"Huh? Is this the Ultraman Hikari you mentioned before, Zero?" Shinji asked in confusion.
"Yes. He's the director of the Land of Light's Universe Technology Bureau."
Shinji ran downstairs to greet Hikari.
"Hello, Mr. Hikari!"
"It's been a while, Hikari."
Hikari smiled kindly and shook Shinji's hand.
"So you're the brave young man named Shinji Ikari. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Yes, that's me."
"By the way, my human name is Kazuya Serizawa."
"All right, Mr. Serizawa!"
"Come on. It's time to take you to see your mother!"
"Okay!" Shinji was thrilled.
The two headed toward the NERV base.
"So... you're saying Shinji is that... giant? How is that possible?" Misato demanded incredulously of Kaji, who had told her about it.
Shinji had been living with her all this time. Surely she would have noticed if something was wrong.
"You'll believe it soon enough," Kaji said mysteriously, leading Misato into the Eva Hangar.
As soon as they entered, they saw Gendo Ikari waiting eagerly on the catwalk above Unit-01.
"Uh... what happened to the Commander's face?" Misato couldn't help asking when she saw Gendo's bruised, swollen face.
"Shinji hit him."
"What?! You've got to be... actually, I guess it's possible..." Misato recalled Shinji's flying kick during his first deployment.
"To be precise, the giant possessing Shinji controlled his body and hit him," Kaji explained.
"Is Shinji still himself, then?" Misato asked nervously. After spending all this time with him, she had come to care about him.
"You can rest easy on that front. Shinji is perfectly safe. In fact, it's largely thanks to that giant that he's become who he is now."
"Hold on... I need a moment to process this." Misato's brain was about to overheat.
Above them, Gendo Ikari was extremely nervous. Ever since learning that his beloved could be resurrected, he hadn't slept for two nights.
He looked utterly exhausted now.
"Do you really believe in something with absolutely no scientific basis?" Ritsuko Akagi demanded of Gendo. As a brilliant scientist, she simply couldn't believe it.
After all, they had tried to rescue Yui Ikari after Unit-01 absorbed her over a decade ago, but they had failed.
"Your scientific tests didn't detect the fact that Shinji was possessed by an Ultraman either, did they?" Gendo said coldly.
All he could think about now was resurrecting Yui.
The hangar doors opened, and Serizawa and Shinji walked in.
When Serizawa saw Gendo, his kindly expression immediately turned to anger.
"Keep your promise."
"I suggest you move farther away from Unit-01, in case anything unexpected happens during the process," Serizawa said sternly.
So Father does have feelings after all, Shinji thought when he saw the exhausted Gendo.
Once everyone had retreated to a safe distance, Zero took control of Shinji's body.
"Let me into the Entry Plug, then insert it."
Gendo did as he was told.
"The first step is to separate your mother's soul."
"Separating her body is fairly simple."
"Shinji closed his eyes and began connecting with Yui Ikari's soul."
Returning once again to that familiar white space, the two saw Yui Ikari.
"You... really came." Yui looked at them with tears in her eyes.
After reflecting on things during this time, Yui finally understood how much harm her plan would cause Shinji.
She also trusted Zero completely.
"Let me atone, Mr. Zero."
"Mom..."
"All right, you can catch up later. Right now, we need to separate her soul."
Zero's spectral form raised a hand, and a soft glow enveloped Yui's soul.
"I'm going to start drawing it out..."
Yui's soul was slowly pulled out of Unit-01, but just then, an invisible force caught hold of it.
"What's happening?" Shinji asked fearfully.
"It looks like Unit-01 and your mother's soul have fused a little too deeply."
"Good thing Hikari is here..."
Outside, everyone watched in horror as Unit-01 suddenly moved.
An eerie white light shone from its eyes.
It opened its enormous mouth and began roaring like a wild beast.
"Raaagh!"
"Unit-01 has gone berserk!" Gendo recognized the situation immediately.
He ordered Ritsuko Akagi to hurry and call the technicians.
Because they were resurrecting Yui, no unrelated personnel were in the hangar.
"No need. I'll handle it."
A reassuring voice rang out.
Serizawa drew a short sword and thrust it into the Knight Brace that appeared on his wrist.
After a dazzling burst of light, a human-sized Ultraman Hikari appeared before them, his body blue and medals adorning his chest.
He waved a hand, and particles of light gathered over his body, forming the Arb Armor.
"So cool..." Misato's attention had been diverted.
Hikari flew above Unit-01's head, pressed his right hand against it, and pinned it to the wall.
Hikari's Ultra Psychokinesis temporarily halted Unit-01's rampage.
"Be good and get some sleep!"
Hikari aimed his left hand at Unit-01's head and released a gentle beam of light.
Unit-01 ceased all activity. Its head drooped, and the white light in its eyes vanished.
"Unit-01's rampage... stopped?!"
Ritsuko's legs gave out in shock, and Misato quickly pushed a chair beneath her.
Ritsuko slumped into the chair.
As one of Unit-01's developers, she knew it could go berserk. She also knew that once it did, it would never stop until it achieved some objective.
Yet now, their ultimate weapon, Unit-01, was as docile as a pet before this creature called an Ultraman, who had stopped it at will.
She felt as though all her years of study and all the scientific knowledge she had learned had been for nothing.
"This defies science..."
In the white space, Zero finally separated Yui's soul.
"He spoke to Hikari through telepathy."
"Hikari, I've separated her soul! Please resurrect Shinji's mother!"
"All right!"
Hikari took out a device: the Life Solidifier.
He also took out a capsule containing a complete life.
Hikari pressed the device's button, and streams of multicolored light extended from it toward Unit-01.
"All right, Shinji. Get ready to reunite with your mother," Zero said gently.
A cross-shaped light flashed, and some LCL fluid flowed into the Entry Plug. It began to coalesce, gradually taking on a human shape.
Another flash of light made Shinji close his eyes.
When he opened them again, he saw...
The mother he had yearned for day and night...
She looked exactly as he remembered her.
"Mom..." Shinji cautiously reached out to touch her face, afraid this was another illusion.
"Shinji..." Yui looked at him tenderly, tears streaming down her face.
After touching her face, Shinji finally knew that this truly was his mother.
He hugged her and began crying uncontrollably.
Although he had become much stronger, the longing he felt for his mother made it impossible to stay calm in her presence.
"Shinji... I'm sorry..." Yui stroked his head as she wept.
Watching the reunited mother and son, Zero felt a faint swirl of conflicting emotions...
But he quickly composed himself and patted Shinji's shoulder with a smile.
"Congratulations, Shinji!"
"Eject the Entry Plug!"
The Entry Plug was pulled out, and Shinji emerged first.
"Did it work?" Gendo was nervous beyond measure.
He saw Shinji turn around and help a woman out.
She was the beloved woman he had longed for day and night.
"Yui!" Gendo rushed forward without hesitation, even losing a shoe as he ran.
Everything he had done had been for the sake of resurrecting Yui. Now, something he had awaited for over a decade had come true so easily.
Smack!
A fresh handprint appeared on Gendo's already bruised and swollen face.
He heard Yui demand angrily, "Why did you abandon Shinji?"
Then Yui turned away in anger, refusing to look at him.
Of course, Gendo would never lose his temper with Yui. He completely abandoned any concern for his dignity and apologized over and over.
"I was wrong, Yui. I really know I was wrong!"
Gendo's usual expressionless face was nowhere to be seen, replaced by sheer panic.
"So this is how Father acts around Mother," Shinji remarked.
"We've kept our promise. Now it's time for you to keep yours."
Hikari changed back into Serizawa, walked up to Gendo, and spoke sternly.
"This isn't the place to talk... let's go somewhere else." Ignoring the other people in the hangar, Gendo took the two of them and Yui to his office, while also telling Fuyutsuki to come over.
On the way, Shinji quietly whispered to Zero.
"Zero, can you resurrect Asuka's mother?"
Zero thought for a moment, then explained, "Not yet. Your mother could be restored so smoothly through Life Solidifying Technology because her body was inside Unit-01."
"Only Asuka's mother's soul is inside Unit-02. Restoring her body will require a more complex Life Solidifier."
"I see..." Shinji sounded a little dejected.
"But don't worry," Zero said confidently. "She'll be resurrected sooner or later. Just trust me."
When Fuyutsuki arrived, he stared in disbelief at Yui before him.
"Hello, Professor." Yui bowed in greeting.
"Yui... you really..." Fuyutsuki's lips trembled.
Yui was his student, but he also harbored feelings of a different kind for her.
He was one of the few people in the world who understood the human instrumentality project, and the only person who knew Yui's plan.
Now that he had seen Yui again, the anxiety that had hung over him for more than a decade finally eased.
Serizawa conveyed the Land of Light's position and instructions to Gendo, while explaining what was at stake.
Gendo had already abandoned the human instrumentality project once Yui was resurrected.
After learning that civilizations enforcing "fairness and justice" existed in the universe, and that practically all of them could easily destroy Earth, he was even more willing to cooperate fully with the Land of Light in dismantling the project.
As Serizawa spoke, Yui was intrigued by the current circumstances of humanity in the M78 world.
"So humans don't have to live only on Earth?"
"Listen to what you're saying... humans in our world have even opened an embassy in the Land of Light... where did you get the idea that humans can only stay on Earth?" Serizawa retorted, speechless.
"It seems I was utterly wrong..."
After they finished exchanging information, Zero opened the Dimensional Backpack and handed the Adam Embryo to Serizawa.
"Take this back to the Land of Light. It isn't safe to leave it here."
Serizawa noticed the broken Palaj Bracelet inside the Dimensional Backpack.
He took the Adam Embryo, put it in his own Dimensional Backpack, and spoke to Zero.
"Let me have your Palaj Bracelet for a moment."
Before you continue