Chapter 20: The Sealed Space
Chapter 20:
The Sealed Space
The Sealed Space
T
HE HOLE AT THE CENTER
of Nerv Japan HQ formed a perfect circle around which the various modular aboveground facilities slowly circled on concentric rails. At the bottom of the hole was a dome, known as the sarcophagus, which had been sealed away after the Battle at Nerv HQ beneath multiple isolation barriers. Access to the sealed space was tightly restricted—not only for the staff whose work brought them there from time to time, but even for the higher-ranking officers.
Three years ago, when the Human Instrumentality Project failed, Lilith had created a field of stagnant time around itself, now located beneath the dome. Over 150 Nerv employees—including Commander Ikari Gendo and Chief Scientist Akagi Ritsuko—and roughly a dozen JSSDF special forces soldiers were swallowed up by the massive, egg-shaped anomaly. The true nature of the field remained a mystery, but according to the prevailing theory, time on the inside of the field hadn’t advanced a single second since its inception.
The field’s surface was perfectly smooth, like a mirror, only this mirror reflected no light at all. It was nothing but pure, disorienting darkness, as if someone had cut away a curved slice of space. So unusual was the sight that only by walking around the field, and observing the ruins on the opposite side, could an observer comprehend its spherical nature.
Misato spoke, breaking the silence. Her voice started as a whisper, but fell into heaving sobs by the end.
“Ritsuko. Kaji-kun has… Kaji has become an entirely different person. Only his body is still there. Ritsuko, I… What should I do?!”
As if startled awake by her own sleep talk, Misato suddenly became self-conscious and hurriedly wiped the tears from her cheeks.
What am I doing? This is no time for me to be crying.
She knew she was right. But she didn’t want to leave.
Commander Katsuragi was currently the only person allowed to enter the restricted zone without anyone else’s permission—or knowledge—which made this the only place where she
could
cry. She was sitting on the ground, in a spot hidden from the surveillance cameras that kept a constant watch over the black egg as she entreated its dark surface.
Help me.
It had all happened so fast after the attack. The next thing she knew, she was the commander of Nerv Japan, holding absolute authority over how and when the Evangelions were used. Above ground, as long as she held that title, everywhere she went, everyone would be watching her with fear as they waited for her to issue her next command.
And right now, I’m crying.
This emotional reaction surprised her. If she’d been the same woman she was three years ago, she could have faced anything—even, hypothetically, Kaji’s death—and no matter how shaken, she would still be able to push on to her next action. But this Misato had been brought to a standstill.
Words came out from her that she never thought she could have said.
“I don’t give a damn about what happens to the world.”
It was only the second time she’d had that thought. The first was as a child, when she was the lone survivor of the apocalypse in Antarctica.
“I want to be with you, Kaji-kun.”
“Then let’s go see him,” said a voice, as the air shook with a jolt.
Misato was so surprised her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. Her arms, which had been hugging her knees, now went flailing, and she almost completely lost her balance before she managed to plant her hands on the ground behind her.
Standing before her was Ayanami Rei Quatre, wearing a black, older-style plugsuit. Behind the girl loomed her giant Eva-0.0, which crouched on one knee, looking down at Misato.
How did they get here?! This area is underground, completely sealed off and under constant surveillance.
A dust cloud had formed a ring around the intruders, as if the rubble had been displaced by their arrival.
The pair had broken into both Nerv Japan’s deepest reaches and Misato’s personal and emotional sanctum. The shock left Misato feeling dizzy, but her mind swiftly began to analyze the situation.
The Angel Carriers and Quatre’s mutant Eva-0.0 had appeared and disappeared without warning. Between the circumstantial evidence and the impressions of the pilots who’d faced those enemies, the engineering department had suspected that the entities linked to the Q.R. Signum scales might be able to change their spatial position.
Can they shift their location this covertly and without any emissions?
Quatre’s mutant Eva-0.0 had been designated hostile when the pair went fugitive. The giant had undergone monstrous transformations, with some components of its body fused together and others missing altogether. In its chest armor, Armaros’ black scale emanated an eerie red glow.
“You can show up any place you like.” Misato stated the obvious.
Ayanami’s red eyes glimmered. “I don’t recall ever going to a place I liked. I just move along in the flow.”
“The flow?”
“I saw the European Eva’s attack. I saw many nations searching for the Ark. But the Earth trembled, and the world slid toward its inevitable end. And the next thing I knew, I had come back here.”
“Why?”
“Because Commander Ikari is here. I wish I could melt into that darkness with him.”
Misato believed Quatre was speaking the truth—or at least,
her
truth.
“Commander Katsuragi,” Quatre said, “you can cry if you want to. The world is ending, after all. But…”
Misato let out an embarrassed grunt and wiped her cheek.
Quatre took a step forward, closing the distance between them.
“Stop lying to yourself. There is something the real Misato wants to do. And now is the time.”
Quatre said, “The me up there—the me who unifies—doesn’t have such a desire.”
Misato thought,
Who does she mean? Trois?
After Misato learned of Kaji’s transformation, she’d lost herself completely. She wasn’t entirely sure if she could say how many days had passed.
“Confronted with the idea that she had no real identity, her body and mind were easily stolen by the afterimage of the me the problem solver.”
Misato remembered Maya telling her something about Trois experiencing a state of shock that went beyond the effects of the mental mirror that connected the clones and that Trois had surrendered her mind to Cinq.
Had Quatre been in contact with Trois? Had Trois’ psyche been overwritten, just like Ryoji with Seele?
Suddenly angry, Misato rebutted, “A person’s heart can’t be hijacked so easily! I—”
She trailed off as the doubt crept it.
“If you want to find out,” Quatre said, “you’d better do it now. Humanity is out of time.”
In exchange for the black giant’s power, Eva-0.0 had become deformed. Its crooked armor plates creaked as it reached out to Misato.