With the destruction of the Fifth Angel, the crisis at NERV headquarters was temporarily resolved. For most people, life quickly returned to its usual peace and normalcy.
But things were different for Ritsuko Akagi and the others. After that day, Ritsuko had practically forgotten sleep and food, determined to find out what exactly had blocked the Fifth Angel's attack.
It had not been an AT Field, nor did it resemble any phenomenon explainable by any currently known scientific means. Even after analyzing the observation data from that time again and again, Ritsuko could only reach a conclusion she herself found impossible to believe—when that mysterious blue shield appeared, all matter around it seemed to stop changing, as if it had been forcibly frozen in place, forming some incomprehensible and mysterious structure.
Under that structure, let alone the Fifth Angel's attack, even an attack ten times as powerful could never have destroyed that Protective Barrier!
This wasn't scientific at all! Where had that mysterious energy come from? How had it worked? Why couldn't it be observed?
Ritsuko could not make sense of it no matter how hard she thought, and the people in the technical department were practically losing their hair without finding an answer. Rei Ayanami was naturally kept at headquarters as well, subjected to all kinds of investigations and physical examinations. But the results had not changed much. After all, everything Rei had done at the time had been recorded. At least on the surface, she had not done anything especially strange, and EVA's control logs were normal too...
Rei was still being held at headquarters for investigation, but Fang Zheng was not worried about her safety. After all, he had placed protective safeguards on her. If those idiots were truly stupid enough to hurt Rei, then Fang Zheng