The Sixth Angel did not give everyone in the Combat Command Center much time to catch their breath. Once it reached the skies above Tokyo-3, it began transforming again.
Ramiel's lower body twisted and extended, then plunged into the ground. Its AT Field clung to that extension, shimmering with an exquisitely beautiful rainbow halo, as though painted in the dreamlike colors of a fairy tale.
The part it had formed resembled a gigantic drill, aimed straight at NERV Headquarters beneath Tokyo-3!
Upon learning this, Misato Katsuragi obtained Kozo Fuyutsuki's permission to take full charge of the ensuing battle and convened a strategy meeting in the Tactical Operations Department's Operations Bureau First Division.
"The target is currently directly above us and is burrowing toward the underground city."
"Is that thing planning to attack NERV Headquarters directly? All departments, report your analysis." Misato Katsuragi wasted no time.
"Based on the data from the previous battle, we believe the target can automatically eliminate enemies within a certain range."
"So we can't engage it at close range with an EVA?" Misato Katsuragi sighed.
"Not necessarily. If Major Ikari pilots Unit-01, close-range combat might be possible, but we would have to abandon the Umbilical Cord cable."
"At maximum combat output, an EVA's internal battery only lasts one minute. So we'd have to finish the fight within a minute?" Misato Katsuragi nodded. "Not very realistic."
"What's the status of the Angel's AT Field?"
"Still intact. However, its phase space changes frequently, making its shape unstable as well. Neutralizing it would be extremely difficult."
"According to MAGI's calculations, the quantity of N2 Air Bombs required to penetrate the target's AT Field would be enough to destroy NERV Headquarters along with it."
"MAGI-2 in Matsushiro reached the same conclusion. The Japan Government and the United Nations Forces Army are now proposing that we self-destruct NERV Headquarters and take it down with us."
"Those idiots really do love running their mouths. If we lose this place, we're finished for good. Don't bother reporting idiotic suggestions like that again. I've had enough of those morons."
Misato Katsuragi complained without holding back. The thing they were trying to keep the Angels from reaching was something human weapons could not destroy.
That was the answer she had received from Ritsuko Akagi to Shinji Ikari's earlier question about why they did not destroy the "Neutron Bomb."
In other words, self-destructing NERV Headquarters would effectively expose what the Angels wanted and hand it over on a silver platter.
This was not the only Angel left. It would be no different from surrendering outright.
"But the problem is that the Angel's tip has already penetrated the second layer of composite armor and entered the third."
"It is expected to penetrate all twenty-four existing layers of retractable armor and reach the area directly above headquarters at 00:06:54 tomorrow morning. We have ten hours and fourteen minutes left."
"Also, the damage Unit-00 sustained earlier means it cannot operate normally for the time being."
As everyone chimed in, Misato Katsuragi grew more irritated with every word. Her expression became increasingly hopeless, and her eyes and nose twitched involuntarily.
Seeing her expression, her assistant, Hyuga Kou, offered a timely suggestion. "Should we surrender?"
"Drag him out and beat him!"
"Nooo!"
"Surrender does sound nice, but before that, let's try thinking of something else." Misato Katsuragi scratched her head helplessly.
She turned toward Maya Ibuki and Shigeru Aoba beside her. "If I remember correctly, the top-secret files from the Self-Defense Forces Special Weapons Research Headquarters laboratory are with the intelligence department, right?"
Shigeru Aoba, who oversaw the intelligence department, froze for a moment before quickly responding. "Yes. We have all the files from the Self-Defense Forces Research Laboratory."
"Looks like you've already thought of something." Ritsuko Akagi looked at her friend, who was surrounded by the others.
Misato Katsuragi stood and planted both hands on the table. A smug smile curled her lips, as though victory were already assured.
She surveyed the room, then looked back at Ritsuko Akagi. "Has our esteemed Child of God still not returned?"
The train carriage swayed.
It was not the dull hydraulic vibration of an Entry Plug, but a gentle, rhythmic rocking. Light streamed through the windows, casting ever-shifting patches on the floor.
Rei Ayanami sat by a window, wearing her familiar blue-and-white school uniform.
The pleats of her skirt gleamed softly in the light. The sensation of fabric brushing against her skin felt so real.
Shinji Ikari sat opposite her, a younger version of himself, perhaps three or four years old, with an open picture book on his lap.
He did not look up, concentrating on the pages instead. His eyelashes cast tiny shadows on his cheeks.
"Where is this?" Rei Ayanami asked. Her voice sounded strange, carrying a gentle quality she could not identify.
The young Shinji raised his head, his eyes so clear that they made her uncomfortable. "We're on our way home."
"Home?"
"Mm-hmm." He nodded, returning his gaze to the book. "Mom called me home for dinner."
The carriage continued to sway. The scenery rushing past the windows blurred into soft patches of color-green fields, scattered houses, and the pale blue outlines of distant mountains.
Sunlight entered the carriage at an unusually warm angle. Dust motes floated in the air like fine golden snow.
Rei Ayanami looked down at her hands. They were an ordinary girl's hands, with neatly trimmed nails and skin that looked almost translucent in the sunlight.
"What are you reading?" she asked the boy opposite her.
Shinji turned the book around to show her the illustration: an enormous blue-and-white creature, resembling both a bird and a fish, swam slowly against a deep blue background. Amid the rippling water, the phantom image upon the waves even resembled a blue-haired girl.
"Angels." Shinji turned to the next page. "Mom says they lost their way."
Mom.
The word stirred a ripple in Rei Ayanami's heart.
She tried to recall what corresponded to the concept of "Mom"-the nutrients in a cultivation tank? A sequence on a genetic map? Or an enormous, silent white giant?
"Where is your mom?" she heard herself ask, her voice carrying a curiosity that did not belong to her.
Shinji closed the book and looked out the window.
"She's waiting for me. She's been waiting a long time." His eyes suddenly grew complicated. It was a look only Shinji would have, mingling pity, understanding, and a deep sorrow.
The carriage jolted violently. The scenery outside began to warp, the fields melting into flowing patches of color, the houses melting like candles.
The light grew blinding. The warmth rapidly faded, replaced by the familiar chill of the underground city.
"I don't understand," Rei Ayanami said, feeling an emotion she had never experienced before swell in her chest.
It was neither pain nor fear, but something greater, something harder to name, like the vertigo of standing at a cliff's edge and staring into the abyss.
Shinji reached out and took her hand. "You don't need to understand. You just need to feel."
"It hurts," Rei Ayanami said. But the pain did not come from Shinji Ikari's hand. It came from all over her body.
"If you know it hurts, that's good." Little Shinji nodded.
Angel
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