Is this cartoonist mentally ill?.

Chapter 477 Human Instrumentality Project (Original)

However, Shinji Ikari failed in this attack, but it can't be said that he failed.

After all, it can be seen that he had never received any training in flying Unit-01 before, so there was no question of him making mistakes.

And he was not a soldier. Before this, he was just an ordinary middle school student with no practical experience.

Then it really can't be said that there is any failure.

Instead, it makes people wonder why Gendō Ikari and the researchers at NERV headquarters insisted that Shinji Ikari pilot Unit-01 into battle.

Theoretically speaking, if the original pilot of Unit-01, Rei Ayanami, was injured and unable to attack, and Shinji Ikari, who had no driving experience, was allowed to pilot Unit-01.

Then there are the many well-trained soldiers at NERV headquarters, who also have no driving experience, but they are much more qualified than Shinji Ikari to be the pilot of Unit-01.

But the audience recalled that before this, when Shinji Ikari piloted Unit-01 for the first time, Muruto and the others talked about the synchronization rate, harmonics, and whether there was any loss of control.

This should represent something.

Unit-01 should only be piloted by people from a specific group, and Rei Ayanami is the best among this specific group.

The same is true for Shinji Ikari, and he may be a more suitable chosen one than Rei Ayanami.

After all... he's the protagonist.

It depends on how to decrypt it later.

Yet the battle continued.

Even though Shinji Ikari learned how to control Unit-01 to walk, he still couldn't control it to fight.

Then the Angel grabbed Unit-01's left wrist and pulled and twisted it vigorously.

"what--!!"

In the cockpit, Shinji Ikari seemed to feel the pain as he grabbed his left hand and let out a suppressed wail.

"Shinji! Calm down! That's not your hand!"

Misato quickly gave orders in the base.

But looking at the real pain coming from it, Shinji Ikari couldn't remain indifferent and pretend that it was not such a hand.

Many commanders and researchers at the base were in a panic.

"How's the EVA's defense system?"

Muruzi asked with cold sweat on his face.

"The signal didn't respond!"

"AT position is not deployed!"

……

Hearing this, Mu Luzi also panicked. Looking at the screen showing Unit-01 being held by the Angel, she said, "Is it still not working?"

Then the apostle suddenly exerted force on Unit-01's left hand, and with a sound like broken muscles and bones, Unit-01's left hand went limp.

"Left wrist damaged!"

"The circuit is cut!"

Shinji Ikari in the cockpit seemed to be immediately overwhelmed by the pain of broken wrist and passed out.

At least that's what it looks like from the perspective of Lin Shengjie, the audience.

Unit-01 stopped moving.

But the apostle on the opposite side is still attacking!

Not only was Unit-01 thrown hundreds of meters away, but it also fell in front of a building.

He also continuously fired spears of light hidden in his elbows, piercing the head of Unit-01.

Fortunately, according to the previous launch of Unit-01, Shinji Ikari's cockpit should not be in the head, but in the insertion plug.

Unit-01's head was badly wounded, but...

After its head was pierced, a blood-red liquid like blood spurted out.

“Is this still a mecha?”

Lin Shengjie was the first to notice this and said in surprise, "Shouldn't the mecha be damaged with sparks and lightning? Why is this Unit-01... bleeding?"

Then, after Unit-01 had obviously lost its ability to move and Shinji Ikari had passed out...

"Shinji!"

The scene changes.

The male protagonist Shinji Ikari has appeared in a pure white ward.

He sat up in the bed.

"The male protagonist... there's nothing we can do about it. He hasn't received any professional training, so it's normal for him to lose in his first fight."

Lin Shengjie immediately thought that the operation had failed, but fortunately the male protagonist survived thanks to his role as the protagonist.

Shinji Ikari, however, did not seem to feel depressed when recalling the defeat.

Finally, he just lay back on the bed, looked at the ceiling, and suddenly said, "Strange ceiling..."

This sentence...really surprised Lin Shengjie.

But then the plot continued, and the scene of NERV personnel recovering the "wreckage" of Unit 01 was inserted.

"This... right from the start, he destroyed the other person's mecha?"

Lin Shengjie was dumbfounded. Looking at the "head" of Unit-01 being removed, he said with some disbelief.

Having caused such a huge loss, the male protagonist probably won’t be able to pilot Unit-01 anymore.

It is estimated that there will be another crisis next, and the male protagonist will be forced to take over again, but this time he will avenge his previous shame and become a driver again.

However, the scene cuts again to a scene where Shinji Ikari's father, Gendo Ikari, seems to be having a meeting with a group of senior executives.

The big shots were discussing it quite happily.

"In short, everything is just as you said."

"But, Gendou, you have to make good use of NERV and EVA."

"Unit-0 and Unit-01 were destroyed on their first deployment. The cost of repairing them would bankrupt a country."

"I heard you gave that toy to your son?"

"Manpower, time, and money... How much money are you and your son going to spend to be satisfied?"

"And you have other work, right?"

……

A lot of information was revealed in the conversations among the bigwigs.

For example, in addition to Unit-01, there is also a mecha called Unit-0, but it was also destroyed on its first battle.

At the same time, the repair costs of mechas are very expensive, enough to bring down a country.

But the cost of repairing a country that has collapsed is actually not that bad.

After all, it didn't say which country it was. To bring down a developed country and to bring down a developing country that is still in poverty are completely different concepts.

So the repair costs can be sky-high, reaching tens of billions of dollars, or relatively cheap, at around a few hundred million dollars.

For ordinary people, these may be astronomical figures, but in reality there is still a big gap.

At this moment, they looked at Ikari Gendō and said, "The Human Instrumentality Project... this is your current priority."

A document with the words "Human Instrumentality Project" appeared on the screen, and it was also noted that the project had already had 17 consecutive intermediate reports.

Apparently this was an important plan that emerged very early on.

This made Lin Shengjie and other audience members curious.

Human...Completion Project?
What does it mean?
Completion means to complete, to complete humanity?
No matter how you look at it, it looks like an evil plan to genetically modify humans.

What does this have to do with giant creatures like the Apostles?
What does it have to do with mechas like EVA?
"Yes, this plan is our only hope in the desperate situation we are facing now."

A big shot also said in agreement.

"In short, even the Apostles appear again."

The old man wearing tactical goggles made a decision and said, "There can be no delay in our plan. I will send you the funds."

"Then it's up to the committee."

"Gendou, thank you for your hard work next." Then the holographic projections of many important figures disappeared, leaving only Ikari Gendou and the old man wearing tactical goggles.

"Gendou...we can't go back anymore."

The old man said to Ikari Gendo meaningfully.

In the end, he also disappeared in front of Ikari Gendō.

"I see……"

Finally, Ikari Gendou put his hands together to cover the lower half of his face, his glasses reflecting white light in the darkness, and said, "Humanity has run out of time."

The riddle man's actions made the audience even more curious.

What human completion plan? What human beings have run out of time?

What do these words mean? Does it mean that humans have no time left because of the apostles' attack?
That giant creature might look powerful, but to say it can destroy humanity...

Somewhat unlikely.

Then the scene cuts back to Shinji Ikari, who walks out of the ward and seems to be in a daze in the hospital corridor.

Not until the door of the ward in the corridor was opened did he turn around and look at the short-haired girl, Rei Ayanami, who was being pushed out.

Her right eye was still bandaged and she seemed to have not recovered yet.

The two of them just looked at each other, as if there was some meaning behind it.

Kamei and Muruta were on site watching the recovery of Unit-01 and the reconstruction of the city.

"If EVA and this city can fully function, we might be able to win."

Misato suddenly said as she looked at the city that was being recycled and rebuilt.

However, Ritsuko asked back, "Do you think we can win? Still the same... so optimistic."

She seemed to be skeptical about whether humans could defeat the apostles.

"Hope for the future is essential for human survival."

Misato said with hope.

"That's true...your personality does make people feel at ease."

Then, Shinji Ikari was discharged from the hospital and he also met his father Gendo Ikari.

But the look between the father and son seemed full of contradictions, and neither of them said anything.

Misato saw all of this, and she even questioned her superiors why they didn't let Ikari Shinji and Ikari Gendo live together, but instead let Ikari Shinji live alone in a room in NERV headquarters.

But the superior said that this was actually a good thing for Ikari Shinji and his son Ikari Gendo.

Faced with the indifferent attitude of father and son, and unable to bear to see Shinji Ikari, a high school student, living alone, Misato asked Shinji to live with her.

Shinji Ikari then moved into Misato's house, and the two got along quite well, even causing some hilarious accidents.

And so, Shinji Ikari stayed at Misato's house that night.

But while taking a shower, he stared blankly at the light on the bathroom ceiling and thought to himself, "Miss Misato doesn't seem like a bad person, but taking a shower brings back some unpleasant memories."

Images flashed through his mind, his father Ikari Gendo and... the short-haired girl Ayanami Rei.

"Father and Ayanami Rei."

He finally said in a daze.

But the scene then cut to Ikari Gendō, who was talking to Muruko in an abandoned laboratory.

Not far from them, on a huge, tattered mecha, there was a number "0" painted on it.

This quickly reminded people of the "Unit Zero" mentioned in the previous meeting of the bigwigs.

"What's going on with Li?"

Muruta asked Ikari Gendo, "You went to the hospital this afternoon, right?"

"It will be fine in 20 days."

Ikari Gendō said, "Then we can restart the frozen Unit-0."

“Those kids must be in a lot of pain.”

Muruta said sympathetically.

What does it mean?
Does this mean that only children can drive mechas like EVA?
"They are the only ones who can operate EVA."

Ikari Gendō seemed to have confirmed this setting, and said, "So as long as they are still alive, they have to keep doing it."

In this process, a comprehensive perspective of Unit-00 outside is given.

"Regardless of the children's own wishes?"

Ritsuko's voice finally echoed in the laboratory where Unit 0 was located.

But then it returned to Shinji Ikari again.

He had returned to the bedroom Misato had arranged for him to rest.

However, he lay on the bed in the bedroom, listening to music on his mobile phone, but couldn't fall asleep for a long time.

Misato was taking a bath in the bathroom at the time, but she was also talking on the phone with her good friend Ritsuko.

"That's right, something like that happened."

Misato said, "I wonder if he'd be willing to drive again."

Driving again?

Didn’t Shinji Ikari fail in the battle while piloting Unit-01?

In this case, would he still be allowed to pilot Unit-01?

Or maybe it means that EVA can only be driven by very special users.

Is it so special that only Shinji Ikari and that short-haired girl Ayanami Rei are qualified in the world?
"It's your job to take care of him, too."

Ritsuko said with a smile on her face over the phone.

"I'm scared, and I don't know how to approach him."

Misato said.

But after hanging up the phone, she stared at the water in a daze.

because……

"At that time, I also thought that I was just using Shinji as a tool, just like Ritsuko."

Misato felt a little guilty and thought to herself.

Then she said something that the audience was not expecting.

"Even though I defeated that apostle, I can't feel happy at all."

Misato said a little discouraged.

what?
The Apostles were defeated?

No... Was it because Shinji Ikari had no training and no combat experience that he was knocked down by the Angel the first time he piloted Unit-01?
Could it be that the military was dispatched later and defeated the apostles?

That's why Shinji Ikari didn't die in battle.

But since the military is so powerful, there shouldn't be a need for EVA.

In short, the audience is very curious about what is going on.

What happened when the male protagonist "fell into coma" later?
However, Shinji Ikari was looking at the ceiling of the bedroom and still couldn't fall asleep.

He even said something in a daze again, saying, "This is also a strange ceiling..."

Then he added, "There's nothing strange about this. There's nothing familiar about this city."

"Why am I... here?"

The next moment, a strange roar was heard.

Then... Shinji Ikari recalled the scene of him piloting Unit-01 into battle that day.

After the giant apostle pierced Unit-01's head with the beam of light from his elbow, a large amount of blood-like liquid spurted out.

"Head damage, unknown damage!"

There were constant alarm sounds in the base.

(End of this chapter)