Chapter 37: The Old Central Dogma

Chapter 37:
The Old Central Dogma

 

“I SUPPOSE SHINJI is doing something that will upset me.” Maya smirked. Shinji’s thoughts reached all the way down to the underground laboratory set up in the former Central Dogma, and everyone present had heard him loud and clear.

The Q.R. Signum, the only remnant of Super Eva’s salinization, vibrated underwater. The black scale produced soundwaves that sounded exactly like Shinji’s voice.

Toji threw the door open and made a beeline for the experimental tank. He yelled at the Q.R. Signum, which was now forming ripples on the surface of the ultrapure water.

“Shinji! Your Q.R. Signum is right here! Where are you?!”

Toji felt stupid for yelling at a glorified aquarium. But the black scale reacted to his voice, and its red veins glowed hazily in the water.

<<Toji? No, that’s not possible…>>

“It’s workin’, y’all!” Toji’s excitement was palpable. He turned to Maya and saw her shocked expression behind the blast-proof glass. The look stayed on her face for a second before she replaced it with her serious mask. “It’s possible, man! It’s your buddy, Toji! Shinji, where are you?!”

<<Is it really you? I’m on a planetoid somewhere between Earth and the moon… Six? What’s Yomotsu Hirasaka?>>

“She means Yomotsu Hirasaka… Wait, what?!”

The underground complex was sealed off from the surface, and they had yet to receive a single communique on recent happenings. Toji now had confirmation that little Rei Six was alive and well.

“Thank God… You and Six are all right?”

<<Toji, listen!>> Shinji didn’t have the luxury of enjoying their tearful reunion. <<There’s no time. I’m probably going to trigger the Third Impact.>>

Toji shuddered, though he wasn’t surprised. The data that looked like a waterfall had warned him of this outcome.

<<Asuka is with me. She’s still an Eva but she’s no longer a Torwächter. I’m going to get her out of here.>>

Their joyful reunion had turned into a bitter farewell. Maya was already analyzing the situation when she noticed Toji flailing his arms about. She looked to the perimeter of the experimental area, which was a little hard to see past the field produced by the cone around them. But she noticed the figure walking around the facility that Lilith had so neatly cut out.

“Asuka!”

She was walking around, admiring the works, her hands folded behind her back.

She’s looking at the missing Chronostatic Sphere… Is this Asuka from when Lilith was still around?

Asuka’s hair fluttered, despite the lack of wind. Her figure phased out of existence beyond the perimeter before the research team could analyze it with their hand scanners. The lab stirred with noise, and Maya had to switch to the industrial speakers to speak.

“Shinji-kun? Asuka is here! Is anything happening to the synthesis? Is Asuka falling apart on your side?”

<<She’s slowly…melting away…>> Shinji had just noticed what was happening to her.

“What…?”

<<She’s melting into space! No… Wolfpack bit her, and she was badly hurt. She couldn’t stand up even after I helped her. But at least she wasn’t melting…>>

The synthesis…is melting away?

The Asuka/Eva synthesis was a fusion of thousands of organic creatures. She was less Eva than she was an amalgamation, and now that amalgamation was dissolving.

“Can she no longer recognize herself?”

<<What should we do?!>>

“Shinji-kun, don’t let go of her! Use Super Eva’s field to bring up an image of Asuka!”

<<I can’t! I’m fighting Armaros! And my body—>> The red patterns on the Q.R. Signum blinked violently as Shinji’s distant voice echoed in the underground laboratory of Hakone.