The Evangelion pilots mulled over what Flynn had just told them over in their heads. They were a bit shocked that his plan called for waiting until Third Impact is over. Flynn whispered to Lora and Alan for a minute and the two of the left with a nod. Asuka's face scrunched up in thought and then put a question out.
"How do you know that Seele is trying to start Third Impact?" Asuka asked.
"Because they didn't get rid of Adam at all and have the Angel Lilith hidden under your Geo-Front as a lure for the Angels. If they wanted to prevent Third Impact, they could have put Adam on a rocket and crash-landed him on Mars. After Second Impact, he's no bigger than a paperback novel and weighs just as much. The Angels would have headed for Mars and Third Impact would have made Mars suitable for colonization and Earth would have been undamaged. All the destruction caused by the Angels since Second Impact has been totally pointless," Flynn replied with a sad shake of his head.
Asuka looked a bit sick at what Flynn had just said.
"How do you know all this?" Rei asked quietly.
"You think we're stupid?" Flynn asked with a laugh. "We invaded the computer systems of Seele, Gehrin and finally NERV over the years. We haven't broken into any of the Magi, since we saw no need."
Asuka stammered a bit with tears in her eyes. "I... I... My mom's death was for nothing?"
Flynn gave a long look of pity at Asuka and sighed. "Probably. I have no idea. I don't know who your mom is."
"Doctor Soryu-Langely," Asuka replied.
"Ah, her? Yes, her mental breakdown was needless, as was Yui Ikari's death. Your mom's dead now? I didn't know that. The entire Evangelion project is needless, save for triggering Third Impact to merge humanity into one being," Flynn replied.
"Yui Ikari? My mom?" Shinji asked.
"Well, yes and no. If it were just the way she died, then yes it would have been pointless. However, Naoko Akagi had set things up to kill her to get to have your father," Flynn replied. "Your father went completely bonkers after that and instead of trying to bring down Seele, he became their agent. Yeesh. I thought you might just be major pawns and not have the ties you do. Behold the fight of the century: ENCOM versus Seele. Hmmm. I might want to make a fighting video game of that."
"Can't you keep your minds off games for a day? We have more serious things to talk about," Alan asked, as he and Lora returned to the room.
Jet coughed into his hand, hiding a laugh.
"How went the file extraction?" Flynn asked with laughter in his eyes, ignoring Alan's question.
"We've ran into a discrepancy regarding Rei," Alan said.
Rei blinked. "Me? What kind of discrepancy?"
"You were strangled to death by Naoko Akagi right before she leaped to her death," Alan said flatly. "After that, we dug into your file a bit more and found out who and what you are."
For the first time in her life, Rei trembled in fear.
"What she is?" Flynn asked. "What are you talking about?"
"She is not fully human. She is part Angel. The beings whose genetic material was used to create the person who is sitting before us are interesting. The first was Doctor Yui Ikari and the second was the Angel Lillith. We don't know how much of Yui was used. If it were forty to fifty percent, then Shinji would be her brother. If it was twenty to thirty-nine percent of Yui's DNA the two would be first cousins."
Shinji and Asuka stared at Rei in shock.
"She is the second being that used that genetic matrix. The first was killed like I said by Doctor Akagi. The fact that Angel DNA was used makes her look like Yui would at that age in her life, save for the blue hair and red eyes," Alan stated. "There is also a huge tank that is filled with several more copies of Rei hidden inside NERV."
Flynn put his head into his hands and started shaking his head in exasperation.
"How did you get the information that fast?" Rei asked.
Flynn looked up and cut off what Alan was about to say. "My fault or partially my fault. Alan and Lora were the last two to leave ENCOM and were mortally injured during the upheavals caused by Second Impact. I contacted Tron and Yori to tell them of what had happened to their Users and maybe raise Jet. They were upset about it and wanted something done and were willing to do anything to help their Users."
"So?" Rei asked.
"A huge influx of energy was needed to save them. I decided to do an experiment in nuclear fusion. The merging of Alan with Tron and Lora with Yori provided them with enough energy to survive and gave us a lot more energy to build this citadel. The two of them have the skills and memories of both their real world and digital world selves and some other abilities," Flynn replied with a sad smile.
Rei looked at Flynn with a strange expression. Flynn just smiled and shrugged.
"I was the top programmer for ENCOM and I was also only a few credits away from having a doctorate in physics, engineering, and other sciences," Flynn said. "I can put my three-piece suit up and get my fingers dirty in physical work. My car before we came here is a testament to that. Other than the frame, I put it together with my own hands."
"Why games?" Rei asked.
"Why games? Find something you like to do and if you get paid to do what you like, it is not a burden," Flynn replied. "Making my own game company and video games based on my hobbies and interests was not work, it was just me enjoying life. The digitizing laser was just a sideline hobby after I took over ENCOM. I used it to extend my vacations into really silly lengths. So tell me Rei, what do you want to do?"
"What do I want to do?" Rei asked.
Flynn nodded. "Yes. I don't think anyone has ever asked you that question before. What do you want from your life? Yes. You have a purpose, but I think offing humanity is not exactly a good purpose to have."
Seeing Rei's silence, Flynn shook his head. "Since you seem to have no answer, I'll let it go. I just want you to think about what you want in life."
Shinji shook his head and quietly said, "I once had a report about what I wanted in life. I wrote that I never had any dreams or ambitions. I don't aspire to any career or profession in the future. Things have happened as they have happened in the first fourteen years in my life and things will probably continue in the same way. I have never cared if I got into an accident or something and died."
Flynn shook his head. "Your mother was murdered in front of you and your father went loopy. I have a question to ask you and Asuka, although I think I already know the answer."
"What question?" Shinji asked.
"Did you go to psychiatric counseling after the death of your mother?"
Shinji and Asuka shook their heads in the negative.
"As I thought. I think I now know what that virus that was removed from you was," Flynn said. "Anyone who has it to that degree would be self-destructive. It was chronic depression or suicidal depression. The two of you had the same thing but had different symptoms. Rei had it because she is a clone and probably doesn't think that her life is worth anything."
Flynn stood up and walked around the table and looked down at Shinji. He then glanced over to Asuka and Rei and nodded.
"Shinji, I want you to close your eyes and focus the two girls in your mind and think of some phrase."
Shinji did as Flynn said and both Asuka and Rei's line flared up a bit. Rei quickly bowed her head and Asuka looked like she wanted to blush.
"Shinji? How could you say that?" Asuka demanded.
"Um. He didn't say a thing," Jet said.
"How could you miss hearing that? I heard him and I'm sure wonder-girl also heard him," Asuka demanded a bit angrily.
"That's because, I was right. Shinji is closer to an administrative program than anything else. He's able to talk to the two of you with his mind. I think you two girls are also linked in some way. He can set back at a distance and co-ordinate your efforts and here in this world, he can give you access to options and abilities," Flynn said with a chuckle. "If he needs to or wants to, he can see through your eyes."
The two girls blinked in shock.
"That's not possible," Asuka muttered.
Flynn laughed a bit. "You've been turned into energy beings and affected by things that can only affect computer programs. You are now in a world that is both smaller than Earth and larger than the entire solar system and follows its own rules of physics."
"Well..." Asuka stammered.
Flynn shook his head in amusement. "Get used to strange things. Heck, until Tron and Yori merged with Alan and Lora, I was working on a way to bring things purely from the digital world to the real world."
"Did you?" Shinji asked.
"Simple materials? Yes. We used it to coat the outer walls of the various ENCOM buildings," Flynn said. "As it stands now, Lora can send more complex materials from this world into the real world. She or Yori is the program that controls the digitizing laser."
"You knew?" Asuka accused.
"I had a suspicion. Lora would know, since she keeps in her mind all the people who have been digitized," Flynn replied airily
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(Posted Wed, 04 Jul 2007 12:30)
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