——2015.9.25——

The gathering garden, lunch break time.

Department of Literature.

"Father?"

"【speak.】"

"Today the school is holding a symposium on further education to discuss the issue of graduation options, and parents are required to attend."

"[Let Katsuragi go.]"

"Indeed, she is my guardian."

"【but?】"

"With all due respect, father, can Captain Katsuragi decide my graduation path?"

"[Of course not.]"

"So……"

"[Then do you think your teacher is qualified to discuss your future after graduation?]"

"……No."

“[You don’t have to participate at all.]”

"But in that case..."

"[Let Katsuragi go.]"

Listening to the busy signal on the phone, Shinji Ikari sighed deeply and hung up the phone.

"Look, what did I say? Commander Ikari will definitely not come," Asuka put her hands on her hips behind him: "When I was in Germany, my mother never attended similar school activities - a person with too high a status would look like an ordinary person.

Human life is like watching a doll play house."

"..." Shinji Ikari looked at Asuka, thought for a moment, and swallowed the sentence "But my mother will participate in this kind of house game no matter how busy she is", otherwise she would be too pitiful.

"Then, will Mr. Kaji attend as your guardian?" He asked instead.

"Are you stupid? I'm a college student! And I've already graduated!" Asuka glared at him: "If NERV hadn't arranged for me to take classes, how could I have hung out with these little brats! We were still discussing a way out for graduation!"

Educational qualifications have nothing to do with age...

"But... think about it carefully, with Mr. Kaji's personality, he will probably come to join in the fun, right? And he will also deliberately tell the teacher about his seemingly normal plans such as dentistry, lawyer, model, etc." Asuka said, nodding her cheek.

"Hmm... It does seem like something Mr. Kaji can do." Shinji Ikari agreed.

At this time, Kirishima Mana came out from the back room carrying a teapot and poured tea for everyone present one by one. Since the lunch break was too short, she did not change into a maid outfit and just wore her school uniform. Rei Ayanami had no objection to this.

No, it was originally the information-integrated thought body that was causing chaos.

"Hey, tea maid, your parents should be here, right?" Asuka picked up the tea cup and put it back because it was too hot: "Have you thought about a way out after graduation?"

"Huh? Ah, it should come," Kirishima's real name blinked: "As for the way out after graduation..."

He's a spy from the Earth Federation. Of course, he couldn't just say this. Shinji Ikari picked up the tea cup and took a sip.

"New bride..."

Pfft—Shinji Ikari used great willpower to restrain himself from spitting out the tea.

Asuka also looked like she'd seen a ghost. As for Rei Ayanami, who was reading by the window, his expression certainly didn't change.

"No, it's not." Kirishima's real name seemed to feel that what he said was a bit strange, and waved his hands repeatedly: "I mean, go to a university that offers the subject of 'bridal training'."

"Japanese people are so weird..." Asuka muttered and picked up the tea cup again.

No, it’s actually not that strange. That kind of school was not originally opened for ordinary people. The target group has always been the daughters of families, financial groups, bureaucrats, and royal nobles that still exist in some countries. Unless there is a major change in the family, they will

Basically, they will get married after graduation and become the link between the two major forces. Of course, this is a modern society and it is not arranged, but the available love partners are still limited to a specific circle.

However... Kirishima's real name cannot be that he went to this kind of school to get married. It was probably to establish a good relationship with the various "Mrs. So-and-so" in the future so that he could spy on information. I just didn't know that this was ground intelligence.

The arrangement of the organization is still the arrangement of "Future Kirishima's real name".

"What about you? Top student? Isn't your guardian Commander Ikari? He even refused to come to his own son's meeting." Asuka took two sips of tea and suddenly turned to ask Ayanami Rei.

There is no other pot that cannot be opened! Eve is sealed and cannot come. Do we need an apostle to participate?

"I won't participate." Ayanami replied without even raising her head.

"you--"

Click—whoosh—

Before Asuka was about to say anything, the lights in the room suddenly went out, and at the same time there was the sound of some equipment shutting down and tripping.

Since it was noon, the power outage did not have any impact on the light, but the sudden disappearance of the breeze that had been blowing indoors revealed a very serious problem: the air conditioner was not working.

"Huh? There can still be a power outage in New Tokyo City?" Asuka said with dissatisfaction: "Before I came, they told me that this was the city with the most cutting-edge technology in the world."

No, wait... Shinji Ikari, who was staring at the air conditioner, suddenly discovered a more serious problem: when the city has a power outage, the "skyscraper" cannot be retracted underground. If the apostle attacks at this time...

Shinji Ikari turned his attention to Ayanami Rei and found that she pressed the frame of her glasses several times in succession.

In the case of a complete power outage and communication interruption, no matter what high technology is used, it will not be easy to use——

"The Ninth Apostle appears and will arrive in the Third New Tokyo City in three hours," Rei Ayanami said: "Affected by the power outage, most automatic counterattack weapons cannot work and cannot slow down their progress. It is recommended that the driver return to the headquarters immediately

, fired manually.”

"...Where did you buy those glasses?" Asuka asked what Shinji Ikari had been silently complaining about.

"Commander Ikari gave it to me," Ayanami Rei replied.

Okay, kill it.

——

Underground fortress passage.

"Listen to me, you must turn right here!" Asuka carefully studied the signs in the passage for a while, and then announced very confidently.

How do you get the confidence to get out of a maze where even Miss Misato would get lost when there is a power outage?

Shinji Ikari originally wanted to suggest that Rei Ayanami lead the way, but because Asuka was too strong and confident, and Ayanami had no objection, he could only follow her all the way.

"Hey, Ayanami? What's the reason for the power outage? Did the apostles do it?" Because there was a loud echo in the steel channel, Shinji Ikari asked Ayanami Rei in a low voice while Asuka wasn't paying attention.

"no."

"oh……"

"It's a Ground Alliance spy."

"Huh? Kirishima already has this strength?"

"It's about blessing good governance."

"...I'm not surprised at all. He is obviously the kind of person who takes everything for granted. I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes an apostle one day."

"Won't."

"I'm just having fun..."

"He's too old."

"...well-founded and convincing."

But in this case, the reason for the power outage is a bit strange. There is no reason why Dad didn't know that Kaji was a spy. What was the reason for letting him cause the power outage?

Will it test the crisis response capabilities of NERV and the Third New Tokyo City? Will it be a bit arrogant when the apostles are specially selected to attack?

Taking advantage of the power outage to track down other lurking spies? It's possible, but the chance is very small, because the gains and losses are not proportional.

So……

Well, wait a minute, my thinking seems to have fallen into a misunderstanding. The power outage is not what Dad wanted. He just didn't stop it. We should think about what the ground connection wants in reverse.

Do you still need to ask? Of course it’s EVA and apostle information.

In the event of a power outage and network outage, lurking spies can avoid the computer center "MAGI" that always monitors the headquarters, turn on some computers through temporary power to read hard disk data, and pass it through a physical method that will not be checked after an incoming call.

go out.

Based on this, it can be inferred that Dad should have known who the spy was and what information he/she wanted to steal. He might have replaced the relevant content and was just waiting for an opportunity for the spy to pass it on. As for what he wanted to use

The purpose of the disinformation... was to directly control them through the backdoor when Dilian manufactured EVA mass production machines?

He is really cunning, ahem, I mean scheming.

"Ah - that's enough, it's a dead end again! Who built this passage!" Asuka kicked a closed door in front of her.

"that……"

"It's not a dead end."

When Shinji Ikari was about to suggest another detour, Rei Ayanami spoke.

"I know this is not a dead end, but now there's a power outage and I can't open it!" Asuka pointed to the extinguished indicator light on the door: "I'm looking for a door that can be opened manually, but the marks on the map are completely wrong!"
To be continued...