"It's beautiful."
Shinji was captivated by the beauty of the Star of Ultra.
Even after seeing it countless times, Zero was still enthralled. "My home... I could never get tired of looking at it."
After gazing at it for a long while, Zero closed the visual space.
"Hide the glasses somewhere safe. Don't let anyone find them."
After some thought, Shinji put the glasses in his trouser pocket. He really had nowhere else on him to hide them...
Zero sighed. "Get yourself a jacket with an inside pocket sometime, Shinji."
A glance at the clock on the wall showed that it was already late.
"Time for bed, Shinji. Get some rest. Tomorrow, we still have to find out what that thing called Unit-01 is."
"Good night, big brother Zero."
"Good night, Shinji."
Watching Shinji drift off to sleep, Zero's phantom sat at his bedside, the light in his eyes gradually fading...
The next day
"Time to get up, Shinji!" Misato's voice rang out.
"Ow!" Zero lost his balance and tumbled off the bed.
Shinji jumped in fright too.
"It's time for your tests! No more sleeping! Once they're done, I'll take you to where you'll be staying."
Shinji saw Zero lying face-down on the floor, but with Misato beside him, he didn't dare ask whether Zero was all right.
Sensing Shinji's concern, Zero sprang to his feet. "I'm fine, Shinji."
The human and the Ultra followed Misato out.
On the way, Misato handed Shinji a manual.
"This has all sorts of information about NERV. Take a look."
Zero skimmed through the booklet in no time, taking in whole passages at a glance.
"Nothing useful. It's all official information I found while you were unconscious."
Zero wasn't the sort to sit around waiting for information. While Shinji had been unconscious, he had already explored every corner of the medical department and come across these materials along the way.
"What do you think Unit-01 looks like, big brother Zero?" Shinji asked in a hushed voice.
"Hmm... Honestly, I don't know either." Zero had roughly gauged the size of the base and found that it was far larger than he had imagined. In human form, he couldn't use his Ultra X-ray vision over such a wide area.
"By the way, Shinji, I can hear you no matter how quietly you speak. Don't worry about me not hearing you." Zero had keenly sensed Shinji's concern that he might not hear him.
"Big brother Zero..." Shinji was deeply touched. No one ever spoke to him so kindly.
Misato began introducing the base.
"This city was built specifically to intercept the Angels."
"When an Angel attacks, the civilian buildings on the surface retract underground, while the combat facilities rise up." Misato Katsuragi explained as she swiped her card to open a security door.
At last, they could see the entire base.
"It really is huge."
"So this is Father's work?"
It was an immense cavern, as vast as a natural chasm. Sunlight poured down like a golden waterfall, illuminating the lake, greenery, and mountains below. It looked almost indistinguishable from an earthly paradise.
Cables crisscrossed the vast space, and the steel pyramid at the bottom housed their headquarters.
"Wow, that's a handy design. No need to worry about damage to the buildings." Zero's phantom surveyed the upside-down buildings after hearing her explanation and voiced his approval.
A design like this could effectively keep ordinary civilians from being caught up in battles. Neither Nozomu Taiga's world nor Leito's had cities designed this way, which had forced Zero to hold back when fighting.
It seemed this world's technology was considerably more advanced than that of those two worlds.
But it certainly couldn't compare with X's world.
Meanwhile, he was growing increasingly eager to see what the mech called Unit-01 looked like.
Misato took out a map. "Uh... Let me see which way we should go..." The base was simply too large. Even though she had been here for a while, she still frequently got lost.
Zero probably could have worked out the route with a single glance at the map, but Misato insisted on leading them herself, and they wandered around for ages.
"Can we actually count on this lady...?"
Just as Zero was about to snatch the map and look for himself, Misato finally found the right way.
Meanwhile, another enormous figure was approaching Tokyo-3.
Its long, narrow, purple body resembled a deep-sea horseshoe crab. A pair of red compound eyes sat atop its flat head, with a red core beneath it. Centipede-like legs sprouted from its chest, making for a chilling sight.
The Fourth Angel-Day Angel.
Tokyo-3 immediately switched to combat mode, and the buildings housing civilians descended underground one after another.
Missiles and train-mounted machine guns opened fire on the Day Angel together.
Deputy Commander Fuyutsuki said, "Wasting tax money again."
"The Fourth Angel..." Gendo Ikari said gravely as he watched the Angel from the command room.
"Initiate First-Level Combat Readiness. Have Unit-01's pilot report to the Eva Hangar and stand by," Gendo Ikari ordered.
Then he stepped onto a small elevator and left.
Misato, who had been leading the way, stopped in her tracks.
A piercing alarm sounded, and the base shook violently.
"What happened? Is another Angel here?" Shinji hurriedly asked Misato as he felt the tremors in the steel corridor.
"Yes, another Angel is here!" Misato Katsuragi's expression instantly turned grave.
The phone in her pocket rang again. After answering it, she grabbed Shinji without another word and broke into a run.
"Hurry to the Eva Hangar!" Misato urged.
"Finally, we get to see what this Unit-01 thing really looks like." Zero wasn't particularly worried. In fact, he was a little excited.
But... they got lost again...
"Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, head of the E Project, please contact First Lieutenant Misato Katsuragi of the Operations Department First Division immediately."
A blonde woman in a diving suit emerged from a pool of red liquid and grumbled, "How did she get lost again...?"
Dr. Ritsuko Akagi-the creator of NERV's EVAs.
Ritsuko Akagi tracked the two of them down with practiced ease.
"There's no time. The Angel is coming. Hurry!"
She led them to the Eva Hangar.
"Commander Ikari wants Shinji to pilot Unit-01 and sortie immediately," Ritsuko Akagi said.
"What? Isn't that rushing things?"
"Shinji only just arrived at the base! You're going to have him pilot it without any preparation?" Misato Katsuragi couldn't understand it at all.
It had taken Rei Ayanami seven months to complete the tests...
Without undergoing any of those tests, how could Shinji possibly get Unit-01 moving?
"What's gotten into the commander? Sending a fourteen-year-old child onto the battlefield?"
Shinji was stunned too, while Zero began admiring the mech.
"Pretty cool-looking. Not as cool as me, though."
Shinji and Zero looked at the gigantic purple robot ahead of them, half submerged in red liquid. The steel walkway Shinji stood on was just high enough to put him at eye level with its shoulders.
EVA-Unit-01
Was he supposed to pilot this thing and fight a monster he had never even seen?
This had to be a joke...
Zero, however, grew serious. From the impression Gendo Ikari had left on him yesterday, he wasn't at all surprised that the man would send his own son to pilot this robot.
Zero swore inwardly, If he dares hurt Shinji or force him into anything, I'll make him pay...
Before you continue