I participated in the development of EVA

Naoko Akagi sniffed carefully, breathed a sigh of relief, and asked with a frown.

"How much shower gel did you use?"

"A whole bottle."

"The smell is too strong. It will cause..."

Fumihiko Ikari interrupted what Naoko Akagi was saying.

"It's not that complicated. Just give your confession."

"What confession?"

"If she finds it suspicious, she can say that we were covered in EVA's blood during the experiment... That would explain why we smelled stronger than the shower gel."

"Um……"

Akagi Naoko responded and spoke again.

"That's it, go away now."

Ikari Fumihiko was speechless. Why was this increasingly like 'My husband is back'!?

He turned and walked to the door, but was stopped by Akagi Naoko again.

"Wait a moment!"

"what happened again?"

"I have your things in my room, and you have my things in your room, check them first before letting Ritsuko in."

"Ah."

The two of them searched the two dormitories carefully.

Find some clothes that weren't packed away, as well as some of each other's daily necessities.

After confirming again and again that there was no problem, Naoko Akagi once again ordered them to leave.

"It should be about time...you can go now."

But Fumihiko Ikari did not move.

"She's been waiting at the door for so long anyway, so it doesn't matter if you think about it again. Think about it carefully and see if there is anything you missed. Don't make me go back and forth all the time."

Naoko Akagi looked around at everything in the dormitory and was about to say that there was nothing more, but was interrupted by Fumihiko Ikari.

"Throw away the trash cans and security measures."

"Uh... I almost forgot about this."

Naoko Akagi stood up and took a birth control pill while throwing away her things.

Fumihiko Ikari was a little surprised to see this scene. Even in such a panic situation, Naoko Akagi did not forget to take safety measures.

Women who have given birth are different in this respect.

Fumihiko Ikari took these things and threw them into the garbage pipe connected to the incinerator.

As soon as I walked out of the project team's door, I saw Ritsuko Akagi sitting on a bench in the corridor after dressing up. Maybe because her mother was there, Ritsuko Akagi's dress was not as sexy and seductive as when she was alone on weekdays.

"so slow."

Ikari Fumihiko was a little nervous, but luckily he kept his expression calm in order to avoid showing his weakness.

Therefore, there is no apparent disturbance.

"Dealt with some things."

"Where's mother?"

"Just went to rest."

"Oh."

Ritsuko Akagi was a little disappointed that she couldn't see her mother at the first time.

Then he calmed down.

"What did you do? Why do you smell so much like shower gel?"

"Nothing, just got splattered with blood a while ago."

Ritsuko Akagi was a little confused.

"????"

"Eva's blood."

Akagi Ritsuko responded without any doubt.

"Oh."

The two walked into the project team side by side.

Ritsuko Akagi looked around curiously, looking for the mysterious artificial god.

"No need to look for it. That's the unfinished Type 02 No. 02. There's also a Type 02 No. that's more completed in outer space, but that one is not visible for now. Something unexpected happened during the last experiment, causing the monitoring satellite to be damaged. We have to wait until the next monitoring satellite is in place before we can capture images of Type No. again."

"It turns out that Nerv's frequent rocket launches some time ago were due to this matter. I thought the Investigation Department was building a surveillance network to find the apostles."

After a pause, Ritsuko Akagi spoke again curiously.

"Why was No. 2 placed in outer space for experiments?"

"The power of the artificial god is too great, and it is too dangerous to conduct subsequent experiments on Earth."

20:07:36

604. There is no need for you to feel so distressed

"Why build Unit 2?"

"The rocket's carrying capacity is limited. We cannot send Unit 1 into space. We can only build another experimental unit. Of course, in addition to this, we also need to guard against the sudden appearance of the Apostles."

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

Unit 1 remains on Earth in order to respond to the sudden appearance of the Angels and to perish together with them when the human front is lost.

Ritsuko Akagi asked again curiously.

"What was the unexpected situation in the last experiment?"

"It's about Naoko."

Ritsuko Akagi keenly perceived the key point.

"Naoko?"

This kind of address is too intimate and should not be used by Fumihiko Ikari and Naoko Akagi.

Ikari Fumihiko realized that he had said the wrong thing, but now he could only pretend to be calm and ask back.

"what happened?"

Ritsuko Akagi didn't see any panic on Fumihiko Ikari's face, and immediately realized that she was overthinking it again.

"nothing."

After hesitating for a moment, she couldn't help but speak again.

"Well... I just feel that this kind of address is a bit too intimate for colleagues."

Ikari Fumihiko breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Akagi Ritsuko's expression was still calm, and at the same time he made up for himself.

"We have known each other for so many years. It seems a bit too unfamiliar to always call you Professor Akagi. Besides, it will be easy for people to confuse you when you are promoted to professor... Of course, if you think it is a bit too much, I will correct it in the future."

Although Ritsuko Akagi felt that the two of them addressed each other in an overly intimate manner, she was not yet Ikari Fumihiko's girlfriend and had no right to comment on this matter.

"My mother doesn't object, so I have no objection."

Ikari Fumihiko knew that such words were just for listening, and anyone who took them seriously was a fool.

"Well, then I shall call you Ritsuko and your mother aunt?"

Ritsuko Akagi blushed and waved her hands.

“No, no, no… You can’t…”

Ikari Fumihiko sighed inwardly, this shy look really makes her look very girlish.

"Then I'll call you Ritsuko, or aunt Professor Akagi."

Ritsuko Akagi blushed and said nothing more.

"..."

Seeing this, Fumihiko Ikari didn't say anything more because he realized that he was not covering up his mistakes but playing with people's feelings.

The sudden increase in progress made Ritsuko Akagi silent for a moment, and then she hurriedly changed the subject.

"What should I do?"

At this time, Fumihiko Ikari's expression became serious.

"You don't have to do anything. Your job is to keep an eye on Professor Akagi."

The reason he said this was that he was worried that Naoko Akagi would not be able to adjust her mentality and would show weakness, and he also hoped to use this to attract the attention of Ritsuko Akagi.

Akagi Ritsuko asked nervously.

"Keep an eye on mother? Did something happen? Why do you want to keep an eye on mother? What's wrong with mother now?"

"Calm down for a moment and let me explain."

The subtext of Fumihiko Ikari's words is, wait a moment, I haven't finished editing it yet.

He took the opportunity to let Ritsuko Akagi calm down to think about how to choreograph.

After a moment, Ritsuko Akagi took a deep breath and spoke.

"I have regained my composure."

"follow me."

Before Fumihiko Ikari figured out how to fool people, he planned to take Ritsuko Akagi to see the Type 02 prototype in order to buy himself some more time.

The two arrived at the hangar.

The first thing Ritsuko Akagi saw was the Type 02 prototype, which had a different shape from the ordinary EVA.

“Is this the artificial god carrier?”

In her understanding, artificial gods are abstract concepts that rely on dreams and have no entity.

Simply put, she thinks artificial gods are the name for the power of the mind, and the body is the carrier for applying this power.

When Fumihiko Ikari heard this, he realized that Ritsuko Akagi had a certain cognitive bias towards artificial gods, but he did not open his mouth to correct her directly, because there was actually nothing wrong with Ritsuko Akagi's understanding.

"Correct."

Before he could say anything, Ritsuko Akagi asked anxiously.

"Does my mother's matter have anything to do with this?"

"Correct."

Although Fumihiko Ikari hasn't figured out how to fool people yet, he has no choice but to do it anyway.

"She is now the driver of the carrier."

"Huh?? Your mother is an EVA pilot?"

"Whether it's the Type 02 EVA or the dream program... all of these elements that make up the artificial god revolve around the Three Sages system, so if you want to control this power, it's also related to the Three Sages."

Ritsuko Akagi’s knowledge accumulation is not enough now, but her brain is smart enough.

I reacted immediately.

"Is it related to the authority of the Three Sages System?"

"Correct."

Ritsuko Akagi didn't hesitate at all and came forward.

"This is too dangerous, Fumihiko, no... Minister Ikari, please! Please let me replace my mother!"