Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion, nor any of its characters nor music nor dialogues, just some merchandise. Evangelion is a property of Gainax.

Chapter 1: Plans and masterminds

"That was a shitty scenario, you know. Look how it turned out."

"I've made a mistake. I was completely blind sided by Yui's plans. It turns out, she used us all along."

"Yeah, I never thought mother would even be capable of something like that. So, what did she want to become? An immortal space robot?"

"God. She wanted to become a god. Just like SEELE, no matter the cost."

"Did she love you? Or me?"

"Yes, she did, but it seems it wasn't enough to stop her. She must have planned this even before marrying me. Fuyutsuki knew about this, but didn't tell me. If he did, maybe things would proceed differently."

"And I hope they will this time. Our new scenario has to account for new changes though."

"Correct. As Lilith said, Angels may be somewhat stronger this time. It is good, that Yui had eaten me in the vision, you would probably have a hard time trying to make things right, if I wasn't aware of that."

"You would definitely be a major obstacle, father, one that could potentially ruin my plans. So I'm glad to have you around. I've forgiven you, but this time, some things aren't expendable."

"I still want to achieve redemption for my sins. I didn't see them, I was too focused on joining my wife. I was too focused and blinded by that, so I couldn't see she didn't want to join me."

"I want you to find happiness, no matter what you did, I want it for you. So, your goal will be yours and our happiness."

"And preventing the end of the world."

"Exactly. We will be the only ones with knowledge, I think we should keep it to ourselves. I will tell Asuka at some point and you should tell Fuyutsuki. We must be careful though. If the Old Men notice anything, we may end up in a worse situation than before."

"Correct. We can keep the information to those two people. What do you think we should do about Rei?"

"As much as I hate to say it, she is replaceable. SEELE will keep a close eye on her, I don't think we can take her off the mood stabilizing drugs and sedatives. That would raise some suspicions. I also don't want her to be too attached to me, like last time. That may complicate things."

"Her attachment to you was an obstacle in my old scenario. She would disobey me at some point and I'd lose control. In the end she fortunately did, but due to other reasons."

"That much is true, she is no longer needed as a catalyst, but her change would alert the Old Men. We have to keep her sedated, maybe lower the dose a bit. Also, in case she dies, I'd like you to perform full backup brain scans often, so that she can be herself. If she'd change on her own, Old Men won't notice that, so it could be wise to unlock her memories gradually, so that she would resemble a new clone."

"Yes, they are aware of Rei's nature and her importance to my plans. They cannot know about the change of scenarios, that would make things really difficult."

"We still need a plan in case they do know about that."

"They won't do anything before the 17th Angel is stopped. Until then however, they may try to assassinate one of us. I propose you undertake clandestine weapons training in a number of firearms after arrival at NERV. Do you have a problem with killing people?"

"People yes, but they are no humans. After what they did to Asuka, I would happily put a bullet to each and every one of SEELE members, no matter the rank."

"Good, we will prepare something for you and the Second Child to protect you."

"Thank you. Also, I'd like you to call her Asuka in our private conversations. "Second Child" sounds like she's expendable and her NOT being expendable is one of the main points of the scenario. Regarding protection, is there anything we could do to increase our safety in the entry plugs and in the plug suits? I'd like to avoid having our heads impaled by a Lance of Longinus and be prepared in case something attacks us outside of the plug or the plug itself becomes damaged."

"I will speak to doctor Akagi about that. I think we could do an active protection system, that would cut off your nerve connection to an EVA part just before a major hit, that would cause a permanent injury. As it comes to the plug suits, I will tell Akagi to find something to reinforce them while also not affecting your sync ratio."

"Someone could get suspicious if all of a sudden NERV would change the proven and reliable suits to something new. I think we should arrange an accident, that would convince such protection is required. Nothing major, maybe a shot to my arm, that wouldn't cause a permanent injury would be enough. And for the connection cut system, that can easily be explained with my performance against the Third Angel. I won't allow mother to read my mind, Lilith can put a barrier the EVA cannot read through nor even see."

"The accident can be arranged. As for the shooter, there will be families, whose houses will be destroyed during the battles. I will have one of my men shoot you and then we can make a cover-up that it was one of those family members."

"In case Toji's sister gets injured again, have her moved to NERV hospital immediately."

"This time anyone seriously injured in the Angel War will get NERV's medical attention."

"Good. I think there is one more thing. When we arrive, we have to make sure both of us are aware of the scenario. Maybe a message hidden in my "Tokyo-3 invitation" letter?"

"It will contain a picture of Yui and us if I will be aware and when you'll arrive to Tokyo-3 and when we meet again, say that it's a shame mother isn't with us anymore."

"Agreed. We have to behave in public like we still hate each other and you have no other use for me than being a pilot."

"Correct. The Old Men would get suspicious. We have to keep the masks on."

"I think we have all covered for now. Goodbye father, may we meet again."

"Goodbye Shinji, may we meet again."