The cafeteria kitchen is one he's seen before. He recognizes it, in fact, from NERV. The massive wall of fridges that are used to feed all of NERV on a given day. The industrial stoves, the water tanks and storage shelves. The fourteen year old, pale skinned, blue haired girl he also recognizes, as she places the second empty bottle on the counter, both of them labeled in English. Both of them dripping with the black liquid that was once theirs.
And then the girl giggles, shakes, and disappears.
"Um...was there a glitch in the video?"
"No," Yui explains, "Our best guess is that Rei vibrated so fast she became invisible."
Shinji stares at his mother. He stares some more. And some more.
"This is why Nephilim are not allowed caffeine."
He blinks, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"So...what was she drinking?"
"It's called the Black Blood of the Earth," she explains, "A chemist on San Francisco Island makes it. It's a coffee that's thirty times as strong as normal coffee."
"...why?"
"Because," she says, "NERV bought thirty liters. It's well liked by Project E staff. Rei drank two liters after her birthday lunch and disappeared. We've been trying to piece together the events for the past two years."