Nobita's Time Heist

"To be honest, there was a time when I was really envious of you. You were standing there, chatting and laughing with my father, and I felt like my heart was blocked. I was clearly very sad, but I couldn't put my finger on why. My father and I were separated when I was very young, and he has never been with me. I try to convince myself that he is doing a very important job, that he is a warrior who is working hard to protect millions of ordinary people... He loves me very much, but he just doesn't have time for me, that's all."

"But since I came here and met him in person, I can no longer deceive myself."

At this point, Shinji chuckled.

I thought I could talk about these things with a smile, but now that I've actually come this far, my heart is still churning with emotion. Gendo Ikari is a very reserved person. In his eyes, everything in the world is an enemy. To prevent his enemies from finding weaknesses in his emotions, he simply buries everything in the deepest part of his heart, never to see a ray of sunlight again. And tonight, this father, as black as obsidian, is showing a less stubborn side to me for the first time. Like a high and mighty god, before his departure, he has once again turned back into flesh and blood.

This complex mix of emotions made it difficult for Shinji to calm down. The uncertainty about the future and the confusion about the drastically changed parent-child relationship left him feeling lost and desperately wanting to talk to someone. He had originally planned to go find Nobita, but as he passed the sofa, he saw the profile of a girl sitting quietly on it and immediately changed his mind.

Who could understand him better than Rei Ayanami at this moment?

“My father talked to me a lot, and I don’t know why, but he seemed to have suddenly figured things out. I think Nobita deserves some credit for this—his arrival changed many people and many things. Maybe in the end, we can really realize our dream and sit in the same classroom to study.”

Shinji sighed, gazing out at the night sky, and began to dream of a bright future. "Will Rei join a music club with me then? We can represent the school and perform together..."

……

The girl's excessive silence surprised him.

After spending a month and a half together, the relationship between the three of them has changed somewhat. Rei Ayanami has also become more communicative, transforming from a quiet and withdrawn girl into someone who can be talked to. Although she's not as talkative as Asuka, she's better than a block of wood, at least not completely unresponsive.

So... it shouldn't be like this.

"Ayanami?" Shinji asked with concern, "Are you asleep?"

"..." Rei Ayanami did not answer him, remaining seated upright on the sofa, her eyes calmly staring straight ahead, leaving him only with her profile. The evening breeze stirred the curtains, casting her shadow on them, maintaining a deathly silence.

An ominous premonition rose in my heart.

"I'm sorry, Ayanami, I..." Shinji gently placed his hand on her shoulder, but her body stiffened like a stone. The terrible premonition grew stronger and stronger. He almost held his breath as he slowly turned the girl's upper body around. Despite being well prepared, when he actually witnessed this moment, he was still stunned for three seconds by the powerful visual impact.

Under the weak moonlight, blood clung to the girl's mouth and nose, crawling out like earthworms and dripping onto the sofa.

Her pupils were completely dilated, lifeless, like two hardened red stones. On the back of her neck was an inconspicuous red spot, like the result of a mosquito bite. Of course, in the face of such a shocking scene, Shinji wouldn't notice this detail. Sending a 14-year-old to pilot a giant mech and fight those bizarrely-looking monsters was one thing; letting him come into close contact with corpses was quite another.

In particular, this corpse... was his companion with whom he spent every day.

……

"ah--------!!!!"

Shinji's scream almost pierced the roof. He seemed to realize what had happened and shoved Rei aside. The girl's head slammed heavily against the coffee table, making a "thump-thump" sound like wood hitting wood.

"What happened, Shinji?!" Misato was the first to rush out, and her mind went blank the moment she saw the body. Shinji couldn't explain anything either, or rather, he temporarily lost the ability to speak. He just gripped the edge of the sofa tightly and kept screaming until Asuka rushed over and slapped him hard across the face.

"Snapped!"

"..." Shinji touched his right cheek where he had been hit, looking at her somewhat blankly. Strangely enough, in the current situation, he did not feel any pain on his face.

"Stop howling! Will howling bring her back to life?" Asuka forced herself to accept the fact in a very short time. "The most important thing right now is to figure out why the honor student died! You were the first to discover it, so think carefully about what clues you have!"

"It...no, Asuka, it shouldn't be 'it,' it should be 'she'! Rei...she wasn't hungry, she just suddenly..." He grabbed Nobita's leg as if he had seen a lifeline, disregarding his manners, "Nobita, Nobita! Please, save Rei! She fought alongside us for so long, she shouldn't have died like this!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"..."

Looking at Ayanami's corpse, Nobita fell silent for the first time ever.

I've experienced many grand wars, but witnessing my comrades die tragically before my eyes is a rare occurrence.

In a sense, Nobita was no less shocked than Shinji, but he forcibly suppressed the surging emotions within him, including anger and sorrow. Nobita's intuition has always been very accurate; in fact, the moment he saw the corpse, he had a vague premonition of what was happening. He just didn't want to believe it, didn't want to believe that someone could go to such lengths, didn't want to believe that someone would sacrifice everything for their own desires.

"..."

In a fit of rage and silence, Nobita, for the first time, didn't call out the item's name, but simply took out the hat from the [Sherlock Holmes Set].

Arguments, analyses, and explanations are all unimportant; at this moment, all Nobita craves is an answer!

"Ding!"

I flicked the brim of my hat lightly.

In a flash of inspiration, all the clues were connected! Of all his calculations, the only thing he overlooked was human nature.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

So, should we tell him?

The goal is to tell this boy that his father orchestrated and planned all of this behind the scenes, even at the cost of his only two relatives.

……

“She’s still alive, but… probably not in the way you imagine. In the eyes of the big shots, she must be a very important pawn.” Nobita gritted his teeth and instructed, “Hurry up and go into EVA. It’s the safest place for the next few hours.”

Chapter 387: I'm No Longer Your Puppet

"..."

The girl opened her eyes amidst a dull pain, and her first reaction was to clench her fists, like a newborn infant.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

She coughed twice, sitting up in bed with some confusion, only to see countless human remains floating in the LCL solution tank beside her. In what should have been a life-giving solution, these remains drifted erratically, their original shapes still vaguely discernible. If someone with a fragile mind, like Shinji, were to witness this, even a few would faint from shock. Although not a drop of blood was visible, the impact of this scene was still overwhelming.

Ayanami didn't care whether she was naked or not; instead, she stared intently at the human remains floating in the solution. From the remaining half of the face, she recognized her own features.

"Besides me, the other containers were all destroyed?" She slowly turned her head, calmly looking at the man in front of her, raised her hand, touched the smooth, pristine back of her neck, and asked, "Did you inject me with refined ricin?"

"The ingredients are similar to that one, but it's actually something else. It's extracted from a deep-sea species that hasn't yet been publicly recorded in modern scientific literature. The industry calls it 'Prometheus's Fire,' and it can be used as a poison. After being injected into the body, it's enough to cause organ failure and death within one to two hours." Gendo Ikari confessed everything without reservation. "I'm sorry, Rei, I had to call you here this way... I don't have time anymore."

Rei Ayanami did not answer him. She slowly stood up and shifted her gaze from the nearby solution tank to the red cross in the distance.

She remembers this place.

Although Gendo Ikari never told her about the details of this place, life often has a connection to where it came from.

Upon seeing the white giant for the first time, a strange thought arose in Ayanami's mind—this, the colored mark, is my physical body.

"Korea……"

He took out a well-preserved, strangely shaped creature from a miniature container. Its shape resembled a magatama made of biological tissue, with many curled forelimbs and a tadpole-shaped head, with an eyeball without an eye socket or eyelid appearing abruptly on its head.

Gendo Ikari didn't explain what it was; at this point, it seemed unimportant. He impatiently stuffed the creature into Rei Ayanami's smooth, white abdomen after her rebirth. Like a universally designed component from tens of thousands of years ago, her delicate skin slightly cracked open, swallowing the strangely shaped creature whole. A milky-white substance multiplied from the girl's body, quickly erasing the wound, leaving no trace.

"It's about to begin, Rei. Everything we've laid the groundwork for this moment." Witnessing the fusion of different flesh and blood brought Gendo Ikari a sense of relief. "Liberate the AT field, liberate the walls of the mind, mend all the flaws in the heart, and then..."

"Please let Yui come back to me once again!"

……

"Dong dong!"

"Dong dong!"

"Dong dong!"

A strong and powerful heartbeat.

This was the first time in his life that he had poured out his innermost thoughts without reservation. All those years of walking on thin ice, carefully cultivating his position, engaging in hypocritical dealings with the authorities, playing the game of deception with the outsider, and exhausting all his human and material resources, had ultimately been condensed into a single sentence.

Prior to this, Gendo Ikari had always kept Rei Ayanami in a closed and repressive environment, isolating her from all outside thoughts, so that he could become the only important man in her life. His purpose was precisely this. He wanted to create a Rei who would obey him completely, admire and love him, and carry out his orders to the end in the most crucial moments.

To resurrect one's lover, one must control the gods.

However, the arrival of the extraterrestrial visitors completely disrupted his plans.

As he himself said, power is like a shadow on a wall, nothing more than a trick played with ulterior motives, and the human heart is just like that. He could clearly feel that the influence he had left on Rei Ayanami was being gradually diluted by Nobita Nobi. Under that person's guidance, Rei Ayanami began to think about questions she had never considered before: such as who she really was, what she was fighting for, and what she should do after the war ended, and so on.

Nobita planted a seed in their hearts. Once the time is right and they have experienced sunshine and rain, the seed will sprout and grow. At that time, even eight horses will not be able to pull it back.

Even though he knew perfectly well that now was not the most opportune time, he had no other choice—the moment had come when he had to act. He could only resort to the most extreme method: destroy all of Rei's clones, leaving only one physical body, and then personally take action, using "family ties" to deceive everyone and poison the living Rei Ayanami. Her consciousness would then transfer to this sole remaining body, returning to his control.

At this moment, all hopes have reached their fulfillment. Gendo Ikari stared intently at the girl who had become a god before him, his heart pounding in his chest as she was gazed upon by those ruby-like eyes.

……

……

……

"I reject."

From heaven to hell, it only takes these three simple words. Gendo Ikari took a few steps back in shock, as if he couldn't believe that these words came from her mouth, but the girl didn't make any further plans. She just looked at him with that scrutinizing gaze and declared, word by word, "I am not your doll."

Disappointment, regret, despair… these emotions, which he thought would never be his, were beginning to surface one after another as his long-held expectations were shattered. But Gendo Ikari had no time to savor them; he simply reached out to the girl, pleadingly trying to salvage the situation, “Wait, please, Rei! I…”

"Boom--!"

The sudden vibration completely interrupted their conversation.

The spear embedded in the white giant's heart fell into the surrounding bright orange ocean, splashing up a large spray. Freed from its restraints, a vibrant life force erupted from her body; her severed legs regrew almost instantly, filled with a milky-white substance. With the Spear of Rumsky fallen, the holy nails embedded in her hands became mere decorations; the giant's body was visibly regaining its mobility.

A red-eyed, white-haired boy stood in the air, looking down at everything with a benevolent smile on his face.

“So that’s how it is, Lilin. This is your real trump card… My partner was right, you really played us all.” He shook his head with a smile and said with emotion, “They imprisoned me in a human body, and you imprisoned Lilith in a human body. In this way, all the elements to launch the Third Impact are now in place.”

"Our agreement is still valid, isn't it?"

“…Ah…” Gendo Ikari’s tone held an unresolved pain, “It’s still effective.”

“At least you tried.” Kaworu Nagisa tilted his head back slightly and closed his eyes. “Unfortunately, in my opinion, your Instrumentality Project is still a false proposition.”

"Without pain, there is no joy; without regret, there is no fulfillment. When all love and hate merge into one, what meaning does the future hold for Lilith?"

"when----!!"

Before he finished speaking, a powerful bio-AT field unfolded behind Kaworu Nagisa, like a pair of wings of light rising slowly.

With a powerful force field, his body moved slowly forward and eventually merged into Lilith's body.

"—————!!!"

Lilith's body let out an indescribable wail, clutching her head in agony as she collapsed into the orange sea.

"ah----!!!"

Rei Ayanami felt a headache coming on, let out a scream, and fell to the ground.

Chapter 388: The Human Instrumentality Project Begins!

"Ayanami—!!"

The Anywhere Door appeared out of thin air, the wooden door opened, and Nobita rushed in. He quickly accepted the scene before him. While Shinji and Asuka were briefly immersed in this scene that resembled a religious oil painting, he had already taken out the revolver given to him by Arthur and pointed it at Gendo Ikari's head.

The solution tank still floating with human remains, the huge red cross standing in the center of the final dogma area, the Lumsky Spear standing in the LCL solution sea, the white giant freed from the holy nail, and Rei Ayanami lying on the ground, naked and looking extremely painful... There were too many things to be shocked by, all of which burst out at once, stimulating their brains, and for a moment they did not know which one to look at first.

"So, from the moment you announced your resignation to those lurking in the shadows, everything was a lie?" Nobita questioned coldly. "You killed Ayanami during your contact last night, didn't you?"

“Father…” Shinji’s worldview was once again on the verge of collapse. He took two steps back in disbelief and shook his head. “You…you lied to us?”

The remaining two quickly stepped forward and helped Ayanami up, who had fallen to the ground. Misato took off her coat and draped it over Ayanami, finally providing some cover. Asuka knelt down, extended two fingers, and gently checked Ayanami's nose. There was still a faint breath, which reassured her.

But how can someone who is clearly dead be brought back to life?

The perceptive Asuka observed her surroundings and quickly spotted the mutilated limbs floating in the solution tank, nearly spitting them out.

……

"As expected... what should have been the highest level of secrecy, orchestrated by SEELE, was utterly meaningless in your eyes." Gendo Ikari slowly rose. Having come this far, he had nothing left to hide and stated bluntly, "Your surveillance equipment is ubiquitous. To you, this base is like your own backyard, where you can come and go as you please. No matter the form of encryption, it's meaningless. The only thing we can rely on to deceive you is this place."

Despite being held at gunpoint, Gendo Ikari showed no remorse for being a loser. Instead, he raised his right hand and tapped his forehead.

"Thought."

“Unfortunately, your thoughts aren’t transparent to me either,” Da Xiong said in a deep voice. “If I wanted to, I could know what you were thinking anytime.”

“Yes, I guessed it… ‘If you’re willing.’” Gendo Ikari grinned, revealing a victorious smile, and instead spread his arms wide. “But, under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t do that willingly, would you?”

"The technological gap forces me to take all these factors into account—what if you can see beyond the pages and even understand people's hearts? Using technology to defend against this is simply impossible. I can only resort to second best and exploit your only weakness..."

"human nature."

Nobita's hand holding the gun trembled slightly.

"For someone with such a strong moral compass as you, spying on others' thoughts is undoubtedly an immoral thing."

"So, you played the role of a 'father who has realized his mistakes and returned to the right path,' having heart-to-heart talks with Shinji and Ayanami, while also resigning from your position as Commander-in-Chief of the NERV base to show that you no longer wanted to be the executioner of those in power. You made everyone believe in your new identity, and when we lowered our guard, you injected poison into Ayanami's body, transferring her consciousness into a clone."

Nobita took a deep breath and pieced together all the clues. The conclusion he reached surprised him.

Gendo Ikari was unlike any opponent he had ever encountered. For the first time, he felt such intense killing intent towards a theoretical "compatriot." He even needed to expend some mental energy to control his index finger so as not to pull the trigger of the revolver.

"beep--!!"

"beep--!!"

The Apostle's unique AT field was detected, and alarms blared throughout the base. The sounds of frantic running echoed overhead, penetrating the thick rock. Once they confirmed that an Apostle had entered the Final Dogma area, they would immediately send people to completely seal it off.