Gospel 1:3

The sun beat down against the baked sands of the Nevada desert. Lizards streaked from rock to rock, seeking both the relief and the protection of the shadows. The air shimmered violently, twisted by the heat radiating from the ground.

A desert sparrow perched in the shade of a cactus and cocked its head as a sound impinged upon the edge of its hearing. A gentle thrum filled the desert air, a sound that seemed to emanate from both everywhere and nowhere.

The ground began to shake—a subtle motion at first. Spooked, the sparrow leapt into flight, its course carrying it over a crater-like area where nothing grew and the ground was as flat and featureless as a polished lens.

Without warning the sound and the motion of the earth increased a million-fold. Rock formations that had stood for thousands of years cracked and fell. The desert floor rose and sank like ocean waves as the vibrations hurled every particle of sand into the air simultaneously.

The sparrow dropped from the sky and lay twitching in the sand for a few moments before falling still.

A hare staggered out of its burrow, blood streaming from its nose and ears.

As suddenly as it started, the sound and the motion ceased.

The silence that descended upon the desert lasted a moment before it was broken by the roar of wind rushing away from the crater with hurricane force. With a groan that seemed to come from the fabric of reality itself, a small circle of black opened in its center, expanding until it filled the crater to its rim.

Its surface shimmered with black light and the entire thing shook as if it were in a high wind, its edges beginning to fray and tear. Like a gigantic sheet of silk being torn in two, a rip raced across its surface. When the tear reached the center, it started to crumble and as the edges disintegrated they were pulled back towards the center and with a final groan, it collapsed back in upon itself. It did not vanish without leaving a mark of its manifestation. The crater was no longer empty; what had once been bare ground was again occupied.

The Second Branch had returned.

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Rei’s cry echoed off the walls of the lab as Dr. Akagi forced the needle into the girl’s arm. The doctor winced in sympathy at the small crack the needle made as it penetrated bone, and Rei gritted her teeth, her breath a drawn out hiss, as Dr. Akagi drew the needle out along with the tiny sample of marrow it contained.

"I’m sorry, Rei," she said mechanically, pressing a bandage over the blood that welled up from the girl's arm.

A faint ringing issued from within the Commander’s jacket and he reached inside pulling out a cellular phone and flipping it open. "What is it?" he demanded angrily. "I gave specific orders that I was not to be disturbed."

He listened to the voice on the other end for a moment and then his face paled and the phone slipped from his fingers, clattering to the floor. Recovering control, he bent over and picked up the phone then turned towards Rei and Ritsuko. "Dr. Akagi, come with me. Rei, you will remain here."

"Yes, sir." Rei said.

"What is it?" Ritsuko asked.

"Satellites over North America have confirmed the reappearance of the Second Branch," the Commander said over his shoulder as he strode out the door.

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Gendo turned on Ritsuko as soon as the elevator doors had closed behind them. "You said that the Second Branch had been swallowed by a Sea of Dirac," he said, sounding accusatory, as if the Second Branch's reappearance was her fault.

Her voice was smug as she answered. "It was. The Sea of Dirac was created when Unit 04’s S² engine was activated. I'd hypothesize that even though the Sea of Dirac swallowed Unit 04, its S² engine continued to maintain the Sea. For all practical reasons, the S² engine provides an Eva with limitless power but that doesn't mean that it can be run indefinitely. If it isn't given time to recharge it will eventually run out of power. When unit 04’s S² engine finally exhausted itself, the Sea of Dirac could no longer be maintained and it collapsed back in on itself."

"I already knew that. What I want to know is why did the Second Branch reappear? When the Sea of Dirac collapsed, anything inside the pocket universe should have been destroyed. The chance that anything would be discharged intact is-."

"I know, the 09 system. The probability was .000000001 percent. I guess we just got lucky."

The Commander frowned with displeasure. "This development was not expected," he said.

"What’s the matter, Gendo?" she asked, hoping to discomfort him by using his first name. "Does this interfere with your precious scenario?"

His face seemed to be set in stone as he replied. "The scenarios laid down by the Dead Sea scrolls are not absolute. They are only guidelines, not prophecies. I can adapt." He didn't sound as sure of himself as his words implied. "It will be more interesting to see how SEELE reacts to this turn of events, especially if Unit 04 can be salvaged."

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The buildings of the Second Branch leapt back into the distance as the man put his binoculars down and lifted a walkie-talkie to his mouth. "This is Alpha Leader. Target has been sighted. Alpha team is proceeding with infiltration." At his words, soldiers erupted from the desert around him and engines roared to life as a stream of transports started towards the base.

He marveled at the base's perfect state of preservation. Even the bodies that lay scattered throughout the area looked as though they might have died only moments ago and he had to resist the urge to stop and check to see if they were still warm. It only took a few moments to secure the base and with the arrival of the transports it was quickly stripped of anything valuable. Soldiers emerged from buildings carrying computers, papers, file drawers, anything that wasn’t nailed down.

What he was looking for was housed in a freestanding structure in the very middle of the base and he smiled as he entered the building, noting that its contents too were still in perfect condition. He brought the walkie-talkie to his mouth: "Primary target has been located. Acquisition in progress."

Men swarmed over the Evangelion, carefully disconnecting it from the support scaffolding, attaching it to a hastily constructed crane, then lowering it onto an oversized flatbed. Once the Eva had been secured the transport started its engine and rumbled out of the building.

"Primary objectives accomplished," he reported. He waited until the flatbed had cleared the base before giving the order to evacuate. "N² mines have been set. Fifteen minutes until detonation. This train is leaving the station. Anyone not on it in two minutes is going to get left behind. " All over the base soldiers bearing a final load of materials raced to the transports, which roared out of the base in plumes of dust.

As the transports faded back into the desert, a second sunrise crested behind them and when the dust cleared all that remained of the Second Branch was a smoldering crater.

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All activity in the command center ceased when the Commander entered with Dr. Akagi. "Status report," he ordered, ignoring the command staff’s surprised reactions.

"The last images showed American forces approaching the Second Branch before the satellite feed was lost," Makoto reported, bringing the image up on the screen.

"Status of the satellite?"

Shigeru answered his question without looking up from his display screen. "All transmissions from the satellite have ceased. Probability is high that it was destroyed."

"Any response from the UN?"

"The UN declared full salvage rights to the Second Branch," Suiko replied, consulting her monitor. "However the U.S has yet to admit recognition of the Second Branch’s reappearance."

"Sir, " Shigeru said, his fingers calling up data files on his screen, "remaining satellites have detected several high energy detonations in the vicinity of the Second Branch. Profile matches the detonation of multiple N² mines."

The edges of Gendo’s mouth twitched upwards. "The Americans are going to great lengths to cover their tracks. I wonder if they managed to recover Unit 04 as well. The old men must be pulling their beards out in frustration."

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The room was black and empty except for thirteen stone monoliths that hovered above the floor, each featureless except for the word SEELE and a number.

"This is impossible." The voice emanated from the eighth monolith.

"Yet is has happened." The response came from the first.

The second monolith spoke. "It is almost certain that the Americans obtained Unit 04."

It was the seventh monolith that spoke next. "The delays that this will cause in our scenario could have dire consequences."

"And what of Ikari?" This demand came from the third. "The delays that hamper us aid him."

The fifth monolith chose that moment to speak. "He has every operational Evangelion on the planet under his control, and soon two more will be added to his possession. With so much power at his command how can we ensure that he remains under our control?"

"The Evangelions can be taken care of. As for Ikari if it is deemed necessary he will be dealt with by direct action." The first monolith spoke, then faded from view.

The others followed suit.

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"Shinji, is there anything that you can tell me about Rei?" Terry asked as the two boys walked to school.

"Like what?" Shinji asked warily, surprised by the request.

Terry’s brow furrowed in thought. "Anything I suppose. Even with all the time I’ve been here I still don’t really know anything about her."

"There’s really not much to know," Shinji said reluctantly. He didn’t like having to lie to Terry but there was so much about Rei that he didn't feel comfortable talking about, so much that shouldn't be said. "I don’t know that much about her myself. She lives by herself. She’s never mentioned her parents. I think that she’s a…an orphan." Shinji felt a reluctant bit of pride when Terry nodded, believing the lie. "She’s very introverted."

Terry nodded thoughtfully then looked up, his eyes brightening. "Wait here a second," he said. Before Shinji could respond, Terry ran into a flower shop, returning a few moments later with a white rose.

Shinji couldn’t help but be curious. "What's that for?"

"Nothing," Terry said, smiling nervously.

Shinji stopped suddenly, a look of surprise crossing his face. "You’re not… with Rei?" he asked incredulously.

A foolish grin spread over Terry’s face. "No. I just like white roses. The whole world looks better when you have a white rose."

"Of course," Shinji said, giving him an odd look.

Terry cheerfully twirled the rose around his fingers as he entered the classroom, humming happily under his breath, but the tune died when he noticed that Rei’s desk in the corner sat unoccupied.

"Rei Ayanami," the teacher said, reading off the class roll. When there was no response he looked up and glanced around the room. "Is she absent again?" he asked rhetorically.

"Hey Terry, who’s the rose for?" Kensuke asked lecherously, leaning towards him.

"Nobody," Terry grumbled disheartenly as he shoved the rose into his book bag.

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Maya paused outside the door to the lab before entering. She'd hoped that she would never have to see this particular room again. Rei sat in the corner, apparently sleeping, the electrodes attached to her body feeding information back into a computer.

Glancing around the room, she saw no one else, even though she was supposed to be meeting with her Sempai. "Ritsuko?" she called out.

A flicker of movement in the LCL tank caught her eye. A scuba suited figure drifted along the bottom, a large filtration processor gripped in both hands. Every move the figure made threw up thick, sanguineous clouds of silt, which were sucked into the processor. Maya's stomach roiled as she realized that the silt was what was left of the clones from the dummy system and she pressed a hand over her mouth, suddenly wishing that she hadn't eaten lunch.

"Dr. Akagi will be with you as soon as she finishes clearing the filters," Rei said without opening her eyes.

"Of course," Maya replied faintly, fighting down the urge to vomit. "Is there anything that you need?"

"I am fine," Rei said quietly. "Dr. Akagi has already taken a marrow sample and begun cultivating the stem cells." A sudden grimace of pain crossed the girl's face.

"Are you all right?" Maya asked concernedly. "Let me get you something for the pain."

"I—I will be fine."

"Are you sure? Puncturing the bone for a marrow sample is very painful. Some painkillers might be—"

"Please leave me alone."

"Yes, Rei."

To keep herself from watching the tank and Ritsuko's gruesome task within, Maya set up her laptop and monitored the extraction of Rei's stem cells from the marrow sample. Dr. Akagi had already primed the system, so all that Maya could do was watch and try not to remember what was happening behind her.

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Terry hurried towards the geofront, glancing at his watch. He'd gotten cleanup duty after school, which left him with only a half-hour to get from there to the geofront to the synchronization test facility.

He stopped just inside of the security gate turning towards the guard on duty. "Excuse me sir. Have you seen the 1^st Child?"

The guard nodded his head before replying—in English—"Sure did, mate. She went down into the geofront about," he paused and glanced at his watch, "about eight hours ago."

Terry blinked in surprise. "You’re Australian, too?"

"Sure am, mate," The guard replied grinning. "Born and raised in the unruly breakwater city of Brisbane. Name’s Thomas Vail." He extended his hand towards Terry. "It’s really great to meet someone else who speaks the language. You try using an Australian dialect while speaking Japanese and woo-ie, you get some mighty funny looks."

Terry nodded sympathetically. "So Rei—I mean the 1^st Child—hasn’t come back out yet, has she?"

"Nope, haven’t seen her," Vail said, then gave Terry a conspiratorial wink. "So you’ve taken a shine to the little lady? Bonnie little lass, ain't she?"

Terry felt a blush creeping up his face. "I—I don’t know what you’re talking about."

Vail laughed good-humoredly, "You've got your heart on your sleeve kid, but don’t worry, no one'll hear it from me. I get off shift in a few minutes, but if I see her do you want me to let her know that you’re looking for her?"

"Uh, no thanks," Terry said and began rapidly walking towards the escalator down to the geofront.

"Good luck!" Vail called after him, laughing good-naturedly.

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Rei had fallen asleep again and Maya stroked her forehead gently, pushing the girl's bangs away from her face.

Even in sleep her face remained tense, guarded. It's unspeakable what the Commander puts her through. When will he give her the chance to be a child?

She stroked Rei's cheek gently, the gesture reminding Maya of her own mother. She'd been a sweet woman, the perfect embodiment of the traditional housewife. She'd been obedient to her husband, loving to her children, and in repayment for her toil and sacrifice she had died during the second impact, drowned by the rising ocean. Her husband, for whom she would have sold her soul if he'd asked it of her, had refused to let her go, clutching her resisting form close to himself as he lay trapped beneath the rubble of their shattered home, allowing the flood waters to claim them both.

Through bitter tears she'd demanded what deity would repay a life of devotion so; and now she asked again, what kind of god would take such a fragile child and force her to suffer like this?

"Maya."

Maya gasped in startlement and turned. Ritsuko was standing behind her, dressed in a lab coat, her hair still damp and clinging to her scalp.

"Dr. Akagi, I—I didn't see you leave the tank."

"I've cleared out enough of the… precipitate so that the filters can cleanse the LCL on their own again," Ritsuko said as she stepped past Maya and over to the computer. The odor of the LCL clung thickly to Ritsuko and Maya's stomach roiled anew as the cloying scent of blood filled her nostrils.

"Are you ready to begin duplication of the stem cells?" Ritsuko asked.

Maya waited until she was sure that her stomach wouldn't pull any tricks before opening her mouth. "Y—yes, ma'am."

As she stepped over to Ritsuko the odor of blood intensified, and Maya prayed that she wouldn't throw up.

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Ritsuko studied the readouts with a critical eye, as if trying to force out any errors in the data through sheer will. Maya sat behind her, dutifully entering the numbers that Ritsuko read off into the database. "Modification of the mRNA sequences yielded a 37% percent chance of mistranslation; Uracilic base pair alteration was successful in 99.123% of the codons," Ritsuko said, then pushed her chair over to the computer that the electrodes on Rei fed into. "Bio-electric feedback into the data conduits is well within the acceptable range for the pick-up nodes on the mnemonic transferal system." She frowned as she tapped a few keys. "Although nodal stimulus is causing the rate of synaptic firing within the cerebral cortex to rise 16%, causing a feedback error within the transceivers."

Maya sighed as she entered the last set of numbers. "So that means that we have at least a week's worth of adjustments to make before the memory transferal process is operating at an acceptable level."

"At least. We can't delay the gestation of the clones, since the Commander is demanding the dummy system operational yesterday, so that gives us three weeks maximum to work on the system before the clones reach the point where we have to begin the transferal process."

Glancing over at Rei, who still appeared to be asleep, Maya bit her lip before she spoke again, "Why didn't she just say ‘no’ to the Commander? She didn't have to do this again."

"Because I'm the Commander's doll," Rei said, opening her eyes. "And I am not doing this again. I was not the base subject for the dummy system. That was…a different Rei."

Horrified by the girl's declaration, Maya found herself unable to speak as Ritsuko disconnected Rei from the sensors.

"You're not a doll, Rei," Dr. Akagi said, "you're a human being."

"Am I? I must do as he bids. I have no will of my own," Rei said as she rebuttoned her shirt.

"Rei, that's a terrible thing to say!" Maya exclaimed.

"We must leave, if we do not want to be late for the synchronization test," Rei said as she stood. She met Maya's gaze for a moment, her cerise eyes empty and unemotional then turned and left the lab.

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Maya’s eyes flickered from the display screen to the clock mounted on the wall and then down to her watch. Both read the same: 20:36.

"Terry's sync ratio is up another seven points," Misato said from behind her. "In the most recent weapons test he had an almost passable accuracy score. At this rate he’ll be combat ready in a few more days."

"You make that sound like a good thing," Maya replied icily.

"We use what we have to. Have you seen Ritsuko lately?" Misato asked, radically changing the subject.

"No," Maya lied. "I guess that Commander Ikari has hidden her away somewhere, working on one secret project or another. Well, that’s all the data we need for today," she announced, changing the subject in turn. She switched on the microphone, linking it to the test plugs. "Thank you Children, that will be all."

A voice blared over the loudspeaker. "Dr. Ibuki, please report to Central Dogma G, immediately."

Maya felt her stomach sink as the loudspeaker repeated its message.

Dogma G was the construction bay for Unit 08.

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Maya rushed into the control room, turning sideways so that she could get through the doors before they fully opened. The room was in chaos, techs running from monitor to monitor, shouted orders and questions filling the air. "What’s the problem?" Maya shouted.

The head tech walked up to her, attempting to keep some semblance of control over his speech. "We’re losing Unit 08." His voice cracked on the last word.

"What?" Maya asked, stunned.

The head tech wiped a bead of sweat off of his forehead before speaking; "We detected a cluster of necrotic cells in its chest component. When we attempted to excise them, the patch started spreading exponentially. We’ve did everything we could, but the cell necropsy rate has hit eighty-five percent and is still rising."

As she walked over to the observation window, Maya felt like a block of ice had formed in her stomach. Unit 08 floated in the tank of LCL but it had not yet reached the point where it would generate skin cells and Maya felt faintly nauseous as she stared at the uncovered muscle and vein. Its three lidless eyes seemed to be staring back at her and the grin created by its lipless mouth made it seem as if the Eva were laughing at an obscene joke that no one else understood.

Even through the amber LCL the flesh on its chest was distinctly gray and as she watched, a large chunk simply fell off of the Eva and disintegrated. Fear coiled in her mind as she wondered what she would tell the Commander.

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Terry tried to appear nonchalant as he lounged outside the entrance to the girl's side of the locker room. He'd changed out of his plug suit as quickly as possible then rushed over, hoping to catch Rei. So far he hadn’t seen either of the female Eva pilots and hoped that Rei would emerge before Asuka.

As if in answer to his thoughts Rei exited the locker room but she spared Terry only a single glance before walking away. He followed her onto the elevator and then waited, hoping that she would be the first to speak.

"What do you want?" she asked finally.

Terry blushed as he reached into his school bag and pulled out a slightly battered white rose.

Upon seeing it Rei blushed but said nothing.

He thrust it at her as if its touch pained him. "I want you to have this. This time it’s yours free of a charge" he said, attempting to give her a rakish grin. The reflection he saw in the panel behind her looked more like he'd swallowed some bad miso. Rei stared back at him and for a moment he thought that she'd refuse the flower but then she reached out and took it.

Although he couldn’t say for sure, he thought he saw the corners of her mouth quirk up in the tiniest of smiles.

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Maya resisted the urge to cower as she stood in front of the Commander's desk.

"Unit 08 is completely unsalvageable?"

"Y—yes, sir. The rate of cellular degeneration is increasing exponentially. Within a matter of hours the skeletal structure will be the only thing remaining."

The Commander regarded her levelly. "And just how do you explain this particular… failure?"

"I—I don't know, sir. Everything had been proceeding smoothly. There was no warning whatsoever."

"What steps are you taking to ensure that Unit 07 does befall a similar… set back?"

"There isn't anything that can be done until we figure out what went wrong with Unit 08."

The Commander's voice hardened. "Dr. Ibuki, you of all people should realize just how valuable the Evangelions are. The survival of the human race may very well depend on them. If they are not usable because of your errors…."

Maya's voice was barely louder than a whisper: "I—I'm sorry, sir. I'll try to do better."

He nodded sternly. "Dismissed."

"That was fun," Ritsuko said after Maya had left the office. "What do you want to do now, drown some kittens?"

Gendo regarded her calmly. "Both time and resources are in short supply."

"But that doesn't mean you enjoy pulling the wings off of flies any less," Ritsuko said, her voice sounding obscenely cheerful.

Ignoring her jibes, he continued, "I need you to accompany me to Germany. I have been informed that the First Branch has made a breakthrough in the replication process of the Angels' S² organs. I would like you to evaluate the data and see if it is applicable in regard to our current attempt to produce an operational S² engine."

"Of course, I would be glad to. Anything at all to be useful," Ritsuko replied. Her voice would have made honey seem bitter.

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"Everything has been arranged?"

"Yes. Those codes will get you through the security gates. All of the primary targets will be within the immediate vicinity, along with one of the secondaries. There'll only be a single armed guard just inside the security gate and it'll take at least thirty seconds for reinforcements to arrive. If you remain within the timeframe there should be no problems," the man's voice sounded nervous as he spoke into the phone.

"Good."

There was a sharp click as the line was disconnected

.

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When Terry arrived at the security gate he was surprised to see Commander Ikari already there along with a blond-haired woman that he didn't recognize. The guard that he'd talked with before, Vail, was there as well, except that he was now dressed in slacks and a white shirt and chatting amiably with the guard on duty. He winked covertly. "Looks like you found the 1^st Child."

Terry blushed slightly. "Well—"

Vail's attention suddenly seemed to focus on something behind him. "Get down!" he yelled, giving Terry a violent push.

Terry heard a sharp crack and something whizzed by his ear; Vail doubled over, falling to the floor. The entire world seemed to slow around Terry as he fell and he desperately tried to remember everything he'd ever learned about martial arts. He rolled, turning his fall into a forward dive and he could see four men dressed entirely in black charge through the security gate, their guns already trained on those inside. Everyone else was already down on the floor, except for the blond woman, who stood stock-still seemingly oblivious of what was going on around her.

Terry dove into her legs, knocking her down just as bullets started whizzing overhead. The guard brought his gun to bear and started firing, but his gun fell silent as Terry rolled free of the woman. Terry could see that two of the men in black were down, as he finished the roll, one of them obviously never getting up again; the back of his ski mask had been torn open by outward rushing bullets.

With the last of his momentum, Terry tucked into a roll that brought him next to the closest of the assailants and as Terry rose to his feet, his foot lashed out, striking the man between the legs with as much force as he could muster. Terry used the power of the kick to bring himself to his feet as the man doubled over in agony he drew his palm back and slammed it into the man’s nose with all his strength. Through the eyeholes of the ski mask, Terry could see the man’s eyes roll up until nothing showed but the whites, and he stumbled backwards, clutching at his face.

The remaining attacker ran past where Rei lay prone, intent on the Commander. In one fluid motion, Rei kicked out, tripped the attacker, and delivered a blow to the side of his neck as he fell and she rose. Her efforts were rewarded by the audible sound of something snapping and the man dropped like a slab of meat.

There was another burst of gunfire, and the man that Terry had struck dropped. A a trio of security guards charged into the room and Terry realized that it had been barely six seconds since Vail had knocked him aside.

The Commander stood and adjusted his coat. "Dispose of the bodies. Take that one to the medical wing," he pointed to the man Rei had struck. "I want him kept alive for questioning."

Terry barely noticed what was going on around him, his attention wavering between his hand and the man lying in a spreading pool of blood at his feet. A wave of nausea swept over him and he started to sway, his body tipping forward. A pair of hands stopped his descent and he found himself focusing unsteadily on the 1^st Child’s face.

She helped him stand, partially supporting his weight. "Help me," he asked thickly. "I need to get to a bathroom."

As she helped him walk, Rei glanced back regretfully. She'd been forced to drop the rose in order to catch Terry and it now lay in the pool of blood, which had spread until it partially covered the NERV logo on the floor

God‘s in his heaven. All’s right on earth. The impact of the rose had broken the tension along the edge of the blood and it flowed forward, covering the message.

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Terry let his head rest against the cool porcelain of the bathroom wall, hoping that that had been the last of the dry heaves.

"Why do you feel such regret for that man?" Rei asked, standing outside the stall’s door.

"He was another human being. He was alive, until I smashed his nose in."

"You weren't the one who killed him."

"But if I had stopped with the kick, he wouldn't have still been standing, and those guards wouldn't have shot him."

Rei’s voice remained perfectly calm, as if what she was discussing was as mundane as that morning’s breakfast. "He was trying to kill you. If you hadn't acted, then you might be the one dead no, or maybe me."

"What about you? What about that man you killed? Don't you feel any guilt for that?"

"He's still alive."

"I heard his neck snap."

" I struck that man where the vertebrae were the weakest. It severed his spinal cord but he will live."

Terry thrust his head back towards the toilet as another bout of dry heaves wracked his body. "You don't feel any regret for doing that?" he asked once it had passed.

"When you are piloting an Eva, you cannot let yourself feel regret when you kill the enemy."

"But those are the Angels! They’re not human!" He fought down another episode of dry heaves, but was too weak to say anything more.

The silence continued for several moments until Rei spoke. "Shinji… had to kill a friend… in order to kill an Angel."

"Kill a friend? What are you talking about? He didn’t kill Touji, he—" A flash of realization struck him at the same time as another bout of dry heaves. "It isn’t the 13^th Angel you’re talking about. It's the last one, the 17^th. That Angel… was… a friend. The 17^th Angel was human."

"No," Rei corrected him gently, "he was an Angel."

"That's why," Terry said slowly, "I am the 6^th child, why I could never find the 5^th. It's because he was an Angel." Through sheer force of will, he forced down another round of dry heaves. "But this is different. That man wasn't an Angel. He was human. His blood was red. The same for the man you paralyzed. Don't you feel any remorse for what you did to him?"

"None. They all would have killed us if we had given them the opportunity."

"When I learned the martial arts," Terry started slowly, "m—my instructors taught me t—that using what I learned to harm others should always be my very last resort. B—but when I struck that man, when I drove his nose back into his brain, God help me, Rei, I—I—I felt powerful, I enjoyed it. When I saw him fall, his back full of holes, I was glad." His voice took on a pleading tone; "What kind of monster am I? What does that make me?"

The stall darkened as Rei stepped into the stall and laid a single hand on his shoulder. When she spoke, all that she said was a single word: "Human."