The Collection of The End - Chapter 1998

—2015.6.1—

Third New Tokyo City.

“[Welcome to take the 104th train of the No. 6 Ring Line of the Third New Tokyo City. This train is expected to run for 6 hours and 24 minutes and circle the city for 5 weeks.]”

“Uh… we’re going to ride this?”

“right.”

“Where do you get off?”

“uncertain.”

“…All right.”

Ikari Shinji looked around at the crowd of people riding the train in twos and threes. He didn’t say much. He followed Ayanami into the round-the-city train and found a seat to sit down.

After Ayanami revealed her identity before, the shocked Ikari Shinji sincerely asked “Then what should we do next?”, and unexpectedly got the answer of “to improve the synchronization rate”.

— “I mean, what can we do to save humanity when humanity faces such a powerful threat that only a few of us know the truth?”

— “To increase the sync rate.”

At first glance, it seems a little bit focused on the feeling in front of you, but if you think about it carefully, there seems to be nothing else that can be done. The apostles can’t communicate, Eve is in a sealed state, and that “consulting and unified thinking body” is just a fixed logic operation. As for Zero himself, although he is a humanoid apostle, he has almost no combat power when he is not driving an EVA.

If the apostles get in touch with Eve and restart the “Planetary Life Reshaping Program”, then whatever meaningful, long-term goals are just empty talk.

At that time, it was probably because of his brainstorm that he asked, “Since you are also an apostle, why don’t you have any resistance to destroying other apostles?”

Ayanami replied without any hesitation: “The degree of individual differences between the apostles is even greater than that of humans and bananas, and it is difficult to call them the same kind. In contrast, humans are not only resistant to killing their own kind, and some even enjoy it. .”

What is it like to be refuted by a girl who is almost speechless?

Others don’t know, Ikari Shinji’s words, can only listen to her honestly to improve the synchronization rate.

Originally, he thought that Lingbo Ling had said so much when she told her identity, and the communication in the future would become more normal. As a result, when he turned around, he turned back to the original appearance of being taciturn and incomprehensible. Therefore, she was actually there. Do you read the manuscript obtained from the “Information Integration Mind Body”?

“As long as I sit here all the time, can I increase the synchronization rate?” After two stops, Shinji Ikari asked.

“No, you still have to listen.” Ayanami responded.

“What are you listening to?” Ikari Shinji asked suspiciously.

Except for the loud voices of people and the sound of train announcements, nothing could be heard on the ring train.

“…” Lingbo Ling blinked, took out a Walkman from the handbag he was carrying, put on one earphone, and then handed over the other: “Put it on.”

That’s not quite right, is it? Only couples do this.

But Zero doesn’t care about that.

It’s not that she cares or not, so many people on the train are watching.

Nobody knows us.

Ikari Shinji struggled for two seconds, but still took the earphone and put it on the other ear different from Ayanami Zero.

“【Beautiful angel~calling you from afar~】”

“【Brave boy~Go and create a miracle~】”

…what song is this?

—

The reason why noise is noise is that it is mixed with too much unnecessary information. After being received by the human ear and central nervous system, it is all discarded.

After putting on the headphones Ayanami Rei gave him, Ikari Shinji could only hear the singing in his ears, but when the song paused for a while, the chatter of the passers-by who came during this period became extremely clear.

“[The gentle wind blowing on my face gently taps my heart~]”

– “Hey, did you know? It wasn’t the Earth Alliance that protected the Third Shin-Tokyo City and defeated the Apostles, but an oversized and handsome robot!”

-“Really?”

– “A friend of mine from the south saw it with his own eyes! The apostle who can fire lasers was torn in half by the robot!”

– “Wow~”

“[With a smile on your face, you stare at me secretly~]”

– “I’m about to leave the third new Tokyo city.”

– “So suddenly?”

– “I met the apostles twice a month, and I heard that there was a big explosion in the war zone, destroying many houses. If one day it’s our turn, it will be troublesome.”

“Although there has been a lot of noise, the number of casualties in No. 3 Shin-Tokyo City is zero. Can you guarantee that the place you are going will be safer than here?”

-“…Well.”

“[You face everything calmly, it’s all in my eyes~]”

– “Hey, have you watched the recently released video of Eva fighting the Apostles?”

– “Look, that robot seems to be a bit brutal, and it directly dug out the apostle’s heart.”

– “Don’t be stupid, it’s not a heart, but a self-destruction mechanism. Just like the one on the last apostle, that Eva was bruised and bruised to prevent it from detonating in the city, and just pulled it off.”

– “That’s too dangerous, the driver should pay attention to safety.”

“[I know you are fearless, I know you are very determined~]”

— “According to a reliable grapevine, Eva’s driver is a child of the ‘Assembly Garden’!”

— “What? Really?”

– “Of course, only the ‘qualified’ can control such large robots, right? The secret department that created the EVA originally planned to train them systematically before participating in the battle, but the apostles came too quickly, and many of them were It’s my first time fighting.”

– “Damn, we can’t let the children compare, we have to work harder in the next work!”

“[One day you will find that your power is extremely powerful~]”

“【One day you will find that you can create miracles~】”

Slap, the song looped three times, and after Ikari Shinji listened to a dozen different conversations, Ayanami took off Ikari Shinji’s earphones.

“Any thoughts?” she asked.

“Well…” Ikari Shinji thought about the words: “Although they have all kinds of problems, have their own careful thinking, prejudice, and malicious speculation, [humanity should continue to exist].”

“Well, I’ll remember it.” Lingami replied.

Oops, subconsciously thinking of her as an apostle or “Eve” was the fault of breaking the news too violently before.

“Then, about the synchronization rate…” Ikari Shinji remembered the business.

“It’s up 13%,” Ayanami replied, “Get ready to get off.”

Where did that number come from? get off? where to go?

——

“[Is it really impossible to detect?]”

“[Yes, something with a diameter of tens of millimeters hit the South Pole at a speed equivalent to 30% of the speed of light.]”

“[With our technology, it is impossible to predict nor take any preventive measures…]”

“[It’s just **** outside!]”

“Uh…” Ikari Shinji lowered his head and looked at the movie ticket in his hand with the shining light and shadow.

“Antarctic Melting”, a documentary film with the theme of “Second Shock” 15 years ago, was originally an educational film that inspired survivors to continue to struggle because of its authenticity, but now it’s a bit old-fashioned. The movie theater looked empty.

Moreover, when he already knows clearly that the so-called “meteorite hit the South Pole” is a lie, watching this movie will only produce a sense of absurdity.

However, since Rei Ayanami brought him to see it, maybe there is some deep meaning? Maybe looking at the above picture will become the real situation in Antarctica fifteen years ago?

Ikari Shinji glanced at the girl who was sitting beside her, watching the movie with her eyes fixed but expressionless, and she shoved a handful of popcorn she didn’t want into her mouth and continued watching the movie.

“Any ideas?”

After the movie ended, Ayanami asked.

“It wasn’t without reason that it became popular in the first place. The screenwriter has a good hand in mobilizing the audience’s emotions,” Shinji Ikari commented: “The heroine’s father who disgusted half of the movie pushed his daughter into the shelter when the shock arrived, but he was annihilated by the shock wave. , only one pendant is left, and then the heroine uses this pendant to reveal how great a job her father has done, which is very touching – that is, the hero who does the same job as the heroine’s father is a bit redundant.”

“Well, I’ll remember.”

Why is this sentence again?

If you think about it carefully, since the whole movie is over and the picture has not turned into a real second impact on the scene, it means that the movie itself is not important, and she should want to observe “people” just like the train?

The impression is a bit vague, as if an old uncle occupied a row of seats and slept, a drunk man collapsed in the corner of the back row, and a couple in the front row also kissed when the hero and heroine of the movie kissed… uh.

What was he doing at the time… By the way, he ate two mouthfuls of popcorn, poured a coke, and whistled loudly, completely forgetting that there was a female companion beside him.

Snapped! Ikari Shinji patted his forehead heavily: “That… synchrony rate?”

“33%, keep working hard.” Lingami replied.

Also up 20%?

—

“Hey? Shinji? And Ayanami-san?”

Suzuhara Toji looked at Ikari Shinji and then at Ayanami Rei, surprised.

I also want to know why Ayanami Zero brought herself to the amusement park.

Since the second shock, production has been resumed all over the world, and entertainment projects and venues have hardly been paid attention to. The design of various facilities in this amusement park seems quite old, but there are still many tourists.

“That…” Ikari Shinji tried to make up the reason.

“Social activities,” Ayanami replied blankly, “Going out to collect materials.”

“Well, does the literature club need to go out to collect materials? And there are club activities on holidays… Well, let’s just pretend that…” Suzuhara Toji looked at Ikari Shinji and then at Ayanami Rei, as if he wanted to make fun of him, but he was angry with Ayanami again. The field was stunned: “That, thank you before, I will definitely repay if I have the chance.”

“It’s okay, it should be, and you didn’t cause much trouble.” Shinji Ikari shook his head.

Sync rate or something, there’s no need to let him know, he can’t drive Eva or something anyway.

Speaking of which, this was the first time the two met after defeating the Fourth Apostle. It is said that Suzuhara Toji and Aida Kensuke were given a hard lesson by the school for running around during martial law, and then they were taken away by NERV and signed. It took a whole bunch of non-disclosure agreements before it was released.

This is a public place after all, and everyone knows what it means.

“What about you? Could it be that you came by yourself?” Ikari Shinji took the initiative to change the subject.

“Ah, no, it wasn’t because the apostles attacked before. The elementary school was completely closed. I think it’s very pitiful for Xiao Ying to stay at home all the time. Now that the control is temporarily lifted, I will take her out to play.” Suzuhara Toji replied.

Well, I did hear that he has a younger sister, who is in the third grade of elementary school, called Sakura Suzuhara. This guy always brags that his younger sister is the cutest in the world. Of course, no one will refute this.

“Brother Taoya~”

Ikari Shinji was about to say something when a little girl with a backpack, a black sailor suit, and a white pleated skirt ran over from a booth not far away.

“Your sister?” Ikari Shinji raised his eyebrows: “I didn’t say it, you don’t look alike at all, right?”

Suzuhara Toji is tall and thin, with black hair and black eyes, and a slender face, looking very ferocious, while this girl who should be called Suzuhara Sakura has brown hair and green eyes, and her round face is a little baby fat, she looks quite cute.

“It’s not ‘Taoya’, it’s ‘Touji’,” Suzuhara Toji ignored Shinji Ikari and turned to pick up the little girl: “They are…”

“Brother Snow Rabbit~” The girl ignored Touji Suzuhara and ran to Shinji Ikari and opened her hands to beg for a hug.

“This…” Ikari Shinji looked at Suzuhara Toji, who was burning with fire in his eyes, and just squatted down and touched the girl’s head: “My name is Ikari Shinji, not ‘Snow Rabbit’.”

“Huh?” Sakura Suzuhara tilted her head with an incomprehensible expression, then turned to look at Ling Ayanami: “Sister Musashi!”

“Yeah.” Ayanami picked up the girl naturally.

“Let me tell you, does your sister have the habit of giving people nicknames?” Ikari Shinji looked at the girl who was giggling in Ling Ling’s arms, and turned to Suzuhara Toji.

“Hey,” Touji Suzuhara, who was a lot happy because his sister was not close to Shinji Ikari, leaned closer and said in a low voice, “I suspect that she may be awakening as the ‘second batch of qualified people’.”

The so-called “second batch of qualified people” is a saying that began to circulate after the emergence of the third apostle last month. Many children who were not born fifteen years ago also appeared “qualified people” characteristics, NERV The inside did receive relevant information, but the preliminary inference was that it was the influence of something that escaped when the apostles were eliminated, but because it was not comparable to the scale of “Adam”, it would at most only cause some cognitive confusion in children.

“I hope so…” Ikari Shinji didn’t intend to correct it. Compared with a child’s cognition problem, it would be better to awaken his superpowers soon.

However, it was unexpected that Ayanami liked children.

—

NERV headquarters, EVA proving ground.

“[The synchronization rate increased from 0 to 59% in one day?! How did this happen?]” Katsuragi Miri’s voice almost broke.

“Don’t ask me.” Ikari Shinji sat in the plug and pretended to be innocent.

【Curry Curry! 】The chestnut ball put its small paws upright, expressing contempt.