Inside the Central Operations Command Center, the cheers of victory had not fully subsided. Everyone's face was flushed with the excitement and pride of surviving a catastrophe.
Misato Katsuragi looked at the purple giant on the screen, kneeling on one knee and stabilizing its form. An indescribable warmth welled up in her heart. The boy she always had to push had truly grown up.
However, in the shadows on the highest floor of the Command Center, isolated by specialized glass, the atmosphere was cold as iron.
Gendo Ikari stood with his hands crossed, silently overlooking everything below.
He looked at the eva unit-01's tall and straight posture on the screen, and at the son who now felt almost like a stranger to him.
Eliminating the Angel was part of the plan, but the plan had already deviated.
Shinji Ikari's contact with Rei Ayanami was also part of the plan, but the bond or affection between the two was not as strong as anticipated; instead, it was mutually centered on that man.
Hansen.
Gendo Ikari's thoughts were like churning black clouds. He felt that the script he had meticulously woven for over a decade was being arbitrarily rewritten by an unseen hand, and he couldn't even fully discern the owner of that hand.
Just then, the private communicator in his pocket emitted a very faint vibration. The screen displayed only one line of encrypted text:
[Emergency Meeting. Immediately.]
Sender—SEELE.
Gendo Ikari's expression shifted instantly, and the pupils hidden behind his orange glasses contracted violently.
He turned without a word and left the command platform. The sound of his heavy leather shoes echoed in the empty corridor, each step seeming to tread upon his own runaway destiny.
He walked alone into the secret room deep within his office. As the identity verification passed, the surrounding walls turned pitch black.
Immediately afterward, seven massive black monolith images, inscribed with the seven-eyed runes of the Eye of Jehovah, lit up one by one, bringing with them a suffocating sense of oppression.
The Human Instrumentality Committee—SEELE. This shadow council, which controls the vast majority of the world's resources and can even secretly manipulate the United Nations and various national governments, descended with its characteristic coldness and authority.
"Ikari, the operational report regarding the Fifth Angel is riddled with holes."
SEELE 01's unique voice, a mix of electronic sound and aged resonance, rang out devoid of emotion, like a judgment from God.
Gendo Ikari bowed slightly and reported in a steady tone: "The performance of the eva unit-01 pilot, Shinji Ikari, exceeded expectations, but the outcome is favorable. The Angel has been eliminated, remaining within the plan's tolerance range."
"Plan?" A hint of mockery appeared in SEELE 01's voice for the first time. "Your plan, or our plan?"
Gendo Ikari's heart tightened. He was about to speak, but...
SEELE 01's next words were like the Spear of Longinus piercing heaven and earth, cruelly pinning all his calculations and dignity to the spot.
"We convened this meeting not to hear your explanations, but to convey the final resolution."
"Effective immediately, all NERV operations, including the execution details of the 'Human Instrumentality Project,' must prioritize the input of supervisor Hansen. In Tokyo-3, his authority supersedes yours."
*Boom!*
It was as if an invisible thunderbolt exploded in his mind. Gendo Ikari was struck by lightning, his whole body trembling violently.
He could no longer maintain his perpetually stoic expression. He suddenly raised his head and demanded, losing his composure, "Why is this happening?! He is just a supervisor! An outsider of unknown origin!"
This is unreasonable! This is illogical!
How could SEELE entrust the highest authority concerning humanity's future to an uncontrollable variable?
"You don't need to know why. You only need to know..." SEELE 01's voice became incredibly solemn, even carrying a hint of fanatical reverence. "His will is the will of SEELE."
"Ikari, the times have changed."
"Obey, or be replaced."
The communication was unilaterally cut off. The seven massive monolith images instantly extinguished, and the secret room returned to suffocating darkness and silence.
Gendo Ikari stood rigidly in place, like a statue whose soul had been drained.
He felt a bone-deep chill rise from his feet, instantly spreading throughout his limbs.
For the first time, he realized that he, the supposed player, might have been standing on a much larger chessboard all along.
The script... was utterly torn to shreds from this moment on.
In another equally secluded office, Hansen was leisurely leaning back on a sofa, watching Gendo Ikari's dispirited appearance in the secret room with great interest.
He had long ago reverse-engineered their consciousness carriers by analyzing SEELE's communication frequency.
Hansen did not destroy them. Instead, like writing a program, he implanted a supreme command into the deepest layer of their core logic—
Obey.
The current SEELE was merely his loyal puppet.
"'Human Instrumentality Project'...
Of course, the Angels that needed to be eliminated still had to be eliminated.
These strange, near-divine life forms were excellent material for power cores.
Collecting the Fruit of Life within their cores would make the essence of his Primal Monster body and Imaginary Divine Power even purer.
Gendo Ikari, wants to become the Kami of the new world?
Sorry, the eva unit-01 in this world is already full. (JOJO face)
In the secret room, Gendo Ikari finally recovered from his shock.
Extreme anger was followed by a deep-sea-like, deathly calm.
He realized that SEELE was no longer a tool for mutual exploitation; he had been abandoned.
But he would never accept defeat.
To reunite with Yui in the new world where he would become God, he could betray everything and utilize everything.
Returning to his office, he took out a long-sealed specialized mobile phone from a drawer, turned it on, and dialed an encrypted number he hadn't contacted in a long time.
After the call connected, he spoke only six words in an icy, chilling tone:
"Bring the 'Key' back."
Having said that, he hung up the phone... Far away in Russia, atop the snow-covered permafrost, the NERV Bethany Base lay like a crouching steel behemoth.
Inside the base, in a messy corner, the man with a toothpick dangling from his mouth and scruffy stubble—Ryoji Kaji—looked out of place among his blonde, blue-eyed European colleagues.
He casually slipped his phone back into his pocket. A rare seriousness flashed in his eyes, which usually held a frivolous smile.
"Is the Commander finally going to use his trump card..."
He muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear, then got up and walked toward the base's EVA Simulation Training Center.
He leaned against the glass of the observation room, waiting quietly.
Half an hour later, the alert sound for the end of training rang out.
A tall figure with impressive curves walked out, her steps light and filled with explosive vitality.
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