NERV Control Center:
The entry capsule on the huge screen entered Eva-01, the armor plates falling into place to protect the pilot's cabin.
"Shinji, Rei, do you hear me?" Katsuragi leaned toward the microphone.
"It's normal," two even voices answered simultaneously.
- Already in sync, well done, - the captain chuckled with a smile. - How are you doing there, isn't it cramped?
"No," this time only a male voice answered.
- What "no" and that's it, where are your dirty jokes? For once a beautiful girl is on her knees, and you're suddenly so uncommunicative. You're losing your touch, Sin.
"Misato, if you're nervous and want to chat, it doesn't mean that everyone around you is the same," the voice from the speakers said indifferently, instantly causing the sly smile on the girl's face to fade.
"He's done you in once again," Akagi stated, bending over Maya's chair, without taking her eyes off the monitor screen and scrolling through something with the mouse.
"Shut up!" the pouting brunette muttered under her breath, shooting a glance at her friend.
- Definitely... - the doctor finally heard, but immediately switched to the pilots. - So, we are ready to begin the experiment. Relax, LCL is about to go.
"Accepted," the male voice answered again.
"The contact capsule is full," Maya reported.
- Excellent, let's proceed to the first stage. Supply power through the power cable.
- Power is supplied. Voltage has reached the required value. Awakening of the Core has been detected, Eva has switched to self-sufficiency.
- Okay... - Akagi studied the graphs on the screen for a few seconds. - Let's move on to the second stage.
- Yes! The pilots are making contact with Unit-01! - A few seconds of silence and Maya's voice was heard over the command post again. - The connection with the A-10 nerve is in working order. First contact was successful. Pulses and harmonics are normal! All nerve connections are established. No deviations in the central nervous system. Markers from 1 to 2590 have been passed. There are 2.7, 2.3, 2... left until the absolute limit. There is synchronization! 54%!
- Pilots?!
– Interference has been detected in the mental field, but synchronization remains at the same level!
- Shinji, Rei, do you hear me?!
"I hear you fine," responded a familiar, calm voice. "Give me a minute."
- A minute? - Misato perked up. - What happened there?!
- It's okay, Rey just fell asleep a little...
- How?!...
Eva-01 cabin.
- How?!
- Sweet. - I add a note of sarcasm to my voice. - Don't bother me.
Gently hugging Ayanami, who had truly lost consciousness, I buried my nose in the back of her head and closed my eyes. Nothing terrible had happened in reality, the girl had simply experienced sensory shock and had unsuccessfully touched my mind during synchronization. The shock was simple, after all, I synchronized in an unconventional way, and Eve's senses, under my sensitive guidance, had expanded significantly. But the mind... I carefully wrap us in a cocoon of spiritual energy borrowed from Eve. Yui doesn't object and doesn't interfere, although she watches with curiosity. Well, she can do that, she won't find out about the real me anyway, but she can look at her unplanned daughter...
Slowly and gently touching Rey's soul...
"Don't worry, Ayanami, I won't look at anything extra, no matter how curious I am, but your secrets and thoughts are only yours. Until you want to share them yourself. I'll just fix your energy a little and then bring you to your senses, otherwise our bosses will be nervous..."
Ayanami Rei
"Where am I? It's so warm... calm. I can't see anything. My eyes won't open. Or do I not have them? But why? The synchronization was successful... Shinji. What's wrong with him? Is he here too? I can't see... But it's so calm here. I don't want to think about anything at all... There's darkness all around... warm... cozy... calm. What a strange feeling... Just like then. Only then there was the coolness of his hand and the fading pain... His hand?"
Consciousness stirred, driving away the sleepy haze.
"Yes, Shinji. Is he in danger? If there was an accident, then yes. Something happened, because I shouldn't be here. All this darkness... it's not like that... That means the synchronization went wrong. Something needs to be done. I have to help, because he..."
Suddenly, Rei's entire being was enveloped in a strange coolness, even softer and more comfortable than the warmth emanating from the darkness. But this coolness did not make her want to fall asleep, on the contrary, her consciousness cleared up and the girl seemed to take a deep breath. Only not air and not lungs, but something else, not material, but so familiar... And a moment later the sensation of the body returned and Ayanami felt someone hugging her and something soft pressed against the back of her head.
"Shinji..."
***
- Are you awake? - I smile, hugging the girl who has stirred even tighter.
- Yes... - the voice transmitted through neural contacts gives off confusion. - What happened?
- You fell asleep briefly during synchronization. No problem.
- ... I see... - peace, sadness, joy, gratitude, embarrassment, a bit of fear... An indescribable bouquet of emotions... I feel her now like never before. I wonder if she...
- Ray, can you feel me? My emotions?
- What? - confusion, surprise, misunderstanding... The girl tried to turn to face me.
- I feel your emotions, and do you feel mine?
Shock. And silence.
- SHINJI! Damn extreme! What's going on there?! Come on, answer! - No, who would have doubted that Captain Katsuragi couldn't wait in silence? I sigh heavily, which provokes a slight movement from LCL, and concentrate on the answer:
Misato, don't shout, for your information, it's very unpleasant.
- He's not happy! And do you think I'm happy here? What happened there, what happened to Rey?
"Rey is fine, she woke up." I squeeze the girl's shoulders slightly and envelop her in a wave of tenderness and sympathy.
- Then why is she silent? Ray, do you hear me?
- Yes... - Ayanami didn't move, but her voice was firm. It seemed that Misato wanted to say something else, but Akagi interrupted her:
- Shinji, we recorded a jump in synchronization, probably at the moment of Rei's awakening, now it is 72%. But the picture of the mental fields is radically different from what we recorded before, do you feel anything unusual?
"A lot, doctor, but you don't need to know about it. Although..." I shift to look into Ayanami's face, and she herself began to turn towards me. A few seconds of silent fussing, I didn't even think about letting go of the girl from my embrace, and now we are looking into each other's eyes.
"Do you feel it?" I address only her and send a wave of tenderness once again.
"Yes," the girl's emotions are again an indescribable bouquet, but joy and gratitude prevail, although this is practically not reflected on her face.
- Shinji? - Akagi tactfully reminds us of his existence, impatience evident in his voice. But surprisingly, I wasn't the first to answer, I just didn't have time.
"I...," pause, "feel Shinji's emotions.
There was silence on the other end.
"What?" the doctor asked incredulously after about thirty seconds.
- I can feel Ayanami's emotions too... - A sly smile crawled onto my face involuntarily. It's good that no one except Rei saw this, and she can feel my joy without it. - It's interesting. And nice.
- Uh-uh, Ray?
"That's true," the girl confirmed, inside the capsule, but looking away.
"Well, yeah..." Misato said, voicing the general opinion.
- It's really interesting, - I could almost see Akagi trying to pull himself together, but the general confusion was in no hurry to go away. - Hm... Yes. Shinji, could you switch places with Rei? I mean, put her in the chair, and you sit next to her?
- Now.
Control center, a few minutes later.
- Yes... Interesting data. It seems that you somehow managed to synchronize not only with Eva, but also with each other, and the key object of the system is Shinji. Very curious...
- I didn't understand anything...
- Later, - Ritsuko waved her friend away. - Shinji, you know how to control the synchronization level, right? Try to step away from control without losing contact with Eva, but so that central control passes to Rei.
- Now...
- Just don't rush, try to do everything smoothly.
- Yes...
"The synchronization level is falling!" Maya reported loudly and began counting: "71, 70, 69..."
"I can't believe the Commander agreed to this," Katsuragi muttered under her breath, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at her friend with displeasure.
"Yes, it's strange," Akagi picked up a cup of already cold coffee from the table and took a sip, although she didn't stop watching Maya's work. "Although I'm more surprised that he himself isn't present."
– You don't care at all how this whole adventure might end?
- Of course I do, I'm not a monster. But we've already received a lot of valuable information, so the risk is justified.
- What if they get hurt?
- I don't think so. We've learned from our past mistakes.
- Yes? And did you also take into account the enraged Eva with an infinite source of energy? - Misato asked venomously, not even thinking of backing down.
- Let's hope it doesn't come to that. - Akagi was the picture of imperturbability. - Besides, you need to have more faith in Shinji, after all, despite his character, he has not yet given reason to doubt his talent as a pilot.
- That's exactly it, all I can do is hope for Shinji. Ironic, don't you think?
- Well, it was his idea initially...
- Just don't put the blame on a fourteen-year-old schoolboy. Or, if he offered to shove a nuclear reactor into Eve, would you agree too?
"Installing a nuclear reactor on Eve does not stand up to criticism, it is too risky and not optimal." The head of the operations department put her hand to her face in defeat.
- You are hopeless...
- 32, 31, 30... Synchronization jump! 47%! The picture of the mental field has changed!
- Shinji? - Akagi said sharply, but calmly, leaning towards the monitor. Katsuragi also instantly straightened up.
"Rey took control, I can still feel Eva, but she's in control," the voice from the speakers explained dispassionately.
- Ray?
- Yes?
"Can you turn your head?" The doctor's eyes darted feverishly across the screen, and his hand took hold of the mouse. "Look to the left."
"Yes," Eva-01's head slowly turned in the indicated direction.
- Okay... - Ritsuka drawled, not taking her eyes off the screen and almost sitting on Maya's lap. - Now don't do anything. Shinji, try turning your head the other way, but without affecting the synchronization, gently...
"Got it," Eva's head turned calmly.
"Amazing!" Akagi couldn't help but be emotional. Misato, who had looked over her shoulder, looked at the diagrams shining on the screen with an uncomprehending gaze and silently raised her eyes to the ceiling. "What did you feel just now?"
- A little resistance, as if you were moving underwater.
- Ray?
- Tickling...
- Excellent! Now try to install the AT field, Shinji, you first...