Otaku Reflected 

Episode Three, Eva Revolution 

Part Three 

A Superspy in School

by Jared Ornstead 
  
=====

    Jared had to go into ditzy anime fanatic mode all over again just 
to answer the class' questions regarding him and the Eva. Fortunately, 
on receipt of his superspy gear he'd instantly reviewed that battle, 
and a loose tongue here would mean his story would be the one entering 
general use. 
    It irked him that he'd gotten that emotionally thwacked over 
nothing, though. His plans had succeeded, even so far as the elemental 
attacks and the S2 organs. 
    "What's it called?" Eager voices pressed him. 
    The redhead crossed arms confidently. "Well, all giant androids are 
classed according to their main weapon. Mine started as a simple Muscle 
Knight, meaning that physical attacks were the best it could do. But in 
the battle it gained extra power." 
    Kensuke typed this all in the background. 
    "So what's it called now?" Two cute girls wanted to know. 
    He posed, not so dramatically, but more dashing. "The Thunder 
Knight!" 
    "Cool!" A boy pressed forward through the crowd. "So does this mean 
that its main attack is electric?" 
    Jared nodded. "Yup! I used lightning bolts to paralyze the 
creature, the Dark Angel, that was attacking us." He smiled and put his 
arms behind his head, cocking a grin down at his fellow students. "So 
far Thunder Knight is the only elemental level Knight in the world. All 
the others are still only Muscle Knights." 
    "That makes yours the most powerful, right?" 
    "Got it in one." 
    "Wow!!!" 
    "So where *are* the other knights?" 
    Jared shrugged. "One's in Germany, I know that. The United States 
has two. I don't know about many others. We've got another Muscle 
Knight here, but there was some trouble activating it." 
    Kensuke looked up from frantic record keeping of this conversation. 
This was too juicy an issue to pass up! "Trouble? What sort of 
trouble?" 
    "How did you get picked to pilot?" A girl pressed. 
    One of her obvious friends chirped up. "Yeah, did you have to take 
a test?" 
    The redheaded robot jock looked a trifle abashed, and tried to 
answer them all at once. "Only kids of a certain age can pilot one. 
You'd all qualify, but I don't know that you'd want to. Piloting a 
Knight it feels like it's your own body, and the Dark Angels we fight 
can injure you. You really feel the wounds. I'm a martial artist, I can 
handle a few blows. But Rei got hurt real bad in a malfunction trying 
to pilot her Muscle Knight." 
    "You mean REI is a pilot?" There was a certain amount of awe over 
this. 
    Jared deliberately drooped a bit. "Yeah. She's really my 
half-sister, you know? We were chosen to be pilots because of our high 
natural ability, a little over the norm. We don't know each other all 
that much, we haven't seen each other since we were small. But I hear 
that she's really led a tough life, and that's why she's as withdrawn 
as she is." 
    There was some instant sympathy over this and some girls resolved 
to be Rei's friend from then on, once she showed back up that is. 
    "Wow! You're *SO* brave!" One of the girls cheered. 
    "We're you even a little scared?" Another young lady asked. 
    Hearing that, Sylia had to grin in the background. ~Him? Not 
Likely. No one who could face a boomer without a hardsuit would faint 
over such a small peril.~ 
    Kensuke pressed forward. "You mean there's a chance that they might 
not have a pilot for the Muscle Knight they've got left over? If Rei 
got injured that is." 
    Jared looked up, mentally ticking another twist in Gendo's grimy 
shorts. "You mean you might be willing to pilot, Mr. Aida?" 
    "Would I EVER!!" The boy shouted. "Do you think there's a chance? 
That I could, I mean? I'd give anything to be able to pilot an 
Elemental Knight into battle!" 
    Sylia stepped in an intervened. "Now class, that is quite enough. 
If you will all return to your seats, we will begin today's lesson. 
Doctor Saotome?" 
    Jared stopped on his way back to his seat. "Yes, Doctor Stingray?" 
    She smiled. "Would you and your classmates appreciate some 
accelerated teaching methods? I could easily arrange for them." 
    He thought about it. She could, at that. He turned back to regard 
the class. "What do you guys think about it? Doctor Stingray here is 
the head of the Marduke Institute, she's here to oversee my training. 
What she's offering is the chance for all of you to experience a little 
something different from your average school experience." 
    Sylia moved around to the front of her desk and sat on the edge of 
it elegantly. "The standard class day would be renovated somewhat, and 
we'd have to add new facilities. In a nutshell, some of the billion-yen 
equipment we've developed to enhance and educate Dr. Saotome would also 
be made available to you." 
    Jared found himself sliding near to her, presenting solidarity for 
the class. "That boils down to some highly sophisticated computers 
programming basic school subjects into your brain directly, with no 
study time, and using the remainder of the day to study physical skills 
like dance, martial arts, gymnastics, and so on." 
    Dr. Stingray continued her smile sidelong at her companion. "We 
would also bring in simulators. Possibly a form of paintball as well. 
Necessary training for you, dear pilot, and the competition could do 
you some good." 
    Jared found himself smiling smugly at the class. "In short, picture 
half the day getting expert attention by instructors trying to *teach* 
you something, then the other half playing games." 
    "We wouldn't be required to pilot, would we?" Hikari asked 
nervously. 
    Sylia made a simple negatory gesture. "That would not be necessary 
for any of you. However, you would be assisting Dr. Saotome in his 
studies, which would potentially help save all the Earth." She raised 
her head and addressed the class with cool yet amused eyes. "It would 
also guarantee you all scholarships and acceptance to the universities 
of your choice upon graduation." 

    "I'm serious!" Ritsuko shouted into the phone. "The only place some 
of those photos could have come from was some of our private 'research' 
sessions together! If you didn't leak them, who did?" 
    Gendo calmly replied. "Calm yourself, doctor. I'll expect you in my 
office in half an hour. We'll discuss it there." Hanging up on Ritsuko, 
Gendo pressed another button. After one ring it was answered by the 
long haired bridge crewman. 
    "Yes sir?" 
    "Reschedule the synch tests for our pilots to today, after school." 
Gendo muttered. ~That should give the good doctor a distraction while I 
see who could have access enough to leak those files.~ 
    The bridge crewman nodded. "Understood, sir." Then, as the boss 
hung up, turned and marked the notations on his Doctor Akagi Swimsuit 
Calender, hanging next to his desk. 
    "Have you seen April?" The crewman next to him asked. 
    "Perverts." Maya muttered. What had Dr. Akagi been thinking? Had 
she needed the money? Was that why she'd posed for that? Could her 
mentor have cash flow problems? But how could that be, her salary was 
generous... unless, could Doctor Akagi possibly have a drug problem? 

    A book publishing supervisor checked the work roster for the day 
and discovered a new rush job on the logs. Sighing, the man queued up 
the presses and began to work the crew to begin their machinery. In a 
normal situation, he wouldn't have even glanced at the material, but 
four separate times the distributing department called down to check on 
the status. Apparently they were back ordered already and they hadn't 
even printed the thing yet. Someone made an executive decision and 
doubled, then tripled, and finally multiplied by ten the original 
order. 
    That got the man curious enough to look at a copy as it came out of 
binding. 
    He shrugged. No wonder they wanted it *now*. The thing was written 
by that Nerv guy, Gendo Ikari. Anything by someone related to a present 
crisis like he was would sell like there wasn't any yesterday or 
tomorrow either. At least the cover featuring the guy with the steepled 
fingers and glinting glasses was creepy enough to push sales along. 
    Losing all interest, the supervisor tossed the copy of "Advanced 
Backstabbing and How To Betray Just About Anybody" onto the rollers. 

    To give Gendo credit, having the Marduke Institute made up of dummy 
corporations gave him a great deal of autonomy and control. After all, 
they agreed with whatever he said. That made furthering his own plots a 
great deal easier in a number of ways. But a weakness inherant in all 
structures of lies is they belong to whomever tells the best lie, not 
necessarily the one who thought he was the owner. 
    So Jared had redirected control over to the Knight Sabers. 
    All it took was a few minutes work on the Cell Slicer, previous to 
the lady's arrival (as something of a welcoming gift), and Sylia 
Stingray was now the primary stockholder of all those corporations, if 
not the outright owner. Offices were being opened, new employees 
brought on by hiring agencies according to specifics sent by mail and 
certified fax. Orders for equipment and supplies were being filled and 
new factories opened, all certified by independent inspectors hired via 
voice mail with money provided through generous bank accounts. 
    In short, they were no longer dummy companies. They were real, thus 
considerably harder for Gendo to steal back. It was hard to tell 
someone their company didn't exist when all these employees were 
running about with jobs in their offices, wearing security badges, and 
filing income tax reports. 
    Jared could have thrown holding corporations in there to conceal 
the ownership a bit, but that would have defeated the point and 
provided a weak link for Gendo to exploit and reassert control, which 
he might well still try to do. 
    Especially when product came rolling off the production lines. 
    As a backup he also restarted Green Corporation, the backdrop for 
his own Laser Angels and foil he'd used to harass the bad guys by 
denying them several key markets. It would make an interesting fall 
back should Gendo find a way to destroy or discredit Stingray 
Enterprises. Two weapon style: The obvious and the hidden, it was one 
way to work. As before, Green corp would cover innocuous yet vital 
basics, and the 'dirty' companies would start to churn out everything 
from electronics to construction to warfare. 
    On that thought, the UN was currently looking over a proposal by a 
member of the Marduke Institute (and, incidentally, one of Sylia's 
wholly-owned companies) to produce a series of unmanned autotanks, 
including rapid-response, air-droppable types, main battle versions and 
indirect fire support. The concept was cheap, rapidly disposable and 
rapidly replaceable frontline units that could delay an angel's 
approach and test its defenses without cost in human lives. Another 
company, incidentally *also* wholly owned by Dr. Stingray, had jumped 
on the idea (hint, hint) providing a report detailing air units to 
supplement the land ones, including both transports, gunships and 
fighter craft, presenting a unified combat front with the ground units. 
    The price was attractive and he expected both to land at least 
trials. New engineers at both companies were downloading software and 
blueprints now, test machines would be available within a few weeks 
even counting for setup delays. All these machines had existed in the 
Bubblegum universe, they just got overshadowed by the more powerful and 
effective boomers. So the designs were sound, even proven. They ought 
to prove attractive to a UN whose military power had taken a 
significant beating, in a world without too many human lives to spare. 
    And give the Marduke Institute an increased voice in human affairs. 
    Jared took a bite out of his sandwich. Class had let out a few 
minutes ago, and all the students left for home. The Cell Slicer had 
been connected to one of the school desk computers to give him a better 
keyboard and wider monitor. 
    Sylia leaned over his shoulder, looking at what he was working on. 
Ordinarily, this would have caused a game of Space Invaders or 
something to come up on the screen, but she was listed as an ally for 
this assignment. "I still think you should employ military combat 
boomers." She reminded him. "Along with battlemovers. They're far more 
effective." 
    The redhead shrugged. "In this case, I'd agree with you aside from 
two points. One, I'd hate for that kind of tech to fall into SEELE or 
Gendo's hands, they'd prove worse than Genom with it. And secondly, 
they're not going to be effective no matter what. We've got an opponent 
whose shield proves proof against all weapons short of nuclear. They're 
only there to slow our bad guys down and give us pilots time to react 
in the BIG mecha." 
    Sylia took a sip of her herbal tea. "So what you want more than 
effective frontline combat troops is a reliable rapid deployment system 
for yourself and the other pilots." 
    A light came on over his head. 
    Sylia put down her cup. "Come on, I'll get to work on a micro 
copter design for you, and use one of those companies to produce it. 
You'd best be going home" She sighed and shook her head. "I don't 
normally operate this high-profile, but I suppose it's too late to 
change anything." 
    Jared shook himself. "Sorry, this world is due for a global 
economic collapse anyway whether they survive or not. And we're not 
sticking around in either case, so I didn't think it mattered." 
    "It doesn't." She reassured him, then gestured to a data unit as 
she took over his computer. "Oh, could you look those designs over for 
me? I'm working on fourth generation hardsuits and any help that you 
could provide...?" 
    He smiled sadly, then shook his head. "Sylia, you know that I pick 
up a different power set in each reality I'm assigned to. I can no 
longer function as a half-dragon, half angel, Chinese sorcerer. I've 
lost my Moonlight Knight powers. I'm no longer empowered as a galactic 
space pirate, and I don't have the killer research and development 
skills from when I knew you before. I can remember being all that, but 
the powers aren't online anymore. It's like the key's gone missing from 
the ignition." He shook his head and shrugged. "I could look over those 
things, but I don't have the ability right now to develop an entire 
sub-science for better suit performance overnight. In this reality, in 
*this* juncture, I am a hotshot mecha pilot who does what can't be done 
with misunderstood machinery to save the human race from alien invaders 
and a genocidal madman. That's my power set here." 
    He cocked his head with a sad smile at her. "I've still got 
baseline abilities. But right now you'd whip that pants off and spank 
me on mecha design." 
    She pursed her lips thoughtfully, disappointed and yet... "That's a 
suggestion I may have to take to mind." 
    Jared's hair stood on end and he grabbed his books. "Uh, I gotta 
go!" 
    He ran out the school's exit doors and smack into a waiting crowd 
of classmates. As one, they mobbed him immediately. 

    The room was dark and moody, providing plenty of shadows and places 
of concealment. Which made absolutely *no* practical sense as the 
members of SEELE were all only present through computer link-ups and 
represented by floating numbered slabs and disembodied voices. 
    They were the holders of power, not the UN, not anyone that read 
the papers or scanned the Internet would recognize by name or image. 
Few knew how old SEELE was, that it had been well entrenched before the 
Second Impact, or exactly WHAT Keele Lorenz was. 
    "Rokubungi's son is... interesting," said the slab marked "06" with 
a certain gift for understatement. 
    "Rokubungi's son is insane," replied the slab marked "05". 
    The holographic hovering slab marked "03" hesitated before adding 
"...but potentially quite useful. IF a means of control can be found." 
    "He seems quite 'headstrong' and his own father seems to lack 
control over him," suggested 08 in his best sycophant voice, "perhaps 
direct control is not the best method for dealing with the boy, though 
can we still utilize him to control and trigger the Third Impact?" 
    The slab marked "01" altered, becoming Keele Lorenz in his usual 
garb. There was a running bet between "05" and "03" as to whether Keele 
ever changed his clothes or if that visor was a set of bionic eyes or 
merely a vision enhancement device. 
    "Manipulation has served us well in the past and will continue to 
do so. He is a young boy, still feeling the primal urges of 
adolescence, surrounded by attractive young women. He has his fantasy 
of being a 'giant robot pilot' out of some cartoon, playing upon this 
foundation seems reasonable." Chairman Keele's voice brooked no 
argument. 
    "Then the thing to do is figure out which angle to approach." 05 
said in a droll voice. 

    "So, why did you come?" Jared asked Ritsuko, who'd intervened in 
his budding fan club's adulations in order to pick him up in a Nerv 
staff car. 
    Ritsuko flexed her fingers at the wheel, obviously angry. "Because 
Commander Ikari relocated the scheduled synch test to today, that's 
why. If I'd let you and your friends prance off to the arcade who knows 
when things would've been accomplished." 
    "Around dinnertime." He answered honestly with a shrug. 
    Ritsuko shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. "Are you 
sure? What if one of those cute girls asked you to go home with her?" 
    Jared shot her a disbelieving look. "Get real, they're groupies. A 
necessary aside to emphasize my hero status, but I can only get 
involved with a main character." He began ticking points off on his 
fingers. "According to the usual, we've got to start out on a bad foot 
and grow reconciled. OR, I've got to have a terrible time with other 
women and melt into her kindness and support. OR, she spends a great 
deal of time and heartache breaking through my shell because I don't 
want to get involved. OR, it's a quiet thing that grows stealthily all 
the while I'm either too involved in my work or failed relationships, 
until one day we realize that we love each other." 
    Ritsuko's anger melted into unexpected amusement. "You've really 
got this worked out, haven't you?" Her eyes returned to the road as she 
negotiated a turn. "So which one will it be?" 
    Jared shrugged and put his arms behind his head, speaking honestly. 
"Beats me. I'm set up for all of 'em. I've got a suitably tragic past, 
which includes failed relationships and leads to no end of potential 
plot devices. There are girls I'm not sure I want to kill or kiss, and 
have *no* idea whether they'd kill or kiss me. Every once in a while I 
blow off a totally nice girl without meaning to..." He drooped. "Tragic 
Character Flaw: I can be insanely clueless on some things I'm normally 
pretty good at." 
    The doctor found herself smiling. "Not everyone can be so 
introspective and honest with themselves." 
    He raised his head to look at her. "It helps with the angst." 
    "Ahh." She replied wisely, driving on down to where they locked 
their vehicle into a car train and began their descent into the Nerv 
geofront. 

    *Pound!* *Pound!* *Pound!* 
    "Are you going to come out of there or what??!" Misato shouted at 
the door she was banging on. 
    "This costume is *dumb!*" Jared's voice protested from within. "I 
can't even be seen in this getup, much less show off!" 
    Misato tried the knob, and found it locked. "Quit complaining! 
You're a boy you know. We shouldn't have this much trouble over the way 
you dress!" 
    The door opened, spilling her inside. Jared spoke to her fallen 
form, from where he was ill-at-ease wearing the plugsuit. "But it's got 
everything to do with the way that I dress! How you dress has 
everything to do with how you feel. Take Ritsuko," he motioned to the 
doctor standing calmly by. "Do you imagine for a minute that her 
clothing doesn't say things about her?" 
    Ritsuko glanced down at herself. Fairly standard for her: lab coat 
and swimsuit. 
    Jared continued. "I mean, who could dress like that outside her own 
home? It's plain that she considers herself above the recriminations of 
others as far as dress code, so she dresses for practicality and 
comfort; swimming around doing lab tests on giant robots and pockets 
that she can easily put on or take off. She's *also* got a serious boy 
happy or she wouldn't be so casual. No woman who's looking would take 
that laid back a view of attire. So it's obvious that she's already 
*got* someone and knows him well enough to feel sure that he doesn't 
think less of her for it." 
    Misato sat up and giggled. "You don't know Ritsuko very well, do 
you? I've known her since college. She's *never* been that interested 
in boys." 
    Ritsuko was standing frozen, stock still. 
    Jared put his back against a wall to lean on. "Says you. That 
bathing suit advertises her features quite well, thank you." He waved a 
finger at Misato. "It would be more modest, and her whole look more 
frumpy if she wasn't interested in boys. It's a defense mechanism, a 
non-verbal way of saying 'leave me alone' that guys recognize and 
respect, even if they don't know they're doing it. What she's got now 
say more to guys 'I'm already caught, aren't you jealous of such a 
lucky man?' That look serves more to build the ego of the guy that has 
her than to reel in more. No, she's got someone alright." 
    Misato looked at her friend, and Ritsuko noted the attention and 
broke her stiff pose, giving her a totally false smile that was meant 
to reassure and break her suspicions, yet did the opposite. 
    Jared crouched next to Misato. "And aren't you curious as to why 
you dress in a way that says 'I'm looking, yet extremely dangerous?' 
Everything you wear sends a challenge to guys, but promises the rewards 
only after a real nasty battle - or none at all, depending on who 
responds to the bait. Frankly, I'd say *you* had a really hot and 
serious romance that went sour and are on the lookout to replace it." 
    Both women were staring at him slack-jawed in amazement. 
    He posed with both hands open, emphasizing his suit. "This plugsuit 
is in the 'I have no control over what I wear' category that's so 
strictly utilitarian that it *has* to come from a large institution. 
It's too weird to be corporate, too nonthreatening to be military. The 
only things left are scientific or medical. I might as well wear a sign 
around, saying either 'escaped mental patient' or member of a new field 
of endeavor so brand new off the drawing boards that we're still trying 
hard to make it work and can't spare any effort for how it looks." 
    Misato swallowed. "That's... actually kinda correct." 
    He lifted an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "But do we have to 
advertise that? We had those silly code names. THAT changed. Now we've 
got a stupid dress code. That can change too." 
    He turned to go back inside. 
    "Wait! Jared," Ritsuko tried to rally herself. It wasn't easy. 
~What was it with this kid?~ She took a deep breath and said. "The 
plugsuit is specially designed to help you interface with an Eva. There 
are neural net connectors and other systems that are purely functional. 
It was meant to aid you as a pilot of Unit One. We don't HAVE any 
alternative if we want you to succeed in combat!" 
    His head popped back out. "So how did I?" 
    "Do you want to cut it that close again?" Ritsuko asked him in all 
seriousness. 
    He open considered this, then shrugged. "Oh well. Now that we've 
had the test units and know all the theories behind them, we can move 
beyond such styleless garments and proceed to make something new, 
unique, classy. After all," a gallantly tossed eyebrow was presented to 
the girls. "Class is life in these series." 
    The door closed behind him. 
    "This kid is going to drive me nuts." Ritsuko said to the closed 
door. 
    Misato got up off her backside, rubbing it. "Well, we don't have to 
worry about his recovery, it seems." 
    Ritsuko nodded. "Yes, he's well on his way." 
    Jared came out again dressed in his normal fighting gear. 
    "I thought I told you to get dressed in the plugsuit?" Ritsuko 
demanded, finally getting fed up with this. 
    He shrugged, feigning unconcern. "I thought you told me those were 
for the final, fighting edge. Don't we just have a test today? I can 
wait the week for the costume to get redesigned. You didn't have that 
one hanging on a rack for me when I got here, you made it special. 
Therefore, make another." 
    Ritsuko fumed. Seeing this, her friend Misato started dragging 
people away. "Well, I guess that's right. After all, it's not worth 
fighting over. C'mon, it's this way." 
    Jared was waving an arm out of the vise of Katsuragi. "Wait! My 
Thunder Knight is the other way! You got lost down here last time, 
remember?" 
    "Oh, that." Misato shrugged, unconcerned. "I've had two weeks now 
to get used to this place. Besides, we're not using the Thunder Knight 
today." 
    That was enough to make him limp baggage. "We're not?" 
    Miss Katsuragi gave him a negative grunt. Ritsuko, seeing the 
pilot's dismay, was satisfied by this minor victory and followed along 
more peaceably while her friend continued to explain for her charge. 
"Nobody understands the changes to your Thunder Knight, and so some 
high up people are pretty scared. They're having it put on ice for 
awhile while we study it. This time you're going to test out in Unit 
Zero." 
    He went limp. "Aw, my Thunder Knight is better." His head snapped 
up. "Hey wait!" 
    Captain Katsuragi stopped. "Yes, what is it Jared?" 
    He struggled out of her arms and went to grab a phone. As he 
reached one nearby and dialed, he said. "Rei was the one to originally 
pilot that Muscle Knight, right?" 
    "Yeah, so what?" Both women breezed up to stand curiously by. 
    As the phone rang he turned to present to them a serious face. 
"That means she's its Lady, of course. You *can't* go giving commands 
to a strange Knight unless it knows you have permission from its Lord 
or Lady. Don't you know anything?" 
    Ritsuko blew out a breath of frustration and rolled her eyes while 
Misato tried hard not to groan. Jared ignored them both and spoke into 
the phone. "Rei? Hi, it's me." Getting no reaction he calmed down his 
voice considerably. "You are required to present yourself at the entry 
station of your Muscle Knight as soon as expediently possible. You are 
to bring a blue ribbon of approximately three feet in length with you, 
and wear a dress. A formal one, not a school uniform." 
    "Understood." 
    Click. 
    He dialed again rapidly. "Hello? Bridal Salon?Good, I am Sky Lord. 
On the authority of the Nerv Security Organization I need you to 
provide an appropriate dress for a young girl fourteen years of age, 
and we need it now. A bridesmaid dress would do fine, yes. No, a 
bouquet will not be necessary, she needs her hands free. Yes. Her hair 
is pale blue and her eyes are red, whatever you can find that would be 
matching.  Okay, look, do the full set with garland in her hair, 
matching shoes, silk stockings, the whole bit if you can, but she'll be 
in a bit of a rush. The van would be fine. One last thing, she will 
require a blue ribbon at least two but preferably three feet long. You 
can handle all that? No, you don't have to deliver it, she'll show up 
in a few minutes. Her name is Rei. Charge it to Nerv. Thanks. Bye." 
    Leaving both women gaping, Jared vanished off in a cloud of dust. 
    "Wait!" Misato called, running after him. "What did you just do 
that for? How can you be sure Rei will even go there?!" 
    He spun around to face them while Ritsuko coughed. His hands found 
their way to his hips as he replied jauntily. "Rei is four minutes, 
thirty five seconds away from that shop by taxi, which she will take as 
speed was specified. It lies on the most direct route between our house 
and the train station to get here, which she will take as the drop 
shafts are not yet complete. There are two reasons she will stop in 
that shop specifically." He raised a finger. "One, is that it requires 
the least deviation from her standard course, and so the least loss of 
time. Two, a bridal boutique can be counted on to have ribbons aplenty, 
which transforms two stops into one, saving more time." He winked at 
them. "Besides, formal was never fully specified. She will lean on the 
side of caution, going for the most formal to be found within a 
reasonable amount of time. Simple. Direct. Efficient. Rei." 
    He vanished in record time. 

    Rei stood on the umbilical bridge before Unit Zero (freshly removed 
from cryostasis only that morning, on order from Gendo) in a gorgeous 
sky blue gown that was a trifle long for her, and a little over the 
top. 
    One could see the dressmakers' care even amidst their haste. Rei's 
hair had been brushed out and pinned back with a red rose behind each 
ear. The side of her face where her eye was bandaged had a veil draped 
diagonally across, hiding that feature. There was a light brush of 
lipstick and makeup on her features, probably from some storeworker's 
own purse supply, and the ends of her hair evened out in what looked 
like a good job in spite of what had to have been a terrible rush. 
    The hem of the dress was a little long, brushing against the ground 
instead of floating along, but it had long, mutton leg sleeves and 
concealed every bandage while at the same time being just darling. Her 
bodice and skirt shimmered with silk. 
    Ritsuko couldn't believe this was happening. 
    Misato was having fun. 
    Jared made an entrance dressed in a very cavalier fashion, 
literally. Give him a little lace and he would have passed for a 
musketeer. He had on a rapier cape over a doublet and elegantly flashy 
pants tucked into high top boots, done primarily in white and spiced 
tastefully with every color in the rainbow. 
    Ritsuko's eyes went wide. "Where does this guy get all his getups?" 
    Jared crossed over to Rei. 
    "What is the purpose of this function?" She asked of him. 
    He bowed to her, then kissed her hand and rose. "Dear sister, it 
was our mother who designed the primary operating principles behind 
these giant robots and tested the very first of them. She has since 
passed on, but I am their premier pilot, and thus can say without fear 
of valid contradiction they operate on levels others do not 
understand." 
    Doctor Akagi's hair stood out. "How do you know about that?!!" She 
shouted. 
    He gave her a condescending glance. "Don't be gauche. I was there. 
I remember quite well my mother entering that thing and never coming 
back out." He turned his attention back to Rei. "One of those is that 
they answer best to one master only. You are the first to pilot this, 
therefore it answers your commands above all others. In order to be an 
effective test pilot for it today, I need your permission. More 
importantly, the Knight needs to know you've given me permission." 
    Rei stood there in an unemotional way that wouldn't be taken for 
agreement in any normal person, but counted so for her. "How is this 
done?" 
    He waved a hand airily. "Simply enough. You state your willingness 
or otherwise to grant me permission such that I can pilot it, state 
whatever clauses or conditions as you so choose, anything else as you 
may desire, and as symbol of this you affix to me your token. In this 
case the ribbon." 
    She blinked unemotionally, then raised the shimmering length of 
vibrant blue in her hand and tied it calmly around his upper arm. 
    He tsked and stopped her. 
    Regarding him, she nodded, taking a step back and addressing him. 
"I grant you my permission to pilot my Knight, and do so 
unconditionally." Then she stepped forward and began to tie the ribbon. 

    Ritsuko broke into Gendo's private section of the command center in 
a panic. "Did you hear what he said?!?" 
    Gendo didn't look up from where he was watching the monitors. "It 
is impossible for him to know the source of Rei's origin. That is 
simply impossible. There must be another explanation." 
    Ritsuko stood panting for several moments while Gendo continued 
watching the monitors. "What should..." 
    "Be silent. And listen." 

    Misato was blinking in wonder as Rei hugged Jared, and he hugged 
her back. Then Rei dropped her arms. "Was that use correct?" 
    He nodded. "Yes, and appropriate." 
    That was enough for both of them. 
    "Hey Jared," Misato crowded close. "How... I mean, what makes you 
suspect that Ayanami is your sister? You two don't look a bit alike." 
    He rotated to face her, presenting a photograph of Yui Ikari, 
comparing it to Rei's face. "Two reasons. One, while I was in the 
hospital with her I noted the resemblance, and since no one was using 
your DNA comparison software I made the match. And Two, things like 
this *always* happen in these series!" 

    "Ouch..." Ritsuko mumbled from where she'd face faulted. 
    Gendo smiled grimly, pursing his hands closer together. ~So, my son 
is resourceful. I'll have to take care not to underestimate him.~ 

    Misato was blinking. "But how could that be? You're both the same 
age, and you have different birth dates. That leaves out twins, and 
since it's your *mom* that's shared one of you sure isn't 
illegitimate." 
    Jared posed triumphantly, shouting to the ceiling. "Yes! And no 
doubt this was all a secret plot by a most heinous and secretive bad 
guy! Who no doubt..." He trailed off and blinked helplessly. 
    "No doubt what?" Rei blinked inquisitively. 
    Jared noted Misato was busy looking stricken and rubbed his chin. 
"Well, actually the possibilities are too numerous to list. Our mom 
might have had an identical sister no one knew about, making us cousins 
instead of siblings. I could have been through a time warp or 
something. Either of our birth records might've been dealt with as part 
of a heinous plot. Of course, you might be an alien grown to full size 
within a short time like a few weeks and are only *simulating* my 
mother's DNA..." 

    "Erg..." Ritsuko had freshly face planted on the floor. 
    Gendo frowned. 

    "What is it?" Rei inquired. 
    Jared slapped a fist into his palm. "I've got it! You leave a mess 
in the kitchen, which no robot would *ever* do! The answer is obvious! 
One of us is a clone!" 

    The floor shuddered as several simultaneous facefaults were made. 
Ritsuko came to her feet shouting. "I don't believe it! How could an 
IDIOT like that jump through all the wrong evidence to the *right* 
conclusion!??" 
    Gendo scowled slightly more than normal, though of course this was 
hidden by his hands and the shadows and wasn't immediately noticeable. 

    Jared was rubbing his chin. "Though which one..." 
    Rei smiled slightly, very slightly, at him and said. "I am the 
clone." 

    Ritsuko's jaw hit the floor this time and her eyeballs rolled out 
as she fell back in a dead faint. Gendo reached for a button. 

    Jared was shaking his head. "No, it could just as easily be me. In 
fact, with the kind of series we're running here I shouldn't be 
surprised if Fuyutsuki was a robot and Gendo was a surgically altered 
monkey, while Misato was a magical girl fallen into despair with her 
powers inhibited by the weakness of alcohol addiction. Oh, and if they 
were about to introduce a lab rat with psychic powers, that would fit." 
    On the floor, Misato was quietly freaking out, picturing her " 
magic sidekick costume" as being some sort of sailor senshi outfit. 
    "But I am the clone." Rei blinked up at him. 
    He blinked back, surprised. "You sure?" 
    She nodded firmly. "Yes." 
    "Okay, but even if we accept that as true, then what does that make 
me? We have to go by cowboy and indians rules here. We've got our 
indian, so what's opposite that?" 
    Rei smiled again, very softly. "A normal boy." She hugged him. 
    He hugged back. 

    Gendo withdrew his finger from the button. ~I can't believe I was 
so foolish, letting his little game almost provoke me like that!~ He 
scowled again. 
    Ritsuko moaned, unconscious on the floor. 

    Misato popped back up from her own lasting face fault. "Okay, 
enough with the little games, here. We've got to do the synch test!" 
She caroled sweetly as she pushed the two youngsters along. 
    She also developed a facial tic. ~I think Jared's insanity is 
contagious! Who'd imagine Rei of all people going along with such a 
silly joke as that?~ 

== 

    Four women stood at the crest of a hill, overlooking the 
groundbreaking of some construction going on below. 

Another Gratuitous Flashback 

    "On the surface it's just a fancy mall, done in a flashy style 
emulating a western fantasy castle. Indeed, the walls are armored to 
withstand boomer attacks and light artillery strikes, so it *is* a 
castle." Jared noted. "We just don't advertise that. 
    "Actually, the whole building is a self-contained shelter quality 
fortress with its own contained environment, power, and boomers. Low 
maintenance systems and automation not only make it very modern, but 
practically reduce the need for a human staff for the mall itself to 
practically zero, which makes it easy to keep secrets. The shops we 
rent space to employ their own staffs, but they're only there for the 
day. The rest of the time the mall is empty and closed and all ours. 
    "It's our training ground. We own several parts and operate them 
for our own use, the customers during the business day are just profit 
and cover. Our gym is a full physical training center with areas for 
personal development, martial arts training, weapons practice... It's 
our dojo, where we work on ourselves. Heck, we can do part of that 
during the regular day, just fit in with the customers at gymnastics or 
aerobics and save the martial training for after they leave. 
    "The arcade is actually alot more than it seems. It does brisk 
business during the day, and at night we convert some of the special 
machines over to simulator duty, just add to the quality of the 
programming in most cases. There we train in piloting vehicles of all 
types, engage in simulated firearm and heavy weapon practice, perform 
space combat drill, and so on. Not *much* different from what the 
machines regularly do as games, except our programs are designed to 
train for real world combat. 
    "The stadium is our biggest perk. Aren't many places where you can 
privately fly or train on real equipment in the outside world. Our 
armored walls ensure that nobody can overhear what goes on inside, so 
we can take the actual hardsuits out and get the real world training 
that points out the flaws in the simulator combat. Combine that with 
combat drills through the mall itself, the laser tag arena (REALLY 
amusing since we don't even change the programs, just use it as it was 
intended), add a track around the inside of the stadium for running, 
the private parklands for stealth and woodland drill... The only danger 
is becoming too familiar with our own private turf, instead of 
remaining able to adapt. 
    "Then there is a microchip plant and full autofactory that supply 
all the machine parts and electronics for our mall. Products are made 
under license from the owning manufacturer. That way we avoid lots of 
problems with people sneaking funky devices into our mall, and since 
the bigger corps don't want to license their product lines we get to 
showcase alot of the smaller businesses, who often have better stuff 
anyway. And, of course, I don't need to mention how useful it is having 
your own autofactory handy. Plus, I have our supercomputer chewing over 
designs and removing such flaws as kill commands, secret remote 
overrides, berserk modes and sundry fun things that life would be 
better off without. 
    "We do weekly training in the city sewers and subway tunnels to add 
variety and to practice in a wider environment, plus we do some 
underwater stuff. Then there are the trode centers for rapid skill 
training to fill up our weaknesses." 
    Jared shrugged happily. "In all we've got a perfect setup. All the 
space and tools we want along with the best kind of secrecy. Everything 
seems perfectly normal to any outside observer, or even a low-level 
infiltrator. Nobody's got any reason to dig further, and even if they 
did and *saw* us training... Well, unless we have the actual hardsuits 
out we're just a bunch of kids whose parents own a mall and are 
enjoying its facilities after hours." 
    Sylia breathed in awe. "Impressive." 
    He was happy with her response. "So, want to come over sometime?" 
    "Are you kidding?" Nene chirped. "It sounds like *alot* of fun!" 
    Linna leaned forward. "Hey, you hold concerts in the stadium 
sometime, right? Could we get Priss in there?" 
    "Sure, but don't *you* want a crack at it? I seem to remember a 
young kid who was very into singing." 
    Linna's eyes blinked wide. "That was *you!* You were the one that 
got me all that expensive vocal training and performance coaching?" 
    He winked. "Good friends always last. Frankly I think the judges 
that declined to give you a chance to go professional were deaf. You've 
got great talent." 
    Linna threw herself onto him, hugging Jared dearly. 
    Sylia smiled. "We'll be happy to accept your offer. Then we will 
only be too glad to return the favor when we get our own mall 
constructed." 
    Nene, Linna  and Priss stared at their leader. "You mean we're 
going to be doing this ourselves?" Priss asked. 
    Sylia nodded. "As Jared pointed out, it's the perfect deep cover 
setup. Besides, the opportunity to hide so much publicly reduces the 
amount we have to store in secret, which in turn reduces the danger of 
discovery. The training opportunities would also be invaluable." Sylia 
favored Jared with an open look. "Would you and your team consent to 
train with us?" 
    He tossed up an eyebrow. "Sylia, I would love to, and I think my 
team would too." 

End Flashback. 

    The four women shared smiles. They were joined by five more, who 
shared the silence with them for a time, then the five said their 
goodbyes and went to catch a plane.