Are these character sketches helping?  Please tell me it not. They are
for those readers who haven't followed the series.  I had enough
responses from these readers to feel I should write them.  I don’t want
to waste time doing them if you don’t need them.

Character notes on Misato Katsuragi:

Well I was going to do Asuka this time, but I figure I better do Misato
too.  Misato is the opposite of Gendo, very emotional.  She does not
like watching Shinji run from his problems, telling him he mustn’t run
away.  Only, she is really running herself:  from Kaji, her father, and
from loneliness.  This is one of the reasons Misato takes Shinji into
her home.  She is much like Shinji in this aspect.  While still running
away, she tries to push her will onto Shinji, to do what she was failing
to do.  Despite her free show of emotions, she is very capable as third
in command at NERV.

Character notes on Asuka Langley-Soryu

Asuka, from Germany, proud of her German upbringing, she does not wish
to conform to the Japanese way of life.  She is also very intelligent,
graduating from college at age thirteen.  What she learns comes natural
for her while things she doesn’t learn well are simply dismissed as not
needed to be learnt anyway.  As an Eva pilot, she also accels,
reflecting her talent.  However, the problem is that she knows all of
this and forces others to acknowledge it.  When she is shown up, she
feels she needs to do something better to make up for her loss of
prestige.  Also very emotional and free willed, she finds Rei to be just
a puppet of Gendo and takes a disliking to her.  As for Shinji, she
finds him to be always hiding something and is always complaining that
he should stop.  Asuka also has a hidden sadness of her mother’s death
that she expresses to others by trying to show she will grow up before
everyone else around her and won’t need anyone to depend on.  But in a
way, she is running from her feelings like Shinji and Misato.

War of Evangelion

Episode 2:  Strategy

“Asuka?”  Shinji stares at her in disbelief as she runs over to Misato.

“You see Misato?  Got it here, no problem.  Oh.  Shinji, hi.”  She was
obviously in a good mood. Her excitement from moving through a city and
frightening people was something she had enjoyed thoroughly

“You’re here, Asuka?”  Shinji runs to meet Asuka, throwing his arms
around her.

“Oh.  ummm.”  Asuka was a little confused at the moment.  <Ok.  I’ll let
him get away with this but only because he hasn’t been back for a
while.  He’s supposed to be deranged anywise.  Huh?  What the?  What’s
his hand doing there?>  Her eyes narrow as she is about to give Shinji a
piece of her mind.  Then they suddenly go wide as his face drew near.
“What the hell?”  As soon as their lips meet she pushes him away.

“Was (Slap to his left cheek) machst (Backhand to his right) du (Leg to
the groin) dummkopf (Uppercut to the face)!  Pervert!”  Shinji falls
back in agony, trying to recover.  She briefly looked over to Misato to
display her protest.  “You see that?  He kissed me!”  Then she looks
down at Shinji.  “Take this you jerk!”  Asuka then began kicking him
while he’s down.

“Asuka, I think he’s had enough”  Misato was demanding, but was unable
to hide her amusement.  “Remember he’s delusional?  Well, your his
girlfriend in his mind.”  She gives out a small giggle as she gets
between Asuka and the rolling ball of agony.

“I’m his what!?!  You didn’t tell me anything about this!  If I’d known
that, I’d have let him stay there and rot.”  Asuka was very angry at
this point.  (Not that she wasn’t already.)  She then turns towards
Shinji.  “Listen here third child.  If you ever try something like that
again, I’ll see to it you lose your manhood.”

“Give him time.  I’m sure he’ll come around sooner or later.”  Misato
was helping Shinji up as Asuka stormed away in anger.

Shinji was totally confused at this point.  “What did, what did I do?”
He was slow to get up after Asuka’s attack.

“Asuka’s just a little excitable.  You got to remember that some things
aren’t all they will seem to be.”

“I know she is.  But why did she hit me?”

“I think in time you’ll understand.”

Meanwhile at NERV central, Commander Ikari was making his moves as well.

“Ritsuko, may I have a word with you in my office?”  Gendo was speaking
to her over the intercom.

“After work, I was supposed to see Misato, can it wait?”  Ritsuko was
still unaware of what has occurred.  The operators did not put up an
alert and Gendo did not wish to do so anyway.

“Actually, that’s exactly who I want to talk about.”  Gendo gave a
grin.  He knew exactly what he needed her for.  Misato was a good friend
of Ritsuko and knew she would contact the doctor if she got into
trouble.

Shinji was soon able to move normally again.  Asuka wasn’t strong enough
to hurt him seriously, he was more shocked at her outburst than
anything.

“So what is this place?”

“Its a NERV auxiliary base.  Its just used for emergency retrievals and
minor repairs now.”  Misato was still looking over the computer to start
up some of the systems.  “Asuka? Could you help me by going over to that
terminal and turning on some of the lights?”  Asuka nods and moves to
the computer.

“Is this it?”  Asuka pushes a button which causes a horn to go off.
“Damn.  Why did they write everything in kanji?  I can’t understand it
all.”

“Could you help her Shinji?  I’m too busy here.”  Misato was typing away
and executing programs.

Shinji does what he’s told and goes over to Asuka to fix the problem.
The alarm goes off and the main lights go on.

“You are such a show off.  Just because you can turn on a few lights
doesn’t mean you’re very smart.”  Asuka was irritated with Shinji’s
correction, but more with his close proximity.

“Why are you acting this way?  I thought you liked me.”  Shinji was
quiet while saying this, not knowing how she was going to react.  His
first thought was to put his arm around her to try to calm her down, but
decided against it after thinking about the result of the last physical
contact they had.

Asuka starts a low growl, then hits Shinji upside the head.  “Du idiot!
When have I ever said that?”

“Will you two just stop fighting?  We have things to do and we can’t be
wasting time, so just stop.”  Misato was annoyed by all the arguing.

“Ok, but he just better keep his hands to himself.  Got it third
child?”  Asuka had her hands on her hips waiting for an answer from
Shinji.

After Gendo had spoken to Ritsuko, he called up Fuyutski.

“Commander, what is the status?”

“It appears Misato was quicker than security and has taken Shinji from
the hospital.  Also, Asuka has disobeyed orders and is somewhere in
Tokyo-2.”

“In that case, I will need to speak to you right away.”  <So she took
the bait after all.  Tokyo-2, hrm.  This is working better than I
planned...>

STEELE Headquarters.  The leadership has hastily gathered a meeting to
discuss the latest incidents.  It was a dark room where faces are
difficult to see clearly.

“As of 1745 hours, Misato Katsuragi of NERV had taken the third child
from the Yoshida hospital in Tokyo-3 to the NERV base in Tokyo-2.  Also,
Unit 02 and its pilot, reported to be Asuka Langley-Soryu disregarded
procedures and was retrieved in the before mentioned NERV base.  There
was a report that security was to be tightened around the hospital, but
was not carried out in time.  Currently, NERV is attempting to keep a
normal status, possibly to keep leaks to a minimum.”

(STEELE 1)  “So what is Ikari doing this time?”

(STEELE 2)  “We haven’t received all of the information.  This should be
obtained by tomorrow morning.”

(STEELE 3)  “It appears Katsuragi acted on her own.  What should we do
about an insubordinate on our doorstep?”

(STEELE 1)  “Nothing right now.  She doesn’t know anything.  We might be
able to use her.”

(STEELE 4)  “Agreed lets see what our friend Ikari does first.  Lets
wait this out and see how events unfold.”

(STEELE 5)  “Yes.  And if Gendo does not handle this to our approval,
then we can have him dismissed.”

Fuyutski enters Gendo’s office.  “Sir, you needed to see me?”

“Yes.  Now that Shinji escaped I’ll tell you what I really want.”

“Sir?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, but I needed NERV to run as
naturally as possible until this happened.  I have already spoken to
Ritsuko about this matter.”

“In case of STEELE infiltration?”

“Of course.  I have arranged for Dr. Ikagi to keep an eye on Captain
Katsuragi.  I’ll need you to make a few adjustments now that Misato and
Ritsuko will be gone...”

After Misato had gotten the base up to full operation, she received a
phone call on the cell phone.

“Its me, Ritsuko, I’m done with work and I’ll be in Tokyo-2 in fifteen
minutes.”

“Good.  You know what this is all about?” Misato asked, hoping to get an
idea of what NERV might know about her desertion.

“From what I’ve heard, I’ve got a pretty good idea.”

Back in Gendo’s office.

“Creating an enemy who now possesses an Eva?  With the UN to deal with
and STEELE watching us, don’t you think its a little dangerous?”
Fuyutski had doubts about this plan.

“Dangerous.  Haven’t we always played this dangerous game?  I’m just
changing the rules a little to suit our needs.”  Despite this protest,
Gendo was certain about this plan will work.

“Still, we only have one pilot left and down one Eva.  What about the
angels?

“Katsuragi is not that reckless.  She won’t forget about the angels.  As
long as we have Unit 01, that’s all that is important for now.  Ritsuko
has been overseeing the dummy plug and it is scheduled to be completed
in a month.  Until then, Rei will be moved to Unit 01.”

“Understood.”

“This will give STEELE something to think about.  They have been acting
more aggressively than normal lately.  With this new factor in their
city, they will think twice about making themselves known to Misato.
Like us, they can’t draw attention themselves for a problem like this.”

“But why Misato?  We need her for operations.”

“We’re playing for high stakes.  A few casualties are acceptable as long
as the Adam Project is completed before STEELE can carry out their
plans...”

“And if they call our bluff?”

“If they do, then we lose.”

Ritsuko reaches the place Misato mentioned, but she wasn’t there.  After
waiting five minutes, she decided to call her.

“Ritsuko?  Sorry.  I got caught up in some things.”

“Alright so why did you want me to come all this way for?”

“Not over the phone.  Listen, I’ll be there in five minutes.  Then
follow me to another place.”  Misato hangs up the phone and goes to her
car.  Before leaving, she tells the two children that she will be out
for a couple of minutes and not to start fighting again.

When Misato reaches Ritsuko, she motions for her to follow her.  At the
same time, she looks out in case someone else was following at the same
time.  When they get back, Misato get out to again see Asuka and Shinji
arguing.

“How come you’re so stupid?  Your father was trying to kill you.  If it
wasn’t for me and Misato, you’d be dead right now.”

“You know my father wouldn’t do that...”

Misato cuts Shinji off, angry because they didn’t listen to what she
said.  “Shinji.  Asuka.  I want you two to not talk to each other for
the rest of the day.  Got that?”

“Fine with me.”  Asuka answers as she turns around and storms away from
Shinji.

“Problems playing the motherly role?”  Ritsuko inquires sarcastically.

“That’s the least of my problems.  You probably know by now that we’ve
taken Unit-02 and have disregarded orders.  I’m hoping you can help us.”

“Ya, I’ve heard all of that.  You’ve really stirred up problems you
know...”

“So will you join us?”  Misato was worried.  If they were going to stand
a chance, Ritsuko had to help them.

“Well if I wasn’t going to help out, I wouldn’t be here.  I have my own
reasons for breaking with the commander.  I’m tired of being a tool for
his work.  I think we can stand a chance as long as Unit-02 is not
severely damaged.  I’ve got some ideas that will keep us alive anyway.”

“Thanks Ritsuko.  I really owe you this time.”

“You always owe me.” Ritsuko grins at these words.  “You know, you
should really think about your actions before you act on them.”

“I wasn’t going to sit there and let the commander kill his own son.”
Misato was annoyed by her friend’s statement.

Ritsuko seemed suprised at this bit of information.  “Really?  I didn’t
hear about that.  Why would he do something like that?”

“Because he’s a cold heartless worm.  How could I listen to a man like
that?”

“Hrm.  I wonder what he was thinking when he decided that.”  She rubbed
her chin.  “Listen, we can talk about this later.  We have work to do.”
<I hope Commander Ikari’s right.>