One week has passed since they released her from the monitored containment room. Hours of decontamination, humiliated by adults as they poked and prodded at her body, testing, and scanning, muttering on and on. Being freed from that horror came as a relief. Asuka has room to breathe now, she hasn't been given anything yet, but at least she can move in the small observation room. A bed, a two-way mirror, plain stone walls and a floor that feels freezing to her bare feet. She was dressed in a hospital gown that barely covered her battered body. The least they could do was give her clothing that protected her dignity.
Ritsuko Akagi has explained why she had to remain in the Nerv holding area. Dr. Akagi told her what had happened. There was no need. As if she could ever forget. She was sacrificed to Unit 01 and the dummy system. She watched in horror as Shinji's Unit 01 tore the infected Unit 03 limb from limb. She screamed when the entry plug was crushed in the maw of Unit 01; Asuka had never felt so much fear in her life. She didn't want to die, not like this. She somehow lived. Isolated from everyone and unaware of what was happening on the outside. No one visited here; she barely saw Dr. Akagi anymore. Alone in a dimly lit cell, she was offered meals three times a day through a slot in the door. Asuka could barely stomach food these days; nothing seemed palatable anymore. It would have been bearable if not for the new voice in her head. Often it was nothing more than a giggle, but the whispers started getting louder. She could hear a unique voice that first spoke to her inside Unit 03, which fed on her inner fears and desire to connect with others. Its haunting speech moved through her mind like a wave. Electricity moved through her nerves, forcing her to listen to the inner voice that begged to be acknowledged.
"You could destroy them all, take revenge on them. They Humiliated you." A childlike voice devoid of emotion sounded almost like Asuka when she was small. Yet, the words are spoken in a mechanical imitation of human speech—words without intent or meaning, just statements of inner desire and pain.
Asuka tries to ignore the voice. She shifts on her bed, turning onto her side. She catches a glance in the mirror. She is shivering on her bed, the bandages across her face loosen, and she can see her eyes pulsating with a blue light. Asuka turns away.
"Are you afraid of what you've become? Why won't you look at me."
Asuka sits up in bed, trying to ignore the voice. She'll drink a glass of water, just drink the water and calm down. As she moves to the edge of the bed, she feels the bandages fall from her head. Asuka leans forward, rushing to catch them. She accidentally sees her reflection in the two-way mirror, this time locking eyes with the inner voice. Her left eye pulses with a foreign goopy blue matter and radiates a blinding blue glow. Pulsating and growing, covering her eyes and forehead, it spreads its tendrils, forming into child versions of herself. The little girls have soulless dark eyes, grinning like children's dolls.
"Are you sad? Why didn't they save you? No one ever helps you or comes for you. You're so alone… They did this to you. Nerv wants you to die, and you're replaceable, a spare. Even he betrayed you… The idiot was supposed to help you. No one cares about Asuka."
The little girls wave and dance at Asuka, grinning marionettes sprouting from her face, laughing in the reflection. They cover rise and fall as they continue to taunt her, "you're alone, you're replaceable, no one will ever love you-"
"Shut up! Stop it!" Asuka screams at her reflection, and she springs toward it, balling her hands into fists. She can see her complete form in the mirror now. Her red hair floats slightly, like when she is in the entry plug. Her hospital gown barely hides the scars that cover her body. Her pale skin is returning to normal at an alarming rate. The invader is erasing all evidence of being crushed in the entry plug. She stumbles toward the two-way mirror, placing one hand on the mirror and the other over her left eye, trying to force the presence back inside. Instead, she can feel the tendrils spread across her face, grabbing her fingers, blue and bubbling. Infecting her ultimately, reminding her that she is no longer the 14-year-old girl she was days before. It unsettles her how she can see everything clearly, maybe even better, with this infected goop covering her face. The power it whispers of is intoxicating. She would be the best, better than any Eva pilot could ever be. Nothing would be able to get in her way. She would be unstoppable. She briefly has a vision of herself, bathed in a firey glow, eyes shining bright blue, four instead of two. Her mouth opens to reveal sharp and deadly fangs. Enormous flaming wings, deadly claws, her skin straining to contain bones and muscles, and raw, unbridled power. No longer human, something much more. One with the Eva and the Angels. The temptation grows. She was to give in.
She feels a hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of the fantasy. The tendrils rescind into her eye, and she is free from the whispering for now. Asuka turned to face the intruder; she didn't hear the door open. A boy is standing beside her, bathed in an unearthly glow with a halo of light over his pure white hair. His red eyes give off an eerie glow as if he knows a secret that would destroy the universe. His smile makes her feel at ease, despite his teeth appearing slightly pointed, and he radiates a terrible and unknown power. He seems uncanny, somewhere between human and non-human. He feels like his fingers seem slightly too long or his eyes are slightly above where they should be. She swears he has wings growing from his appendages, wings of light, and fire of various sizes on his arms and legs. But then she blinks and sees he is an ordinary human boy, someone her age with pale skin and red eyes. He is dressed in a Nerv Commander uniform. There is nothing off about him. Then he smiles again, a usual human smile filled with compassion.
He speaks softly, his voice comforting and somehow familiar. "Not yet, Shikinami-san. The Lilin still needs you, do not shed your humanity yet. Welcome to the ranks of angels. When it is time for you to ascend to godhood, you will know." He claps her shoulder and nods.
And with that, he turns and leaves the room. The door shuts, and Asuka is once again alone in her room, and Asuka feels calmer than she has in days.
"Who was that?" She thinks to herself. She returns to her bed and stares at the ceiling. "I guess it is okay, I think he helped me." The power within her body has stilled. Asuka is human and will remain human, at least for now. The other being will bide her time. Asuka does not need to become a God yet.