Chapter 24: A Mirror

Chapter 24:
A Mirror

 

THE COMMAND CENTER witnessed Cinq’s Eva-0.0 explode in a cross of light.

The ripples on the barrier were observable from Earth.

But they saw what happened next differently from how Asuka did.

The moment Asuka passed through to the other side, the Longinus Curtain changed dramatically.

The moon vanished, and the Curtain began to reflect all visible light.

In a matter of seconds, the terrestrial side of the Curtain, where the moon should have been, transformed into a mirror, the giant, concave lens reflecting the Earth, as if to say, Humanity, gaze upon thyself.

From that day forward, the mirror made a complete revolution once every twenty-eight days, in lockstep with the moon.

 

Communications and telemetry data from the lunar sortie had been cut off from the moment Cinq’s S² Engine began mutating.

All transmissions from the command center went unanswered. Asuka’s Eva-02 Allegorica remained out of contact, and Cinq’s Eva-0.0 had been struck by the Lance of Longinus.

 

In Cinq’s final moments, her mental mirror link with Trois reconnected. On the ground in Hakone, Rei Trois received everything from Cinq.

When Cinq first gained self-awareness, and she ran away from her confused self.

When Cinq first saw Trois and Six from the outside.

When a boy talked to her at school.

Trois gasped. She felt the terrible pain of her neck breaking. She lost her vision, and it was all she could do to stay on her feet.

What is this feeling of worth, as if my life has a purpose? Cinq saw a light where there should have been none.

The compressed memories flooded into Trois in less than a second, and then the link disconnected.

The moment felt much too short to convey everything that Cinq had been.

But even that short window left Trois overwhelmed and feeling like she didn’t know herself anymore.

“Unit Two,” she said, “is alive. She passed through the Curtain toward the moon.”

Trois slumped to the floor.