EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from the Dragon Clan

Chapter 168 166. Asuka and EVA Unit

As if seeing the doubt in his heart, Makiba patiently explained:
"Shinji-kun, do you remember? The red core on the Angel's body."

"of course I remember."

After piloting Unit-01 and fighting against the Angels so many times, Shinji Ikari knows that this core is the weakness of the Angels and also the source of their energy. It sounds like the setting of Marvel's Iron Man. It should be much more powerful than the Ark Reactor on Iron Man's chest. After all, it is a big thing dozens of meters high, and the power that can make the Angels move should not be underestimated.

And as long as we destroy this thing.

It means annihilating the apostles.

"We officially call the core of the Angel the S2 mechanism. The experiment in Germany this time was to equip the EVA with this mechanism, but the experiment failed."

Makiba's tone was quite emotional.

...Equip the EVA with that thing?
What a wonderful idea.

Can this thing be plug-and-play like the eyes in some legends? Shinji Ikari thought about it and actually felt that it was logically feasible. After all, it was "well-known" that the EVA was a replica of the Angel. If this thing could be installed, maybe there would be no need for power supply in the future.

But there is no such simple thing in the world.

The consequence of the failure was the disappearance of thousands of people in the entire German branch.

S2 mechanism, the core of the Angel... Could it be that this is what Unit- was inexplicably craving for? Shinji Ikari suddenly thought.

"So Shinji-kun, I have to stay in Japan for the time being. Oh, this is really an unexpected result."

Speaking of which,
The woman with glasses looked at the time on her watch:

"It's time to report on my duties. I'm leaving now. If you have time, please help me bring this sad news to the princess. I deliberately staggered the time just to avoid seeing her stubborn look. Although such a princess is also unique... I think I used the wrong word. Anyway, we should have more opportunities to meet in the future."

"Well, bye, Miss Mary."

Ikari Shinji watched her leave.

Speaking of Unit-01, he recalled the experience of defeating the twelfth angel. When he was calling for his mother in the empty world, he suddenly had an illusion in Unit-01, as if he was talking to his mother. Was that a memory he had forgotten when he was a child, or was his mother really talking to him?
Saying that you are the last hope of mankind... this responsibility is a bit too heavy.

And after Unit-01 went berserk.

What is that strong appetite craving for?

Could it be what he thought... Ikari Shinji thought about it for a long time, but he still couldn't come up with a definite answer. Maybe, if Unit-01 gets the Angel's core, the Japanese headquarters will end up like the German branch that disappeared completely; maybe, if Unit-01 gets the Angel's core, there will be no more fatigue after fighting for only five minutes after a power outage, and it can maintain its strength even if it keeps running wild.

Is this something you can gamble on?
Should I trust the mother in Unit-01? Ikari Shinji hesitated in his heart. No one could afford the consequences of losing the bet. He was not a gambler who had lost all his cards and was in a rage.

He stood in the corridor for a long time.

So a few minutes later, Asuka who was passing by saw Shinji Ikari looking like a pensive David statue, and stared at him strangely. It was rare to see Shinji looking troubled by something. What could be so difficult for the invincible Lord Shinji?
She thought to herself, feeling a little gloating, and then called out to him:

"Hey idiot, what are you doing standing here?"

"Asuka?"

When he saw Asuka, Shinji Ikari remembered the commission that Miss Mary gave him before she left.

But if Asuka suddenly learned that the German branch had disappeared, she would be in a bad mood since she had lived there since she was a child. Even Miss Mary, who was very familiar with Asuka, thought that the princess would be sad. Damn it, why did he call her princess? It was all Miss Mary's habit. However, thinking about it this way, Miss Mary was a good person.

Shinji Ikari unconsciously gave out a nice guy card.

"Asuka."

"Ok?"

"…nothing."

"is it?"

Asuka pouted her lips. Seeing Shinji Ikari looking like he had something to say, she felt a little angry. What was he trying to do? Although I did provoke you a little before, and there was some ambiguity when we were fighting the twelfth angel, you better not provoke me. She is so hypocritical!

"that……"

But Shinji Ikari still spoke out about it.

"The German branch was completely wiped out in an experimental accident the day before yesterday. I thought you might be concerned about this."

"what?"

……

……

in the apartment.

Misato Katsuragi looked at Asuka who had hung up the phone with concern.

"Have you finished your call?"

"Ah."

Asuka nodded listlessly, her fair face slightly illuminated by the pale light in the apartment.

After hearing the news that the entire German branch had disappeared.

She confirmed it several times before she believed that this was true and not some April Fool's joke that Shinji Ikari played on her.

Berlin... that could be considered the place where she grew up. Her impression of this city was that when the evening bell struck, the sun set behind the dome of the Berlin Observatory, and the white snowflakes falling from the sky melted into a line with the sunlight on the trees on the streets of Berlin. The feeling was not warm, but it was not cold either.

Childhood training with EVA Unit 2.

It was completed in the German branch.

All the good and bad memories happened there. Some of the people she knew in Berlin were also in that branch. Asuka felt that she would never have such a deep impression of any other place, including the headquarters in Japan.

People always have nostalgia for a place where they have stayed for a long time.

…but now this place has disappeared.

There was no way out now. Even her mother in Germany called her - of course, that was not Asuka's real mother, but her stepmother, the object of her father's extramarital affair.

After her real mother committed suicide.

The two got married at lightning speed.

This time, the stepmother called because of the disappearance of the German branch. She probably felt it was dangerous and paid attention to her stepdaughter. Asuka barely pretended to be living a good life. Well, she was living a good life. The princess from Germany was so outstanding no matter where she was. She could always put on an elegant smile and wear the most beautiful dress to face social balls. But after dealing with this stepmother, she just felt a little exhausted.

"Even if I go back to Germany now, there's nowhere to go..."

Asuka thought. Although she called those two people mom and dad, their home was not a place for Asuka to stay. She would feel out of place every moment. As for her grandmother, she was already that old, so it was better not to let her worry about so many things.

"Would you like to take a few days off and go back to Germany?"

Katsuragi Misato said sympathetically:

"There's no rush for training. The apostle just came here last time. It's impossible for him to come again in the next few days. Asuka, you want to go back and take a look, right?"

"……No."

Asuka rejected her proposal with a bit of stubbornness in her tone.

"There's nothing to see if I go back to Germany now... They said everything is gone, right? Rather than going back to see a ruin, I might as well stay here."

Done.

She went back to her room.

Looking at the tightly closed door, the kind-hearted Misato Katsuragi couldn't help but feel a little headache. If this continued, she felt that she would be pissed off by this kid and die young! She was so mad in her heart that it felt like there were seven or eight orange cats crawling around. She said she didn't need to, but looking at Asuka like this, she really wanted to go back and take a look.

But for the sake of that inexplicable self-esteem, I finally chose to refuse.

But Misato Katsuragi had no other good solution.

Should I rush into Asuka's room, grab her collar and tell her, "Don't be sad, like a dejected little white rabbit. If it doesn't work out, I'll go back to Germany with you. After we pay our respects to those acquaintances, we'll beat up your parents and make you feel better. Finally, we'll go back to Japan and drive Unit 2 to fight the Angels." If Misato Katsuragi could do such a thing, she wouldn't be Misato Katsuragi.

So this state of worrying about Asuka continued for several days afterwards.

Until a piece of news came.

Only then did Misato Katsuragi, the Chief of Operations, finally focus on her main job.

——EVA Unit 3.

——It will be transported to Matsushiro, Japan in half a month.

Unit 3.

It is an EVA machine manufactured in the United States and is the combat machine after Unit 2.

After hearing the news from Ritsuko, Katsuragi Misato, who was still slacking off in the office, asked in confusion, "I remember that the United States wanted to conduct the startup experiment of Unit 03 in its own country. When they applied for it before, they gave all kinds of legitimate reasons to obstruct it. Why are they going to ship it to Japan so soon..."

Akagi Ritsuko shook the coffee cup in her hand, smiled and replied:

"After all, we heard about the accident during Unit 4's experiment. No one wants to leave such a bomb on the mainland. If there is an accident in Las Vegas..."

Misato Katsuragi immediately understood the hidden meaning in her words.

It's just transferring the danger to the headquarters in Japan, which is really the American style.

But we have no right to refuse. However, it is just an experiment, what can go wrong? The Americans are too worried. However, Katsuragi Misato cannot be completely relieved, after all, Rei was injured in the initial experiment of Unit 0.

If you don't handle it well this time, you might get injured.

"Do we need to select a driver?" she asked.

"Well, I'll leave it to you to decide on this." Akagi Ritsuko threw the task to Katsuragi Misato, and then the blonde beauty remembered something and said, "By the way, Asuka and Unit 2's synchronization rate has dropped a lot in recent days. If it continues like this, it won't be good. Katsuragi, you'd better remind her."

"The decline... could it be related to the physical condition?"

"Is something wrong with her?" Ritsuko Akagi asked with concern.

"These days are her menstrual period."

“…It probably has nothing to do with that.”

Looking at her friend drinking coffee in silence, Misato Katsuragi didn't know what to say to help Asuka. When she first came to Japan, she was full of energy even during her period, but after eating ice cream for a few months, she was no longer as energetic.

She had no choice but to nod and say, "I'll tell Asuka," and ended the topic.

If it has nothing to do with the body.

Is that a mental problem?
Faintly, Misato Katsuragi seemed to have grasped the context of the unknown thing, the synchronization rate between the pilot and the EVA body, but she could not grasp the feeling of the distribution of tree branches. This kind of technical problem has never been her forte. She should first think about who should be chosen as the pilot for the experiment to start the No. 3 unit, and the problem of the decline in the synchronization rate between Asuka and the No. 2 unit.

just.

When they returned to the apartment that night, Asuka took the initiative to bring up the matter of Unit 03.

She had been eating too much ice cream these days, so she could only feel comfortable lying on the sofa. However, this position was facing the air conditioner, and she didn't know whether she was enjoying it or being tortured. Katsuragi Misato felt that it was more of a torture. Anyway, she would not use the air conditioner like this on special days. But Asuka had no intention of leaving the sofa, but asked lazily, "Is Unit 3 going to be transported here?"

"Well, Asuka, do you know too?"

"After all, it's not a secret. Everyone in the headquarters is spreading it." Asuka said indifferently.

Unit 3...

Think of this.

Katsuragi Misato suddenly had an idea, and she asked with a smile:

"Then Asuka, do you want to try Unit-3? Didn't I tell you before that if you can change to the same paint scheme as Unit-2, you can try to pilot it. If you can synchronize successfully, changing to Unit-2's paint scheme shouldn't be a big problem. I'll help you submit a report then."

——Misato Katsuragi thinks she is a super genius.

Asuka and Unit 2's synchronization rate dropped, maybe it was just a lack of compatibility, after all, there is such a thing as synchronization rate. Trying Unit 3 is an additional option. And this kid has been very depressed for the past few days, even if he just goes to Matsushiro to relax.

Kill two birds with one stone!

The problem is the possibility of injury...

"How about it? Asuka, do you want to give it a try? It will be delivered in half a month." Katsuragi Misato said, "We are already deciding on the driver, but don't force yourself if you don't want to go."

But Asuka didn't seem to care about this at all, and asked a question instead:

"If I don't go, will Shinji or the honors student go?"

"…Probably Rei."

Also.

After all, she was the pilot of the prototype, and all subsequent machines were developed based on hers. Asuka thought, and then said:

"…Then I'll give it a try, Miss."

(End of this chapter)