Doctor Who: The Evangelion Error (Book One)

E2 Part 2: The Bearer of Instructions

NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma. Underneath Tokyo-3.

POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

(also known as shell shock, traumatic war neuroses and post-traumatic shock syndrome.) A disease linked to anxiety. It can develop when people are severely harmed or experience something extremely upsetting. For PTSD to be diagnosed, a person must meet the following criteria:

1) exposure to a traumatic event, or series of traumatic events;

2) re-experiencing of the event, either through nightmares or flashbacks;

3) phobic avoidance of things which remind the person of the trauma;

4) problems with sleeping, concentration, or anger management;

5) decreased productivity due to all or some of the above symptoms.

(c) FreeHyperDictionary Japan, 2013.

Shinji stared at the laptop screen. Well, he thought. At least that explained some things.

He was sitting in the stairwell outside of the Evangelion hanger, waiting for them to call him in, his school computer balanced on his knees. In the week since the train, this was the first piece of information he'd been able to find on that thing the Doctor had mentioned.

He wondered what you were supposed to do about this sort of thing, once you had it.

***

Inside of NERV Command, one of the smaller monitors displayed the live security feed from inside the stairwell. Misato kept in the corner of her eye.

Ritsuko - that was to say, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi, PhD. two or three times over, Commander-Director, NERV Scientific Research and Development Division - noticed, of course. "I've been meaning to ask," she said. "Has he mentioned anything else about the incident on the train?"

Misato sighed. "Not a word. Didn't I tell you? First thing he did when he woke up was ask me about Article 40. Clammed up right after I explained it to him."

"Mmh. So he's trying to protect the people he met on the train."

"Bingo." Misato scratched between her ribs. Her scars had started to itch again recently. "Seriously, I don't know what the Commander was thinking when he requested that part of the law. Didn't he know that it would just create issues like this?"

"I'm sure he had his reasons at the time."

Misato glanced back at the security monitor. One of the Eva techs stuck his head into the stairwell. Shinji started to pack up his things. "It just seems... unnecessary, that's all. Burdening him with something else."

Ritsuko gave her a small smile. "You know that it can't be helped."

"Yeah, well..." Scratching just made the scar itch worse, actually. She scratched it again, anyway. "I wonder about that sometimes."

"Of course you do," Ritsuko said. "That's just human nature. The heart pulls us in its own direction, even as the brain tells us what must be done."

Misato grunted. Classic Ritsuko - getting all profound to avoid actually saying anything. "Anyway, it's not like it really matters, right? We got pretty much the whole story from the other passengers."

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Lieutenant Hyuga looked up at her from his station. "The pilot has boarded Eva Unit 1. Final checklist underway."

"Right." Misato turned back to the big picture. Game time.

Her hand brushed the weathered metal cross around her neck. God forgive her... it was game time.

***