I participated in the development of EVA

Don't look at what is inappropriate, Ikari Fumihiko still understands this principle.

If he and Akagi Naoko did not have that kind of relationship, it would not matter if he looked at her a few more times, but since they had that kind of relationship, he must of course be careful about his behavior and try to avoid suspicion.

20:15:51

635. Mother and Daughter

Ritsuko Akagi noticed that Fumihiko Ikari was not looking at her, and she felt relieved but also very disappointed.

Noticing this scene, Naoko Akagi's attention, which had been focused on the experiment, immediately returned to reality, and her mood became complicated. She dodged with a guilty look, and then, without waiting for Ikari Fumihiko to give any orders, she turned around and walked towards the insertion plug on the side. She breathed a sigh of relief when the automatic gate was automatically locked.

Ikari Fumihiko noticed this scene and had a premonition that something might go wrong with this experiment.

"Okay, Ritsuko, you go in and plug in the plug too."

Akagi Ritsuko responded in a depressed mood.

"Ah."

The two people's current performance also brought Fumihiko Ikari's attention back to reality from the experiment.

This confusing relationship made his head hurt a little.

The headache is not how to deal with it, but that Naoko Akagi is unwilling to put things out in the open.

As Ritsuko Akagi also entered the insertion plug, Fumihiko Ikari pressed the shortcut key.

The whole laboratory came alive.

Two huge robotic arms flexibly grabbed the two insertion plugs on the ground and placed them accurately into the corresponding cockpit openings of the semi-finished test aircraft.

The rear neck protector locks automatically.

The connection procedure runs automatically.

The connection at the core position went smoothly, but there was no impact on the driver's seat.

"As expected...it turned out like this..."

Faced with this scene, Fumihiko Ikari sighed secretly.

When he noticed the scene where Naoko Akagi hid in the plug guiltily, he had a feeling that this experiment would be the same as the scene in the original work where Unit 2 rejected Asuka.

However, the underlying logic is different.

Unit 2 rejected Asuka, but it was not Unit 2 that rejected her, but Asuka was hit by the shock and the mental shock of the fifteenth angel, which led to the collapse of her faith and she began to deny herself and felt that she could no longer pilot EVA. To put it bluntly, in the original work, it was Asuka who refused to pilot Unit 2, not Unit 2 who rejected Asuka.

The current situation is that Naoko Akagi is afraid that her secret will be exposed, so she mentally rejects Ritsuko Akagi's visit.

If it were anyone else, even if they rejected it psychologically, it would only have a slight impact on EVA during the first connection, which would be reflected in the data as a lower synchronization rate. The difference between Naoko Akagi is that she has a special connection with the Three Wise Men System. The Three Wise Men System is more like an extension of her soul, and can also be understood as an incarnation.

The brain of the test machine has undergone transformation by the three sages.

Now the brain of the unfinished test machine Sanxianjin can sense what is in Naoko Akagi's heart and thus reject the connection request.

"wrong……"

After checking the system, he found the root cause of why the connection was not affecting.

"I put Ritsuko Akagi on the connection blacklist."

He gave it a try.

The Three Sages System did not reject his operation and removed Ritsuko Akagi from the blacklist.

but……

The connection procedure is activated again.

Ritsuko Akagi was automatically blacklisted again.

He tried the operation several times, and each time was the same as this time. The Three Sages System did not reject his operation, but every time the connection program was activated, Ritsuko Akagi would be automatically blacklisted.

"You're not rejecting me, you're just rejecting Ritsuko's connection?"

With Naoko Akagi's authority, she can actually block all signals directly.

This situation now can only mean one thing.

Naoko Akagi allowed him to connect, but Ritsuko Akagi did not.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart.

He dared not establish a connection with Naoko Akagi, not only because he was afraid that his secret would be known, but also because he was afraid that after the connection, Naoko Akagi would sense that he did not love her. Based on the character shown by Naoko Akagi in the original work, it is likely that she would accept this fact, just like in the original work, and thus... suffer a mental breakdown and commit suicide.

He was thinking about a solution when Ritsuko Akagi asked in confusion.

"What happened? Why hasn't it started yet?"

Fumihiko Ikari turned on the communication switch.

"Wait a minute, something went wrong. Let me debug it."

Ritsuko Akagi suddenly became nervous.

"Is there something wrong with the mother?"

"No."

The matter concerns her mother's safety. How could Ritsuko Akagi be dismissed with just these words?

"What happened?"

"Nothing, just some debugging of the equipment. If you are worried, you can terminate the experiment now."

At this moment, Ritsuko Akagi hesitated.

She felt that if the experiment was terminated because of her, her mother would be disappointed and Fumihiko Ikari would also be dissatisfied.

But if she didn't stop, she would worry that something might have happened to her mother.

She struggled internally.

Fumihiko Ikari was trying to communicate with the Three Sages System... No! He was trying to communicate with Naoko Akagi.

The brains of the three sages could be influenced by Naoko Akagi, and now Naoko Akagi will also be influenced by the brains of the three sages.

【You are rejecting Ritsuko. 】

Just as he had judged, the three sages' brains had undergone strange changes under the influence of Akagi Naoko.

【I don't. 】

The current Three Sages system is more like a human being than an intelligent system.

[Are you Naoko now? ]

【I am the Three Wise Men.】

[Are you rejecting Ritsuko? ]

【I don't. 】

[She is rejecting Ritsuko? ]

【She just closed the locked connection program.】

The three wise men defended Naoko Akagi's behavior.

Fumihiko Ikari knew that the three sages' behavior of exonerating Naoko Akagi must have been influenced by Naoko Akagi's inner thoughts.

【You are making excuses for her. 】

【I am just stating a fact.】

After pondering for a moment, Fumihiko Ikari edited a message tentatively.

【I order you to remove the restrictions on the connection program. 】

When he said this, he thought the three sages' brains would prompt that they had insufficient authority, but...

[The restrictions have been lifted.]

Fumihiko Ikari thought about what had just happened and edited another message immediately.

[Not allowed, add restrictions. ]

【The command has been entered.】

Fumihiko Ikari activated the connection program again.

This time, the brains of the three sages did execute his instructions perfectly, but the connection was still not established, because this time the rear neck protection device opened automatically, and the driver's seat plug was directly popped out. It was not completely popped out, but only half popped out, making it impossible for the plug to establish a connection with the connection device.

He sighed helplessly.

【Terminate the experiment and start the salvage procedure.】

[The salvage program has been activated, the anchor point begins to shrink, the mind floats up, the height...]

Naoko Akagi's figure reunited in the core module.

After her body is reconstructed, Naoko Akagi will regain consciousness soon.

"Feel sorry."

Hearing this, Fumihiko Ikari reacted.

After sinking into the core, Naoko Akagi did not completely lose consciousness and knew clearly what had just happened.

"It's not your problem."

Akagi Naoko asked back nervously.

"Ritsuko didn't realize that something was wrong, did she?"

"No, I just felt that something was wrong, and I was worried that something might have gone wrong on your end."

20:16:03

636. No!

"I'll go explain the situation to her."

"That's not important. The key question now is whether the experiment should continue?"

"..."

Akagi Naoko fell silent.

Upon seeing this, Fumihiko Ikari expressed his opinion.

"Don't force yourself."

"Again."

"It's meaningless. As long as you can't face this matter honestly, the result will still not change."

Naoko Akagi shook her head.

“I’m different from everyone else.”

"what is the difference?"

"After sinking into the core, I was still able to maintain a certain level of consciousness."

Ikari Fumihiko was stunned for a moment and then asked back curiously.

"What's it like in the core?"

"Just like when you rescued Ikari Yui, it's the inner world. Well... to be more precise, it's 'living' in the deepest memories of the past."

"Alive?"

"You can also understand it as dreaming, but this dream is made up of those unforgettable memories."

After explaining, Naoko Akagi added another sentence.

"Once you immerse yourself in these memories, you will... well, lose yourself in the memories, become the person in the memories, and forget the reality. If you want to escape from the core, you must break free from these past memories."

After hearing this, Fumihiko Ikari roughly understood.

The general summary is that those who are swallowed will be bound by their past memories.

Without waiting for him to say anything.