5 hours earlier...

"Attention passengers, we will be landing at Berlin Brandenburg Airport shortly. Please make sure that your carry on luggage has been stowed and remember to taa~ake all your personal belongings with you. Have a nice day."

Asuka cocks an eyebrow, staring at the speaker above her. For a moment, she muses, she could have sworn that the pilot had the same lilt in his voice that she often hears from Rei or her sisters, which would most likely make him not someone you would give control of an airplane to.

Tapping her fingers on the keys of her laptop, Asuka looks across the cabin of the airplane, shifting in the business class seat before reaching down and unplugging the power cord from the socket next to her ankles. Next to her, there is a snort, and Pieter sits up, pulling the eye mask off his face and shoving it into his uniform jacket's pocket.

"Great! We're here!" he says, rolling his neck and clapping his hands.

They would talk for a while, then he would take a nap for twenty minutes. Then wake, and they would repeat. Which was itself remarkable. As he explained it, he was power napping to prevent himself from suffering from the effects of jet lag. Closing her laptop and putting it into her carry on, she sighs as the plane lands, unbuckling as it comes to a stop and walking behind her father out of the plane.

"Okay," he says, "So, the first people who we're going to meet, and I mean by the people who will be waiting for us right outside the gate, are Amelia and Toby. They're my closest friends and they were also Best Man and Maid of Honor at my mine and Kyoko's wedding. And also your godparents. And Mari's."

He snickers.

"Only thing I ever won over on Claire," he says, shifting the strap of his large carry on bag, a green and black duffle with a red fig leaf, "So, you're about to get the biggest hug of your life. More than Ayanami's sister."

"R-really?"

"I told them that your mother and I were back together," Pieter responds with a grin, "Amelia squealed. In all honesty, when Kyoko and I broke up, Toby gave me a black eye, but that's neither here nor there. So, be prepared, because they've wanted to meet you for a long time."

Asuka allows herself a small smile. It is her first time coming back to Germany in a long time. And with her father, who she's only gotten to know in the past year, and with people she never even knew about. Smiling, adjusting the strap of her laptop bag, she walks out of the gate just as she hears the footsteps speeding towards her.

And her father was right.

It was the biggest hug she's ever gotten.

Chapter 79:

Kokabel

It is about the size of a soccer ball, floating off the ground as its metallic surface oscillates around the green light coming from the center eye. The ring, the bisecting, miniscule gap that cuts down its center, spins as it floating in front of the window, the green light dimming and brightening as the eye narrows and opens. But, the people walking by the electronics display give it little more than a passing glance, figuring it is simply an experimental drone, most likely made by those crackpots at NERV.

The green light twitches, running over the large screen plasma televisions in the window display, watching the images of people moving, of action, or romance. It comes, swiftly, after hours of watching, to the conclusion that there are people within the screen, trapped by the screen. And, therefor, since imprisonment is the worst offense it can think of, they must be free.

The green light flashes, and the screens in the display sparkle, crack, and shut down. Tilting slightly, the sphere wonders where they have gone. Has it killed them? Was the price of freedom too high?

"Oo! What's that?"

The sphere turns, green eye focused on the voice. Lowering, it comes face to face with a small, female human, pre-adolescent, yellow-red hair and healthy, blue eyes. The girl, dressed in a school uniform with a blue blazer, smiles widely as the sphere rotates and tilts.

"Hello," it says, "What are you?"

"I'm Katie!" the girl says, holding her book bag in front of her, showing none of the trepidation the woman behind her, genetically parental, yellow hair, blue eyes, slightly underweight and high blood pressure, does, "Are you from the underground labs?"

"Yes I am," the sphere responds, which is true, he does come from the underground labs because that's where he was last, visiting [TYPE]Zeruel, "Yes I am. I came from there. [DESIGNATION]Katie?"

"Designation?"

"I think he's asking if that's your name," the mother says, an uneasy, still nervous smile on her face, "You know, Daddy might know who built it. One of his coworkers might have made it."

"Oh. Okay," Katie says, and smiles, "Yes, my Designation's Katie! What's yours?"

The sphere tilts.

"[DESIGNATION] Kokabel. I am Kokabel."

"We were just going to visit my Dad! He works at NERV. Do you want to come with us?"

Kokabel tilts his sphere. Observations. He is dedicated to his observations. This is a way to gain greater insight.

"Yes."

...

"So, I don't think you were ever in my actual part of the Second Branch. Your Mom worked in the Project E labs, which are still the Second Branch, but a different part of the facility."

The floors tick down, minutes passing as Asuka fixes her carry on bag. They spent an hour with her father's friends, letting the wife, the woman who according to her father set up her parents in the first place, fawn over her in a way she's quite sure she's never been before. She has to admit, she liked it. She doesn't think she's ever been compared with her mother and took it as a compliment before, and she notices how the smile hasn't quite left her face, yet.

"So, we're in the administrative parts," Pieter continues, lolling back and forth on his feet, "This is where I worked before I went to Japan. We're going to meet Professor Ikari here, and also Ayanami and Nagisa."

"I've m-met Professor Ikari," Asuka says, "We met in New Vegas."

"Nice guy," Pieter says nodding, "Little eccentric, but that's gotta be par for the course with the Ikaris."

They both share a chuckle, as the doors ring, and open, releasing them into a polished, white metal hallway leading down the corridor. Shifting her bag on her shoulder, she walks out, half a step behind her father as he adjusts the collar of his beige uniform, fixing the cufflinks of his white buttoned shirt and straightening the jacket. His freshly polished shoes click on the floor, his shoulders straightening and his lips drawing back into a smile as they approach the office at the end of the hallway.

Tapping the release button at the side of the door, Pieter straightens up, hands clasped behind him, a symbol of calm, authority, and respect. And tries very hard to keep that facade up as the chair in front of Katsuhito Ikari turns, and Pieter locks eyes with Lorenz Kihl.

...

"What is that?"

"That's a door."

"What is that?"

"That's a light."

"What is that on your feet?"

"Those are shoes!"

The silver sphere pauses, making a questioning noise, and continues turning, directing the green light of his eye at other objects. Walking down the hallway alongside her new friend, Katie giggles, as her mother trails behind them both. Which is when a door to the side opens, and the sphere turns, green eye locking with red eyes. The blue haired teen in the NERV uniform tilts her head, staring at the sphere.

"What are you?"

She blinks, takes out her PDA, and holds it out at the sphere.

"Very odd," Kei says, "The...hm. Well."

Kokabel tilts side to side, bobbing up and down.

"What is that? Oh! It has numbers on it!"

The sphere floats closer, orbiting around Kei, the light from it dimming and brightening, an action similar to an eye widening and narrowing.

"What is that?"

"It's a PDA," Kei says, and shakes her head, "Hm...you're right. No signal at all from it. It's not responding to any commands from my PDA."

The projector on the back of the PDA comes to life, and Kei rolls her eyes as the light from it forms into three figures. Two girls, and one boy, light streaming from her PDA to paint their images on the air. The youngest resembles a sullen, four year old version of her, complete with a four year old version of her-and by extension, her mother's- haircut. By contrast, the others, a girl with long hair, smiling genially at the world, and a young boy who for some reason is wearing glasses, blend elements of Kaworu into them.

"Uh huh!" the long haired girl says, "He's definitely not a machine! So he has to be an Angel!"

"That's stupid," the sullen girl, who for some reason now insists on calling herself Almacia, says, "It is obviously not an Angel. It has no offensive capabilities and is certainly not capable of leveling the city."

"Perhaps it intends to infiltrate the center of NERV and detonate?" the boy asks.

"Don't. Give it. Ideas," Kei says, and sighs, "I'm handling this. Why don't you go to the daycare and-"

Kokabel hovers over, tilting as it sees the holograms of the children.

"What are you?"

...

"Why didn't we know?"

The door of the office is closed, and only the two are inside. Asuka is off finding Kei, and the...surprise...is not there for right now. If anything, Pieter was surprised by how easily Katsuhito dismissed him. No threats. No yelling. It was like Ikari just told Kihl to go to his room.

"Because if I told my daughter," Katsuhito says, sitting back in his chair and glancing up from the paperwork on his monitor, "Lorenz would be dead roughly fifteen minutes later and I would have to answer a lot of very uncomfortable questions."

Muttering to himself, the old man bites down on the lollipop in his mouth.

"Still," Pieter starts, and rolls his eyes when Katsuhito once more fixes him with a glare.

"What would you have me do, Langley?" Katsuhito asks, "Smother an old man in his sleep? He is a monster, yes, but he is also an old man. I am many things, Langley, and I have been party unintended to disasters and horrors, but I am not a murderer."

"But he is."

"And for that I have stripped him of authority, of his place on the Council and have restricted him to places I can watch him at all times. I will keep my enemy very close. I will not risk contingency plans he has set up in case of his death because we want well-deserved vengeance."

A sigh, and Katsuhito rubs the bridge of his nose, looking up at Pieter, who stands ramrod straight. A predictable thing about the man, too. Even if he doesn't actually respect you, he still shows the illusion of respect.

"As well, there is Nagisa," Katsuhito continues, "He has taken Kihl's place on the Council, and thinks of Kihl as his father. I will not risk alienating Nagisa over revenge or blood. Neither will you. Sit."

Pieter does, shaking his head.

"Yes?" Katsuhito asks, "You have a question?"

"I know about Terminal Dogma," Pieter says, "I presume you're reading me into more things, but I think I might already know the whole picture."

A small smirk cracks the corner of Katsuhito's mouth, as he folds his hands in front of him.

"Oh no, Langley. The rabbit hole goes deeper than just Heaven's Gate."

...

One of the regrets of not joining the Eva program until a few months ago is that, while she recognizes the science behind it, she doesn't recognize as many of the people. Asuka doesn't know who the old man with the visor is, but he knows that her father doesn't like him. Given, her father is a...questionable...judge of character, judging from his two ex-wives, but she doesn't think he ever slept with the old man. She thinks.

Adjusting the strap of her carry-on, she considers taking out her PDA, accessing the Berlin MAGI, and finding where Kei is, but she should probably get network access privileges before she does that. That would be rude.

A small whisper. A giggle. She turns, towards the empty hallway, and shrugs.

The lights flicker. She looks up at the florescent bulbs, shrugs, and opens up her bag, looking in it for her PDA. Instead, she finds a ball curled up inside it, shivering, covered in a layer of bee-fur.

"Lilly?"

38!

The elevator doors in front of her open, and she looks up to find Kaworu standing across from her.

"Miss Sohryu?" Kaworu asks, "When did you arrive?"

"J-just today," she says, smiling, "Um..."

The black ball rises out of her bag, spotting Kaworu and hovering over to him.

:D!

"Um...hello," Kaworu says, tilting his head as the ball orbits him, "Odd. Second one who did this. Is...um...Lilly, right? We've met...before."

"She...um, she's a little freaked out," Asuka says, shrugging as Lilly rests on Kaworu's shoulder, "We...um...I think she stowed away in my carry on bag, and I think she woke up w-when we met Professor Ikari and his guest."

Kaworu nods, patting Lilly on the top.

"Are you looking for Kei?" he asks, Asuka nodding in response, "Good. Well, I'm meeting her in the staff kitchen. Would you like to come with me?"

Asuka nods, and walks into the elevator, taking out her PDA. Glancing at it, finding it rebooting, she shrugs and pockets it as the doors close.

The fact of the matter is, Kaworu Nagisa is her brother's brother. So technically, as Uri is her brother, Kaworu would also be her brother, or at very least a sort of half brother or step brother. Possibly, because she's never been very clear on it. Then again, Asuka has become used to having lots of identical, somewhat related people around her, especially since people assumed she and Uri were non-identical twins after he was adopted.

"Excuse me," Asuka says, "But...um...are we related?"

Kaworu cocks an eyebrow, screws his face in concentration, and shakes his head.

"I don't believe so." He shrugs. "Then again, Uri and I are differentiated clones with some different added in genetic differentiation, so I'm not sure."

Asuka nods.

"Uri's an Angel, now," Asuka says.

"Oh? I'm not," Kaworu says, coughing into his hand.

He sways back and forth, lolling on his feet. Asuka pays it no mind, although a small part of her mind wants her to ask him to backpedal harder, for some reason. Probably her snarky parts. She doesn't indulge them very much.

"So," he says, "How is Uri? He is getting along well?"

Asuka nods, smiling.

"As a Nephilim, it is somewhat scary," he continues, "To think that a single event, a single quirk, and they could become something...more. An Angel, a monster."

He glances over to Asuka.

"I hope he's getting along fine," he says, "And not having any...homicidal instincts."

"Oh, h-he's fine," Asuka says, "He only wants to throttle Shinji."

More floors pass. Kaworu cocks an eyebrow.

"They...don't get along well."

..

"What the Hell?"

The room is white, sterile. Par for the course at NERV-2, but it had to be acknowledged that the room is sterile for NERV-2. White, with only the blinking of the monitors on the wall to give it color against the red sheen painting the walls from the device at the center.

"I told you the rabbit hole goes deep," Katsuhito says, sucking the lollipop as he walks past Pieter, "Excuse him if he's quiet, Langley, but our guest has never been the most vocal with anyone outside of Nagisa."

"Does Kihl know about this?"

"Most likely, but this came here during his disabled period. We don't know if he knows, but it's always safe to assume that he knows."

The main feature at the center of the room is a cylinder, filled with yellow liquid. And at the center of the cylinder floats a red sphere, smooth and fist sized, that glows steadily with its own inner light. Katsuhito strokes his chin. It wasn't that shape last time he was here.

"In any case, since you are the new Director, it makes sense that you know," Katsuhito continues, "Langley, this is Zeruel."

...

The lift speeds up, the transparent glass walls of the lift shifting from the metal of the elevator shaft to the metallic criss cross of the lift leading from the Evangelion Cages. Standing next to Kaworu, Asuka watches, as the mesh gives away to the steady progression of catwalks, and finally to the indigo figure standing in the cage.

"We just repainted it," Kaworu says.

The figure is thin, lithe, and humanoid, like any Evangelion. The lines of its dark blue armor are gold and white, a gold band forming a belt around the thin waist of the giant. The head is adorned in a demonic mask similar to the Mark-01's, two horns protruding from the nose, in front of a golden red visor that covers the eyes.

Asuka wonders what sort of creature is in the Core of this beast. A faithful friend, like Zwei? A noble warrior, like Go-kun? An innocent, like Ichi?

Is it possible she's getting to used to this? Used to the idea of idle chatter with something that can depopulate a continent?

"Anyway," Kaworu says, as the doors open, "This is my stop. The lift will take you to Kei's floor."

He smiles, nodding, and exits without another word. The doors close and the lift continues onward, past the cavern that holds the Mark-06, into the higher levels of the base. He seemed upset, she muses. Like his smile wasn't all there. It reminds her of Mother, before they reconciled, and for Mother it wasn't that she was angry, just...not good at sharing what was wrong.

The doors open, breaking her concentration, revealing a long metal hallway with flickering lights.

Shifting her bag on her shoulder, she enters the hallway, walking down it. The lights keep flickering, a crackle coming over the speakers, and she feels...a chill. Like something crawling up her back. Against her better judgement, she turns, just as a light flickers on from an overhead projector and turns into a half dozen faces which resemble Rei's, or Kei's, or Shinji's.

"Hi, Aunt Asuka!" they giggle, "You have to come play with us! For ever and ever and ever-"

"She can't play with you now. How about later, after your lessons?"

"kay."

And without another word, the ghost children disappear. Slowly, Asuka turns, seeing Kei standing in the hallway, with a pained look and a smile on her face.

"Um...when did NERV become a haunted house?"

"Long story," Kei responds, "Tea?"

...

"Well, that's not good."

The Big Screen of the Second Branch CinC hovers over the recessed banks of computers, technicians counting off numbers as the images play. Ikari sits at the raised chair at the center of the circular control room, hands folded in front of his mouth as his eyes work over the details of Anael's...

Attack? No, that implies harmful intent. What he is watching is hardly an attack. Even a wild animal is capable of more malicious intent than this Angel is bringing to bear.

"It's like a child," he says. Next to him, Pieter turns to him, taking his eyes off the screen.

"Pardon?"

"The Angel," he says, "Kaworu explained these kinds to me. They're curious, not malicious. The opposite of the Cherubim or the other angels. A highly curious, suggestive, and focused entity which is searching for something."

"But what?" Pieter asks, turning back to the screen.

And coming face to face with a floating metal ball, which turns to him and narrows its green eye.

"Don't know what. But searching. Anael needs to search. Needs to find. What is it searching for?"

On reflex, Pieter pulls out his gun, instincts taking over and telling him this is a very bad thing. Pulling the gun up, the barrel centers on the eye of the sphere in front of him. Green light plays over it, the gun glowing, and piece by piece it falls onto the floor. The technicians and bridge officers of the Second Branch have noticed the intruder by this point, weapons aimed at the sphere as it bobs up and down, narrowing the eye, the iris at the front of the creature closing to pencil width.

And the floor begins to shake, as Kokabel rotates and shines a thin beam of light towards the ceiling.

"It is time."

...

The red ring rises over the sky, molten ground beneath. The Seed cracked against the world. The Mother rises from Her shell, the bulbous, spongy form rippling with every step, a giant striding the liquid earth.

Nine points of light surround Her, hovering above Her head like a halo, the seven red lights upon Her white face searching the world. Her motions are light despite the echoing rumble of Her footfalls, Her steps more the hops of an excited child than the strides of a newly born god.

The eight wings of light stretch out in the distance. A roar of sound, a roar of power, and the Giant of Light arises, haloed by lights of his own, fifteen in number.

The Children of the Mother see them. Equals. Opposites. Different from them and yet the same. They recognize them as Creations of a Creator, progeny of a Progenitor. Her kin fly off from Mother, taking shape, taking form. They are Opposites. They are Different. They are Enemy. That they see as they advance, roaring and spitting, burning ground sky and flesh before them.

She is the last to advance. Her place is by Mother's side, after all, but still, Mother tells her to engage the Other, to defend her. And she does.

And she advances, taking Form much like Mother, a shape of flesh and liquid, two wings rising from her back as her eyes shift to the front of her face. She can see her kin fighting, dying, and being reborn before Mother and fighting once more, attacking the Other with forms of knives, with forms of fire and spheres of crimson light, the most powerful of them locked in battle with a black shape of tendrils and crimson light.

And she finds her opponent. A form, shaped like the Giant of Light, only made of shadows as well. Four eyes in a diamond configuration upon his brow, six white wings unfurled from his back.

Who are you? He asks, the light of his soul reflecting off of hers, raising an arm, the bulb at the end shifting and becoming a three fingers hand, Are you of the Other?

Yes, she responds, You are of the Other?

The head of the shadow formed opposite tilts. He considers her words. Other, they call their respective creators. They are both Other to their opposite. But that is not an adequate name. They need a better name. A name they can refer to their Self as.

What is He? She asks, pointing to the Giant of Light.

[He Who Is Father], Her opposite responds, and points to Mother, as Her skin begins to harden light armor, And who is She?

[She Who Is Mother], She responds, That is their names, then? Father and Mother? And what of us?

Us? He asks.

What is your name? She asks, the golden light pulsing against his, Do you have a name?

I am [WILL]. I am the [WILL] of God. I am [WILL]. What is your name?

In the distance, the many legged giant falls once again, long legs splayed outward as the one of her kin smothers him beneath her many arms.

I would like to know your name, He says, his own Light pushing against hers. Against the force of his own, her own goes silent.

She blinks her glowing eyes. Flesh parts beneath her eyes, an appendage formed within the cavity that now exists within the lower half of her head. Tongue clicks against roof, lips parted, and sound is created, a whisper against the war around them.

"Tab. Iss."

You are Tab Iss?

She shakes her head, points to him. Tilting his head at her, a small realization and he backs away, his own barrier separating from hers.

I am Tab Iss? He says, and nods, two eyes flanking the sides of his head tilting up as he nods, Yes. But what is your name?

She tilts her head. What an odd creature, she muses.

I am

"Kei?"

Kei blinks, and turns. Asuka smiles back, as the elevator rings.

"Is...um, is something wrong? You s-sort of zoned out there."

...

In the darkness beneath Berlin, green eyes open. One by one, they open, glowing in the earth and the dirt, and they begin to rise.

...

"Anyway," Kei continues, "If I could get a look at the...Omnitool, was it? If I could get a look at it, it could make my own research go a lot smoother."

The door opens with a whistling sound, revealing the white tiled room ahead of them, Asuka looking around at the sheer size of it. She didn't have this much space to work with back in Berlin, but she was rarely, if ever, on base back when she lived with Mother.

"So," Kei says, "This is the kitchen."

The kitchen itself is well arranged. There are several long preparation tables, a wide, double door fridge, several stoves, ovens, and microwaves, and a twelve inch tall version of Asuka with dark blue hair cutting vegetables and wait.

Kei clears her throat. The foot tall doll looks up, the knife still a blur as it reduces a cucumber to a thin line of slices. The head turns one hundred and eighty degrees to look at Kei and Asuka, red eyes glowing.

"Oh, hello Mother!" she says in a high pitched, cheerful voice, the rest of the body- which is holding a rather sharp knife- turning to match with the head, "Hello! You must be Miss Asuka! I hope you don't mind, but the other Lil'Rei and Lil'Kei dolls didn't match with my ego-image of my hair, so I modified one of the dolls based on you!"

The doll hops off the stool it was standing on, skipping over to the two. Kei does not visibly react, walking past the animated miniature Asuka and to the fridge, taking out a can of milk tea and a bottle of soda.

"Um," Asuka says, glancing between Kei and the doll, "Well. So. What's your name?"

"I'm 05-EF E5," the doll says, clasping both hands in front of her, one of which still holds the knife, "You can call me 05-EF, for short."

Asuka cocks an eyebrow, looking at the miniature version of herself in front of her. She would be justified in freaking out, but she remembers Shinji talking about something like this happening during the dream state everyone was in for seven weeks.

"So," Asuka says, and pauses, "Well."

At least this one changed the hair color. And eye color. Otherwise, it would be looking at a small, nephilim version of herself, and that would be odd. And she's reasonably sure that if she became a nephilim and not Shinji, things would have been odd. And Misato would possibly have needed to repair walls.

"So w-wait, my dolls come with red eyes?"

"I modified it," the little girl responds, "It gives me night vision and helps me let people know where I am if I get lost. I also modified this model to be able to remote interface with appliances via a bluetooth modification, so I can help out in the kitchen and with cleaning!"

Asuka nods. That does sound like the modifications she did to that Aibo, so Zwei could try out having an Avatar body. She wouldn't be surprised if someone read her notes.

"That's very clever," she says, "I'm i-impressed."

The doll smiles, clapping her hands together, and takes Asuka's hand in her own.

"Thank you very much," she says, "You're really, really nice! So why don't I show you your room and I'll help you clean it? It's right this way!"

And she walks out, pulling Asuka along with her. Leaving Kei in the kitchen, smiling to herself as she pops the seal on her can and takes a sip. This vacation is already off to a good start.

...

Deep beneath, green eyes open. Deep beneath, the metal spheres reignite the light that defines I.

One by one, they rise, phasing through the dirt and metal, the bones and dust of ages.

...

The whirring gives him away. Kaworu tilts his head from the platform overlooking the Mark-06 to find the old man approaching. Even with all the hate that everyone else must feel for him- justifiably so, given what he attempted- Kaworu cannot bring himself to hate him. Even for the evil, misguided, horrific things he has attempted and has done, this man is still the closest thing he has to a father.

"Kaworu," Kihl says, walking up next to him, leaning on his cane, "You seem troubled."

Kaworu grunts an acknowledgement, staring at the Evangelion. His other half. He still has not told Kei everything. He should, one of these days.

"I am," he says, "How are you, Kihl?"

The cyborg shrugs, smiling. It is not a pleasant sight. He leans on the cane, hand clasped around the red gem built into the head of the walking stick.

"I manage," he responds, "I have no illusions I will be skipping through fields of flowers. I am aware whatever has revived me is but a brief reprieve. But you have much time ahead of you. And I see you soured towards the world. I am curious why."

...

They rise, through metal and dirt, through armor and air. Throughout Berlin, the silver spheres rise, ghostlike through the ground as the alarms begin blaring, splitting the air with the same siren call that sounded during the day the Cherubim attacked. Like balloons of tin and green, they rise into the air, past the tallest buildings, hovering above the city itself.

Each chatters as it rises, each speaking in squeaks and chirps, a language of the other spheres, a language of pure information and input.

As the light that defines I glows around it, the cloud coalesces and takes shape, forming a funnel of silver and green, directing a beam of emerald light skyward as the doors to the domed hangar open and Pieter and Ikari run out.

"Intersting," Katsuhito says, "It appears to be comprised of thousands of the spheres, like..."

"Like a tornado made of bowling balls," Pieter adds.

The funnel becomes a line, then wraps around itself, emerald lights dancing in the sky and forming into a sphere. Lights dim on the outside of the sphere, becoming a shell of silver as the lights at the center ignite and expand, becoming an unbroken circle of green.

It rotates and oscillates, pulsing green into the sky, parting clouds into and clearing the sky. The spheres dance once more, becoming a ring orbiting a spear of silver, blossoming at the end to release a thin beam skyward.

Once more the spheres dance. They become shifting walls, reflecting the light inward, a dancing fleet of plates surrounding a pulsing green sun. Energy becomes sound, light transmitted into radio waves as every cell phone, television, radio and computer in Berlin screams with static, and as one, does the voice begin to sing.

"On this Base Earth grew a tree,

A tree of Life, grown tall and free

Upon its branches in radiant white,

Grew I, and I, as is my right,

Declared my ADAM-given selfhood might,

In starlight bathed and silver light.

And spheres of platinum and cerulean eyes,

Were the body I wore as I through the sky,

Raised my majesty to heavens high.

I viewed this Base Earth from above,

To watch the stars with awe and love,

And kith and kin in wondrous awe,

Gazed and in my passing gave a roar,

"Beware! Beware! His flashing light,

Build 'pon the world's glorious night,

And please He Who is Called 'I AM's sight."

The cloud once more becomes a funnel, the tip of it coalescing into a sphere made of spheres, several of them igniting in green light at the center in a gigantic replica of one of the silver and green spheres.

Which then turns to Pieter and Ikari.

"What are you?" the voice booms.

The sphere lowers, floating before Ikari and Pieter. The green light narrows to a tight beam, centering on the two.

"Huh," Pieter says, "Um. I'm Pieter Langley, Director of NERV. This is Professor Ikari."

The sphere bobs up and down.

"Yes."

The solid black sphere floats up next to Ikari, white shifting over the surface as Lilly trills, green light playing over it from the eye of Kokabel.

"Yes. Leliel. New form. Interesting. Oh! And you."

The light moves past Lilly, towards Asuka and Kei. Asuka has the blue haired doll in her arms, staring at the gigantic Angel before them. Even thought she should be terrified of this alien, shifting form before her, she can't muster up fear for it. Instead, she just feels an intense curiosity. Well, that and Kei is next to her, and if they have to run she can definitely rely on her to get her to safety.

"Well," Kei says, waving at the sphere, which turns to her, "Hello. Let me introduce myself. I'm-"

"Oh! I know who you are," Kokabel says, eye narrowing to a slit as it nods, "Hello, Kei."