"I
can understand that you don't trust us completely, considering that
this facility used to be run by Lorenz Kihl. And besides which, it's
never wise to trust Makinami. But still, you have to consider that I
asked you to come here."
The
scruffy man in the ponytail scratches the back of his head as the
elevator continues its transit downward. This is only the latest
part of the speech, the riot act, that has been read to him since he
woke up.
"Well,
in all honesty," Kaji says, "It was Dr. Ikari who asked me to
come here. But I see what you're saying."
Kei
turns back to him, her eyelids dropping ever so slightly. It is a
near perfect imitation of Dr. Ikari when she glares, something he's
been on the receiving end, and only helps to cement the idea is that
Kei is very much what Yui may have been like when she was 16.
"Message
received," Kaji says, "Anyway, you've got a point. No going
behind the boss's back. So, what do we know?"
"From
the notes I recovered, my mother was the original target," Kei
responds, a small twitch in her brow upon the pronouncement, "The
blast would have killed her instantly. I had my AT Field up just in
time, however, which saved me."
"Right.
So we just need to figure out who planted it then, right?"
"Exactly.
I need to see if this is a larger conspiracy," Kei says, "And if
any of the NERV-Berlin staff are in on it. Lorenz Kihl is dead.
Things seem to work smoother, that way."
The
door opens with a ding,
opening to reveal the metal hallway several hundred meters below the
surface. Reaching into her lab coat, Kei removes a key card, handing
it to Kaji.
"This
is a copy of my keycard, and the MAGI has been updated to allow you
access," she says, "Report back to me around dinner time and tell
me what you find."
He
nods, palming the card, walking out of the elevator and bowing. The
doors close, the elevator speeding up, and Kaji turns...just as a
blue shape floats by, and the air turns colder, for a second. And
shaking it off, he begins walking down the hall.
"Okay...so
you need authorization form 1701-89-NX-091-B."
"'Kay."
"Then
you need to make copies of it, and have them sign on page 3, 7, 11,
14, 15 and 29."
"'Kay."
"Then
make copies of the signatures and scan them."
"'Kay."
The
doors to the office open, and Hyuga Makoto looks up from the open
filing cabinets littering Katsuragi's office just in time to see
Asuka and Yui enter. They stop, finding Makoto sitting at
Katsuragi's desk, which is for some reason now clean and arranged,
and chalk it up to the blue haired girl going through the filing
cabinet.
"Rei?"
Yui asks.
The
girl looks up, folding the packet of papers and shoving it into her
school uniform's jacket pocket.
"What
are you doing?" Yui asks.
"Stuff."
"I
see," Yui says, "Ah...Lieutenant?"
"Above
my pay grade?" Makoto asks.
Yui
nods.
"Right.
Coffee break it is, then," he says, standing, and walks out,
closing the door behind him. Yui nods to Asuka, who pulls the metal
plate out of the her pocket. She walks over, holding it up, the code
phrase on it in full view of the blue haired nephilim. Rei's eyes go
wide, clouding over...and she shakes her head.
"Sorry,"
she says, "I...uh...it's something, in the back of my head, but..."
Rei
shakes her head again, shrugging.
"Sorry,"
she says, "I don't know."
Yui
nods, leaning against Misato's desk.
"Okay,"
she says, "We found that in Shinji's old SDAT player. We thought
it was a code phrase to get...anything that Naoko left."
Rei
nods.
"Okay,"
Yui continues, "Rei, if you remember anything, contact me at once.
This is about your sister."
Rei
nods again, and ascends through the ventilation duct. Pulling out
Katsuragi's chair, Yui slumps down into it, slamming her fist against
the desk.
"Fuck,"
she growls, "Another dead end. I guess..."
She
pinches the bridge of her nose, clenching eyes shut.
"I
guess when I deprogrammed the girls, it...removed whatever that code
accessed. So Naoko made it a point to screw me over either way."
can understand that you don't trust us completely, considering that
this facility used to be run by Lorenz Kihl. And besides which, it's
never wise to trust Makinami. But still, you have to consider that I
asked you to come here."
The
scruffy man in the ponytail scratches the back of his head as the
elevator continues its transit downward. This is only the latest
part of the speech, the riot act, that has been read to him since he
woke up.
"Well,
in all honesty," Kaji says, "It was Dr. Ikari who asked me to
come here. But I see what you're saying."
Kei
turns back to him, her eyelids dropping ever so slightly. It is a
near perfect imitation of Dr. Ikari when she glares, something he's
been on the receiving end, and only helps to cement the idea is that
Kei is very much what Yui may have been like when she was 16.
"Message
received," Kaji says, "Anyway, you've got a point. No going
behind the boss's back. So, what do we know?"
"From
the notes I recovered, my mother was the original target," Kei
responds, a small twitch in her brow upon the pronouncement, "The
blast would have killed her instantly. I had my AT Field up just in
time, however, which saved me."
"Right.
So we just need to figure out who planted it then, right?"
"Exactly.
I need to see if this is a larger conspiracy," Kei says, "And if
any of the NERV-Berlin staff are in on it. Lorenz Kihl is dead.
Things seem to work smoother, that way."
The
door opens with a ding,
opening to reveal the metal hallway several hundred meters below the
surface. Reaching into her lab coat, Kei removes a key card, handing
it to Kaji.
"This
is a copy of my keycard, and the MAGI has been updated to allow you
access," she says, "Report back to me around dinner time and tell
me what you find."
He
nods, palming the card, walking out of the elevator and bowing. The
doors close, the elevator speeding up, and Kaji turns...just as a
blue shape floats by, and the air turns colder, for a second. And
shaking it off, he begins walking down the hall.
"Okay...so
you need authorization form 1701-89-NX-091-B."
"'Kay."
"Then
you need to make copies of it, and have them sign on page 3, 7, 11,
14, 15 and 29."
"'Kay."
"Then
make copies of the signatures and scan them."
"'Kay."
The
doors to the office open, and Hyuga Makoto looks up from the open
filing cabinets littering Katsuragi's office just in time to see
Asuka and Yui enter. They stop, finding Makoto sitting at
Katsuragi's desk, which is for some reason now clean and arranged,
and chalk it up to the blue haired girl going through the filing
cabinet.
"Rei?"
Yui asks.
The
girl looks up, folding the packet of papers and shoving it into her
school uniform's jacket pocket.
"What
are you doing?" Yui asks.
"Stuff."
"I
see," Yui says, "Ah...Lieutenant?"
"Above
my pay grade?" Makoto asks.
Yui
nods.
"Right.
Coffee break it is, then," he says, standing, and walks out,
closing the door behind him. Yui nods to Asuka, who pulls the metal
plate out of the her pocket. She walks over, holding it up, the code
phrase on it in full view of the blue haired nephilim. Rei's eyes go
wide, clouding over...and she shakes her head.
"Sorry,"
she says, "I...uh...it's something, in the back of my head, but..."
Rei
shakes her head again, shrugging.
"Sorry,"
she says, "I don't know."
Yui
nods, leaning against Misato's desk.
"Okay,"
she says, "We found that in Shinji's old SDAT player. We thought
it was a code phrase to get...anything that Naoko left."
Rei
nods.
"Okay,"
Yui continues, "Rei, if you remember anything, contact me at once.
This is about your sister."
Rei
nods again, and ascends through the ventilation duct. Pulling out
Katsuragi's chair, Yui slumps down into it, slamming her fist against
the desk.
"Fuck,"
she growls, "Another dead end. I guess..."
She
pinches the bridge of her nose, clenching eyes shut.
"I
guess when I deprogrammed the girls, it...removed whatever that code
accessed. So Naoko made it a point to screw me over either way."