Aozaki Aoko [684-685] (Patreon)

Chapter 684: Dismemberment

Beheading wasn't the end of Gray's job. Although Unit-03 had basically ceased movement, Gray still swiftly hacked off all its limbs and tossed them onto the ground nearby. For a moment, the scene was extraordinarily gory.

"Yame—ro!!!"

Shinji shouted as he charged forward piloting Unit-01, but how could Asuka, in Unit-02 beside him, allow him to interfere with Gray's work?

Unit-02 tossed its shotgun aside, pulled a strangely shaped rocket launcher from the rear weapon rack, and fired straight at Unit-01's chest.

Normally, conventional weapons are useless against EVAs or Angels, beings capable of manifesting an Absolute Terror Field. But Unit-02's weapon ignored that fact. Its ammunition was a black cylinder, red lines writhing and shifting over its surface.

After a brief pause, the cylinder easily pierced Unit-01's A.T. Field and drove into its chest.

"Guh—ah!"

Shinji grunted, a heavy pressure crushing his chest and choking off his breath.

Unit-01 toppled straight to the ground, trembling, unable to move.

"So that really is…," Fuyutsuki narrowed his eyes at the object pinning Unit-01's core and spoke to Gendo.

"Yeah. Bethany Base's specialty," Gendo said expressionlessly. "Anti-L System Sealing Maledict Pillar."

Asuka, having neutralized Unit-01, didn't pause. She turned and fired several more shots into Unit-03's torso, which Gray had pared down to a limbless stump. Only after inserting five sealing pillars into it did she stop.

"Leave the next part to me," Gray said to Asuka. "Asuka, go explain things to the Unit-01 pilot."

"Ugh, I really hate these troublesome chores…" Asuka sighed, but didn't refuse. She turned and walked toward Unit-01.

"Why are you doing this…?" Shinji's trembling voice came through the comms. Even though Unit-01 still couldn't move, Asuka could feel the pilot's intense emotional agitation.

"Hey, rich kid, let's make a deal," Asuka said. "I'll let you go in a minute, but you have to promise not to do anything stupid. Got it?"

"…"

Shinji didn't answer, drowning in pain.

"Such a pain…" Asuka scratched her hair, made Unit-02 yank Unit-01's head up so Shinji's view could take in Unit-03's torso.

"Look closely. Your friend's entry plug hasn't been destroyed," she said with a frown. "We're here to clean up your mess. Think before you act. You don't want anything to happen to your friend's safety, do you?"

"!!!"

Hearing Asuka's mildly threatening words, Shinji snapped back to attention. He glared at Unit-02's red face with four eyes, then looked toward Unit-05, which was manipulating some device with mechanical arms, and slowly nodded.

"I promise."

"Good. Remember what you said. Don't make us look down on you, rich kid." Asuka extended a hand and slowly pulled the maledict pillar out from Unit-01's core.

Contrary to common sense, the sealing pillar, when active, wasn't entirely physical. Though it seemed to have stabbed into Unit-01's core, once removed it left no "bloody hole." Unit-01's core—and even its chest armor—were intact.

Shinji suddenly felt the weight lift from his chest; the suffocating pressure vanished. Unit-01 could move again.

"Watch quietly," Asuka said. "See why we're doing this."

The Ninth Angel parasitizing Unit-03 wasn't dead, just completely immobilized. After all, it existed in a microbial form that parasitized EVAs—bioforms cloned from ADAMS or Lilith.

Gray carefully placed a mechanical device on the ground, like a black coffin, then sent a command to open it, revealing its contents.

It was a case packed with numerous black conduits like the maledict pillars, leaving just enough space for an entry plug.

With a high-frequency vibro-knife, she neatly cut open Unit-03's back, then used a mech arm to pull out the entry plug, still smeared with copious blue material signifying Angelic corrosion, and deftly slid it into the "black coffin."

The blue substances that had clung to the plug recoiled rapidly back inside it when they neared the coffin's pillars.

From this, it was clear the Angel's strategy, once at a disadvantage, was to abandon its host body and retreat to a safer zone—first abandoning control of Unit-03, and now withdrawing from the plug's exterior.

Separating the Ninth Angel from Toji Suzuhara's body would likely be very difficult—perhaps impossible.

Even so, at least the guy's life was saved. He might even prove useful at a critical moment.

"Alright, take good care of this." After sealing the coffin, Gray walked over to Unit-01 and said, "Don't, under any circumstances, open it."

"Th-thank you!" Shinji carefully took the box containing Toji Suzuhara and held it in his hands, hurriedly thanking Gray and Asuka.

In this situation, no matter how withdrawn or impulsive he could be, it was obvious his buddy Toji's life had been saved by Asuka and Gray. That made Shinji feel ashamed of his earlier, cowardly resistance.

At the same time, in NERV HQ's Operations Command Center, Gendo's expression was inscrutable, his thoughts unreadable.

"Target completely silent," operator Shigeru Aoba reported. "Original Unit-03 signal lost, Angel signal lost—operation complete."

"Prepare maximum-level isolation and sealing facilities," Gendo stood and ordered. "Ensure the Unit-03 pilot's survival while preventing any contact with other organic life!"

"And recover the remaining parts of Unit-03 as soon as possible," Fuyutsuki added. "Try not to clash with the European branch personnel. Understood?"

"U-understood!"

Upon receiving orders, NERV personnel sprang into action. Fuyutsuki and Gendo left the command center and disappeared from sight.

Chapter 685: Guilt

Because in this battle Shinji didn't have a severe confrontation with Gendo, and Unit-03's pilot Toji Suzuhara didn't die, Unit-01 pilot Shinji Ikari was deeply downcast, but he hadn't fallen into total despair.

Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi had both been injured in the explosion the Ninth Angel caused at the Matsushiro temporary test site. The injuries weren't minor, but nothing critical; after brief treatment, they returned to HQ and met with Shinji.

"I'm sorry, Shinji," Misato said self-reproachfully. "It was my recommendation that made Suzuhara-kun the Unit-03 pilot…"

"Why?" Shinji was taken aback and asked her, "Misato, you knew being an EVA pilot isn't a good thing…"

"Centralizing all reserve pilots has long been decided," Ritsuko said, seemingly wanting to defend her friend. "Even if we hadn't chosen Suzuhara-kun, it would've been another of your classmates, Shinji-kun. What happened was something none of us anticipated. I'm sorry, Shinji."

"I'm not blaming you, Misato-san, Ritsuko-san," Shinji shook his head wearily. "I'm just thinking… if it weren't for the Unit-02 and Unit-05 pilots, would Toji already be beyond saving…"

"You don't need to blame yourself too much, Shinji. It wasn't your fault," Misato comforted him. "I've reviewed the operation. In that situation, without the special equipment the two European units used, Suzuhara-kun would have been in real danger."

"There is indeed Ninth Angel contamination within Toji Suzuhara's body. I won't lie to you about that," Ritsuko said gravely. "While signs of cellular tissue corrosion have disappeared, none of us can be sure whether he's suffered mental contamination. So alongside treatment, we must continue monitoring him."

"…Toji's family—his sister—is still hospitalized here at NERV," Shinji said after a pause. "How am I supposed to face her…"

"Information about Angels is top secret," Ritsuko said. "But my personal advice is to tell Sakura Suzuhara that her brother has been injured. That's better than letting her pick up scraps of rumor from elsewhere."

Shinji didn't respond, but after hesitating a moment, he nodded.

Misato and Ritsuko exchanged a glance, said nothing more, then said their goodbyes and left the room.

…

NERV HQ, Bethany Base control sector, conference room.

"Regarding why the Unit-05 pilot handed the Unit-03 pilot over to the Unit-01 pilot—do you have an explanation, Dr. Aozaki?" the director asked sternly. "We'd like a reasonable explanation."

"We've already extracted sufficient samples of the Ninth Angel from Unit-03's remains," Touko replied calmly. "The Unit-03 pilot was selected by HQ, and his file belongs to HQ. There's no need for us to clash with them over this."

"Don't give me those reasons, Dr. Aozaki," a grim-faced executive said harshly. "We both know the Ninth Angel's main body is currently inside the Unit-03 pilot, while all we have in the Unit-03 remains is scraps. Their values are not the same!"

"You're the one who doesn't understand," Touko shook her head. "If Ikari is willing to take this hot potato, then let him face the Committee's pressure. After all, who put the Ninth Angel there is still an open question. The Committee has probably long wanted to—"

"That's enough, Dr. Aozaki!" the director cut off their argument loudly. "Some things are best left unspoken. The question of the Unit-03 pilot's custody ends here. Please proceed with the analysis of Unit-03's remains."

That statement unambiguously ended the debate. The grim executive was unhappy but didn't press further. Touko didn't spare him another thought.

Truth be told, the guy had a bad temper but solid ability. According to Aoko's description, if you had to compare him to someone, he was a bit like Danzō from the Hidden Leaf Village.

Touko didn't know where that village was or who Danzō was, but she got the gist.

Annoying, but with a role to play—handy for disgusting outsiders now and then.

"Also, the Committee is very satisfied with the results achieved by our two European branches," the director said with a smile. "We've been allocated more resources. Upgrades and maintenance for Units 02 and 05 won't be a problem. And the Committee has approved further research on the Angel cores we previously captured."

At that, most of the R&D staff present looked pleased. They didn't really care how the battles went; getting funding to push their projects forward was what mattered.

Touko wasn't surprised. With Unit-04 destroyed, the Angel core at Bethany Base was probably the Committee's biggest concern. To prevent that old fox Ikari from causing any more "accidental explosions," keeping the research under their noses was safest.

…

"…That's about it. I'm sorry!"

Shinji bowed ninety degrees beside Sakura Suzuhara's hospital bed. Ayanami Rei stood silently behind him.

"Cough, cough! P-please don't do that," Sakura coughed twice. Her health had been improving lately, but she was still weak. "None of this is your fault, sir. Big brother Toji wouldn't want you to do this!"

"If only I'd told Toji sooner what being an EVA pilot really means, he might not have—" Shinji still couldn't let it go. Facing the victim's family—Sakura—he couldn't help but pour out his true feelings.

Sakura smiled gently from the bed, her voice soft.

Shinji shook his head.

"At first, my brother said, 'I'm gonna beat up that kid piloting the big robot!'" Sakura said slowly. "But one day he told me, 'Turns out that guy isn't doing it by choice. He's in pain too.'"

Shinji didn't speak, but he seemed to gradually understand what Sakura wanted to say.

"I told my brother that EVA pilots are heroes who protect everyone," Sakura said. "Now he's become that kind of hero too. I'm worried, but I'm also proud."

"So please, don't blame yourself anymore. Okay?"