The Third Angel

"Ayanami, your dorm took pretty serious damage, didn't it?"

"Part of it was damaged, but I can still live there."

"How can anyone live in a place like that? You should consider moving."

Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami were coming out of headquarters' changing rooms together. On their way back to headquarters, they had seen a hole torn through the armor plates overhead, with quite a few areas caught in the damage.

Rei Ayanami said nothing, as though she were carefully considering his suggestion.

"How did the new equipment feel?" Ritsuko Akagi asked. "It looked pretty good."

To be honest, Shinji Ikari felt that most battles were much the same, but Unit-01's sword and shield had both proved useful today, demonstrating Ritsuko Akagi's talent.

"It would be even better if you could make it into armor that protects me from every direction. That would free up my hands, too," Shinji Ikari said, sharing his experience with the new equipment.

He could have dodged the Sixth Angel's laser cannon even without the shield, but their firing position probably wouldn't have survived.

Still, even without the Positron Cannon, he had already located the real core. After their brief exchange at the time, he remained confident that he could destroy Ramiel.

But in that case, Rei Ayanami, standing beside him, would have suffered. There was no way the girl could withstand the Sixth Angel's devastating shot, powerful enough to burn mountains and boil seas.

"The original F-Type Equipment plan was for full-body armor, but the higher-ups wouldn't allow it. Even making a sword and shield was already pushing the limits."

Ritsuko Akagi looked at Shinji Ikari helplessly, apparently quite dissatisfied with the outcome herself.

One of her most satisfying creations had been expressly forbidden from being put into use. For its inventor and creator, the frustration was like ants crawling over her skin, an unbearable itch.

"Does being forbidden mean you can't make it? As Misato would put it, when humanity's survival is at stake, we have to prepare, even if it means taking risks," Shinji Ikari said, trying to tempt her.

"That's a rather dangerous way of thinking, my dear Child of God." Ritsuko Akagi actually felt a little tempted. "Though things aren't quite as serious as you make them sound."

"Billions of years ago, the so-called gods-the Adams-fell from beyond the heavens into the Old South Pole Region. They and the Angels they spawned were Earth's first life-forms."

"Later, the Second Angel, Lilith, another progenitor-class life-form, arrived on Earth and triggered First Impact, bringing all Angel life to a standstill and forcing them into dormancy. The LCL fluid formed by the dissolution of her flesh gave birth to Earth's basic life-forms."

"Long before Shamshel appeared, NERV excavated a dormant Angel from the permafrost of the Old North Pole: the Third Angel. What we're protecting now is what remains of Lilith's original body after it dissolved."

"The Adams awakened in Antarctica fifteen years ago, triggering Second Impact. More than half of Earth's life perished, and the Angels began awakening from dormancy all over the planet, seeking only to return to the origin of life."

"Lilith isn't the Angels' target. They're searching for their progenitor, Adam. An impact involving Lilith wouldn't necessarily wipe humanity out completely, either."

The Adams.

"Not completely?" Shinji Ikari seized on the key point.

"That's right. A few billion people would probably die, but a few dozen or perhaps a hundred would still have ways to survive," Ritsuko Akagi said casually.

"Those old men always have a way. They're confident they can control everything. Lilith being disguised as Adam is classified. Not many people in NERV know about it."

"And you're just telling me?" Shinji Ikari raised an eyebrow. Was this woman trying to get me to commit suicide with three bullets in my back?

"You've had the clearance from the start, but apparently nobody told you. I suppose they forgot," Ritsuko Akagi said, blinking.

Shinji Ikari looked at Misato Katsuragi beside him. Ritsuko Akagi hadn't asked her to leave before discussing such classified matters, which meant she knew, too.

Misato Katsuragi gave an awkward smile. "I did tell you, just not in so much detail. We were outside at the time, after all. But we might not have to worry about any of this much longer."

"What do you mean?" Shinji Ikari froze. His grand undertaking hadn't even begun, yet she made it sound as though his great ambition was about to end prematurely.

Ritsuko Akagi suddenly looked toward Unit-01 and Unit-00 and explained:

"Japan Heavy Chemical Industries will soon be holding a product launch to promote their new unmanned giant robotic weapon-Jet Alone."

"They've invited me to the launch, too, specifically asking me to attend as NERV's chief representative. They probably want to flaunt it in front of me, the person in charge of the EVA project."

"It's nothing but scrap metal that can't even use an AT Field, yet they actually dream of replacing my EVAs. What a bunch of brainless idiots."

Ritsuko Akagi's expression remained calm, but her words seemed to conceal the clash of blades. Somehow, the woman's fighting spirit had been stirred.

"Instead of that junk, you'd be better off paying attention to the Second Child, who will soon be leaving Germany. Units 03, 04, and 05 also seem to be nearing completion."

Bethany Branch, Old North Pole Region.

"Synchronization rate has reached the specified value. Pilot, please select your thinking language."

"Hmm, since it's my first time piloting, let's go with Japanese."

"Understood."

The girl in the old teal combat suit took a deep breath. A red helmet covered most of her face, while voices from the command room came through her headset.

"Did the new combat suit supplies fail to arrive in time?"

"That thing's too tight. It squeezes my chest and isn't comfortable at all. I'm not wearing it."

The green unit glided through the passage on its four-wheel-drive lower body. No Umbilical Cord cable was visible on this EVA. Instead, two antenna-like rods, similar to those on an electric trolleybus, connected it to the power grid.

Provisional Unit-05.

This wasn't a simulation. It was a real battle.

The Styx Defense System, which kept the base safe, was under attack, forcing her to take this unfinished machine into battle on her very first sortie.

In the base's central control room, the atmosphere was tense and grim.

Harsh crimson warning signals kept flashing on the enormous screen at the center. Every one of them indicated that something had gone terribly wrong at the base.

"I'm sorry we have to send you out in a hastily built unit, Mari. We never expected the containment system to fail."

The branch director, a heavily bearded man, spoke anxiously to the girl.

"It's fine. At least I get to pilot it. That's all that matters." Maki shrugged nonchalantly.

A member of the NERV Special Inspection Department stood in the shadows behind the bearded man. His hair was tied in a ponytail, and he had one hand in his pocket, looking perfectly relaxed.

"It's only natural for the system to fail. Human strength alone cannot stop an Angel. That's the conclusion we reached after conducting a detailed dissection of the Third Angel."

The inspector's words left everyone silent. Why had Shamshel, the first Angel to appear before the public, been the Fourth Angel? Because the first three Angels were all in human hands.

The existence of those three Angels had never been made public. Long before Shamshel appeared, the Third Angel had been contained at Bethany Base for modification and research. Now the Angel was reclaiming its freedom.

The Third Angel was making its way out from deep inside, yet despite the emergency, not a trace of tension could be heard from the other end of the comms.

"Happiness won't come walking to you."

"So you've got to walk toward it."

"One step a day, three steps in three days. Three steps forward, two steps back."

"Life is a combination punch."

As she pushed the control sticks, Maki sang the rather old-fashioned children's song "The 365-Step March."

Provisional Unit-05 was passing through a deep tunnel. Faint lights glimmered along the walls on either side, and a massive metal gate stood at the far end.

The four-legged unit moved noticeably slower than the other EVAs. That was the drawback of an unfinished machine.

It wasn't even complete. An unfinished body had simply been cobbled together with a bunch of prosthetic limbs, then hastily pushed onto the battlefield.