NERV Headquarters, Technical Department.
Asuka sat on the edge of the bed and got dressed, while Ritsuko Akagi, seated at the computer, held up a tablet and frowned at the girl before her.
After confirming that the changes in Asuka posed no risk of infection, Ritsuko Akagi had brought her to the Technical Department for a more thorough examination.
Whatever jokes they had traded in the hospital room, even Ritsuko Akagi had to admit that bodily changes caused by an Angel were no trivial matter.
Shinji Ikari, the flying Child of God who could kill with a glance, was a cautionary example. If the changes could be controlled, that was one thing.
But if this was a more drastic, uncontrollable, and dangerous transformation, it would undoubtedly pose an enormous threat to everyone.
"The changes in your body are progressing very slowly right now. Your human traits will gradually weaken, and you may eventually become a full Angel, but the process can be controlled."
"Your will-or rather, your soul-and your constitution as an Eligible can suppress this Angel-like transformation, but I don't recommend that you continue piloting an EVA."
"Tests show that piloting an EVA strongly stimulates the Angel part of you, accelerating the transformation. Eventually, it will develop into drastic changes that neither your will nor your body can suppress."
Asuka had just completed a series of tests under Ritsuko Akagi's instructions, only to receive that answer after Ritsuko reviewed the results.
"I... I can't pilot an EVA?" Asuka's hands clenched involuntarily as she murmured in a daze.
For her, this was the heaviest blow imaginable.
The proud girl had only just accepted that she could let others protect her.
But now, unable to pilot an EVA, she felt as though she had lost the only value she had left.