[X] Tell Kaji everything. He's been very upfront with you about the things he's found out, and it's only fair to return the favor. The more information you can pool together, the better your chances of getting to the bottom of the shady dealings at NERV.
You feel a pang of guilt deep in your guts over betraying Rei's trust, but if there's anyone at all you can trust to be discreet about this, it's Kaji. The two of you aren't going to get anywhere if you refuse to share information with each other. Besides, keeping secrets hasn't been working out for anybody else you know right now. You tell him as much about Rei and her situation as you can remember. Admittedly, some of the finer details escape your memory. Much of what Ritsuko said when she was ranting about salvaging Yui's soul and the development of Evangelion went over your head. But Kaji listens attentively as you search for the words to describe the atrocities that resulted in Rei's creation.
Kaji scratches his stubbly chin and lets out a whistle. He
knew Rei was different in some sinister way, but he wasn't expecting her to be a reanimated corpse acting as an accidental prison for God. He asks what you think of her intentions. You admit you're not sure. You don't think she wants to hurt anyone on purpose, but…you don't how much she can help it. You feel reasonably confident that you can get her on-side. She's resentful of her other NERV superiors, and you believe her when she says she loves you. You still love her, too.
But…? Kaji asks.
But she's still at least, in part, an Angel. Which means she
is dangerous. You think that the danger can be contained, unlike Ritsuko. But you're not going to pretend you're not worried about what Rei is capable of. As of right now, Rei's capabilities only appear barely superhuman, but Ritsuko is awfully worried about what might happen if Rei were to merge with Lilith's body. And Rei's behavior isn't that of someone in possession of restraint when threatened. Rei is ordinarily a patient, calm, and overall sweet girl, but when pushed, the depths of her determination to achieve her goals work to the exclusion of anything standing between her and them, unless someone aggressively steps in to provide alternative solutions, or failing that, physically stops her. You and probably Shinji can do that for Rei, but in your absence, you worry that Rei might impulsively start Third Impact to achieve her own ends.
What do you think her ends are? Kaji asks.
You shrug. You think she just wants to survive everything at this point. Her motivations for most of her behavior don't seem particularly nefarious or incomprehensible. She wants security, self-expression, and to be loved and accepted by other people, same as everyone else. You're not sure how ending humanity would serve those ends, but Ritsuko seemed very convinced this was a real possibility. You suppose given Rei's circumstances, it'd probably be the only way to commit suicide and ensure nobody brings her back again.
Kaji says he believes there's more to Third Impact than simply ending all life on Earth. The Angels could choose to fight away from Tokyo-3 and probably kill a lot of, or even most of, humanity, but they seem to be focused on hitting the reset button to ensure nothing exists except for them. Kaji's been collecting some information that suggests that there are other potential ends Third Impact could serve. He has some thoughts about why Rei's being kept around.
He doesn't think it's as simple as "keeping Lilith contained forever" and "having a free soldier at all times", as important as those benefits are. Think about it. Is the plan for Rei to just have a contingent of people working at NERV cloning her indefinitely, after everyone else is long dead? Moreover, Lilith's soul only got stuck in a physical body after Fuyutsuki tried to restore Yui to life, right? So, it must have been in that thing on the cross's body for however long it's been there, underground. Which was probably millennia at the very least. It doesn't seem like GEHIRN was really all that concerned about separating its soul from its body before that point.
Giving Lilith's "mind", he supposes, a way to see the human condition doesn't exactly sound like a fantastic way to keep it stable. The risk of having it decide that humanity isn't worth keeping alive for whatever reason probably increases if you make it live the life that Rei leads. The fact that everyone who knows that Rei's effectively the spirit and will and probably the mind of Lilith is freaking out that Rei might decide to end everything on a whim speaks to that.
So why take the risk? There must be some other purpose Rei serves, one known only to the other three NERV higher-ups. Possibly only to Gendo and Fuyutsuki, as Rei's existence predates Ritsuko's tenure at NERV. Gendo seems awfully concerned about keeping Rei on a tight emotional leash, so he must be planning to use her to do something, and that something is almost certainly related to Rei's dual nature. Kaji admits he doesn't know the details of how that would work. He's not a scientist. But this information you've given him has brought a new problem to light.
Adam. He told you that the Angel on the cross was Adam, right? That's what he thought at the time, but you're telling him that thing is the empty husk of Lilith. If you recall, he transported Adam to NERV HQ from an archive in Berlin. That's what he was carrying in his briefcase. It was the embryonic form of Adam encased in Bakelite. The Angel at sea probably attacked because of Adam's presence on board. When he first showed you Lilith, he'd assumed that Adam had just been removed from its seal and set up in Terminal Dogma for safekeeping. Adam's a white giant of light, Lilith is a white giant. It checked out to him, and it looked familiar to you, right? You recognized it, after all. You admit that you don't actually remember exactly what Adam looked like. You only saw it from far away and there was kind of a lot going on at the time.
Right, well, if that thing isn't Adam, then where the hell is Adam? It's surely still on-site somewhere, since the Angels haven't attacked anywhere else other than the test site at Matsushiro, and it could easily have mistaken one of the Evas for Adam. Gendo probably still has it, but what for? Moreover, there's also the issue of Unit-01. It's not a clone of Adam, it's a clone of Lilith instead. Why? That needs further investigation, too.
As for the souls inside the Evangelion units, Kaji imagines they must belong to the parents of the pilots. Unit-01 is Yui Ikari, Unit-02 is Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu, Unit-03 is Mizuho Horaki, and Unit-00 is, as you've said, the original Rei, plus fragments of subsequent Rei clones. Does…does Asuka know about this? You shake your head. You don't know how she'd take it, to be honest. Based on Asuka's behavior since the day you've taken her into your home, you'd put money down on "poorly". You'd prefer not to think about how Asuka is doing right now.
What was that other thing Kaji wanted to talk to you about? Kaji says he's got a lead on Keel Lorenz and some of the other members of the Steering Committee. There's way more snooping to be done, but he's heard some credible information that suggests they're all members of a larger singular organization, despite allegedly being otherwise unrelated delegates from UN member states. He doesn't want to talk about the details just yet, not until he gets all the details right. It's some real fucking secret society, Illuminati, NWO-type shit. No, come on, don't smirk at him, he's serious. It sounds hard to believe, but he's about 90% certain he's right about this.
The situation is under active investigation right now, but the gist is this: Gendo and the Steering Committee are in frequent conflict about NERV's purpose and operation. Based on what he was able to get through some…less-than-strictly-legal-means, some of these arguments are about boring shit like budget overruns, or your battle plans running up the accounts due to the damage you've done, or some pissant government official thinking he can push around the UN, whatever. But the overwhelming bulk of the disagreements appear to be about the "Human Instrumentality Project". And given how often these come up, both Gendo and the Committee might have different plans for whatever that is. Kaji still hasn't been able to get his hands on any direct project documents yet. He might have to do riskier shit. It's possible that he might not come back. That's part of why he had to see you tonight. To tell you that. The other is to tell you the name of the organization his next investigation will focus on.
Seele.
Sale? You ask, not sure if you're hearing him correctly. No, with a "z" sound at the start. Seele. It's German for "soul". He's been able to confirm they exist, and he has high confidence that all five members of the Steering Committee, as well as Gendo and Yui Ikari, were also members of Seele, but further details remain to be found. If something happens to him, well, you know where to start looking.
You tell him not to do something stupid. He says it's probably too late for that, isn't it? Both you and he have long wandered in territory where a single slip-up could mean the end of you by this point. Well, in that case, if he does something that gets him killed, you'll kill him. Kaji grins ruefully. Same to you then. Don't die, Katsuragi. Or he'll kill you.
With that, the two of you start making love. It might be the last chance you get. You don't want to leave behind regrets.
Or that's your intention, because right when things start getting good—
BLOOD TYPE BLUE CONFIRMED. ANGEL DETECTED APPROACHING TOKYO-3.
You fucking hate this job.
You hurriedly put your clothes on and rush to HQ after extracting a promise from Kaji that he's going to evacuate properly. The sun has just settled below the horizon, and the normally lifeless and desolated streets of Tokyo-3 are a bustle of residents rushing for the nearest shelter. You can't see the Angel yet, so you have time to spare before it's upon you.
The bridge is a whirlwind of activity, as usual, with technicians rushing to and fro. Gendo glares down at the scene from his usual position high above you. You wrinkle your nose and ask for a status report. Hyuga obliges you, though curiously, he's avoiding eye contact with you. The Angel was sighted in the west, and it's closing on Tokyo-3. It will be here in a matter of minutes. The pilots are already suiting up down below, and launch procedures are underway.
Ritsuko trudges over to you, coffee in hand, tells Aoba to pull up the visuals, and informs you that there's a hickey on your neck. Hyuga slumps in his chair a little. Your face burns and you tug ineffectually at the collar of your jacket, willing it to cover more of your neck. Can she
not say that on the bridge?
Ritsuko shrugs at you. She'd want you to say something if it were her. You groan.
Aoba directs your attention to the screen, towards the form of your next adversary.
ZOPHIEL
~Der Engel der Schönheit~
The Angel is very wide. It is shaped like a long comb or handleless paintbrush. The "bristles" hang down loosely from a long, thin, gelatinous-looking "shaft". There are three small birdlike skulls along the shaft. They are on the far left, far right, and dead center of the shaft. They are all slightly different. The "bristles" drag along the ground. They are translucent. They paint the ground bright red. The Angel glides through the air.
You don't know what to make of this one. It's coming at Tokyo-3 head-on, with the broad part of the comb facing forward. You ask what the deal is with the "paint". Magi cannot positively identify it, but whatever it is, it kills anything organic in it, down to the microbial level. That's just wonderful. What's the risk to the Evas? Ritsuko says as long as their armor remains intact, it should hold against this stuff. Direct contact with it will make any biological substance that touches it disintegrate into a red dust. The dust is toxic, by the way. Fantastic.
As for the Evas themselves? Units-00 and -01 are in top condition. Unit-02 is in fair condition. Much of the damage the Dummy System did has been fixed; its neck and central nervous system are mostly back in working order and its arm has been reattached. However, the internal damage done by being impaled turned out to be more difficult to repair than anticipated, so it might have some flexibility issues. Also, it's probably going to hurt when Asuka fires it up, so there's that. Unit-03 was the most extensively damaged, but Ritsuko pushed her team extremely hard to get its arms back on and restore some functionality to its legs. The result is a rush-job, and the nervous system reintegration leaves much to be desired. It should be safe for Hikari to pilot without fear of feedback damage, but it's going to feel like shit to move around in. Not that it matters too much, given Hikari probably can't walk around much in it anyway. Also, there's still some gaps and weak points in its armor plating; the JSSDF and Unit-00 put a lot of holes in it.
Unit-00 is currently to be placed on standby given what happened last time Rei was in it, though if the situation gets dire enough, the freeze order might be lifted on it.
Your combat readiness is
Good. The Geofront has sustained
Minor damage.
The early warning system was successful. Evacuation has successfully completed, and the shelters have retracted.
The JSSDF will not assist with the battle.
Defend the Geofront. You have the following weapons at your disposal:
- Progressive Knife
- Sonic Glaive – A progressive knife on a very long stick. Not to be used as a brace under any circumstances.
- Double-bladed Naginata – A stick with a long, curved progressive blade at both ends. Can be separated into two swords. Not suitable as a brace. Currently only usable by Asuka.
- SEM Crossbow MM-144 – a crossbow that fires electromagnetic bolts at high speeds.
- Positron Rifle Mk. 20 – shoulder mounted rifle that fires antimatter rounds. Requires external power, very finite ammunition. Can be charged.
- Smash Hawk – a single-bit axe weapon similar to a battleaxe with a high frequency cutting surface. Not as long as the Sonic Glaive, but heavier and with a wider cutting surface. May be dual wielded by any pilot.
- Sniper Rifle – An Evangelion-sized sniper rifle. Packs more of a punch and has a greater range than the crossbow, but cannot be fired continuously.
- Type E-470 Bazooka – A portable rocket launcher. Large blast radius. Packs a powerful punch, but it must be reloaded after every shot. Low effectiveness on Angels with active AT-Fields.
- MLX-13-OBJ-235 ("Azrael's Scythe") – The organic scythe wielded by Rei in the aftermath of the battle against the Thirteenth Angel. Composed of a mixture of Unit-00 and the Thirteenth Angel's flesh and bone. Twitches occasionally. Impossibly sharp and seemingly indestructible, with good reach, but difficult to use and squirms violently when held by anything other than its master. Can only be used by Unit-00.
Select
one primary weapon for each pilot:
[ ] Equip Rei (standby) with:
[ ] Equip Shinji with:
[ ] Equip Asuka with:
[ ] Equip Hikari with:
You have major reservations about sending Unit-03 and its inexperienced pilot into battle in their current state. Hikari won't be happy about it, and it will reduce your options, but you can choose not to deploy Unit-03 right away and just keep her on standby.
[ ] Deploy Unit-03
[ ] Do not deploy Unit-03
