Chapter 15:
Aftereffects

 

THE SEVEN-COLORED ARROW fired from the great bow Azumaterasu had annihilated half of the landmass that had once been part of the moon. The remaining half was now a hundred thousand kilometers away from Earth.

The moon slab hadn’t been blown into chunks but was rather displaced by the massive surge of neutrinos and gamma rays.

The arrow incinerated the Earth’s upper atmosphere, leaving the surface exposed to dangerous radiation. This event should’ve had catastrophic repercussions, because of how much energy had been spent over such a short period of time. That kind of power should’ve been enough to raze the entire planet. However, most of the energy had seemingly dropped off into another world altogether.

Although the primary threat had vanished, the world was still in hot water, which seemed to be fast approaching its boiling point.

 

<<Unit Zero, Trois… Communications…breaking up…hear you—>>

Eva-0.0 was still in orbit. Ayanami Rei Trois had managed to protect herself from the gamma-ray storm by throwing up an A.T. Field around them.

“Hakone command…Unit Zero…broadband electromagnetic interference…can’t pick you up! Follow ECCM protocol…change coding rates. I repeat—”

Hyuga’s voice crackled from Hakone, barely penetrating the short wavelengths of the ultra-high frequency transmission line.

The high energy particles had blasted the ionosphere, creating intense electric surges between the E and F layers. This was the cause of the communication problems. To make matters worse, stratospheric communication platforms belonging to the U.S. and China ignited like metal in a high-altitude microwave. The various aircraft consequently fell into the Pacific and Caribbean.

In a world that had lost both its satellites and underground cables, due to changes in the Earth’s gravity and crust, communication relied on seven stratospheric airships to relay messages over the rapidly shrinking planet. The loss of even two of these aircraft was a heavy one.

The particle blast also affected things at the lower altitudes. Over a hundred and fifty planes had crashed, high-frequency harmonics had infected the power grid of the eastern hemisphere, and a large-scale power outage had brought the world to its knees.

People desperately tried to contact emergency services, but their transmissions had no way of getting through.

 

Heavy rain still poured over Hakone.

Here, the damage from the discharge of Azumaterasu was far heavier than the torrent of high-energy particles falling from the sky.

The loss of gravity after Azumaterasu’s firing, though temporary, had massive repercussions for the Hakone caldera and its surroundings. The shock wave generated from the vacuum of the concentrated atmosphere was reminiscent of the Tunguska event. Trees around the caldera were knocked down radially, and it caused heavy damage to Tokyo-3.

Fuyutsuki was issuing orders from the top deck of the command center, doing his best to keep the damage under control. He tapped the console screen with his finger and watched as the death toll rose into double digits.

“And it’s still going,” he said. The number of missing around the Hakone caldera was four times that. The number of injured was now in the five hundreds.

When the great bow had fired, it felt as if Earth and space had been connected, if only for an instant.

We got off easy, if you think about it. But Fuyutsuki kept his thoughts to himself and continued issuing orders.

“Instruct everyone moving to evacuation centers to bring hats and long-sleeved clothes. The ozone layer isn’t going to fix itself overnight. Once the clouds are gone, the sun will rain powerful UV rays down on us.”

“Trois in Unit Zero to Hakone command. Come in.”

Trois had switched over to infrared wavelengths and transmitted her messages via laser. Her voice wasn’t crystal clear, but it was at least more intelligible than ultra-high frequencies.

“Receiving telemetry data,” Hyuga said while looking at the screen. “Looks like you and the Eva are doing okay.”

Trois transmitted what she was seeing in real time. Earth was spread out on the main display, with Hakone as its center. Half of the globe was whited out, and the ground wasn’t visible from where she was.

“Clouds…?”

The high energy also stimulated the deep atmosphere, leading to the formation of cloud seeds, which eventually became thick clouds that made the Earth look like cream soup from outer space.

Fuyutsuki sighed. “I guess we won’t need umbrellas today.”

Electromagnetic mayhem had arrived, with radiation in tow.

What’s next?

Trois answered the unspoken question for him.

<<A dense cluster of moon fragments is coming your way. The first wave is the remains of the lunar landmass whose matter had been displaced. After that, the second wave will come in, made up of more fragments of the moon. They’re as big as a car, and there’s about 720 of them. ETA of first wave is thirty-eight hours.>>

The damage caused by these fragments would be far less than the whole lunar mass, but it would still be devastating.

We’ll have to break them up into smaller pieces somehow, Fuyutsuki thought. “Trois, use the Eva’s laser cannon to break up the larger pieces. Unfortunately, we’ll have to postpone the search for Six.”

Ayanami Rei Trois paused, but she didn’t look disappointed. <<Affirmative. Wait… The U.S., Europe, and Africa are all requesting to relay communications to the directors of Nerv Japan.>>

“They’re what?” Now that the stratospheric communications network was damaged, the nations had taken to using Eva-0.0 as a makeshift comms satellite.

<<Signal source is eastern France, European Emergency Taskforce, Intelligence Division. Using the UE9 United Nations Armed Forces cypher.>>

Hyuga frowned when he read the message. He looked to the top deck and signaled his discontent to his commanding officer.

“America, Europe, and Africa are asking how we destroyed over half of the moon slab’s mass. In addition, they eagerly await our next operation and will cooperate when the time comes. They’re asking for an encore.”

“Easy for them to say. They’re on the other side of the planet. Our neighbors won’t be so enthusiastic about us blowing up the stratosphere again. Tell them we don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Besides, the individual who’d been at the center of that last unofficial operation had turned into salt.

<<Assistant Acting Deputy Commander Fuyutsuki, a question, if you will.>>

“Yes, Trois?” He knew he had to tell her eventually.

<<Did an attack from Hakone cause the destruction of the lunar landmass?>>

For Trois, Hakone had been in the Earth’s shadow when the excavated weapon fired.

“Yes. We used Azumaterasu.”

<<And where is Ikari-kun now?>>

 

A circular railing had been installed on the ceiling to replace the blown-out roof. It stopped just short of the main command building, but it was enough to keep the rain from pouring in. Repairs had proceeded faster than anyone had expected, so visitors of Cage Two could be forgiven for taking a moment to let it all sink in.

The sight was enough to convince anyone of what had happened.

Salt. A whole mountain of it.

Super Eva had stood at a height of 120 meters. In his place was now a pillar of collapsed salt. Shimmering white particles occupied the dry deck without forming peaks. Sharp edges had been washed away by the rain that flowed down into the pool. There was too much of the substance to dissolve, however, and most of it was rapidly crystalizing.

Nothing we can do about it now.

When the original Lance of Longinus had started orbiting the Earth, over two million people had turned into literal pillars of salt. There was nothing anyone could do about them.

“What the hell happened, Shinji?”

Acting Deputy Commander Toji wore an orange protective suit as he stood in shock in front of the mountain of salt.

Misato wore the same suit, but she’d started climbing the salt that had once been Shinji and Super Eva. Inside, she felt the same as Toji, but her duties as commander of Nerv Japan pressed her onward. If she stopped now, she knew she’d lose all motivation.

The salt crystals were heavy with rainwater, but she kept on climbing the white mountain. Misato grunted and adjusted her rebreather. She drew strength from the memories of welcoming Shinji into her home for the first time.

Is that it? Am I convinced that he’s dead? Nothing more than a sweet memory?

Get a hold of yourself, Misato… she thought to herself. You can’t lose sight of him now.

<<Not a step farther. It isn’t safe.>> Maya’s voice came over her headset.

There is a point to all this.

Misato looked up and saw the black Q.R. Signum perched on top of the white mountain of salt like a stele.

The ten-meter-high quantum resonance plate had been spared the fate of turning into salt, even after falling from Super Eva’s chest. It loomed menacingly over her.

The thing had come from Armaros, and it was a quantum portal that channeled the power and will of the black giant himself. In a desperate attempt to save Shinji and Super Eva after their heart had been stolen, Hikari, pilot of the Euro Eva Heurtebise, had taken one of her own Q.R. Signums and stuck it into his chest.

With Trois and Quatre’s help, Shinji and Super Eva had managed to use the enemy’s device to survive, without it corrupting him.

The surface of the quantum resonance plate gleamed like obsidian, reminiscent of a polished tombstone.

“This is the first Q.R. Signum that has remained in this world by itself,” Maya said, making no reference to Shinji or Super Eva. She’d been the only member of the main staff to witness Super Eva turn into a pillar of salt and then crumble.

Three years ago, Shinji had prevented the completion of the Human Instrumentality Project. This meant that he’d decided the current course of the world. His heart was the only thing that Armaros feared. With Shinji gone, had they not witnessed the beginning of the end of the world?

Don’t be stupid. I can’t lose sight of survival now.

Strange things were happening, one after another, and they were beginning to numb Misato’s feelings. Maya and Misato continued their conversation, albeit awkwardly.

“We focused on this Q.R. Signum back in the Carrier fight. I don’t think it would’ve survived that unscathed. But all the fragments end up disappearing, don’t they?”

“Yes…they destroy themselves. But this thing has remained in its entirety…”

“There has to be something more to it.”

Misato was expecting an answer, but all she got was silence.

“Well…” Maya hesitated but finally added, “We can’t say at this stage…”

Silence.

Misato grabbed the collar of Maya’s protective suit. “If you’ve got something to say, then say it! Shinji-kun hasn’t disappeared completely! This Q.R. Signum is proof that a part of him is still with us!”

But is it? Or am I just saying that?

Misato didn’t know.

“Shinji’s…alive?” Toji muttered.

Maya took the chance to bat away Misato’s arm. Her own emotions, which she’d so far kept under wraps, exploded to the surface.

“You’re always like this! Always pushing your feelings on those around you! No one knows if he’s actually coming back! Stop giving Toji false hope!”

“Don’t you think I know that?!” Misato shouted.

But Maya, lost in fury, ignored her. “I’ll take responsibility for this. Please, allow me to look into it further. I’ll need all the time and people I can get.”

Maya knew. She’d known from the beginning, but she needed Misato to put it out in the open for her.

In any case, one thing was clear. The second she decided this was all pointless, it would become pointless.