LNCrawler

Chapter 1: The White Unit Two

Neon Genesis Evangelion ANIMA — LNCrawler · All chapters

Chapter 1:
The White Unit Two
W HEN NERV JAPAN’S command center in Hakone finally restored communications with Shinji in Hokkaido, the images sent by Super Eva’s telemetry system threw the room into confusion.
Commander Katsuragi Misato had to say something. What she managed was, “Shinji-kun! Keep your distance!”
Facing off against Shinji wasn’t the enemy ravaging the Earth but a fellow member of the human race—who had arrived piloting a winged white giant with huge clouds churning behind her.
Misato’s eyes were fixed on the main screen. The commander reached for her communications handset and said, “Maya, are you seeing this? Have you heard anything about a second Unit Two?”
The winged giant appeared to be the same model Eva as Unit Two. Eva-02 had been constructed by Nerv Germany, and the UN forces deployed for disaster relief operations in Hokkaido came from European countries—including Germany. As Misato was making the connection, Ibuki Maya, the chief scientist and engineer, replied from her station in the cage.
“I have not,” Maya said. “But speaking only to possibilities, Nerv Germany might have decided not to dispose of the surplus bodies from the construction of Unit Two.”
<< Like how we still have all those leftover spines from Unit Zero underneath our feet? >>
“It’s not hard to imagine someone hiding a complete body within the scrapheap… But constructing the physical body isn’t the difficult part. It’s stabilizing the core—infusing the Eva with a soul.”
<< I got it. Thanks! >>
CLICK!
Maya had pulled the receiver away from her ear in anticipation of the thunderous click that always came the very moment Misato was finished speaking. The chief scientist had picked up that trick from her predecessor, Akagi Ritsuko.
To no one, Maya said, “But Commander Katsuragi, there’s a far more serious and pressing issue right now.”
The chief scientist leaned forward to look down at Eva-00 Type-F. She called down to the engineers on the lower deck.
“Start the warm-up procedures. We might have to sortie.”
Shinji’s cockpit display showed him the same picture that the command center was seeing.
“That Eva has Stage 2 armor,” he remarked, sounding puzzled, “and wings like the Allegorica, which we’ve only just made into a functional loadout. Those didn’t exist when Unit Two was built. Am I wrong, or has our current, most-advanced technology been leaked to someone on the outside?”
Rays of sunlight spilled through the gaps between the black clouds, making the floating white giant even more dazzling and radiant. The scene looked like a work of art—specifically, the sight reminded Shinji of religious paintings he’d seen in the high-res archives.
The Eva-02 had appeared to move with the clouds, materializing in their midst, although the idea seemed impossible. But the Eva hadn’t registered on Shinji’s radar until it came into direct view.
“Toji!” Shinji couldn’t help but call out to his friend, despite it being a breach of communications protocol. “Our class rep is piloting that Eva!”
Sounding confused, Toji replied, << That’s ridiculous! >>
A fair assessment.
“Yeah, but…” Shinji and Super Eva shared one heart, and the young pilot was confident in his expanded senses.
That’s Horaki-san, he thought.
It was a strange feeling seeing the other Eva, which contained a mixture of the familiar, the friendly, and the repugnant. Several images flashed through Shinji’s mind. Eva-02. Horaki Hikari. And Asuka, who had disappeared on her way to the moon.
But those were all familiar and friendly images. So then where was the repugnant part? Something about that white Eva-02 was…off.
Then he sensed a black presence from her two shoulder pylons.
“Armaros’ scales!”
Super Eva’s heart leaped.
THRUM!
Was this a repeat of Quatre’s Eva-0.0?
The Q.R. Signum had caused Rei Quatre’s Eva to go berserk. Q.R. Signums also powered the zombie-like Angel Carriers. Implanted with Armaros’ scales, the Carriers were drawn to the sound of Super Eva’s heartbeat, perhaps because they were dead and longed for a beating heart of their own. Seeing two Q.R. Signums here, on an Evangelion no less, deeply unsettled Super Eva.
THRUM!
Shinji’s body was one with his Eva, and he felt his own emotions begin to run wild, threatening to slip from his control.
Faced by a white Eva-02 bearing two Q.R. Signum scales, Super Eva’s fight-or-flight reflex was rapidly heading toward fight, but Shinji suppressed the impulse. “Class rep, are you under the Q.R. Signum’s control?”
The white Eva raised the cross-shaped tip of its spear.
<< The opposite. Nerv Germany has developed the technology to bring that black giant’s quantum resonance plates under our control. >>
The Eva-02 held out its spear to signal a forward advance. Behind the white giant, the clouds rumbled, followed by the roar of over a hundred jet turbines, as a swarm of aircraft burst through the cover and into sight. The planes sailed one after another over Super Eva’s head.
Taken by surprise, Super Eva took several steps backward as Shinji said, “Wh-what’s happening?!”
Unable to process the scene, Shinji and the Super Eva froze, becoming mere observers.
“Are those disaster relief forces?” Shinji asked, but the presence of fighter aircraft ruled out that possibility.
Where are they going? Shinji wondered. South…toward Honshu.