Pum! The dart hit the target with a light thud. The eight? Not bad...
"Hi!" I mumbled cheerfully, trying in vain to chew the wound, which was stuffed into my mouth whole in a fit of greed. "How do you like the style update?"
"Of course, I suspected that you were a maniac, but not that much..." Katsuragi said slowly, looking around my transformed room.
A box of a system unit and a bulky TV monitor appeared on the desk, along with a pair of powerful speakers. There was actually a desk lamp on the floor next to my sleeping place (for lack of a bed, there was no better word), and two piles of hefty reference books and encyclopedias stood next to it. The empty walls were carefully covered with military-themed posters (the largest one with a tank I didn't know was hung directly above my head, but judging by the small flag on the antenna, it was definitely Russian), and in the corner, next to the closet, another one appeared, only long, tall and suspiciously similar to a gun safe. It was open now, and it was visible that on its top shelf lay a compact pile of powerful binoculars, a hunting knife in a sheath, a cigarette case and a flask. According to my plans, something large-caliber was going to start up there soon, just to calm my soul...
Right now, I was lying on the floor and openly spitting at the ceiling, enjoying life. There was a naval handbook open next to me, another apple in my left hand, and a dart in my right.
Clap! And the last shell plunged into a target bought for the mood, pinned to the wall with duct tape.
Bams! The target, unable to withstand the bullying, peeled off and crashed to the floor.
"Are you raging?" Misato chuckled. "Well, well... Meanwhile, I'm plowing like an ox."
"And I'm not raging at all..." I replied phlegmatically, biting into an apple. "Ah, by the way, I'm waiting for you. And you, Commander, seemed to want something from me..."
"Ah?"
"I threw it in your room and put it next to the mirror," I finished it. "A paper bag with your hundred thousand in it..."
"Shinji," Katsuragi folded her hands in prayer. "Great you, thank you so much!"
"You can't get away with just thanks here..." I declared pettily. "You'd better tell me, what's with my requests?"
"It's done in the best possible way," Misato bravely reported, walking into the room. "Your classmate's sister was transferred to our infirmary..."
"And Ray?"
"Why do you care so much about her? Did you really like it? Crack up, huh?" The captain started teasing me again.
"That's what you need, and you're cracking up." I snapped. "So anyway?.."
"You're really rude," the girl sighed heavily. "Soldier, one word..."
"You'd think I was the only one with buttonholes on my collar." I retorted.
"It doesn't mean anything yet. You're a man, so by definition you have to be courteous and polite!"
"Then don't bother trying to get to me! I was even a little indignant."
"But it's so funny", Katsuragi giggled. "And anyway, I'm just bored - Pen-Pen, out, back into hibernation, or something..."
"Er... who?" I feigned surprise.
"Pen-Pen is my pet penguin." Misato explained. "He lives in a big refrigerator in the kitchen. Haven't you seen him yet?"
"Nope," I shook my head. "I didn't even look into the big one - I thought it was empty. We don't even have enough food to score a small one... And why the penguin?"
"He was an experimental animal in some kind of NERVE laboratory. It seems that they were engaged in developments in the field of biotechnology... The project was shut down, and the animals were partly handed over to zoos, partly taken home by the staff, so Ritsko gave me Pen-Pen - she was working there at the time."
So a little more mystery disappeared, otherwise I was wondering how Katsuragi was able to get a potentially secret sample in her operational position. Now I would like to find out where this experimental penguin got such a high level of intelligence, and whether (according to one of the widespread fan theories) he is the true God of this continuum...
"So that only one black-and-white Ruler rules!.."
I giggled at my delusional thoughts, but then I gathered myself again and became serious.
"Misato, you're evading the question again. I ask again, what's going on with Ray's move. WHEN is it? And mind you, not if, but when."
"Shinji, have you been told that you look like a tick?" Katsuragi sighed.
"Nope," I replied serenely, crunching an apple. "So what about Ray's move?"
The girl moaned, clutching her head in her hands.
"Pilot Ikari, are you doing this on purpose?" The captain asked me bitterly.
"Oh, no, really!" I said gently, finishing another apple. "So what about Ray's move?"
Misato frowned at me, then at the rapidly shrinking apple in my hand. Then he looked at me again, then at the apple again, but this time much more thoughtfully...
"How can you eat them like that?" Katsuragi asked me in surprise.
"How's that?" I asked, picking a piece of tough peel out of my teeth.
"And that's it!" The captain pointed an indignant finger. "With a peel, seeds, a core and... and an ass!"
"So where do you think the apple's ass is?" I philosophically remarked, taking out another fruit from a bulky paper bag. "And anyway, it's a waste-free production! No stubs, no trash..."
"And the ponytail?" the captain objected to me.
"That's not a problem," I said, unscrewing the wooden stick from the apple and chewing it diligently.
Misato looked at me with pity.
"I see you've been fed very poorly before..."
You would live in a normal Russian dorm, comrade Commander, and not in your refined college...
"Yes, I was fed normally," I disagreed, lying a lot. "So what about Ray's move?"
Misato laughed and gave me a thumbs up.
"One-nil in favor of Second Lieutenant Ikari. I praise you for your perseverance!"
"Thanks, so what's up with Ray's move?"
Katsuragi snorted.
"Don't worry about it... Romeo... I've already arranged the transfer, so Ayanami will be living next door to us soon. Are you going to visit her," The captain smiled white-toothed.
"Well, that's how I would have said it right away, otherwise I kept pulling the cat by the tail..." I noticed, ignoring another tease from Misato. It seems that the topic of "Me plus Ray" has already become a routine for her... Strange... I didn't seem to give any reason for such thoughts...
Or did he give it anyway?..
***
"Uark!"
"Fuck!" I said with feeling, almost hitting the ground in surprise. The fact that we were on the -entieth floor didn't bother me much - where you fell, you'll find the firmament of the earth.
I'm going to the bathroom, you know, and here you are! I open the door, and there's a penguin! No, of course I remember everything, but, damn, it's unexpected!
"Pen-Pen, you're awake!" Katsuragi's joyful shout rang out from behind me. Wow, how quickly she identified the reason for my expressive expression...
"Is this Pen Pen?" I asked skeptically, eyeing the victim of scientific research.
He looked, Pen-Pen, I must say, colorful. He was quite healthy, about a meter tall, with a funny tuft of golden feathers on top of his head. Is it New Zealand? A rare species, however... Hmm, that's why he has five very mobile claws on his wings, which he quite sensibly used to hold a small towel slung over his shoulder. But I was most interested in a completely different subject, namely a strange-looking metal-plastic satchel, as if rooted to the body of a Pen.
An interesting little thing, I'd say... A not very large, silver-gray device with a streamlined shape, mounted on the back of a penguin, but instead of straps or straps, thin metal (sort of) stripes closed on the chest, and the proud inscription "Pen2" is emblazoned on the front.
Well, what kind of nonsense is this? A life support system, a gun case, a rocket pack? The penguin tilted his head to the side and also carefully looked me up and down.
"Yes, this is Pen Pen," Misato came over and patted her pet on the head. "Pen, meet Shinji."
"Hi," I said, feeling a bit idiotic. It's not every day, you know, that you're introduced to a pet. No, of course, I already knew him in absentia, but memories from the cartoon are one thing, but real impressions are still veeery different...
"Uark!" the penguin nodded his head sedately and unexpectedly for me added. "Sin!"
"Er-er..." I blinked, stunned. Did he call me by my first name? Or am I already having glitches from overexertion? I don't even know... No, I actually thought that his intelligence was purely a cartoon thing (it's impossible in real life), so maybe he was just smart enough, well, at the level of a very smart dog, or maybe even a dolphin. After all, in movies such things are usually exaggerated on purpose, sometimes even to the point of grotesqueness - everything to amuse the viewer...
And then, damn, everything is for real, it turns out! What if he's really very smart? They put, say, a human soul in his brain, or somehow influenced the feathered one - the NERVE is capable of anything. My office is still a bunch of mad scientists...
"He's very smart," Katsuragi, who had already changed into her casual home clothes, laughed. I mean, in a short blouse and shorts. The shame... "Isn't that right, Pen?"
"Uark!"
Damn, Victor could have sworn that he nodded, and nodded quite meaningfully!
"Misato... And how is this possible? After all, he's kind of unrealistically smart for a penguin..."
"Tss" Katsuragi hissed at me comically, squinting at the penguin, who was still looking at me curiously. "Hush, or he'll hear you and be offended, which is good..."
Tell me more stories, Misato. Hmm, though...
"...Who told you that this is an ordinary penguin? I told you where he used to be!"
"Well, yes, in some of our laboratories. And what's next?"
"Just between you and me," The captain winked at me conspiratorially. "As I found out, experiments on cybernation were conducted on it."
"You mean that..."
"Yeah, exactly. Have you seen that thing behind his back? So there's some kind of tricky biological computer in it, almost a prototype of MAGI..."
"Wow!" I was genuinely surprised. Now a lot was becoming clear... "And the MAGI are those big servers in the command room?"
"Servers?" Katsuragi asked me blankly. "Oh, right! More precisely, these are not servers, but completely autonomous and self-sufficient computing units..."
"Then it's clear..." I said vaguely. The question is "How many N2 bombs does Pen Pen have in his backpack?" it fell away by itself.
***
"Yeah... yeah... It's clear... Well, thanks for the information! Bye, Dan!"
Misato hung up the phone and looked at me with a sly squint.
"Well, Sir Shinji? Your beautiful lady has arrived!"
"Mmm" I mumbled in surprise, crunching another apple.
"Don't "mmm," but go meet Ray. She's supposed to be in the elevator by now- I've put her in the apartment next door," Katsuragi stated sarcastically. "And how long have you been able to eat apples?!"
"Yes, as many as you want..." I mumbled thoughtfully, getting up from the couch. Well, I'm already used to these fruits, what can I do! Every morning, for five years in a row, my breakfast consisted of the traditional bullseye-the breakfast of an aristocrat. But on the other hand, considering that there was nothing else... And I was too lazy to cook anything in the morning... Especially if you get up fifteen minutes before class starts...
Oh, I'm getting really lazy - since I came back from a shopping trip, all I do is lie around, eat apples and read books. Don't I have anything else to do? Oh, shit! Although, along the way, of course, I was thinking about something, so to speak, in the background, but more on that later. And in the end, can I loaf around a bit? I'll be back tomorrow for sure...
...I opened the front door and went out onto the landing, pulling on my freshly purchased boots -what I always liked about these shoes was that they could be put on without even lacing them up...
I staggered noisily to the elevator doors, and I waited, feeling Misato's gaze boring into my back.
"Commander, there won't be a show - you don't have to watch it", I explained loudly, without even turning around.
"That's what you think!" it came from the door of our apartment.
That's Misato...
Squeak - the elevator has arrived, the doors open cautiously...
As soon as the doors opened, Rey stepped onto the landing, carrying a small, worn blue and white gym bag. Needless to say, she was wearing her usual school uniform.
"Hello, Ray!" I greeted him cheerfully, putting maximum warmth and cordiality into this simple phrase.
Ayanami glanced at me with her trademark indifferent gaze. Hmm, like her, but she's good at it... When I made a face with a brick, my appearance was usually regarded as sad and sad, but here is really an example of icy-cold calm.
"The character is persistent, Nordic. Merciless to Gendo's enemies..."
Hmm, the blonde beast? Just not Aryan, but very much so... Mentally draw a black uniform, a high-crowned cap, a stack and two runes on the buttonhole...
Imagine the whip, you pervert of a minor!..
The real Shinji giggled in the background.
"Ray, it's actually customary to return a greeting," I started explaining it first.
"What for?"
That's why it's on my head!..
"That's the way it's done. These are the established norms of behavior, and everyone must comply with them. Is that clear?"
"Yes," Rey replied indifferently.
Oh, ho, ho... Some kind of dumb-dumb conversation. I do not know what to say, Ayanami does not want to talk. Or maybe she just can't because she's not used to it? It's as difficult as everything, you can't figure it out without half a liter...
"Which apartment did they put you in?" I decide to change the subject.
"The one hundred and seventeenth."
"Great, let's be neighbors! Are you coming to visit?"
Surprise flashes in Ayanami's gaze.
"But why?"
"That's the way it's done..." I sigh resignedly, realizing that my imagination is no longer enough for more. "Okay, at least let me walk you to your new apartment. It's only a couple of steps, but it doesn't matter..."
The first one calmly reached her door, opened it with an electronic key and stepped inside.
"Goodbye, Ray!" I managed to shout after her. Ayanami stopped and turned to me.
"Is it customary to say goodbye too?" She asked me.
"Yeah," I nodded. "Li-isten to me... Ray, you don't mind if I pick you up tomorrow morning, do you? We could go to school together..."
"No"
"No, I mean, can I come in?.."
"You can come in," Rey replied laconically. "Goodbye."
The door slammed in my face. Well, let's say it didn't slam shut, but it closed neatly, but somehow it did...
I stood in front of the door for a while and went home, cursing to myself about the mysterious nature of the soul of clones with the soul of an Object A...
As soon as I entered the house, Hurricane Misato immediately hit me.
"Yeah!" She raised her index finger triumphantly. "I knew it! You've got a crush on her!"
"Oh, Misato, don't be ridiculous..." I yawned lazily, heading to my room.
Don't lie to your superior officer and your immediate commander, Second Lieutenant! Promise me that you will definitely invite me to your wedding!!! Under these cheerful screams, I closed the door to my room and flopped down on a thin mattress.
So, Vic, how do you assess the effectiveness of the attempt to establish contact with the Snow Maiden?
Hmm, rather positive... In general, it's too early to talk about anything definite - too little time has passed, Rey will have to be taken out of suspended animation, oh, how long...
Under my door, someone started humming an Americanized wedding march rather out of tune. And I know who it is...
"Misato, that's enough!"
"Rei Ikari... Why, it sounds!" The singing was replaced by a thin giggle.
"Misato, mind you, I have a pistol handy and two full clips for it... Don't drive me to sin, or I won't be able to resist..."