Doctor Who: The Evangelion Error (Book Two)

E13 Part 4: Partners In Crime (Donna's Theme)

NERV Headquarters. Supplementary Motor Area.

"Well... I'd be lying if I said we weren't shorthanded right now, same as everyone else." The logistics officer on duty flipped back and forth between pages on his clipboard. "That said... it looks like the main problem would be coming up with a pilot. Take care of that, and we should be able to have his bird fueled up and ready to go within fifteen to twenty minutes. Tell the commander he just needs to give the word."

"Understood," Rei said softly.

***

Undisclosed Location. Potential Asset Living Quarters.

After that, it didn't feel right to just go back to the game. Shinji turned it off. He spent some time just staring at the TV, trying to think. The black screen reminded him of being trapped inside the Tenth Angel. Drifting. Alone. Helplessly waiting for a rescue that might never come. He really could've lived without making that connection, but there it was all the same.

He heard the hiss of a door sliding shut behind him somewhere. Well, okay, maybe not entirely alone.

Shinji turned to see the African boy with the cybernetic limbs -- the one Mari had called Q-chan -- walk back into the room, her skirt clasped in his metal hand. The other kid sat down next to one of the tables in the back, setting down a clear plastic case beside him.

There was a long moment of awkward silence Shinji didn't know how to end.

Fortunately, the other boy did. "I don't want to hear it, by the way."

"Hear what?"

"Any crap about me knowing how to sew." Shinji craned his neck. Sure enough, the other boy was deftly running a needle back and forth across the tear in the skirt. His mechanical hand was surprisingly agile for a prosthesis. "I've heard it all before, and I really don't care."

"What? No. Why would I -- why would anyone say that?" Shinji got up and went over to the seat across from him. "That's just useful, you know? It's like -- my teachers taught me how to cook. I mean, that was mostly so they didn't have to worry about feeding me, but still. It's really come in handy, you know?" Which was putting it lightly. He imagined having to leave the cooking entirely up to Misato and shivered.

"Hm." Q held up the cloth and studied it against the light. "I learned how to do this from one of my first squad commanders. Probably saved my life once or twice. Some of the officers didn't like having extra mouths to feed when food got scarce. Having a skill meant I didn't go hungry."

"So... you were in some kind of army?" But he can't be much older than me, Shinji thought.

"More like a militia. Or what you people would probably call a terrorist group." Q shrugged. "Not my idea, for the record. They drafted me when I was young. Took me straight from my mother's arms and all of that."

"... wow." Shinji stared at him. "I'm really sorry. That sounds horrible."

"It was," Q said flatly.

Another door hissed open upstairs. Shinji heard Mari humming a tune under her breath, along with the sound of her footsteps going down the hall. He couldn't help but glance in that direction. He only caught a glimpse of another door opening and closing, though, before her voice vanished.

"Don't," Q said.

Shinji looked back to see the other boy eyeing him. "Don't what?"

"That." Q nodded towards the stairs. "Trust me. Girl might be easy on the eyes, but she really is crazy. And not in a good way. There's something seriously wrong with her head. Let me put it this way -- anything you put in her, I wouldn't count on getting back."