Chapter 6: The Value of Humankind

Chapter 6:
The Value of Humankind: Beta

 

TO RECOVER SUPER EVA, Nerv Japan had sent two UN cargo planes—large enough to transport one Evangelion each—and six additional aircraft. But the red Asuka-Eva was pulling Super Eva across the sky, leaving one Eva transport empty. It followed the pair of giants, its searchlights illuminating them. Their only other escort was a single N2 Flanker, which had peeled off from the retinue.

The Flanker was supposed to be Toji’s transport, but right now, the exhausted leader was sleeping in the empty cargo plane, on the floor of the passageway outside the CIC, while the unmanned, heavily modified Flanker accompanied the slower, larger craft.

Even with Super Eva’s meager assistance, Asuka-Eva was too heavily burdened to reach the cruising speed of the jet-powered transport planes. The other aircraft, fully loaded with equipment and staff, had no choice but to fly ahead. Otherwise, they risked running out of fuel. Shinji and the other stragglers were still flying eastward over the Indian subcontinent as night fell.

 

The Lance of Longinus continued to lengthen as it circled the Earth 20,000 kilometers above the surface. Its extremely thin, radiant line appeared over the southwest horizon and then traced a massive arc overhead on its journey northeast.

The scientific community predicted that the mysterious force constricting the Earth would reach its peak when the lance’s head and tail met, forming a complete ring. But even though that day hadn’t yet arrived, the Earth’s crust was in continuous turmoil.

Even the skies had changed dramatically. The Longinus Curtain, a barrier the lance had created between the Earth and the moon, had shattered just days earlier, revealing a terrifying sight—the moon had swollen to nearly double its size.

In the night sky, the disturbance in the Earth’s electric field made the curved horizon glow. To the south, lightning flashed, and to the north, the aurora cast its eerie lights. It was a beautiful view.

 

Inside the CIC, Misato was on the radio with Maya in Tokyo-3. She kept one eye on the monitor showing Crimson A1 and Super Eva. The image was washed out, its subjects lit by the plane’s searchlights.

“The Q.R. Signum,” Misato was saying, “belongs to Armaros—our enemy. Those black scales have been powering the corpses of the mass-production Evas. So why are they continuing to supply energy to Heurtebise and Super Eva?”

<<Maybe Armaros doesn’t actually regard us as an enemy,>> Maya said.

The reality was that they were fighting something that operated on an entirely different level from humanity.

<<I’d wager its thought processes aren’t as complicated as we assume.>>

“You know, I think you might be right about that.”

What does a god care for the tribulations of humanity?

It was early morning in Japan, and Maya had clearly been up all night. The chief scientist had no intention of dragging out this conversation, so she went straight to the heart of Misato’s apprehensions.

<<Commander Katsuragi, you fear that, in exchange for its survival, Super Eva has been contaminated and will become Armaros’ vanguard, correct?>>

“That’s right.”

<<As for whether Super Eva will end up like Unit Quatre…I’m not so sure. The scale is inside the quantum wave mirror. What I keep thinking about is the stolen heart and how it’s a window to higher dimen—oh… Hold on. Another quake. This one might be a bit bi—>>

The transmission cut off.

“Maya?” Misato asked.

But not only was the encoded voice channel gone, the entire communication signal had been interrupted, including the navigation and weather data from Tokyo-3. The monitor in the comms booth stated that the contact couldn’t be found and asked if Misato wanted to retry the transmission.