EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from Tiga

Chapter 60 In the Darkness...

"ah--!"

As Asuka was at a loss as to what to do because the place had been well-lit. She was so flustered that she almost fell down.

"Don't panic."

As for Shinji Ikari, as a human form... he still possessed some of Tiga's abilities. Naturally, this level of darkness couldn't obscure his vision, so he immediately stepped forward and supported Asuka.

"…Shinji."

Even the way they addressed each other had changed, and Shinji Ikari could even feel a faint tremor in Asuka's arm, which he was holding... It didn't seem like she was simply frightened by the darkness, but rather it seemed as if it had brought back some memories deep in her heart that she didn't want to face.

"Ayanami, are you okay?"

"Ah."

Rei Ayanami, on the other hand, didn't react at all, as if she had long been accustomed to the darkness. She stood obediently in place at the moment of the power outage, without moving... waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness.

"Even the door wouldn't open...even the emergency lights were off..."

Shinji Ikari took out his cell phone, turned on the flashlight, and checked the closed electric door in front of him with some confusion.

Because it is a highly confidential NERV base, basically every two steps you take you to a high-privilege area where you need to swipe a card or scan your face to enter.

This meant that even though he only needed to go through two more passages to reach the command post, he was blocked by the electric door and could not move forward.

He reached out and tugged tentatively, but sure enough, it didn't budge at all... at least not in a way a normal human could force open. If he used Tiga's power to force the door open, he'd probably be arrested as an apostle.

“…It’s so hot.”

In just a few minutes, the temperature had already soared significantly - after all, this was an underground headquarters, and usually relied on central air conditioning to maintain the room temperature within a comfortable range.

Now with the total power outage, even the emergency door can’t be opened...not to mention things like air conditioning.

"Cell phone signal... um, of course there's no signal. How about you guys?"

"No signal. Five minutes have passed."

Ayanami also obediently confirmed that her cell phone had no signal, but Asuka's condition still did not recover... Even though her body had stopped shaking, her breathing was still very rapid.

"...Ayanami, please take care of her."

Shinji Ikari walked over and pretended to check Rei Ayanami's phone screen, but in fact he leaned over and whispered in Rei's ear.

"Take care of...? I get it."

Rei Ayanami was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood what Shinji Ikari was referring to.

The power has been out for five minutes. According to NERV's normal emergency plan... there are three completely independent power supply systems: main power, auxiliary power, and emergency power.

The fact that the power supply had not been restored within five minutes meant that problems occurred in all three systems at the same time... It was definitely not a coincidence, it was man-made sabotage.

“…Isn’t this happening too fast?”

Ten minutes ago, Kenzaki reminded himself that hackers might make big moves recently and asked him to be careful, but ten minutes later, this happened.

Taking advantage of the total power outage and the paralysis of all defense facilities...invade the central database and steal information?

...Or, as Kenzaki said...the target is EVA pilots like us?

"We'll have to take a detour, using a non-electric door that doesn't require permission. I'll go see what's going on... Asuka?"

When Shinji Ikari was about to go ahead and scout the way, he saw Asuka's hand stretched out in panic.

Asuka's hand, unable to touch Shinji, reached far in front of him, her sense of distance and direction still stagnant. Without a word, the subtle trembling and swaying of her arm... Shinji could sense Asuka's uneasiness.

"…cough!"

He coughed loudly on purpose to remind Asuka of his current position, and Asuka's arm immediately reached out and grabbed the hem of Shinji Ikari's clothes like a drowning man grabbing a life-saving straw.

Just by grasping the edge of Shinji Ikari's combat uniform, the slight trembling in Asuka's arm disappeared, and her entire mental state became much more stable.

Although this made Asuka feel at ease... it also prevented Shinji Ikari from easily leaving to investigate the situation.

What's going on? Before, whether it was the darkness of the night or the raging storm, Asuka had never shown such fear at home.
It's definitely not just a simple fear of the dark... There must be a deeper reason that I don't understand -

...Could this be the hacker's goal?

"…Asuka. It's okay."

Although she couldn't see it as clearly as Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami could sense something was wrong with Asuka just from her heavy and rapid breathing.

If it were her usual self, she might be at a loss for a while... but since she had just been reminded by Shinji Ikari, Ayanami Rei walked to Asuka's side without any hesitation and gently held Asuka's other hand.

"...Ayanami?"

Asuka's face was filled with disbelief. She could never have imagined that... when she showed such an embarrassing side of herself... this top-qualified candidate, top student, spoiled mother... whom she had hated so much not long ago... would actually hold her hand so warmly and gently.

"It's okay, Asuka...it's okay. Ikari-kun and I are here."

Without any hesitation, he pressed his body closer to Asuka, who was struggling to hold on, and gently placed her head on his chest.

"...Ayanami..."

Although I asked her to take care of it, I didn't expect Rei Ayanami to be so considerate... It can almost be described as a display of maternal love.

“…Go ahead.”

While slowly comforting Asuka, Rei Ayanami calmly let go of Asuka's hand that was holding Shinji Ikari's hand, and said silently... meaning, leave this to me, you go, Ikari-kun.

Nodding to Ayanami, Shinji Ikari quietly left the passage.

You must understand the situation well, otherwise staying here will be no different from waiting to die.

After bypassing the electronic door that couldn't be opened, Shinji Ikari strained his hearing to the limit and soon heard the sounds of other staff members panicking in the darkness.

“…All circuits are unusable…”

"Where's the fuel engine? Where's the emergency internal combustion engine..."

"According to Deputy Commander Fuyutsuki's orders! All active circuits, power sources, and even internal combustion engines... are to be moved to the central Final Dogma area! Power supply there is the highest priority!"

"Damn it! We still can't figure out the cause... Impossible! This masterpiece of human wisdom, used to fight the apostles... was paralyzed by a power outage..."

"Stop talking nonsense! Let's do this together! Pry this door open! Commander Fuyutsuki has given us permission! In case of emergency, violent demolition of the door is permitted!"

What followed was a series of "hehehe" sounds and the sound of the electronic door being violently cracked.

And... in the conversation between the two people just now, Shinji Ikari heard a word that he could not ignore in any way... the center, the final dogma area.

Shinji Ikari knew that deep underground in NERV, there was a top-secret area that even he, a pilot, couldn't access. That was... the Final Dogma Zone.

And now... my father is in Matsushiro, not at the base... all power is down, so there won't be any cameras or intrusion records... and Commander Fuyutsuki has ordered the crew to send the internal combustion engine to the Final Dogma area, which means a lot of crew members will be entering there today...

Isn't this a good opportunity to see for myself what NERV is hiding?

(End of this chapter)