Under the focused gazes of Asuka, Shinji, and Rei, Maine's squad began to describe the world they had just experienced, known as "Elysium."
Falco and Dorio took the lead in the narration, with Rebecca and Pilar chiming in with details, while Maine remained mostly silent, nodding at key points.
"It was another Earth," Falco's voice drew everyone's thoughts away from the Dead World. "But it's very different from the one we know, or the one Night City is in. The environmental destruction there was more thorough—or rather, more desperate."
He projected processed landscape images from his personal terminal into the air, avoiding specific mission details. The images clearly depicted an ecologically collapsed world. The sky was permanently shrouded in industrial smog and chemical pollutants, manifesting a sickly yellowish-lead gray hue that sunlight struggled to penetrate.
The earth was cracked and parched, with the remaining vegetation appearing an unhealthy withered yellow, sparsely scattered across desolate fields. Massive landfills resembled festering scars, with the scale of waste exceeding conventional understanding, stretching along the horizon.
Overcrowded, dilapidated settlements clung to the banks of heavily polluted rivers or the edges of abandoned industrial zones. Low shacks, haphazardly pieced together from rusted metal and salvaged boards, were packed tightly together in a seemingly endless sprawl. There were almost no signs of modern infrastructure or effective public services; the air itself seemed thick with dust, chemical waste, and the scent of despair.
"It looks... a bit like some places after the Third Impact," Asuka commented with a frown, the images touching upon unpleasant memories.
"Worse than that," Dorio shook her head. "At least in your world, survivors still have hope for reconstruction and some level of organization. On that Earth, the vast majority of ordinary people live in a state of systematic oppression and poverty. The social structure is rigid, resources are extremely scarce, and order is maintained by cold, corrupt security company robots called 'Kruger' units, which treat civilians like cattle."
Shinji looked at the numb faces of the people struggling to survive in the ruins, a hint of pity flashing in his eyes. He thought of the seemingly normal but detached world he once lived in; compared to the hellish landscape in the images, it could practically be called paradise.
"However," Rebecca raised her voice, her tone laced with obvious irony, "suspended right above this trash-heap Earth is a little thing called the 'Elysium Station'!"
The image shifted, and a massive, exquisitely structured ring-shaped space station appeared. It rotated slowly against the backdrop of the stars, its entire body gleaming with clean light. Inside, one could see simulated blue skies, white clouds, lush vegetation, and elegant mansions scattered like pearls. It formed a stark contrast of heaven and hell with the murky Earth below.
"Whoa..." Asuka gasped. This grand artificial wonder indeed exceeded her previous knowledge. While NERV's bases were massive, they were purely functional and lacked this kind of luxurious aesthetic.
"Elysium," Falco explained, "was built and is exclusively occupied by the wealthiest and most powerful few from Earth. They live up there, enjoying pure air, water, food, and—as we later found out—nearly unlimited medical resources. They are immortal, staying forever young, viewing Earth as a dumping ground and a source of cheap labor."
"Immortal? Forever young?" Shinji repeated in shock. It sounded like a myth.
"Exactly," Dorio confirmed. "It relies on a technology called the 'Med-Bay.' It's said that as long as the brain hasn't completely died instantly, any injury or illness—even fatal trauma or terminal diseases—can be cured within minutes. Regular use can even reverse the aging process."
Rei's red eyes flickered slightly, appearing to have a faint interest in the principles of such technology.
"What about the people on Earth?" Asuka pressed, catching the key point. "Don't they want to go up? Or do the people above just not care at all about those below?"
"They want to, of course they do," Pilar chimed in, his mechanical fingers tapping lightly on the table. "Every day, people try to use self-made small ships—or even just wrap themselves in crude space suits—to risk a dash for the station. They're called 'undocumented citizens.' But Elysium has powerful defense systems, including automated robot guards and orbital defense platforms. Most are ruthlessly destroyed during their approach. The people above... they view Earthlings as ants, a different species. Unless they need specific labor that robots can't replace, they don't care whether those below live or die."
Maine's deep voice finally rang out. "After we arrived, we established contact with a local organization called the 'Resistance.' It consists of former Kruger employees, technical experts, and civilians who refuse to be enslaved. Their goal is to break Elysium's monopoly so that medical technology can benefit everyone on Earth."
"So you decided to help them?" Asuka looked at Maine, her eyes inquisitive. She didn't quite understand why Maine's squad would intervene in the internal struggle of a strange world.
Dorio replied, "Part of it was out of sympathy. The wealth gap and level of oppression in that world, even for us who have seen a lot of darkness, was too extreme. The other part was mission requirements. Magos Osiris's instructions to us included evaluating the technological levels of different dimensions and recovering valuable tech. Elysium's medical technology clearly met the criteria."
"And the faces of those rich people were just too detestable!" Rebecca waved her fist. "Just looking at them makes me mad! Helping the resistance beat them up... just thinking about it gets me pumped!"
Shinji remained silent, unable to imagine such a life—eternal suffering on one side, eternal pleasure in the clouds on the other. Rei remained calm, as if listening to a story that had nothing to do with her.
"Helping the resistance meant you needed to storm that heavily guarded Elysium station," Asuka pointed out the most critical and dangerous step. "How did you do it?"
Falco and Maine exchanged a glance, then Falco said slowly, "It was an extremely high-risk operation. We used an old cargo ship secretly modified by the resistance, disguised it as a transport, and blended into a smuggling route controlled by corrupt Kruger officials to try and break through Elysium's close-in defense network."
The atmosphere in the room grew tense as the narration deepened, and even breathing seemed to become lighter. Asuka, Shinji, and Rei all felt as if they were being transported onto that ship, risking everything as it surged toward a place that was both heaven and hell.