Chapter 19: Asuka in the Moonlight
Chapter 19:
Asuka in the Moonlight
Asuka in the Moonlight
“G
AH, YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS,”
Asuka remarked as she examined Eva-02 Allegorica’s battle-damaged exterior through the gun camera. “You look like an old painting in a Buddhist temple.”
The Eva’s camouflage coating had chipped away in various places across its frame, particularly where it had been scraped and battered by the Arael Carrier. The exposed electromagnetic-shielding and heat-radiating subsurface glistened in golden hues.
But despite the severe and prolonged pummeling to the Eva’s chest, its outer armor had held up surprisingly well.
The Eva’s broken left arm wouldn’t mend like that of a human body, but Evas had been known to spontaneously regenerate in times of danger and strong synchronization with their pilots. It was possible, at least.
Of the three LCL circulation pumps that had shut down when Asuka’s hair blocked the intake, one was broken beyond repair, but the other two appeared capable of functioning well enough to get by. The Allegorica unit seemed to be behaving
itself now, and Asuka had expended roughly thirty percent of her ammunition. Her Eva wasn’t in perfect shape by any means, but considering the tough battle it had just fought, the giant was in respectable condition. Still, Asuka would have to be more careful going forward. In her isolated and unassisted state, survival had become her greatest priority.
Her oxygen, water, and food supplies were adequate for now, but at her current rate of expenditure, they wouldn’t last a month. The Allegorica unit was designed for unlimited flight, and with the entry plug’s emergency life-support programs, she could lower her metabolism and enter a state of hibernation to extend her survival for several months.
As a risky, absolute last resort, she could purposefully over-synchronize with—and melt into—her Eva, and they could enter stasis together, like a fossil carried along by the passage of time. Maya had explained the process to Asuka and Ayanami Cinq before they went on their lunar voyage, but the scientist had also stressed that it wasn’t guaranteed to work. Asuka understood that Maya had offered the suggestion to give the pilots some peace of mind, rather than as an actual option. But if worse came to worst, she’d have to try.
Shinji had once been revived after reaching four hundred percent synchronicity and becoming disembodied within his Eva, but Asuka had no proof that she and Eva-02 were capable of the same feat. Besides, the moon’s surface was in turmoil. Its mass—and consequently, her orbital path—were as mercurial as a cat’s eyes. Were Asuka to go idle while in a satellite orbit, she might easily become lost in space. And if she found a permanently shaded place to make her temporary roost, a sudden upheaval of the moon’s crust could swallow her whole.
Hey, stop that,
Asuka told herself.
You’re letting negativity into your thoughts.
“Besides, it wouldn’t be like me to go to sleep and wait for someone to come to my rescue.”
Several days passed. Aside from environmental dangers presented by the cataclysmic metamorphosis of the moon’s crust, Asuka encountered no additional obstacles.
Flying in a low orbit, Eva-02 Allegorica scattered an array of small sensors with as close to even spacing as possible. If the black giant Armaros appeared anywhere within the mesh, the seismographic sensors would almost certainly register the vibrations. Besides, Asuka wanted to gather as much data on the moonquakes as she could. She still didn’t understand what was causing the moon to spew lava across nearly half its surface. After the Eva finished deploying the next sensor—the twentieth at least, though Asuka wasn’t keeping exact count—she swam gracefully through the weightless air of the entry plug to a compartment in the rear, where she retrieved a pouch of jellied food and a blue plastic bag.
The bag contained various things to keep her occupied on the voyage—video games, digital music, 3D puzzles, photo albums, etc.—all chosen by members of Nerv Japan. She hadn’t had time to look at them before now. Shinji had sent a book filled with artistic photographs of sea life. The book was even waterproof.
“Did you think I was going to read this in the LCL? What are you, stupid?”
It was classic, witless Shinji. She turned the resin pages.
The ocean,
Asuka thought.
I like the ocean.
Presently, Earth’s oceans were in constant turmoil from the tsunamis brought about by massive earthquakes. But Asuka remembered the seas as they used to be—picturesque and beautiful.
A small chime announced the countdown to when the AI would deploy the next sensor.
Asuka was about to witness what Armaros was doing on the moon.