The day after the tests, Misato took Shinji to visit the site where the Day Angel's remains were being recovered.
"I really am curious how this world cleans up after a monster fight." As far as Zero remembered, Geed's world had no organization dedicated to clearing away monster remains.
"D-3 disassembly complete. Please submit all data to the analysis team of the Technical Department, Section One."
The booming announcement echoed across the site.
Shinji, Zero, and Misato looked up at the Day Angel overhead, its battered body covered in cracks.
"How did you manage that back then, Shinji? In theory, Unit-01 shouldn't be able to react that fast." Misato asked the question she had forgotten to ask before.
"Well, I'm not really sure either. I was just flailing around. There wasn't any method to it." Shinji barely managed to bluff his way through.
"That was Space Martial Arts. It took me hundreds of years of practice to master it."
"The monsters in this world are pretty weak, too. I didn't expect their shield... it's called an AT Field, right? I didn't expect it to be so brittle. One kick shattered it."
"We still have you to thank. Despite the beating it took, it's mostly intact, and the core survived as well." Ritsuko Akagi's voice rang out.
"So, have you found anything?"
"I'll show you right now."
She turned on the computer and explained the mass of complicated data. "Although we can't interpret it yet, we've established that Angels consist of matter with wave-particle duality. Just like light."
Zero, who had been spacing out, jolted. "I'm made of light too! How come I don't look like that? That thing's even uglier than a monster..."
"So you're made of light too, Zero? But isn't light something without a physical form?"
"We Ultramen are all essentially light. Our planet is called the Land of Light, too."
"We were actually a species similar to humans a very long time ago. That was around my great-grandfather's generation..."
Zero told Shinji about the origins of the Land of Light, ignoring Misato and Ritsuko beside them.
"Does this kid space out like this often?"
"I don't think so. I've never seen him do it before."
Hearing that, Shinji snapped out of it and hurriedly explained that he had been thinking about something.
"Look here." Misato pointed at the computer.
"Look at this Angel's waveform."
"Not like either of us can make sense of it..."
"Although the constituent elements differ, the signal arrangement and coordinates closely resemble human genes. The similarity is 99.89 percent."
That high? Zero grew wary. He thought of the worst-case scenario-an internal conflict within a civilization.
His father, Ultraseven, had once drawn considerable criticism over suspected interference in a conflict between Earth's civilizations. The Space Garrison had ultimately closed its investigation into his father on the grounds that he had been protecting lives, that the accusations might have been lies told by invaders, and that there was insufficient evidence. Even so, Ultraseven had become a controversial warrior from then on. That was also one of the reasons Ultraseven had not acknowledged Zero as his son back then.
He truly wanted nothing whatsoever to do with interfering in a civilization's internal affairs.
But after thinking it over carefully, he decided that the Angels clearly lacked intelligence. Creatures without intelligence could not form a civilization, so this did not violate the regulations. Besides, even if there were another civilization involved, it should have contacted or warned him long ago. All things considered, he concluded that this certainly was not an internal conflict within a civilization, but something akin to the relationship between humans and Earth's monsters in his own world.
Shinji noticed that the Angel's core, which Unit-01 had stabbed clean through, was being lowered by a crane. His father and Dr. Fuyutsuki were standing nearby.
Suddenly, he noticed the very obvious burns on his father's hands.
Misato asked, "What's wrong?"
"Well, I was wondering about the burns on my father's hands."
"Oh, those? Here's what happened." Ritsuko picked up the conversation.
"Before you arrived, another Eva, Unit-00, went berserk during activation. You've heard about that, right?"
"Yes."
"The pilot was trapped inside-Ayanami, that is. The Commander forced the scorching hatch open with his bare hands and rescued her. That's when he got those burns."
"Tch, that old bastard. He treats his own son like this, but does something like that for another kid? He's got to have some scheme in mind."
Zero genuinely had no respect whatsoever for Gendo Ikari.
Shinji was now rather inclined to agree.
"Still, that does explain why that girl doesn't want anything to do with you. On the surface, at least, the old bastard treats her pretty well."
As they chatted, somewhere none of them noticed, a pair of red eyes finished surveying the Day Angel, and a disappointed voice said:
"Looks like it's not on this one. I'll have to keep looking."
During training that afternoon, Shinji quickly passed every exercise with Zero's help. Throughout the session, however, Zero increasingly sensed that there was something inside Unit-01 they knew nothing about.
"I couldn't be imagining it this many times... What is this feeling?"
After training ended, Shinji was just about to leave when he spotted Gendo Ikari and Rei Ayanami standing together near Unit-00.
His father was actually smiling at Rei Ayanami. Rei Ayanami, who had been expressionless before, was smiling too. The two were chatting and laughing.
Shinji felt puzzled, but also a faint trace of jealousy. Zero saw what was happening and sensed his feelings as well.
"Shinji, there's no point upsetting yourself over that old bastard. He's probably just using that girl, the same way he's trying to use you."
"I know... but it still makes me a little unhappy..."
"What should really make you unhappy is that Misato's cooking tonight..."
That evening, Ritsuko came over to Misato's place, and Misato made curry for her guest. Naturally, it tasted so awful that Shinji began questioning his life. Zero tried a bite himself and nearly passed out.
"Does this even qualify as food fit for human consumption...?"
Ritsuko complained too. "Next time, only invite me over when Shinji's cooking..."
As they spoke, a shriek from Penpen came from the room. Misato had scooped out a bowl of curry for the penguin, who had already passed out...
"Shinji, you should just move out. Living with a slob is a waste of your life."
"I wholeheartedly agree." Still recovering from the biological weapon, Zero raised his hands.
"...That would be way too much trouble. Shinji only just got his headquarters security card, you know."
Ritsuko remembered something and took a card out of her bag. "Oh, right, Shinji. This is Rei Ayanami's new card. I keep forgetting to give it to her. Could you deliver it for me?"
"All right."
That's fine. Maybe I can improve things with that girl.
"She's like your father. Clumsy in certain ways."
"What ways?"
"Well... living, I suppose."
The next day, Shinji and Zero followed the address to Rei Ayanami's home. Both froze.
It was a residential complex that had been abandoned for a long time. The buildings were dilapidated, and the clang of metal kept ringing out around them.
"What kind of girl could live in a place like this? Is she a normal human? She isn't an alien, is she...?"
"An alien... surely not, Zero."
The nameplate read Rei Ayanami.
Shinji pressed the doorbell, but it was broken. No one answered when he knocked either. He pushed the door and discovered that the lock was broken too.
"Is this girl seriously not afraid something might happen...?"
Shinji opened the door and went inside. He called out a few times, but no one answered. Seeing rubbish scattered all over the floor, he placed the card on the table. He also spotted a broken pair of glasses there and began thinking, but Zero interrupted his thoughts.
"If you ask me, you should help clean this place up for her. Maybe it'll help you two get along better."
"Okay. I'm not in a hurry to get to the base anyway."
"That's the spirit."
Shinji picked up a broom and began cleaning. Just as he finished filling a bag with rubbish and was about to throw it away, Rei emerged from the bathroom.
She... was wearing nothing but a bathrobe.
The two humans and the Ultra stared awkwardly at one another.
Zero reacted first, hurriedly turning around. "Kids shouldn't look at this," he told Shinji, while saying to Rei, "Please get dressed."
Even though he was an Ultraman, his face still turned red.
"I think I know how Uncle Taro felt back then..."
"Zero, your family..."
After changing into her clothes, Rei Ayanami continued staring at Shinji.
"Did you need something?"
"I... I came to bring you your new card. I left it on your table. I noticed your room was a bit messy, so I cleaned up a little. I didn't mean anything else by it."
"Let's go to the base." Rei Ayanami left without looking back.
"Why do I keep getting the feeling... that this girl isn't normal...?"
Zero really did not think this child was a normal person. She was completely silent, expressionless, and emotionless.
"I agree..."
Before you continue