Episode 01

It had been two days since Shinji’s battle with the angel, and Misato Katsuragi was sat at her desk fiddling with the small cross around her neck while she skimmed though the pictures from the aftermath of the battle with the angel on her computer. The centre of the city had been almost totally destroyed, and in addition to the cost in material there was also Shinji…the boy had fallen into a coma after almost dying to the angel and showed no signs of waking up any time soon and although she had had no choice, but to force him to pilot she still felt guilty about what happened to him.
Misato clenched her fist, although he had need to pilot the Eva, she still felt bad for forcing him into it, but there was no use worrying now what was done was done. Although after the incident with Shinji the UN had panicked and were now sending six new Eva units to Japan…she wondered if Asuka from the German branch would be among them.
As she began thinking what the new pilots would be like there was a knock at the door to her office.
“Come in.”
The door slid open and Ritsuko Akagi walked in holding a large set of files under her arm. Misato quickly shut off her computer and looked up to face the blonde woman.
“Oh hey Rits, what you got there?”
The blonde woman smiled and dropped the stack of papers onto Misato’s desk.
“These are the files for the new Eva pilots, quite a varied bunch of individuals I must say.”
Misato quickly skimmed through the files, there were Americans, British, a Canadian and what was most surprising was that there was an Indian girl.
“Well I’ll leave you to read through them in preparation for them arriving tomorrow, I tell you it’s been hell fixing up this place to accommodate an additional six Eva’s bye.”
And with that Ritsuko was gone leaving Misato to read over the files for the new children. She signed, it was going to be a pain to deal with six teenagers...she needed help…hmm she considered asking Byron Hughes, he was an S2 guy who had transferred to Tokyo3 recently, but apparently he had experience with this sort of thing.
She checked her watch, it was almost midnight and she had a long day tomorrow…she'd read the rest of the files at home before she went to bed.
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Joshua Mercia held his bag with his left hand and ate an apple with his right as he walked into the main Nerv building, he had left England yesterday then had been flown to Tokyo2 to be picked up by JSSDF troops and then was driven to Tokyo3 and handed over to Nerv personnel and finally was dropped off in what looked like the reception area of the Nerv base.
The Nerv personal who had guided him thus far had left a moment ago and has told him to sit down on one of the many chairs and wait for Captain Katsuragi and the other pilots and everything would be explained then. Joshua shrugged after standing idle for a few moments and decided to take a seat; the place was almost empty apart from a few guards and scientists walking about.
He noticed the city had also been deserted…he wasn't surprised though who would want to stay here after the angel attack? Leaning back in his chair he decided to take open his small duffel bag and take out a book to read while waiting, he settled on Paradise lost and began reading from where he last left off, he sighed he hoped he didn't have to wait too long. He was anxious to get started, unit 05 was due to arrive here in a few hours, it had almost finished its long journey across Russia and was now being flown to Tokyo3.
Joshua sighed again…he hoped Japan wouldn't be too boring.

Warren yawned as he stepped out of the car, a duffel bag by his side crammed with what few personal belongings he owned. He had arrived in Tokyo-3 only recently after his flight in from the United States, and it was far to sunny right now for his liking, particularly with his jet lag factored in. Sleeping on a plane was never a comfortable prospect, particularly the military cargo plane they'd shoved him in.

He had been briefed somewhat on the transfer beforehand. It seemed strange, and possibly a little dangerous, to have six pilots transferred in all at once. There was much that could go wrong, a synchronized attack on all the pilots while in transit could have seen the entire world's defenses crippled. What had made Japan so important as to require the aid of six Evangelions, he wondered to himself. At least NERV had the decency and sense to send an S2 Agent as an escort. The same S2 Agent rolled down the window of the unmarked van Warren had ridden here on and pointed Warren towards where he was supposed to be going before driving off. Warren took a second outside to compose himself, trying to hide his tiredness, before entering the doors. He hoped that no one here tried to speak with him. The transfer had been on short notice, and Warren was only given a few days to prepare, meaning he was only given a basic crash course in Japanese, being expected to learn the rest through personal study and immersion. It'd be enough for now, and he'd studied a small book on the subject during his flight here, but he still made a mental note to become more fluent in the language. If he'd be working with the command staff here, it'd be best if there weren't any issues in their communication.

He made his away through the building, before coming to the designated meeting spot. He spotted someone already there, reading. It was a boy, looking roughly Warren's age, he guessed to himself, with brown hair and brown eyes. The boy looked to be Caucasian, and not from around here. Another one of the pilots then. He was feeling a too tired for a conversation right now, so Warren simply approached silently, taking a seat a few spots away from the other boy, dropping his duffel bag on the ground. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he leaned back into his chair, desperately wishing to be in bed right now.

Trains. Adi had finally decided she hated trains. The way they rattled against steel, the way her long hair kept frizzing up at the static electricity that split around them like flies on rubbish, the way it blew dust and made everything grey. She got on the last train inbound to Tokyo-3. Seemed to be an unpopular destination these days. She saw several people leaving the train carrying bags and ashen faces, like refugees leaving a warzone. The train was empty, and even though it stopped in several places, nobody got on to Tokyo-3.

Adi pulled out her comb and tried to readjust her hair, Something about the simple act of running the plastic teeth through her hair and scratching her scalp calmed her down.

"Next stop, Tokyo-3..."

She glanced out of the window, and at the city. It was a nightmare in chrome plating. Inelegant towers jutted out of the ground like the teeth of some great almighty being. One tooth was crooked. Around it were cranes, and dozens of ant-sized men. Even from this moving vantage point, she could see the commotion and panic that was engulfing that place before a passing tunnel decided to swallow the train whole, plunging the cabin into sudden darkness. Adi wondered if that had been one of the famous Eva Units she'd seen, for the briefest of seconds, imprinted on that building like a cartoon character and being attended to by all those labourers. This was her stop, wasn't it? She needed to get up. Adi gathered her things and fought against her own inertia of the stopping train to stand outside the door, It opened into an underground base, and a unfriendly man in an unfriendly grey uniform was the only one around. He walked over. Apparently he was sent by NERV, to take her to where she needed to go. Out of blind panic, she followed the man to his car, a small grey machine with dashboard lights he told her "Weren't reading the right things." They never went outside, but travelled in tunnels and warehouses to their destination. She got out when the car stopped and was pushed into a door she hadn't noticed in the gloom.

She blinked. Inside was somewhat light, like an airport waiting room, or the reception to a grand hotel. She felt out of place. Chairs lined the walls, and some of them help boys. One looked bookish, and was even reading to pass the time. The title was in English. The other just looked tired, relaxing in his chair like he owned the whole bank of them. Both of them were white, caucasians.

"Erm..." She began, awkwardly noting how the sound echoed in the large space. "Hello? Is this the right place?" She turned, but the NERV agent who'd brought her here hadn't followed her in. the door she'd walked in from was shut. She took a seat, hands clasped in front of her, playing with her fingers.

Joshua glanced up from his book as he saw a new boy come and sit in the reception area, judging from his age he was also an Eva pilot as well. Joshua didn't say anything though, he just went back to reading his book once he had seen the boy sit down. The boy was casuasian as well...hopefully he spoke English, as well Joshua could speak Japanese somewhat okay he would still prefer to able to talk to someone in his native tongue.
Joshua didn't know weather to say anything or not, as to him this felt like an awkward silence one of the things that he hated most about social interaction was an awkward silence. In the end Joshua decided against talk and went back to his book instead.
"Erm" Joshua looked up from his book for the second time and was surprised to see a young girl standing there, she definitely wasn't Japanese.
"Hello? Is this the right place?" The girl seemed to turn around to talk to someone, but nobody was there...oh God she wasn't crazy was she? Joshua had dealt with crazies in the past and didn't really want to do so again.
The girl sat down and began playing with her hands, taking pity on her Joshua put down his book and answered in English.
"Yes this is the right place...that is assuming you are an Evangelion pilot? And if that is the case all we have to do is wait I'm afraid, apparently we have to wait for the others."

After putting up a rather large fuss about plans to ship him and his EVA separate Jack was on a boat. He got his way even if it meant breaking some rules. He was sitting , hidden under some plating , it was a reckless thing to do but he knew he would not regret it. However his disappearance put people in panic when they realized that he was missing from his own ship during the final miles of travel. He stayed hidden until they brought the EVA on land and tied it down and began traveling to Nerv.

Seeing his chance to get out when the driver parked for a coffee Jack left hiding before whispering that he'd be back to the EVA. "Don't worry Lancelot". He then ran out and traveled as far as he could mentally counting ten minutes before going in his pocket and turning on his phone.

"I'm here , I know your listening in so hurry and pick me up."He says as he sat down on the grass around him. He relaxed for a bit and within minutes as he had expected there was a Nerv car pulled up beside him. The agent said nothing but Jack knew what would have been said if he did.

Without much care or choice Jack got in the back seat. The trip went by like a blur to him , not paying attention to much and focus on thoughts based on Lancelot. Jack later realized he had stopped moving and was at the check in area. "This place could really learn to live..."He mumbled as he walked in and took a brief look around. "Yo." He said as he waved a hand and tilts his head.

It was a long commute. It felt like she had been in planes, trains, boats, cars and even a certain part by foot for days. It was an accurate account for the journey, sadly. « Has NERV gone so far downhill or am I simply not important enough? » she thought. The officers chaperoning her excused the grumpiness, as it was quite rare for the girl to even be in a bad mood. Growing up in a NERV base afforded Cecilia a certain familiarity with the organisation, as if « NERV » itself were a big brother of sorts to her. It did fulfill many of an older sibling's duties : shelter, food, warmth, safety, pushiness, stubbornness, it got all the attention from the parents... Ah... Mom and dad... They hadn't been around much since she had began piloting, some three and a half years ago. Her father was always beaming and proud in the brief moments they spent together during the years, but her mother barely spoke, and then barely showed up. Mr Simoneau always reassured his daughter : « Mommy's just so sad... She misses you terribly and seeing you again overwhelms her. » She didn't believe it. Cecilia had the makings and demeanor of a naive child, but by no means was she one.

« What do you think of our complex, Sisi? Does it look like home? »

« Kind of, but with more escalators and travelators... You guys don't like to walk much do you? »

They both giggled. Being so young, Cecilia had the luxury of everyone being nice to her. She understood much of it was forced, but appreciated it. She had stopped for a bit in Germany to meet Asuka, the pilot of Eva 02... and hated it. It was nice to meet another pilot, but that red head was quite the number. Everyone seemed almost afraid of her or constantly mad. Not that it surprised Cecilia. Asuka had evidently never been taught to be a « good girl ». Sisi had. She was proud to be one.

« Here we are! I'm sorry if it gets a little boring, but you have to wait here a little bit, ok? See you soon Sisi! »

The shut abruptly, and she was alone in a room with strangers. Mommy and daddy wouldn't like it. Why hadn't they come along? It was so unfair that they needed to stay at the Canadian branch when she got the all-expenses paid trip to Tokyo-3. Cecilia scanned the room. A pale guy... A cute guy! And... and... AND! A GIRL! She couldn't help it, getting excited when around other girls. Every meeting was like the opportunity to fill in for her sister. Sisi would never openly admit it, but she couldn't one hundred percent fill the void Alice's death created. You're always a twin, whether together or not. Cecilia endured the heavy silence for a few minutes. She leaned against the wall, went to sit down, blushed as she looked at the cute one... looked away! The tension almost made her sick. When it became absolutely unbearable, she ran up to the rather tan girl and hugged her.

« Hi! I'm Cecilia Simoneau! Can we be friends? »

"Yes this is the right place"

Adi turned at the sudden sound. The boy in the seat next door had put down the book and was looking at her, quizzically. He'd spoken, right?

"...That is assuming you are an Evangelion pilot?"

Yep, it had been him. The mouth had moved and everything. Funny, his voice was deeper then she was expecting, She nodded, in response to his question. That was her title now, was it? Pilot? She'd only ridden in the thing once, in India. All the kids had lined up in their Kacheras and taken a swim inside that dark tunnel of a place. When she'd tried it, the building had shook and they'd taken her out of there sharpish. That had been the day everything started changing, and it'd lead her up here. She nodded. It seemed easier then denying it.

"And if that is the case all we have to do is wait I'm afraid, apparently we have to wait for the others."

Almost on cue, a door opened, revealing one of these so-called Others. Another boy, another white caucasian. She was starting to sense a pattern. He didn't seem to talk much, or acknowledge anyone else in the room beyond a casual greeting, seeming content to slouch in a corner.

---

"HEY!"

She felt the sudden weight of someone's vice-like grip behind her, and instictively scrabbled at the foreign hands grabbing at her neck. Growing up in a home made you ware of contact. At best it was the welcoming arms of Mama Vandan, but at worse it was some little snot-nosed untouchable trying to get something. She wriggled out of the grip, and turned around into the cutest little face ever seen on this side of the planet. It was cuteness no massive it could've collapsed in on itself and become a moe black hole. It almost made Adi mad she'd screamed at her, disrupting the silence that had predominated since she and... Joshua, wasn't it? Joshua had had a short little conversation introducing each other.

The girl had yelled something, but Adi hadn't caught in the confusion. Had it been Japanese? English? Whatever language dogs spoke? She struck out with English, which was always reliable ever since most of China had sunk beneath the waves 15 years back.

"Woah there, girl. You really ought to warn someone before jumping at them like that..."

Joshua nodded as Jack walked in, he had met Jack once before and was glad he wasn't the only Englishmen here.
Joshua too had been surprised when the girl that was either the tenth or the eighth child ran up and hugged the Indian girl, and what happened next was a very rare occurrence, as Joshua's black heart stirred and his mask that he usually wore cracked as he found the new girl rather cute in a...moe sort of way (he believed was the appropriate Japanese word).
He never got that though how girls could always be so touchy feely with each other, it made him sick sometimes if he was being honest. Not wanting to look like a socially awkward idiot Joshua put his book back into his bag and leaned back in his chair and tried to assume a 'cool' pose.
From hearing the new girl speak he guessed she was either a Canadian or a yank (American), although to him both American and Canadian accents sounded the exact same.

As the tan girl wriggled out of the tiny-yet-mighty hug, Cecilia's eyes widened and she realized what she was doing. This was not being a "good girl". She took a step back and straightened herself up. Her friend-prey had a familiar accent. Then again, "foreign" was a foreign word for Sisi, since the branch she grew up in was so culturaly diverse.

"Oh, I'm so sorry... I forgot my manners... Things are... just so weird, you know? And you looked nicer than Asuka, and you're the only girl that isn't grown up that I've seen since her...."

She closed her eyes and looked down for a second to calm herself. She was getting over excited. No matter how regimented she had learned to be, the truth remained; she was an infant. Sisi looked back up after a split second of calming herself and stretched out a hand.

"I'm Cecilia. I'm Canadian. You sound Indian. I had some Indian friends when I was in kindergarten."

Oh the tact... The tact she lacked. She was desperate though. Cecilia couldn't bare to be lonely for too long. Though they were many in the room, the silence and awkwardness made it feel that much worse. She rummaged through her thoughts to find something they might have in common. Being from opposite sides of the globe made weather a lowsy choice of subject... Boys? No she didn't like them more than crushes yet, and if the tan girl liked the same one she did they would just fight. She had already mentioned her Indian friends... AH HA!

"You're a pilot too then? What's your name? How long have you been a pilot? I've been doing it since I was eight and I'm eleven and a half now!"

Three and a half years of experience. She clasped her mouth with both hands after the words had escaped. That was the sentence that had set Asuka on a rampage in Germany. She remembered the mean things the red head had said and how they could never be friends because of it... She feared the potential sisterhood with the tan girl was prematurely ruined in the same fashion. Despite her trying to hold it in, her eyes began to water.

Warren tried to make himself comfortable as he adjusted his seating on the chair, failing rather miserably. He slowly opened one eye, glancing around the room as he heard people speaking. It was a girl who'd spoken first, from the middle east or somewhere thereabouts if Warren had to guess on her origins, though her accent seemed to hint that she had come from India. She seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with the other pilot here currently, and Warren had no reason to interrupt, so he settled back down and closed his eyes once more.

His second attempt at rest failed miserably as a sudden "Hey!" was shouted out by the Indian pilot. Warren started a little, eyes shooting wide open in surprise as he quickly looked around to see what had happened. He gave a sigh as he saw that it was nothing pressing, rubbing his head, though apparently two more pilots had shown up during the time he'd been sitting there. If it kept up at this rate, there'd be barely any need to wait at all. Warren did a quick mental count. Five out of the six that they'd be expecting.

Warren quickly glanced over the two new comers. One was another boy, perhaps a little younger than Warren himself, and the other was a very young girl. He frowned to himself at that. He understood that Evangelion pilots had to be young out of some technical necessity that he didn't fully understand, but didn't NERV think that they were, perhaps, 'robbing the cradle', so to speak, on this one? This girl couldn't be older than twelve. He kept his concerns to himself though, stretching out his arms as he figured that he wasn't going to be getting any rest at the moment. "We barely know each other's names, and you're all already going at each other, huh?" Warren asked with a yawn.

"Hey Joshua... you should just stick with your normal thing.. you look a little awkward with that pose.. doesn't seem natural.." Jack said informatively however avoided trying to sound disrespectful.

He softly sighed as he walked over to him and sat down. "Hey your still reading 'The last of the forgotten' ?" He'd question attempting to start conversation as he relaxed himself. It was always good to see a familiar face , it helps settling in.

Fishing into his backpack he pulled out a pomegranate before breaking it in half and offering. "Your not allergic right..?" He questioned his eyes closed like usual as his head tilted to the side causally.

"Hey Joshua... you should just stick with your normal thing.. you look a little awkward with that pose.. doesn't seem natural.."
Joshua chuckled, "huh you saw through my act then? Bravo...I'm not usually with groups of people this large so I feel a little awkward is all." Jack was a decent enough bloke and seeing as Jack was the only other person here Joshua knew he decided to make extra effort talking to Jack so as not to burn bridges, he normally didn't care much for social interaction, but seeing a familiar face in this foreign land was a good thing.
"Hey your still reading 'The last of the forgotten' ?"
"Nah" Joshua fished into his bag and brought out Paradise lost and showed it to Jack, "just a bit of lite reading ha."
It was then Joshua noticed the pomegranate.
"Your not allergic right..?" Well it was nice to know Jack was being thoughtful at least.
"Nah I'm not mate...you enjoy though." Joshua leaned into Jack and whispered, so what do you make of the other pilots?"

Adi gripped her plastic comb tightly. The new girl was overbearing, ranting about things she'd never heard of. Asuka? What was an Asuka? She was using lt like a proper name, like it was something she, Adi, was meant to know. NERV worked on secrets and lies, it was so hard to tell what was real and what wasn't. Her legally appointed guardian for the few months she'd spent at Osaka-2 didn't legally exist, a fact he loved making jokes over. She missed that guy. He was fun. What in holy blazes was a kindergarden, either? It sounded vaguely german. Garden for kindling? Like a forest full of bad trees waiting for fire to strike?

She blinked. The girl had stopped, with an expression like she was about to cry. She'd been talking about herself. Three years in this job, which surprised her. She didn't even know NERV recruited children up until a year or so ago, when they'd found her. Heck, she'd only been inside one of these Eva things once. It had been dark and wet, building shook a bit, then they let her out. She didn't even get to see what all the fuss was about.

"I'm Adi. Adi Kaur Dhawa- Please don't cry." She began, face full of concern. She reached into a pocket of her coat and pulled out a dagger. Okay, that was probably a bad thing to pull out right now. She left it on the chair, discretely, and pulled out her hankercheif, handing it to the girl

Jack thought for some moments upon the question before answering it to the best he can. "I don't think we should give out all of our info , things should be private. Everyone is curious about the next person which is natural. I have a list built up in regards to who I personally will give wide birth. " He tells him. "The one with the dagger is one , the very clingy one... she seems off in my book so she's in that category too. Mr snorlax over there I can't get a proper read on , I'll need time on his analysis..." He said with a finger out pointed up and eyes still closed.

"But they overall are no threat and can be ignored." He says before he put on a serious tone. "I can tell you , were not here coincidentally. We were summoned for a purpose. The one's who score a more potential enemy is nerv." He says still pointing up , yet the very last digit of his finger was pointed in a different direction , seemingly at nothing but in reality a cleverly hidden camera.

"I'm sure they can hear every word we say , translate all known language." He says ever so slightly emphasizing known. "And have eyes on us even when you think your completely alone. " He says lowering his finger.

"Alas right now it won't really matter." He says as he began to slowly eat the fruit.

Cecilia looked up and took the handkerchief. Luckily, she had been too busy with her internal self-deprecating dialog to notice the dagger. She wiped off the slight water build up happening in her eyes and handed the cloth back to the tan girl.

"Thanks Adi. I'm sorry, I'm not usually this crazy. It's just been so weird for a few days now. Having to pack, leave momma and poppa behind, finally meeting someone like me and having her be so... so... mad? I just... I don't understand what's happening yet. Do you? Why have so many pilots all together?"

Sisi though the Canadian branch underestimated her comprehension of the situation. "We're sending you to meet more pilots in Japan. Be good, okay." is what her mother had said. She knew they were keeping secrets, but didn't think that kind of good-bye was subtle, even given to an eleven year old. Unbeknownst to her, it wasn't supposed to be. Her mother had been opposed to sending her remaining daughter to pilot for some time now. Sometimes mothers act dangerously to protect their children...

Misato was stood in the command center of Nerv hq watching footage of the new Evangelion units being installed into their cages. The titanic machines had hoards of technicians and scientists working on them, making sure the Eva's were battle ready.
Looking around Misato felt how on edge the base was, it had been like this ever since the angel attack.
"Excuse me Captain."
Misato turned around to face a Nerv security officer, "Yes what is it?"
"The children have all arrived Ma'arm."
"Oh, brilliant I'-"
Suddenly alarm klaxons wailing throughout the command center and all the Nerv staff snapped to attention.
"Code blue, target sighted ten kilometers off the coast." One of the techies called out.
"Five UN and JSSDF destroyers have engaged the target, but their fire is having no effect."
Misato heard somebody running behind her she turned to see Ritsuko come running in, the blonde woman was breathless.
"Another one already? I'd thought we'd have more time between angels."
Misato nodded she'd been thinking the same, but there was no time to worry about that now.
"You Sergent!" Misato pointed to the security officer. "Go get the children in the lobby and take them to the Eva cages."
"Yes ma'arm". The officer ran off, she couldn't help but think how lucky they were the children had already arrived, she had hoped to brief them first, but it appeared their first taste of Japan was going to be of combat.

Adi handled the damp cloth she received back with barely veiled disgust. She'd forgotten how much icky fluid one kid could produce. She dropped it on the chair, to dry out in the air-conditioned room. Better then having it soak into her jacket pocket. It'd stain. She listened to the younger girl's sobs, intermixed with speech. Even with water blocking the tubes, she managed to get the gist of it. The girl had a family to lose. Understandable, it explained why she was crying so much. She remember not shedding that many tears when she was separated from her own Mama. She'd cried a bit at first, but Mama had told her not to do so because water only clouded vision. She'd stopped after that. As two why so many pilots were here...

"I honestly have no idea. Don't even know what -"

Sirens. Alarm. Klaxons. Air raid sirens. A voice somewhere reciting instructions in japanese. Adi shut up, head twisting this way and that at the sudden air of excitement that was happening.

"What's happening!" She screeched.

"Oh goody.. It's time to get to work.. If you guys need me I'd rather not procrastinate and make Lancelot wait." He said standing abruptly and running through a pair of doors..
He just knew where to go... He had never been there before but every sense in his body pulled him to what he knew was bound to be Lancelot's location. "Give me two seconds... I'll be there.." He whispered under his breath as his felt himself quicken his pace and ignore all the people that were telling him to stop and wait. Whispers passed through his hearing , 'i wont leave you again..' they said in his head.

Warren continued to simply sit there, idly listening to the conversation going on around him as he looked around the room. He noted the two other boys seemingly whispering to each other nearby, but it was the crying of the young girl, Cecilia, that drew his attention, and he watched with a quirked brow as the young Indian girl, Adi was apparently her name, tried to calm her down. Warren was about to open his mouth to say something and intervene when the sudden shriek of an alarm completely shattered any semblance of peace within the building, as workers began to rush to and fro, and Warren immediately stood to his feet, sleep entirely gone from his eyes and a chill running down his spine as he cursed under his breath. He recognized the sound of these particular sirens, the sounds for them were universal amongst all NERV bases, and he'd run through several drills for such an event before. He looked over at Adi, who seemed a little panic at the sudden rush of activity. "It's an Angel attack," he said, in English, since it seemed to be a rather common language amongst them, and he wasn't sure if she knew Japanese or not. "We have to get moving."

Seemingly punctuating his comment, one of the boys dashed off into the crowd, mumbling something under his breath, whatever words he said to himself lost to shriek of the alarms around them. As Warren watched the boy go, a man in a suit, with a shaggy mane of blond hair, and craggly facial hair upon his chin, approached, jumping back a little to avoid the boy dashing off. "Hey there, kids. I'm Byron Hughes, S2 Agent," the man said cordially, entirely too relaxed for their current surroundings, and flashing a NERV ID card by way of identification. "Just call me Byron though." He gave a glance back towards the direction the boy had ran off, then pointed a thumb over his shoulder in his direction. "Well, I'm sure you all know it's time for business, so I'll just ask you all to follow me." Byron gave a confident smile before jogging off slowly, Warren hesitating for a moment before following along. As he left, he glanced back to see another man approach, seemingly looking for them in a bit of a panic. Byron glanced back, and noticed him too, giving the man a wave. "Sorry, man! Beat you to the punch here!" Byron called back, before continuing on his way.

Adi scrambled, confused and worried, and swatted at the air beneath her legs looking for her bag. She grabbed onto it and wrapped the strap tightly around both hands, glancing at the large man in the white jacket and blond beard yelling at the crowd of children over the chaos and din. His name was Byron, apparently. Although what parent had decided to call a beefy man like him after the original romantic clearly had a couple of screws loose and should've not been allowed to raise a baby. However, he seemed like the best bet for someone to follow right now, so she did. Down a few corridors and around a few rooms, deeper and deeper into NERV's base.