Chapter 7
Alone
Shinji opens his eyes and looks around. Noticing that he is still in the entry plug, he slowly adjusts himself. Outside of the Eva, is an endless, empty void.
"I must be inside the Angel...," he muses.
Acting on instinct, he activates the life-support system, noticing that the internal batteries had already activated. The lights in the plug dim.
"All alone."
The two remaining Eva pilots, Misato, and the Sub-commander are sitting in the briefing room.
"Where is she?" mumbles Misato.
Just then, the door opens with a hiss of air as Ritsuko enters the room.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting."
She walks over to the screen in the front of the room and inserts a disk. The screen comes to life, displaying the Angel.
"Now, as you all know, the current Angel is in the form of a shadow. The sphere is actually the Angel's shadow. The Angel has expanded to a diameter of about 600 meters and has a thickness of 3 nanometers. It appears that it has an inversed AT Field, which acts like a void. This void, or Sea of Dirac, is able to hold objects that are 'sucked' into it."
"So how do we get Shinji back?" interrupts Misato.
"Well, in theory, the Sea of Dirac will expel its contents once the Angel is destroyed."
"Then let's kill that thing!!" exclaims Asuka.
"Hold on, Asuka. As I had just said, it's just a theory. The Magi are currently checking on the probability of the success of the theory and should have an answer by tomorrow morning."
"But will Shinji last that long?" asks Misato.
"Well, providing that Shinji activated the life-support as soon as he was pulled in, he would be able to survive for 8 - 10 hours."
"Is that all, doctor?"
Ritsuko turns to Kouzou Fuyutsuki.
"Yes. We can't really do much until the Magi deliver their decision."
"Very well. That is all. We will meet again tomorrow, after the Magi have made their decision."
Fuyutsuki turns and leaves the room, followed by Ritsuko, and then Rei. Misato stands up and stretches.
"Might as well head home. Can't really do much till tomorrow."
Asuka nods and follows her guardian out of the room.
Later that evening, Asuka is lying on her bed, looking out of her window. In the distance, spotlights light up the Angel, the black sphere floating in the same spot as it had since she last saw it. She turns, her back now facing the window.
"Baka Shinji..."
As she drifts off into sleep, a single tear falls onto her pillow.
Shinji lies back in the entry plug of Unit 01.
"I wonder what everyone's doing now..." he thinks out loud.
He closes his eyes. After a few minutes, the humming inside the plug stops, signaling that the LCL purifier had reactivated. He takes a deep breath of LCL. His eyes go wide as he covers his nose.
"It..it smells like blood!!!"
His eyes dart around the entry plug. White specs float around the unfiltered LCL.
"Let me outta here!" he shouts, pounding on the metal walls, "I hate this place! Please...let me out..."
He drifts off into sleep after a few minutes.
The next day, the MAGI had delivered their decision and gave the plan of destroying the Angel the greatest chance of success. Soon afterwards, the two remaining Evas were stationed around the Angel, armed with every available weapon.
"Ok, Asuka, you remember the plan, right?"
"Yes, Misato. I just blast the thing till it dies, right?"
"Pretty much."
"Let's do this."
Unit 02 picks up a pair of bazookas and centers on the Angel.
"Come back, Shinji. Don't leave me alone," she whispers.
In Central Dogma, Misato, and Ritsuko stand watch over the monitors.
"I hope this work, Ritsuko."
The blonde doctor nods.
"If not, we will have no choice but to go to plan B."
"Plan B?" questions the Major, "I don't remember there being a plan B."
"I did more testing last night and found out that, theoretically, if enough force is applied at the right moment, the Angel would be destroyed."
"But isn't that what we are doing right now?"
"Yes, but on a smaller scale. Based on the MAGI's calculations, it would take the remaining 992 N2 Mines to do it."
"WHAT?! With that much firepower, Shinji would be killed!"
"Most likely, but the priority is to recover Unit 01. The Eva will be able to survive, though," calmly replies Ritsuko.
"That's INSANE! Who gave authorization for that?"
"The Commander."
"Doesn't he care about what will happen to Shinji?!" questions the ecstatic Misato.
"I'm just following his order, which is to make recovering the Eva top priority. The pilot is secondary."
The Operations Director says nothing and stares at the screen in front of her.
"Off the record, I hope they succeed," whispers the doctor.
Misato is taken back by her remark, but retains her cool and nods.
"So, do I, Ritsu, so do I," she thinks.
Inside the Sea of Dirac, Shinji is curled up in the plug, his knees against his chest. He looks up at the counter, which reads 5 seconds. It reaches zero, resulting in all of the Eva's systems shutting down.
"Getting hard to breathe," he thinks.
Time seems to pass slowly for him. He finds it harder and harder to breath the de-oxygenized LCL.
"I don't want to die. I want to go back, to Misato...to Asuka-chan"
With those last words, he blacks out.
"Major! Sensors are picking up some activity from the Angel!" shouts on of the techs.
"What?! Asuka! Don't fire!!" orders Misato.
Asuka takes her fingers off of the triggers, curious as to why.
"Readings indicating something is happening to the sphere."
"Get me a visual!"
The black sphere is projected onto the main screen.
"Magnify."
The screen zooms in on the Angel's shadow.
"There!" shouts Shigeru.
The crew stares at the screen. A small portion of the Angel begins to tremble, then something breaks through the black surface. The crew stares, mesmerized at the events transpiring. Below the shadow, the Angel shudders and red cracks form on its surface. The cracks rupture and crack, lifting and separating apart. The object pushes out more, blood spraying from the rupture. The crew instantly recognizes the object: Unit 01's right hand.
"Oh my...," Maya clutches her hand over her mouth in horror at the scene on the screen.
The left hand appears through the tear, next to the right. They grip the sides of the tear and begin to pull it apart, blood spraying from the wound. The hole expands, and then Unit 01's head emerges, covered in blood. The Eva continues to tear apart the Angel and force its way out. As it jumps to the ground, landing on its feet, the remains of the Angel falling to the street below, spraying more blood. Unit 01 stands up straight and lifts its head up to the sky. It lets out a blood-chilling roar.
"Mein gott, is that what I'm piloting?" Asuka questions herself out loud.
Asuka had been watching the entire scene from her Eva and continues to stare at the berserk Unit 01. The purple giant stops roaring and turns its gaze to the red Eva. She instinctively takes a step back, knowing what a berserk Eva can do. The purple Eva stares at her for a moment, then its eyes dim, causing the Eva to hunch over.
"Get a recovery team out there now!!" orders Misato.
She turns back to the main screen and gazes at the now deactivated Eva.
"Shinji."
Alone
Shinji opens his eyes and looks around. Noticing that he is still in the entry plug, he slowly adjusts himself. Outside of the Eva, is an endless, empty void.
"I must be inside the Angel...," he muses.
Acting on instinct, he activates the life-support system, noticing that the internal batteries had already activated. The lights in the plug dim.
"All alone."
The two remaining Eva pilots, Misato, and the Sub-commander are sitting in the briefing room.
"Where is she?" mumbles Misato.
Just then, the door opens with a hiss of air as Ritsuko enters the room.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting."
She walks over to the screen in the front of the room and inserts a disk. The screen comes to life, displaying the Angel.
"Now, as you all know, the current Angel is in the form of a shadow. The sphere is actually the Angel's shadow. The Angel has expanded to a diameter of about 600 meters and has a thickness of 3 nanometers. It appears that it has an inversed AT Field, which acts like a void. This void, or Sea of Dirac, is able to hold objects that are 'sucked' into it."
"So how do we get Shinji back?" interrupts Misato.
"Well, in theory, the Sea of Dirac will expel its contents once the Angel is destroyed."
"Then let's kill that thing!!" exclaims Asuka.
"Hold on, Asuka. As I had just said, it's just a theory. The Magi are currently checking on the probability of the success of the theory and should have an answer by tomorrow morning."
"But will Shinji last that long?" asks Misato.
"Well, providing that Shinji activated the life-support as soon as he was pulled in, he would be able to survive for 8 - 10 hours."
"Is that all, doctor?"
Ritsuko turns to Kouzou Fuyutsuki.
"Yes. We can't really do much until the Magi deliver their decision."
"Very well. That is all. We will meet again tomorrow, after the Magi have made their decision."
Fuyutsuki turns and leaves the room, followed by Ritsuko, and then Rei. Misato stands up and stretches.
"Might as well head home. Can't really do much till tomorrow."
Asuka nods and follows her guardian out of the room.
Later that evening, Asuka is lying on her bed, looking out of her window. In the distance, spotlights light up the Angel, the black sphere floating in the same spot as it had since she last saw it. She turns, her back now facing the window.
"Baka Shinji..."
As she drifts off into sleep, a single tear falls onto her pillow.
Shinji lies back in the entry plug of Unit 01.
"I wonder what everyone's doing now..." he thinks out loud.
He closes his eyes. After a few minutes, the humming inside the plug stops, signaling that the LCL purifier had reactivated. He takes a deep breath of LCL. His eyes go wide as he covers his nose.
"It..it smells like blood!!!"
His eyes dart around the entry plug. White specs float around the unfiltered LCL.
"Let me outta here!" he shouts, pounding on the metal walls, "I hate this place! Please...let me out..."
He drifts off into sleep after a few minutes.
The next day, the MAGI had delivered their decision and gave the plan of destroying the Angel the greatest chance of success. Soon afterwards, the two remaining Evas were stationed around the Angel, armed with every available weapon.
"Ok, Asuka, you remember the plan, right?"
"Yes, Misato. I just blast the thing till it dies, right?"
"Pretty much."
"Let's do this."
Unit 02 picks up a pair of bazookas and centers on the Angel.
"Come back, Shinji. Don't leave me alone," she whispers.
In Central Dogma, Misato, and Ritsuko stand watch over the monitors.
"I hope this work, Ritsuko."
The blonde doctor nods.
"If not, we will have no choice but to go to plan B."
"Plan B?" questions the Major, "I don't remember there being a plan B."
"I did more testing last night and found out that, theoretically, if enough force is applied at the right moment, the Angel would be destroyed."
"But isn't that what we are doing right now?"
"Yes, but on a smaller scale. Based on the MAGI's calculations, it would take the remaining 992 N2 Mines to do it."
"WHAT?! With that much firepower, Shinji would be killed!"
"Most likely, but the priority is to recover Unit 01. The Eva will be able to survive, though," calmly replies Ritsuko.
"That's INSANE! Who gave authorization for that?"
"The Commander."
"Doesn't he care about what will happen to Shinji?!" questions the ecstatic Misato.
"I'm just following his order, which is to make recovering the Eva top priority. The pilot is secondary."
The Operations Director says nothing and stares at the screen in front of her.
"Off the record, I hope they succeed," whispers the doctor.
Misato is taken back by her remark, but retains her cool and nods.
"So, do I, Ritsu, so do I," she thinks.
Inside the Sea of Dirac, Shinji is curled up in the plug, his knees against his chest. He looks up at the counter, which reads 5 seconds. It reaches zero, resulting in all of the Eva's systems shutting down.
"Getting hard to breathe," he thinks.
Time seems to pass slowly for him. He finds it harder and harder to breath the de-oxygenized LCL.
"I don't want to die. I want to go back, to Misato...to Asuka-chan"
With those last words, he blacks out.
"Major! Sensors are picking up some activity from the Angel!" shouts on of the techs.
"What?! Asuka! Don't fire!!" orders Misato.
Asuka takes her fingers off of the triggers, curious as to why.
"Readings indicating something is happening to the sphere."
"Get me a visual!"
The black sphere is projected onto the main screen.
"Magnify."
The screen zooms in on the Angel's shadow.
"There!" shouts Shigeru.
The crew stares at the screen. A small portion of the Angel begins to tremble, then something breaks through the black surface. The crew stares, mesmerized at the events transpiring. Below the shadow, the Angel shudders and red cracks form on its surface. The cracks rupture and crack, lifting and separating apart. The object pushes out more, blood spraying from the rupture. The crew instantly recognizes the object: Unit 01's right hand.
"Oh my...," Maya clutches her hand over her mouth in horror at the scene on the screen.
The left hand appears through the tear, next to the right. They grip the sides of the tear and begin to pull it apart, blood spraying from the wound. The hole expands, and then Unit 01's head emerges, covered in blood. The Eva continues to tear apart the Angel and force its way out. As it jumps to the ground, landing on its feet, the remains of the Angel falling to the street below, spraying more blood. Unit 01 stands up straight and lifts its head up to the sky. It lets out a blood-chilling roar.
"Mein gott, is that what I'm piloting?" Asuka questions herself out loud.
Asuka had been watching the entire scene from her Eva and continues to stare at the berserk Unit 01. The purple giant stops roaring and turns its gaze to the red Eva. She instinctively takes a step back, knowing what a berserk Eva can do. The purple Eva stares at her for a moment, then its eyes dim, causing the Eva to hunch over.
"Get a recovery team out there now!!" orders Misato.
She turns back to the main screen and gazes at the now deactivated Eva.
"Shinji."