Chapter 539: The Second Backup Plan
Due to Asuka's mental trauma rendering her unable to pilot an EVA in the short term, NERV's higher-ups—or rather, SEELE behind them—swiftly made a personnel adjustment.
The Fourth Child from the European Branch, Mari Makinami Illustrious, was urgently deployed to the Japanese Headquarters.
Mari's arrival was like a pebble tossed into a calm (at least on the surface) lake. Her lively, almost eccentric personality clashed sharply with the suffocating atmosphere of NERV Headquarters, but the technical prowess and EVA compatibility she displayed were not to be underestimated.
In her initial synchronization test with Unit-02, Mari demonstrated an exceptionally high sync rate. Though her style differed from Asuka's highly aggressive and performative method, her stability and control precision fully met combat standards.
When this news reached Asuka via unofficial channels while she was still recuperating in the Medical Center, it undoubtedly rubbed salt into her unhealed wounds.
A mixture of resentment, anger, and intense insecurity surged within her heart. Unit-02—the machine she had fought alongside, the red giant that carried countless shards of her pride and sweat, and the most important platform for proving her own worth—was now being piloted by a total stranger. She felt as if her most precious possession was being stripped away. A deep fear stemming from the shaking of her existential value gripped her, casting an even darker shadow over her already traumatized mood.
During a routine wellness check-in (conducted under the guise of a project director caring for a pilot's status), Ryo keenly detected Asuka's abnormal emotional slump. Unlike her past bravado or sharp complaints, the current Asuka resembled a drenched, curled-up little animal, her forced composure failing to hide her immense vulnerability.
Bypassing any unnecessary pleasantries, Ryo cut straight to the core: "Is this about the Fourth Child and Unit-02?"
Asuka's body stiffened slightly. She didn't openly admit it, but her tightly pressed lips and slightly reddened eyes told the entire story.
Ryo's voice was calm and reassuring, carrying a grounding stability: "Listen to me, Asuka. Unit-02 is yours. That fact will not change due to any temporary replacement."
He paused, holding her gaze, and continued: "What you need right now is time and recovery. My current task is to get Unit-03 back online as quickly as possible. Once Unit-03's repairs are complete, I will propose that pilot Mari take over Unit-03, returning the piloting clearance of Unit-02 completely back to you. This is the most logical scheme that best fits resource allocation."
These words acted like a solid foundation, bracing Asuka's spiraling emotions. He didn't offer hollow comfort; instead, he laid out a clear, concrete, and highly feasible promise. The sense of control over the situation exuded by his words, combined with his explicit validation of her inherent worth, precisely smoothed out Asuka's deepest anxieties.
"Re... Really? Doctor, you... can actually do that?" Asuka looked up, her red eyes shimmering with a glimmer of hope, her tone carrying an unconscious reliance she hadn't even noticed herself.
"I guarantee it," Ryo's reply was brief and forceful, without a shred of hesitation. He knew deeply that in moments like this, any trace of wavering would dilute the weight of his words.
This promise poured like a warm current into Asuka's cold, anxious heart. The care, reliability, and defense Dr. Ryo displayed gave her a sturdy pillar to lean on amidst her confusion and vulnerability. Her trust in him rapidly deepened at this moment, transforming from the standard respect for a friendly authority figure into a more private, tighter reliance and admiration. She subconsciously began to believe that this doctor, who always seemed to engineer miracles, could truly deliver on his word and reclaim her rightful place for her.
The establishment of this sense of reliance was an unexpected yet highly beneficial development for Ryo's plans. An emotionally stable Asuka who fully trusted him was far more valuable than an Asuka drowned in jealousy and insecurity, teetering on the edge of another collapse. This deeper emotional bond would allow him to more effectively influence her decisions and actions in the future when necessary.
Leaving the Medical Center, Ryo's focus shifted back to accelerating the repairs on Unit-03, and how to utilize the repair process to legitimately gain access to the core biological samples he so desperately needed. Asuka's expectations and his objectives temporarily aligned on this single point. He needed to convert this "alignment" into tangible results.
Under Ryo's leadership and continuous push, the repair work on EVA Unit-03 achieved remarkable progress.
The damaged external armor was replaced or mended piece by piece, the twisted transmission structures were realigned, and the damaged wiring and hydraulic systems were entirely relaid and tested. To the NERV technical team, the entire repair process appeared to be a standard operation strictly adhering to regulations, aimed at restoring the machine's original performance parameters.
However, beneath this seemingly routine flow, Ryo was quietly executing operations on another level.
Utilizing his authority as the technical supervisor of the repair project, combined with the NERV higher-ups' deep trust in his technical capabilities, he successively proposed and implemented a series of "technical verification concepts." The source of these concepts did not materialize from thin air; they were optimization or testing schemes passed down from his main body far away in the Warhammer universe through the dimensional communicator, formulated after a profound decoding of the EVA technical system.
For instance, he proposed fine-tuning a section of Unit-03's local neural connection interfaces to test a new algorithm that "theoretically enhances signal transmission efficiency."
He applied to use a weak, living catalytic gel derived from the Ninth Research Institute's "Seed of Metatron" project during the repair of biological tissues in non-core zones, claiming it could accelerate the self-healing rate of biological matter.
He even suggested modifications to the redundancy design of Unit-03's energy conduits, aiming to "elevate sustained combat potential under extreme conditions."
These proposals triggered intense discussions within NERV's Technology Development Department. Examining them with a professional eye, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi and others deemed some of the ideas quite forward-thinking and worth verifying within a controlled environment. Others, however, appeared overly radical or lacked a complete theoretical foundation, requiring a more cautious evaluation.
Ultimately, a portion of the schemes that carried lower risks or could be seamlessly integrated into the repair work itself were approved and executed.
Thus, completely unnoticed by anyone, Ryo successfully stamped "imprints" originating from an alternate universe's technological concepts onto Unit-03, bit by bit.
This was no random whim, but a meticulously engineered second backup plan by Ryo.