EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from the Dragon Clan

Chapter 255, Section 253: The Disappearance of Little Rei Ayanami (Part 7)
Ritsuko Akagi stopped holding the cigarette between her fingers.

She didn't answer the question immediately. Instead, she deftly stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray, then got up and turned on the ventilation system to dissipate some of the smoke in the office. Two or three seconds later, she slowly looked at Shinji Ikari. However, Shinji's gaze remained sharp; his black eyes were like whirlpools, making it somewhat difficult to meet his eyes.

"...Shinji-kun, what are you referring to?"

"..." Even though he was almost certain of his guess, it was still very difficult for Shinji Ikari to say it out loud. He tried to keep his tone calm, but the inexplicable pressure made the atmosphere in the office almost freeze. "Dr. Akagi, you must know, right? About the problem with Ayanami."

Seemingly because her name was mentioned, Rei Ayanami, who had been following him blankly, suddenly focused her attention. The girl stopped looking at the ashtray on the desk and instead pretended to listen attentively. Ritsuko Akagi couldn't help but glance at her. The girl had reverted to her doll-like form. However, although she had been completely mechanical and inhuman when she came out of the incubation tank yesterday, she had gained a bit of "humanity" in just one day.

Ritsuko Akagi seemed slightly distracted, but Shinji Ikari patiently awaited her answer. After a brief silence, the Minister of Science and Technology finally spoke:
"She's the same as you were before..."

"what?"

"It dissolved in Unit 0."

"...Dissolve...?"

"The cause is unknown. It was only discovered when Unit-00 was recovered. She is still in the cockpit, but she has become one with the LCL liquid."

Ritsuko Akagi did not try to hide anything from this issue.

The boy in front of her already knew a lot about EVA, so it would be too foolish to pretend to be stupid in front of him. Besides, it wasn't anything too secretive—except for things related to the soul of the most important Second Apostle, Lilith, nothing else was worth caring about.

Hear her words.

Shinji Ikari frowned subconsciously.

Suppose… suppose Ritsuko Akagi’s words are true, that is, in the battle against the Sixteenth Angel, the Rei Ayanami he knew dissolved into the severely injured Unit-00 for some unknown reason… Shinji Ikari recalled his own experience of dissolving into Unit-00 due to a machine swap experiment.

—The EVA unit, copied from an Angel, may be yearning for human souls. Did Unit-00 absorb her soul as its "machine spirit"? Like Unit-01 in the past?

but.

As the pilot of Unit-00, Rei Ayanami has not encountered any unexpected situations for a long time.

Why would it suddenly dissolve during a battle?
He initially thought Rei Ayanami was a clone, and therefore didn't have a "soul," but the sudden dissolution dispelled that idea. Thus, a question that had long lingered in his mind resurfaced—are clones soulless, lifeless beings...? No, they must have souls. Shinji Ikari was the first to disbelieve that the beautiful girl didn't have a soul.

In this unscientific world, just as the EVA machine needs a soul to activate, perhaps humans also need a soul to give birth to consciousness.

So, does that mean that when creating clones, each clone can possess a soul?

"...What exactly is the control system of Unit-00?"

"..."

Ritsuko Akagi's pupils dilated slightly, surprised by this keen observation, but her expression remained largely unchanged. Shinji Ikari's coldness in his words seemed almost tangible, yet she appeared unaffected, simply asking a follow-up question.
"Didn't the deputy commander tell you?"

Shinji Ikari once had a conversation with Vice Commander Fuyutsuki.

The old man said that the control system of Unit-00 was Rei Ayanami herself. Shinji Ikari thought at the time that a Rei Ayanami clone had dissolved into Unit-00 before, but he later dissolved into Unit-00 himself, so he rejected this idea.

This proves that Vice Commander Fuyutsuki's words were false...

No, perhaps it is true, but not entirely.

“It’s said that Ayanami herself…” Shinji Ikari paused, trying to glean something from Ritsuko Akagi’s expression. Unfortunately, he couldn’t detect anything unusual on the adult woman’s face; the blonde beauty only showed signs of fatigue from working long hours and dark circles under her eyes. “But now it seems that’s not the case?”

"No, Shinji."

Ritsuko Akagi shook her head.

"What the deputy commander told you is true. However, you should understand, right? There are still many things about the apostles that we haven't figured out yet."

"..."

Is it not false?
Shinji Ikari fell into deep thought.

In other words, there is indeed some crucial information behind the scenes that he is unaware of.

In the few seconds he was thinking, Ritsuko Akagi's gaze returned to Rei Ayanami behind him. The blonde beauty raised an eyebrow, as if reminding him of something from Shinji Ikari's perspective: "By the way, Shinji-kun, since you brought her here, you might as well let her take today's medication."

drug.

Essentials for maintaining a clone's body.

In the past, Rei Ayanami would occasionally disappear suddenly when she went to take medications to maintain her health.

Shinji Ikari turned his head following Ritsuko Akagi's gaze. Behind him, Rei Ayanami, who had been eavesdropping on the conversation, looked completely bewildered, seemingly oblivious to what "Unit-00" and "control system" meant. Frankly, he was equally confused. Unlike fighting the Angels, this didn't present a clearly defined enemy. In this situation, he couldn't find anyone to blame.

Ms. Ritsuko?

If the dissolution is true, then she is not someone to blame. Besides, it has always been Ritsuko Akagi who has been protecting Rei Ayanami's health; in a way, she deserves gratitude.

"Dr. Akagi, I'll leave it to you."

Shinji Ikari walked out of the office, still using that unfamiliar form of address.

Taking advantage of this moment, he wanted to go see Unit-00 and confirm the fact with his own eyes. Just as he was about to close the door, Rei Ayanami instinctively wanted to follow him. He pointed to the office, indicating that he should stay. He didn't know if the girl understood what he meant, but she blinked her red eyes and obediently stood still.

"I'll come pick you up later."

Shinji Ikari assured him, his tone unusually gentle.

Seeing the office door close, Ritsuko Akagi subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

As the pricking sensation subsided, her previously tense body suddenly relaxed. Only then did Ritsuko Akagi realize that she was covered in cold sweat. It was hard to imagine that an ordinary boy could exert such pressure on an adult; she had felt as if she were facing some kind of large, ferocious beast.

Is it a psychological problem?
No, perhaps it's related to the strange genes in Shinji. Recalling the chilling scene in the laboratory, Ritsuko Akagi lit a cigarette and fell into a long silence. The only saving grace was that Shinji had controlled his emotions; even in anger, he hadn't lost control.

Inside the office, Rei Ayanami was still staring blankly at the closed door.

...Hannel.

Shinji Ikari was very familiar with this place; the hangars for the three mobile suits were not far apart.

He walked forward from the hangar of Unit 01 and soon arrived at the hangar of Unit 00. The humming mechanical drive was not noisy; it was the sound of the tracked transport. In the intervals between the humming, there was a rustling sound mixed in, like roots extending into the silent, dark soil of a barren land. But if you listened carefully, it seemed like an illusion.

The staff are busy.

Shinji Ikari is a rare visitor here. In the past, he only came to the hangar to visit Unit-01. His sudden visit to the hangar of Unit-00, which has little to do with him, is puzzling.

Shinji Ikari walked up the aerial staircase.

Unit-00's yellowish-white head was facing the direction of the stairs.

He stood on one side of the stairs and looked down. The large hole in the EVA's chest was not yet fully repaired, and pink fleshy buds were growing inside the cavity, like living tentacles trying to close it up, looking quite gruesome and terrifying—the rustling sound was the sound of the fleshy buds growing. Anyone who had any illusions about the EVA and thought it was a machine would be disappointed upon seeing this.

Then, he focused his gaze on the back of the machine's neck.

It's clear at a glance.

The cockpit at the back of the neck remains sealed and has not yet been removed.

Normally, that area is empty; it's only used during experiments or battles when the cockpit carrying the pilot is inserted. Shinji Ikari focused his gaze on it, finally confirming the fact that Rei Ayanami, whom he knew, had dissolved into Unit-00 for unknown reasons during the battle with the Sixteenth Angel, and the girl was now inside the cockpit he was staring at, fused with the LCL liquid.

What is the reason?
Everything was fine before, so why did this happen so suddenly?

Because of some kind of change? If you ask what changes have happened recently... he immediately remembered that Rei Ayanami had told him about her dream about the Second Angel, Lilith. The girl had dreamed about the Angel many times, and even had a period of "possession". She said that Lilith was calling her back. Could it be a problem with the Angel?
Lilith...

Shinji Ikari looked toward the Central Dogmatic District.

His piloting authority wasn't sufficient to enter the Central Dogma District; he was able to get in last time only because of Kaji Ryoji's help. Besides, what would he do once inside? Talk to the Angel Lilith, discuss the situation, and find out what's going on? Or threaten to destroy his core with Unit-01 if he didn't return Rei Ayanami?
So far, all the apostles I have encountered have acted solely on instinct.

chat?

Shinji Ikari did not have such thoughts.

Most importantly, being dissolved in Unit-00 doesn't mean death; he had previously experienced returning to reality from dissolution. As long as a person holds onto a sliver of hope, they can retain their rationality. But can the Rei Ayanami he knows return from this "dream"?
Calling Rei Ayanami back, dissolving into Unit-00, the soul of the clone, the machine spirit...

What is the connection between these things?
Lilith... Rei Ayanami.

He stood there staring at Unit-00 for a very long time, without even looking for its instrument data to further confirm the situation in the cockpit. Unfortunately, unlike Unit-01, this machine did not have a "machine spirit" to respond to him. The yellow-white giant simply stood quietly in the orange-red pool, like a huge statue, until a greeting from Misato Katsuragi pulled him back to reality from his complicated thoughts.

"Shinji-kun, I've been looking for you for a while. What are you doing here?"

"..."

Shinji Ikari's lips moved slightly, about to speak, when Misato Katsuragi interrupted him. The female major didn't seem to care about his actions at headquarters that morning; her expression wasn't good, and she brought Shinji news that was neither good nor bad.
"Have you heard? There's a new qualified candidate."

(End of this chapter)