The Collection of The End

——2015.5.27——

nerv headquarters.

"Well done, Shinji-kun,"

Misato Katsuragi, who was wearing protective clothing and a helmet, patted Shinji Ikari, who was also wearing protective clothing, on the shoulder:

"This is the first complete apostle we have obtained. Studying it will definitely be of great help in fighting the next apostles."

"Don't make it so easy, I am the one who needs to put in the effort," Ritsuko Akagi, who was on the side, was instructing several staff members in the same attire to debug various data in front of several computers: "What is certain at the moment is that the red sphere It is indeed the source of power for the apostles. If you hadn't dug it out, Shinji-kun, the fourth apostle might have self-destructed like the third apostle, but there is currently no way to analyze or restart it, not even a train of thought."

"It's useless." Misato Katsuragi made a face at her.

"I have no intention of explaining it to a layman." Ritsuko Akagi ignored it.

"Ah haha..." Shinji Ikari, who was sandwiched between the two, could only say haha.

This is a giant factory located in an underground fortress. It is responsible for manufacturing and maintaining the weapons and equipment used by EVA. It can also "repair" damaged aircraft. In fact, Unit 1 is soaking in the "swimming pool" next to it at the moment.

Shinji Ikari was originally going to conduct a restart experiment on Unit-1 today, but he heard that the Fourth Apostle was being studied next door, so he asked Ritsuko Akagi to bring him to see it before the experiment started.

If so... the unlucky fourth apostle was really broken down into pieces and made into sashimi. Of course, no one would use chopsticks.

"Well, it's really interesting. Through the analysis of the body structure of the apostles, it can be determined that they are also carbon-based organisms, and the DNA structure is 99.89% similar to humans." Ritsuko Akagi looked at the data that appeared on the computer screens. , said with interest.

"Huh? What does that mean?" Misato Katsuragi looked confused.

"It means that the apostle, at least the fourth apostle, can almost be treated as a 'human being'." Ritsuko Akagi tilted his head and looked at Katsuragi Misato: "For example, the genetic similarity between Captain Katsuragi and chimpanzees is 99.6%. "

"Use yourself as an example!" Misato Katsuragi said angrily.

"This..." Shinji Ikari tried to change the subject: "Does that mean I am actually fighting the same 'King Kong'? And Dr. Akagi, your job is to find the reason why it mutated from a 'chimpanzee' to a 'King Kong'?"

"Hmm...that's an interesting point of view," Ritsuko Akagi paused and looked at Shinji Ikari: "What do you call me?"

"Akagi...doctor?" Shinji Ikari blinked.

"What did you call Captain Katsuragi before?"

"Um, Akagi...sister?"

"Um?"

"Ritsuko...sister."

"Be good," Ritsuko Akagi touched his head: "Go and conduct a startup test, don't play around here."

"Hey, someone is jealous." Misato Katsuragi covered her mouth and laughed, while Ritsuko Akagi ignored it.

"Unit No. 1 will be ready to start in 480 seconds, please pilots to get in position in time.]"

"I, I'm leaving." Shinji Ikari, who was sweating a little, turned around and ran away.

——

After a while, Unit 1 inserted the bolt.

"Don't be nervous, Shinji-kun. The last time it dropped to 0% was probably an accident. The two idiots are not here and it should return to its original state." Misato Katsuragi said through the radio.

"Ah, um."

As the purple-red water that submerged Unit 1 receded, the familiar instructions from the staff began to sound.

"Main power is on, inject lcl.]"

"First contact completed.]"

"The neural connection is completed and the second contact begins.]"

"Synchronization rate 0%]"

"Second contact completed.]"

"Unit No. 1 has been started.]"

etc? Although you are very skillful in speaking, is there something wrong?

Shinji Ikari tried to control the actions of Unit-1, but failed.

Curry Curry...] Li Ziqiu floated next to him with a very disappointed expression.

"What's going on? Shinji-kun? What's your situation now?]" After a commotion on the command side, Misato Katsuragi asked Shinji Ikari.

"I'm not sure..." Shinji Ikari tried another move: "Everything here is normal, but No. 1 cannot maneuver."

The person is awake, but the body cannot move... isn't that just paralysis?

"This is impossible. It is impossible to complete the startup in 0% of cases. There must be something wrong.]"

"Don't ask me..." Shinji Ikari said helplessly,

"Anyway, activate the backup plan. You come out and let Zero go in and try. We have to confirm that Unit 1 was not affected in the battle with the Fourth Apostle."

"Zero...Ayanami, can she?"

"Although we can't attack yet, there is no problem just activating it. After all, there are no apostles coming now.]"

No, if you complain, you will lose.

While the command center was busy and technicians were replacing the operating system of Unit 1, Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami met on the landing bridge.

"That..." Shinji Ikari scratched his head, not knowing what to say.

Although the two meet almost every day, they basically wear school uniforms like ordinary classmates. But now they are all dressed in tight leather jackets that drive EVA, and they have become quite strange. After all, the last time I saw her dressed like this was just... When I flew Unit 1 for the first time.

"Did you see it?" Rei Ayanami greeted him proactively.

"What?"

"Book."

"...Read it." Shinji Ikari forcefully ate "what book" back into his stomach. It was obviously the ones she "strongly recommended".

"What do you think?"

"Kudo Shinichi is a scumbag."

"Um."

No, what do you mean by replying "um"? Do you want me to continue?

"Maolilan's force value is not scientific at all."

"Um."

"Mouri Kogoro must be faking it. He somehow managed to solve so many cases in a comatose state without getting suspicious."

"Um."

"Haibara Ai……"

"Um?"

Okay, just wait here.

"very cute!"

"Uh-huh."

Recommending a whole series of books to others because you like a certain character... should I be called the president of a literary club?

"What do you think of time in books?" Ayanami asked instead.

time?

"The fact that time does not move forward is just intentional by the author. If it flows normally, the cases would not be so dense at all. It won't take many words for the elementary school students to grow up." Shinji Ikari scratched his head.

"Then, people who are trapped in a 'time loop', aren't they very pitiful?"

"..."

Can she really ask this kind of question that only a sentimental "literary girl" can ask?

"I think so,"

Shinji Ikari thought for a while and said:

"If they don't have self-awareness, it's not pitiable. If they have self-awareness but don't notice the cycle, it doesn't matter. If they have self-awareness and are aware of the cycle, it's even less pitiful."

"Um?"

"Because they have understood the nature of the world, surpassing 99.89% of the other people in the world." Shinji Ikari learned a number and began to use it randomly: "Whether they want to use the cycle or try to break the cycle, they will have the unique ability of others." An experience that’s impossible to have.”

"Yeah?"

"Just like you and me," Shinji Ikari pointed to himself: "There are so many 'qualified people', how many of them can drive EVA to fight against the apostles? No one thinks that we have to drive giant robots to fight against dangerous monsters. Isn’t it pitiful to fight monsters?”

"..." Ayanami Rei looked at Shinji Ikari steadily and did not respond to this sentence.

"Unit No. 1 will be ready to start in 60 seconds. Please get in position in time.]"

"Shinji! Stop dragging Zero into talking! Let's talk about it when we have free time!]"

No...why did I pull her into talking?

Shinji Ikari opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't refute. After all, this was not an insertion plug, so Misato Katsuragi might not be able to hear what he was saying.

"Well, go ahead." He looked at Unit 1: "If your synchronization rate is also 0, it may be that Unit 1 has been damaged."

"Yes." Ayanami Rei nodded slightly and passed by Shinji Ikari.

Since when he refused to drive, his father had planned to let Zero drive instead, and they also had a backup system, this proved that they were very sure that Zero could pilot Unit 1.

Shinji Ikari looked at Zero's back, feeling a little guilty.

If she could really successfully start Unit 1... wouldn't the reason for the 0% synchronization rate lie with herself?

Is it the reason for "Skyscraper", "Golden Captain" or that unknown card?

Shortly after Rei Ayanami entered the insertion plug, the staff's instructions sounded one after another.

"Main power is on, inject lcl!]"

"First contact completed!]"

"The neural connection is completed and the second contact begins!]"

"Synchronization rate...50%!]"

It’s over, it’s indeed my own problem, but what’s the reason? If the synchronization rate is so low, will I be subject to devil training?

Shinji Ikari began to scratch his hair.

"Zero, try to control Unit 1 to complete some actions, don't force it.]"

good. 】

Hey, wait, this familiar feeling...

Shinji Ikari stopped grabbing his hair and looked up at Unit-00.

A huge Rei Ayanami was standing there.

"..."

How should I put it, it was better than expected. Although it was not serious clothes, being wrapped in dense bandages was better than having nothing at all.

Shinji Ikari shook his head vigorously and rubbed his eyes, but the illusion still did not disappear, so he decided to let it go.

Moreover, I have always been a little worried that the damage caused by the apostles to Unit-1 did not appear on "Giant Ayanami Rei" at the same time.

Boom, boom.

Giant Ayanami Rei began to slowly step forward. Although her movements were a little stiff, she did move. However, her face was still expressionless, and she could only judge where "she" was paying attention through the focus of her eyes.

"Zero, next perform the action - sizzling -, and - sizzling - and - sizzling -]"

Um……?

Shinji Ikari was thinking about what went wrong that caused the synchronization rate to drop suddenly, when he heard bursts of noise coming from Misato Katsuragi's command broadcast.

Staff in the equipment maintenance department will have their bonuses deducted.

When Shinji Ikari looked up with a bit of schadenfreude, he found that something was not right.

At some point, the surrounding environment changed from the experimental site of an equipment factory to a vast experimental site that should still belong to Nerv based on the sign, but with much stricter protective measures.

"Preparing for the No. 0 unit startup experiment.]" Ikari Yuantang's voice came from the radio.

Great, not only did I have visual hallucinations, but I also started hearing them.

Shinji Ikari sighed silently and turned his gaze to the illusory testing ground.

As for Unit Zero, he had seen it before. It was a one-eyed EVA painted in orange. He had served as a wingman when fighting against the Fourth Apostle, but in the end he had no chance to take action.

At first, I was a little worried that it could "turn into" some kind of giant girl, but it turns out that not every EVA can... change...

What appeared in the experimental site was a giant girl with long silver-blue hair, red eyes, wearing a set of turquoise light bikini armor with many dark red lines on her body.

The most eye-catching thing is the giant green curved horns growing on both sides of her head.

You call this Unit Zero?

Compared to the nearly doll-like "Giant Ayanami Rei", the expression of this "Giant Girl with Horns" is much more vivid. It has a completely ferocious expression that wants to destroy everything in front of it. When you look closely, you can see it. She was found to be firmly restrained in place by the restraint, and an insertion bolt was being entered from the back of her neck.

"aaaaaa——!]"

She can even make sounds, although they are just Shinji's auditory hallucinations.

"lcl——】"

"--touch.】"

"Synchronization rate 50%...]"

"……Finish.】"

Following several inaudible announcements, the expression of the giant horned girl gradually solidified, and then she lowered her head.

"Contact the restraint, Zero, try to control it to move.]" Ikari Yuantang's voice came again.

Apparently, the dad in the vision couldn't see the vision he saw in the vision.

Boom, boom.

The giant horned girl took two steps forward mechanically.

"Ready for the next step——]"

"aaaaaa——!]"

Before Ikari Yuantang could give further instructions, the giant horned girl suddenly pressed her head with both hands and let out a shrill scream.

"The synchronization rate dropped to 0%! Unit Zero is completely out of control!]"

0% is this? Why are you different?

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The next moment, the giant horned girl rushed to the experimental observation window like a wild beast, and then punched hard, but the wall structure was very strong and could not break the window at all except for some spider web-like cracks.

"Emergency ejection of the insertion plug!]"

laugh! Boom, boom, boom!

The silver-white insertion bolt flew out from the back of the giant horned girl's neck and crashed around the testing venue.

Hiss... Shinji Ikari, who had sat on the insertion plug and knew what was going on inside, took a deep breath. It was obvious that Rei Ayanami - the one with the small size - had injuries like this.

After the insertion bolt popped out, the giant horned girl punched a few more times with difficulty, and stopped completely with hatred on her face.

What should I do...when fighting side by side with Unit Zero in the future, don't let her resist damage to avoid going crazy?

Shinji Ikari was thinking wildly, but he saw Ikari Gendo in the illusion running all the way to the flying insertion bolt, trying to pull open the hatch.

No, it must be very hot. I had the impression that there would be a cooling process every time the insertion plug was ejected, but I obviously didn't have time to do it just now.

The next moment, Ikari Yuantang's hands turned into lava, and he easily unscrewed the hatch where the bolt was inserted.

...?

2003. Death World Demonic Fog City 10