The Collection of The End

—2016.5.2—

The Garden of Gathering, 2-A.

"Oh, is Suunyu-san still asking for leave today? Then Nagisa-san will answer this question."

"Teacher, Kaoru Nagisa and Kensuke Aida have transferred schools."

"Really? Then you answer this question."

"Ah this..."

What is love that makes people stupid? Ikari Shinji squinted at Suzuhara Toji who was scratching his head in front of the blackboard. Because Tomoki is the monitor, he wants to behave better in class? Are you a primary school student?

In contrast, the self who wanted to save the world for Ayanami didn't know how high he was.

Ikari Shinji tilted his head slightly and looked at the girl with blue hair and red eyes, sitting by the window in the penultimate row.

Before the "Third Shock", Lingbo Ling, although she was equally expressionless in class, could still see a little boredom, as if ordinary people were watching a movie that she had seen many times before, which caused her Compared with the dusty and refined temperament, it is more ethereal.

But now, even though her expression and actions were the same as before, Ikari Shinji could still see from her performance that she was thinking about something intently.

If nothing else, she should be looking for ways to deal with the four "world-destroying things" from other world lines. Maybe she has a lot of plans, but she still has no foolproof confidence.

According to her explanation, in the world line where "the third shock has not occurred", although only "weaving threads of life" will appear, it does not mean that this thing will not appear in "the third shock has occurred and the world still exists." "world.

These four kinds of world-destroying things, if calculated purely by probability, have the same probability of occurrence. At the same time, because they can cause world destruction when they appear singly, and occasionally appear in pairs, they will not fight with each other, so it is impossible to compare whose strength stronger.

However, if it is calculated according to the speed of destroying the world, the order from fast to slow is "World Eater", "Life's Weave", "Desire Tool", and "Void Whisper".

As for their specific abilities, Ayanami briefly summarized them as the twelfth, sixteenth, thirteenth and fifteenth apostles.

According to the number, the Fourteenth Apostle, who was caught in the middle by brute force alone, was not a human being—oh, it was not a human being in the first place.

Should it be a coincidence or a necessity, these apostles all possessed some intractable abilities, especially the sixteenth apostle, Ayanami didn't even dare to let it appear in reality for even a second.

In contrast, the Dirac Sea of ​​the Twelve Apostles can be torn open with bare hands, while the fifteen apostles who can scan their hearts can be completely ignored if they are not afraid of the death of the society. As for the thirteenth apostle who can erode and control the EVA, Ikari For Shinji, it is even more for nothing.

Of course, these "world-destroying things" are only similar in ability, and their strength is far superior to them. If you have to use a metaphor...it's probably the gap between an ordinary apostle and "Eve".

It is not impossible to win with adequate preparation, but after losing the advantage of foresight, the price to pay is immeasurable.

"Ah, I remembered," the head teacher said again when Suzuhara Toji scratched his ears and cheeks: "Starting from the next semester, the Garden of Gathering will adjust the teaching, and will no longer carry out unified teaching, but will be based on each classmate. The 'superpower' attributes of the students are tended to be cultivated, and the judgment of grades and scores will be more diversified."

"Wow, that's long overdue."

"That's right, I'm a ground-type and a flight-type fight, aren't I looking for abuse."

"Well, I've been dissatisfied with the duel matching system for a long time. If you have an advantage, you will win, and if you have a disadvantage, you will lose. Those of the same type are immune to each other. Hit a hammer."

The students took the opportunity to express their emotions.

"Well," the head teacher ignored the cluttered classroom: "You can confirm the details by yourself, but in general, it will be divided into [Physical Mutation], [Energy Transformation], [Mental Interference], [Molecular Influence], [ There are seven types of space-time guidance, [order destruction], and [unknown domain], and the super power intensity will also be divided into six levels from LV0 to LV5 according to [paper, parallel, strong, fierce, crazy, and god]."

what! ?

Hearing this very familiar classification, while Ikari Shinji was shocked, he turned his head to look at Rei Ayanami.

Rei Ayanami didn't look shocked - if there was, it would be more shocking - just shook his head slightly and nodded.

This means... this change was not arranged by her, but happened in other worldlines?

No, it is unlikely that she arranged it. After all, the "third shock" occurred in the "closed space". Even if she can modify the world according to her own ideas after the "world restart", it is not that it has not restarted yet. ?

Although the teaching method and ability classification have been changed, because there are too few students, it will not turn the third new Tokyo city into the appearance of "academy city" in another world line, and daily life will not be greatly affected. But the problem is that the world line in my mind that did this was destroyed in the hands of the "woven thread of life" in "history".

This is good, there is no need to guess which world-destroying thing will appear next.

And the apostle corresponding to "The Weaving Thread of Life" is... the sixteenth apostle he has never dealt with because of Nagisa's help, and Ayanami is even more afraid to avoid it.

How to fight this?

Ok? Wait, haven't the means to deal with it already appeared?

In the world line that I strayed into, the "weaving thread of life" that originally destroyed the world should have been, but it failed to appear. What I fought against other superpowers was the more elegant and flexible "angel". That is, the fourteenth apostle "over here", although it is not clear how this plan can expel a "world-destroying thing", but as long as the "Angel Falls" plan is reproduced according to the script, maybe, no. , It should be said that there is a great probability to do the same thing, that is, "replace the strong enemy that appears", which is different from the situation where the world line has to deal with the apostles with bare hands. Now NERV has EVA, and the toilet paper apostle is just a mere It's just that, you can tear it apart.

—

The Garden of Gathering, after school.

Due to the unexpected incident, Rei Ayanami and Shinji Ikari did not go to the club classroom, but walked towards the faculty building where the principal of the academy is located.

"The so-called 'Angel Falls' plan, I have told you the content before, but I only know the general theory and not the actual arrangement. After all, when I noticed it, it had successfully dragged the 'Fourteenth Apostle' down. ," Ikari Shinji said as he walked: "However, I am very sure that the whole plan was planned and executed by the director of the 'Assembly Garden' secretly, so we should go directly to the current director and we should be able to find something."

"Yeah." Ling Ling walked side by side with him and answered briefly.

"However, the problem is that there is no NERV in that world line. Father is the director of the garden, and his purpose is to revive my mother in that world line," Shinji Ikari scratched his head: "Speaking of which, when gathering Zhiyuan has been in school for a year, and I really don’t seem to know who the principal of the school is, let alone what plans he might have.”

"It's 'she'," Ling Ling replied.

"Huh? Do you know?" After Ikari Shinji said that, he realized that he asked nonsense. Even if Ayanami has never been to this world line, the facts that have been established before will not change. Identity is not something to be kept secret, she must know.

"You know it too." Ling Ling Ling replied nonchalantly, walking into the faculty building and pressing the elevator.

Ok?

Ikari Shinji thought while waiting for the elevator with Rei Ayanami.

First of all, I ruled out this world line. After I came to the third new Tokyo City, I had no chance to meet the principal of the school. Then I ruled out the world that only Ayanami knew. The self-knowledge of those worlds has nothing to do with the current self.

That is to say, "the school principal of this world line" has appeared in the "time-space turbulence", "Dillac's Sea" or other situations that would cause him to see illusions.

She is a woman, qualified to take charge of the "Assembly Garden" that specializes in educating the qualified, and has the ability to execute the "Angel Fall" plan. She has seen it in fantasy but never in reality...

Well, there is only one answer left.

She is-

squeak-

Ayanami walked into the elevator, and instead of pressing the floor, she pressed the elevator pager: "We want to see the 'Akagi Naoko School Principal'."

"[The application has been submitted, please wait for the reply from the principal of the school.]" replied the elevator walkie-talkie.

Give me a chance to reveal the truth!

"You can expose her plans in front of her." Ling Ling looked at him.

"Uh..." Ikari Shinji suddenly felt a little false: "I'm not sure whether the principal of the academy has a similar plan on 'this world line'."

"If there is, change it, if not, add encouragement." Ling wave replied.

Petty bourgeoisie you illiterate!

squeak.

"[The principal of the academy agrees with you, please stand firm.]" The answer came from the walkie-talkie.

The next moment, Ikari Shinji felt the elevator tremble slightly, followed by a slight sense of weightlessness.

It did not go up, but began to "fall".

—

"NERV's mainframe 'MAGI' was manufactured under the auspices of Dr. Naoko Akagi. The technology it uses is said to exceed the current level of technology for at least 50 years. At the same time, it is unprecedentedly equipped with three artificial intelligence (AI), namely the three sages. 'MELCHIOR', 'BALTHASAR' and 'CASPER'," Ayanami explained to Shinji Ikari during the descent of the elevator: "They inherit the personalities of Dr. Naoko Akagi as a 'scientist', 'mother' and 'woman' respectively."

"Well... think about it, it's usually Ms. Miri who is in command, but she actually only moves her lips, and Maya and the others who are in charge of executing the order are just typing on the keyboard. The really hard-working computer 'MAGI', but It's so unfair that no one pays attention at all." Ikari Shinji nodded.

"..." Lingbo Ling stared at Ikari Shinji without saying a word.

"What, what? Isn't it right?" Ikari Shinji blinked suspiciously.

Is it okay to praise female AI?

"[Oh, Xiao Wei has really given birth to a good child, completely different from the unconscionable sextant,]"

With the soft female voice coming from the walkie-talkie, the elevator slowly stopped, and then the door opened, revealing a passageway full of technology that was entirely made of silver and white metal.

"[Come in, let my sister take a good look~]"

Ikari Shinji "translated" Ayanami's eyes later: Did you know she was listening?

Just kidding, if I had known earlier, it would have been blown out ten times as numb, okay?

However, now that he has left a good impression on Naoko Akagi in advance, he can't directly ask for guilt, and he can use detour tactics.

"This is..." Ikari Shinji followed behind, pretending that he didn't understand.

"The principal of the assembly garden, Dr. Naoko Akagi," Ayanami stepped out of the elevator: "She is NERV's last insurance against the failure of the apostles. Once the third shock is unavoidable, she will implement self-isolation and will All records in human history will be carried to the next reincarnation, to warn the intelligent life of the next reincarnation when she finds her, and provide them with information on all qualified persons, as well as the experience and lessons of dealing with the apostles."

Got it, it's a completely useless backup.

And even if it does work, what will this character make them think of the previous generation? Speaking of which, her way of speaking... what kind of personality is she?

"It's the remnant after dividing 'scientist', 'mother' and 'woman'," Ayanami stood in front of a door full of sci-fi style and added: "The code name is, 'NOAH'."

So what's left?

squeak - squeak -

Before Ikari Shinji could understand, the metal door in front of him separated up, down, left and right, revealing the situation inside the door.

It is an unusually huge hall that looks like a library at first glance, but the "bookshelves" that make up the four walls of this "library" are actually rows of server hosts with tiny lights and dark and heavy storage media. and something like a battery.

On the ceiling of the hall, there are dense wires and cables that converge to the center of the hall from all directions.

And in the middle is a giant transparent column filled with orange-yellow solution. Inside the column, a young brown-haired woman in a white corset robe is hanging upside down with her eyes closed.

Judging from the appearance, it is indeed another world line, Naoko Akagi who wants to strangle Xiao Lingbo is right, but...

"Why does she look younger than Sister Ritsuko Akagi?" Shinji Ikari blurted out.

"[Ouch, the little mouth is so sweet~]" The voice that sounded just now reappeared: "[It's a pity that Ritsuko looked for blessing Ryoji, otherwise I'll introduce her to you.]"

Please don't do that!

"Because Dr. Naoko Akagi became a vegetative person after dividing his personality into 'MAGI'," Ayanami said, "But Noah insisted that was a necessary sacrifice."

"[Of course~ If I'm still alive, I can exert influence on 'MAGI'. That's impossible for NERV to allow. It's better to stay like this than to be killed by that unscrupulous sextant,]" Naoko Akagi , No, Noah said: "[After a few decades, when Xiao Wei becomes an old lady, I will pour my consciousness back into my body and walk around in front of her, hehe~]"

To pour consciousness back into the body?

Isn't this the most critical part of the "Angel Falls" plan?