Aozaki Aoko [646-647] (Patreon)

Chapter 646: No More Secrets!

After the two finished their regular briefing, Touko had a hearty meal and used the teleportation array to return to her room at the Bethany base.

By now, Aoko already had a rough guess about the trajectory of this brand-new Rebuild EVA world. But much of her intel came from her previous life and couldn't be explained. So until she had hard evidence, she couldn't tell Touko directly, and had to leave some things blank for the moment.

First was confirming the current status of the Committee—that is, SEELE's rulers.

Those old men who had completed mechanical ascension could hardly be called alive anymore. The reason Aoko and Touko's occult rites couldn't locate them might not only be SEELE's own thaumaturgic defenses, but also that those geezers had already reached no longer listed as a person. If they're dead, what's there to find?

Next was the matter of the spears. There is a spear lodged in the ADAMS at the Bethany base.

So Touko certainly knows of the spears and their role, and they had witnessed another kind of spear on the Moon. But what Touko doesn't know is the exact number of spears.

In Aoko's memory, there are six spears, corresponding to the six ADAMS. The reason humanity survived after Second Impact was probably because SEELE, upon judging the timing ripe, used four spears to seal the four deified ADAMS—just like what Unit-06 was about to do to Unit-01.

As Touko's status in the Bethany branch rises, the intel she can access will grow increasingly confidential. Sooner or later she'll learn the precise number of ADAMS, and then the fact that those four unlucky door-openers each had a spear will become obvious.

Besides the four spears on the Second-Impact ADAMS, of the remaining two, one is currently impaled in Lilith of the Final Dogma—Aoko has confirmed this with her own eyes—and the last was delivered to the Moon, into the hands of the true god, Mark-06, as SEELE's insurance against Gendo Ikari.

At this point, all six spears have their whereabouts confirmed.

In Aoko's hazy memories of her previous life, Gendo once said near the end of this cycle: "The Second Impact purified the sea, and the Third Impact purified the land." The true meaning of this is now basically clear to Aoko.

In Second Impact, the oceans of the EVA world turned red—red being precisely the product of core-ization of life, i.e., the materialization of souls. In Third Impact, nearly 90% of humanity became the headless red giants of EVA Infinite, that is, human souls materialized.

The existence of EVA Infinite is a key piece of intel Aoko currently cannot explain to Touko. It doesn't appear in the reincarnation records of other avatars. Rather than lie, she'd rather stay silent for now.

But why would Third Impact materialize souls?

From her intel discussions with Touko, Aoko seems to have touched the edge of an answer.

During Third Impact, someone completed God's task—i.e., defeated Lilith—and gathered both the Fruit of Life and the Fruit of Knowledge. Humanity rules the earth, and the earth was purified. Then what exactly was "purified"?

There's only one answer: "Original Sin."

Lilith shared the "Fruit of Knowledge," the Original Sin, with humanity, her offspring. Now those possessing the "Fruit of Sin" were "purified" into EVA Infinite, which implies that this "purification" is not a punishment, but a kind of "reward for completing the task"—a reward for "humans" turning around and killing Lilith.

The prize is the "legitimate" divine gift—the Fruit of Life.

All EVA Infinite are headless red giants because Third Impact stripped the Fruit of Knowledge from their souls and replaced it with the divinely bestowed Fruit of Life.

The head represents wisdom; losing wisdom = losing the head.

Therefore, the one who presided over and triggered Third Impact must have been "someone" among humans. And the reason Third Impact was not the end of all stories is that the "last human" has yet to achieve his goal. EVA Infinite are merely failed products of apotheosis; true "becoming a god" requires possessing both the Fruit of Life and the Fruit of Knowledge at the same time.

Verdict: Gendo Ikari.

A chūni man-baby who hopes to become a god and materialize all human souls to create a world without lies and pain, so he can finally reunite with his wife there.

Given all the above deductions and intel, Aoko is utterly speechless at this husband-and-wife duo.

Yui is the true mastermind hidden within SEELE, posing as a Madonna, seducing Gendo, and ultimately dissolving into Unit-01 to observe everything from within.

Outside, the antisocial chūni man-baby Gendo will drag all humanity down with him at any cost just to meet his wife again. Humanity in this world really drew the short straw with these two.

Even her own body decayed, yet she hid in a computer, painstakingly waiting twelve thousand years, all "to save humanity." Compared with the dog couple Yui and Gendo, the old men of SEELE, from a certain angle, are practically saints among saints. Even Aoko felt numb after seeing this.

At this point, Aoko had already decided: as soon as she acquires all the things she wants, she'll pack up and leave, taking Kaworu and a few humans she deems worthy. As for everyone else and that dog couple, let them keep tangling with this world—she won't stick around!

—Divider—

Once back in her room at the Bethany base, Touko had, in fact, already brushed against the edge of the real truth during their talk.

On a sheet of printer paper, she sketched with a pencil, labeling concepts like "ADAMS," "Apostles," "Humans," "Fruits," "Lilith," and "God," then wrote down, under each, the intel she had learned.

As her thoughts became increasingly organized, and combined with religious stories familiar to her, Touko's eyes slowly widened.

"This is a story about original sin and atonement."

Though the Aozaki sisters held unequal amounts of intel, each, in her own reflections, grasped the foundational truth of this cycle.

Perhaps this is why, although neither of them would admit it, the trait outsiders see as most similar between the sisters is their obsession with, and sensitivity to, the "truth"—"apotheosis"...

Touko believed that, given the right opportunity, she could seize the lead and achieve a fundamental elevation by uniting the Fruit of Knowledge and the Fruit of Life.

The many abilities brought by the fragment of Aoko's soul-weave put great pressure on Touko. Though she never voiced it, as someone who hates to lose, she had been looking for a chance to catch up to Aoko.

This world is her best opportunity. Even if that chance was "deliberately" given to her by Aoko, it made no difference—or rather, precisely because it was deliberate, Touko could not bear to fail.

An unconscious smile tugged at her lips. As a magus from another world who wields the Third Magic, she understood the essence of soul-materialization—that is, core-ization—better than anyone else here.

If someone else were present to see her expression at that moment, they would surely feel a chill at Dr. Aozaki's smile.

Chapter 647: Aozaki Touko Ascends

After receiving the "warning," Gendo had done nothing radical since that failed experiment. Or rather, his current hand wasn't strong enough to support such a move—he couldn't risk pressing forward at the cost of losing control of Unit-01.

He could only lie low and wait for the right time.

Time moved forward again, to the year 2012 of this Earth—the twelfth year since Aoko and her party arrived in this world aboard the demi-plane magic ship.

This year, Asuka was already twelve—or rather, her body had reached the state of a twelve-year-old; her actual age should be somewhat younger.

Thanks to Aoko's influence, the Shikinami-series Unit-02 became the final unit of that series, which means she was the ultimate winner of the battle royale, gathering all souls to become this world's true Asuka.

While receiving elite education from NERV, she also learned quite a bit of occult technique from the magi and fairies of Land of Sapphire Flowers.

Although she didn't yet have any magic circuits in her body, Aoko, Touko, and Alice, by researching this world's inherent occult framework, achieved substantial results that let Asuka use "superpowers" that would seem unbelievable to ordinary people.

For example, Asuka could draw "spells" on special materials to achieve psychological invisibility. It's useless against veterans like Aoko and the others, but decisively effective against normal people.

Of course, psychological invisibility was just a byproduct of a side study. Touko's two most important achievements in recent years were these:

She successfully cracked all the technical details of SEELE's anti-Apostle sealing pillars of curse, truly mastering and improving this fusion of science and occult.

If, in the coming Third Impact, their "assets" in this world are threatened, they can now field systems like anti-L fields in response.

Aoko also planned to leak this technology to the yet-to-be-born WILLE at an opportune moment, because Ryoji Kaji hadn't had a smooth few years at Bethany base.

Speaking of Kaji, the triple agent wasn't at Bethany continuously over those four years.

At times, due to other assignments—or to pass intel to his superiors—he was away from the base for multiple long stretches.

While releasing the Third Angel and destroying Unit-05 both seemed tough to pull off, he still managed to deliver Touko's "research results" on the Key of Nebuchadnezzar to Gendo, which kept his employer from becoming so disappointed as to drop him.

Based on information carried by the ADAMS specimen at Bethany, Touko finally created a true Key of Nebuchadnezzar.

A human who uses this "Key" will gain abilities akin to an ADAMS—forming a "core," generating a halo to fly, firing light cannons, and of course, most importantly, the "AT Field."

Aoko didn't know why, in the original timeline, Gendo lost the ability to manifest an Apostle-class AT Field after using the Key of Nebuchadnezzar, but Touko's version unquestionably includes the AT Field trait.

Despite being called a "Key," it looks more like a syringe connected to the human nervous system. Through a combination of occult rites and genetic engineering, Touko designed its usage to be broadly an "injection" process.

In a forest at the edge of Land of Sapphire Flowers, Aoko prepared a test range hardened enough to withstand conventional nuclear strikes. Besides Touko herself, virtually everyone in the village with sufficient combat power was called in (Asuka came too) in case anything went wrong.

Standing at the center, Touko watched Aoko activate the protective barrier and bring all surrounding anti-L systems online. Touko nodded and gave a thumbs-up.

She took a deep breath, crushed the synthetic resin case containing the Key of Nebuchadnezzar, and removed the "syringe" within.

Carefully turning the golden valve at the base, the "miniature human nervous system" attached below was sucked into the syringe at once, becoming an amber-glowing fluid.

After a final check, Touko unhesitatingly pressed the "syringe" to her neck and drove it in hard.

Even though the Key had no actual "needle," the act of "injection" still produced a prickle of pain.

This wasn't an illusion, but a deliberate part of the design—a ritual that, through the conceptual act of "injection," inscribes the Key of Nebuchadnezzar, a waypoint for the soul, into the body.

Now, the ritual complete, Touko's body began to tremble slightly. The Key fell from her hand and shattered on the ground.

"Miss Touko!" Asuka cried out, about to rush forward, but Aoko stopped her.

"Don't worry," Aoko said. "This is normal. Touko won't go down that easily."

"But…" Asuka still fretted, but soon noticed that Touko had stopped trembling. With both hands on the ground, she knelt facing away from them.

Just as Asuka was about to ask how she felt, a halo—mostly white with rainbow fringes—rose from above Touko's head and gradually expanded.

"It worked."

Aoko smiled. She had long had great confidence in Touko's project. This success was merely the natural outcome.

As the halo grew brighter and larger, Touko floated into the air without even bothering to reshape a pair of wings.

This antigravity flight method is unmistakably one of the abilities of ADAMS and Apostles, usually displayed when they activate their halos.

Then Touko looked into the distance. A cross-shaped beam suddenly flashed out from before her eyes, the air letting out a sharp sounds! and then a violent explosion. The protective barrier shook hard, flickering on and off.

At last, the light cannon wasn't just a specialty of Aoko and Artoria.

"It's time for the next phase of testing," Aoko said, stepping with a smile into the barrier as the engravings over her whole body flared to life.