"That's a shoulder-fired Barrett, and an RPG Rocket Launcher loaded with armor-piercing rounds. Are these guys treating me like an armored car or a tank?"
Shinji Ikari had barely made it out of the command room before he ran into a group of uninvited guests wearing black standard-issue military Plugsuits.
He was hiding behind a thick alloy wall with Ritsuko Akagi and Rei Ayanami, listening to footsteps drawing closer down the distant corridor.
"Even on a battlefield, your strategic value would be higher than a main battle tank's. Killing you with weapons like these would be a bargain," Ritsuko Akagi quipped.
"If I'd known, I never would've come with you. Nothing good ever happens when you're around."
"That's a little harsh." Shinji Ikari didn't take it to heart. He simply slipped an arm around Ritsuko Akagi's shoulders and pulled her into his arms without any resistance from her.
At that very instant, bullets struck the alloy wall where Ritsuko Akagi had just been standing, sending sparks flying.
"A hero rescuing a damsel in distress. How dashing. If this were a fairy tale, I'd fall hopelessly in love with you," Ritsuko Akagi teased.
"No, you wouldn't. You're a hard-hearted woman, a cold scientist without any feelings." Shinji Ikari smiled. That was how Ritsuko Akagi described herself.
Ritsuko Akagi recognized that the boy was teasing her, but didn't mind. "That's right, I'm a hard-hearted woman. This way. Let's hide in that room for now."
After carefully leading Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami into a room, Ritsuko Akagi quickly locked the door, found a computer, and connected it to the tablet she carried with her.
"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying: this is the way; walk in it," Ritsuko Akagi said.