned to Asuka and spoke softly, seemingly finding it difficult to get her words out.

"I would...like to apologize for what happened when I attacked you. I didn't intend to hurt you and I am sorry for it."

Asuka's jaw nearly dropped as she stared back at her, it was the last thing she had expected from her. What surprised Asuka the most however was the difficulty Rei seemingly had to just apologize, it was almost as if the concept was foreign to her. This time Asuka found herself at a loss for what to say, despite the apology she still harbored some feelings of resentment towards her. She wanted to stand up and shout at her, yet at the same time couldn't help but feel some sort of pity for her.

"Thanks, but don't think that makes up for it, I still don't trust you."

"I understand."

"Good, how are you feeling now anyway?"

"I am alright now, I cannot carry out any field work yet but I have been allowed to return here."

"I see, what about your apartment."

"I will have to find a new place to live, for now I have been allowed to stay on the ward I was on."

"You mean you don't have anywhere else to stay, you can't stay at a friend's or relatives?"

"I do not have any relatives."

"What about at a friends place?"

"I do not..."

Rei trailed off there, her expression saddened, Asuka looked on, not entirely sure of how to approach her. She turned to her screen and absently mindedly began to type anything, but the thought of what Rei had just said, or nearly said, was running around at the back of her mind.

"Ayanami, if you want you can stay at mine. I can only offer you the sofa downstairs but it's better then being stuck in a hospital ward."

Rei looked up at her and smiled slightly.

"I...would like that."

Asuka smiled back, her previous feelings for the woman seemingly going, she still felt she couldn't trust Rei but at the same time hated the idea that Rei had nothing but herself in the world. The words Shinji spoke a few weeks ago echoed in her mind, that Rei said NERV was all she had.

'Maybe now I'll be able to learn more about her.'

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted when the door to the office burst open and Shinji quickly made his way in. He put on his jacket and looked over towards Asuka.


"There's been an incident at the Central Subway Station, Katsuragi want's us to check it out."

"What's happened?"

"Someone went insane in one of the subway cars, killed three people. The guards there said he was leaking some sort of orange liquid."

"LCL?"

"We don't know yet, but Katsuragi wants us there as soon as possible. The police have tried searching the tunnels but had no luck so they handed it over to NERV."

"As usual."

"Ayanami, Katsuragi told me to tell you that she wants to speak to you about getting a permanent assignment to this section."

"I see."

He looked over towards Asuka who was now just starting to stand up and put her own jacket on, he was about to make his way out of the office when Asuka called him back.

"Hold on there Ikari, no need to seem to enthusiastic. Besides, I've got the car keys."

"Sorry."

She pulled her pistol out of the drawer and loaded it then promptly holstered it in her jacket.

"Right, let's go."

Subway Station - 1230 hours
Shinji and Asuka made their way onto the main platform to find it deserted, save for a small number of police officers and Misato. Both he and Asuka made their way under the police tape and over towards Misato. When they arrived she looked at them both with a grave expression.

"It's not good news, the number of dead bodies they gave us at NERV has increased. We're looking at maybe twelve dead and the officers they sent after the person haven't returned yet."

Shinji looked at the tracks and to the officers moving away.

"What happened exactly?"

"They're not sure, apparently the person in the front carriage began to flip out, he attacked three people then moved into the driver's compartment. The train itself is a little way up the line but it's completely came off the tracks, whatever he did it had some force to it."

"I see, where are the survivors?"

"Most have been taken to hospital or taken away by the police before we got here."

"Do we know anything about the person?"

"Nothing, anyone the police have spoken to have no idea who he was, they said he just started going insane, he was quiet one moment and then the next thing they knew he had killed someone and just kept going. The police have sent two officers down to the scene, but they lost communication."

Asuka looked down the tracks into the darkness and then back to Misato.

"So they passed it onto us?"

"Yes, we're to go down to the scene of the crash taking monitoring equipment with us. We need to scout it out before they send rescue teams down."

"You mean there are still people in there?"

"They're not sure, the survivors they did find made their own way back."

Just at that moment one of the police officers leading the investigation called over from the tracks.

"Agent Katsuragi, they're ready to send you and your agents down now."

"Okay, we'll be right there."

All three of them made their way over towards the officers and lowered themselves onto the tracks. When they were on the tracks the officer and staff member handed them three helmets, each with a light attached and what appeared to be a recording device. They each put one of the helmets on and looked down towards the darkened tunnel.

"Right then, I guess we're going."

Asuka looked across at Shinji and smiled slightly.

"What's wrong, you're not afraid of the dark are you?"

"No nothing like that...let's go then."

He began walked towards the tunnel, Misato following him, Asuka watched them both disappearing into the darkness and quickly followed. They walked up the line for about ten minutes until a strange smell hit Asuka's nose. She paused and spoke, her voice echoing through the dark tunnel.

"Hold on, do you guys smell that?"

Shinji stopped and turned towards her, the light from his helmet hitting her right in the eyes. Before she had a chance to shout at him he replied.

"Yeah, it's almost like..."

"Blood."

Both Asuka and Shinji were surprised to see Misato had also stopped and it was her who responded. She didn't give them any chance to reply as she immediately kept walking.

"I think I can see the train up ahead, let's get going."

They continued to walk until they eventually reached their destination, the train had come off the rails and was now blocking most of the tunnel. The front carriage had been turned on its side and flickering lights could be seen inside. Shinji climbed into the carriage and looked around, his torchlight providing little illumination. Behind him he felt Asuka dropping into the carriage along with Misato. The smell of blood was stronger in this section. Shinji looked around and noticed several dead bodies scattered around, blood staining their bodies and the areas around them. Whatever had done this couldn't have been human.

"The smell is coming from further on down the line, there's a trail of LCL leading up the carriage and out as well."

"Do you think that's where the missing officers went?"

"Maybe, I'm going to go check it out."

Asuka was about to climb out of the carriage and move further up when Shinji called her.

"Agent Sohryu..."

"Yes."

"Be careful."

"Of course."

Shinji watched as she climbed out and moved away from the carriage, he turned and came face to face with Misato.

"You're concerned about her aren't you?"

"Of course I am, she's a good...I like..."

In the faint light Shinji could have sworn he had seen Misato start to grin.

"Never mind, we have more important things to worry about at the moment, we'd better call them back and tell them it's safe for the rescue teams."

"Good idea, I'll radio in. You go and make sure Asuka is safe."

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine, Asuka needs you more than I do at the moment, especially if that person is down there."

Shinji nodded and smiled at Misato.

"Thanks."

Subway Tunnels - 1245 hours
As Asuka walked down, the smell of the LCL was getting stronger and stronger, she turned a corner and saw a section of wall illuminated by a flashlight. She kneeled down besides it and examined it slightly, the handle was covered with LCL.

'Must have belonged to one of the officers sent down, that means our guy must be close.'

She looked around the area and noticed a small crawlspace next to her, just where the flashlight was pointed. She edged nearer and as she did so became ever more aware of a presence near her, quickly without thinking she span round and pointed her gun at the person nearing her. She breathed a sigh of relief to see it was Shinji.

"Ikari, can you not do that again."

"Sorry, Misato sent me, she radioed the rescue team to examine what's left of that train carriage. What have you found?"

"What I'd assume to be one of the officers torches and a crawlspace here. I had a quick look before you snuck up on me and it looks like it leads to a room."

"A room, that's impossible we had a look at the layout there's nothing here, there's no reason for it to be here."

"Say's he who believes in aliens?"

"That's different, look it's not that I don't believe you. I mean the room is there in front of us, it just seems strange that it's not on the layout."

"Well no matter what the layouts say I'm looking inside, stay out here just in case our guy decides to come back."

"Yes sir."

Shinji mock saluted which got nothing more than a scowl from Asuka, she kneeled down again and looked around inside the crawlspace. Slowly she climbed inside and began moving into the room on the other side. She stood up and cautiously looked around, the smell of LCL was even stronger in here, it took her only a matter of seconds to realize why. Covering the entire back of the room was a huge tank filled seemingly to the brim with LCL. Along each wall were pipes and in the corner a machine that appeared to be connected to the LCL tank. She stepped forward and looked closer at the tank, as she did so she turned and shouted back to Shinji.

"There's a tank of that LCL stuff in here, it's almost like something out of a sci-fi movie, you know a growth chamber or something."

"Anything else in there?"

"No just pipes and..."

She trailed off as she turned back to look inside the tank, she could have sworn she saw something moving. She looked again, before she had a chance to finish off she felt a huge force sending her flying back into the wall. Shards of glass from the tank flew everywhere. The stench of blood rushed over her as she was covered in LCL. She slowly looked up, resisting the urge to vomit, as she did so she saw the figure in front of her.

'It's not...that's not human anymore'

The beast stood in front of her covered from head to toe in some sort of grey cracked armour, Asuka could see sections of it where human skin remained. The face of the being was no longer that of a human but was now grotesquely distorted, where there was once a mouth there was only grey, where there were once eyes now remained two sockets. She raised her gun at the thing and fired two shots only to see them bounce off of its body. From behind her she could hear Shinji shouting.

"Sohryu are you alright in there?"

"I found our suspect, he's been trans..."

She quickly ducked out of the way as the beast came towards her, she was able to get out of the way in time but it caught her arm. Almost immediately she screamed out in pain as she felt its skin graze her. Asuka raised her arm and looked at the wound, it was a mixture of a burn would and almost as if she had been cut at the same time. She raised her gun again, this time aiming for the section not covered by the armor and shot two more bullets. The monster stepped back seemingly in pain but then paused, its grotesque head tilted slightly and staring directly at Asuka. She watched as where she had shot was now replaced by the same grey armour.

'This is ridiculous how am I mean to stop something that's invincible.'

Asuka fired her remaining bullets at the monster only to see them bounce off again, she quickly ran up to it and tried to punch it only to have her attack blocked and for her to be overcome by the same blinding pain she had felt when it charged at her. She felt it grab her and throw her towards the tank, as she landed she felt shards of glass enter her back. The being began to make its way over towards her when the sound of gunfire ran out across the room again, both her and the monster turned to the source to see Shinji stood there, his gun aimed directly at it.

Quickly it charged towards him and knocked him into one of the pipes knocking it loose, almost immediately white foam began pouring out of it endlessly. A drop of it fell onto the monster and it roared out. It jumped to its feet and threw Shinji across the room, Asuka by this time had stood up, Shinji turned and threw his gun over at her. She fired a shot from the gun and watched the bullet bounce harmlessly off of the beasts back. It was enough to distract it for a bit though as she quickly dashed over to where the coolant was leaking, she felt some of it dropping on her and a shiver was sent down her spine due to how cold it was. She pulled the thing off the wall and fired more shots at the beast, hoping it would take the bait.

It raised itself up and looked at her, its face still tilted slightly and began to move towards her, she quickly dodged out of the way and rammed the pipe directly into where the creature's eye socket would have been. It roared out in pain as the foam entered its body and began to seep out of the cracks in its grey armor. After a few moments Asuka let go of the pipe and sank to her knees, the monster next to her now seemingly frozen in place. She looked over at Shinji who appeared to be injured but was now slowly getting to his feet and smiled slightly.

"Thanks, guess I owe you one for rescuing me."

He looked at her and then at the frozen figure in front of him.

"Don't mention it, I guess this was the next Angel."

"What makes you say that?"

"Look to your left."

Asuka looked to her left at where she had tore the pipe from the wall, above was a small tank, the white foam still dripping from it. On the center of the tank however was the familiar seven eyed logo.