"Hello?"
Misato Katsuragi was directing the preparations when she suddenly received a confidential call and stepped out of the control room.
"Asuka, we're just about to start. What's wrong?"
"I don't know. I just felt like talking to you, Misato."
Inside the mobile changing room beneath the testing grounds, Asuka set her phone on the table.
She had hung her school uniform on the wall and was changing into her Plugsuit.
"I see. I really need to thank you again for today," Misato Katsuragi said. "Thank you."
"No need to thank me."
Asuka pressed the switch on her hand, and the loose Plugsuit instantly contracted into a snug, form-fitting suit.
"Helping the ignorant masses is the duty of an elite like me. Besides, it's just as well that only one person is taking part in this experiment. Putting on a smile around other people is exhausting anyway."
"I don't like watching other people look all happy, either. And now I can pilot an EVA again. That's enough for me."
"I just like being alone. It's not like I have any close friends anyway. Nobody ever really saw me for who I was in the first place."
"As long as I get excellent results, being alone doesn't matter. But lately, I've suddenly started feeling that being with other people is nice too, even if it doesn't really suit me."
"Don't say that. I know you're kind, Asuka," Misato Katsuragi said.
"Misato, you're the second person willing to listen to me talk like this. I feel a lot better after getting it out. Actually, I don't know when I started finding it nice to tell other people how I really feel."
"The world is full of interesting things you haven't discovered yet. You have plenty to look forward to," Misato Katsuragi said