MEMORY ADDRESS 0x07D4

GEHIRN LABS

2004

NAOKO AKAGI'S OFFICE

9 AM

5 MONTHS BEFORE ACTIVATION

"I'm sorry I must've misheard you, I thought you said you wanted me to babysit your son."

"I did, If it's not too much trouble, I'll even buy snacks and bring his stuff."

Naoko Akagi was confused at Yui Ikari's babysitting proposal. Standing behind Yui was three year old Shinji Ikari. He held onto his mother's labcoat and peaked around her, as if trying to see if the woman was friend or foe.

"I… Suppose it would be ok… I did raise a teenage daughter after all."

Yui chuckled a bit at that, which prompted a somewhat forced chuckle from Naoko. She turned her office chair to face Shinji, who quickly hid behind Yui.

"Hi Shinji, It's nice to meet you, My name is Naoko Akagi." She gave an awkward smile towards the boy. While she held no contempt for the boy, the same could not be said for Yui. She despised her, and her perfect attitude and behavior.

Shinji slowly crept around Yui to face the strange new woman.

"My… Name is Shinji…" He had a look of curiosity when he looked past her at the computer.

"What game is that?" He asked.

"Oh, it's a thing that allows me to create whatever I want. It's called a designer!" Naoko said with magic and whimsy in her voice.

"Wow! Can I try it?" He said enthusiastically, practically jumping.

"Maybe when you're older." Naoko said with a somewhat forced smile.

Shinji deflated at her response and pouted.

"Meanie."

Yui giggled at the boy and picked him up to give him a hug.

Naoko gave a blankish look at the two.

"If only I was as good as a mother to Ritsuko. If only I could start over…"

A small idea popped in her head, but pushed it aside.

"Shinji, I want you to behave while Mrs Akagi watches you and does her work, Ok?"

Shinji was set down and nodded vigorously.

Yui giggled and set down a small backpack full of toys and snacks. She then bent down and gave Shinji a big hug and kiss on the forehead.

A tinge of jealousy flashed through Naoko's head. Her hand clenched slightly.

"I'll be back in a few hours."

Yui said before leaving Naoko's makeshift Office.

"So Shinji, What do you like to do for fun?"

4 MONTHS UNTIL ACTIVATION

"So Shinji, did you get a new toy?" Naoko said, turning around in her swivel chair to face the excited toddler.

Shinji ran over, with a small purple and green mecha toy. He then tripped on a rather large cable strewn on the floor, causing him to lose grip on the toy and him falling over.

The toy then broke into pieces, with the arm and leg falling off, scattering on the floor. Shinji then picked himself up with the help of Naoko.

" Are you ok Shinji?" Naoko said, brushing off the dust he got on his clothes. She then looked over to the broken toy on the floor.

"N-No… I broke my robot and scraped my knee…"

He said, tears already falling from his eyes. Naoko then looked at his left knee and saw a small scratch, probably because the floor here is concrete and rough.

She looked around for something that could help in this situation. She looked at the door a few feet away, next to it was a First Aid Kit. She quickly got up and jogged over to it, grabbing it and returning to the boy.

"Here, I've got something that will make you feel better." She then unzipped the white bag and pulled out four things: A Box of bandages, A vial of Isopropyl Alcohol, A tube of Antibiotics, and a cotton pad.

"Now this may sting a little, so be brave for me."

Naoko opened the bottle and poured a bit onto the cotton pad. She then gently dabbed the pad on Shinji's left knee. He winced and whimpered at the alcohol's stinging.

"There, now let me put some ointment and a bandage."

Naoko opened the tube of ointment and applied a fingertips worth of antibiotics.

"This is Antibiotics, it'll help stop your cut from getting you sick."

Shinji looked up at her with a curious look.

"What is Auntybiotics?" He said it with the utmost innocence in his voice.

This took Naoko by surprise, so she continued to put on the bandage and clean up the scrap.

"It's… A type of medicine that helps you not get sick from cuts."

As she turned to retrieve the broken toy she heard him humming. She picked up the three pieces and looked at it for a moment, then thought to herself about Project E and wondered if the 3D Printer is working yet.

"I will never get sick now!" Said an enthusiastic sounding Shinji, which prompted Naoko to turn around and see Shinji covered head to toe in ointment.

"Shinji!"

3 MONTHS BEFORE ACTIVATION

8:31 PM

"T-Tanaka, please let's just work this out! Please think of Ritsuko, a-and-"

The line hung up. The only sounds left were the dial tone, and the hums of electric equipment.

Naoko slowly moved the phone away from her ear and stared at it for a moment before clenching her hand. She slammed it onto her desk in a burst of anger. She lowered her head onto the desk and grabbed her hair in pure frustration.

"Goddamn it…"

The muffled and soft sounds of crying could be heard if close enough. The small and somewhat barren office simply amplified the woman's cries.

"I'm both now a bad mother, and a bad wife…"

The rest of the night, she simply slept on the couch in the office, and cried herself to sleep. She couldn't get the thought of her being a failure out of her mind.

"Im sorry."

ACTIVATION DAY

GEHIRN SUBTERRANEAN LABS

Approx. T - 10 SECONDS

"Activation Voltages are nearing absolute threshold. Prepare for A9 Neural contact."

"Cain and Abel are giving their approvals, but are giving cautions."

"Disregard those warnings. Shinji, You are going to see the Prettiest Star soon."

Yui said, as the experimental plug suit she wore began to bubble. The entry hatch is locked by her override commands. She gave a small sad smile.

Zero hour reached.

In a quick moment, dozens of alarms rang out and indicator lamps flashed. The two testing computers: Cain and Abel, began pouring out warnings and errors. Numbers reaching impossible values and integers. The observation deck began to panic.

"Yui!"

Gendo cried out as he began to look for a way to shut down the Evangelion and cockpit, Fuyutsuki tried to help him as well.

Shinji stood there in the chaos, confused and scared. He began to cry out for his currently hurt mother, as her voice of pain came over the speakers.

Naoko saw him crying, and went to rush him out of the room. At the moment she didn't think about the experiment, she only thought about Shinji.

But she then remembered one thing she could've done, but didn't.

sudo ca-master-shutdown unit01 -pwr -lcl -synch

"Not like I cared much for her anyways…"

"SHINJI!"