True to her word, Misato was up and early, even rousing the pair. When questioned, she pointed out it was probably a good idea they came with her, so they wouldn't be locked out.

Asuka nor Shinji got much sleep but went through the motions anyway once morning came. Shinji insisted on making them a quick breakfast, citing that it could very well be the last breakfast they have, provided the day went poorly.

From his position at the stove, he asked out of the blue, "Do you think this is what someone with terminal illness feels like? Just wondering when the end will finally come?"

"What a stupid question," Asuka grumbled without any bite.

"It was just a thought," he defended.

"Don't be sharp, Asuka," Misato chastised.

They sat in silence for a little more before Asuka murmured, "It probably is."

"What's the plan with Rei?" Misato asked, "Are we taking her with us? I know it's probably not a good idea to take her into the Geofront but we also can't leave her out here by herself."

"I think we have to take her with us," Asuka decided.

Misato frowned, "I dunno if I'll be able to protect you three if things go sideways."

"I think me and Asuka can protect her alright enough. If things go really sideways, we can bring her into one of our Entry Plugs," Shinji suggested.

Seeing Misato arch an eyebrow, silently asking him if that was a good idea, he shrugged, "I don't think...anything would come of that. We could guarantee her safety that way."

Asuka quipped, "And if something does, we'll know what not to do next time!"

Shinji shuddered, uncomfortable at the idea of having to do everything all over again.

They ate their breakfast quickly and in silence. Immediately after, they left and found Rei just outside her apartment, leaning on the railing and looking over with a distant look. Asuka frowned and approached her, "Rei, what's wrong?"

The girl jumped, looking around wildly before her gaze landed on them. She asked quietly, "Are you going somewhere? May I go with?"

Misato and Asuka traded a concerned expression. Rei's typically pale skin was red with fever and there was a sheen of sweat to her forehead. Asuka laid a hand on her forehead then flinched away when she found she was burning up. "Rei, you need to go to a doctor!"

"I should see Dr. Akagi," she trailed off, "But I fear there's nothing to be done."

"God, you look terrible, Rei!" Misato cried out, pushing past her to support the girl.

Seemingly grateful, Rei leaned up against her.

Asuka turned to see Shinji, who was staring down Rei with a look of horror. He muscled in past Asuka, murmuring, "She didn't get all sick last time…"

She shot him a desperate, questioning look. He lingered then explained to the best of his ability, "Back in my first world, I knew a Rei. I guess without LCL, she just...came apart."

Asuka shuddered, "Rei's going to die?!"

Rei looked between them, "I apologize for making the two of you worry. I do fear I'm dying. Without the medication I received from the doctor, my body cannot keep its form."

"Then we'll see if she can give you some," Misato declared, "She has to have some more right?"

"It's possible," Rei murmured.

"Alright, let's get going. Every moment we spend here, Rei gets worse and our...guests could be getting closer," Misato ordered before gently lifting Rei up and over her shoulder.

Rei gasped softly, having not expected her to do that. She wrapped her arms around her neck and buried her face in her hair. Misato's gut dropped at how easy it had been to lift her. She certainly weighed too little for a girl her age. Steeling herself, she marched down the hall, Shinji and Asuka in tow.

---

Today was the day.

For better or worse, the great Scenario would reach its climax and all would end.

Vice Commander Kozo Fuyutski couldn't muster many strong emotions about this apart from a sense of relief. All the trials, all the tribulations, all the twisted schemes he should have never gotten involved in would end. There would be no more pain—or really anything.

He found solace in two things. One was that Ikari's plan would be far more merciful than SEELE's, which would most certainly subjugate the rest of humanity and raise them to the level of gods. Second was he might be afforded one final moment with Yui...even if it may not be real.

Ikari never shared what came after Third Impact began and Instrumentality was ushered in and he had an inkling the man himself didn't know. All he wanted was to reunite with his wife and restore his family to what it should have been but that didn't necessarily involve Instrumentality ever ending. Would he find the courage to leave the comforting fantasy of it or would he find the blissful nothingness far safer than the unpredictable reality of the real world?

Knowing him, he feared it would be the latter.

Of course, what ended up happening in the end hardly mattered to him anymore. It was all a foregone conclusion.

His door pushed open with a soft click and he turned to find Ryoji Kaji standing there. He shot to his feet, gaping, "Agent Ryoji Kaji?! What are you doing here...you've been missing…"

The spy nodded slowly, "So I have."

There was a new quality to Kaji's eyes that the Vice Commander had never seen; they were cold and sharp, like a blade's edge in the dark. Suddenly nervous, he asked, "Let me ask again, what are you doing here?"

"I was wondering the same. They say you've not been on the bridge all day. Or the Commander...though I hear he's quite busy all the time."

Why would he be concerned about that? His eyes widened in realization and Kaji smiled broadly, "I see. So today is indeed the day, huh?"

"How would you know about that?" he asked.

"That's not important. What is important is…," he withdrew a pistol from his jacket and leveled at him, "...that you are coming with me, Vice Commander."

Fuyutski's eyes darted to his desk and the phone, where there was a button he could press to trigger a silent alarm that would bring security to his aid. Following his gaze, Kaji drawled, "Do you trust you can make it before I press the trigger?"

"You believe you will have the ability to pull that trigger on an old man?" Fuyutski countered.

To his surprise and fear, the edge in Kaji's eyes sharpened, "You wanna test your luck?" he asked.

There was a few agonizing moments of silence and tension before Fuyutski deflated. He raised his arms, "Fine. I'll come with you."

"Good man," with that, Kaji withdrew a pair of handcuffs and gestured for him to put his hands behind his back.

As he handcuffed him, Fuyutski asked, "So who put you up to this? The Japanese government?"

"Nope."

"The UN?"

"Nada."

"SEELE?"

"Oh, absolutely not."

"...Ikari?"

"With any luck, he will be dealt with as well," Kaji shook his head, "So, no."

Fuyutski frowned deeply as the spy jostled him out of the room and led him down the hall, taking special care to take a route out of the prying eyes of the guards. He asked, "So this is your own scheme?"

"I can't say its entirely my own scheme but that's as close as I may tell you," he evaded.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and thought as they continued navigating deeper into the base. Eventually, they came to a nondescript and abandoned room somewhere within Terminal Dogma. But far enough off the beaten path that no one might hear them. Kaji navigated him into a creaky, metal chair which he tied him to for good measure. Satisfied he wouldn't be able to escape, he pulled up a chair across from him, sat down and clasped his hands in his lap. Fuyutski asked, "So what now?"

"We are going to sit here in the dark nice and quiet for a few hours until this is all over."

"You can deal with Ikari but how are you going to deal with the old men and the government?" Fuyutski warned lowly.

"That's why you're here," Kaji smiled, his eyes crinkling slightly as he did, "We just had to get you out of the way."

Slowly, things started to fall into place. "It's not just you. You just had to get me out of the way so the chain of command would fall to the Major. But what makes you think Ikari is going to let that happen?"

"Ikari is going to be preoccupied, especially if Rei doesn't answer his call."

Fuyutski gave him a cool glare, "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing worse than you and Ikari would do to her," Kaji bit back, a rare heat entering his tone, "Nothing that she won't have a choice in."

With a deep sigh, Fuyutski closed his eyes, "Rei...my greatest regret and my greatest sin. No matter your plans, she may not a choice."

---

Together, they went onwards into the Geofront and Asuka had to admit she felt much safer once she was inside. Rei had grown weaker the farther they went and by the time they boarded the tram, it looked like she was barely hanging onto Misato. She had a horrible glazed-over look to her eyes, as if she had already died and it was her corpse they were lugging about. As they stopped off, she murmured, "We should go back."

"Rei, you look like you're nearly in the grave," Asuka protested.

"No, I think I should run far far away," she murmured.

The way her head lolled told the pair she wouldn't be able to run even if she wanted. Shinji took her hand and squeezed it while Misato shot them an alarmed look, "Maybe I should run on ahead...but I don't know if it'll be a good idea to leave you kids alone."

Shinji gestured with his hands to put Rei down as he said, "You'll be able to to get to the command center faster without us. And you have to make sure Ritsuko got all the other stuff done too."

She frowned, still not completely convinced by his argument, but ever so gently set Rei down. Shinji rushed to support her but still gasped when the girl nearly fell. Asuka took up her other side and together, they kept her alright. Misato regarded this with a pained look, "Alright...take her to the lounge closest to the holding cages. Maybe giving her some water will help...it certainly can't hurt. Be safe kids, I'll be right back."

With that, she turned and took off down the hall at a brisk speed-walk.

"Alright, let's get going," Asuka murmured and together the pair followed after her, towards the holding cages.

---

It didn't take too long for Misato to arrive to the command bridge. She walked out onto the command bridge and glanced up at the highest level. It was empty. She smiled. So Kaji had come through—which could only mean the kids had told her just in time. Which also meant she had free reign of the bridge for what was to come very soon.

Firstly though, she had to talk to Ritsuko.

Maya, seeing her emerge onto their level, pointed over the lip of the barrier, down to the MAGI servers. She smiled and gave her a respectful nod. Aoba waited just long enough for her to disappear before he leaned over to Maya, "What's going on? You stay here all night with Ritsuko and now you're doing...whatever that was with the Major?"

Hyuga merely gave them a suspicious look. Maya was in on something...something the Major had neglected to tell him. He had his suspicions, especially with how she had him running his own investigations, but it stung a bit not being in on...whatever this was. He agreed, "I'm getting the sense something is going to go down."

Maya shifted her weight and murmured back them, "I'll just say…it's not a bad idea to be prepared for something to happen and soon. But if what me and Ritsuko coded works out, we might not have to worry."

This only seemed to further confuse the two men.

Misato came out to the MAGI servers, where Ritsuko was sitting beside one of the openings to the internals of them, typing away on a laptop. She called, "Alright, Ritsuko, quick, what do you have for me?"

Ritsuko smiled upon seeing her, "Me and Maya made great progress last night and this morning. I've got a new firewall erected that should automatically activate upon any invasions. Thanks to my mother, we finished it in record time."

Misato raised an eyebrow, "Your mother? Did she have any idea about any of this?"

"It's impossible to tell if she did or if she left some of these notes out of some sense of paranoia. All I know—and care—is that it works," Ritsuko shrugged.

"How about that lockdown protocol?"

"Also finished—for the most part. I'm just adding some finishing touches. Upon any indication of things going sideways, you will need to immediately type this command and enter this password," she withdrew a scrap of paper from her coat and passed it to her, "That would automatically seal all exterior and interior entrances to the Geofront. Ideally, no one gets in...but no one gets out."

Misato nodded, "If we pull this off, it's going to be a whole other can of worms getting the JSSDF to back off."

"Ideally, if we can put down the Eva series and find Gendo, that should help our case."

Staring at the paper, Misato sighed, "...this still feels like a long shot."

"I've been thinking that all night...if the kids had told us earlier, maybe we could have coordinated something better with Kaji and the government…" Ritsuko trailed off and shook her head, "Of course, if he was here, Kaji would say there's no point in dwelling on what could be and focus on what is."

She stood, tucking her laptop under her arm, "So what of the children? Did you bring them with you today?"

"Right!" Misato clapped her hands together, "I need you to give me a dose of whatever you were giving Rei. She's...not looking so hot."

Ritsuko's eyes widened in surprise then went wider still with realization. Her expression fell and she looked at the floor, downcast. "I don't know if I have anything to give her. I was instructed only to make enough to last the projected timeline. I did make a little extra spare but I'm not sure if I can get to it in a timely manner."

"Can you try, please?" Misato clasped her hands.

Ritsuko looked back at her then, her expression steeled, pressed the laptop into her hands, "Give this to Maya," she instructed, "Tell her to look over my lockdown procedure and, if it's good, finalize that version. I'll be back as soon as I can!"

She immediately took off and Misato called, "Be safe!"

"You too!" Ritsuko called back before she disappeared into a door out of the command center.

---

The trio made it to the lounge Misato had directed them towards in more time they might have liked, on account of having to pause often for Rei's well-being. She didn't seem to be getting much worse—but also not much better. When Asuka lowered them onto a bench, she sighed in relief, her breaths shallow and fast.

Shinji went to one of the vending machines to retrieve a bottle of water. He unscrewed the lid and gently raised it to her lips, letting her drink at her own pace. When she was done, she jerked away suddenly, a splash of water landing on her lower blouse. Frowning, Shinji dabbed the corner of his shirt at it in a vain attempt to dry it. All the while, Asuka rubbed her back in what she hoped was a comforting gesture.

"How long do you think it'll take Ritsuko to get you more meds?" Shinji asked.

Rei answered, her words coming between labored breaths, "I'm...not sure. She would...have to go to...Terminal Dogma. It's a...long trip...and could be...quite risky. She might...decide against it."

"That'd be terrible!" Asuka cried.

She murmured back, "She might find it...too risky...encountering...him."

Her companions frowned, unable to argue with that. Ritsuko encountering Gendo down there would absolutely not look good, no matter what the woman said. If she told him the truth, he'd figure out she was undermining him and would likely...take her out of the equation. But any lie would be scrutinized on her having no true reason to be down there. Not at this stage of his scenario.

Asuka snapped her fingers, "I've got it! You said your Rei needed LCL so maybe all we need to do is put her in one of our Entry Plugs! One of us would have to get in with her but...I think it'd be worth the risks."

Shinji hummed thoughtfully then nodded, "That should work! At least, it's better than sitting around here. How about it, Rei?"

She weakly smiled up at him, "Yes. Please. I would like to try...I don't want to die…"

Once again, they raised her to a standing position but the promise of a possible solution seemed to invigorate Rei a little bit. She leaned her head on Shinji's shoulder and murmured, "Thank you, Shinji. You're...my oldest, dearest friend. You mean a lot a lot to me."

He smiled softly, "You mean a lot to me too but...don't talk like that...like you're not going to make it."

"And Asuka...I always...," she trailed off, eyes gone wide, her gaze falling on something from where they had come in.

Her companions followed her gaze to find, standing in the doorway like an impassable bulwark, was Gendo Ikari.

He regarded each of them with an expression that betrayed confusion at the scene of the Second and Third Children lugging the First Child around like she was luggage. He said, "Rei. I summoned you and you didn't come."

The girl startled from her half-dead state to look at him with unmasked terror. Asuka shrugged her onto Shinji, who pulled her close. She quickly told him, "Take Rei with you to Unit 01."

"What about you?"

"Just do it!"

Shinji frowned but did as he was told. She then stepped in front of them in a clear expression of defiance. "She isn't going anywhere with you."

"Child, you know nothing. Rei looks rather ill and only I can help her now," Gendo growled, eyeing Shinji and Rei's fleeing frames with annoyance.

"And how are you going to do that?" Asuka spat, looking at him with more fury and hatred she had given anything.

He frowned deeply. He wasn't sure how or why but the Second Child had some idea of what he was up to. Had she known all this time? It would explain her quite out-of-place hatred for him. He advanced a few steps closer, reaching to push her aside, "I do not tolerate insubordination."

At his touch on her shoulder, Asuka saw red.

She tackled her entire body weight at the older man with a hellish scream that ripped its way out of her throat. She could hear him gasp in surprise and felt a rush of glee at getting one over on him. Her nails dug into whatever skin she could get—mostly at his neck—and scratched bloody lines down it.

But her short-lived assault was cut off by him swiftly punching her in the jaw and knocking her into one of the vending machines, the glass cracking from the impact. Dazed and in pain, she could see him advance after Shinji. She tried to pull herself up, to do something, but an onslaught of vertigo forced her back onto the floor.

Just out into the hallway, Gendo advanced onto Shinji and Rei, who just couldn't drag the girl quick enough to escape. Seeing the futility in his actions, he turned and faced his father in defiance.

He grumbled, "You're both lucky there's no more time."

"What are you going to do?" a rebellious glint came to Shinji's eye, "Punish me for once? Like a dad should?"

Gendo's face twisted into an expression of indignation. He roughly shoved Shinji away, yanking Rei from him. Shinji grabbed onto her arm, attempting to stop him—only for her arm to come off into his own. He screamed, dropping the severed and pale arm to the floor. His father didn't stick around, slinging her over his shoulder like she was merely luggage and sprinting down the hallway, Rei's screams for help slowly fading as he did.

Shinji struggled to his feet then raced after him, leaving Asuka alone back in the lounge. Hearing the commotion, and guessing Shinji had failed too in protecting Rei, she fought her dizziness to pull out her phone and call Misato.

---

Misato had returned to the bridge and began to pace anxiously. She had no idea how long to wait for Ritsuko or if it was even a good idea to leave the bridge to assure the kids she was working on it. With her rotten luck, the invasion force would choose then to make their move with her gone. The bridge bunnies watched on anxiously but decided against pointing it out, lest they raise her ire.

Misato's phone rang and to her dread, it was Asuka. She answered it, her expression falling as she did. She murmured for her to hold on a second then turned onto Hyuga, "Hyuga, run this command: slash execute cfA2 Floyd protocol. When it asks for a password, use this," she handed him the slip of paper Ritsuko had handed her.

He furrowed his eyebrow but did as he was told. Immediately, the loudspeakers began to drone in a mechanized tone, "Lockdown now in place. All NERV personnel make your way to a safe location and arm yourself in case of breach."

Hyuga frowned, "Major? What's going on?"

She held up a hand to signal him to hold his thought, "Do me a favor and start checking the exterior cameras."

He did as he was told. As if on cue, the main screen started to flash an error; INFILTRATION IN PROGRESS, DEPLOYING TYPE-666 FIREWALL. Misato swore under her breath, "Fuck! Don't all happen at once or anything."

With a flurry of movement, Maya began to type away at her console, monitoring the firewall in case she needed to make some on-the-fly adjustments in Ritsuko's absence.

Hyuga reported, "We're getting movement on the exterior cameras and by the look of the uniforms, it's the JSDDF. Major...how did you know this was going to happen?"

"Call it divine interference," she sighed, "If we get out of this, maybe I'll tell you. That is, if you'll believe me."

Hyuga raised an eyebrow but didn't question her. She began to pace behind the technicians, ordering as she did, "Monitor the cameras. If anyone gets in, cut them off best you can from the majority of the facility."

She raised the phone back to her ear, "Asuka, you still there?"

"Yeah, trying to pick myself up. Bastard punched me."

"Excuse me?! The Commander punched you?!"

The technicians, even Maya as focused as she was, flashed her a mixture of confused and horrified looks.

Asuka grumbled as she began to speed-walk down the hall, "I think we've got worse things to worry about. Shinji's gone after him. What are your orders, Major?" she grinned to herself, as if sharing a private joke with herself despite the circumstances.

Right, she was still these kids' commanding officer. She sighed, "You get to Unit 02's holding cage and get on board. I'll call for Shinji. Whatever he decides, he's gonna want to be in Unit 01."

"Sounds good to me. Good luck, Misato."

Misato couldn't help but smile, "Good luck to you too, may we make it out of this in one piece."

She clapped the phone shut and continued to pace. Maybe if she stayed with the kids, she could have protected them.

Or maybe the Commander would have just killed her then and there, leaving them in an even worse situation.

Her concern for Ritsuko grew and all she could hope was she'd abandon her mission and get back here as soon as possible. If she encountered him down there, it would not look good on her at all. And then Rei's situation would become a moot point.

Or even worse, if she tried to stop him. As gallant a move that would be, she had doubts it would work out well for her.

---

Asuka made it to the locker rooms before Misato's call and got into her plugsuit as fast as she could. Of course, it didn't help that, right as she lifted her leg into it, the base shook. She landed on the floor with a German swear on her breath, glowering at the roof. That must have been the JSSDF losing their patience and cracking the base open like an egg with an N2 Mine.

She staggered to her feet and began dressing again in double time. Her showdown with the Eva series was drawing ever closer but it was something she couldn't escape.

Her mind couldn't help but draw a comparison to Kaworu, unable to escape his eventual fate.

She shook the thought off with defiance. He believed in her and Shinji could get them out of this. It wasn't her fate to die today and y'know? Fate was overrated anyway. She would tear such a concept in half! Her mother had unlimited power and the ability to regenerate. The field was much more level than it had been before.

Fate had taken Kensuke and then Kaworu. If she could help it, she wouldn't let it take anyone else.

Renewed confidence carried her onward, out of the locker room and to Unit 02.