Shinji ran from the locker room, and headed for the box. As he entered, he noted that Asuka, Rei, Ritsuko, Misato, Maya,
Hyuga, and Shiga were already there.

"Alright, lets begin. Today you will be participating in yet another synchronization test. This one will be aimed at
recording your pertinent synchronization data for the training program that is still in the works. This test will be longer
than normal, so get set for a long day. It should last about 4 hours. I will have extra nutrients pumped in with the LCL.
Remember, all you are responsible for is Synchronization. We will be doing the rest. All right, any questions? No? Let’s go
then."

Rei, Asuka, and Shinji left, and headed to the ready room. There they would be loaded into the Pilot console, and inserted
into their entry plugs.

"What were the results of the last test again? I couldn’t find the report at home." Misato asked Ritsuko.

"Shinji rose a little to 67%, Asuka had 64%, and Rei surprisingly had stayed at 59%. I don’t know what has happened to
her. It’s like she refuses to get any better. We’ll see what happens this time."

"Entry plugs are ready. Inserting entry plugs."

"Insertion complete. Charging LCL."

"Begin first connection. Charging main power supplies. Main umbilical is connected."

"Begin A-10 nerve connection. Impulse to absolute borderline approaching 1.0."

"0.9 0.7, 0.5, 0.3, 0.2, 0.1, Absolute border line reaches A-10 nerve connection active."

"Connecting primary nerve impulses. Synchronization ratio’s are as follows: Unit 00- 60% Unit 01- 69%, and Unit 02- 66%."

"Flex the hands a couple of times guys, so we can check nerve impulse translation, and nerve motor control."

The hands on all three bodies lifted, and rotated a few times, Shinji’s even making fists and popping it’s huge knuckles.
"Shinji this is no time to show off."
 
 "Yes Ma’am."

"Now, I want you all to relax, and let this run it’s course. Go to sleep if you want, but don’t do anything active, and don’t
concentrate on anything, OK? Maya, note that the test began at exactly 9:03 and 43 seconds."

"OK" they said.

Shinji was staring out the viewport when a window popped up on his HUD. Asuka sat there, talking for a second, then the
sound came in.

"Hey Shinji. What the?"

She worked something around, and then her voice caught up to her visual. "Shinji I just wanted to tell you that I am sorry
about what happened in the Locker room. I shouldn’t have done that."

"Don’t worry about it now. We can talk about it when we’re finished. It’s alright, I liked it."

Her face brightened, and she smiled. Then slowly she reached up and turned off the window.

Shinji sat back, and let himself relax. In a few minutes sleep over took him. He dreamt of himself in total blackness, curled
up, naked. He sat there for a few minutes wondering what to do, when he heard Asuka.

"At least I can dream about him like this."

Whoa? Hey. This is my dream, why can’t I control it?" Suddenly he had his plug suit on, and he turned to find Asuka
standing there, her plug suit forming around her.

"Man these dreams are strange. I wonder if it’s due to the fact that we are synched with the Evas right now." He said.

"I don’t know, Ritsuko told me this morning that it might be a little different this time because of the way the Magi were
analyzing us."
 

"Wait, Ritsuko told you. You aren’t real though."

"Well this is my dream, that make you the bogus one."

"No, no, this is MY dream. I am the one dreaming of you."

"Well, I beg to differ, third child. Maybe we are both having the dream."

Meanwhile back in the box. "This is weird. Dr. Akagi, the synchros on Unit’s 01 and 02 have just dipped about 10 points,
then jumped another 30 points! Right now they are both 90% and rising at the exact same speed."

Ritsuko wheeled over to the console, and studied the data. "How fast are the ratios going up?"

"About 1 point every 4 to 5 minutes."

"What about Unit 00, has she done anything?"

"Negative, the ratio is the same as when it started. Should we abort?"

"No, keep an eye on this, but don’t do anything yet. This may be a big advantage."

"Yes, ma’am."

Back in the dream world Shinji sat talking to Asuka. "What did you mean when you said ‘At least I can dream about him
like this.’ What was that?"

Asuka felt the heat rising in her face. "I…Well, you and I never…. DO anything, and I just, you know."

He knew what she meant. "I never thought about that until you kissed me this morning. Until then, you had not made me
feel that that was proper. But now, it’s…different."

She looked at him, solemnly, taking him in. "Shinji, let’s go somewhere else." Abruptly the scenery changed to the Shinto
temple, just outside the city. They sat on the steps, and watched a lazy afternoon sun slowly sink towards the horizon.
Asuka was dressed in her yellow dress again; Shinji found that he was dressed in some bluejeans and a T-shirt that Asuka
had bought him.

"I wonder how this happened. I mean, does everybody who is in love do this, and they don’t relate it to others?"

"No," Asuka said, "I am sure we would have heard about it by now. Besides, a world where you can do anything you
want would be just too addicting to the general populace. They’d never wake up! Speaking of which…." A red blanket,
stitched with the Nerv insignia, formed on the grass next to her, and a basket of food materialized. "I wonder if you can feel
and taste everything that happens here too." She picked a grape off the bunch that was hanging out of the basket, and
popped it in her mouth. "Mmmm, it’s so real tasting. Like my mind is getting more out of it here than in reality."

"Maybe the mind just over compensates."

Asuka sat back up, and moved closer to Shinji, then poked him in the side with her finger. He exploded with laughter, as if
she had been tickling him relentlessly. "Hey! What’d you do that for?!" He said between laughs.

"I was just testing something." She said lying down on the blanket. She stretched, and yawned.

Shinji couldn’t help but get aroused by seeing her like this. She was beautiful lying there stretched out before him. Loving
life. A complete turn-around from just 2 weeks ago, when she hated life and so many other things. He figured she still had
things she hated, but he had interceded, and made them bearable. He lay beside her, and thought about what she’d said
about him, when she entered his dream. Then steeling himself, he rolled over, and moved in.

Shinji came closer to her, watching her eyes watch his own. She stopped breathing in apprehension. When their lips met,
his mouth was numb with pleasure like it was sensory overload. He kissed her deeply, and passionately, hoping for it
never to end. When his mind cleared from the first wave, he found that his shirt was off, and Asuka was bare to her waist.
But he didn’t care. That just helped the situation. He grabbed her shoulders, and rolled over, pulling her on top of him,
moving his hands down her back to her waits crossing he arms over the small of her back, and pulling her closer to him.

Asuka broke the kiss, and leaned forward to his ear, and whispered ever so softly. "Are you ready?"
 
 Shinji could only nod. He didn’t think he could form words in his mouth yet.

Asuka shifted a little, and the cloth disappeared under his hands. He found a fire in his loins that if not satiated soon
would burn him. Asuka pulled her knees up under her, and sat up. She looked at him like she was…hungry, and suddenly
he was inside her. The warmth enveloped him, and the sensations, were too much, his vision clouded as his eyes wend
out of focus.

Asuka was pushing herself up and down with her legs as fast as she could. Her mind didn’t need to communicate that to
her, it was a reflex. All she could do was experience, and hope not to pass out from the pleasure.

Back in the Box. "Dr Akagi! The synchros are going off the graph! It can’t even read them they are at such high levels!"

"Let me see that, put it on the main view screen!" She looked it over, and sure enough, the line on both Units 01 and 02
went right past the 235. The numerical readout had them at 359. "That is unbelievable! Is Rei’s still the same?"

"Yeah, as far as I can tell she hasn’t done anything at all."

"Show me the internal camera’s I want to know what they are doing."

The views appeared on the screen, fuzzed a little, then cleared again. They showed interesting scenes. Shinji was lying
back pushing his hands as hard into the sides of the chair as he could, a look of pleasure and strain on his face. The one
from Unit 02 was even stranger. Asuka was kneeling on the seat bouncing up and down, head back moaning softly to
herself.

In the dream Shinji felt himself building up. A soft, wet, warmth had ready covered his lower are, and ran down one leg.
Asuka had already climaxed once, and wondered how many times it would happen, just then another power climax took
her, and she felt Shinji pump into her. She collapsed atop him, breathless. She lay like that for a few seconds, then put her
legs out behind her again.

The screens showed Asuka grunt a couple of time, and collapsed face first, eyes still closed, on the pilot’s seat. Shinji just
relaxed, and put his arms over his body as though her were hugging someone.

"What the hell? What are their life signs like?"
 
 "Pulse for Shinji is 165, blood pressure is pretty high, but more like a hard workout than anything else. Asuka’s pulse is
180, comparable blood pressure. Both have low blood sugar, their suits say, but that might be due to the inactivity, and no
breakfast. Other than that they are ok. Nerve impulse shows that there is increased activity in the right anterior cortex
region, but that could be because of the synchronization."
 
 "All right. Wake them up, but don’t say anything to them about their ratios. We will continue the test."

Maya switched to a channel that would connect her to Shinji and Asuka, but not Rei. "Shinji, Asuka, wake up. You need
to wake up."

In the dreamstate, Asuka heard the insistent voice calling to wake up, then her mind felt pressure, just a little, like when
you are about to go to sleep, but you try to stay awake. She felt herself slipping back to her conscious self.

Shinji didn’t go so easily, he heard the voice, but turned over, and grabbed the ground so it wouldn’t pull him away.
Finally he flew back to himself, awakening in the LCL, more drained than usual, and found that he had Maya in the window
on his display.

"You guys need to wake up. The test is about half way over, and you need to stay still for a little while longer. Asuka, you
need to get back in your seat. This time stay there. You might have upset the test."

Her window disappeared, and was replaced by Asuka’s. There was a flashing <secured> sign blinking at the bottom.
"Where you there? At the temple I mean? I woke up to find myself lying on the seat like I ended up on top of you. That
was weird."

"Yeah, I was there. You and me need to…talk. Yeah. When this is over."

"Yeah, I look forward to it."

The rest of the test went off without a hitch. Asuka and Shinji had improved by about 12 point each, not to mention
reaching all time highs of 359.