Aozaki Aoko [654-655] (Patreon)

Chapter 654: The Fifth Child and the Third Child

After the Bethany Base intrusion and the Third Angel containment breach, two years flew by. The EVA world reached 2014—the year the Angels "truly began their offensive."

During this time, aside from Touko secretly stirring up trouble, Aoko did an exemplary job at NERV HQ as the scientist in charge of the MAGI AI. She completed several upgrades to the "DeepThought" large model, developed different versions for different tasks, and even turned all internal transport into fully autonomous vehicles—earning unanimous praise from HQ staff.

Of course, that's just on the surface. Aoko didn't hold back at all when planting backdoors in these intelligent systems. Put simply, if she wants, every automated facility in the base could be halted instantly.

Over at Bethany, Touko finally began separating the ADAMS components, roughly splitting them into skeleton and core.

Just as Aoko had initially estimated, ADAMS's skeleton would become the keel and main functional hub of the NHG starship, while the core, bearing its soul, would be made into the "container (organ) of ADAMS"—that is, Unit-09, the "master."

But since the tech for making an EVA from a pure core was still immature, the project was put on hold. ADAMS's core and soul were sealed away.

Bethany spent enormous effort to fully repair the undersea base. They had only enjoyed a few days of respite before discovering that one of their trump cards, Unit-05α's pilot, had secretly run away.

The branch director blew his top and called to question Mari Makinami about her escape. Mari's reason was "compelling": "I came to be an EVA pilot to save humanity, not a construction worker hauling bricks and mortar on a job site every day!"

That left everyone speechless, because the Shanghai branch's offer to Mari was truly generous—simply not comparable to a base isolated out in the Arctic Ocean like Bethany.

Losing Unit-05's pilot became a fact. Regrettable as it was, the director realized getting angrier was pointless and immediately contacted the Committee to request a new pilot.

This was when the "plants" Aoko had set across Europe finally moved. Asuka's upbringing and training had long since fallen completely under Aoko's magecraft control, and no one had noticed for years.

So, with the consent of Gray, Artoria, and Morgan, Aoko arranged for Gray to be selected as the new pilot.

Within the training institute, Gray became an orphan who lost her parents young, "discovered" by the institute from a welfare home and cultivated long-term as Asuka's backup pilot. All documents and procedures were in perfect order—no flaws to be found.

Naturally, both the reviewers and the reviewed were Aoko's people. How could the Committee possibly outmaneuver her?

The gravedigger Little Gray transformed into the pilot of Evangelion Unit-05α—"the Fifth Child" selected by the Marduk Institute.

Before officially becoming a pilot, Little Gray received Touko's special "Key of Nebuchadnezzar (ADAMS)" modification, generating a pseudo-core in her body—not a big red sphere, but an infinite power source created by Touko using the Third Magic.

In other words, if Gray wishes, she can pop out of an EVA anytime and tear an Angel apart with a cross-shaped light cannon—brutal.

Nothing strange was preloaded into Unit-05's chassis. With ADAMS authority, Gray could easily synchronize with it, becoming the second Unit-05 pilot after Mari Makinami.

Of course, Mari had already finished all the Bethany civil engineering work before leaving. These days, Little Gray basically just does synchronization tests—very chill and pleasant.

Asuka was delighted to learn Gray became Unit-05's pilot using the Key of Nebuchadnezzar. Her best friend turning into a comrade-in-arms was "kin on top of kin." The only downside: her friend could now fire light cannons, and she could not. So Asuka went to Touko every evening after dinner, begging for her own custom Key of Nebuchadnezzar.

Touko had no objections, but since Asuka is a native of the EVA world, she needed to be more careful using the Key, so her prep time would be longer than Gray's.

After a two-month wait, Asuka's modification was complete. She was over the moon. Her favorite daily activity became dragging Gray along to fly all over Land of Sapphire Flowers using an Angel's halo flight ability, taking in every sight across the demi-plane and thoroughly scratching the itch of traveling with her best friend.

Most amusingly, while the two were flying, they woke Melusine from a nap by Lake Albion. Seeing the two girls zipping around triggered her "flight craving," and the three "people" became Land of Sapphire Flowers's daily airborne scenery.

One wonders what NERV or SEELE would think seeing Aoko's group casually produce three or more personnel with "pseudo-divinity." The Dead Sea Scrolls' script must have bolted like a runaway horse by now, right?

—Cut—

Time hurried along to July, peak sweltering summer in Japan: blazing sun, shimmering heat, and cicadas shrilling people into irritability.

Misato Katsuragi, newly promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and now Section Chief of Operations Section 1 in Tactical Operations at HQ, was driving along a mountain road while reviewing the Third Child's files.

"When it rains, it pours..." Misato sighed, seeing an emergency communication from NERV HQ. "For the enemy to show up now—should I say they're lucky, or unlucky?"

A series of massive explosions sounded nearby. A strange, roughly humanoid being advanced steadily under a pincer attack by UN aircraft, heading toward NERV HQ.

Shockwaves from missiles and artillery rocked Misato's newly financed sports car, forcing her to grit her teeth and throw in all her skill, threading through the most dangerous stretch with extreme driving.

After a tire-squealing drift that made teeth ache to hear, Misato's car swung its tail and stopped dead-stable before the Third Child. The door popped open.

"Sorry," Misato took off her sunglasses and said to the boy, who'd fallen to the ground, staring dumbfounded, "to keep you waiting. Traffic wasn't great."

Chapter 655: The Show Begins!

Under the UN's barrage of conventional weapons and an N2 mine "map-rewriting" strike, Misato, after a grueling ordeal, finally got the Third Child, Shinji, to NERV HQ.

Thanks to Aoko's involvement in this timeline, with a navigation app's help, Misato managed to preserve her "reliable adult" image in Shinji's eyes and hadn't exposed her weak point—getting hopelessly lost.

Receiving a ping from the backdoor app installed on Misato's phone, Aoko immediately prepared cola and popcorn, called together her colleagues from the AI Tech Department, and planned to watch the drama unfold live.

"Aozaki-senpai, why did you call us here?" Maya asked from the seat beside Aoko, puzzled. "It's still work hours, and we're in the middle of a critical battle with an Angel. Isn't laying out all these snacks a bit much? Maybe after work...?"

"Ara~, your intel's too slow, Maya," Aoko said, eyes dancing. "Just imagine: the Commander dumping his Third Child out in the sticks for ten years. Father and son finally reunite. How spectacular do you think that scene will be?"

"Ooooh!" The other colleagues, originally not that interested, felt the flames of gossip ignite in their chests. They gathered near Aoko's big screen, waiting for the show to start.

"S-senpai, watching the Commander's mess like this feels wrong," Maya fretted. "This is their private father-son matter, we should—"

"Nononono, that's where you don't get it," Aoko wagged a finger. "EVA pilots are HQ's most critical talent. Their family relationships and mental states are crucial. Think: what if mid-fight with an Angel, they lose because they just fought with family and are off their game? Then all humanity's done for! So what we're doing now is very important!"

"Dr. Aozaki's right!" a researcher chimed in. "The Commander's always that stone-faced, taciturn type. With an Angel attack, if it impacts the pilot's performance, we're doomed!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Dr. Aozaki's right—we must monitor pilots' mental health!"

"I don't know why, but this sounds fun, so I want to watch!" The comments rose one after another, sweeping away the tension of the Angel attack.

In truth, Aoko's department wasn't very tense to begin with. Fighting Angels is Ops' job. Their responsibility is just to ensure MAGI and the DeepThought model run without faults during battle.

Seeing this, Maya went numb. Pilot mental health is always Dr. Ritsuko's purview—what's it to you lot? Since when do snacks and spectating ease tense family dynamics?

"But... the Commander and Dr. Ritsuko are in the Unit-01 cage. Even if we wanted to watch, we can't abandon our posts and run there... right?"

"Oh, easy." Aoko deftly pulled up the console and entered a string of low-level commands. The next second, feeds from over a dozen cameras displayed every angle of Unit-01's cage in crisp detail. Aoko even thoughtfully selected the mic closest to Unit-01 for audio input.

"Oh?! So that's the Third Child? He looks like a frail bookish boy. Will he manage when it counts?"

Curiosity trumped duty for everyone in AI, Maya included. They gathered around the big screen, took their cola and popcorn, and stared unblinking at the unfolding scene.

Shinji was overwhelmed into speechlessness by the colossal general-purpose humanoid decisive weapon—Evangelion Unit-01.

"...This is the artificial human, Evangelion Unit-01, Shinji-kun," Ritsuko Akagi intoned. "It's humanity's final trump card."

"...Is this my father's work too?" Shinji murmured, staring up.

"That's right."

Shinji looked up toward the voice. Gendo Ikari, face covered in a full beard and brown-tinted sunglasses, looked down on him.

"Long time no see, Shinji," Gendo's flat, slightly distorted voice came from the speakers into Shinji's ears.

"Sortie."

"Huh???" Aoko's colleagues—including Maya beside her—were floored by Gendo's subterranean emotional intelligence. "Has that boy even glanced at Unit-01's manual?"

"...Is this pair really what humanity's future depends on?"

"Patience. As far as I know, the Commander understands his son," Aoko said, sipping cola, soothing colleagues stunned by Carbon-Gendo's delivery. "He's got even more dramatic moves coming~"

"Isn't Unit-00 still under maintenance?" Misato protested. "You want Unit-01 to launch?!"

"Likely the only option," Ritsuko said. "HQ has only two EVAs. If Unit-00 can't sortie, Unit-01 must."

"Listen, Shinji-kun," Ritsuko looked him in the eye. "You will pilot Unit-01."

"Dr. Ritsuko..." Hearing Ritsuko in the feed, Maya was at a loss. Forcing a fourteen-year-old middle schooler to fight an unknown being in a giant robot at the most perilous moment—there's nothing "kind" about that, is there?

What followed was a string of "damn boomer" low-EQ lines, paired with Shinji's silky "weak, withdrawn, depressed" combo—exactly the flavor Aoko loved.

"No matter what, this is too much for a child..." a colleague said anxiously, chewing a mouthful of buttered popcorn.

"Urp—we don't have a choice," another colleague said after a gulp of ice-cold soda, belching. "Only fourteen-year-old boys and girls can pilot EVAs. With humanity at stake, child soldiers aren't exactly the gravest ethical issue..."

On the big screen, seeing his son's strong resistance, Gendo unhesitatingly played his next card: the beauty trap.

Honestly, Aoko figured Gendo's likely inner thought at that moment was, "Back then I couldn't resist your mom; now you won't be able to resist Rei!"

Classic textbook move.

What puzzled her, though, was that Ayanami Rei shouldn't have been in any experiments lately that could injure her. Unit-00 was only undergoing routine maintenance. So why the bloodstained bandages and IV line on Rei?