Chapter 2: Super Evangelion

Chapter 2:
Super Evangelion

 

“GUYS,” ASUKA SAID, “how about you go change your clothes?”

Shinji and Toji had just arrived on the top deck of the command center and were still in their school uniforms. The two young men met the suggestion with confused looks.

“No,” Shinji replied, “I think I’d rather finish this conversation first.”

They were talking about Eva-01 getting refitted with the new restraint armor, like Eva-02 and the Series-0.0 Evas.

“There’s no way we’re calling it ‘super.’” Toji said. “Hey, what are you laughing at?”

Asuka snickered. She’d already changed out of her school clothes and into a tank top, and her bare shoulders shook. “Super… Super Evangelion? Dun-dada-dunnn!”

Asuka’s rendition of a superhero’s fanfare echoed throughout the quiet command center, and several technicians on the middle and lower decks looked up. Some even chuckled.

“Well, I think it’s great, Misato,” Asuka said. “It sounds utterly

idiotic—perfect for Unit One! Let’s go with that name, but just for Unit One.”

Sitting in her chair on the top deck, Misato looked genuinely confused—she hadn’t been joking about the name. Shinji and Toji were not amused.

“Is the name that weird?” Misato asked. “I thought it was pretty common to take the old name and put ‘super’ in front when a weapon gets an upgrade.”

“It’s not weird,” Asuka replied cheerfully. “It’s perfect!”

Toji jabbed a finger at her. “Shut up. Try developing your brain for a change instead of your chest.”

“Hmph! Well, where’s your brain, huh? Did you leave it in your old arms and legs?”

She thrust her body forward so that Toji’s extended finger was a hair’s breadth away from touching the swell of her tank top.

Toji panicked and pulled his hand back. Asuka snorted.

“That’s not fair!” he complained.

“You stink of sweat. Go take a shower. Better make it a cold one.” The red-haired girl gave a mean-spirited laugh.

 

The boys were exercising in the facility’s gym.

They were both self-conscious of their actions.

Shinji had chosen a new destiny for the world in ways both monumental and small, from thwarting the Human Instrumentality Project to relocating Kaji’s watermelon patch.

Before beginning his workout, Toji had fine-tuned the sizing of his cybernetic limbs and double-checked their synchronization.

Toji’s body had suffered severe injuries in the fight against the Angel Bardiel. The doctors had replaced his heart with one grown in a lab, but they’d given up on regenerating his arms and legs. The first time they’d attempted to attach a regrown set of limbs, Bardiel, from out of nowhere, had re-manifested somehow, and the Angel’s contagion had shown signs of returning. Apparently, the intact form of the human body, or that of an Evangelion, could trigger the Angel’s activation. In the end, the greatest minds at Nerv had been unable to eliminate the risk of Bardiel reactivating within Toji’s body, and so the boy was given mechanical limbs.

Toji was struck from the pilot roster, but since he was going to be under strict Nerv surveillance for the foreseeable future no matter what, he decided to take an active role in the organization. He was granted high-level security clearance and began working as a liaison between the pilots. If nothing else, he needed the money; maintaining robotic limbs wasn’t cheap.

“Hey, Shinji,” Toji said, “have you seen the SSDF’s giant robot?”

“You mean the one in Gotemba? It’s about half as tall as Jet Alone and built like a tank.”

“I hear it’s even stronger than Jet Alone. And it can fly, too.”

The robot was designed to combat individual, large-scale threats. It had been named Akashima after an old word for typhoon.

Unlike Evangelions, which grew into humanoid shapes for reasons not understood by science, the N2 Reactor-powered Akashima was humanoid by design. Its legs could traverse any terrain, and its arms allowed it to hold weapons, to fire in any direction, and—at least theoretically—to pin down an unruly opponent in close combat. Its body offered more than mere structural support; it provided a frame for protective armor and could withstand unexpected impacts if necessary. Depending on its configuration, the Akashima could even fly, which improved the Japan Strategic Self-Defense Force’s ability to respond to developing situations quickly.

But, most incredibly, the robot could do all of this without external support.

“It must be nice to be able to fly,” Shinji said.

“The thing can’t fly high,” Toji responded, a bit defensively. “It relies on the ground effect.”

“Sure, but I bet it can cruise really fast.”

“Don’t sound so excited. Publicly, sure, it’s an anti-Angel mech designed to support the Evas, but…” Toji lowered his voice, despite no one being around to overhear. “A lot of folks are wondering if maybe it’s designed to get rid of the Evas.”

Shinji didn’t follow. “I know the Evas aren’t exactly popular, given how expensive they are to run, but—” He suddenly understood. “Oh! Is that why you think the robot’s been stationed so close to us?”

“After all the trouble the SSDF caused in the Battle at Nerv HQ, Misato-san went to a lot of effort to get the Japanese government to acknowledge the Hakone caldera as UN-leased territory. Remember, we’re an extraterritorial zone. Maybe the governments on the outside don’t like it. Maybe they’re looking for a way to take it back.”

“Maybe… Does that mean they’re watching us from the caldera’s rim?”

 

By possessing six Eva units—Unit-01 Type-F, Unit-00 Type-F, Unit-02, and the three Series-0.0 units stationed in orbit—Nerv Japan had arguably become the most powerful military force on the planet. Four of the Evas—Unit-00 Type-F and Unit-02 excluded—had S² Engines. Unit-01 had ingested one when the Eva went berserk against the Angel Zeruel, and the Series-0.0 units had been outfitted with engines harvested from the mass-production Evas after the Battle at Nerv HQ. These four Evas could now operate in combat nearly indefinitely.

 

“That’s why Unit One is getting upgraded to Super Evangelion,” Toji said.

“There’ll be no ‘super’ anything, Toji. I’m sure this restraint armor upgrade idea will get dropped. It’s not suited for Unit One.”

“Right. It’s more for Unit Two and Unit Zero, seeing as how Soryu and Ayanami have developed their Evas’ bodies over time, with their waists narrowing and their… Uh…”

Toji gestured to indicate how the shape of the Evas’ bodies had changed, but he fell into an awkward silence as he realized his motion also mirrored how Asuka’s and Ayanami’s bodies had developed.

Evas could alter their own physical configuration. Though constructed out of inorganic matter, every now and then, the giants behaved as if they were living beings. Sometimes these changes came swiftly and drasticly, like when they suffered heavy damage while in synchronization with their pilot, but other times the transformation came gradually while in their cages at night accompanied by a grinding noise. This phenomenon caused no end of grief to the maintenance teams, but Ibuki Maya, current chief of the science and engineering divisions, speculated that the process was part of the Evas’ natural development.

In the three years since the Battle at Nerv HQ, this gradual growth became more noticeable. The mysterious presence inside each Eva came to the surface only rarely now, and the pilots themselves had begun to influence the physical characteristics of their Evas. This had most strongly manifested in Asuka and Eva-02.

Asuka’s body had developed—not just in the volume of her bust, but in her shoulders, arms, waist, legs—into a graceful and slender physique. When she walked by, red hair bouncing, hips swaying, utterly self-assured, anyone might turn their head and wonder, Is she a model?

But it was more than the passing of time that had matured her. Her confidence had grown. She used to claim that she was the best pilot, her boasts a manifestation of her insecurity. These days, though she still spoke harshly to others, she was harshest on herself.

I won’t be careless—not with my missions or in my day-to-day life.

Her acerbity had been a source of stress, but it had also led to a sense of fulfillment.

Her growth, both physical and mental, had changed the shape and structure of her Eva. At a certain point, Eva-02’s restraint armor no longer fit despite the best efforts of the mechanics. The armor was removed, and new, properly fitting, Stage 2 restraint armor was created.

After the replacement armor showed improved performance, it was installed on Ayanami’s Eva-00—though not the Unit-00 Type-F—and the three orbiting Series-0.0 units, which had been landed, one by one, at Tanegashima Space Center for the refitting before returning to orbit.

Ayanami had grown, too, if not to the same extent as Asuka. Still, a pilot’s self-identity determined their Eva’s form. Eva-00 could have fit into just about any new armor, since even after three years, Rei’s sense of identity remained stunted.

 

“By the way,” Toji said to Shinji, “why are you avoiding Ayanami?”

The sudden change of topic caught Shinji off guard. Toji was referring to the Ayanami who had been with them since the Battle at Nerv HQ—Trois.

In the wake of the battle, the fact that Ayanami had been cloned from Shinji’s mother became public knowledge. For many, this served as confirmation of a vague, but firmly held, suspicion. As such, the truth was quickly accepted.

Shinji struggled with the revelation for several days but ultimately told Rei that she was her own person. That should have settled the matter, and yet…

“I’m not avoiding her,” Shinji said. “If I see her, I say hello, and… Oh, right! We talk about work, too.”

“Yeah?” From what Toji had observed, Shinji was lying.

“Yeah.”

“If you say so,” Toji said. “All this talk of new armor reminds me—that huge one is still in the underground strata where Ritsuko-san left it, right?”

“It’s high-spec, but I’d bet that armor’s even heavier than it looks. At least as heavy as the Type-F. Plus, it’s lacking in so many—” Shinji cut himself off and peered at Toji quizzically. “Hang on. Your clearance doesn’t allow you down there!”

Irritated, Toji looked away. “If you don’t want it, then it’s gonna be Stage 2 for you.”

 

“I don’t see the problem,” Asuka said, appearing behind Shinji. She must have heard Toji talking about the Stage 2 armor. “You’re skinny enough. You fit into my plugsuit before, didn’t you?”

She lifted Shinji’s shirt up—only to be annoyed by what she found. Since when did that little brat’s back get so wide? He even had muscles now.

“How long ago was that?” Shinji asked. “And why are you mad at me?”

“Shut up!” Asuka crossed her arms.

“Where’s Ayanami?” Toji asked.

“She said there was a student council meeting after school today.”