The Collection of The End

——2016.4.1——

Nerv headquarters, special ICU ward.

"I will resign as Commander-in-Chief of Nerv and designate you as my successor."

"Can this be specified? Won't the Ground Alliance say anything?"

"Your mother will take care of it."

"…sounds very convincing."

Previously, when Shinji Ikari used the excuse of "Shinji Ikari of other world lines is not me" to excuse Rei Ayanami's suggestion that "you are a playboy", Gendo Ikari came to the special care ward to visit him.

Ayanami didn't get to the bottom of it, and left after a brief greeting. Before Shinji Ikari could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard his father's plan to put more burdens on him.

No, does anyone remember that I was only fourteen?

"It is not implemented immediately. It will not be officially handed over until you are at least 18 years old," Ikari Gendo continued: "Before that, the acting commander will be Misato Katsuragi, and you will systematically learn all the professional knowledge required to hold this position. .”

"Can I refuse?" Shinji Ikari asked with the idea of ​​giving it a try without spending any money.

"Yes," Ikari Gendo's expression remained unchanged: "But you will be sent out of the Third New Tokyo City as an irrelevant person."

"Well……"

"Zero will not leave." Ikari Yuantang added.

This is a threat!

"It's a threat." Ikari Yuantang nodded.

……Um?

Shinji Ikari looked at his father's serious face.

Don’t think that I don’t know that you want to find your mother after leaving office. If you don’t help me, I will file a complaint with your mother, saying that you were messing around with many female employees at Nerv Headquarters——

"Although I don't know what stupid thing you are thinking, but I can't read minds," Ikari Yuantang said: "Before the 'third impact' occurs, any reaction you may have will be in the form of 'déjà vu' I sensed it, and although that feeling has disappeared now, I can still roughly guess what you are thinking based on experience."

"Hmm..." Shinji Ikari thought for a moment: "In other words, your conversations with me have always been very brief. Is it because my words are basically expected and feel boring? That's why you often put 'yes' On the lips?"

"That's right." Ikari Yuantang replied.

That's it... Shinji Ikari nodded. His father seemed to be able to vaguely see the situation in the parallel world, but it was far less clear than Ayanami's ability to "read the world line". Therefore, Ayanami could answer the words just right, while his father could only pretend to speak as little as possible. Master.

However, because of the "third impact" caused by the "closed space", everyone is now in a world line that even Ayanami has never experienced, and has no idea what will happen. Ayanami can no longer guess himself From this idea, it can be inferred that the father's "sense of déjà vu" has also been abolished.

If you want to prove it, it's very simple.

"Have you eaten?" he asked suddenly.

"That's right." Ikari Yuantang replied.

"..."x2

"Hmph," Ikari Gendo raised his hand to cover his mouth: "You are right, after losing the ability of 'limited prediction', I can no longer serve as the commander of Nerv. Even Misato Katsuragi can analyze form and conduct on-the-spot He is also more capable than me."

I didn't guess that at all, but let's let dad retain his last bit of confidence.

Speaking of which, how did he retain his memory between different world lines?

Also, this kind of posture of folding hands to cover the mouth must not be learned in the future... huh?

At this time, Shinji Ikari noticed that on the back of the right hand of the outgoing Nerv Commander, which was placed near his mouth, there were blurry, flame-like lines that flashed away.

At this moment, two guesses flashed through Shinji Ikari's mind:

Hey, my "illusion" powers are still there.

Did Dad ever transplant "Adam" into his own hands in other world lines?

incredible.

——

"Shinji-senpai..."

After Ikari Gendo made excuses to leave, the third person he found was Kirishima's real name. Her face turned pale and her eyes were watery:

"I...I might be dying..."

"How is that possible?" Shinji Ikari's eyes twitched: "Why do you think so?"

"Because... I can't sense the future..." Kirishima's real name sounded like he was about to cry: "When 'future me' comes to me, I can clearly sense that 'she' is 'future me' ', and, since then, I have been able to vaguely perceive what I have done in the future and what the consequences will be, such as... with my seniors... um..."

Don’t worry about the 20% of me!

And why are there people around me who can predict the future?

No, the cause and effect are reversed. If the "future Kirishima's real name" is in the "world line you abandoned", even if she can travel through time and space, why should she come back to help you? Is it possible to win love with a sword? Is she that kind of person?

So, the prohibition is actually: "We got closer because of the 'Corruption Incident of Unit 3', experienced the 'Third Impact' together, and finally became a 'husband and wife'"?

Good guy, this is still 20% of the world line. I don’t even dare to imagine how 40% of Asuka and 30% of Katsuragi Misato came to be.

Fortunately, the remaining 10% is about "marrying various other women." I feel that my affection for Nagisa Kaoru is a bit abnormal.

Is there a possibility that Ayanami only said "marrying a woman" and the world line of "being with a man" was not included in the statistics?

impossible! Absolutely impossible!

What about Unit 1? Come and kill these crazy guys!

Hmm, think about it carefully, what is the gender of Unit 1?

Don't forget Unit Zero.

you--! puff--!

Ah... a split personality vomited blood and died. It is truly a miracle of psychiatric medicine.

Although the total number has increased instead.

"Senior...?" Kirishima's real name was startled. Although he still looked like he was about to die, he still managed to gather his energy and reached out to hold the hand of Shinji Ikari who was squeezing his forehead hard: "It's possible. ...I feel wrong...maybe I will be busy in the future..."

"No, it's okay," Shinji Ikari held her hand in turn: "It's normal that you can't feel the future, because it hasn't happened yet. You are the time where the world will still exist after the third impact." Individuals who are at the forefront of the line, if you don’t believe it, ‘look back’?”

Because time is linear in Kirishima Mana's worldview, Shinji Ikari had no intention of adding a new coordinate axis to her, so he just reluctantly explained the matter in a way that she could understand. In a sense, it couldn't be said is wrong.

"Um……"

Kirishima's eyes were confused for a while, as if she was browsing the timeline. When her eyes finally regained clarity and her expression became more natural, she lowered her head and saw the hands of the two holding hands, and her face started to turn red again.

"Um...Senior, please take good care of yourself..." She said in a voice not much louder than a mosquito: "If...not...no matter what, I will always wait for Senior."

After reluctantly speaking, she slowly took out her hand, lowered her head, and left the ICU ward with small steps.

As long as you are willing to look back, she will be there. Is this why 20% of you choose her?

No, it should be 80% of the reason why I didn't choose her.

——

Shinji Ikari was originally worried about how he would deal with a 30% chance of getting married if he came to see him, but until dark, Misato Katsuragi did not show up.

He lay on the bed looking at the roof and began to think about it.

Thinking about it carefully, her father was about to step down and she was acting commander. She had a lot of things to do. There was really no need to go out to see someone who was not life-threatening and could be seen often.

In terms of her true age, she must be around thirty now. Although she always threatens to call her sister, she is actually about the same generation as her mother, and with the blessing of good governance, it is unlikely that she will be regarded as a lover in any case. Object, if you deduce this, the 30% of the world line that married Katsuragi Misato was not pursued by her on her own initiative, but by herself?

This... I can't imagine the reason why I took the initiative to get involved between her, Ritsuko Akagi and Ryoharu Kaji. Why would a child get involved in an adult's matter?

Unless Ryoji Kaji chose Ritsuko Akagi and dumped her?

Even if this is the case, it won’t be... Hey, wait a minute.

Shinji Ikari remembered what Rei Ayanami said about another question about the probability of world lines:

There is a 67% chance that he will be the commander of Nerv, a 20% chance that Katsuragi Misato will be the commander, and a 10% chance that Kaji Ryoji will be the commander.

Logically speaking, it is impossible for an undercover agent to become the commander-in-chief no matter how much he thinks about it, unless someone "knows that he is an undercover agent" but still makes this appointment, and the only one who can make such a decision is himself, Shinji Ikari.

It is further deduced that the world line in which Kaji Ryoharu becomes the commander must be the world line in which he marries Katsuragi Misato, and the world line in which Katsuragi Misato becomes the commander must be the world line in which he and she fail.

It would be much easier to push back at this point: Misato Katsuragi was busy as acting commander and had to teach herself how to become a qualified commander, so she ultimately failed in the "battle for good governance" with Ritsuko Akagi. Then, I don't know whether it was out of compensation or a long-term love, "Shinji Ikari of those world lines" pursued Misato Katsuragi, and succeeded by relying on the advantage of being familiar enough in life and work.

However, because Rei Ayanami is still in the current world line, Shinji Ikari cannot think of any possibility of pursuing Misato Katsuragi now.

Um? "Still"? etc?

Rei Ayanami clearly said that this is the world line where "the world still exists after the third impact", right? Those world lines don't have the good thing of "Little Ayanami" opening a "closed space". In other words, Nerv may suffer heavy losses, and Misato Katsuragi may not be dumped, but die because of Kaji Ryoharu?

Ah this...

A lot of pink thoughts instantly turned into solemn black and tragic red.

——

After speculating about the tragic situation in other world lines for a long time, Shinji Ikari finally turned his thoughts to Asuka, the person he had a 40% chance of getting married to.

Putting aside the filtered self and judging by objective conditions, Asuka is prettier than Rei Ayanami. The most obvious evidence is that the ratio of the number of love letters found in the shoe cabinet between the two of them is 200:1. That letter Still stuffed wrong.

Regarding Rei Ayanami, it is almost impossible for people who are not familiar with her to understand her true nature. They will only say that she is withdrawn based on her external appearance, has a cold expression, is not good at talking, and is a loner - you are obviously blind!

Hey, I'm thinking about Asuka now, so there's no need to feel sorry for Ayanami.

What's the use of fighting with the air?

From a personal standpoint, the fewer people who like her, the better, right?

There is no way, when people like someone, something, or something, they will hope that it/him/her can be liked by more people.

Ayanami is the best in the world!

I think Asuka is pretty good, right?

Die! heresy!

To be fair, it speaks volumes that 40% of Shinji Ikari chose her.

That is to say, Ayanami-chan didn't participate in the competition. Her straightforward, like-like and dislike-like personality is much better than Asuka's.

Yes, yes, it's obvious that she likes Shinji. It's outrageous to have to put on a face of disgust and push Kirishima's real name here.

This, this, this is called character traits! Although I can't predict the future, I believe this awkward character will be very popular in the future! Don’t forget 40%!

Tsk...there's really no way to refute using data to pressure people.

Well, doesn't she live next door? I'll go to her bedside and wait for her to wake up, so you can see her reaction. If you have the ability, don't say she's so cute!

I guess her first sentence must be about a perverted gangster lolita or something.

Come and bet. If you lose, you will perish.

Just bet.

The symptoms of schizophrenia have become more and more serious recently. Can you respect my opinion?

After lying down for a day, Shinji Ikari, who had roughly recovered some of his strength, rolled out of bed, pressed his forehead, and walked out of the door with his slippers on.

"Shinji-kun? What do you need?"

Facts have proved that sleeping in the ICU ward and waiting for the patient to wake up is basically impossible without the incarnation of Eve. Those who need to be admitted to the special care ward either have a particularly serious injury or a particularly important identity, and no matter what, it is impossible not to do so. People care.

"I heard that Asuka is next door." Shinji Ikari looked at the ward next door and then at the nurse in front of him: "Can I go in and see her?"

"This, you can see, but you can't go in," the nurse said with a slight embarrassment: "She suffered a particularly serious injury during the battle with the '16th Apostle', and visits are not allowed yet."

oh? The sixteenth apostle?

It seems that Nerv has judged the twelve mass-produced EVAs sent by the Ground Alliance to try to steal the house as the 16th Apostle, because similar incidents have happened before, and no one seems to be surprised.

"Well, just take a look. I don't have much energy right now. I'll go back to sleep later." Shinji Ikari replied.

"Then, please come here."

Shinji Ikari followed the nurse to the intensive care unit next to the ICU and took a look through the window.

Contrary to the fact that most of the instruments on Asuka's side are just decorations, more than 90% of the instruments on Asuka's side are in the activated state. Various data tables and bar graphs are flashing by, and Asuka, who is usually buzzing, has various kinds of things happening on her body. patch, infusion tube and respiratory mask, lying quietly on the hospital bed.

Although it is not difficult for Shinji Ikari to fight against twelve mass-produced machines, if the No. 2 machine is allowed to fight alone... will she complain about the No. 0-1 machine that has never appeared when the battle situation is unfavorable? What about Unit 3?

Didi, didi——

Perhaps sensing that she was being watched, Asuka opened her eyes as some instruments made a slightly different buzzing sound.

After seeing Shinji Ikari, her eyes first curved into crescents, then she blinked as if she was helpless, and then rolled her eyes at him with difficulty and tried to turn her face to the side, but due to the impact of the medical equipment, Restraint, this action could not be completed, and finally he closed his eyes hard with an anger.

...I have to say, it's a bit cute.