Meanwhile, Shinji...
Memories flashed through his mind, one scene after another, like a revolving lantern.
There was the scene of him sobbing alone at the subway station as a child, unable to understand why his father had abandoned him...
There were the newspapers and news reports from his childhood, naming his father as a suspect for reasons he had never understood...
And the fantasies he had dreamed up, things that did not exist in reality...
All those unwanted, unbearable, incomprehensible memories... only left Shinji more frightened and helpless.
He slowly began to give up struggling. The only real feeling left in his heart was guilt toward Zhetian-kun, whom he had dragged into this with him.
In reality, Shinji squeezed his eyes shut in pain. He was not unconscious; he simply did not want to face it.
He would rather stay in the illusions he had created than emerge to face the entry plug, now filled with foul, rotting LCL.
"I'm sorry, Zhetian-kun..."
"No..."
"It's so cold..."
"I can't..."
"Zhetian-kun must be in the same state as me now..."
Shinji had reached his limit. Both the entry plug and his plugsuit had exhausted their last reserves of power.
Shinji curled into a ball, burying his head deep against his knees. It was unbearably cold, like being inside a freezer.
"Is this the end... I'm tired."
"Of everything..."
At that moment of despair, Shinji's miracle appeared-Yui.
Suddenly, Shinji sensed a light before him. It felt as though someone was stroking his face. That touch felt like his mother's in the simulator Zhetian-kun had given him...
What was happening?
As he watched the human-shaped light embrace him, all the unease in Shinji's heart vanished at once. All that remained was...
Peace.
"Mom..."
In his mind, Shinji felt himself return to his childhood, to