Shinji Ikari sat behind Asuka, with the girl nestled almost as though he were holding her in his arms.
Her skintight combat suit clung to her skin. To keep clothing from obstructing synchronization, its interior was lined with intricate sensor fibers, making it the pilot's second skin.
Now that Shinji Ikari and Asuka were so close, the only real barrier between them was his uniform.
That strange sensation, no different from embracing skin to skin, coupled with the warmth radiating from Shinji Ikari's body, made Asuka's heart beat a little faster. This was probably what it meant to have your blood run hot.
"Miss Asuka, are you hot? You feel like you're burning up, like a freshly cooked steak."
"Of course not. Besides, we're in combat. Didn't Misato teach you to focus on the enemy on the battlefield? Don't think a high synchronization rate makes you anything special. Unit-02 isn't one of headquarters' experimental models. It's a purpose-built combat weapon."
The orange interface suddenly turned crimson. In a single instant, Shinji Ikari's synchronization rate broke past one hundred percent, giving him complete control of Unit-02.
Asuka, sitting with him, could not even cause the slightest interference in the system. Shinji Ikari's starting synchronization rate was already the highest she had ever achieved.
Asuka stared at the interface as the number climbed past two hundred percent.
She had always thought that synchronization rates exceeding one hundred percent were a flaw in the experimental EVAs. She had never imagined that Unit-02, a production combat model, could also break that limit.
At that moment, Asuka, a fellow pilot, briefly had the illusion that her mother, long gone, was holding her now.
"Stupid Third Child..."
While Asuka wondered whether she was dreaming, the Seventh Angel, who had been about to continue attacking the Pacific