Chapter 40: Pillaging Machine

Chapter 40:
Pillaging Machine

 

“Asuka?!”

<<What the…?! Are these…roots?>>

Hakone command had momentarily lost Asuka’s signal from Yomotsu Hirasaka Island, due to the appearance of the tunnel network. Her voice was choppy now, and they had zero visuals.

“Hakone command to Final Model!”

<<Understood. Heading there now!>>

The phenomenon had spared Final Model from being skewered, but they couldn’t afford to tarry.

Meanwhile, Aoba noticed a point of similarity among the reports coming in about the World Tree. He notified Commander Katsuragi Misato.

“So, this was only visible immediately after the phenomenon appeared.”

He brought the video over to the command seat.

“The thin, vertical roots hanging from the thick horizontal roots disappeared before they could reach the ground, but they were reported to have been sucking something up.”

The video was blurry, but it did look like there were lumps traveling up the roots.

“They appear to be rocks and boulders, but I don’t think they’re sucking up the ground. We can no longer see this happening.”

“How are we supposed to tell what this is?” Misato filed the information away for later and returned her attention to the battlefield.

It was then that a distressed Maya barged into the command center.

“Who let Asuka pilot Unit Two?!”

Eva-02 had reappeared on Yomotsu Hirasaka, attached to the U.S. Eva’s back after being ionized and reconstituted. Maya knew that much before Asuka and Toji had left for the island. But she didn’t expect them to find it, let alone pilot it. She didn’t think Eva-02 couldn’t move on its own after being fused with Wolfpack.

“Dr. Ibuki, I ask you to refrain from making statements that cast doubt on the operation in the command center,” Fuyutsuki warned her.

The commander turned around. “No one gave her permission to do anything. But considering the fact that the Eva is moving when it shouldn’t be, don’t you think this is a lucky break?”

Pretty much everyone agreed with that. The revival of Eva-02 gave humanity a chance to fight back in the final battle against the beings who claimed divinity.

“It’s such a lucky break that anyone is bound to be suspicious of it,” Maya said. She put on a headset and began talking to the display. “Asuka, you spent a long time as an amalgamated entity! You know your individuality isn’t stable yet. Get out of the Eva!”

<<You’re kidding,>> Asuka responded. <<All systems are green in Unit Two, and there are no problems with my vitals. It’s ridiculous how good this all feels.>>

Misato turned around. “Maya, what’s bothering you?”

“Asuka is currently wearing the synchronization-suppressing orichalcum plugsuit, and yet her sync rates remain elevated. This might be a prelude to something. Or maybe it’s happened already.”

<<Whoa!>> Asuka’s voice interrupted their conversation. <<This isn’t the time for theorizing!>>

Visuals returned to the display, showing an Asuka doubled-over in laughter.

<<Can you see what I’m seeing? It’s a damn mess right now.>>

 

Eva-02 was running with the Bizen while the mountainous Wolfpack roared like a barrage of artillery. It pointed its gaping maw up and fired its particle beam at the sky.

Armaros and the two Torwächters had been freed from the restraints of the Earth and were now flying through the roots of the World Tree covering the skies.

The roots formed a net over the horizon, from which even more roots extended. They kept creeping west, and it seemed as if they would soon make the return trip and encroach from the east.

The three black giants danced through the air, suspended on these additional roots. The one connected to Armaros looked familiar. It glowed much like the Tree of Life during the consummation of the Human Instrumentality Project three years ago. The only difference was that this one was black.

“So, the back plates of the giants…are the tips of the roots of the World Tree>>”

“What is going on?!” Fuyutsuki shouted.

<<I guess we know who the puppet and puppet master are now,>> Asuka said.

And it was true. The two Torwächters looked like marionettes whose strings were being manipulated by Armaros.

Misato turned to Seele/Kaji, still surrounded by security guards.

“So, this is the image of the black giants’ identity.”

“Took you long enough,” Kaji said. “The son of Gendo has placed the World Tree in the sky. Armaros and its two messengers are the fruits that hang from the roots.”