Inside an abandoned laboratory, a yellow EVA with its entry plug sealed by cross-shaped pins had its four limbs bound by restraints.
Through the broken window, Ikari Gendou watched the giant humanoid weapon kneeling in front of him like a suffering angel.
His eyes were cold and elusive, and Akagi Ritsuko walked to Ikari Gendou’s side, following his gaze to look down together.
“Shinji’s data has been uploaded to the MAGI system.
Are you sure you want to lift the freeze on Unit-00?
The elders’ side…”
“Rei’s physical condition is already capable of undergoing testing, you can start preparing, you do not need to worry about other things.”
Ikari Gendou handed the document to Akagi Ritsuko, his hands in his pockets looking very arrogant.
After Akagi Ritsuko took the document, she glanced at the particularly striking half-body photo of Ikari Shinji on it at first sight.
She could not help but frown: “Is your son okay?
His mental state is seriously inconsistent with expectations.”
“Do not worry about him, this is exactly a good excuse to lift the frozen state of Unit-00.” Ikari Gendou gave value to the problem in Akagi Ritsuko’s mouth with the simplest words.
After the brief conversation ended, neither of them stayed.
Akagi Ritsuko returned to her familiar laboratory, while Ikari Gendou walked towards the depths underground, his figure gradually disappearing into the darkness.
This room was unusually spacious and deep, surrounded by pitch black, only those few white light bands dotted in between, appearing particularly striking.
Around a piece of white glowing floor in the center of the room, seven black monoliths stood in a circle, like a cage.
And on the black monoliths lit up “SEELE SOUND ONLY” composed of red lines, they were the voices of the Soul Seat.
Each monolith also had a different numerical number, and at the top was the SEELE logo…
an inverted triangle, seven eyes, a snake, and an apple pattern combined together.
People who like to study religion might associate it with many things.
They could eat the fruit from all the trees in the garden, except for the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
However, one day, the cunning Satan incarnated as a poisonous snake and used sweet words to lure Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit.
From then on, humanity bore the innate original sin.
Ikari Gendou could recite these religious stories backwards fluently, just to coax the old men represented by these monoliths.
Overhead was completely shrouded in endless pitch black, and looking down, one could only see that small, narrow space underfoot as pure and flawless as snow.
It had to be said, the atmosphere here was truly oppressive, making people feel breathless.
The old men just liked to use this boring imagery, as if doing so was judging sinners abandoned by the world.
And Ikari Gendou sat in front of the long table in the center of the room, as if welcoming judgment.
A voice came from the SEELE-03 monolith: “Three minutes and thirty-three seconds, what a beautiful number, Ikari Shinji only used this amount of time to defeat the Water Angel, very outstanding.”
“The Fourth Angel is confirmed silent, the prologue of the script is proceeding according to the records of the Dead Sea Scrolls.” The first monolith spoke, “But a deviation from the script has occurred.”
“Your son is currently the only key to opening the door of destiny, Ikari!” The number two monolith spoke.
Ikari Gendou pushed his glasses, “The deviation is within a controllable range, and the result is certain.
The Angel was annihilated, and Unit-01 and the pilot fulfilled their predetermined destiny.”
“However, if the key is not held in the hands of the master of the house, it might open doors that should not be opened.” The number three monolith spoke again.
Ikari Gendou’s expression did not change, “Do not worry, while putting Unit-01 into actual combat, Unit-02 and its affiliated pilot are undergoing evaluation tests in Germany, and the First Child’s body has also recovered and can continue to participate in the testing of Unit-00.”
“The development projects for Unit-03 and onwards are also the same as planned, right?” The number four monolith asked.
“We entrusted NERV and EVA to you because we believe in your abilities, you absolutely must not disappoint us, Ikari.” The number seven monolith said.
The number two monolith spoke: “Ikari Shinji is not completely unusable, defeating the Angels is only a process, he only needs to be able to play a role when the Fifth Angel appears.”
“That is right, an excellent chess player should make good use of every chess piece.” The number one monolith said.
The number six monolith spoke: “Annihilating the Angels is only a small part of the contract with Lilith, executing the Human Instrumentality Project is our ultimate wish.”
After the old men spoke one after another, although Ikari Gendou’s expression remained elusive, he also lowered his head, as if displaying humility and submission.
…
Tokyo-3, 7th Shinjuku Ward.
The vehicle sped along the above-ground highway, the wheels rubbing against the road surface making a slight rustling sound.
Ikari Shinji was just thinking about how Katsuragi Misato’s welcome party would treat him, when he saw the blue Renault stop in front of a convenience store.
“Even if you do not take me to experience the local customs and practices, finding a slightly better small shop would be fine too.” Ikari Shinji leaned against the window.
“Do not have too high expectations for the salary of the working class!
You will understand when you get your wages…” Katsuragi Misato’s old face blushed.
“I actually forgot that you still have twelve installments of loans to pay off.” Ikari Shinji naturally did not understand, that “Human Civilization Continuation Insurance Premium” on his employment contract made him feel like he could not spend it all even if he waited until the end of the world.
They got out of the car and walked in together, only to see Katsuragi Misato head straight for the depths of the convenience store, ignoring everything else and first hugging a case of bottled beer.
Ikari Shinji then picked up two pork cutlet bentos and two beef bentos according to his own taste, treating them as the staple food for their lunch and dinner today.
Looking at Katsuragi Misato’s posture, one could tell it was impossible to figure out how to solve the three meals a day after getting home.
However, he was also used to it, fortunately in terms of pocket money Ikari Gendou had never deducted it, he was a regular customer of convenience stores and roadside ramen stalls.
Then he took a few more snacks like fried skewers and croquettes, not expensive and could be as sumptuous as possible, this was already the limit of a worker burdened with twelve installments of loans.
Returning to the NERV staff dormitory it was already approaching noon.
When the two opened the door carrying full shopping bags, a complex, layered, and highly aggressive foul smell hit their faces.
This smell was not singular, but a “cocktail” style stench mixed from multiple sources.
“Your luggage has already arrived, actually I also just moved to this city a few days ago.” Katsuragi Misato said while walking into the house with large strides.
“To be able to make the room look like this after just moving in for a few days, it is also hard on you.” Ikari Shinji walked into the room and could not help but sigh.
Messy clothes all over the floor, beer bottles and cans placed crookedly everywhere, and snack bags paved in every corner like a carpet.
Katsuragi Misato, who was originally used to this kind of life, did not feel anything, but upon hearing Ikari Shinji’s words, that old face suddenly blushed again.