2010-06-16 - How Fast They Grow

SPACE BATTLESHIP EXELION IT'S A SPACE BATTLESHIP, CALLED EXELION AND YOU'RE IN ONE OF THE HUGE HALLWAYS

Noriko Takaya knows something is Going Down. She doesn't know who to talk to or what to do about it. She trusts Leo Stenbuck about as far as she can throw his Gundam. Rei is.........gone. She doesn't know where that Kaworu guy is, and isn't sure what she'd do about him if she did. When she tried to demand answers, Misato looked apologetic and Gendo never returned her calls.

Somewhat at her wit's end, Noriko recalls that Rei was very close to Johnny Domino, and promptly gives him a call over to the Exelion.

She awaits him in the Exelion's shuttle hangar four, dressed 'up' - a knee-length dark skirt, a white blouse, and her leather Top Squadron jacket, the emblem of the Top Squadron proud on one breast, with the Fraternity logo and A-LAWS patches on one shoulder. And her headband is gone. She hasn't worn it in weeks. Her bangs hang a little lower for the lack, and her slightly-more-than-shoulder-length hair is free to hang loose. She's getting used to letting her hair go wild again, though piloting is kind of...iffy, with it going everywhere.

Johnny Domino has been summoned to the Exelion. He has been summoned to the Exelion by Noriko Takaya. Noriko Takaya has summoned Johnny Domino to the Exelion. A simple story.

There was once a time Domino would have viewed such a summons with youthful anxiety, nervous and hopeful about the outcome of an encounter with Noriko. Such a time has long since passed, and when Johnny first got the call, he very nearly told Takaya he couldn't spare her the time.

Domino was quite busy. On top of his usual A-LAWS duties he was also conducting a personal investigation on the side regarding the affairs of NERV, as well as an even more personal investigation about the nature of Rei Ayanami and the process through which she was brought back to life not once, but twice.

Also he had a girlfriend.

But before Johnny could let instinct dictate his words to Noriko, the Agent caught himself. Overriding his auto-pilot reaction, Johnny Domino considered what Noriko meant to him, the way she sounded over the phone, and the fact that to this very day, their fates have been forever tied thanks to a special article of clothing.

And so he agreed.

Taking a shuttle to the Exelion, Domino spent the trip poring over various maps and schematics. The Exelion was a huge ship. Johnny was not going to get caught lost within the halls of this space mammoth - he was going to do his homework. He would learn the lay of the battleship in 30 minutes or less and SUCCESSFULLY TRACK NORIKO DOWN WITHIN ITS HOLLOWED HULL!

Stepping out of the shuttle upon his arrival, the Agent looks up from a PDA containing a digital layout of Floor 23A-D and catches sight of Noriko. Huh, she was already waiting for him at the shuttle bay?

Pursing his lips, Domino turns the PDA off and tosses it over his shoulder back into the shuttle. So much for that, then.

Things Johnny Domino has learned an interstellar space battleship has in the last 30 minutes:


 * Swimming Pool
 * Full gymnasium
 * Full /robot/ gymnasium
 * Smoking lounge
 * Over thirty launch ramps connected to more than ten warehouse-like hangar bays
 * Seven battleship-scale hangars
 * A movie theater
 * A lecture hall
 * A lake (but nobody can find it.)

It also, apparently, contains Noriko Takaya, smiling a little tiredly. She raises her fingers and waves at Johnny, calling, "Hey, Johnny! Thanks for, uhm, coming...I'm sure you're busy and all, but it seemed like we should talk."

If these were happier times, Johnny Domino, Agent Extraordinaire, would have gladly taken on the challenge of trying to find the lake. He would spent 17 long days and nights within the Exelion, scouring the halls, poking his nose into every nook and cranny and tunneling through the labyrinth of airducts snaking within the walls.

On the 18th day he'd emerge from his expedition, tired, hungry, clothes tattered, and mumbling something about a crawling horror he could not look away from.

Thank goodness these are less than happier times.

Returning the wave, Johnny Domino approaches Noriko. "Think nothing of it," he says. Noriko Takaya is a trustworthy companion, she deserves his time. "What would you like to talk about?" And WHERE would she like to talk about it? The Exelion offers so many choices, Domino doesn't dare try and think about it on his own.

The lake probably is the crawling horror, that's how these things work.

Noriko smiles - always a chipper look on her face. She's really a very open girl, though...there is something uneasy in those eyes...

"Ah, gosh, how do I say it?" Noriko hums, which might very well set off Johnny's TERRIBLE THINGS alarm as Noriko walks off, away from the hangar and toward a moving stairway. The Exelion uses artificial gravity, so none of this 'flying around like a fool' malarkey - she sets foot on a moving walkway and motions for Johnny to step after her, leaning against the edge with the comfort of a long-time denizen of the ship.

After a few moments of the uninteresting corridors, and Noriko seeming to eye the walls right behind Johnny's head for a few seconds, she says: "What do you know about Rei?"

Domino follows Noriko in a manner most obedient. Stepping onto the moving stairway, the Agent's heart does a tiny flip. This is just like the escalators at the mall his parents used to take him to when he was younger, whee!!

On the outside, Johnny remains devoid of glee.

Observing Takaya leaning against the edge, Domino tries doing the same. He quickly discovers that this isn't quite as comfortable as Noriko makes it out to be, and the young man shifts his weight around, trying to lean in a different way. And then again, shifting his weight. And again. And finally Domino simply gives up. Screw the edge, he'll stand straight.

And so he stands, somehow managing to remain calm and professional despite his earlier fidgeting during his misadventure with leaning. Patiently waiting for Noriko to talk, Domino stares at the girl. The only emotions that find their way to his face during that time are a gentle familiarity and intent curiosity. The Agent has grown into quite a departure from the rash young punk Noriko met at the museum all these years ago.

When Takaya finally speaks, Johnny Domino doesn't even have the decency to look surprised. He takes her question in stride, nothing about his outward appearance undergoing any visible change. Only once do his blue eyes flicker to Noriko's forehead, noting the absence of her headband.

"You were her coach, weren't you?"

The question is spoken with a soft voice.

"You gave her something of yours. Something very very important... didn't you?"

These largely appear to be rhetorical questions, more spoken to himself than to Noriko. For then, without really waiting for the girl's response, Johnny continues with his own train of thought: "I know she is still alive."

There's a smile, an attempt to give Noriko a semblance of support, or perhaps comfort.

He's changed, she thinks. He probably would've asked her what she was thinking, before. Wanted answers. And surely never been this patient.

Even if he is still a little bit of a goof, she thinks, her lips curving up just a bit at the antics with the leaning. She hums, elbows resting on the moving banister as a bulkhead ahead of them starts unscrewing and opening.

Noriko doesn't seem to notice or care; it's just usual security. Her eyes slide closed, briefly, and she hums an unhappy sound. "I did," she says, quietly. "She needed it more than I do."

And she's barely got the words out before Johnny snaps her eyes open, and Noriko just kind of stares at him. The smile, understanding and paternal...actually seems to unnerve her more than anything. Noriko's father figures have all been stern. She's used to the showing of compassion at difficult moments with deeds and fiery speeches over warm smiles. "How," she demands, a little hollowly.

Johnny Domino contemplates something in silence and eventually drops the smile. Whether it's because he was able to sense Noriko was not reacting well to the gesture or because of something else remains unexplored.

"I know people," the Agent provides in response to the girl's hollow question. "I can't tell you who... but I trust them. They haven't played me for a fool. Yet."

The person in question, Ryoji Kaji, had indeed been a valuable source of information and potent leads.

And as the bulkhead grinds open, Domino wets his lips. An Agently hunch deep down tells Johnny that the girl desires more than a simple assurance that Rei is still alive. After all, Noriko Takaya did not call Domino all the way to the Exelion, leading him deeper into the gigantic ship, only to be informed of Rei's current condition. His experience as an Agent has taught Domino to spot when someone wants knowledge.

Luckily for Noriko, she is among the few people filed under Trust.

"I've been investigating NERV for a while now -- investigating Rei Ayanami." Domino says this without breaking eye contact with the Top pilot. "I think that, outside of NERV, there is only one other person who knows more about Rei than I do." The image of Cinco Budenda -- nay, Amuro Ray -- floats into Domino's mind. And before Noriko can even ask, Domino says, "I'm afraid I can't tell you who this person is either." The curse of being an Agent: either things are a secret, or they are outright classified.

"But... my investigation is a personal matter. It does not adhere to any A-LAWS regulations. Information is free to come and free to go. Tell me, what do /you/ know about Rei Ayanami? Perhaps I could fill in some gaps for you. Or maybe you could actually teach /me/ a thing or two."

Another smile begins forming, but that one only manages to reach a lopsided state before Johnny freezes it in place.

Noriko just listens. What else can she do, for this? Johnny has all the answers, Noriko has all the questions. Just let him talk. He knows people. Trustworthy people. Fair enough; that's all she needs to know. He's some kind of spy or something, and he's telling her things, so that's all she needs.

And he is telling her. Noriko locks eyes and keeps them locked. They've both grown so much. They were both teenagers just a couple years ago - mentally as much as chronologically, goofy kids with goofy ideals. Now Johnny seems to have his head together more than he ever did. Noriko doesn't blush seeing a boy eye to eye, feels the weight of the conversation heavy in her heart. No time for reminiscing. Now, they're on business. The walkway moves them silently through the ship; there's the faint hum of the engines, somewhere behind them, and the hissssss of powerful water pumps for the ship's water systems.

She seems a little less satisfied as the list of things he can't tell her grows, but at least they're talking. "You've gotten sneaky in your old age," Noriko quips suddenly, leaning back - elbows against the banister, pulling her eyes away to stare aimlessly at the ceiling.

"Most of what I've got is how they treated her. When she got to me she was eating broth and water for every meal, wasn't doing even the most basic physical exercises. I'm not sure how she got out of bed every day, let alone piloted a machine like the Evangelion." She shrugs, helplessly. "A lot of the rest is just the obvious. Obeyed orders without even thinking about it. Didn't like to show people her emotions."

Now that's an interesting way to put it; most people would say she didn't even have any, wouldn't they?

Domino quirks an eyebrow at Noriko's very first comment. Sneaky? Sneaky??

... OLD AGE?!

Something stirs inside of Johnny - the desire to quip right back at Takaya. Make a passive-aggressive challenge to reaffirm his youth. Show her that he is still all that and then some. There's a glint in his eyes, speaking louder than words... a light that desires to flare up and join in a merry dance of wits.

But no.

Johnny Domino remains silent. His eyes are the only thing that betray his inner thoughts. He really /has/ changed.

As Noriko moves on to the matter of Rei Ayanami, the Agent listens. He knows how people treated her: badly. Not just NERV, but others as well. In fact, Domino used to treat her the same. She creeped the hell out of him, after all. But that was all before.

Johnny is similarly aware of Rei's obedience, and has had first hand experience with her withdrawn nature.

"Ah, her emotions," the Agent says, giving his head a slight tilt. His tone acquires a somewhat casual shade as he continues talking, but even while he puts on an air of cordiality, Johnny keeps very close watch over Noriko's reactions.

"It took very long for her to open up to me. We had already served on the Minerva for quite a while by the time we even exchanged our first words. Emotions were rather difficult for her. I suppose she wasn't used to being treated like a human ... being."

What a suspect pause. Could there be a meaning behind it?

Noriko tips her eyebrow up, but also the corner of her lip in a slightly smug expression of victory. He's still in there, she decides. They've both grown up, but he's still Johnny. It's comforting, in a way. She'd be...sad, if he'd gone serious the whole way.

Still. Noriko makes her explanation, and Johnny starts in on his. He's not saying much, she catches that, she's more perceptive than she was at one time long ago. Her own grin slips into a more subdued, neutral expression, and as he talks she looks over, casually, at an approaching, bright light at the end of the tunnel. No regard for it; once she sees it she just looks back at him.

He pauses, strangely, and Noriko sighs. "She cried in my arms. Just a couple times. But she never seemed to do anything else. I'm not sure she was ever happy." She tips her head down, eyes shutting for a moment.

"You don't have to lie to me," she says, as the mobile walkway moves them into a completely open area - a huge, expansive section of hallway, with imported sand from real beaches scattered throughout the area, and a wave pool at the far end, and an oceanside mural painted on the walls. Above, UV lamps provide simulated sunlight for honest-to-God sunbathers, complete with bikinis and sunglasses. Noriko raises her fingers to wave at someone, and speaks with the confidence of someone who knows that even here they won't be heard: "She told me she's an Angel. That the enemy is Ikari."

The two reach a fake beach and Johnny Domino proceeds to... act completely unimpressed.

Except he is. He really really is. His eyes narrow once they emerge into the open space -- although that is simply a reflex, his eyes reacting to the sudden expose to bright light following the more subdued hallway. Slowly turning his head to the left, the Agent observes the sand, then looks at the mural. Then he turns to look right, regarding a number of sunbathers and the wave pool over yonder, and holy shit.

Why the hell is Domino stationed on the Minerva and not on the Exelion?!

That's the thought that materializes inside Johnny's head. Not that anyone could tell. Maintaining a poker face -- a whole poker body, for that matter -- Domino somehow manages to exert immense self-control while being exposed to the wonder that is the Exelion.

This self-control slips when Noriko speaks.

Blue eyes widen, and Johnny Domino finds himself caught off guard as Takaya gets right to the point. He isn't surprised because she's getting right down to the point, though. Direct people aren't such an oddity that one of them would catch Johnny unawares. What DOES surprise him, however, is the fact that Rei and Noriko were apparently so close that Rei went as far as telling Noriko the truth.

Head snapping back to stare at the Top pilot, Johnny Domino seems a bit more rigid than before. Rei never spoke to him about Noriko. Even though Noriko gave the Evangelion pilot her headband, all it told Johnny was that Rei was important to Takaya -- nowhere was there evidence that Takaya was just as important to Noriko. But here, finally, was proof.

And alongside this realization comes a smaller, less prominent conclusion: Noriko is very perceptive. Catching on to his little hint about Rei's nature as something other than human, and getting right down to business. There was a time Takaya was so much more of a... girl. Head lost in the clouds, fretting over nerdy things, or her own personal ills... would she have caught on to the subtext in the past?

After a few moments the stiffness in the Agent melts away. "I didn't realize you two were so close," he says softly. Then a nod. "No lies."

Deciding to reveal everything he knows to Takaya, Johnny wonders whether he should ask Noriko to sit down for this. He then decides against it, figuring that behaving naturally might be the better course of action, and sitting down in the middle of the walkway may not be very natural at all. So instead, Domino steps closer to Noriko, invading her personal space. He comes so close, the girl will be able to smell him.

"Rei Ayanami is more than an Angel," he begins, looking at Noriko all the while. If at any point what he says is too much for the girl to handle, he is right there to give her physical support, should her legs betray her.

"She is a clone. Created from a mixture of Angel DNA and human DNA. The Rei you and I came to know... she was the third in a line of such clones. The first two clones died." There's barely any emotion in the young man's voice as he relates the details. He's known this for a while now, and has come to terms with the facts. "Each time Rei died, NERV revived her. Somehow, somehow... injecting her soul to a new cloned body. The Rei before ours - that was the second. She was Leo Stenbuck's girlfriend. And the one before that, the first clone... she died a long time ago."

He steps in closer to her personal space. SHe blushes, faintly, a little surprised at the sudden move. She's still only 18, after all. "Wh-what are you," she mutters, but then he begins to speak.

Her legs stay solid as iron. The only sign of her reaction is the steady slide of her eyelids shut, her head tilting down as the peoplemover carries them through the "beach."

"I thought it would be something like that," she says, quietly. "They showed me, when they asked me to coach her - her prescription list. Most of it was censored and redacted, but...what wasn't, it was...bone marrow medications, immune suppressants, anti-rejection medications. At the time I joked it sounded more like something you'd feed clones than anything else..."

Eyes slide up again, and now she tips her head to look at Johnny slightly askance. "That, plus the way they treat her. Like she's completely replaceable. Water and broth and no exercise and working her to the bone, letting her work even after whatever they did to Unit-00 started doing that to her...I was kinda figuring I might be more right than I knew."

But still, her head tilts down again as she finishes, hurling a sigh at the floor.

"Died," she murmurs. "I didn't know them, so I guess that doesn't matter much to me."

Noriko is as strong as ever, it seems. Her posture does not waver, and Johnny Domino decides he can relax some. There's no danger of the girl falling over and requiring someone with quick reflexes to catch her.

Part of Domino thinks it's been a silly thing to even consider - when did Noriko ever fall down and need anyone to catch her? She's the designated pilot of the Gunbuster, a Top Squadron pilot, the first girl he ever had a crush on! She knows how to take care of herself.

Although... once upon a time... with Master Asia, and the Devil Gundam...

Johnny doesn't give this memory anything other than the barest of mental brushes. In the here and now, Noriko doesn't require any support, at least not of the physical sort. Still, the Agent doesn't step back in order to relinquish his hold over Noriko's personal space. He remains exactly where he is, a thin sheet of air the only thing separating their two bodies.

At the very least, their close proximity allows them to converse discreetly within this wide, public space.

"I used to think she was creepy," the young man admits after a time. "Didn't want much of anything to do with her. And then... something happened. I suppose you could say I had a change of heart. Saw things from a different point of view. One moment trying to avoid her whenever I could, the next moment, she is one of my best friends."

"Leo Stenbuck knows what she is," says Domino, changing the conversational tracks. "I think he broke up with her because he knew Rei wasn't 'his' Rei. And she -- I mean our Rei, the third -- I don't think she thought much of Leo either. I used to think..."

Johnny trails off. He ultimately abandons that line of thought and begins on another:

"'Our' Rei didn't think much of him. But the one before that, his girlfriend... she may have genuinely liked him." The Agent can't see why anyone would like Leo Stenbuck, to be quite honest. And yet, this prospect of the second Rei actually having feelings for Leo Stenbuck -- feelings that went beyond passive obedience -- is an issue Johnny is finding to be increasingly pressing on his mind.

Did Leo Stenbuck give the second Rei something Johnny couldn't give the third? If that's the case, then...

Domino blinks the thought away. His blue eyes, which drifted away from Noriko as he started talking, now return to the girl. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

"No," Noriko says, eyes not really looking at Domino, kind of staring past him - into the broad, UV-lit chamber. Another door is approaching. "...I don't know what Leo knew, but it wasn't that. He went crazy, started screaming the second Rei...our Rei, showed up in A-LAWS. I guess in retrospect he probably did know she died...that'd explain a lot of his reaction."

She breathes out, slowly, a tired and unhappy sound. "...I don't like the way he treated her," she says, candidly. "But she asked me to help him and I'll do that much, at least."

... She hums, finally, staring off into the middle distance. "I think she liked him a lot," she says. "I don't know what they had. I just...I don't."

Rei, bursting into tears in Noriko's arms. She'd been in Leo's room. The Top sighs. This much thinking is hard. "...but I know she cried because of him at least once. I wouldn't say she didn't like him, at least."

Is the thought of Rei crying a surprise to Domino? Noriko has no idea. She knows how insular and...well, nonresponsive, really, Rei was, but in the final weeks the girl opened up to her Coach to the point where Noriko occasionally forgets how others saw her.

"...I think she liked you," Noriko says, not really sure what else to add. No, she definitely /knows/ she liked him, but 'she asked me to pick out clothes to seduce you with' seems like an odd thing to say out of the blue.

Surprise isn't precisely the emotion Johnny Domino feels at the notion of Rei crying. The girl had expressed a multitude of emotions around Johnny, many of them subtle, most of them reserved for him only.

However, the thought that Rei Ayanami cried because of /Leo Stenbuck/...

Domino's right hand clenches into a fist. He does not like Leo Stenbuck, not then and not now. That son of a bitch, making Rei cry. /His/ Rei! Subjecting her to such grief...

And yet, could he have made the previous Rei happy?

Ugh.

Then the whole subject of Stenbuck is swept off of the table as Noriko brings the conversation to focus on Johnny. "..yes," the young man admits, fist opening. "She did like me. She liked me very... very much." There isn't any pride in the Agent's voice as he says this. In fact, the specific emotion sounds more like regret. And here's the reason why:

"I couldn't give her what she wanted."

Unless Noriko asks about it outright, this last bit seems to be the closest Johnny will come to say 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman'.

Noriko nods, quietly, as they pass back into darkness, only overhead lights of a less cancerous sort lighting their way, various branches pointing off. Noriko stays right where she is. The point is to use the relative peace of the peoplemover to talk; they aren't actually /going/ anywhere. Johnny probably figured this out a while ago.

"She asked me to help her pick out clothes," Noriko says, and blushes a little. "To... ..." Another uncomfortable release of breath, and with more ease: "I told her she shouldn't. I guess now I understand better why she was rushing in, at least." There's no anger to it; Noriko respects that Johnny couldn't give her that. Noriko isn't sure she could've, either.

"I hope she was happy with what she could have," she says, obliquely, and then she angles eyes up to the ceiling, mostly just for sheerest want of something to do with her body. "Guess it's too late to think about it now," she murmurs, eyes peering out through her bangs.

Johnny stands blind as the darkness returns, his eyes needing to readjust. Seeing nothing but black ink means that, much like Noriko, the young man doesn't budge.

Once upon a time, this was a fantasy of Johnny's: standing this close to Noriko in the darkness.

It's been so very very long since he's had that particular fantasy.

"So the clothes were from you," he says, silently putting two and two together. Who knew Noriko had a fashion sense. "She looked good in them. You took really good care of her."

"Maybe in a different lifetime, maybe in a different world..."

The Agent trails off there. Who knows how things would have turned out.

"I'd like to think she was happy. And maybe," Domino pauses, "maybe... she can be happy again."

Noriko laughs a little. "Well, me and Excellen," she admits. Everyone in A-LAWS calls her Excellen. Trying to call her "Browning", or heaven forfend, by her actual rank, is not a thing a smart person does.

Noriko was never quite as smitten with Johnny as the boy was with her - but he was a friend, in his own, weird way, and for those memories' sake this whole conversation has made her just a little happy just to be having it. She missed so much. She'd hate to miss more from her own ignorance, this time, rather than the tyranny of Einstein.

"I tried," she says, quietly. "We got her bulked up and eating healthier. I guess you could say I tried to really be her Coach. At first I think I was too blinded by pride, but..." She sighs, again, but this time it ends with a warm, wistful smile. "She's not the kind of girl you can ignore," she says. Of course, there's another reason - a reason not unlike Johnny Domino's. But by now, what her thoughts were before and after are a meaningless blur; Noriko loved Rei in a deep and quite sincere way, a deep bond of friendship, and any fallacy to its origin is irrelevant next to the feelings in her heart.

"I hope she was," Noriko says, at the last...and then blinks.

Eyes narrow. "She said she was going to die," she says. "She said it was her or the world. I don't like it, but..." But sometimes you have to make that choice, she doesn't say, trailing off briefly instead. Then: "You know something else, don't you?"

Oh, Noriko and /Excellen/. Yeah, okay, Excellen. So Rei asked Noriko and Excellen to help her pick out clothes with which to... and... Excellen... and...

...Excellen, who is like a big sister to Johnny. And Rei asked her to...

...

It's a good thing Noriko and Domino are currently in the dark, because Johnny's attempt to process this knowledge causes his expression to forsake the whole 'calm, cool and collected' mask he has been sporting ever since arriving at the Exelion.

The eventual conclusion is NOT something normal, like 'Oh god this is so awkward', but rather 'Oh god now Excellen has more blackmail material'. Such a healthy fake brother-sister relationship it is, truly.

Anyway.

"I know lots of things," says Domino, gently easing into this new territory. "I know Rei Ayanami is a clone. I know she died before. I know she came back. Or, no, I know they /brought/ her back."

Can Noriko sense where this is going?

"There's a method for it. NERV knows how to do it. But each time they brought back a new clone, it was different. The same Rei, but... different." Johnny takes a deep breath. "I don't want a different Rei. I want /Rei/ to be given a chance. Whether it's our Rei, or... or Leo Stenbuck's Rei." This is the first time Domino has vocally admitted to thinking about the possibility of a Rei that wasn't the third coming back. It is sad that the only way Johnny can label the other Rei is as belonging to Leo Stenbuck, and the words are bitter as a result.

"The method already exists. I just need to find out how NERV does it. Figure out if there's a way to keep Rei's personality and memories -- or her soul, even -- intact... instead of simply creating yet another copy."

"I want her to live. I want her to enjoy this world she is so bent on dying for. I want her to /live/!"

It's dark. ...ish. Dark enough for Domino's cool to not be completely exposed to Noriko.

That little grin she's suddenly sporting has nothing to do with his briefly poleaxed expression, surely.

He explains. It's back-and-forth explaining, today; that's the point, after all. Noriko's jaw sets as Domino talks. Noriko doesn't give a damn about Leo Stenbuck's Rei, to be blunt, but her own--

"...she said her dying was essential," she says, suddenly, and she looks at Domino with serious, piercing eyes that bore through defenses like tissue. It's the kind of look you expect from someone twice or three times her age, a long-time veteran of many battles. Truly, Noriko Takaya is no child anymore. Not when she chooses to take something seriously. "She said she had to choose between herself and the world. Is it right?"

She asks it meaningfully, not the half-hearted 'are we doing something we shouldn't' waffling she might have done before. It's a question like a knife. "I want Master back. I want the Commander back. I want my /father/ back. They died for what they believed in and I have to live with that. And I want Rei back, too. But if doing that will undo what she's worked for, then I'll fight you every inch of the way, Johnny."

"I thought about that," says Johnny. Noriko's admission that she would fight him does not seem to strike fear into his heart, nor inject him with a sense of betrayal. Much like Noriko, Johnny is no longer a child, and the girl's stare does not faze him.

But is that natural? Even if Johnny Domino is now older and more mature, is it really normal to not even flinch under Takaya's piercing gaze?

"Mind over matter."

The Agent explains: "Rei is an Angel. I told you, her body is composed of a mixture of human DNA and Angel DNA. I've seen what the Angels want. The Thirteenth Angel... it controlled my Chimera while I was linked to it. I saw the world through the Angel's eyes, I know what they're trying to achieve."

Noriko is the second person Domino has told this to.

"That's why Rei decided it is either her or the world. Because of the Angel in her. But tell me, Noriko... what of what's inside her heart? Her body is biologically an Angel's body, but her personality, her memories, her emotions, her feelings for you and for me, her soul... they're all human. Aren't they? She laughs like a human, cries like a human, has the same desires as a human."

"Isn't that worth saving? Should all of that really be thrown away, simply because her body is... something else?"

Noriko's eyes narrow, a little, actually somewhat surprised. She does not really...get, like this, often, but don't people usually cower like little whiny girls when Coach does it!?

And then he explains, and Noriko seems briefly surprised...and then, sighs, and eases back against the moving railing once more. "It's the same for me, I guess. We only really got close, after...that illusion world. I guess it wasn't as fake as we thought it was? ...still, that sounds like a lot more than we got. Rei said they needed to be stopped, but it seemed like she mostly wanted me focused on Ikari."

A pause, then, to process his questions...and she shakes her head. "If she's the only one who can do it, then she should," she says, directly. "Of course I don't like it. But sometimes, we must trade lives for the world to go on spinning."

...she really has grown, to say something like that. She continues: "What her body is, why she's in a position to do it, that doesn't matter. I wouldn't want someone getting in my way just because I'm Japanese or just because of who I am. You're not answering my question."

Eyes, again - intent and meaningful. "Rei Ayanami chose death for the sake of the world she loved. I accept her sacrifice. Are you telling me she doesn't need to die, or just that you don't want her to?"

"Ikari is planning to destroy the world."

Johnny Domino says this suddenly, flatly. Is he trying to change the subject from Noriko's question, or what? Although it's probably not quite a fullfledged distraction attempt, because Domino somehow ties this declaration back to the current topic of discussion.

"No," he says before Noriko can ask, "I don't know 'how' yet, or 'when', or 'why'. I also can't tell you who my sources are on this. But this is his plan. And you're right, I also don't want her to die. But quite frankly, I don't like the amount of sway Ikari has on Rei, either. Entertain this theory..."

Domino closes his eyes.

"Ikari wants to destroy the world. He creates a clone made of Angel DNA for this purpose, possibly in order to use the Angels' own methods to accomplish his goal. Rei's existence within NERV can thus be summed up as twofold: one, be an Evangelion pilot in order to stop the Angels from destroying us all on their own, and two, being used by Gendo to destroy the world on his own terms."

"She knew nothing else until she met us. Does Rei Ayanami really need to die? I don't think so. She chose death because she knows no other way -- not because no other way exists, but because she's been led to believe death is the only option."

The Agent opens his eyes at this point.

"This is all, unfortunately, just a theory. I have no proof. Nothing substantial beyond my own conjecture. And until I am proven wrong... I don't believe Rei needs to die."

"...she told me that, too," Noriko says, with a slow nod. "Gendo is evil and has to be stopped. I get it. Fine. She said she'd gotten Stenbuck ready. I guess she trusts him. Trusted? ...whatever."

She finally pushes off from the railing, rolling her shoulders from the long holding of that posture. "Fine. So we stop him. ...however we stop him. I guess that's up to us to figure out. ...I want to know, Johnny." She's chasing thoughts around her head a little wildly, now, just trying to get them out. "She asked me to finish the job if Leo fails. I don't want to let her down. It sounds like you've got the idea better than me, at least."

...A long, slow sigh. And a nod. "...alright," she finally says. "I guess that's good enough for me. If we don't try...no. We will try, there's no point dwelling on it. Tell me if you figure anything out, OK?"

She looks up, at a nearby sign, and says, "We'll be at a train station soon. You can take it back to your shuttle."

Johnny Domino nods.

"Figuring it out is the real trick here, isn't it." The Agent gives a wane smile. There's a bit of silence then, as the two continue their way to the train station (the Exelion has a goddamned train station?!), until Domino speaks up again.

"I could call you if I do figure something out, yes... but maybe it would be better if you actually helped me figure it out together. We can't march into NERV and force the answers out of them. But, you see..."

Johnny thinks about his next words carefully.

"There is someone. Someone who, I think, may share a lot more in common with Rei Ayanami than most people realize." Not only that, but after what happened the last time Domino encountered this person, the Agent feels it is better to have a companion around, should he ever have a second confrontation.

"His name... is Kaworu Nagisa."