Chapter 27: A New Mouthpiece

Chapter 27:
A New Mouthpiece

 

Asuka sent an emergency broadcast. “Mayday! Pilot has lost consciousness, and we’re losing control! Shinji! Hakone command!”

<<Hakone command to Platypus-2! Switch to UAV mode! The A.I. should be able to take care of it!>>

<<Uhhh…>> Asuka looked around at the panels. Toji was still struggling, but he could control his mechanical arm enough to flip open the control panel.

“That which must not be… I got it!”

“Asuka, what’s happening?!” Shinji asked.

Final Model turned to Platypus-2, and that was when he saw the mountains move, like an optical illusion.

“Giant beast sighted! It’s coming this way! Why now?!” But it was no accident that the beast had picked this moment to appear.

It headed in the direction of the gathering Q.R. Signum. The assistant combat A.I. identified the threat, but it was too large to get a reading.

<<Acting Deputy! I think Suzuhara’s picking up the black giant’s thoughts… But why?! Why isn’t Armaros speaking through the Reis?!>>

It was because Armaros’ spirit had changed.

The half-mechanical half-organic beast shook earth and air as it approached. It paid no attention to Final Model or the demon-possessed Platypus-2.

“Is it going after the Q.R. Signums?”

Toji and Asuka’s jet stabilized from its tailspin. Now they were looking for a landing zone.

<<Dammit, you knocked me on the head!>>

<<You’ll be fine. We’re okay now. This thing should be able to take us down safely. But that thing… It’s crying.>>

Final Model stopped in midair after being reassured of their safety. He now saw countless animals of all shapes and sizes running after the giant beast. The creatures moved with an unnatural speed. Their bodies weren’t even built to go that fast. Perhaps these were the creatures the Akashima had seen, the humans who’d lost their form after being overwhelmed by the Ark’s life-form data.

“What?!”

They jumped into the giant body like it was a pool, melting into it.

The beast swelled as it absorbed each and every creature. Its claws raked the earth over and over, scattering broken fragments of Q.R. Signums everywhere. It was as if it was trying to prevent itself from absorbing them. But all across the animal’s gigantic body, the black scales stood erect. It lifted its newly formed arm like a weapon, and the body of the new black giant appeared at last.

“Eva-01 Final Model to Hakone command. Armaros sighted. E4, twenty seconds, sixty percent of tentative map. Subject armed with… Is that a trombone? It looks like a musical instrument…”

<<That’s the positron rifle.>> Euro Eva Heurtebise’s rifle had been transformed in both shape and size.

The Platypus-2 found a relatively flat piece of ground, and it shifted into landing gear and began its descent upon the soft moss. On the other side of the hill, the giant beast was attacking Armaros. Flames blew out of the black giant’s instrument.

On this strange island, their adversary now faced a representative of all non-human species.