EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from the Dragon Clan

Chapter 256, Section 254: The New Chosen One (Part 1)

A new suitable candidate?
Upon hearing this, Shinji Ikari's gloomy mood was somewhat dispelled.

He forced himself to stay alert as Miss Misato recounted the latest news: after the defeat of the Sixteenth Apostle, a new Child had suddenly appeared—in order to be the Fourth Child.

“I got the information from Ritsuko. He looks like a boy about your age, but…” Misato Katsuragi’s tone changed, and her expression became quite serious. “His appearance is unusual. He has silver hair and red eyes. He doesn’t look like an ordinary person from the photos. Headquarters hasn’t given a time for the new Child to arrive in Japan, but I estimate it should be in the next day or two, Shinji.”

"Silver hair and red eyes?"

"Hmm." Misato Katsuragi rested her chin on her hand, looking thoughtful. "So I'm guessing that this boy's situation might be similar to Ayanami's?"

“Ayanami…”

Just hearing her name weighed heavily on his heart, and Shinji Ikari suppressed the emotions surging within him. His gaze shifted to the massive Unit-00, returning after a long while, only to meet Misato Katsuragi's questioning eyes. If the new chosen one—that so-called silver-haired, red-eyed boy—was also a clone, then who was the original he was cloning?
Could it be someone related to me?

but.

This is not an issue that needs immediate attention.

We haven't even seen the person yet, so we can't make any rash conclusions. But as Miss Misato said, this anomaly, which is almost identical to Rei Ayanami's, basically confirms that the new candidate is a clone.

"In short, Shinji..."

I could vaguely sense that Shinji Ikari's emotions were a bit off.

Misato Katsuragi followed his gaze to Unit-00, but couldn't discern anything—the cockpit of an EVA unit is located at the back of the neck; from the front, it's easy to miss the difference if you're not paying close attention. She turned her gaze back and noticed that Shinji Ikari seemed to have grown a little taller. "Kids this age really do change every day," the major said earnestly.

"If a new qualified candidate arrives in Japan, you may need to keep a close eye on them."

“I understand,” Shinji Ikari nodded.

"...So, why did you come to headquarters so early today?" After finishing her business, Misato Katsuragi finally had time to ask about other things. Her words were tinged with a hint of helplessness. "If someone hadn't asked me if there was an Angel invasion, I wouldn't have known you were here. Even the school called."

This was the first time Shinji Ikari had skipped class in months, which made her wonder if something had happened.

"..."

Shinji Ikari paused for a moment before speaking with some difficulty:
"It's about Ayanami..."

To be honest, when Misato Katsuragi asked him, he wasn't really keen on bringing it up. However, despite the difficulty, Shinji Ikari had no intention of hiding it. After Ryoji Kaji disappeared, the messages he left behind allowed him to learn many hidden things.

On the Human Instrumentality Project.

Perhaps Misato Katsuragi is her only teammate.

Concealing important intelligence is never a wise choice.

As Shinji Ikari recounted the recent events surrounding Rei Ayanami, Misato Katsuragi's expression gradually grew serious. The major's boots tapped repeatedly on the ground as she pondered. She had initially thought it was just a simple case of skipping class, but it turned out to involve Rei Ayanami's new clone.

Although she hadn't met Rei Ayanami since returning from the battlefield, she still believed Shinji Ikari's explanation: "Like you before, Shinji-kun, were you trapped inside the mecha?"

"Yes."

Shinji Ikari whispered:

"...I don't even know if I'll be able to come back..."

Misato Katsuragi took a closer look at Unit-00.

Indeed, the cockpit at the rear of the fuselage has not yet been removed.

It's likely that Ritsuko was the first to know about this. In other words, after annihilating the Sixteenth Angel the day before yesterday, Ritsuko discovered that the First Child, Rei Ayanami, had dissolved in the cockpit of Unit-00 for unknown reasons. So she left Unit-00 as is and had a new clone appear as a replacement.

What could be the reason for the First Child's inexplicable dissolution? And why did the Apostle named Lilith underground call upon Rei Ayanami?
The mysteries are mounting.

Misato Katsuragi sighed inwardly, but her face remained expressionless.

Instead, she patted Shinji on the shoulder, adopting a confident posture, and earnestly comforted him, "Shinji-kun, she will come back."

…Although these words of comfort didn't have much effect on Shinji Ikari.

Misato Katsuragi also has her own work to do.

The two did not talk for very long.

She quickly left the hangar to go back and attend to matters following the annihilation of the Sixteenth Apostle.

Distracted by Ms. Misato, Shinji Ikari lost interest in staying in the Zero Unit hangar. He took one last look at the yellow and white machine, then turned and walked towards his office. He received many more questioning glances along the way. It was quite unusual for a pilot to be at headquarters so early in the morning.

Shinji Ikari ignored the stares and walked around headquarters on his own, quickly returning to his office.

The door was wide open.

Ritsuko Akagi wasn't in the office; I wonder if she was busy with something else.

Rei Ayanami, on the other hand, sat upright in the chair next to him. The air conditioner was on, and she seemed to be spacing out, her eyes vacantly fixed in a certain direction, blinking her red eyes only once in a long while. She only stood up when he returned.

Shinji Ikari took a deep breath before asking:

"Have you finished taking your medicine?"

"Ah."

"Then let's go back first."

The journey from headquarters was uneventful.

The girl continued to follow closely behind him. Shinji Ikari turned back to check if she had gotten lost, then continued walking. It was almost afternoon, and the sun was scorching. The two tried to walk in the shade of the buildings. They walked this route every day and knew it very well.

Where to go next?

Shinji Ikari was inexplicably bewildered.

His life, which he had grown accustomed to, suddenly changed and stopped happening day after day. He had somewhat anticipated this, but it came too unexpectedly. That day should have been much, much further away.

Going to school?
Shinji Ikari shook his head inwardly.

Putting Rei Ayanami in the middle of a busy school campus would be too irresponsible. Should he go to the hospital to visit Asuka? She still needs to stay in the hospital for a while. But remembering the strange look Asuka gave him in the hospital room yesterday, Shinji Ikari temporarily gave up the idea.

Let's just go back to the apartment.

People always want to go back to familiar places at times like these.

The sun climbed higher and higher, and gusts of hot wind blew through the streets, making it unbearably hot even in the shade. The scorching sun could make ordinary people dizzy. We passed through a section of the neighborhood that had been destroyed by the apostles and had not yet been repaired; the ruins and dilapidated buildings presented a scene of apocalyptic desolation.

Shinji Ikari had turned back several times to see if the girl was lost. After repeating this more than ten times, he finally realized that it was just his own unease at work, and a sense of melancholy washed over him.

Very strange.

Even though many details indicated that this was not the Rei Ayanami he knew, for some reason, Shinji Ikari felt that something was wrong. Indeed, she was quite unfamiliar with many aspects, but there were also some parts that were exactly the same as before.

Shinji Ikari was puzzled by this. When he first met Rei Ayanami, the girl was incredibly aloof. They only became familiar with each other after going to and from school together and fighting against the Angels together.

How could things have turned out like this, where he follows me wherever I go?

Perhaps, like small animals, they mistake the first person they see for their parents? But that should be Ritsuko Akagi, something seems off... Just then, an incredible thought popped into Shinji Ikari's mind.

This idea seems too absurd; perhaps he's misunderstood something.

Or perhaps it's just self-deception and psychological comfort.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Rei Ayanami, who was following behind, also stopped.

From the apartment to headquarters, and from headquarters back to the apartment, the girl showed no signs of getting lost. Sometimes Shinji Ikari would worry that when the new clones saw the world outside the incubation tank, they might stop and linger because they had never seen such things before, but during this time, even when Rei Ayanami was curious—like now, as she stared at the colorful billboard hanging on a tall building, which featured a smiling woman demonstrating sunscreen—she showed no sign of stopping.

Could it be that this Ayanami has memories from before?

“Ayanami, you…”

Rei Ayanami looked over.

Meeting her questioning gaze, Shinji Ikari didn't ask. Even if he did, Rei Ayanami wouldn't understand what he meant, would she? The cockpit of Unit-00 was still inside, and the Rei Ayanami he knew was there—that was an undeniable fact. What stood before him was merely a new clone, the two only similar in appearance.

Shinji Ikari once told Asuka that she saw him as a substitute for her parents.

Is he now looking for a replacement?
"No, it's nothing. Let's keep going."

Shinji Ikari said.

He continued walking forward, trying to shift his attention away from the girl behind him, but there was nothing new to see along the way. He had walked this road almost every day for months, and he could even memorize the names of the shops on the billboards.

The surrounding scenery is almost unchanging.

After the Angel invasions more than ten times, little remained: rows of shops lined the roadside, their doors tightly shut, their interiors empty through the glass windows, a thin layer of dust accumulated on the walls, and even the pedestrians hurried by. No one glanced at these places. In the past, Shinji Ikari, upon seeing this, only felt that the Angel invasions had devastated the city, and didn't feel much else. Now, however, the scene bored him.

He hadn't explored the rest of the city in a long time. Most of the time, he was shuttling between headquarters, the school, and his apartment. As a driver, he certainly didn't have long holidays, but he could always manage a day or two off.

Sometimes you should go out for a walk.

Shinji Ikari thought to himself.

Avoiding the blazing sun, the two walked a long way before finally returning to their apartment.

The outside temperature had reached its highest point of the day, and the entire Third New Tokyo City felt like a scorching furnace. Shinji Ikari turned on the air conditioning in the living room, and as the cool air blew out, he saw the girl sitting comfortably on the sofa, her eyes half-closed. It seemed that even the new clones weren't completely oblivious to temperature.

He turned on the television.

It's full of boring news.

Rei Ayanami, on the other hand, seemed quite interested in watching, staring intently at the television. Shinji Ikari went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. It was too hot outside, and he didn't have much of an appetite at noon, so he just made some simple food and then ate lunch with Rei Ayanami.

The two sat on opposite sides of the living room, watching TV.

"...This technology is designed to utilize solar energy more efficiently..."

The host is reading from a script.

The girl's attention was focused on the television, occasionally glancing at him as if to confirm his presence. Shinji Ikari recalled how the two of them should have been sitting on a sofa, watching reasonably entertaining programs. They would change the channel when something got boring, and stop to watch when something interesting came on. They wouldn't worry about gaining weight from the occasional snack. Back then, they didn't know what the future held; they just hoped things could continue like that forever.

Instead of things seeming so boring now.

He thought for a very long time, so long that when he came to his senses, the lights in the living room had dimmed. The television was on commercial break, with shouts of sales pitches coming through from time to time.

It's already night.

Shinji Ikari turned his head to look over.

The girl was already asleep, her slender body nestled in the large sofa. But Shinji Ikari wasn't sleepy at all. He glanced at Rei Ayanami, who was curled up asleep on the sofa, gently picked her up, and placed her on the bed in the bedroom. After closing the bedroom door, he returned to the living room, which was still lit.

The television screen was black.

The apartment was very quiet.

Shinji Ikari sat on the sofa for a while, but didn't feel sleepy at all. He got up and went from the living room to the balcony, opening the window—the place where Rei Ayanami had been summoned by Lilith. Standing in front of the open window on the apartment balcony, he looked at the night view of Tokyo. Only a few places in the darkness still had lights, guiding people through the night. From here, the city didn't seem particularly remarkable.

The city is quiet at night.

…Let’s go out for a walk.

There was no other reason; I just wanted to go out for a walk to clear my head.

"About an hour, I'll be back in an hour." Shinji Ikari set this deadline for himself. He wasn't a child, so he knew perfectly well that even if he did something rebellious that was appropriate for his age, it wouldn't change anything.

Pushing open the apartment door, the night breeze outside still carried the warmth of the day.

Shinji Ikari grabbed his cell phone. Although it was unlikely that something would happen at headquarters in just one hour, he was just in case. He stood at the intersection outside the apartment, looking left and then right, unsure where to go to clear his head. He noticed a black sedan parked not far away, with an older man smoking and leaning against it reading a newspaper. When someone came out of the apartment, he glanced in his direction as if it were nothing unusual.

"They must be from headquarters."

Shinji Ikari thought to himself.

He had no intention of going that way, so he chose another intersection and began to walk slowly. He was just taking a walk to clear his head, not running away from home and going missing, so Shinji Ikari walked at a leisurely pace, intending to walk to the end of this road and then turn back.

The streetlights were of varying quality, but Shinji Ikari didn't seem to care much.

After walking for about twenty minutes, the surrounding cityscape remained largely unchanged, only becoming increasingly remote and desolate, as if he were still stuck in the same place. Just as he was wondering whether to turn back, the concrete jungle finally disappeared, but the slope began to rise slowly, and he seemed to have arrived at a low hillside.

The wind gradually became cooler and carried a hint of dampness.

He looked down and saw a lake in the distance.

Lake Ashi.

This lake was formed after the battle with the Sixth Apostle.

There was a scenic spot called Lake Ashi here in the last century, but it has since disappeared. A few months ago, a positron cannon defeated the Sixth Angel, but it also destroyed the original terrain, creating a huge crater. A heavy rainstorm followed, turning the area into a lake, but Tokyo hasn't seen much rain lately, so now only a thin layer of water remains.

The lake was utterly still.

Just like the orange-red sea, there were no living creatures in it.

He crossed a small bridge and onto the main road. The road resembled a tree-lined path in a park. To his right lay Lake Ashi, its water level receding, surrounded by withered, yellow grass. To his left was a row of roadside trees, these heat-resistant trees still retaining their vitality. Just as Shinji Ikari was about to walk towards the nearby road, he suddenly saw a figure by the lake below and stopped in his tracks.

—Someone is sitting by the lake.

(End of this chapter)