Changes In Tempo
CHAPTER 1: Pasts Recalled
June, 2004 - GEHIRN HQ - 11:29 AM
It's been three years since the Second Impact. The Earth is rampant with war across countries that used to be allies while others, such as members of NATO, are rebuilding. GEHIRN, an organization under the United Nations, has been experimenting with a project to defeat the angels in the event they return. The culmination of their research has led to this moment.
"Tell me that what you are doing is safe, Yui. I wouldn't want to risk losing you to the Eva Unit." Gendo said as he was concerned over his wife being the test subject of Eva-01.
"Gendo, sweetie, I assure you that it is completely safe, only scratching out bugs from the software of Unit-01," Yui says to Gendo assuringly. "Besides, I wouldn't have Rei here to watch me test it out if I knew it wasn't safe."
As Gendo and Yui talked about the upcoming test in 15 minutes, Kozo Fuyutsuki looked at Rei, who was looking at Unit-01 with awe.
"Fine, just please promise that you come back safely," Gendo says with an ink of fear.
"I will see you once the test is over," Yui kisses Gendo and proceeds toward the doors leading to the test chamber. Looking over to Rei, she picks her up, "Are you ready to see Mommy test out the Robot?"
Rei nods with excitement, "Yes!"
Fuyutski notices her excitement and can't help but smile, "Well seems like young Rei is quite excited." Fuyutsuki said with a chuckle.
Test Chamber - 11:45 AM
Yui steps inside the entry plug, closing the seal behind her.
"Ready to begin when you are, Commander," Told one of the operators at the control deck.
"Begin the test," Gendo said, holding back his fears and hoping all goes well, worry covering his face.
The operators begin with the start-up phase.
"Shutdown signal plug extraction complete, beginning entry plug insertion." One of the operators repeated.
As Rei watched Eva-01 start-up, ignoring the operators in the background, Fuyutsuki walked up to Rei to pick her up and give her a better view.
"A10 nerve connection, status green. Synchronization rate at 29.8%" The operators repeat.
A sigh is given off by Gendo, relieved by the lack of failures with the system.
"See Gendo? I said everything would be fine." Yui said with reassurance.
"Commander, we're picking up unusual readings from the Eva, sudden spikes in the Synch rate going up by 50%." Operators repeat, trying to make sense of the problem.
Suddenly, like a flash of lightning, Yui screams in pain just before the feed from the Eva unit cuts off.
"Command Deck! Report to me the status update!" Gendo said with urgency.
Rei seeing what was happening, began to cry, clearly traumatized by the events unfolding.
"Synchronization rate has reached 400%, and feedback from Eva has cut off completely." The operators report back, trying to prevent the problem from happening any further to no avail.
As Fuyutsuki realized what was unfolding, he quickly proceeded to take Rei from the command deck into a quiet room, calming her down for the time being before placing a staff member in charge of calming her down.
"Shut the Eva down!" Gendo said as he began spiraling into a breakdown.
The operators did all they could, to no avail. Eva-01 had refused the shutdown completely.
"No response. Eva is unreactive."
"Then do the emergency shut off!" Gendo cried.
The operators performed the emergency shutdown and ejected the entry plug, proceeding to cut off power to Eva in the process.
"We need emergency crews to report to Eva-01. ASAP!" Gendo screamed.
Within a couple of minutes, everyone's mind was on Yui's safety, hoping that she was okay through whatever had happened. Every second mattered. Emergency services arrived at the scene, gurney on hand. Opening the entry plug revealed the worst possible outcome. All that remained was an empty plugsuit filled with LCL pouring out from the top.
Over the radio, emergency services spoke, "Yui is absent from the entry plug, announcing dead on arrival."
Gendo collapsed, realizing his worst fears had come to life. Fuyutsuki and the entire command deck immediately rushed to Gendo.
Rei had calmed down in the other room. The staff member sighed to herself. Only then did another staff member notify her of the situation outside. Unbeknownst to their knowledge, they didn't know Rei had overheard the information between the staff members. Her world fell apart.