Notus

There was a desert, as far as the eye could see. They were inside their Evangelions, but even though the cockpit should be a carefully controlled environment, it seemed that they could actually feel the heat outside. And they weren't alone - now they noticed hundreds of carcasses of Angels lying in the sand around them, some still twitching slightly - although clearly at Death's door - and a bigger number already rotting in the sun, all with their cores missing. Did they do that? They didn't know. Aside from the Angels' corpses, another thing now got their attention. A lone tree on fire, right in the middle of nowhere. Although they just had noticed it's presence, it somehow felt like it had been there forever. They walked their EVAs towards the tree, drawn by it's strangeness. As they got closer, they started seeing something in the fire, and listening to something other than the sound of the flames consuming the wood. They got closer and closer. They saw the end of the desert and a narrow sea, or a big river, beyond it. Somehow they knew they had to cross those greenish blue waters to get to the other side, but they didn't know how - where would they find an EVA sized boat to begin with? And then, as they were looking for a solution, the sea got darker and darker, and suddenly a huge mass of dark blue jumped out of the water, showing jaws so huge that they could swallow them all whole, as if the sea itself took form to get rid of them. Right before they got helplessly impaled by those huge teeth, the image in the fire changed and they saw the face of a girl with light blue hair and blood red eyes. She looked straight at them and said something, something they knew was important, but that they couldn't hear over the sound of the flames. Asuka woke up with a scream, jumping up so hard that she hit her head in the bottom of Beverly's bed. "Verdammt" she cursed as she came to her senses, still breathing heavily. Calm down - the red head thought to herself - She's dead ok? And this was just a dream. Even so, it had been way too vivid - and she had been way too loud about it, apparently, as the shrink didn't take long after that to appearat their door with worried expression. "Asuka? Is everything alright?" Alma asked, her blue eyes scanning the room for the source of trouble. "Yeah, yeah, just a nightmare. Nothing for you to worry about." The girl answered. It had already been three days since their fight with the Angel. Kyou and Ahmed were living in the apartments right across theirs, though they hadn't heard much from them since they were still adjusting to their familiar losses. The shrink tried to convince her, Beverly and Ranga that it would be good for their 'friends' to have company to distract them and pass the time, but Asuka disagreed. Sometimes being alone could be the best terapy for this kind of situation. "Ah, at least it was just that." Alma answered, then changed the subject. "It seems we have a meeting with Admiral Sauer and Dr. Hashimoto this afternoon, so I was going to call you all soon anyway... You girls want some breakfast?"

Outside Alma's Apartment The soldier listened to what was going on in Dr.Neummann's apartment just a few steps away, but still unseen. He though for a second that it was pretty amazing how easily he could hide, provided other people didn't expect to see him and were distracted by something else. He resumed walking, his mind drifting to the children he just met, feeling sad for the pain and sorrow they were experiencing. He knew it was necessary for the "greater good", but still couldn't accept that reality could be so cruel. On top of that, there were forces in motion who'd try and use the four children to further their own agendas - and even he couldn't completely deny that he was one of those. It was easy for him to find a blind spot in the video surveillance system to take of the helmet that hid his face. In fact, the soldier looked much younger than one would expect, most likely around the EVA pilots' age - a guess that was at the same time completely accurate and totally wrong. He looked determined, for had finally decided what to do given the situation they were in. If these were the children were to choose and shoulder the fate of mankind, like he himself once did, he would make sure they chose the right one. With that thought firmly in his mind, Shinji Ikari made his way outside to the new world. END OF ACT 1

Kyou & Ahmed Ahmed's mother flinched when he mentioned his father. "Son, your father..." she started saying, though the words seemed to be painfully stuck in her chest for a moment. "He went outside to look for me but... I wasn't there." She started to visibly cry at this point. "I fell down a stair, he didn't find me and went to look outside... And now he's gone." Arash Verethragna had nothing he could tell his daughter to ease her pain, so he embraced her once again in an one armed hug, holding her as tight as he could. "We'll need to be strong, Kyou. We'll do that for her, ok?" The man tried to sound calm, but was clearly in the verge of tears. "I'm sure she would be proud of you having survived and also helped in the rescue effort. You were always her treasure, Kyou." Satomi "Yes, that would be all." Daisuke Hashimoto told Satomi. He then focused on his work until his daughter left the room... and then sighed, resting his head in his hands. This wasn't what he had planned at all. Satomi's Evangelion was supposed to be his last resort and ,now that Alma Neummann got the custody of the other kids, he'd have to watch out for the shrink's influence over them. At least he'd raised his daughter well: she would do just as he said when he needed her to.

Kyou & Ahmed Ahmed's mother just answered to her son's embrace for some time before she spoke "Oh Ahmed, I'm so grateful that you're not hurt! The soldiers told me that you've saved some people during the rescue, I hopes it wasn't anything too risky... But you seem fine! Do you feel alright? Anything hurts? What about your brother and sister?" She asked with teary eyes. Meanwhile, Kyou's father also recovered enough to speak with his daughter. "Kyou-chan, I'm so glad you're ok... You're not hurt anywhere, are you? I got stuck under the rubble near the entrance, unable to do anything... Damn, I thought I'd never see you again." He let go of the hug after saying this and put his one hand over her shoulder, looking her in the eyes with a terribly pained expresion. "Your okaasan, she... Junko didn't make it. She was right in the center of everything helping people to set camp." Ranga & Beverly "Yeah, she's right." Asuka said, for once not even caring about Beverly's provocation. "It's most likely bad news. Better let them have some space." Satomi "Yes, you looked like a natural piloting the Evangelion." Daisuke said, though for some reason his expression didn't make it feel like a compliment. "You have now access to something too powerful, Satomi, and too dangerous. If it depended on me you'd never pilot that monster again, but now that's in the Admiral's hands." He finished his food and got back to the computer terminal. "Now that it's come to this, you have three priorities: Don't do anything rash with your unit, don't let any of the other children do it with theirs' and, most important of all, don't put yourself in danger. If things get ugly just run, don't care for the others."

Ahmed & Kyou Alma waited for Asuka and Ranga to leave before speaking to Ahmed and Kyou in the kindest tone she could muster "Well you two, there are some people here to meet you. I think it's better for you to see for yourselves. I'll give you some space." The woman then sent the soldier away and opened the door for two people to come in: Ahmed's mother, and Kyou's father. The next realization was that they were absolutely not ok. Ahmed's mom was in a wheelchair, and Kyou's dad was missing his right arm. Both looked very shaken, so much that it took them a moment to recognize their son and daughter, at which point she opened her arms, calling for Ahmed's name, and he rushed to Kyou, dropping to his knees to hug her tightly with his remaining arm. Both were crying. Satomi "Oh, yes. That." Daisuke said simply. After thinking for a bit, he asked. "So... How was it? Piloting the Evangelion?" Asuka, Ranga, Beverly Asuka was the first to get up and get to the room, taking a bowl of pasta with her. She could imagine what was going on with the other two pilots, so she didn't complain at all and was actually pretty silent when she left the bowl near Beverly's bed. "Here, some food for you. It's pretty decent." The red head said, taking a seat and waiting for Ranga to join them.

Satomi "I see." Doctor Hashimoto said, seriously. Satomi's disconfort with her shoulder didn't pass unnoticed to her father, though. "Are you hurt?" He asked in a worried tone, rapidly followed by an annoyed "Neumann's staff should have checked you better."

Ranga, Ahmed Kyou "Oh, me? I'm still a work in progress... I 've always wanted to learn to cook properly, but my studies and, later, my work didn't give me enough time to really try my hand at it. Guess now I have a good reason to focus on getting better, though!" Alma answered with a smile. It wasn't long after that they heard someone knock on the door. The doctor excused herself and went to answer it. A young soldier greeted her and, after a brief conversation, she turned to look at the children over her shoulder. It was a quick glance, but she seemed worried. "Kyou, Ahmed, could you come here for a second?" She asked in a calm tone. "Asuka and Ranga, could you take some food to Beverly and make her company for a little while?" Satomi "Yes, there are no problems with my physical condition." Daisuke said, almost mechanically. "Although I could have had a better day, obviously." He then looked up from his plate for a change and stared Satomi in the eyes. "You seem to be holding pretty well, considering what happened."

Ahmed, Ranga, Kyou The doctor smiled at Ahmed's comment. "Well, seems like we've got gourmet here! Do you like cooking, Ahmed?"

It's happeniiiiiing! [insert meme, since my net is too slow for me to actually do it] New episode coming out in the same week I'm graduating, that must be a sign. Thanks a ton Ame & Team Reborn!

Kyou, Beverly, Ranga, Ahmed "Ok, I´ll leave some food ready for you in the fridge." Alma said softly. "Sleep well... and just call me if you need anything, right?" Then she turned around and left Beverly alone - which was probably for the best. The doctor took a chair at the table and sat down, then pressed the palms of her hands together, praying silently for a moment before she started to eat. "Uhmn, maybe I put too few salt in this." She said after a bite. "What do you think?" The day had been pretty stressfull for everyone up until that point, so Alma thought it was best to calm the children with a more normal conversation. Satomi "... Sorry, what did you say?" Dr. Hashimoto said, before realizing by himself what it was. "Oh yes, you´re right." He pushed some more commands in his terminal before getting up and sitting by the table, starting to eat quietly.

"I am trying to be helpful, you should try to distract yourself instead of stressing that much. It´s not going to help and you´ll be mentally wasted before the happy-go-lucky duo over there finishes making dinner." Asuka said, seriously, sitting upright in the chair. She pondered for a bit and sighed before continuing. "...Though I admit, the way I said it was unnecessary. Sorry about that." Almost as if on cue, Dr. Neummann came back from the kitchen bringing a bow of pasta with what seemed like Bolognese sauce over it. It smelled delicious, the fragance indicating the spices and herbs she put on it. "Here you go! This lyophilized food is not that tasty, but I managed to season it bit with some things I brought from Earth. Hope you like it!" The doctor put the food on the table and told the kids to start eating, going to Beverly´s room right after that. Once there, she quietly picked her communicator from the corner of the room where it was lying (luckily it did not break - those things were quite sturdy) and placed it on a small bed table. After that she slowly aproached Beverly, stopping at a distance she judged comfortable for the girl. "Anything I can help you with, Beverly?" Alma asked in a gentle tone.

Satomi "... Yes, I probably should eat something." Dr. Hashimoto answered, turning on his computer terminal and focusing into work. His focus, by the way, was something scary to see; the scientist seemed to shut the whole world out when he was serious about something, specially work. It wasn´t like he would ignore Satomi, but she would need to make some effort if her goal was a conversation with her father. Ranga, Ahmed, Kyou, Beverly The smell of garlic and the sound of boiling water filled the room as Alma got started in the kitchen. She moved calmly getting the ingredients from different lockers, eventually asking Ahmed for one or other cooking tool. Something about the she moved about and the delicious smell that came from the kitchen were quite calming. Asuka sat down by the dinner table and rested her head on the table with a bored expression. Her eyes followed Kyou´s movements for a while before she sighed and talked again. "You know, if you keep walking like that you´ll end up opening a hole on the floor, and that won´t help in finding your parents.

"No word of that has reached me yet." Admiral Sauer answered. "But as soon as we know anything about them we'll send word to you. I'm sure they must be fine." "...Do you guys have any way of telling if there will be more Angels and when they'll come? And do you know why Unit 17 caught us? Was there someone in there making sure it worked or something?" Admiral Sauer looked to Dr. Hashimoto for those answers. "We've already reprogrammed the probes and we'll use them to scout the surroundings for any Angels that might appear, so we'll probably know about any possible attacks well in advance." He then considered Sayomi's second question for a moment before answering. "About Unit 17... That was most likely a involuntary reaction of the system during the test sequence. You're lucky it happened on the right time, so no more crawling inside the ship's bulkheads, ok?" As unlikely as that exolanation sounded, it didn't seem like the doctor was in the mood to say anything more about the subject. "And don't worry, I'll get you new glasses and a pair of contacts just in case." After becoming clear that no one in the room planned to talk anymore, Alma got up and clapped her hands once to get attention. "Well then, I think we should go check in your new quarters. Is it okay, Admiral?" As the ark's commander nodded, Alma gently got hold of Ranga's hand and started walking out of the room, signaling for the children to follow her. Dr. Hashimoto waited a moment and then walked out as well with Satomi, a little bit behind Dr.Neummann's group. After all of them left, the Admiral spoke again. "You should go with them, Asuka." Asuka had stayed behind and greeted the Admiral's suggestion with an annoyed face. "Really? I don't feel like playing babysitter for them." "It'll be weird if your the only one to live separately from them, don't you think?" He argued. "Besides, you'll be playing their friend more than their babysitter." "Even worse then. I suck at playing friend." She sighed. "...But I guess you're right, they'll think something is off if I don't go." The girl got up and started following the other kids. "See you later, Adalard. We still have much to talk about all this." ... The Directors' Quarters were located in the middle portion of the ship - which meant they could easily access their offices, but also bridge, the main hatch and the EVA hangar if needed - and also that they were protected from external attacks by the thickest layer of armour the Noah had to offer. Alma led the children into her own apartment (minus Satomi, who was lead by her father into the one right in front), not too big but comfortable and tidy. Just as her office, the place was decorated by pictures and paintings of the old days of Earth and also some paintings with religious motifs: among them one from the crucifixion, one showing the hebrew exodus, crossing the open sea, and one that displayed a gruesome battle with men fighting along and against angels and devils - the apocalypse. Those were the only tense tones in the place, though, hanging from the walls like reminders, and the rest of it showed that Alma really invested herself in having a place she could call 'home' inside the ship. "Please make yourselves confortable." Alma said to the children after they entered. "Kyou and Ahmed, as soon as your parents arrive I'll take you to your apartments. Ranga, Beverly and Asuka, there's a room with bunk beds that way; I never used it, but luckily there isn't much dust and dirt in the ship, so it's as clean as new. I hope you like it!" She then walked towards the small kitchen. "I'll prepare something for us to eat, you must be starving!" ... Satomi entered her father's apartment without much of a surprise waiting for her - the place was the same almost organized mess as his office. There was no decoration to speak of, and it seemed like the only thing that wasn't the standard for the apartments was the computer terminal - clearly way more complex and advanced than your average ones. "Your room is that way." Dr. Hashimoto said, pointing vaguely in the direction of a door, while he walked towards the computer. "There's food in the fridge. You must be hungry."

"The loudspeaker system on the EVAs has a voice filter to avoid such situations." Now it was Dr. Hashimoto that answered. "So what they heard certainly didn't sound as your voice, Satomi." "Sorry, red eyed girl? Could you explain what you mean?" Admiral Sauer answered Beverly with a confused expression on his face. Then Asuka intervened. "It's nothing, just an old acquaintance that seems to have been caught in the mess outside." She said, dismissing Beverly's worries. "Oh dear." Answered Alma, who had been smiling at Ranga after hearing the girl accept her idea. "I ordered a check up for everyone who was brought in from the battlefield, so they're probably in the emergency area. The search parties for survivors are still outside too." "I'll send word to all personnel to look for them and direct them to your new quarters, don't worry. And I know you probably want to go look for them yourselves, but with things as chaotic as they are now it'll be faster if you just wait and leave it to the ship's staff." The Admiral completed.

Admiral Sauer exchanged a worried look with Dr. Hashimoto upon hearing Beverly's question. Alma, on the other hand, leaned forward in her chair and looked very interested on the subject too. "Well, we did and we did not." the Admiral started to answer. "The aftermath of the Angel War exhausted Earth, that's what forced us to leave. The thing is, Angels were thought to be aliens on the first place, so we had no way of knowing if we wouldn't end up meeting them again even after we left - and that's why NERV built the new EVAs. Now we know that was a valid concern." After a small pause, he continued. "Now, we obviously wouldn't willingly land on an Angel infested planet, so we sent probes to Canaan's atmosphere to make sure it was safe to land - and all of them returned with positive results. Angels can't hide that easily, and along with some other details that seem a bit out of place... I believe the probes' info was adulterated on purpose." He paused for a long time to let the information sink. The silence was broken by Asuka, sounding surprised - and angry. "You mean someone on the ship wanted to land in a planet inhabited by Angels? That's crazy... And dangerous, maybe as much as the Angels themselves." "Yes, I know. I've already ordered an investigation in order to discover who did that." Adalard answered her. "As for your second question, miss Connors, I'm afraid we'll have to take custody of all of you. You see the situation we're in, and we can't let anything happen to you." Before the Admiral could answer though, both Dr. Hashimoto and Alma intervened. "Wait, you can't -" "Admiral, I don't think -" After an awkward moment, Daisuke fell silent to let Alma speak. "Admiral, I've been left in the dark about all this up until now, and I think I mademy position about letting children pilot those things . Now you want to take them away from their families and friends and lock them with the combat personnel? I'm sorry but I can't agree with this notion from a medical and psychological point of view." Dr. Hashimoto nodded and added "Not to mention that the saboteur is surelly from within our ranks; it may be even more dangerous to leave the kids with the soldiers and officers." "Do you have any other ideas, then?" Sauer asked the other two, to which Alma was the one to reply. "Let them stay with me. They'll be in the directors' block, well guarded and with the proper mental health support. Daisuke and Satomi live there already, so they'll also be close by in case of an emergency, and we can arrange for the Ahmed's and Kyou's families to move there as well." After a moment considering it (and a quick glance exchanged with Asuka, which only the more perceptive people would notice) Admiral Sauer nodded. "Right, we can do that if the kids approve." Then he turned to them and asked. "Are you okay with that?"

"I mean, they were obviously here before we left. But... when did these ones get built? Evangelion research and development was banned, wasn't it?" "The EVAs you piloted today are all new. NERV built them over 60 years - more, if you count the time we spent recovering lost tech. It should have been less time, but problems with the pilot interface showed up and we only managed to solve them when Dr. Hashimoto started working on the project." Admiral Sauer answered. "The ban was just a facade to avoid panic - after the 3rd Impact we needed people to trust each other if we wanted to survive, and the thought of giant Angel slaying weapons being built might frighten them." "Except by my Unit 02." Asuka intervened. "She's the only remaining EVA from the pre - 3rd Impact age, it's thanks to her that NERV managed to build the others." "Yes, there's that." Admiral Sauer continued. "By the way, I think you were not properly introduced yet. This Asuka Langley Soryu, the first pilot of the new EVA force. She's been training for a while now, so if you have any doubts in regard to piloting you can ask her." "Does this mean I can talk about the Evas without getting, shot or something?" "Well, sure their existence won't be a secret anymore after all that." Admiral Sauer answered Kyou. "We'll make an official statement soon explaining what we can but, for security reasons, you're not allowed to tell people you are the pilots, nor disclose any information that isn't on the official channels."

When the pilots entered the command room, it was almost empty already: the only ones in there were Dr. Hashimoto, Dr. Neummann, silently waiting for them. Dr. Hashimoto looked irritated, with a frown on his face, arms crossed and looking to the floor. He did lift his eyes when Satomi entered the room, but quickly looked away. Dr. Neummann, on the other hand, put little effort to hide her anger, her clear blue eyes looking daggers at Satomi's father. Once the children entered she loosened a bit, greeting them with a smile, but they could still feel tension in the air. Admiral Sauer and Asuka were talking in a corner of the room, too quietly for being heard by the rest of them, but quickly wrapped up the subject and headed back upon the pilots' entrance. Asuka pulled a chair and sat down with a bored expression, but Adalard kept standing and started to talk. "Welcome back, kids. First of all I want tp thank you in the name of all the ship's crew and passengers. We had no right to ask something that dangerous of you, nor expect results out of it, but you still went out there and saved us all." The Admiral sounded legitimately grateful, his stern face loosening up a bit. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, and I think you deserve to know about what's going on - although we ourselves don't know everything about the situation, and some points are confidential. I'll answer whatever I can though, so please don't be afraid to ask."

"No, I think that´s enough of you for the day." Asuka dismissed Beverly´s question, walking past her and out of the locker room without looking back. She then stopped for a bit and looked at Stomi over her shoulder. "Hey, you look like the most responsible out of you kids. Bring everyone to the Command Center after you are all done, there´ll be a mission debriefing and maybe you´ll get some answers. I´ll go ahead."

Asuka opened a locker that had her name on it and grabbed a yellow dress, knee high, simple but pretty - the other girls would probably find jeans or something provided by the ship´s staff, but she had more time to prepare. " Did she have blue hair and look like she was bored of everything? If so I might have seen her before... Well, I bet more than one aquaintance of mine was caught on that anyway." She tried to sound as neutral as possible but, if that was true, then she would have to look into it - that girl probably meant trouble.

Asuka fell silent for a moment and then answered in a (surprisingly) calm tone. "I was pretty much useless out there this time, I know that. And I think I already thanked you girls, but that doesn´t mean I need to take whatever you say without complaining." Then she seemed to realize something and turned her head to look at Beverly. "Wait a minute. Red eyed? What do you mean?"

" Well thank you, I wouldn´t settle for 'cute' anyway." Asuka answered Beverly, not letting her voice show signs of annoyance. " You seem like just another kid who thinks having a rough childhood is a free pass for doing whatever you want... But at least you learned how to make witty comebacks from those 'issues' of yours, so I guess you´re not entirely hopeless."

Asuka broke off her silence to go in Kyou´s aid - if only to try and throw Beverly a bit off, since all that noise was irritating her. "Oh, so we´re getting cute animal nicknames now? Interesting way of bonding with your friends Beverly... I can actually think of one or two for you as well." She said, turning off the shower and grabbing a towel for herself.

"You must lose a lot then if you don't like luck." Asuka plainly ignored Beverly's statement -which wasn't entirely wrong- and started to turn back into her shower when the little girl (Ranga, was it?), much to her surprise, yelled at her. "Don't swear!" "Well, of course. Kids shouldn't swear, my bad." She answered with a hint of irony on her voice. That was when Beverly managed to change the subject... Quite a lot. It was quickly becoming apparent to Asuka that she wasn't used to talking with people "her age" anymore. It had been quite a while since the last time, and after all that happened, this kind of subject seemed futile and devoid of any importan- damn, she's bigger than me. The redhead pilot couldn't hold a whistle when she noticed the... objects of the girls' talk. Then she realized she did that aloud and, after awkwardly facing Satomi for a moment, slowly turned her back to the girl and put extra focus into grabbing the soap and starting to wash herself.

"[...]Besides, it's over now! We've beaten the Angel and we can live here peacefully from now on!" "Is it, now?" Asuka answered without looking back. "Humanity thought it was over once... until an hour ago. And we are in another planet for f#@'s sake. How can we be sure it is over?" "They didn't really ask. They mostly just shoved us into the robots." "Ok then. So if you were given a choice in the matter would it have played differently?" Asuka stood silent for a moment, turned on the shower and then finally faced them. "Look, I'm not trying to sound ungrateful here. If you didn't come, I might be dead by now - and one fifth of what's left of humanity with me. I'm just mad at how improvised the whole thing was, with no warning, no training, not even plugsuits. You did well, considering everything, but luck played a big part in that last strike... And winning by luck is close to losing in my book."

Asuka was the last to enter the locker room - she had to go through some extra check ups - and she stood by the door for a bit, measuring the other pilots with her sky-blue eyes. The red head, now for the first time seeing the others face to face, was about 1.6 meters tall, her long hair locked in twin tails that cascadaded down her back. Her clothing was a red full body suit, matching the colour of her EVA, that clung to her body tightly enough to show her lean, athletic figure even before she finally crossed the room and started undressing. "So you are the new kids who were dumb enough to get in EVAs to try and save the world, eh? Welcome to the club." she threw her red suit aside and walked towards a shower. "Did you think it would be cool? Fighting monsters in your giant robots and stuff?"