Chapter 1: Sentinels of the Biosphere
Chapter 1:
Sentinels of the Biosphere
THREE UNIT-0.0 EVANGELIONS orbited the Earth. From this high up, the full horizon formed a closed blue disc that fit neatly into their field of view.
The former Unit-00 Evas had been redesigned for operation in space, including external S² Engines to free them from outside power sources. Evenly spaced 120 degrees apart along the same orbit, the three units formed the points of a triangle that enveloped the Earth.
A clone of Ayanami Rei rode inside each Eva-0.0. They’d been cultivated in artificial wombs and assigned numbers: Quatre, Cinq, and Six. Now they slept, eyes half-closed, in their individual entry plugs. They slumbered in tranquility, almost as if time had stopped around them.
A fluid called LCL flowed gently through the entry plugs to deliver oxygen to the pilots’ lungs. The girls looked like delicate dolls as they slept in their aquariums, their hair undulating in the LCL. The chests of their white plugsuits held a resin-based muscular mechanism that slowly tightened and relaxed in rhythm with their breathing to help their lungs cycle the thick liquid.
The circulation pumps whirred faintly.
The external S² Engines let out a distant hum as they idled.
Together with the girls, the Evas formed a monitoring and interception system.
And the clones’ quiet slumber signified that the world was currently at peace.
Most of the corpses of the nine Seele mass-production Evas that assaulted Nerv HQ went missing after their defeat, vanishing either in transit or at their destination. After the nullification of the Human Instrumentality Project, the missing mass-production Evas became the greatest threat to global security.
Three mass-production units were recovered from the battlefield—Nerv HQ—and promptly disassembled. Nerv engineers salvaged their S² Engines and later installed them on the backs of the Series-00 Eva units modified for zero-G and zero-atmosphere operation.
These new Eva units, designated Series-0.0, were sent into orbit and tasked with finding and eradicating the remaining mass-production Evas.
Perhaps there was some irony in using Evas that operated on power sources reclaimed from their companions’ carcasses for this mission, but regardless, the S² Engines freed the Series-0.0 units from umbilical power and enabled them to operate without support for extended periods.
When instructed, the Rei clones could awaken in roughly ten seconds. In thirty seconds, the Eva-0.0 units could rev up from an idle state to combat readiness. And in ninety, they could take aim with their long-barreled gamma-ray laser cannons and fire at any target that was within their field of view—and some that weren’t, as the lasers could penetrate up to a depth of 500 meters.
By maintaining their equidistant orbits, the three Eva-0.0 units monitored the entire surface of the Earth, their eyes and ears vigilant to all forms of communication.
They were a global anti-Angel search-and-destroy network constructed with the full efforts of Nerv—now restructured as Nerv Japan—and its leader, Katsuragi Misato.
Up to now, the global community had abided the existence of the Evangelions because, despite their overwhelming power, they were ultimately ground-based weapons operated from a small island nation whose borders restricted their range. Once in low Earth orbit, however, these same weapons represented total air supremacy. But despite protests of sovereign infringement, Commander Katsuragi pushed forward unilaterally with her orbital defense strategy, backed by the true might—and implied threat—of the Evas.
Misato took great pains to emphasize, formally and in writing, that the mission’s only goal was to prevent the revival of the mass-production Evas. But such efforts were futile; the nations of the world couldn’t help but see a threat.
The Human Instrumentality Project had been thwarted. But what would come next? No one could say.
Former Nerv Commander Ikari Gendo and Dr. Akagi Ritsuko had disappeared during the battle, along with the project’s key conspirators. Vice Commander Fuyutsuki Kozo had resigned with hardly a word. But even if they’d still been around, they wouldn’t have had a better grasp of the future than anyone else. This was uncharted territory.
Though the world was easing into a time of peace, vigilance sometimes necessitated force, even absent the Angels’ threat. Under Misato’s command, the personnel of Nerv Japan, and everyone involved with the use and development of Evangelions, were keenly aware that the outside world hated them more with each passing day. Despite this, they clung to the hope that all their worry and preparation would be for nothing.
Three years had passed since the Battle at Nerv HQ, and it was three years that Nerv, and the world, had needed.
The three Eva-0.0 units floated above the Earth with their heads pointing down and their parasols facing the sun. As they flew, they scanned the outer reaches of the atmosphere with powerful sensors in their heads and receptor arrays in their shoulders. They transmitted the data they collected back to Nerv Japan HQ, all while carrying the half-asleep Reis inside.
Ayanami Rei’s physical body could be duplicated from her DNA, but there could only be one Ayanami Rei conscious at a time.
This seemed to be the rule; the third and current Rei hadn’t awakened until the second had perished in the battle with the Angel Armisael.
But the soulless, in vitro Reis exhibited a curious synchronicity in motion and brain activity with the third Rei—the one possessing a soul. Further examination had led to a method of mental mirroring that allowed Rei to control her clones.
The current Rei was given a number—Number Trois—and became the primary Rei, with the three soulless clones—Number Quatre, Number Cinq, and Number Six—as her secondaries, whom she could control as extensions of her limbs, senses, and thoughts.
This ability came as a result of training rather than technology, and at present, no known method existed to sever their connection. Furthermore, communication between the Reis occurred instantaneously, giving them the distinct advantage of being able to respond rapidly to any emergency.
There was a catch—maintaining the consciousness of four beings with one soul wore on the primary Rei. And so the three clones remained in light slumber.
By imagining herself transferring her consciousness, Rei Trois could awaken the orbiting clones from the ground at will.
Not long ago, Rei Trois had landed the Series-0.0 Evas one at a time at the Tanegashima Space Center, where they were refitted with upgraded restraint armor before launching them back into orbit.
Even during that process, the sentinels remained half-asleep unless Rei Trois willed them to wake.
The three clones also shared senses and could form memories from the experiences of the others.
The arrangement was a system of “one plus three” but with only one soul.
No more children would be made into Eva pilots. This was not only Nerv Japan’s decision but also Rei’s personal hope. As of this year, all the fourteen-year-old children who’d been chosen to pilot Evas, including Rei, were now seventeen.