RITSUKO<br/><br/>(http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq131/renmei_2008/ritsuko_avatar_02.jpg)<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">"Well, let's do what the tardy wench wants then, eh?"</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><em>Yes. Let's do that.</em><br/><br/>I noted Misato's posessive caress of Rei as she steered her into the lab. At her voice I stood aside to let Ikari's son pass in front of me.<br/><br/>Once we were in the main lab I flicked the light switches that had been dimmed down to a maintenance setting. The large room was filled with harsh, pitiless white light. It was warm in here too, I had dialled the heating up so it was tropical warm, though a little dry. Looking around, it sadly still looked just like what it was - a science lab - and not as much like a comfortable boudoir as I'd intended. Maybe lack of experience at these things had failed me in getting the decor right. I realised the edges needed softening. A few large pot plants would have helped, a water feature perhaps, something to sooth the soul. Then again a trickling fountain would have interfered with sound recording.<br/><br/><strong>"We'll wait for Kaji to find Asuka then we can get cracking."</strong>I put my clipboard down on a desk and checked the systems, running up a quick diagnostics program and doing a brief telemetry check.<br/><br/><strong>"Rei, Shinji, you brought your neural clips didn't you? Please put them on. If you didn't bring them, you'll find spares over there in the equipment cupboard. For measuring purposes the monitoring equipment works in a similar way to EVA's; detecting brain and nervous system impulses direct through the neural interface. Heart rate, pulse, glandular activity..."</strong>I paused a moment for effect. By watching the outputs I'd know when the pilots were about to reach a peak before they did.<strong>"Of course we're lacking LCL here so I need to just enhance your biological outputs with a small facilitator interface. It's harmless and is a cruder chemical way of replicating the LCL environment."</strong><br/><br/>Out of my desk drawer I pulled a vial of clear fluid in a sealed test tube and a pack of sterile shrink-wrapped hypodermic needles. I washed my hands in a small bowl sink in the corner and pulled on latex gloves before breaking the seal on one syringe, uncapping the needle and plunging it into the upended vial of innocuous looking liquid. I filled it with 10ccs and turned to Rei.<br/><br/><strong>"Pull your sleeve up, Rei I need your arm."</strong>I got an alcohol swab ready. My eyes glittered at this task.<em>I love my job. Poking, prodding, intimidating. It's such fun.</em>