The girl and Unit-00

Meanwhile, Shinji, unaware that yet another foreign acquaintance had taken an interest in him, was in an observation lab with Misato Katsuragi.

On the other side of the glass stood a massive yellow machine. Rei Ayanami stood alone beside the cockpit, quietly waiting for authorization to insert the Entry Plug into the spinal conduit system.

Unit-00.

The request to thaw Unit-00 had been approved half a month earlier, but the Fifth Angel's invasion had delayed this synchronization test by a week.

In terms of experience as an Eligible, Rei Ayanami, the First Child, was Unit-00's designated pilot and a senior to Shinji Ikari, who had joined later.

Compared with the competitive streak of Asuka, the Second Child, and the reflections of Maki, a veteran Eligible, Rei Ayanami felt only calm about Shinji Ikari, the newcomer who had overtaken them.

Ever since their first meeting at her hospital bed, Shinji Ikari's impression of Rei Ayanami had never changed.

The girl always seemed like a sheet of paper, completely blank, without a single complicated line drawn on it.

Rei Ayanami merely waited quietly for her orders, her gaze occasionally turning toward the observation lab, as though she were meeting someone's eyes.

This girl really cares about that bastard father of mine, Shinji Ikari thought as he stood before the glass, glancing at Gendo Ikari in the middle of the group.

His father paid no attention at all to the look his son sent him. He simply looked down, wholly focused on what lay below-and on the girl looking up at him.

Unless he was mistaken, the girl was exchanging looks with Gendo Ikari.

Shinji Ikari had no idea why Gendo Ikari had called him here. He wasn't one of those genius technicians in the technical department. From this far away, he could hardly help the girl pilot her machine.

Or was this just to tell him that NERV had other pilots besides him? If so, the man really had nothing better to do.

In reality, however, Gendo Ikari had felt his son's gaze. But years spent before the old men who held the world's power had taught him to act unruffled by either praise or humiliation, allowing him to suppress the smile tugging at his lips.

Gendo Ikari's reason for inviting Shinji Ikari to watch the test was very simple.

He wanted to tell Shinji Ikari that he wasn't NERV's only pilot, and make him understand that neither his father nor NERV was helpless without him.

Put simply, he wanted Shinji Ikari to feel threatened. If he didn't want to get kicked out, he had better behave.

The staff present all waited for Gendo Ikari's instructions. Only after receiving the commander-in-chief's approval did the experiment officially begin.

Upon receiving her orders, Rei Ayanami lay down in the cockpit. She could feel the Entry Plug moving slowly, until it entered the yellow machine's spine along with the cockpit.

Many people said she was a doll sitting inside EVA Unit-00, a tool for activating the EVA.

But she was still different from a "doll" or a "tool." She was a person-or rather, she had thoughts of her own, even if she couldn't express them.

In fact, even though she looked like a doll, her medical checkup after every simulation test included a psychological assessment.

In the past, she had never concealed anything from her psychiatrist, never hidden anything. Recently, however, there was something she hadn't told anyone.

The Third Child, Shinji Ikari, kept appearing in her dreams.

The scenes in those dreams were always scattered and fragmented, yet every fragment, every tiny detail, had something to do with Shinji Ikari.

And yet, before the night Shamshel arrived, she had never had any contact with him.

Shinji Ikari even kept expressing undisguised disgust toward Mr. Ikari. She ought to dislike him too, but even now, she felt nothing of the sort.

"You're human. You're just a little different from everyone else..."

Rei Ayanami felt as though she was hearing things.

"Abnormality in the startup system."

"Problems in the third stage as well."

"The neural connection apparatus is also showing internal disruption."

"Crossed lines in the power transmission system too. Induction two..."

"Pulse backflow. Unable to intercept."

"Direct-feed monitor showing scrambled lines."

The test had only just begun, and Shinji Ikari, interested only in Unit-01, watched in utter boredom.

But before the yellow EVA had even moved, the technicians in the lab were already in a panic.

What's going on? Is piloting an EVA really that hard? Shouldn't it be as easy as returning to Mom's open arms?

Alarms immediately began sounding throughout the lab, the constantly flashing screens bathing every technician's face in red.

"Entry Plug depth unstable. It's being drawn into the EVA."

"Stop the connection. Cut all circuits through number six immediately."

"No good, the signal won't go through. Unit-00 is out of control."

Even Ritsuko Akagi's expression changed drastically at the final report. One look at her face told Shinji Ikari that something very serious had happened.

Misato Katsuragi, who knew her friend very well, also noticed the change in her expression. She hurried over and asked:

"What's going on?"

"Just like last time, Unit-00 has gone out of control. We still don't know the exact cause."

Ritsuko Akagi and Misato Katsuragi had already experienced a similar incident once, just before Shinji Ikari arrived at NERV.

That was why Unit-00 had been frozen in the first place. The injuries Rei Ayanami had when Shinji Ikari saw her were all from that failed experiment.

But none of Rei Ayanami's recent simulation tests had shown any problems, so for now, Ritsuko couldn't give Misato Katsuragi a clear explanation.

Still, not knowing the cause of the accident didn't mean there was no solution. The simplest and most effective method was, of course, to cut the power.

The EVA relied on the umbilical cable attached to its back to operate. Once the external power supply was disconnected, the internal backup power used for the experiment could sustain it for only one minute.

Ritsuko Akagi looked at Gendo Ikari and called, "Commander."

At his chief technician's prompting, Gendo Ikari hesitated briefly, his brow slightly furrowed. In the end, he gave the order. "Terminate the experiment. Cut the power."

With authorization granted, a staff member immediately smashed the glass over the emergency control and pulled the emergency power-cut lever. The umbilical cable on Unit-00's back disconnected instantly.

"Unit-00 has switched to backup power. Fifty-nine seconds until complete shutdown."

Watching Unit-00 approach step by step, Shinji Ikari calmly told Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi behind him, "Don't get too far away from me. It's safer near me."

"Don't joke around. You're not piloting Unit-01 right now. That thing is an eighty-meter-tall weapon built to fight Angels. We'd better evacuate."

Misato Katsuragi saw Unit-00 staring straight at them. Without an EVA, a pilot had less combat power than a missile. How could he possibly deal with something like that?

Shinji Ikari had an AT Field, but he wasn't an Angel. Knowing this, Misato Katsuragi immediately wanted Gendo Ikari to issue an emergency evacuation order.

By now, inside the testing area, the completely out-of-control Unit-00 had broken free of its restraints and approached the lab with a roar.

Its pilot, Rei Ayanami, gave no response. Yet the yellow EVA didn't display the frenzy one would expect from a mental breakdown. Instead, it approached slowly, the forcibly detached restraints hanging from its shoulders and scraping along the floor with an ear-piercing sound.

Heavy impacts rang out, and the lab shook. Unit-00 was punching the wall again and again, its metal armor repeatedly colliding with the sturdy wall.

In only a few seconds, the wall had begun to cave in, the alloy frame bending inward. The reinforced glass made from special materials shattered outright, but the flying shards were deflected before they could touch Shinji Ikari.