"The operation will go on as schedule and conclude without incident. I will not allow you to be injured during the airdrop."
"Thanks, Rei." Misato glanced over her shoulder back at the kitchen. "You didn't happen to see Pen Pen in there, did you?"
"No."
"Oh."
Rei Ayanami frowned. Were penguins more susceptible to the dangers of fumigation than humans? She found she didn't know. None of her reading material had ever concerned itself with the biology of those birds they were extinct in the wild, after all.
"Wait, wait," said Misato, interruption her musings. "He's sleeping on the balcony."
The penguin was indeed. Rei frowned, though. Hadn't the balcony door been locked from the inside when she had opened it? Had the bird somehow snuck past her while she was assisting Captain Katsuragi? And if not, how then had Pen Pen reached the lock when he closed the door from the balcony side? And if he could open the door, why lock it with his owner still inside?
Misato was apparently thinking the same thing. "Trying to murder me in my sleep. Bad Pen Pen! That's a bad, bad penguin!"
Pen Pen, in response, continued to doze.
Misato looked to Rei. "Eh, I doubt it was premeditated anyways."
Taking Sights, Chapter 10