The Collection of The End

——2015.8.31——】

Third New Tokyo City, suburban woods, late at night.

"I, I, I remember, you have to turn left here, no, no, it seems to be right?" Asuka tightly grasped the hem of Shinji Ikari's clothes and secretly poked her head out from behind him to guide him.

"Let me tell you," Shinji Ikari sighed while shining the flashlight ahead: "You arranged this 'Courage Test', right?"

"Yes, how can there be no courage test competition during the summer vacation?"

"You also decided the location and route, right?" Shinji Ikari looked at the surrounding woods that looked exactly the same and continued to ask.

"Yes, I deliberately chose a good place." Asuka's voice was still shaking, but there was still a hint of pride.

"Then what are you afraid of?!"

"I arranged it during the day!"

"..." Shinji Ikari held his forehead silently.

Is it ridiculous that EVA pilots are afraid of ghosts? According to him, those apostles who could cause a large number of casualties if not careful were more terrifying, but she fought several times in a row, and when she saw the apostles, she rushed forward like a dog seeing a bone. It was simply incomprehensible.

"Asuka."

"What, what?"

"99.86% of the DNA structure of apostles is the same as that of humans. Conventional weapons have no effect on apostles. They can only be affected by psychic power, 'wall of heart', and 'at force field'. If the at force field is eroded to 0, even if You will die directly if you sit in EVA." Shinji Ikari thought.

"Why are you talking about this?" Asuka calmed down a little.

"Are these characteristics the same as 'Ghost'?"

"……Why?"

"Aren't you afraid that ghosts will appear?" Shinji Ikari concluded: "What if the person who may appear from the woods at any time is actually an apostle?"

"Huh? Then I'll kill every one I see!" Asuka's courage suddenly grew: "Thinking about it this way, it doesn't seem so scary anymore."

Shinji Ikari watched with relief as Asuka walked in front with an arrogant pace that disowned her relatives, but before she could even say a few words of praise, she stepped back with a look of fear on her face.

Um? Did an apostle really appear? Shinji Ikari took two steps forward to block Asuka, but there was nothing in front of him.

"That, that...it suddenly occurred to me," Asuka said tremblingly, "I didn't drive unit 2."

You must be scared to death!

——

"Huh... don't worry about staying with Shinji-san." Kirishima Mana said, holding Shinji Ikari's arm.

"You feel more at ease with Ayanami, right?" Shinji Ikari looked at her: "At least you won't get lost."

This test of courage was conducted in two groups each. When he was walking with Asuka before, Kirishima Mana was with Ayanami Rei, and now, on the other side, if Asuka is walking with Ayanami Rei, she must be afraid even if she is afraid. Don't want to show it.

"No, it's difficult for ordinary people to remain calm when faced with 'people' who may trigger the 'Third Impact' at any time." Kirishima Mana tightened his grip on Shinji Ikari's arm slightly: "Shinji-san is really powerful."

"I never had the chance to ask, 'Future You' originally planned for you to come back to prevent the 'Third Impact', right? Now that the 'Third Impact' has not happened, then 'Present You' should not be in the future It will 'go back to the past', and the cycle will be interrupted." Shinji Ikari tried to express his meaning clearly as simply as possible: "Is there a time paradox here?"

"Well..." Kirishima Zana thought for a moment: "Let's put it this way, if time is a 'one-way street', then the problem you mentioned does exist, but time is actually an extremely complex 'overpass', 'future me' 'On the bridge' I saw that 'my present self' was about to enter the 'congested road section', so he directed me to 'change lanes' to avoid the 'congested road section', but the car situation of 'my future self' who was 'already blocked' It will not get better because of this. When the 'present me' reaches the position of the 'future me', I may experience a 'congested road section' that is not encountered by the 'future me'. At that time, the 'present me' will still have to direct the 'past'. I'm avoiding those sections."

"..." Shinji Ikari tried hard to understand the meaning of these words: "In other words, unless you have a 'smooth road', you will always go back to the past to command yourself at a specific point in time?"

"Um."

"Okay, I will try my best to help you achieve this," Shinji Ikari nodded: "I will try to make sure that you only have to run back and say, 'Don't be captured and become a maid.'"

"That's not a 'congested road'..."

"What?"

"No, it's nothing."

——

"Uh...hey..."

After Shinji Ikari met Rei Ayanami, he stretched out a lot.

"What? Are you so tired walking at night with a beautiful girl?" Rei Ayanami asked.

"It's okay, don't repeat what you said about 'consulting the unified mind body'." Shinji Ikari pinched his forehead.

"Oh," Ayanami Rei nodded: "Are you tired?"

"The physical strength is okay, but the mind is tired," Shinji Ikari twisted his neck: "This is the last trip, I guess. I'll finish my trip quickly and go back to rest. I still have a little bit of summer homework left. If I stay up late at night, I should be able to finish it. over."

"There's no rush," Ayanami Rei walked into the woods along the route of the courage test meeting: "I have something to show you."

"What is so mysterious?" Shinji Ikari followed her and asked casually: "It's not an apostle again, is it?"

……again?

"No," Rei Ayanami replied, "It's 'Adam'."

"Oh, it's Adam."

"Um."

"..."

After the two of them walked for a while, Shinji Ikari was suddenly surprised: "Adam? Is it the Adam that Mr. Kaji brought back?!"

"Yes, Commander Ikari gave it to me a few days ago."

"Asuka must have been too noisy during this period. I was surprised that it took me a while to remember." Shinji Ikari pinched his forehead.

"Feel sorry."

"No, I'm not blaming you," Shinji Ikari shook his head and began to look around: "Where did you put it?"

"here."

Rei Ayanami stopped, turned around, and showed the back of her left hand to Shinji Ikari.

Under the illumination of the flashlight, Shinji Ikari could clearly see that there was a bright red shield pattern consisting of three parts glowing slightly on her fair skin.

"Adam?" Shinji Ikari blinked.

"Yes," Ayanami Rei nodded: "Eve became Adam, but there is an extra line on her hand."

"Oh... Indeed, it is said that the Spear of Longinus is thorny..." Shinji Ikari didn't know how to evaluate it for a moment and started to talk nonsense.

Great, not turning into a boy.

"..." Ayanami Rei tilted his head slightly and said, "I'll show you how to use it."

"Three punches?" Shinji Ikari continued to talk nonsense.

"Compared to the boring Third Impact," Rei Ayanami said, "I would rather know when you can complete your summer vacation homework in time."

What does it have to do with homework?

Shinji Ikari was wondering when he saw that the pattern on Rei Ayanami's hand was missing a stroke.

At the same time, a row of bright, transistor-like numbers appeared in front of his eyes.

0.015532%

0.015498%

I don’t know what it is, but it seems bad if it returns to zero——

——2015.8.31——】

——2015.8.12——】