In Tokyo-3, atop a certain high tower.
The moonlight after the rain finally broke through the clouds, casting a cold light over the earth and illuminating the figure of a silver-haired youth.
Nagisa Kaworu sat on a suspended steel beam hundreds of meters in the air, his legs swinging gently as his red eyes watched everything that had transpired at the origin.
The night wind ruffled his silver hair, and a cryptic smile appeared on his handsome, almost otherworldly face.
"Truly interesting."
He seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps to some existence in the void.
"A doll that should have been shattered has instead been granted a new soul, and has even... touched the edge of divinity."
Nagisa Kaworu raised his hand elegantly, his long fingers tapping rhythmically as if playing an invisible piano in the void.
"Mr. Han Sen, are you really prepared to rewrite all the tragedies directly?"
"Even I cannot see through your trump cards."
"It seems this cycle of reincarnation will finally not be boring."
He gently closed his eyes and hummed an ancient, melodious ballad.
It was an ode praising joy, and also a prelude to welcoming destruction.
The sound dissipated in the wind, carrying a hint of anticipation for the unknown, and a trace of the tremor of facing an unknown god... Inside Hansen's apartment, the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.
The torrential rain outside showed no signs of stopping; water beat frantically against the glass, as if trying to wash away all the blood and madness that had occurred in Matsushiro tonight.
In the living room, Misato Katsuragi paced anxiously back and forth, clutching an unopened beer can that she had already squeezed out of shape.
Ritsuko Akagi sat on a single-seater sofa, a slender lady's cigarette between her fingers; through the swirling smoke, her gaze was fixed intently on the tightly closed bedroom door.
"He's been in there for an hour already," Ritsuko said calmly, exhaling a smoke ring. "That is a pilot corrupted by The Ninth Angel. According to regulations, she is an extremely dangerous'specimen' and should be quarantined in NERV's bio-lab, not lying in a common apartment."
"That is Asuka!" Misato stopped abruptly, looking at her friend with sharp eyes. "Not some specimen! And... if it weren't for Hansen, she might already be..."
Misato didn't finish the sentence, but both knew exactly what she meant.
Given the Commander's personality, if his people had taken over, Asuka would likely already be strapped to an experimental table undergoing all sorts of research.
Just then, the bedroom door opened.
Hansen walked out, holding a wet towel.
His expression was indifferent and his posture somewhat lazy, showing no sign that he had just single-handedly snatched someone away from the military.
"How is she?" Misato rushed forward immediately, her voice tinged with unconcealed concern.
"Asleep." Hansen tossed the towel onto the table, not even bothering to look at Ritsuko. "Her bodily functions are reorganizing; her temperature is a bit high, but that's a side effect of evolution. She won't die."
"Evolution?" Ritsuko caught the word keenly. She stood up, her high heels making a crisp sound on the floor. "Mr. Han Sen, the core of unit-03 did indeed detect an Angel reaction."
"Although it eventually vanished, that energy didn't just evaporate out of thin air, it..."
"It was eaten by her," Hansen interrupted, walking to the fridge to grab a bottle of ice water and taking a swig. "Or rather, merged."
Ritsuko's pupils contracted slightly. "Merged? It's absolutely impossible for a human body to withstand Angel cells. It's unscientific!"
"Unscientific? That's right, science doesn't apply here," Hansen chuckled. "Asuka is fine now. If Gendo Ikari has an objection, have him come and talk to me himself."
...NERV Headquarters, Commander's Office.
Beneath the massive Tree of Life totem, the air seemed frozen.
Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki Kouzou looked at the report in his hand, his brow furrowed. "Unbelievable."
"Based on the data analysis of the recovered unit-03 wreckage, the angel core has completely withered, as if its life force was forcibly extracted by some higher-level lifeform."
"Furthermore, while the Second Children's vital signs are still within monitoring range, her cellular activity has broken through the limits of human numerical values."
Fuyutsuki pushed up his glasses and looked at the man with his hands folded in front of him. "Gendo, this outcome has exceeded the script's settings."
Gendo Ikari remained silent.
His sunglasses hid his eyes, and only his tightly pursed lips revealed the lack of peace in his heart.
Even the Dead Sea Scrolls Apocrypha script that SEELE had secretly implemented wasn't just deviated from—it had been torn to shreds.
Now, not only had the Angel not been destroyed, but it had fallen into that man's hands. Things were becoming increasingly troublesome.
Gendo Ikari looked at the key of nebuchadnezzar in his drawer and fell into a long silence.
"Block all information," his voice was cold and raspy.
"Publicly announce that an accident occurred during the unit-03 activation experiment and the pilot is seriously injured and undergoing secret treatment. As for Asuka..."
"Since she cannot be controlled, we will observe for now."
"As long as the final stage of the 'Human Instrumentality Project' is not affected, slight deviations in the process... can be tolerated."
This was a compromise.
Even someone as proud as Gendo Ikari had to lower his haughty head... Late at night, the rain began to subside.
In Hansen's bedroom, Asuka slowly opened her eyes.
There was no expected sharp pain, nor that heavy feeling as if every bone in her body had been broken.
On the contrary, she felt an unprecedented lightness.
It was as if a thousand-pound burden she had carried for years had been lifted, and her whole being felt like it was about to float away.
She subconsciously clenched her fist.
Crack.
A slight snapping sound.
She was surprised to find that with just a little effort, she had squeezed a crack into the hard solid wood headboard, as if it were a biscuit.
"This..." Asuka's eyes widened.
She rolled out of bed and walked barefoot to the floor-length mirror.
By the faint moonlight filtering through the window, she saw what she looked like now.
Her skin had become fairer and more delicate, even shimmering with a jade-like luster.
Her muscle lines, which were previously well-proportioned but slightly thin, had now become tighter and more fluid, brimming with explosive power.
The most striking thing was her eyes.
Her right eye was still azure blue, but deep within it, a faint flicker of divine white-gold light pulsed—a mark of the power left by Hansen.
And her left eye... Asuka raised her hand and gently touched the area below it.
With a thought, her normal left pupil instantly contracted, and deep, dark-blue light patterns slowly emerged, flickering in time with her breathing.
The power of an Angel.
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