I participated in the development of EVA

"Ok."

As soon as Ikari Fumihiko hung up the phone, Akagi Ritsuko couldn't help but ask.

"Aren't you going to prepare a gift?"

"You can get something like Coke anywhere, so there's no need to prepare it in advance."

"No, you were going to give her a Coke on her birthday???"

"She likes this, if not this, what should she give?"

"It's not about giving her whatever she likes, but giving her something that expresses your feelings!"

"Then what should we give her? Besides Coke, she treats Unit-00 as a friend. We can't give Unit-00 a festive paint job as a surprise."

"The higher-ups won't tolerate your waste of tax dollars."

"According to my research, changing the paint job can improve the driver's mood. Do you think this is a good enough reason? Well, with my authority, no one should raise any objection."

"You are abusing your authority, please! We are just celebrating Li's birthday, just keep it simple."

"Then tell me, if not Coke, what should I give you?"

"Clothes, dolls, accessories, and the like are all fine."

"I still think she would be happier if I gave her Coke."

Ritsuko Akagi reached out and rubbed her swollen head. At this moment, she really wanted to pry open Fumihiko Ikari's head to see if it was a mass of paste inside.

"Listen to me and prepare a doll."

"Where do you get these?"

"I remember there are some at the holiday camp. Ask someone to prepare two cute dolls. Oh, and remember to package them."

“Wouldn’t this be too much of a cop-out?”

"Who do you think is to blame for this? It's because you remembered it too late that things are so awkward now."

"Uh... well."

Fumihiko Ikari sent a text message to Saori Hashimoto about preparing gifts.

【OK. 】

Saori Hashimoto replied almost instantly.

"Do you want to prepare some programs?"

"Play games together?"

Ritsuko Akagi wanted to object, but when the words were on the tip of her tongue she remembered that there was no other entertainment to do here except playing games together.

"alright."

Fumihiko Ikari heard the disdain in Ritsuko Akagi's words.

“Don’t underestimate video games.”

"I'm not looking down on it, but I don't know what's the point of something like this that doesn't have much technical level."

"That's because you know too little about video games."

Ritsuko Akagi thought about it and changed direction.

"How's that virtual reality game you mentioned before?"

Compared to those video games that control pixelated characters, she was more curious about the virtual reality technology proposed by Fumihiko Ikari.

"Do you think I had time to do this?"

"No, you can even find a suitable excuse for something as boring as changing the paint job of Unit 0. It's impossible that you haven't yet swindled the funds for developing virtual reality, right?"

"What is cheating? Virtual reality technology can be applied to EVA simulation training."

"Well, this reason does sound appropriate. There is nothing wrong with it. Why didn't the higher-ups approve it?"

"They think that my real intention is not to create a game, er, a simulation training system, but to cultivate some kind of artificial god through virtual reality technology."

Ritsuko Akagi is no stranger to the term "artificial god".

She had heard about it before in a conversation between Ikari Fumihiko and his mother, but she was not sure what it meant. She had always thought that this artificial god was a project to upgrade EVA, but she had never thought that this so-called artificial god was actually related to the virtual reality game that Ikari Fumihiko had always wanted to make.

But on second thought, I felt relieved.

"It's normal for this to happen. My mother suddenly said she wanted to make a movie. Do you think her real intention was just to make a movie?"

"Those who understand will definitely believe it, but others will definitely not believe it easily."

18:07:32

454. Without a future for humanity, there is no need for existence

"That's it. Once you have established a trusting relationship with your superiors, they will not stop you from developing this technology."

"Well, it's actually been approved."

"Approved? Didn't you say they suspected you were going to create some kind of artificial god?"

"They were convinced by this plan they had made up in their heads."

"Huh? You convinced yourself?"

Ikari Fumihiko responded helplessly.

"Yes, that's right. They convinced themselves and pinned the blame on me."

"..."

Ritsuko Akagi was also shocked by the outrageous actions of the NERV executives.

"So, what exactly is this Artificial God Project? Well, if you can't explain it, forget it."

It was only at the end that I remembered the institute’s internal confidentiality regulations.

"It's nothing, actually. It's just that we want to realize this virtual reality technology, which involves the Three Sages System and the Neural Connection Device. Um, there's also the research on the Hyacinth Project..."

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Ritsuko Akagi.

"If I don't doubt you, who else should I doubt? After hearing what you said, I'm starting to doubt you."

"Stop. I haven't thought about how to implement this virtual reality technology. What I'm talking about now is the technical route they came up with. Well, it's probably about using the Three Sages System to build a virtual world similar to a dream, and using a mental connection device to connect the player to the dream."

"Hmm? This has nothing to do with artificial gods, right?"

"They suspected that I was engaging in modern god worship in this way. Let's put it this way! The virtual dream world is the kingdom of God, the Three Sages System is the God, and the players are the believers."

Ritsuko Akagi obviously had little exposure to theology and could not understand this explanation.

"don't know."

"To put it simply, they suspected that I stimulated players through games, collected the soul power that escaped from players during the game, and used all of humanity to raise an artificial god."

Ritsuko Akagi was shocked by this idea.

“Is this… can this really be done??”

"You ask me, who should I ask? I didn't even think it was possible to do this, how could I possibly know if this plan is feasible."

"Impossible? If there is no theoretical basis to support it, the people above us will not believe it!"

"Uh……"

Ikari Fumihiko had never really thought about this, but after thinking about it, he understood why the artificial god plan was passed.

"I don't know whether the human spirit can provide any power for the Three Sages System to absorb when stimulated by the game, but in theory virtual reality technology can indeed sacrifice all of humanity."

Ritsuko Akagi widened her eyes and was so shocked that she lost her voice.

"Sacrifice all of humanity???"

Fumihiko Ikari covered Ritsuko Akagi's mouth with his hand.

"Speak softly so no one else can hear you."

"Uh……"

Akagi Ritsuko nodded.

There was no reason to stop here. Fumihiko Ikari continued to explain in a low voice, "According to their design, it is equivalent to connecting everyone's mind to the Three Sages System. As long as a strong enough anti-AT force field is deployed, the souls of all mankind can be injected into the virtual dream. In this case, it is not an exaggeration to call the Three Sages System a god."

Ritsuko Akagi widened her eyes and showed an expression of disbelief.

I was so shocked that I couldn't utter a word.

"..."

It took me a long time to react.

"This is too crazy! Why don't you stop it? Wait! You didn't agree to this plan just to play that virtual game, did you? "

"I'm not crazy yet. How could I agree to such an outrageous plan just for playing games?"

"So you object?"

"No."

Akagi Ritsuko looked at Ikari Fumihiko in disbelief, as if to say, "You're serious! You're willing to do something like this just for the sake of playing games!"

Fumihiko Ikari held his forehead and described his feelings at the time in a helpless tone.

"No! I didn't object at the time, but I didn't agree with it either! Think about it, do you think NERV will approve such an outrageous plan? Any normal person would think that this plan would not be approved! Plus, they were crazy and said that this plan was my last counterattack when the end of human civilization came. I was so angry that I ignored the subsequent meetings."

"And then what? Was the plan approved?"

"It looks like it has been passed."

Ritsuko Akagi was stunned again, completely unable to understand why such an outrageous plan would be approved.

"Why?"

Ikari Fumihiko sighed helplessly and said something.

“Humans don’t have a choice.”

Ritsuko Akagi obviously couldn't understand the despair in this sentence.

"Now that we have EVA and the Three Sages, plus standing weapons, can't humans defeat the enemy?"

"No conventional weapons can break EVA's AT force field. This means that EVA does not yet have the ability to attack from a distance. Otherwise, it would be very easy to wipe out humanity's existing armed forces."

"Where's N2? Where's the nuclear bomb?"

"N2 has been tested, and its destructive power against AT force fields is not good enough."

Ritsuko Akagi didn't understand.

"Not good enough?"

"Yes, theoretically, if the equivalent is high enough, it can break the EVA's AT force field, but the conventional equivalent is not enough to destroy the force field, and the superconventional equivalent..."

Although Fumihiko Ikari didn't continue, Ritsuko Akagi already understood.

The energy generated by the explosion will not disappear out of thin air, and humans have no ability to control the N2 explosion to act entirely on the AT force field. To put it simply, the explosion destroys the AT force field while also destroying the earth. Although the earth will not be destroyed, it will definitely trigger a chain reaction of natural disasters, and the environment on which humans depend for survival will also be affected.

"how come……"

"For modern humans, the AT force field is simply a magical existence, just like ancient people would understand our modern technology as magic."

"..."

Ritsuko Akagi really wanted to ask: Is there no other way?

But he couldn't say it.

Ikari Fumihiko's words made her truly understand the despair contained in the words "humans have no choice".

"Without a future for humanity, there is no need for existence."

"Yes, this should be the reason why the higher-ups approved the artificial god project."

Ritsuko Akagi was silent again.

In a trance, a flash of inspiration came to my mind.

"Wait a minute, I remember you said this before, humans have no choice."