The walk back up my improvised path, was uneventful.
Lilith was quiet, and I was far to deep into my systems to start any conversation on my own side. Estimates were in and It would be about a day before everything was finished. The upscaled teleportation ring taking the full twenty four hours to complete, where as the constructs I was building in the void would only take twelve.
I just had to hope that it was fast enough, that and I had to time Lilith's exit at the right point.
I had a feeling that if Lilith left right now, that the Universe would just collapse in on it's self, having little to no reason to keep going at that point. However I also had to make sure Lilith wasn't present when I set about my solution, if only because it would kill her if she was still here.
Then again it would likely kill me if I was still present.
So I would have to time her Leaving alongside the Beginning of my solution.
Honestly, not that hard.
We had just entered the Area where I had pawned Unit 01, when Liliths head snapped to the side. I was confused for a second until I realized that the Bridge crew hadn't evacuated yet, to busy crowding around Ayanami for some reason..
Those Idiots!
What the hell were they thinking? Sure I wasn't hostile and I had left all the pilots unharmed. But I was also a literal robot from outer space running on what would foreign logic to them.
It was entirely conceivable for me to save one of them only to kill them all another way, and it was so very, Incredibly, Stupid to remain in a place I had been seen.
Now Lilith is heading they're way, great.
I might as well follow, if only to see the chaos.
Gendo Ikari hurt in away that was hard to quantify.
He also felt strangely relieved as though some infection had been ripped from his body root and stem.
Despite said relief, his head hadn't throbbed in such a way since the night after his wedding and opening his eyes was as ill advised as expected. The world a chaotic blur of light and sound that it made him clutch his head as the world took bright, vibrant joy at his suffering.
He cradled his head in his hands, knees drawn up to his chest in a manner he would usually never allow to be seen, hoping in an internally whiny voice for the pain to stop.
Thankfully the pain began to calm soon enough, after some time had passed, that he was able to understand the voices around him if only barely.
"-Were you aware that the universe is dying?"
His head shooting up from his hands Gendo found himself echoing everyone else in the room.
"What!?"
Only for his vision to blur once more at the quick movement, forcing him clutch his head in pain once more.
Misato was so very confused, and if Rei wasn't the one saying it she probably wouldn't be taking this as seriously as she was right now.
But when the ever stoic First child stated that the Universe was dying, you listened. Depending on her answers you could decide if it was something to worry about, or if Rei would need psychological help.
"Rei, if you could Extrapolate on that please?" Huh, that probably the first time Misato had ever actually used the word Extrapolate that wasn't some kind of sex joke. No, focus on Rei and her explanation, even if the Joke was funny.
Heh, Fuck.
What hell even was today?
Rei wasn't sure why Dr. Akagi's face was growing gradually paler as she explained the state of the universe.
She was doing her best to be quite succinct in her explanation, doing her very best to avoid subjects that exceeded human understanding and based on the fact no one had developed a spontaneous nose bleed, she had succeeded.
Needed information being a cognitive hazard was very annoying, and incredibly inefficient.
Then Commander Katsuragi had probed a question that made her own head ache.
"Rei how do you know this? How did you learn any of this?"
Rei wasn't sure, and that made her head hurt. Because she hadn't learned any of this, but Maker Lilith had taught her all of it.
That was a contradiction, but it wasn't, but it was, but-
"REI, it's fine! You don't have to answer, just breath with me okay."
When had Commander Katsuragi gotten so close? Why did the Third child-Why did Shinji look so worried?
Why was she on the ground?
Why did her hands hurt?
Oh, there was blood on her hands, dripping out of small crescents torn into the skin of her palm.
Had she done that? Trying to think about it made something rise in her chest, and caused the commander to grab her face. Forcing her to look away from her hands, as she did her best to keep Rei from looking away in a most rude fashion.
She wasn't sure why the commander wanted to her to count out loud, or to breath in time with her, but she followed along anyway.
Past the strange feeling in her chest fading with her every breath, it made Rei feel oddly safe.
It was Odd, ridiculous even. Because as Rei was realizing, nothing in this Universe could be considered safe.
Nothing.
Not even the Universe itself.