Okay. Ryan's up to his shoulders in senior project bullshit, so it's just me.
~~~~~
Neon Psychosis Evangelion 07
Catch And Release, Part 1: First Blood
NERV headquarters had fallen in a state of complacency ever since the Third Angel was defeated. The days immediately after were tense as the sense of impending doom pervaded the atmosphere. At any moment, another Angel might appear, and this time Shinji might not be so lucky. But as the first week rolled by, everyone relaxed and fell back into their usual habits. As one week became two, emotions were back to where they had been prior to Sachiel’s appearance. It was as if the Angel had been nothing but a bad dream.
Makoto Hyuga was taking advantage of the lull to catch up on his manga reading. He heard Shigeru Aoba scoff from across the room, but ignored him, pushing his glasses up on his nose and burying his face deeper into the print.
“Don’t laugh at him,” he heard Maya Ibuki scold Shigeru. She sat at the center of the console with Shigeru on her right, and Makoto on her left.
“Why not?” Shigeru asked, wanting to hear Maya’s reason.[glow=red,2,300]I think that the whole "wanting to hear Maya's reason bit is superfluous. Just my thoughts.[/glow]
“Because.” Under Shigeru’s glare, she continued. “It’s mean. We’re all supposed to get along aren’t we? NERV needs all of us working together in order to function properly. We have to present a united front against the Angels if humanity is to have any hope of survival. How can we hope to stand up to them, if we’re fighting against each other?” [glow=red,2,300]Sounds like something out of Tales of Symphonia.[/glow]
A moment of silence passed before both Makoto and Shigeru burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?” she demanded, blushing.
“That,” Makoto wheezed, “was the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard. And you should see some of the stuff I read.”[glow=red,2,300]Even the story agrees with my previous statement.
[/glow]
“Yeah, really,” Shigeru agreed. “I almost believed [glow=red,2,300]you[/glow] for a second!” While the two men struggled to regain themselves, Maya huffed and returned to her own reading, shutting the others out. Behind her, Shigeru rolled his chair over to Makoto and gave him a high-five. In truth, they never really argued. They teased back and forth because there really wasn’t anything else to do in their off-time. Maya just things too seriously sometimes.
Next, Shigeru rolled over to Maya. “Aw, c’mon, Maya. We were just kidding.” She shrugged him off.
Makoto rolled up on her other side. “Yeah, we didn’t mean it.”
Maya staunchly ignored them both, making a point of turning the page.
“We really liked your speech,” Shigeru tried.
“Yeah, it was very, um, inspirational.”
“Really inspirational.”
“I feel like the three of us could take on anything.”
The two were practically leaning over her shoulders, stupidly wide grins plastered on their faces. “You two are pathetic,” she said simply, turning another page. No sooner had they rolled away from her than she started laughing. “And you two think I’m easy.”
Shigeru tilted his head to one side. “Well, whaddya know, Makoto. Maya’s got some zing to her after all.”
“Never thought I’d see the day.” Maya spun in her seat and hurled her book at Makoto. It hit him right between the eyes and sent him falling backward, chair and all. Very calmly, Maya rose, retrieved her book, and sat back down.
“Excellent shot, Maya,” Ritsuko said from the doorway. “Someone needs to keep these two in line and it might as well be you.”
Makoto picked himself up from the floor and wheeled his chair back to his station. He rubbed the spot where Maya [glow=red,2,300]had[/glow]nailed him, knowing there would be a bruise there later. Shigeru also wheeled back to his station, though slowly and reluctantly.
“My thoughts exactly, Ritsuko. What are you doing here?”
“Oh, just checking in. Making sure you three aren’t slacking off.” Even though she was still smiling, the sharp raise of one eyebrow made the three technicians sit up straighter. Maya and Makoto sheepishly hid their books, though Ritsuko had already seen them. “Come on now, you three – yes, you as well, Mr. Aoba.” Shigeru had made a face at both Maya and Makoto having not been caught doing anything that might indicate he was slacking off. “You three need be serious about this. If you fall asleep at the wheel, an Angel could slip right under our noses.”
“Aw, lay off them, will you?” Eames seemed to just appear, leaning casually on the doorframe. [glow=red,2,300]British Ninja's[/glow]“All work and no play makes – what’s your name again?”
“Shigeru Aoba.”
[glow=red,2,300]"[/glow]’Right. All work and no play makes Shigeru a dull boy.”
“Eames,” Ritsuko said simply, her smile turning into a scowl. ‘I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up for work today.”
“You know, I was beginning to wonder the very same thing myself – until about an hour ago, that is. I decided that a day off wouldn’t be worth receiving a lecture. A couple of hour’s worth of sleep, however, was. Although just seeing that scowl makes me regret my decision. Indeed, a scowl should not grace such a lovely face, for it – “
“Good lord, Eames, do you ever stop talking?”
Everyone turned as Arthur entered from the other side of the room. Why don’t those doors make any sound anymore? Ritsuko thought. It’s way too easy for someone to sneak in here. I’ll have someone look at that later. [glow=red,2,300]I always like to put thoughts in single quotes. Nothing really wrong here, but it helps differentiate internal monologue from the text.[/glow]
“Ah, Arthur,” Eames acknowledged, walking in closer to the control panel. “There was a disturbing lack of condescension in the room [glow=red,2,300]Love that line.[/glow]; I’m so glad you arrived to fill the empty void in my heart.”
“Apparently, you’ve just answered my question, although a simple “no” would have sufficed.”
“Is there anything in this world that doesn’t irritate you, Arthur?”
“Yes, actually, there are a number of things. And you know what all of them have in common?” He looked around as if seeing is anyone was going to take a guess. “They don’t involve you.” [glow=red,2,300] Can't you just smell the love in the air?[/glow]
Before the argument descended into a fistfight, Ritsuko interjected. “Have either of you seen Cobb?”
Arthur gave Eames one last glare before answering. “Yeah, he’s right…” He had pointed behind him, at the door, expecting to see Cobb standing there. “…Behind me.”
“Oh wonderful,” Eames chimed. “You’ve lost him.”
-
Misato Katsuragi hated paperwork. More importantly, she hated bureaucrats who made paperwork necessary. She was an action girl; if something needed doing, she wanted to do it right then and then, and not have to worry about authorization or chain of command – unless her superior was in the same room and she could simply shout to him or her. As she made her way through the labyrinth that was NERV Headquarters, carrying a sizeable stack of paperwork, she wondered if she should have joined the military after all. At least then her “captain” title would be official. Alas.
What were all those forms for? Misato never bothered to learn, although half of them were reports she was expected to read, reports concerning…well, hell, she wasn’t actually going to read them. She’d never admit as much to Ritsuko.
She took her eyes off the way in front of her to glare at the veritable mountain of authorization forms and official document. “For a secret organization, we sure have an awful lot of official things. We might as well another branch og the government for the red tape we have to wiggle through.”
Misato didn’t look up fast enough when she approached the corner and smacked into Dominic Cobb who saw her only at the last second. [glow=red,2,300]That last sentence seems a bit unwieldy. See if you can break it into two or something.[/glow]It was enough, though, and he braced himself so that he didn’t fall. Misato, on the other hand, fell back on her ass [glow=red,2,300]dat sweet ass[/glow], her stack of forms flying everywhere. Out of sheer embarrassment, or perhaps accepting that today wasn’t going to be her day, Misato lay back and stared at the ceiling. She hadn’t gotten that much sleep after Shinji had left because Commander Fuyustsuki had called to remind her of the paperwork mounting up. It was better than Ritsuko calling, she decided, because Fuyutsuki didn’t find a certain enjoyment in making her life miserable – as far as she knew. Ritsuko would call and remind her of the paper work just to hear her discomfort. But that was what good friends were for, right?
“Are you all right, Ms. Katsuragi?”
“Hm?” Cobb was crouched down beside her, a look of genuine concern on his face. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. It’s just been a tiring day.” [glow=red,2,300]MISATOXCOBB OTP :3[/glow]
“I’m glad. My apologies for running into you. This place is a maze; I’ve been here two weeks but I can never find where anything is located.”
‘Tell me about it. I’ve worked here for years and I still can hardly find the bathroom.” That made the two of them smile.
“Here, let me help you up.” He extended a hand which she accepted.
“Great,” she muttered, seeing her scattered papers. “As if I didn’t have enough problems already. Would you mind, Cobb?”
“Not at all, Ms. Katsuragi.”
“Please, it’s just Misato,” she assured him as they knelt to gather up [glow=red,2,300]her[/glow] paperwork. “We do work together, after all.”
“If you insist.” He gave the first paper he found a skeptical look. “What is all of this for?”
“Just paperwork. Documents. Authorization forms. You know, the usual.”
“Are you, you know, a secret organization? Why does an underground agency tasked with defending the world from an alien menace require so much red tape to maneuver through?”
Misato chuckled softly. “Believe me, Cobb, I’ve been asking myself the same thing for years.” She reached for another paper, but Cobb’s hand on top of her stopped her. “Cobb?”
“Do you believe in what you’re doing here, Misato?” A darkness crossed his face, one she hadn’t seen before. His voice dropped to barely above a whisper. “Do you really believe in the future of humanity, enough to send children off to fight your battles for you?”
She met his gaze and looked away. “If you knew anything about my past – “
“I know about your past, Ms. Katsuragi. But I’m not talking about your past; I’m talking about now. What do you believe now?”
Misato found herself at a loss for words. What kind of question was that, anyway? Of course I believe in the future of humanity. The Angels have to be defeated so that humanity can survive. No I don’t enjoy sending children to fight for me. Why can’t I just tell him? [glow=red,2,300]Once again. I like to put thoughts in single quotes. just sayin'[/glow]
“Cobb, I – “
The Geofront’s alert system blared over the speakers as all the lights in the place turned a deep red. Misato jerked the paper out from Cobb’s grip. “Thank you, Cobb, for you help, but we should get going.” She also took the papers he had collected and marched off towards the command bridge.
-
Ariadne was standing one of the elevators of the complex, studying a map she had. “Huh, what’s in Terminal Dogma, I wonder?” There wasn’t a letter-number designation for the very bottom floor of NERV Headquarter, so she could only assume that she didn’t have the proper clearance to go down there. To her, it was like they dangled a carrot in front of a horse. How could she not try to get to it? [glow=red,2,300]Can we have her come up with some theories? Granted, none of them would even be close to what's down there, but I figured that she'd be the first one to start throwing WMG's around.[/glow]
When the alarm system went off, she quickly folded the map and slipped it into her back pocket, promising to come back. As she made her way to the command bridge, she wondered why nobody bothered to ask for a map of the complex. Sure they didn’t hand them out to everybody, and the map was just as confusing, but it certainly was within their clearance to possess one.
Everyone was already present when she arrived, but nobody noticed her arrival except Arthur, who merely nodded. [glow=red,2,300]WHAT A PRICK[/glow]
“Unusual Delta Wave Pattern detected in the ambient psychic field of Tokyo-3!” Maya shouted over the alarms.
“Is it an Angel?” Misato shouted back.
“Well, obviously it’s an Angel,” Eames retorted. “What else could it be?”
Arthur crossed his arms and stared at Eames. Hard. “Eames – “
“Wave pattern blue confirmed! It’s an Angel!” Ritsuko leaned in over Maya’s shoulder. “Misato, send a message to Shinji and Rei! Tell them to get here as fast as they can!”
“There is no need, Dr. Agaki,” Rei said from the doorway. “We are already here.” She barely had any force in her voice, but she was perfectly clear above the cacophony. She had a firm grip on Shinji’s arm, probably to lead him along the confusing walls of the complex. Or it was to keep him from trying to run. Either seemed perfectly acceptable to Ritsuko.
“Rei? What are you doing here? The Angel was only just detected.”
“I had…a feeling.”
This was the first time Ariadne had heard Rei speak, and already she was unsettled by the blue-haired girl’s presence. Judging by the sudden silence (aside from the various alarms) everyone felt the same way.
Misato’s commands quickly filled the bridge. “Maya! Shigeru! Makoto! Try and pinpoint the origin of the Angel wave pattern! Cobb, Arthur! Take Rei out and begin a manual search of the city! We’ll keep in contact with you from here.”
“Shinji as well.”
Everyone turned at the sound of Gendo Ikari’s voice. He was sitting above the bridge in his usual position, fingers interlaced, and elbows resting on the desk in front of him. Kozo Fuyuutsuki stood at his right.
“Sir?”
“Mr. Cobb is to take Shinji out into the field with him as well; he needs to learn exactly what it means to be an Eva pilot.”
Nobody dared argue, though Gendo could see Misato, Cobb, and Shinji all wanting to disagree. Fortunately, no one did. “Yes, Commander. Cobb, take Shinji with you.”
He nodded solemnly. “Understood. Let’s go, Shinji, Rei.” At first, Shinji stood rooted to the spot, but a gentle shove from Cobb got him going in the right direction. He cast a longing look over his shoulder at his father before disappearing through the doorway.
After a moment of reflection, Misato jumped back into command-mode. “Yusuf! Make sure the chemicals are mixed and ready by the time the return. Ritsuko, Eames, makes sure the Eva programs are running properly; Ariadne, make sure the MAGI are fitted with the current labyrinth models.”
Everyone jumped into their respective duties without hesitation. Misato didn’t risk a look back up at Gendo and Kozo; she couldn’t afford to show them any uncertainty at all. Her orders were her orders. If she questioned them then her subordinates would too, and that was unacceptable in this situation.
“What do you think Fuyutsuki?” Gendo asked of his second-in-command without taking his eyes off the ants scrambling beneath him.
“I think you’ve got the place running like a well-oiled machine,” Fuyutsuki responded seriously. When Gendo didn’t respond, he asked, “How did the meeting with the Oversight Committee go?”
“About as well as expected – the old men still think I’m their pawn. Cobol Engineering even threatened to withhold funding from NERV if we don’t hand Dominic Cobb over to them within a reasonable timeframe.”
“I imagine that didn’t go over too well?”
He snorted. “If Cobol went through with it, they would very quickly find themselves short one CEO. Probably the CFO as well. Both would be replaced by SEELE puppets or the company would finally be bought out by Fischer Morrow or Proclus Global. They can’t risk it; it’s a symbolic gesture nothing more, but there is a fine line between keeping up appearances and not letting things go. We’ll soon find out if Cobol recognizes the difference.”
“Are Proclus and Fischer Morrow still going at it?”
A very thin smile spread across Gendo’s face, though Kozo couldn’t see it. “Saito and Fischer seem to have made their peace. Maurice won’t stop until Proclus and Cobol are his, but Keel Lorenz and the rest of the Oversight Committee seem to have placated them all. But it is only a matter of time before their alliance falters. And when it does you can be sure I will be there to exploit the opening.” [glow=red,2,300]Nice fluff. I love seeing how the world differs from the source material.[/glow]
-
Shinji hugged his knees to his chest. He and Rei were sitting in the back of the same van that had brought him to Tokyo-3 (had it? Or was that all a dream?) while Cobb drove and Arthur shouted directions from the passenger seat. Rei had fixed her red eyes on Shinji, which was the reason he had pulled his knees up.
“Shinji Ikari.” She said his name slowly, enunciating each syllable as if deciding how it felt in her mouth. She was studying him, he realized, studying him like Sachiel had. “Shinji Ikari,” she said again, this time more naturally. “Third Child, we have not spoken since your arrival in Tokyo-3.” As far as Shinji could tell, it wasn’t an invitation to strike up a conversation, merely a fact.
“That’s not true. After I…fought Sachiel and was in the hospital, you were there. I had a dream about you; you introduced yourself and everything.”
Rei blinked. “Impossible. I was not allowed in the infirmary following your admittance. In order for me to have communicated with you through your dreams, I would have had to have access to a PASIV. I had no such device and I was not ever in the infirmary at the same time as you.”
“But that’s impossible. I knew your name before anyone told me.” Although now that he thought about it, it was entirely possible someone had mentioned Rei Ayanami’s name to him. In the confusion of getting to Central Dogma, he probably just forgot it. Still. [glow=red,2,300]This better be explained later. Telepathy dreams maybe?[/glow]
“I do not know what to tell you, Shinji Ikari. I was not present in your mind following the defeat of the Third Angel.”
Shinji sighed. “Yeah. Probably.”
“Rei,” Arthur called back. “You paying attention? Where is he?”
Without looking out the window, Rei replied, “Turn here.” Cobb obliged.
“How can you tell where the Angel is?” Shinji asked.
“I can sense the ambient wave patterns of the citizens of Tokyo-3,” Rei explained. “Angel thought patterns have a unique pattern that stands out from normal humans. I merely focus in on the Angel’s thoughts – what Dr. Agaki referred to as a “blue wave pattern”; humans have a “red wave pattern”.
While the individual terms overwhelmed him, Shinji thought he understood what she had said. “So does that mean you can read people’s thoughts?”
Rei tilted her head slightly to one side. “Do you mean telepathy?”
“Yes.” [glow=red,2,300]OH SHIT NIGGER[/glow]
Arthur and Cobb shared an uneasy look. Shinji never received an answer; the van lapsed into an uncomfortable silence for a minute before Rei spoke again. “Turn here. He is nearby. We will have to pursue him on foot.”
“I was afraid of that,” Cobb muttered.
“It is the only way, Dominic Cobb.”
“Here.” Arthur tossed Shinji a black ski mask. “Put that on and get out.” Obediently, Shinji slid the scratchy wool over his face as the two men followed suit. When Arthur slid open the van door, he dropped a handgun in Shinji’s lap. “Know how to use that?”
“No!”
“Well, learn fast,” Cobb said, shoving a magazine into his. “We can’t afford any screw-ups.”
Hesitantly, Shinji took the firearm in his hand, feeling the cool metal uncomfortable in his palm. “What about Rei?”
“Rei’s our bloodhound. She needs to focus on reading the wave patterns; any distraction could throw her perception off. Also,” he pointed at the girl, “she doesn’t need a disguise.”
When Shinji looked beside him, Rei’s hair had gone from sky blue to black. [glow=red,2,300]Any particular reason why? I like it, but Rei with a normal hair color is just funny.[/glow]The effect was disturbing. [glow=red,2,300Heh.[/glow]He never thought that such an unnatural color could look natural on anyone, but seeing Rei with a normal hair color, he realized she looked better with blue hair.
And that’s probably not the strangest thing I’m going to see today.
Cobb adjusted his ski mask. “Ready? Go!” The four of them raced out from behind the van right into the middle of a crowd of pedestrians. The crowd parted slightly, giving them a wide berth. “Which one is he?” he hissed.
Rei scanning the crowd put Shinji in mind of a meerkat looking out over the savannah – that crossed with a rotating satellite dish. [glow=red,2,300]LOVE THAT.[/glow]Mechanical and instinctual. “There. The twenty-something wearing a green anime t-shirt.”
Shinji and the others identified him almost immediately. Calmly, Cobb pointed his gun into the air and fired off a single shot. The crowd immediately broke into a panic, screaming and running in any direction as long as it was away from there. The green-shirted man was then only individual who didn’t run; he had locked eyes with Rei. Arthur aimed his gun at him and fired – but he chose that instant to take off. Rei was twenty feet away before Shinji knew had happened.
“After him!” Either Cobb or Arthur shouted that, Shinji wasn’t sure which. Heart pounding, Shinji raced after the two men. The gun in his hand seemed like a lead weight, slowing him down. What the hell was he going to do with it? Certainly not fire it.
Shots rang out up ahead which set his heart racing for an entirely different reason. What if Rei was on the receiving end of those? What if she was dead? Suddenly, the thought of her dead – the fear of seeing her dead – spurred him onward. Rei was nowhere in sight and neither was the target. With the blood pounding in his ears, Shinji barely heard Cobb and Arthur speaking, but he did make out three words: “Shoot on sight.”
While most of the pedestrians had cleared the sidewalk already, scared away by the dark-haired schoolgirl chasing down the relatively fit anime fan with an unbridled bloodlust, up ahead a circle of people were gathered around something. They parted at the sight of the masked gunmen, revealing a bleeding Rei Ayanami.
“I’m fine,” she said before they spoke. “He shot my left leg just below the knee. I will live. He ran down the alley up there, but it is a dead end. Any second he should be emerging. Go.”
“We can’t just leave her!” Shinji protested.
“We have to. Arthur, stay with her. Help get her back to the van; we’ll go on ahead.” He took Shinji by the arm and pulled him onward. Behind them, no one protest as Arthur pulled Rei to her feet and led the girl away. Something close to anger burned inside Shinji and he began running on his own.
The next few instants happened very slowly for Shinji. Green shirt emerged from the alleyway and immediately spotted the two of them. He froze. Cobb brought his gun up to bear at the same time the man did. A shot rang out, but not from either Cobb or the other man. The target recoiled as the bullet struck his shoulder; he staggered from the force. It was only then that Shinji realized he was holding his gun out in front of him. He had fired the shot. He fired another one as the other man aimed at him. Shinji missed, but Cobb struck him in his gun arm. The metal weapon clattered to the ground. Without missing a beat, Cobb tackled the man to the ground.
The man struggled underneath him, the writhing only serving to exacerbate the bleeding. “You…cannot…stop…us,” the man uttered with a warbling voice that movies often used to indicate demonic possession. Except this time it was real – and not a demon. This man was an Angel. [glow=red,2,300]Nice.[/glow]
“We’ve already taken down one of your brothers,” Cobb replied with mild amusement.
“Sachiel…was…a…fool! He…does not…represent…our greater…strength…”
Cobb didn’t respond – he simply jammed a hypodermic needle into his neck. “Apparently, neither do you.” [glow=red,2,300]YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!![/glow]Immediately he fell limp. “Want to put that away and help me with the body?” Cobb holstered his weapon and set to work hoisting the body up. Shinji carefully clicked the safety on and slid the weapon into the back of his slacks, held in place by the belt that was a part of his school uniform. Together they lugged the unconscious man on the shoulders and started toward the van.
“You know,” Cobb said rather casually, “I didn’t think you’d actually pull the trigger.”
“Me either,” Shinji admitted. He was still shaking but was making an effort to quell his adrenaline infused body.
“What made you do it, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Shinji had a difficult time working his feelings into words, but settled on one. “Rei.”
Cobb gave him a look that Shinji didn’t return.
Less than a minute later, the nondescript black van veered around the corner and skidded to a halt beside them. Arthur was driving. Rei, despite her wound, slid the van door open from the inside, though it visibly pained her. Cobb and Shinji tossed the unconscious man into the back with a surprising lack of concern for him. Cobb took his place in the passenger seat and Shinji in the back.
“Did you have to be so messy?” Arthur asked and he made a sharp u-turn.
‘Not my fault,” Cobb replied. “Shinji’s the one who pulled the trigger. Didn’t take him down with the first shot, so I had to get him to make sure he didn’t shoot the kid.”
“Really?” Arthur risked a glance over his shoulder at the teen. “Didn’t think he had it in him.”
“I know, right?”
[glow=red,2,300]What happens when you kill the Angel's host body without killing the angel itself? I think that this would be a good time to talk about this.[/glow]
Shinji didn’t say anything; they were talking about him like he wasn’t there, but he didn’t care. His eyes were fixed on the limp, bleeding form that had slid to the far end of the van. Blood.
“It’s a good read.”
“What?”
“His shirt.” Arthur jerked a thumb behind him. “The manga it’s based on; it’s a good read. I don’t think Makoto has read it. I should send it his way after this.”
Cobb just shook his head, chuckling to himself.
“Are you wounded, Shinji Ikari?” He jumped at Rei’s voice.
“N-No. But you – “
“It is nothing.”
“Nothing! It’s not nothing, Rei. You’re bleeding!”
“It is not a serious wound. I will live. Once we return to Central Dogma, I will have Dr. Agagi treat it. Are you sure you are uninjured Your shirt is very bloody.”
The right side of his white button-up shirt was almost completely red with blood – the blood of the man he had shot. Shinji hadn’t realized how profusely the man had been bleeding when he and Cobb had carried him. Gingerly, he touched the wet fabric with two fingers. He stared in horror at the foreign blood that rubbed off on his fingers. He had never seen blood before, not even his own. [glow=red,2,300]I seriously doubt that a 14 year old boy has never seen his own blood before. Maybe not that much blood.[/glow]
His world was changing so quickly that his mind was having difficulty keeping up. Not two weeks ago, he was leading a peaceful existence out with his aunt and uncle. Now he had fought a monster in his dreams with a giant robot, played a physically impossible game with two boys he had just met, and he had nearly killed a man.
“I don’t think I can do this.” He didn’t realize he had spoken out loud until Cobb said something back to him.
“You didn’t think you could pull the trigger out there, either, Shinji, but you did. Now we need you to get back in the cockpit of the Evangelion and fight the Angel that has taken over that man’s mind.”
That man. As far as Shinji could tell, he seemed like an ordinary man, despite the fact that he had shot Rei and tried to shoot him, as well. But was he an Angel, really? There wasn’t any outward indication of possession, so Shinji had to take everyone else’s word for it.
“Yes, Shinji,” Rei answered his unspoken question. “The thought patterns emanating from that man are those of an Angel. I detect no presence of red brain waves.”
As they approached the secret entrance to Central Dogma in silence, Shinji realized that Rei had effectively answered his earlier question concerning telepathy.
Somehow, that actually made him feel less secure with the company he was keeping.
~~~~~
Coming next time: Shamsel battle.
[glow=red,2,300]awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww yeaaaah[/glow]
