God's in his heaven, all's right with the world

Late at night, Shinji Ikari lay on the messy bed. Beside him, Misato Katsuragi had long since fallen asleep, snoring softly.

He reached toward the other side and rummaged through a heap of clothes.

Shinji Ikari looked at the two cards he had found. One bore his own photo, while the other bore Rei Ayanami's. The girl looked as cool and distant as ever.

Having this card meant he had officially become "part of" NERV.

NERV was a special agency under the United Nations.

But these United Nations were different from those in Shinji Ikari's previous life. This was a unified global governing body whose authority and functions superseded those of national governments.

Established after the Second Impact, NERV possessed authority far beyond that of any nation. Its fundamental purpose was to serve as an artificial evolution research institute while also defending the surrounding facilities.

Its primary mission was to prevent the Third Impact by developing and researching EVA, as well as investigating, studying, and annihilating the Angels.

NERV meant "neuron" in German. Its emblem was the half fig leaf beside Shinji Ikari's portrait on the chipped ID card.

Shinji Ikari, of course, knew the origin of this religiously charged symbol.

In Genesis, in the Old Testament, Adam and Eve ate the Fruit of Knowledge. After gaining self-awareness and wisdom, they became aware of others and began to feel ashamed of their nakedness.

They used fig leaves to cover their bodies, and the fig leaf thereafter became a symbol of humanity's original sin.

"Do they recognize their own sinfulness, or do they intend to sin knowingly?" Shinji Ikari always felt there was more to Gendo Ikari and the organization he led than met the eye.

But he had no intention of calling humanity to account. As a god, he found present-day humans rather endearing. In the story, humanity's original sin was self-awareness and wisdom, yet he felt those were precisely what made humans interesting as a species. They were the very reason some people were human and others were beasts.

"How boring would it be to live in a world with no one else?" Shinji Ikari picked up the ID card and examined it closely.

Beneath the fig leaf was another half circle of text. It was somewhat difficult to make out in the darkness, but Shinji Ikari still recognized it as a line from the British poet Robert Browning's The Song of Pippa.

"God's in his heaven. All's right with the world."

-God's in his heaven, all's right with the world.

The frontline Sixth District.

Unlike the Shinjuku Seventh District, this was a vast apartment complex located in the underground city within the enormous cavern beneath Tokyo-3.

Cracked asphalt roads were everywhere. The old apartment buildings looked as though they already qualified as unsafe structures. Only the artificial light overhead shone dazzlingly bright.

If not for Misato Katsuragi's application to live with him, Gendo Ikari would have assigned Shinji Ikari to this area as well.

He felt somewhat grateful to Misato Katsuragi now, and even more convinced that Gendo Ikari was a beast.

Shinji Ikari looked up at the sky and suddenly recalled a movie he had watched in his previous life, The Truman Show.

The movie's protagonist had lived inside an enormous film studio since birth, and everyone around him was an actor. Everything in his life was fake, and he himself knew nothing about it.

Until one day, he finally learned the truth. He became a caged bird desperate to escape that false world, and in the end, he found his freedom.

A happy ending, he supposed.

Actually, Shinji Ikari sometimes felt there was nothing wrong with living in that fake world. The entire world revolved around you. How great would that feel?

But he couldn't simply stop thinking about everything. Shinji Ikari could distinctly feel that he didn't belong to that world. He merely lived in it.

Shinji Ikari climbed the gloomy stairwell. The light outside the windows was blindingly bright, yet there wasn't a single light in the stairwell.

"402. This should be it..." Shinji Ikari looked at the number on the wall, with "Ayanami" written after it.

He pressed the doorbell on the wall, but it didn't ring. Unwilling to give up, he pressed it twice more. Still not a sound. He could only knock, but no one answered.

Shinji Ikari tried placing his hand on the doorknob and turning it gently. Whether the lock had fallen into disrepair or the occupant hadn't locked the door, it opened just like that.

"Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth."

Shinji Ikari entered the apartment, taking the opportunity to define what he was about to do.

The meaning of that passage was simple: the land belonged to God, and humans were merely responsible for managing it.

Thus, when Shinji Ikari entered the apartment, it was as though he were coming home.

Yet as he stepped into the entryway, a wave of stifling hot air tinged with decay hit him in the face.

"Excuse me!" Shinji Ikari called out from habit.

By the faint light coming through the doorway, Shinji Ikari could barely make out the scene inside.

Amid the pervasive darkness, the entire apartment felt exceptionally gloomy and oppressive.

Right in the entryway stood a filthy sink, piled high with greasy dishes that gave off a foul smell.

Looking at the grimy, dark floor, Shinji Ikari was reluctant to set foot on it. But he sighed, took off his shoes anyway, and walked farther inside.

The room was sparsely furnished. Heavy curtains covered the window, with only a little light seeping through the gaps.

Aside from the blood-soaked bandages in the trash can and the bloodstained bedding on the single bed by the balcony, the most conspicuous things were the girl's undergarments hanging beside the bed.

There was only a simple ventilation opening in the ceiling, and the entire room was still filled with an unpleasant odor-the smell of blood, mildew, and that lingering stench of rot all mingled together.

This home had nothing to do with Shinji Ikari, but for some reason, he suddenly felt angry.

"Ikari?" A hollow, pale voice suddenly came from behind him.

Shinji Ikari couldn't mistake the girl's familiar voice. At school, they sat one in front of the other and would exchange a few words now and then.

Shinji Ikari settled his inexplicably agitated emotions and turned around. He was about to lecture the girl on her poor living habits, only to freeze the instant he saw her.

"What are you..."

"I was taking a bath."

"I can see that. I mean, why didn't you get dressed before coming out?" Shinji Ikari narrowed his eyes.

Rei Ayanami wore nothing but a towel draped over her shoulders. She tilted her head. "My clothes are in the room."

Perhaps because he was accustomed to living with Misato Katsuragi, Shinji Ikari felt no panic whatsoever at the sight.

"You could have asked me to bring them to you." Shinji Ikari glanced at the neatly folded clothes at the head of the bed.

He should have made plenty of noise coming in. He had even shouted a greeting. There was no way Rei Ayanami hadn't noticed someone entering.

"That would trouble you, Ikari."

"It's fine to trouble me once in a while, especially at a time like this," Shinji Ikari said.

"Is it?" Rei Ayanami blinked and asked in confusion.

"Of course. But it's too late now, so just get dressed first."

As soon as Shinji Ikari finished speaking, Rei Ayanami walked straight to the bedside. A soft rustle of clothing followed in the room.