They traveled through time at the same time, but the villainous scientist

Chapter 153 Autistic Boy and AT's Stance
the other side,
Shinji Ikari opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.

The pure white ceiling had an inorganic coldness to it, with several square lights embedded in it, emitting a soft but cold light.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant, mixed with a faint, almost imperceptible hum of machinery.

This is...where?
He slowly turned his eyes, and all he could see was monotonous white. White walls, white sheets, white cabinets.

The whole world seemed to have been stripped of all color...

Fragments of memory are like film reels thrown into boiling water, twisting, tumbling, and rising to the surface.

A gigantic, indescribable monster... deafening explosions and alarms... the city crumbles like building blocks...

And that purple, god-like giant.

EVA.

He remembered.

He sat in the cramped cockpit and was injected with a viscous, amniotic fluid-like liquid.

Then... then came the indescribable, excruciating pain.

Shinji Ikari subconsciously raised his right hand and held it out in front of his eyes.

Her palms were fair, her knuckles were distinct, and her skin was smooth and intact, without a single scratch.

Is it an illusion?

He clearly remembered that when he fought the monster known as the "Apostle," Unit-01's arm was pierced by the spear of light.

The excruciating pain, as if his soul had been pierced, was so real that he thought his arm had been crippled as well.

But now, it is perfectly intact.

What the hell is going on?

I was inexplicably summoned to this unfamiliar city by my father.

I was inexplicably ordered to board some kind of robot and then fight monsters capable of destroying the world...

Everything he experienced was like a script that had been forcibly shoved into his hands, with no clear meaning.

Just as he looked around blankly, his heart filled with immense confusion and unease, the door to the ward was gently pushed open.

"Are you awake, Shinji?"

A gentle voice came from the doorway, breaking the deathly silence in the room.

Shinji Ikari looked in the direction of the sound and saw a tall figure walk in.

The man was wearing a clean white lab coat, with a perfectly measured smile on his face.

"You... are Zhang Qi..."

Shinji Ikari's mind flashed back to memories, and he recognized the name of the man in front of him.

He struggled to sit up in bed, the movement aggravating some of his still-recovering nerves and making him dizzy.

"What exactly are those monsters... and EVA?"

Shinji Ikari, supporting himself on the edge of the bed, asked the person who had come, his voice trembling with urgency and suppressed emotion.

"Relax, I'm here to explain these issues to you."

Zhang Qi quickly stepped forward and gently pressed down on Shinji Ikari's shoulder.

Seeing that Shinji Ikari had stopped struggling, he obediently leaned back against the headboard.

Zhang Qicai placed the fruit basket he was carrying on the bedside table, then picked up a rosy apple and a small fruit knife, and began to peel it slowly and deliberately.

"Simply put, the creature you fought yesterday is what we call an 'Apostle'."

"They are the enemies of humanity, monsters that are working to exterminate us."

Zhang Qi spoke in a calm tone, as if he were telling a story that had nothing to do with him.

"Because these apostles possess a special force field called 'AT Field,' which can distort space and isolate all physical attacks."

Therefore, all existing conventional weapons, from tanks and artillery to the most powerful N2 landmines, are ineffective against them.

You've probably seen it too, haven't you?

Zhang Qi asked while intently peeling the apple.

"Um……"

Shinji Ikari recalled the scene he had witnessed on the hillside before the battle began.

The UN forces' artillery fire rained down on the apostle, but it couldn't budge it an inch; the scene was filled with a sense of desperate helplessness.

"The only thing that can fight against the Angels is a humanoid weapon that also possesses an AT field, namely the EVA you pilot."

As Zhang Qi spoke, he handed the peeled apple, revealing its tender white flesh, to Shinji Ikari. The apple had been carefully cut into several pieces for easy consumption.

"Thanks……"

Shinji Ikari took the apple blankly, but didn't eat it. He just held it in his hand, feeling the coolness of the flesh on his fingertips.

"But...why does it have to be me? Is it...because of my father?"

When he asked that question, his voice unconsciously lowered.

Ikari Yuantang.

That man, both familiar and unfamiliar, was his father. He seemed to be the supreme commander of this vast organization, possessing absolute power.

So, just for this reason, is it only natural to hand over the weapon to fight the monster that is destroying the world to his son whom he hasn't seen for more than ten years?
Is the value of my existence just to do this kind of thing?

The thought of his father's cold, emotionless gaze in the hangar yesterday gripped Shinji Ikari's heart like an invisible hand, suffocating him with unbearable pain. "No..."

Zhang Qi shook his head, denying his guess.

"To be more precise, it's because of your mother."

This unexpected answer made Shinji Ikari suddenly raise his head.

Zhang Qi didn't say anything more, but took out a slightly yellowed old photo from the pocket of his white coat and handed it over.

"This is……"

The moment Shinji Ikari's gaze fell upon the photograph, his breath caught in his throat.

It was a group photo, the background of which appeared to be a huge research facility. In the very center of the photo stood a young Gendo Ikari, and beside him nestled a black-haired woman with a gentle smile and a serene demeanor.

Mother……

Although so many years had passed and her face in his memory had become blurred, Shinji Ikari recognized her at a glance.

That was his mother, Yui Ikari.

In the photo, besides his parents, there were several people he didn't recognize. One of them, standing next to his mother, was a young man with a gentle smile on his face—Zhang Qi, standing right in front of him.

He just seemed a bit more green back then.

"EVA is the work that your mother poured all her heart and soul into."

The core system she designed has a special synchronicity with you.

In a sense, it wasn't us who chose you, but rather the EVA left behind by your mother that chose you.

Only you can accomplish this.

Zhang Qi's voice softened considerably, as if carrying a hint of remembrance.

He wasn't exactly lying, but he was concealing part of the truth. After all, he couldn't just tell the boy in front of him that his mother's soul was inside.

EVA itself has no soul; it is merely a giant body cloned from Lilith's cells.

Human souls and will alone could not drive such a powerful being.

So the initial plan was... to implant a human soul into the core of EVA.

The EVA machine is powered by the resonance between the inner soul and the outer soul of the pilot.

Within the core of EVA Unit-01 lies the sleeping soul of Yui Ikari.

In a sense, it wouldn't be wrong to say that EVA chose its pilots...

"So it was... Mother..."

Shinji Ikari gripped the photograph tightly, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. He slowly lowered his head, the stray hairs on his forehead obscuring his eyes.
"but why?"

He couldn't understand.

Why did his mother make him do this kind of thing?

Why push him onto such a brutal battlefield?

Saving the world? Why should he bear such a heavy burden?
"Perhaps it's because they believe you can save the world?"

Zhang Qi looked at his trembling shoulders and gently comforted him.

"I can't do it..."

Shinji Ikari's voice was barely audible, filled with self-doubt.

Do you know what an AT field actually is?

Looking at Shinji Ikari's withdrawn state, Zhang Qi sighed softly in his heart, but instead of continuing the conversation, he changed the subject.

Shinji Ikari shook his head blankly.

"What do you think is the boundary between humans and others and themselves?"
If another person appeared in this world who looked exactly like you, had the same DNA, and even all your memories, would there be any difference between you and them?

Zhang Qi's eyes sharpened.

"This……"

Shinji Ikari was taken aback by this strange question. He had no idea what it had to do with the powerful abilities of the Angels.

The answer is yes.

Zhang Qi asked and answered himself, his voice carrying an undeniable certainty.

"Memory, emotions, and even the knowledge you possess are not unique; they are merely imprints left on you by the objective environment."

There is only one thing that can never be copied or replaced, and that is 'the self of life'.

"The AT stance is the product of materializing this absolute and exclusive 'self-awareness' through some technological means that we have not yet fully understood."

It is a wall of the heart, an absolute domain in which the soul declares its independence.

EVA is precisely the device that can amplify and project this mental barrier of the pilot into the real world.

"A unique... perception..."

Shinji Ikari stared blankly at his hands, repeating the words in a low voice.

Is he... unique?

From childhood to adulthood, he always felt that he was superfluous, abandoned, and dispensable.

But now, this man is telling him that he is unique.

(End of this chapter)