[Ranma][NGE][HPL][AMG][Fusion][Fanfic] Sic Semper Morituri Chapter 11:
Green Fire Part 1 of 4
Disclaimer:
I do not own any of the characters from Ranma 1/2, Neon Genesis Evangelion,
Ah My Goddess, or the Lovecraft Cycle involved in these stories. And I'll
put them back when I've finished with them.
C&C , MSTs are welcome
E-mail: dan_s.comments@worldnet.att.net
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(These are the original versions)
What has gone before:
About Book 11, Akane and Soun Tendo throw Ranma out of the house,
Nabiki, in the guise of a wish, follows him. They meet EVA pilots Shinji
Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Soryu Langley and Jeffery Davis.
Formation of the `eyes and ears`. Ranma faces his fear over cats.
Something rescues Rei from the Cthonians, by killing them all. SEELE
arranged for General Tembris, the Meliorist's nemesis, to arrive in the
waking world. Admiral Simson has agents in the Dreamlands, his daughter
and son-in-law. Nabiki learns from the yakuza that some of the `school
mafia` were executed by the military. The Russians suffer two disasters,
in the Dreamlands losing the pilots, in the Urals their base is attacked.
The Scholarly Dragon and hard fighting rescue both situations. The pilots
and their friends attend a concert and a dinner after.
Dreams after the concert send Asuka and Kaji, Gendo and Jeff to
Nerima, sends Rei, and Nabiki and Maya into different points of Asuka's
past. Shinji battles whatever is doing this. The ending of the dreams
fills the targets with emotions of failure and loss.
Yet is every man his greatest enemy, and, as it were, his own executioner
Sir Thomas Browne, Religio Medici pt II, sec. 4
Chapter 11
Green Fire
Jeff and Nabiki stood in the EVA bay in their plugsuits, and
watched Shinji, in Unit 01, move out, Ranma, Asuka and Rei were right
behind him in their EVAs, the pair was staying behind, again.
"I sense a continuing pattern in this." Jeff observed, looking
wistfully at the four EVAs moving out, "Come back safe," he added quietly.
"Come on, at least we can watch from the main control room,"
Nabiki suggested, the morning after her blow up, she needed to mend fences
with her roommates. She'd hoped she could practice on Raccoon, before she
moved on to Ranma.
"And watch, what, exactly?" Jeff turned to face her, and leaned
back on the railing, looking around at the technicians and crews preparing
for the EVAs' return. "I gave up my diploma for this, one sortie and that
was it," he said bitterly, "One weekend, and I could have flown back to
school."
"At least you've been out there," Nabiki replied, trying not to
catch his tenebrous mood, So much for that idea, she thought, He's still
pissed at me.
"Better to have never piloted at all, than to have done so twice,
and never again. Believe me."
"What's it like?" Nabiki asked, At least he's always willing to
lecture. I can see if it's different from what I remember from the dream.
"Each unit is different, Unit 00 is all anger and rage, a
berserker from Norse legend, or a kamikaze. Unit 01, I'd bet money it's
Shinji's mother, or it thinks it is, that's how I was able to sync with it,
I said if Shinji got hurt, I might have to go out after him in it. Unit 04
is an old warrior, eager to teach all its old tricks." Jeff counted off the
EVAs, "I don't know about Unit 02, having Langley there changed things.
The, intimacy, I guess, of the contact is hard to describe. You have to
fight to keep yourself separate, but it isn't trying to draw or drag you
in, more - welcoming. And the feeling of power, I can't describe it, the
angels, the real ones, must feel like that."
"You sound like you miss it," Nabiki said sardonically, That's
nothing like my experience, for me, it was a fight to get and maintain
control.
"Attractive and repulsive at the same time," Jeff explained, he
seemed troubled by the incompleteness of the explanation.
He's wondering how much he should share about killing the
`Angels`, and the side effects, she thought.
Alarms blared throughout the bay.
"Oh, no." Jeff stood out of the way, as troops scrambled for the
EVA's plug loading controls. Nabiki had flattened herself against the wall
to avoid being trampled.
----------------------------------------
Asuka and Rei used their EVAs to yank Unit 01 back into the access
tunnel, the bolt of green fire splashed against the concrete of the tunnel
mouth, trying to maintain contact with its target. They both could hear
Shinji screaming inside the plug.
"Hurry up, Wondergirl!" Asuka cursed as they dragged the damaged,
convulsing EVA back down the tunnel. Ranma risked a peek around the edge
of the tunnel, and barely got his EVA's head back, before a second beam
slammed into the concrete.
----------------------------------------
Jeff and Nabiki helped the crew manhandle the stretcher down the
stairs to the unload point, while Unit 00 and Unit 02 shoved Unit 01 back
into the restraining cage, and locked it down.
"Baka, Shinji," Unit 02 seemed to comment in Asuka's voice, on the
gaping wound in the EVA's front carapace. The paint had been burned away,
exposing the metal beneath, which had been burnt or corroded away, exposing
the organic components, including the EVA's blood red core. The equipment
pulled the plug from the EVA, and the command chair from the plug.
Jeff and Nabiki stood with the others, to hand the wire basket
stretcher carrying Shinji, up to other waiting hands, to take the wounded
boy to the medical wing.
"What happened to him?" Nabiki hadn't seen any external injuries
on the boy as he passed.
"Shock, burns, the pilot experiences what the EVA does, sometimes
it's too much." Jeff was climbing down the gantry, to get a look at the
damaged carapace of the EVA, he leaned out to touch a small piece of the
battered metal, it crumbled to dust under his touch.
"Get out of there!" someone yelled, "We have to decontaminate!"
"Yeah." Jeff backed up, glancing at his hand and the metal dust
clinging to it, "No problem."
"That was dumb." Nabiki yanked him away from the EVA.
"We are in _big_ trouble." Jeff headed to the scowling
technician, to get decontaminated.
----------------------------------------
Asuka showered quickly, she noted Wondergirl in the next stall,
taking her own sweet time. She weighed getting rid of the stench of
L.C.L., against checking on Spineless.
"What are you dawdling over?" she asked angrily.
Wondergirl turned, stared at her, "We can do nothing for some
time. Curtailing procedures assists no one." She paused.
Asuka frowned, she hated it when Wondergirl was right, "Don't you
want to do something?"
"Yes," Wondergirl admitted, "But I cannot."
Even she sounds frustrated, Asuka wanted to hit someone,
something, the Angel would do for a start. Why aren't we going out after
that thing right now? She noted Wondergirl was still staring at her, "Go
finish your shower, you have to be all clean and smelling nice when
Spineless wakes up."
Asuka noted, with some disgust, that Wondergirl eagerly finished
her ablutions, Why is it the robots get a love life, and even alone with
Kaji, I don't? She considered stealing Spineless away, then washed herself
from head to toe twice, to get rid of such disgusting thoughts.
----------------------------------------
Misato was sitting on the couch in the corridor outside the
medical wing's main surgery, staring at the other couch facing her across
the corridor, waiting. There was nothing else to focus on, and nothing to
do. She completely missed when Nabiki, Davis and Ranma came up. Nabiki
sat next to her, touching her shoulder, silently offering comfort. She was
shocked that the 'Second Three', as she'd once disparagingly referred to
them, were here for her, while Asuka and Rei were not.
"You might want to look through this," Davis set a folder in her
lap, "I checked with Doctor Akagi, it's already in the works."
Ranma and Davis sat opposite the two women, and waited, saying
nothing.
Misato paged through the sketch of the Angel's attack pattern, and
a plan to deal with it. Asuka and Rei arrived in their school uniforms,
still wet from their post-decontamination showers. They all waited in
silence for some time, before they realized no answers would be
forthcoming.
----------------------------------------
"The attack is time-based, not heat or corrosive," Gendo explained
to the senior staff, gathered in the conference room, around a large map
table with the Angel's location, and the planned start points for the EVAs
clearly marked on it. Gendo glanced over to Davis, who had presented the
plan to him, based on what the two of them learned in last night's dream.
"Unit 04 is a high density fused ceramic, like a fired pot. That is
inherently more resistant than the metal and organic components of Units
00, 01 and 02. Concrete, as evidenced by the entry tunnel, is equally
resistant. What we need to determine, is the cycle rate of the enemy's
attack, and the duration of the blast."
The Angel of Time, Tulzscha, in the form of an half-mile tall
pillar of green flame, had positioned itself some distance away from the
base, and had drawn itself into an arch. Only Dr. Akagi and the Commanders
knew why, Kaji and Misato didn't know, and right now, didn't care.
"A very audacious plan, how did you find out about this?"
Commander Fuyutsuki asked his colleague and the pilot.
Jeff decided to drop a bombshell, "I've done extensive research on
these creatures, including reading the Necronomicon." He and the Commander
exchanged looks, both turned away.
Kaji and Misato didn't comprehend any of it, Commander Fuyutsuki
and Dr. Akagi were ashen. Gendo didn't meet anyone's eyes.
"We'll take it under advisement." Ikari said. Davis nodded and
left quickly.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Kaji demanded.
"You don't need to know. What do you think of the plan as
described?" Ikari asked. He closely examined each of the staff members.
"On paper, good. In execution, it could get Pilot Davis killed,
and it puts the other three pilots at severe risk," Kaji admitted.
"I don't like it," Misato added, "I don't believe water will have
any effect on these `time flames`, no matter how much can be pumped in, and
the exercise expends all the power of Unit 04, _unless_ Demisu or Shinji
pilots it, this looks like a grandstand play to get him in an EVA again."
"To what end? To do his job, or get killed?" Ritsuko asked
Misato, "The latter, is not very productive."
"You obviously think this will work. I'd like to know why you're
even entertaining the idea." Misato balled her fists, confronting Ritsuko.
"We are limited on the time available," Fuyutsuki said, "The
Angel's seeming irrational behavior, can't _be_ irrational, we must engage
and destroy it, as quickly as possible. This plan allows us to engage in
only a few hours. Unless Operations or Special Tactics has another idea
that can be implemented quickly?"
Neither Misato nor Kaji had an idea, especially one that would be
ready so quickly.
"Very well," Ikari said, staring at his subordinates, "Do you have
any suggestions on the implementation of the plan as a whole. Or minor
adjustments?" Gendo had already decided to adopt the plan as it stood, he
doubted they could add anything that he already hadn't.
"Not without knowing the cycle time of the enemy's primary
attack," Kaji admitted, "Until we know that, no attack can be made."
"I would recommend a bombardment of the target by naval gunfire,
from out of the direct line-of-sight," Misato began, "Find out if we can
destroy whatever this thing is after, before it can find it."
"No," Ikari said, "Whatever it is after, is valuable to us as
well, I won't have it destroyed."
"We're assuming it _is_ after something. It may just be trapped,
until dismissed or destroyed," Ritsuko said, "It may have slain its
summoners, and is simply trapped here. It attacked the EVAs as it would
any natural enemy, there is no evidence it's after anything."
"Agreed," Ikari said, "Dismissed."
The senior staff left, Fuyutsuki turned Ikari, "Your son . . . "
"We all knew the risks," Ikari said flatly, "If Katsuragi
continues to deteriorate, we may have other options."
"Should we begin the search for other candidates?" Fuyutsuki
asked.
"Let's see how well they face this challenge, we'll plan our
course in the aftermath." Ikari sat back and steepled his fingers,
considering the future.
----------------------------------------
Waiting
Asuka noted the pilots had independently assembled in the corridor
outside surgery in the medical wing. Horseface and Ice Princess sat on one
couch side-by-side. She leaned against the opposite wall, next to
Wondergirl, who sat on the other couch, both she and Wondergirl seemed to
be studying the floor.
"Would you sit down," Horseface said to Raccoon, who was pacing
the corridor, "You're making _me_ nervous."
That makes two of us, she thought.
"Oh, I can't have that," Raccoon shot back, "In case you've
forgotten, that's _my_ plan in there. And they won't tell us about Shinji.
Frankly I'd like to know if he lived . . . or died, if he's all right, and
if, or when, he's coming back to us. I want to know what's happening, to
plan the next step."
"Well sit down anyway," she told him, "You're wearing a hole in
the floor."
"Langley, I care about as much - " He marched towards her.
"CHILDREN!" Ice Princess shouted as she stepped between them, "We
already have one pilot under medical care," she glared at her and Raccoon
in turn, "Let's not have any others."
Raccoon frowned, resumed pacing, farther down the corridor, away
from the others, she and Horseface gave exasperated sighs. Wondergirl
watched each of the pilots successively.
"Where's Ranko anyway?" Raccoon asked as his path brought him near
them, "You'd think she'd want to know about Shinji's condition."
"Maybe she's got the good sense not to be around you," she said.
"Yeah, I'm a bucket of laughs right now," Raccoon said, continuing
his pacing.
Asuka scowled, I hate this! Hate waiting, hate not knowing, hate
not doing. "Why can't they just tell us?"
"Asuka, why don't you pace with him. Then the rest of us can get
a nap," Ice Princess told her angrily.
"I will wait," Wondergirl said.
"Who didn't guess that?" she said.
"Langley, enough." Raccoon marched over, stopped in front of her.
He said gently, "We're all anxious, just admit it."
She pushed off from the wall, stood nose-to-nose with him, "I
don't need to be lectured by the pacing Raccoon!" Can't you manage any
anger at what's happening?
"At least she's not yelling at Rei anymore," Raccoon taunted,
"Kiss me."
She considered it for an instant, It would shock him and the
others. It would serve him right! instead she just screamed at him,
calling in to question his intelligence, his devotion to duty, his sanity,
in German and English; then stalked off to the farthest corner of the room.
She leaned against the corner and resumed glaring at the others from there.
Maya entered the corridor.
And almost retreated, she noted the analyst's terror, as all five
pilots suddenly stood up and turned towards her. Asuka waited for Maya to
pause and gather herself.
"He'll be all right," Maya told them.
She watched Maya react to the relief on her and the other pilots'
faces. Someone laughed. "He needs rest and quiet," she admonished them.
"May we see him?" Wondergirl asked.
"Not yet," Maya told them, "He hasn't regained consciousness, and
his room is being kept sterile to prevent infection."
"Thank you," Ice Princess told her, and herded the other pilots
away.
"Let's go kill this thing," Horseface said as he left. He got
growls of agreement from all the others.
Even Rei, Asuka noted, Interesting.
----------------------------------------
The senior staff and the pilots stood in the conference room
overlooking the command deck. They'd gathered around the map table,
representing the portion of the harbor and the strip of land where the
`Angel` was waiting. The anger of all the pilots was obvious, they were
eager to repay their comrade's injuries. Nabiki looked over the faces,
she'd seen that kind of grim determination before, but here, the target of
that determination wouldn't live out the day, once they were released.
Even Ranma would be part of the killing. She wasn't sure she like that.
"The approach will be by Unit 04, towing Units 00, 01, and 02 on
minimum standby. They will be placed approximately 300 meters from the
target. At precisely 18:00 hours, you will simultaneously launch your
attack." Misato showed them on a large map table. Ritsuko and Kaji stood
in the background.
"Will Unit 01 be repaired in time?" Nabiki asked.
"We're rushing repairs now," Ritsuko said, looked at Raccon
expectantly.
"Sounds like I volunteer again," Raccoon joked. Ritsuko nodded.
"I take Unit 01?" Ranma asked.
"Yes, Rei in Unit 00, Asuka in Unit 02," Misato said, nodding to
each in turn.
"Who's taking Unit 04?" Nabiki asked, knowing the answer.
"Unit 04 will have a special device that will shield it from the
attack that damaged Unit 01," Misato told them, "It will make its
diversionary attack at 17:59 and 57 seconds. That should give the Angel
time to acquire the target, and fire. Its attack lasts a maximum of 37
seconds, cycle time between shots is 27 seconds. That gives the three
attacking EVAs 61 seconds to make their initial attack, and if necessary,
retreat back into the water, to avoid counterfire. Unit 04 will draw its
fire again, and the other three EVAs will be able to make their second
attack. Beyond that, we don't expect Unit 04's power to hold. The EVAs
will have to withdraw, and we'll have to develop another plan."
Nabiki wondered if Misato would be pleased or angry about that
happening. She was surprised when Misato addressed her.
"Pilot Tendo, you will take Unit 04, and place the special
equipment, while repairs are being made on Unit 01. Asuka, Rei, Ranma -
you will accompany Kaji, and receive briefing on the target's special
powers and abilities. What to look out for, and what we expect it to do.
Dismissed."
Nabiki watched Misato leave, Ritsuko collected Raccoon and her.
Kaji collected Rei, Asuka and Ranma. Both groups initially stayed
together.
"What's Misato so mad about?" Asuka asked Kaji.
"She doesn't like getting shown up by anyone," Kaji said. As they
walked into the corridor, Misato was waiting.
"I should take the diversionary position," Rei told the adults.
"Don't be so eager to get yourself killed Wondergirl," Asuka said
grimly, "I think Raccoon knows this is a one-way trip for him. He gets to
go out in a blaze of glory."
"That's not it," Ranma cut off Raccoon's protest, "It's his idea,
it's only right he take the risk. Leaders lead from the front." Ranma
missed Misato's wince at that explanation.
Nabiki didn't think that had anything to do with it, Ranma of
course, put it in terms of honor. Asuka wanted to be back in combat.
Nabiki suspected Rei wanted to avenge Shinji, and do her job: killing
Angels. She couldn't figure out Raccoon's motivation, or his silence. She
was also worried that _no_one_ seemed to think this was going to work, yet
they were all eagerly, or grimly going ahead with it.
---------------------------------------
Hoping
Nabiki loved the feeling of power and movement of EVA Unit 04, as
she swam through the harbor, dodging ships and underwater obstacles, and
placed, what looked like an oversized concrete umbrella, in the mud of the
harbor bottom. And this is just like swimming through a pool, she tried to
analyze her own exhilaration, It isn't even combat. Which the pilots seem
to have a mixed opinion of.
She was too deep for the Angel to detect, or perhaps it knew it
couldn't effectively attack through meters of water. Maybe this crazy idea
does have a basis in fact, she thought, while the accompanying submarines
and divers emplaced a dozen heavy, underwater pumps. Other teams of divers
laid cables to secured areas, to power the pumps.
She could almost understand why someone would risk life and limb,
and sanity, for another chance to pilot this machine.
"Ritsuko?" Nabiki asked as she worked, "I'm going to be in reserve
on this, aren't I?"
"Sorry. Shinji's still recovering, and there are only four EVA
units. Ranma can pilot Unit 01, Asuka can only really pilot Unit 02, you
can only pilot Unit 04 or 00, and Rei's a better pilot in Unit 00," Ritsuko
told her.
"I'm better in Unit 04, except underwater," she argued, "And the
battle is taking place on land." Nabiki kept wondering how much was the
mistrust her roommates had for her. No, it isn't about me, it has nothing
to do with me, she thought, That almost makes it worse. "You're smart
enough to evade my real question, just like Misato did." Nabiki was
pulling back slowly, making sure the pump hoses and power cables hadn't
snagged on each other.
"I think you know the answer," Ritsuko said.
"I just want to hear somebody actually say it," Nabiki griped,
"Why can't it be me, or somebody else?" Are you sending out the least
qualified pilot . . . for a reason? she thought.
"You tell me," Ritsuko suggested, "Arrogance, a 14-year-old's
feeling of invincibility, confidence."
Nabiki grimaced, she was near the end of her pack's power, the
subs would have to tow her out, and back to base, and she wasn't towing
three EVAs on the way in. She believed in taking risks, some risks weren't
just cutting it close, they were cutting it clear through the bone. Misato
might have blindly agreed to this, she loved showy plans, and was blase
about risking the pilots, Nabiki thought Ritsuko was different.
The only reason she could see for the pilot assignments, was `fuel
economy`, her roommate could get 8% more time from the power packs than the
next best, Shinji, who was 5% better than the standard: Rei and herself.
Asuka was 2% below, Ranma 6% below that. That worked out to roughly eight
minutes of normal operation or 96 seconds of AT field use, out of the hour
two power packs provided. And time is the only thing that mattered, not
safety, or even survival. Eight minutes or 96 seconds, is a hell of a
thing to gamble your life away on, Nabiki thought.
----------------------------------------
Shinji woke, saw the gray ceiling he'd seen before, he recognized
he was in the medical bay. He looked over at Rei, who was watching him,
watching over him.
"We are launching an operation to destroy the Angel," she told him
quietly.
"Am I part of it?" he sat up, then embarrassedly recovered himself
with the sheet.
"No. I, Pilot Saotome, Roku-kun and the Pilot of Unit 02 will
engage the enemy." Rei paused, consulted a notebook, "I brought you food
and soft clothes." She indicated the cart with the tray on top shelf and a
package on the shelf beneath. "Pilot Tendo will be in reserve, she might
appreciate your presence." Rei snapped the notebook closed, and stood up.
"The attack is scheduled for 18:00 hours, please be ready an hour before."
She turned to leave, stopped, looked at him. Her expression changed
slightly, he'd never seen her look that way before, "I am pleased you have
recovered." She left, Shinji stared at the food and clothes.
He shook his head and wondered what it was all about. He didn't
know why he felt so strange, that there would be a battle, against
something that had nearly killed him, and he would be on the sidelines. He
felt almost . . . criminal.
----------------------------------------
Ranma watched Asuka stare down at Raccoon, who was seemingly
sleeping on the bench in the pilots' locker room. Raccoon had returned
from repairing Unit 01, took a shower, then put on a clean plugsuit, Asuka
had barged in while Raccoon was dressing, and stood over him when he laid
down for a nap.
Ranma had tried to suggest she was on the boy's side, she'd
growled at him. He'd wisely retreated.
"_You_ don't have to do this, I could, or Tendo, or even
Baka-Shinji, he's back," Asuka told him.
"That's good news. Worried? That's not like you," Raccoon asked
distantly, "It's only a minor one, the handling is tricky, that's all. You
know I won't die, you were there too."
"You have every reason not to do this, it was your plan, you did
your part. You don't have to play the hero, take all the danger." Asuka
turned and glared at Ranma. "Unit 02 is made of stone, I can do that job."
Ranma thought she sounded worried, a few days ago, he would have
discarded the idea. Then again, a few days ago, he wouldn't have believed
that any of the pilots could have fought a war to the death with demons.
Now he knew they had, and won. He couldn't figure it out, if either of
them treated him the way they treated each other . . . well, he would have
beaten up Raccoon, he wasn't sure what he'd do about Asuka.
"Ten years ago," Raccoon said tiredly, "I saved a certain sorrel
wildcat from a trap. I acquired a clear responsibility that day. I'm
hardly entitled to run off and hide, leaving it stuck in a tree, now am I?"
Asuka dumped him off the bench onto the floor, and silently
stormed off. Ranma couldn't figure out if she was furious, or trying not
to cry, when she left.
"She loves me," Raccoon told Ranma from the floor, "It's obvious."
"You're nuts, that's what's obvious," he retorted as he walked
over to stare down at the boy, "At least to anyone with any brains."
"So who told you?" Raccoon asked as he stood up, stretched, "Don't
tell me," he paused with a look of intense concentration, "Somebody slipped
a note to you in your banana ration."
"Considering you came up with this idea, I wouldn't mention
bananas around it."
"An original insult! Saotome-sama!" He covered his heart with
his hands, "I'm titillated, I'm ecstatic, I'm petrified, it must mean the
world really is coming to an end. Now I'm worried."
Ranma shook his head and muttered something unkind about tanuki as
he left.
----------------------------------------
Commander Ikari was meeting with the Committee, not the monoliths,
but the actual representations of the members.
"Ikari?!" Kehl seemed surprised.
So they were sent with your knowledge or approval, Ikari filed the
data away.
The Committee's shock was quickly hidden, and the tedium of the
meeting proceeded apace. Ikari could have checked the elements off a list.
After the dream when he'd been reunited with Yui, however temporarily, he
was less pleased about dealing with these fools, and their assumption that
they still controlled everything. He'd been given a new infusion of what
had originally driven him to this course. The Committee and SEELE had
always been a tool to achieve _his_ goals, he was not a means for them to
achieve _their's_. The Human Instrumentality Project, remembering who his
masters really were, etc. were all discussed to death, practically using
the same words that were spoken in Fuyutsuki's last meeting with the
monoliths. Gendo knew the monoliths were the real committee members, these
were just their public, front men, working from a preprepared script. He
took the questions with all the good grace he could manage.
They don't realize we have been and are under attack! Gendo
realized, for the dream couldn't have been anything but. I can guess which
of the Great Old Ones could be attacking, completely out of sequence and
undetected by the Old Men! Gendo hid a smile, The scenario is already out
of their control, and they don't know it. It gave him the freedom of
action he needed, and didn't have before. He'd tell them of the attack
after they made another of their pronouncements of their control over
everything. All he had to say to cover himself, was 'The Children never
mentioned it', and so far they hadn't, not even discussing it among
themselves, even Rei had not mentioned it to him. That was disturbing, but
not unexpected, if Saotome and Davis had `exchanged`, it was possible that
Rei had exchanged with another pilot, and it had traumatized her, either
the experience, or the separation, as it had him.
He missed Yui, letting him be with her, even vicariously, only to
have it stripped away, was painful, but it renewed his determination.
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