"You refused our request to directly question the two pilots of Unit-01 and the Special Unit, the only people involved in this incident..."
"Major Katsuragi!"
The oppressive darkness made the voice of the unidentified SEELE member sound even more imposing.
"Yes! Unit-01's pilot, Shinji Ikari, is emotionally unstable. I don't believe having him questioned here now would be wise." Without a trace of nerves or intimidation, Misato stood in the darkness's sole red light and gave a brief, clear explanation.
Misato first brushed aside the troublesome issue of Shinji, but she dared not bring Huang Zhetian into this sensitive discussion. She could only pray they would overlook that detail.
"Then let me ask you, Major Katsuragi, as their representative..."
"Did the Angel attempt to make contact with us humans during this incident?"
The first voice was deep, while the second was somewhat shrill.
Two different voices combined to ask Misato a single question, hoping she might instinctively reveal something she wanted to keep buried.
"The subject's report showed no indication of that. We will provisionally classify this as an isolated incident." Without hesitation, Misato faithfully relayed the report to the members whose voices she could hear but whose faces remained hidden in the dark.
"If his memories are accurate..." Another voice came, sounding skeptical. Before it could finish, however, Misato cut it off with a firm reply.
"I do not believe his memories were affected by external factors!" Misato stood straight as a statue in the darkness's only light. Her silhouette did not waver in the slightest, just like her resolve.
"The EVA's AC Recorder wasn't operating. Surely you can't confirm that?" The same voice refused to let the subject drop. Communication between humans and Angels held tremendous research value and offered a promising direction for experimentation.
"Are the Angels