Wille headquarters in Hamburg had a sense of excitement floating among the crew manning their stations, or at least that's what Burke thought as he walked past those crew members in the massive operations center. As he approached the center's back wall, he looked up and saw Kaji waving at him from an observation balcony located above him. Why couldn't we have any of this stuff back at NewCon, he thought as he entered it and took notice of the relative comfort the chairs seemed to provide. He walked over to where Kaji was and sat down on the chair next to him.
"What did you invite me here for?" he then said. "Aren't we supposed to be 'waiting for reassignment?'"
"We are, but I managed to pull some strings and get us in here," Kaji replied. "I think that we should be here in reserve, as we know the situation first hand."
"So the top brass knows about this?" Burke asked.
"They do," Kaji replied. "Besides, don't you think it would be better for you to be here than holed up in some hotel room worrying, right?" Burke opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again for several seconds to think before he did.
"It's a nice hotel room." Those words make Kaji burst into laughter, which caught more than a few of the lower ranks on the floor off guard. "Besides, it's the same with you, isn't it?" he then said.
"I… don't think I can comment on that," Kaji said, "but I do hope all of them are doing all right."
"Hasn't there been any contact with the Wunder?" Burke asked.
"Not since they passed through the moon's AT Field," Kaji said as he leaned back in his chair, "and that was nearly twenty-four hours ago."
"You would think either the Wunder would try to get a message to Earth, or at least we'd make an attempt on this end." Burke leaned back in his chair as well.
"You would think, right?" Kaji said. "Makes me wonder if there was anything we could-" Kaji stopped talking when they both noticed a commotion among the crew in the Command Center. Seconds later, the two phones in front of them began to ring. Kaji picked up the one nearest to him. He listened for a second before motioning to Burke to pick up the other.
"What is it?" Kaji said when both of them were on.
"We found them," a young officer replied from the other end. "We found the Wunder."
"Where is it?" Burke said.
"They're just coming Earth side," the officer replied. "We'll be bringing a live feed up on our main monitor within moments. We're sorry for the wait." The two hung up and looked at each other.
"They're alive," Burke said. "Thank God."
"I don't want to steal hope from you, but we don't what condition they are in," Kaji said.
"We'll know any second," Burke replied. They saw the main monitor light up, showing the ship against the lunar surface near a large crevice. There also appeared to be two Eva Units there.
"I think those are Units 08 and 11," Kaji remarked as he squinted at the screen. "If they are, where are Units 02 and 10?"
"And here's something I don't understand," Burke then said. "The ship is in a direction that takes them away from Nerv. What the hell led them there?"
"All we can do is wait to find out," Kaji replied.
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For almost a minute, both Fuyutsuki and the group from the Wunder looked at each other. Then in a flash, Misato drew her pistol at him, followed half a second later by the Wunder's marines aiming their weapons as well. Fuyutsuki stood there, his face looking unfazed, and perhaps to some of them, bemused over the whole matter,
"You are still excitable after all these years, Katsuragi," Fuyutsuki said.
"Where is Commander Ikari?" Misato yelled.
"Occupied at the moment," Fuyutsuki replied. "I assure you, I am not keeping you away from him or anything like that. I'm here on my own accord."
"Then why are you here?" Ritsuko asked. He didn't answer her question. Instead, he walked over and stopped right in front of Shinji.
"It's been a while Shinji," Fuyutsuki said to him.
"Yes it has," Shinji replied. He paused for a second or two before he spoke again.
"I-I want to thank you."
"Thank me?" Fuyutsuki said. "For what?"
"For talking to me when we were playing shogi," Shinji replied. "Even though I was shocked to hear those things, I now appreciate you telling me."
"I see," Fuyutsuki then said. "I take it you have learned many more things since we last saw each other? You have had to, or else you wouldn't be here with them."
"I have," Shinji said, "but what is this place?"
"That's why I'm here," Fuyutsuki replied. "I want to act as a guide to this place for both you and Ayanami here." He turned to Misato, who was still aiming her pistol at him. "Of course if that is all right with you."
"Not alone," Misato replied as she lowered her weapon. "I go with them."
"And me," Asuka stepped forward.
"Of course," Fuyutsuki said.
"I-I'm going too," Sakura then said. Fuyutsuki looked down and saw that she had grabbed Shinji's hand and was holding it tight. His eyebrows raised at the sight.
"I see," he said. "You may come along as well."
"Contact the ship, give them an update on our situation," Misato told Ritsuko. "If we don't return or make contact again within six hours or if the ship in in imenant danger, head back to the ship and make your way to Earth."
"Right," Ritsuko replied as she began to dig in one of her pockets. "Suzahara," she then called out. Sakura turned around to find Ritsuko pulling a small revolver out of her pocket and handing it to her.
"Just in case," Ritsuko said. Sakura took the revolver, checked the cylinder to make sure there was a round in each chamber, set it to half cock and put it in her own pocket in a matter of seconds. She turned to find Shinji staring at her with a look that she couldn't tell whether it was shock or amazement. She shrugged her shoulders in reply to him before the four left with Fuyutsuki.
For the next half an hour, Fuyutsuki led them down boulevards, over bridges, and across plazas in complete silence. Most of them spent their time looking at the building and monuments that they were passing by. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of rushing water, which was getting louder as they continued their walk. Shinji then broke the silence and addressed Fuyutsuki.
"What is this place?" Shinji asked him.
"We're not sure what the original inhabitants called it," Fuyutsuki began, "but some have given the name Arqua. Whatever the name was, we do know what the purpose of it is."
"That purpose being?" Misato said.
"A repository," Fuyutsuki answered.
"Repository?" Shinji said. "What kind of repository?"
"You'll find out soon enough." The sound of rushing water was so loud, Fuyutsuki almost had to shout his answer. The group approached an entryway where the sound was near a deafening roar. They passed through, and found a waterfall right in front of them. The group saw that it soared to towering heights as they were straining their necks as they looked to see how far it went up. They could also see several smaller waterfalls above them feeding the larger one.
"Amazing," Misato said. "I haven't seen anything like it." Shinji looked over to Yume, who was looking at the sight.
"What do you think?" he asked her. Yume took a few moments to think before she answered.
"I should have brought my sketchbook."
"You really should have," Shinji replied.
"If you follow those steps there," Fuyutsuki pointed to a set of steps cut in the rock face," you'll get a better view of the area…and very likely you'll get to see something even more interesting. Please forgive me for not joining you. These old legs can't really handle a climb like that anymore." Shinji wondered what me meant as they walked up the flights of steps for several minutes, ending up at a platform that was placed along a bank of rapids heading towards the waterfall.
"I should have stayed with Fuyutsuki," Misato said as she rubbed her legs. "I'm starting to get too old for doing things like that."
"The view makes it worth the climb, I think," Sakura then said.
"Yeah…" Shinji replied as he was taking it all in. The river they were next to was part of a vast network of rivers and streams that descended towards the waterfalls.
"Where does all the water come from?" Asuka asked.
"And where is it going?" Shinji added.
"No clue," Misato replied. "I'm sure Ritsuko would have an idea." They began to spread out a little to explore the area a bit more. Shinji saw Yume staring at the scene.
"This feels so wonderful, seeing all this, don't you think?" Shinji asked her.
"I…" she started, then went silent for a few seconds to gather her thoughts. "I don't know what to think. And yet, I feel…a connection to this place, the city, all of it. Do you feel it as well?"
"I'll admit I feel something like when we first came here," Shinji said, "though I'm not feeling it like you are." Everyone then felt a slight rumbling underneath their feet. The rumbling soon increased in intensity that the vibrations were causing the small stones that littered the ground to jump in the air a few inches with each shock. At the same time, they heard sounds from a distance, like that of a rock being moved around, and that sound was coming closer.
They all turned to where the noise was coming from, and within seconds, they all saw an Evangelion walking over a ridge in their direction. The Eva was nothing like they had seen either from the ones they were using or whatever Nerv had at their disposal. There was no armor or anything man made on it, and they could see its face with its large green eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. They could not even see an entry plug on its back when it passed by them, and over another ridge, not taking notice of any of them, the sound and rumbling decreasing with each step.
"Dear God," Shinji heard Misato say to herself. He then felt more distant rumbling in the ground, though it didn't seem to be getting stronger. He looked over to the ridge and started to walk towards it, Sakura following a few steps behind him.
When he reached the crest, he saw a multitude of Evas walking from one place to another, carrying massive pieces of rock while others appeared to be studying various walls and rock formations. Sakura, upon taking in the sight, did not say a word, instead grabbing Shinji's hand. Shinji squeezed her hand in return as they watched in silence. Within minutes, the others joined them.
"I don't believe it," Asuka said. "They're all Evas."
"But what are they doing here?" Misato then said. "Why are there so many of them?"
"Maintenance," Yume replied. The others turned towards her.
"This place is a complicated mechanism," she continued. "Their purpose is to help maintain the various systems related to that mechanism."
"How do you know that?" Sakura asked.
"The same way as I know of the city," Yume replied.
"I think she's right," Shinji said.
"But how long have they been here?" Asuka then said. "When did the moon even show up? That could have been billions of years ago. Could Evas function for that long?"
"I don't know," Misato replied, "but I remember Ritsuko saying once a long time ago that she did not know how long an Eva's body could last if it were left alone." Despite the desire in their hearts to continue watching, they went back to where their guide was.
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"I take it that you've seen them?" Fuyutsuki asked the group as they came down the stairs.
"We did," Shinji replied as he approached the old man. "Is…is that where all of our Evas came from?"
"The basic design, yes," Fuyutsuki replied. "The ones you saw were not created by us. We reverse engineered the generation equipment and brought it to Earth."
"I see," Shinji said.
"I am more than willing to explain things to you, but our time is limited. Would you mind if we continue on our journey as we do?" Shinji nodded and the group, with Fuyutsuki in the lead, began to trek to their next destination.
"I suppose there's more you want to ask, is there?" Fuyutsuki glanced back towards Shinji.
"With what you have told me, that means a lot of things I learned in school are wrong, aren't they?" Fuyutsuki chuckled.
"You surmise correctly," he then said. "Even before we came to this place, we surmised that the history of humanity was different from what previous science had theorized. Of course, our experience with SEELE explained many of the gaps we still had."
The group came into a large open chamber with a high vaulted ceiling. At the center of the chamber was a large hole that showed no bottom. At the edge of this chasim was a large black stone that was no thicker than a table. On closer inspection, they saw that the stone was floating less than half a meter off the ground.
Fuyutsuki stepped on the stone, and seeing that the others remained on the ground, motioned for them to do the same. After everyone was up on the stone, it moved out into the chamber and began to descend into the darkness. The stone began to glow under their feet, providing more than enough light for everyone to see.
"Where is it taking us?" Misato said.
"Patience Colonel," Fuyutsuki replied. "Tell me, do you remember the path you took to get to Lilith's chamber?"
"Level EEE. What about it?" Misato answered.
"We know that you once took Shinji there," Fuyutsuki said. "Do you remember seeing Lilith?" he then asked him.
"Yeah." Shinji still remembered Misato taking her there before the decisive battle against the Fourth Angel.
"Do you remember anything from the trip down?" Fuyutsuki then asked.
"Not really," Shinji replied. "It was just like an ordinary elevator ride. It did last for a long time and-" He then remembered the elevator passed through some large chamber. He thought he saw something that looked like cells of some sort he saw in biology class at school, but her couldn't tell if he was right or not. When he told Fuyutsuki, the old man nodded.
"What you saw there was a repository for life," he continued. "It was specifically placed there for the inhabitants to recreate lifeforms from their planet and to create new species as well."
"Are you saying that these people's home world was the same as Earth?" Misato asked.
"I am unsure of that," Fuyutsuki replied. "As I just said, they could create new species as well. Which are direct copies and which are new species are anyone's guess." Fuyutsuki took a breath before he spoke again.
"One of those species turns out to be humankind itself." Shinji replayed his words two or three times in his head to make sure he heard them right.
"How is that even-" he started, but Fuyutsuki interrupted him.
"For decades, there have been those, without the knowledge of this place, who theorized that life here began out there, though they were dismissed as fools and madmen," he said. "Their exact theories were wrong of course, but I hope their souls are now at ease with the knowledge that the general idea was correct." Shinji then turned to Misato.
"Did you know about this?" he asked her.
"Yes," she replied, "though only a bare outline. Ritsuko know more about it."
"Even Ikari and I's knowledge limited in some areas, but what we do know is quite interesting," Fuyutsuki added. He was about to say more, but everyone then saw a small pale blue light below them. The light drew closer, but they could not tell if they were getting closer to it or if it was coming closer to them. Moments later, the light floated past them. It was soon joined by dozens, then hundreds, thousands, multitudes more lights floated all around them.
"What are these?" Sakura asked.
"Souls," Fuyutsuki answered. "The white moon here serves as a repository of souls where the black moon is repository of physical life."
"Why are they separated?" Shinji asked.
We do not have a definite answer, but I like to think that they believed giving a life form a soul is a very grave and important thing, so that there must be some agreement on whether to do this."
"Whose souls are these?" Asuka had spoken up.
"Human," Fuyutsuki answered. "Well, we would consider them human now. The same souls that are here, that are now within us, are the same as the ones from the original civilization. It is their souls that we poscess." For several minutes, they continued to descend, the souls floated around them. At one point, Sakura tried to reach out to one of them, but the soul flew by, just past her fingers. The platform then left the soul cloud and kept on its descent, the light from the souls fading.
"So why do we poscess those souls? What happened to them?" Shinji asked. He heard Fuyutsuki sigh as the platform settled on solid ground and he stepped off, followed by the others seconds later.
"This all we know," Fuyutsuki began. "Some time in the distant past, the first inhabitants came into this star system, and what we know as Earth in particular. They settled there and flourished for a time, but over the milennia, rifts began to form in their society, particularly on how to carry on as a species. Eventually, this descended into war."
"War?" Shinji said.
"Indeed. When I think about all the wrongs humanity has done to itself over the millienia, I can take comfort in the fact that we are not the only species that does this harm to themselves. In fact, we may have inherited our more destructive elements from them." Fuyutsuki was now leading them through another long tunnel, light beaming through slits in the wall providing illumination.
"One group, I'll call them the Evolvers, began experimenting and constructing beings such as Lilith and what we know as the Evangelions for the goal of advancing their evolution," Fuyutsuki continued. "The group opposing them, which I'll call the Preservers were smaller in number, but used their own scientific knowledge and having access to the Black moon, created semiautoniminous battle units to fight with.
"Battle units? What were they like?" Shinji asked.
"You have seem them yourself since we refer to them today as the Angels." So that's why they came from, Shinji thought, but why do I have their DNA within me?
"So what happened in this war?" Asuka asked. "Who won?" They were approaching an entrance to what looked to them to be another large chamber, but Fuyutsuki stopped right before it and turned around to face the others.
"The war was brutal," he said. "The Preservers were all wiped out, and the Evolvers won, but with so few of them left, could that be considered a victory?
"That's a Pyrrhic victory if there ever was one," Misato said.
"Indeed," Fuyutsuki replied. "The remaining Angels went into dormancy, and the Evolvers were now too few to proceed with their original plans."
"Wha-What did they do?" Shinji asked.
"They decided to create a new species," Fuyutsuki said. "They still had Lilith, so they used it."
"To create us," Shinji said.
"Correct. After the creation and propagation of our species, the Evolvers went into the background, appearing from time to time to push humanity along where it needed to be pushed to further their agenda, which was to advance our civilization to a point where they can resume their original project. And that was to advance themselves artificially to the next stage of evolution. Early on, they appeared as gods under various names depending on which groups of humans they were. As our civilization progressed and became more advanced in its thinking, they appeared not as gods but as organizations of power and mystery."
"SEELE," Misato said.
"Yes, that was the most recent name they had for themselves."
"So where are they now?" Shinji said. Fuyutsuki then turned to him.
"Destroyed. Ikari and I made sure of that," he said. "I must also thank you as well for playing your part in the endevour as well."
"What do you mean?"
"Your participation in the Fourth Impact," Fuyutsuki said. "They believed that their plans were about to come to fruition. That left them open. They are gone now. I find it unfortunate that you had to be treated like a tool in the end, but I think this is a case of the ends justifying the means."
I was being used again? Shinji thought as he looked down at the ground thinking of something to say to him. He then noticed out of the corner of his eye Sakura's fist clenched and shaking a little. He looked up her, expecting to be met by her angry face. Instead, her face remained calm. What shocked him more was that she wasn't looking at him, but at Fuyutsuki. Shinji then wondered what was going to happen next when Misato then spoke.
"So why did you turn against them?" she asked. "If you were working with SEELE or whatever the hell they are called, why destroy them?"
"Two reasons," Fuyutsuki replied. "The first is that Ikari and I, as well as Shinji's mother Yui, believed that humanity, despite our origins, dictated by the likes of them. After 150,000 years on this planet, we should be able to determine the path of our species."
"And the second?" Asuka said. Fuyutsuki took a breath before he answered.
"It is that we have a plan of our own. I do realize that the second answer appears to contradict the first. We understood early on that there was no possible way to stop them before we were able to. It was the best alternative we can think of.
"So what is this plan of Gendo cooked up?" Misato asked.
"It was Yui who formulated this plan," Fuyutsuki said before turning around. "It's best that we continue our journey before I talk more of this." With that, he resumed his walk and entered the chamber, the others joining him a few seconds later.
Once inside, they all saw that they were in a large domed chamber. On the dome's ceiling, they saw several stalactite-like objects composed of cubes stacked on top of each other. On those cubes were individual characters written on them. Shinji, who had felt another wave of instinct wash over him, found some of these characters familiar as he thought he has seen some of them at NewCon before. However; Misato, Asuka, and Yume knew these characters well.
"And this place is…" Shinji asked.
"The final stop on our tour," Fuyutsuki replied. "This is more or less a control unit for the entire satellite." He then turned to Yume.
"Ayanami, could you demonstrate how this place works? You should know how by instinct."
"Yume," she answered.
"What was that?" Fuyutsuki took a few steps towards her to hear better.
"My name is Yume," she said. The old man looked at her for several seconds processing what she said before he spoke himself.
"My apologies Yume…chan, yes. Could you please operate this?" she looked up to where he was pointing at.
"Very well," she said as she got right under the structures. "What do you want me to do?"
"Something simple to start with how about that?" Fuyutsuki replied sounding as if he was talking to a grandchild. Yume thought about it for a few moments.
"I'll show everyone the Wunder," she then said. Yume stretched out her hand, and within seconds, the blocks began to move and rotate, turning the structure into a whole other shape. Seconds later, an image of the luna landscape formed on the dome walls like ice melting on a frozen window. They could see the Wunder floating above them though one of its wings was blocked from view by the stalactites.
"Is this a real time image?" Misato asked.
"Indeed it is," Fuyutsuki replied. "You could communicate to your ship's crew if you want to"
"I'll keep that in mind." She said.
"You can use this chamber as well Shinji," Fuyutsuki added. "It is even possible to use an Eva to control it with out being in the chamber itself. And this completes the prologue of the answer to your question Colonel."
"What question?" Misato replied.
"You asked what our plan is," Fuyutsuki shook his head in a combination of humor and disbelief. "The plan, essentially, is to unite both the black and white moons and to take both out of this system and navigate across the stars to seek the original world our progenitors came from. Together, they will serve as an ark for the souls of humanity as it makes its journey. "Shinji, you in Unit 01 will serve in a navigator role."
He then walked over to a shocked Shinji. We know that you have had an interest in astromony since you were a child. That was built into you help in this grand plan." Fuyutsuki reached out to put a hand on the young man's shoulder, but stopped when he noticed out of the corner of his eye Sakura aiming her revolver right at his head. Shinji signaled for her to put the gun down, which she did after a few seconds. The others stood there for several seconds. In shock at what he said.
"Why?" Shinji then said to him. "What would be the point in going there. "I'm sure they left their home world for some good reason?"
"That's right," Asuka said. "For all we know, their planet was dying or maybe their sun went supernova. There might not be anything left."
"Yes, that's true," Fuyutsuki replied. "Yet, there still might be some clues to potentially any others direction they could have gone or perhaps where other survivors, if any, went to. It will not be a short journey, that is for sure. Besides, Yui had in insatiable curiosity about our origins. I mean, wouldn't anyone be curious about this?"
"If this was my mother's plan, why did her husband go along with it?" Shinji then said.
"Again, both Yui and Ikari were against SEELE from the start," Fuyutsuki said. "I also like to think that it was to keep himself closer to her after she entered Unit 01. To complete himself as it were."
"But I am just as much a part of her, aren't I?" Shinji looked for any sign on the old man's face that the answer was yes. Fuyutsuki sighed before he answered.
"It…It really is a shame he could never see it that way. Shinji sunk his head, Sakura squeezed his arm to let him know that he was no longer alone. Whatever sadness he felt at that moment was soon replaced by another bout of instinct like someone was trying to contact him. He got himself free of Sakura and walked toward the center of the chamber, where Yume still remained. Shinji raised his hand, and another set of blocks began to rotate and move. When this was completed, and beam emanated from the stalactite, and hit the ground in front of Shinji. The beam took the form of Gendo Ikari."
"Shinji," Gendo began. "I trust that Fuyutsuki explained your role satisfactorily. You must now complete your destiny and get into Unit 01. We are about to initiate the final stage." Silence settled into the chamber for a second or two when Shinji spoke.
"That isn't right," he said.
"It doesn't matter what you think is right or not," Gendo countered. "Now get in Unit 01."
"And what if I don't?" Shinji asked.
"Are you going to leave humanity like this?" Gendo countered. "Are you going to leave them with no future?"
"We have a future," Misato then said. "I don't want my soul to go on some outer space tour and I'm sure there are many that don't want to go either. We can restore the Earth. It will take a lot of time and hardship on our part, but it can be done."
"Shinji," Gendo said to him in a tone that demanded an immediate answer. Shinji looked straight at him.
"Get out of my sight," was all he said.
"You can't make him do anything Commander," Misato said. "As I said, there is still hope for humanity on Earth." Gendo stood silent for several seconds.
"As I stated before, the final stage is to be initiated. There is no way out of this," he then said before his image vanished. Moments later, the entire chamber began to shake with a violent ferocity.
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"Changes in the moon detected," a technician cried out as both Kaji and Burke rushed into the operations center.
"What's happening?" Kaji demanded.
"I don't know sir but these readings suggest movement of landforms on the moon.
"The moon is moving?" Burke asked.
"No sir. The moon is changing its shape!"
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"A moon quake," Shinji said. They saw the lunar landscape being projected to them begin to move in large chunks.
"What is happening? Misato said.
"Look there!" Asuka pointed to a small spot on the projection, which grew larger by the second. On closer inspection, they saw it was Unit 13, the spears of Longinus and Cassius being held in its four arms. They all saw that the Eva was coming right towards them.
"We're in for it now," Misato muttered.
