"Doctor Akagi, the Magi is almost done." Maya's eyes darted across the screens on her station. A few paces behind her, Ritsuko stood surrounded by a few technicians and a waist-high pile of documentation.
"One moment." She divided the pile into several stacks and gave one to each technician. Once they left, she grabbed her cup and walked to her protegee.
"It seems you were right to suspect: the Magi reports 95% confidence on the weather not corresponding to predictions based on NWP and European models, and 75% on the likeliness of it being angel-related activity."
Ritsuko nodded and said, "When will the next cold wave hit?"
"Thursday, around 5 a.m. After that, the model becomes too chaotic for an accurate forecast. But the weirdest part is that the dust areas are increasing in temperature." Maya pressed a key and the gradients of blue over the city turned into pale yellow as they reached the eastern parts of the countryside. "I thought these two phenomena were unrelated but the Magi is reporting a correlation, though the mechanics behind it are still unknown."
"Doctor, Captain Katsuragi is on her way to the conference room," Hyuga called from his station.
"Thanks, Hyuga." Ritsuko pulled out her tablet and checked the time. She shook her head—11:13PM. NERV HQ's artificial ambient lights could be very deceiving. She rubbed an eye under her glasses and turned to face the other technicians.
"I'll be gone for an hour, maybe less. Aoba, do a routine check on our AA artillery and Eva weaponry depots. Hyuga, I need you to call National Parks and put some pressure on the land and air surveys we asked for yesterday. Maya, run a preliminary routine test on Simulation Body Zero-A, and send both its results and a summary of the Magi's weather forecast report to the Vice-Commander. If you're finished with these tasks before I return, you may leave. Thanks again for staying this late."
The doctor took the elevator and thought about how to proceed. Misato would probably be too nosy for her own good, but due to the rescheduling, there was little time to reconvene with Gendo and plan the next steps in their information façade, and so it was time to improvise. She eventually reached Conference Room 3, finding Misato sitting in an office chair with her legs crossed. She seemed to be nodding off before Ritsuko opened the door.
"I have good news." Ritsuko said and closed the door behind her.
"Hmm?" Misato turned and rolled her neck to make it pop.
"Take a look."
Ritsuko put a folder on the table and Misato opened it. A press release detailed how Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission had issued a warning directed at a company that was working on an Evangelion alternative called "Jet Alone". According to the report, energy output readings from the bipedal robot's nuclear reactor became highly volatile starting two days ago, growing worse in the following twelve hours until it was deemed too dangerous and shut down, pushing back a scheduled demonstration for at least two months.
"This'll buy us some time. The Commander was actually considering to interfere before the demo, so that's one less problem to deal with," she said while crossing her arms.
Misato scoffed and slowly shook her head in disbelief. 'Does this make me your confidant, or your accomplice?' She thought. What a pit of snakes had she been in all this time.
"We don't have the resources for a fight on two fronts. This means less overtime for you and more time for me to focus on things that matter." Ritsuko added. But if she was aiming to ease Misato's expression, she was failing.
Tense silence followed until Misato cleared her throat before starting:
"So, Kaji came to my apartment."
"Did he now?" Ritsuko raised an eyebrow.
"Yes—the freaking nerve of that guy. Wait, did you know he was going to?"
"Would you believe my answer?" She asked in deadpan. Misato lowered her gaze to the table.
"I guess I don't know. Why am I here, Ritsuko?" She asked as the doctor pulled one of the chairs and sat down beside her. She stuffed a hand in her coat pocket to dig for the usual.
"We expect the next angel to arrive within the next two to three days."
"So, around Thursday. And I assume this is highly classified." She said with derision.
The doctor smiled politely and continued: "The cold wave has something to do with it, but we still don't now what, exactly. There's also the dark cloud covering Daigatake and the surrounding area–"
"The thing they mentioned in the news? it looked like an ash cloud but falling instead of rising."
Ritsuko nodded. "It seems to be a kind of dust with some ferromagnetic properties, but for some reason it only seems to interact with other dust particles, not with the surrounding metal or electronics," she said and leaned back, facing up before exhaling a puff of smoke. "As usual, these monsters don't seem to care about the laws of nature. It's all nonsense."
Misato raised a hand to her chest and held her cross necklace. A dark memory flashed in her mind. "It doesn't matter. We'll find a way. To defeat it, I mean."
"You always do," Ritsuko smiled, and Misato found it hard to keep her cold demeanor. "By the way, in case you haven't gotten to the release forms yet, Unit-00 is technically fully repaired, but we're still working on it because we want to improve its armor plating and fit it with shoulder pylons, among other things. In other words, unless absolutely necessary, you will only have access to Unit-01 for deployment."
Misato nodded slowly. Then, realization crossed the captain's face.
"Speaking of available Eva units, Kaji told me that Asuka will be arriving soon. I'd like her to come live with me."
"Isn't one live-in maid enough?" Ritsuko quipped before dragging from her cigarette.
"Very funny. You don't know Asuka, she wouldn't be caught dead cooking or doing her own laundry."
"Then why bring her in?" She asked and almost regretted it at the sight of Misato's growing frown.
"Because she's just a kid," she punctuated almost every word. "Listen, I don't wanna get bogged down with the topic again, just let me have this," she raised her hands submissively, "After what she's been through, she could use the company."
Ritsuko thought for a moment and then replied, "If you really want to help pilot Langley, you should send her to school."
"School? She's got a Bachelor's degree or something, Germany made sure to fast track that. That, and she never learned how to read or write Kanji that well."
"All the more reason to enroll her, in my opinion. Kids need to be socialized to develop properly and we need her to do something with her time while on stand-by. You don't want a teenager just doing whatever all day long, do you?"
"Is that a yes, then? To her staying with me," Misato asked and her eyes followed Ritsuko's cigarette as it was ground into the ashtray.
"Yes. I'll tell the Commander when he comes back from his business trip. But in exchange, you'll have to deal with telling the Second Child that Unit-02 will arrive two weeks after she does, I'm sure she'll just love to hear that. We'll have her sync with a sim body in the Pribnow Box in the meantime."
"Alright. Thanks," Misato said. After a few seconds of feeling like it was not enough, she added, "I really do appreciate it."
Ritsuko nodded. "Now, go get some rest. We'll call you in tomorrow sometime in the afternoon, it's gonna be a long shift.
After a short drive, a shower, and an evening—or rather, early morning—beer, the night came and went, and the Wednesday sun peeked into the windows of the Katsuragi apartment. Pen Pen lay on the floor, rolling on his side every so often to stay in the sunlit part of the floor, a strange sight in the usually scorching Tokyo-3 heat. But today, like the previous few days, was an anomaly.
"We might actually have to buy some jackets if this keeps up. Isn't that wild?" Misato asked loudly as she rummaged through her closet.
"Mm-hmm," Shinji hummed over his cup of coffee from the kitchen table. "I liked it at first, but now my skin feels weird, like it's cracking."
"It's probably sore from the cold air." She closed the small door and opened the top drawer of her bedstand. She walked into the kitchen and placed a pump bottle with beige cream on the table.
"Here. This'll help, especially on your elbows. It's kind of expensive, though, so don't use it for other things," she gave him a lopsided grin and took her seat.
"Hmm?" Shinji turned to follow her, toast in mouth. After a few seconds, his brain put two and two together: "Misato, ew!" He recoiled slightly, "This is why you're single." He said while looking down with narrowed eyes. Her mouth went agape.
"I didn't even say anything! Well, whatever, I'm just trying to help." She sat down and grabbed her own toast before giggling. "You really don't like it when I tease you, huh?"
"Actually, it makes me very uncomfortable," Shinji said before biting into his toast. Misato's amused grin slowly faded.
"Hey, Shinji."
"Yeah?" He asked. She opened the beer can on the table and took a sip before continuing.
"Do you trust me?"
"Uh, I guess?"
"Huh? I'm your guardian! How can you say it like that?" She scoffed.
"Y-yes. I trust you, Misato," he flinched. She sighed, but her expression was one of empathy. She breathed in slowly with shut eyes and then opened them to look at him.
"I don't blame you for keeping your distance. Things have been though for you, and I mean in general," Misato said before taking another drink. Shinji placed his cup on the table. His eyes were on hers, full of apprehension.
"Listen, I want you to be comfortable living here. You do a lot for us, kid."
"Ah, thanks but, anyone could do it." He looked back down. She chose to ignore his technically incorrect self-deprecation and placed the can back on the table more harshly than usual to draw his attention.
"How about we make a deal? I trust you more and you trust me more, and we both get along better. I'll even offer you the first olive branch." She leaned forward with interest.
"An olive branch?"
"It's an expression—old tree, went extinct, don't mind it. This is what I'm getting at: I promise to stop teasing you about, you know, stuff, if you promise me to be just a tiny bit less high-strung about it." She made an almost-pinch with her thumb and finger and raised it to her face, looking at Shinji through the gap. "It's not healthy for you."
"Okay, and how do I do that?"
"Be more honest with your feelings. Look, Rei's a pretty girl–wait, wait, wait, let me finish!" She raised her hand to Shinji, who was already rolling his eyes and groaning. "I know this is uncomfortable so I'm only saying it once: there's gonna be girls in your life and you're gonna find some of them pretty and that is perfectly normal. Don't stress so much about it, just do what feels right. And if that means doing nothing, then so be it. Sometimes you have to make a decision and stick to it. To choose wrong is better than to let life choose for you, got it?"
Shinji's brow softened. He nodded slowly as the words settled in.
"Also, remember that Asuka is going to live with us. She's around your age and, trust me, she's a very cute girl. Are you gonna be uncomfortable every waking moment she's around? No, sir, that's no way to live."
"That's easy for you to say, Misato," Shinji said.
"What do you mean?" She asked. The boy hesitated briefly before speaking.
"I mean... You're, you know, pretty and stuff. You're the one on the receiving end of these things." His face reddened and he looked away.
"I find some men handsome too! Women struggle with this all the time!" She protested, but his embarrassment held. She stood up and put a hand on his shoulder, making him face her.
"Hey, listen: it's okay. I appreciate the compliment. See? Not making fun of you."
"O-Okay. Thank you." He relaxed somewhat and smiled meekly. She was stifling a laugh.
"I'm gonna go change for work now." She paused before continuing, "This is actually pretty hard, so, yeah." She left the room and Shinji's mouth became a flat line. After a few seconds, he shook his head with a slight smile and stood up to pick up the plates.
'Well, at least she's trying'.
The school day was relatively uneventful. Rei had missed class and Shinji assumed she'd been summoned to NERV HQ. He thought about his latest visit to her apartment and cringed at the memory before remembering Misato's words. Recontextualizing it as his own choice made him feel slightly better about the whole thing. And yes, maybe he was an awkward mess in the girl's eyes, but it was better than being a complete stranger, right?
One of the later period's teachers was late. This gave Shinji ample time to get started with homework, much to the chagrin of Toji and Kensuke, who'd rather do, well, nothing. When said teacher eventually arrived, he mentioned something about the east countryside being covered in some sort of dark soot, but somehow no one had reported choking or having difficulty breathing it. The situation grew even more strange when Shinji had to change his usual train route due to some closed stations. The extra walking time in the cold wind didn't help, either.
Once in the apartment, Shinji found a very old looking portable heater in the living room with a note attached to it, apparently Misato had left it there and requested him to turn it on before she arrived from work if it got too cold.
A few hours later, they shared dinner on the table and Shinji's eyes lit up when Misato complimented his cooking. He was about to downplay his ability but her genuine smile deterred him. He chose to simply thank her. After a few minutes of silence, Misato's expression became stern and somber, and she started:
"Shinji, there's something I have to tell you. But please understand that I'm choosing to trust you; don't make me regret that."
"Oh, okay. What is it?"
"More angels are coming," she said, gauging his reaction before continuing. His gaze lowered and he smiled bitterly.
"But I already knew that."
"No, what I mean is... Something happened. Remember the guy that came by yesterday?"
"Mister Kaji?"
"Yes. He's a... an old friend. We can trust him, and he says he's found out how many angels are coming. But it's a secret, no one must know. Only the Commander, Ritsuko, him and I know, and I don't think they'd appreciate me telling you. But I think you deserve it, you're the one getting your hands dirty for all of us," she said. He lowered his gaze to his open palms, closing one into a fist and opening it again and again.
"How many?" Shinji asked.
"They haven't told me everything yet, but there's going to be a few: more than ten, at least. I'm sorry," she said, and silence lingered after. She took a sip of beer to fill the dead air. His eyes became glassy and he blinked away the tears. He lifted his feet to the chair and wrapped his arms around his knees.
"I don't like this at all, but, thank you for telling me."
She smiled painedly and stood up and walked to him to put her hand on his shoulder. "We'll help you as much as we can, Shinji, you know that. And that's also why Unit-00 is being repaired, and why Asuka will come with Unit-02. You won't have to fight by yourself for much longer."
After a moment, his breathing became strained. Despite his best efforts, he began to cry.
"It's painful! It's so painful, but I still want to try." He lowered his head.
Misato pulled her hand away, unsure whether the contact helped or made things worse.
"Shinji–"
"I want it to be my bond... with the Eva, with everyone." He said Rei's words, trying to convince himself.
A few minutes passed, and besides the quiet sobbing of a boy, the apartment was silent.
"Misato."
"Yes, Shinji?"
"Can I have a hug?" Shinji asked, and immediately regretted it. He shut his eyes and shrunk in place. But before his mind was poisoned with the usual doubt, he felt her wrap her arms around him. Shinji rested his head on her shoulder and breathed slowly. He noticed she wasn't speaking and her own breathing had become irregular.
She let go of him and ruffled his hair, smiling slightly. He nodded and cleared his throat.
"I'm gonna go clean the dishes now."
Misato walked down the reddened hallway as the setting sun disappeared from the horizon. And just as the elevator to the Command Center came to view, the emergency siren started blaring. She ran to the elevator doors and frantically pressed the button, but before the doors opened, the alarm stopped.
"What he hell is happening now?"
As she arrived, Fuyutsuki's voice echoed down the main platform.
"–ode yellow! Begin orbital scan by quadrants!"
"What happened, why did the alarm stop?"
"Captain, we've detected a Pattern-Orange in the city." Hyuga turned in his chair as he called her.
"Where?"
"That's the problem, look!" He keyed a few commands and the enormous hologram displaying a topographic map of Tokyo-3 showed a tinted shape that enveloped the entire city and some of its countryside.
"What does that mean?" She asked, and Maya spoke next:
"Our satellite and field imagery haven't found anything, but it seems that whatever is causing this is permeating the entire area. We've added these parameters to the Magi, it's almost done working on a forecast."
"Keep me updated," Misato replied. Fuyutsuki called her and leaned on the higher deck railing.
"Captain, the JSSDF and UN armed forces are on stand-by, it seems they trust our judgement in deciding when to evacuate. What is your recommendation?"
"Sir, we're still not sure what we're facing here. This phenomena might not change for days on end, and we still don't know what's causing it. I say we wait and react accordingly," she said. Fuyutsuki nodded.
"Displaying forecast," Maya said, and the topographic hologram rendered a myriad of white points moving in unison like a flock of sheep. As the time table ticked one hour in the future each second, Misato's eyes widened in horror as the monstrous shape takes form.
Darkness surrounded Shinji. His last memories were a fog, something about going to bed. Was this a dream? The void gave way to sky scrapers, then a cityscape behind it, then a forest, shore, and ocean still beyond. In the horizon, strange mountains rose from behind the endless ocean.
Shinji tried to run, but except for his head, he was frozen in place. He looked down and gasped at the sight of his hands and arms: they were gigantic, mechanical, purple. His breathing became frantic. He cried for help but his voice faltered, like the altitude was getting to him. The far away mountains kept rising, some had vaguely familiar beaked masks, some had tentacles of iron and fire, some had spheres of light in their very center. His expression changed to horror as it dawned on him.
An endless army of angels lumbered through the ocean, all of them heading straight to Tokyo-3, straight to him.
He focused on one of the behemoths and its mask cracked open to reveal a disgusting gash filled with several rows of teeth. The eldritch mouth opened, and from it, a shrill cry echoed and froze his blood. The cry started and stopped over and over, almost like a sobbing. Before Shinji realized, the horrid sound slowly morphed into a monotone ringtone.
The room felt very cold and the sun wasn't even out yet. Shinji groaned and tapped around with his hand until he found his phone. The case felt cold on his cheek.
"Hello?"
"Shinji, I'm on my way to the apartment. I need you to get dressed and meet me in the parking lot as soon as possible," Misato shouted over the sound of a car engine on the other side.
"Huh? Wait, is this an angel attack?" He gulped. For a few very long seconds, only the noise of the engine and tires screeching came from the speaker.
"Yes," she replied and hung up.
The cold crept all around NERV HQ. Misato had told Shinji that everyone would have to be on stand-by for whatever was going to happen today, but that could be anywhere between one and twelve hours. He went to the lockers to shower and don his plug suit, but it took longer than usual—the shower floor and locker benches were very cold. Twenty minutes later, he arrived at the Eva cages and noticed Unit-00 was in the middle of launch test. The Unit's armor plating had been completely replaced, and all the previously damaged or severed parts were now a patchwork of graphite, gray, and alabaster colors.
"Hey, Shinji!" Misato arrived to the cages with some clothing under her arm. She was wearing a scarf and a thick woolen sweater. Behind her, Lieutenant Hyuga carried a big cardboard box filled with windbreakers and other cold weather clothing.
"Here, put these on. You're gonna have a hard time finding something like this in the city." She handed him a jacket and a parka of his size, both of which were quite thick.
"Um, isn't this a bit much?"
"Just put it on. We don't want you to get sick, alright?" She said, and the concern in her eyes that made him give in. "Remember to take them off before getting to the entry plug. Don't worry, the LCL can be warmed up."
Shinji nodded. As he started putting on the garments, Misato and Hyuga went around the room, offering extra clothes to the rest of NERV's staff. He arranged the jacket's neck and pulled up the jacket and parka's zippers in turn. It felt rather stuffy, but he didn't want to complain. Once he was finished, he glanced at Unit-00, and then it hit him: "What about Ayanami?" He asked and turned to search for Misato, but she was already gone.
He walked towards Unit-00's cage and picked up the pace as he saw the evac procedure begin. As the titan grew larger in his field of view, its back plates separated to reveal the entry plug, which was in turn unscrewed and pulled out by a crane.
Shinji walked up the metal staircase, his steps echoing as he did. He held on to the railing at first but then pulled his hand as the cold of the metal bit into his palm through the plug suit. He saw the entry plug be drained of LCL and put back on top of the bridge. The hatch opened just as he arrived, and Rei started climbing out.
"Ayanami, hey. Are you alright?" His shy expression changed to one of concern as he saw her shivering, dripping with rapidly cooling LCL.
"I'm fine," she said after jumping down beside him. She was slouching and her lower lip trembled slightly.
"Wait, let me help you." He removed his parka and raised it around her back. She hesitantly nodded and raised her arms inside the sleeves. Shinji couldn't help but smile as he zipped it close. He was glad she'd accepted his help. Rei balled her hands into fists and rested them under her chin. She leaned on Shinji's chest, prompting a nervous gasp from the boy.
"A-Ayanami, what are you doing?!" Shinji whispered loudly as his body petrified.
"My face... It's cold." Her voice was slightly muffled by his jacket.
Shinji felt Rei's cold and damp hair press softly against his chin. The smell of LCL made him wrinkle his nose. He slowly put his arm around her, lifting his hand to the back of her head and feeling a few cold drops of LCL land on his palm and travel down his forearm. He hesitated, but her shivering gave him some resolve.
He put his palm against the nape of her neck and the warmth made Rei snuggle up further against his chest. He lifted his head to give her enough space to settle in and then immediately felt the blood leave his extremities as he noticed Commander Ikari staring at him from above. The man stood behind a glass pane near the ceiling with his hands in his pockets.
Shinji flinched and stepped back, making Rei lift her head to face him in response. She noticed his gaze was directed at something behind her.
"I uh, Unit-01, I need to, ah... Goodbye," he stammered and walked back and down the stairs at a brisk pace. Rei turned and saw the Commander. She gave him a gentle smile.
The Commander stood unmoving for a few seconds. He then nodded and walked away.
Truck-sized bolts dislodged themselves from the purple titan. The cage surrounding it separated in two, and Shinji instinctively commanded the beast to use its hands to aid in the process. His attention, however, was elsewhere:
"Finally, the last report from the Magi came right before I called you: The cloud of dust we found just west of mount Sounzan is clumping together at certain places. The report predicts it'll all take on a single, enormous shape. And at its center, you guessed it: a giant high-energy sphere."
"A core? So the dust will become the angel?"
"Either that, or it may call it here somehow. Remember how the last angel appeared seemingly out of nowhere? Well, we kinda never figured out how it did that. Anyway, on to what matters right now," A holographic side panel appeared, showing Shinji a 3D render of what looked like an enormous segmented silkworm labeled KERUBIEL, "The projected shape of this thing shows a much lower density on its underside. Assuming it has an AT-Field, our best chance is to try and perforate that area with your progressive knife. We're gonna launch you as close as we can but you're still gonna have to run for it when the time comes, we don't want to risk having this huge magnet near the city."
"Understood," Shinji said and gripped the control yokes tightly.
"Launchpad is ready, Captain. All systems green." Maya reported.
"Alright, everyone, here we go: three... two... one... launch!"
Shinji felt the familiar sinking feeling as his Eva bolted upwards to the surface. He arrived at an elevated platform that gave him a clear view over the city's eastern buildings and into the surrounding forest.
"As soon as its shape comes together, we're gonna eject the power cable and try to distract him while you find a way to his underside. We'll have a bomber jet in the area, so try to find a way to turn it over so we can N2 it out of existence. Now it's time to wait."
Shinji nodded and scanned his surroundings. He attempted to push the creeping memory last night's dream out of his mind, but it proved very difficult. And there he stood for what felt like hours, trying to relax while the tension slowly mounted for him and everyone in the Command Center.
Eventually, it began. As if playing footage in reverse, the dust clouds that peppered the landscape and forest were driven to a specific point on the eastern part of the city, taking on strange, stringy, and symmetrical three-dimensional shapes as they flew along. It was like seeing a drone light show with millions of tiny nodes spiraling to coalesce into a single, enormous figure. And this figure, unlike its constituent parts, very much interacted with the environment, having enough mass to level the entire hillside on its wake. From one moment to the next, Shinji found himself running as fast as Unit-01's legs would take him.
Windows creaked and shattered in the cluster of buildings surrounding the Angel of Flames. The enormous fuzzy spikes that coated its body hardened and pierced through the concrete with ease. In the distance, a pillar of dust rose behind Unit-01 and was dispelled by the shockwave of it reaching the speed of sound. Shinji pulled out his progressive knife as he leapt over a shopping complex, the hurricane behind him still strong enough to shatter glass and uproot trees. In his entry plug, a counter read a little over four minutes.
The dark beast screeched in recognition. Its entire body quaked in waves, sending cars flying, destroying the mountain road and snapping power cables all around. It lifted its front segments like a rearing cobra preparing for attack, but the Evangelion was too fast: It jumped feet first and slid through the ground, holding the knife close. Shinji clenched his teeth and felt them clattering as the friction did little to stop his momentum. He dug his heels in and drove his hands towards the fleshy underside, ripping through and triggering a wail of anguish from the angel. In a rage, the tips of its back spikes became white hot, producing jets of flames in all directions like a perforated blast furnace. The entire hill caught on fire.
Shinji tried to shift the Eva's weight and leap away, but the angel was too fast. It slammed down with gargantuan strength, plunging the Unit-01 into the ground. Shinji screamed. His ankles felt like they'd burst and his head was ringing. He realized his eyes were closed and he snapped them open—two minutes and forty seconds left. The hologram interface showed the location of the knife in relation to him. He stretched his arm and grasped around, finding it within seconds. The Eva's chest was pinned between a hard layer of rock and the angel, and Shinji's sync ratio was too high for him to tell it apart from his own. He couldn't breathe. In a panic, he vaguely pointed the knife upwards and stabbed with reckless abandon.
The angel's body quaked once more. Shinji felt one of his ribs crack under this newfound pressure, yet he couldn't stop stabbing. He let out a primal scream and drove his entire arm inside the monster. A great fountain of blood burst forth from the wound, causing Shinji's grip on the knife to slip and making it tumble out and back to the ground, singeing the Eva's forearm in the process.
Shinji hissed in pain and tried to pull away, but the angel's muscles around the gash clamped onto the Eva's arm and wouldn't let go. He felt a guttural sound reverberate at the base of his stomach before it was quickly replaced in his ears by his own screams, as the Eva's entire body was lifted from the ground by the arm, almost breaking it in the process. The angel turned its body like an undulating drill bit, and Unit-01 flailed back and forth until it lay top of it. Shinji heard Misato's voice far away and dull, it reminded him that he was submerged in LCL.
"Shinji, this is it! You have to get away so we can hit it!"
"I can't, my arm is stuck!" He replied between sobs as he jerked his shoulder around. "Every time I pull it gets worse!" He looked up with a blurry vision: one minute and something left.
"Maybe we can force it to let go," she bit her thumb and turned to the technicians, "Retarget AA launchers 17 through 34 towards the angel's back side, keep the bomber on stand by."
A rain of missiles arced through the sky towards the far side of the angel. Shinji gasped in horror as the creature lifted his rear with impossible speed for its size and coiled into itself like a pillbug, swallowing the Eva between its folds. A deep knell echoed through the newly made valley as an octagonal shield of light materialized and the missiles went off against it.
"AT-Field detected, target sustained no damage," Aoba reported, mostly as a formality.
"Reload and try again!"
"Ah, Misato, I have an idea." Shinji's voice made her turn to the screen. Being covered by the angel's body lowered the feed's quality.
"What is it?"
"Maybe... maybe I can go deeper," he said in between grunts. Misato's eyes widened.
"Are you sure? We don't know what's inside that thing."
He nodded. "We don't have... much time left," he reached for the control yokes and Misato gazed at the timer on a side screen: fifty three seconds left.
She nodded back and said, "Okay, but please be careful." She steeled her resolve and turned to the tech crew, "Where's the core, people?"
"Its hide is too thick, the sensors can't find it yet. We need more time," Aoba replied.
As the Eva swayed back in forth with the angel, Shinji waited until his momentum gave him enough purchase to drive a closed fist beside his trapped arm, digging both inside its flesh. Shinji breathed in as the pressure subsided, but his trapped shoulder still ached and the angel did not lose its grip, so he chose the only path available to him: He shoved his head into the wound, and Unit-01's long horn cleaved its way in, like an icebreaker ramming through the arctic. The angel gave out a shrill cry and thrashed about, digging both it and the Eva further into the ground. Flames engulfed the area almost entirely, and any buildings that hadn't collapsed yet started to melt and twist in place. The LCL around Shinji was hot and stifling, and he had to fight the urge to claw his way out of the hatch in panic. Fourty six seconds left.
Suddenly, the body spikes closed and the fire on their tips was sucked in. They all went gray and limp at once, and the creature's belly made a humming sound slowly increasing in pitch, like an enormous roaring engine.
"The core has been localized!" Maya shouted in excitement. Aoba, however, spoke with urgency, "Energy levels inside the angel are increasing. Its internal tissue is liquefying, it might be trying to combust."
"It's gonna blow up! Shinji, you have to hurry!"
Shinji closed his eyes as the outside view was caked with blood and guts. He crawled his way into the beast, digging with his hands, climbing with his elbows, kicking with swollen ankles and tired knees. The revving up was now so loud he wasn't sure which of his senses was being assaulted more thoroughly. He felt his entire body float upwards as the insides of the angel swelled.
"Open your eyes Shinji! fifty meters ahead! You got this!" Misato tried to reassure him. He couldn't hear her. The gushing of some sticky liquid joined the thundering sounds of the engine revving up. He started panicking and his eyes darted all around the entry plug. A little over thirty seconds left.
By sheer luck, he felt a pang on his right knee as it bumped against the core. He grabbed onto it and pulled the Eva close. Realizing his progressive knife was nowhere to be found, he started wailing on it with both fists. It was like punching a concrete wall. He felt his knuckles splinter and deform, and his throat felt hoarse when he grunted in pain. Nineteen seconds. Remembering the way he dug his way in, he held to the core with both hands and rammed the Eva's horned head against the sphere. Clang. Clang. Clang. Crack!
The revving started to die down and cheers erupted in the command center, but Shinji couldn't make out the words. He felt the Eva's body go into freefall. Exhausted, he let go of the control yokes and his body crashed against the top of the entry plug as his world fell. Part of him wished he'd passed out so that the pain in his everywhere would go away, but he wouldn't have such luck. His eyes fluttered open. He rubbed the back of his head and slowly swam to the pilot seat. Just as he was about to command the Eva to stand up, the feed from the outside died and the red emergency light let him know he was out of power.
In the red darkness of the entry plug, the sound of his own breathing and the stifling heat eventually helped him drift into dreamland.