In Shinji Ikari's view, the world was nothing but gray.
The city was gray, the sky was gray, and people's hearts were also gray.
"Of course," Hansen smiled, his faint smile extremely infectious. "For example, try saying one more word to the people around you. You might find that they aren't as difficult to get along with as you imagine."
As he spoke, he lowered his head slightly and gave a meaningful glance at the Lieutenant Colonel in his arms who was secretly listening with her ears pricked up.
Misato Katsuragi: "..."
Her heart suddenly leaped. She quickly averted her gaze, pretending to be concentrating on tactical thinking.
"Another example," Hansen continued, speaking to Shinji, his voice deep and magnetic, "is to bravely try something you have never done before, even if that thing makes you feel afraid."
"Because the sense of accomplishment after completing it will make your blood boil more than any music."
"Instead of hiding behind headphones trying to gain recognition from others, you should personally sketch the colors of your own life."
"Remember, Shinji-kun..."
Glancing at the boy's clear yet bewildered eyes, Hansen uttered a certain doctor's catchphrase.
"People must rely on themselves."
Shinji Ikari stared blankly at the silhouette of the man in the driver's seat—broad and reliable, as if he could hold up the collapsing sky.
The peculiar infectiousness contained in the other party's words made him feel a long-lost familial concern.
Hansen: Considering my wife's feelings, it is only right.
At this moment, the vague and indifferent face of the father in Shinji Ikari's mind gradually blurred, replaced by Hansen's resolute and warm profile.
A fervent emotion, mixed with reverence, adoration, and closeness, slowly surged from the depths of the boy's frozen heart!
He subconsciously clenched his fists, his nails digging deeply into his palms.
At this moment, for the first time... a beam of light shone into the boy's gray world.
Hansen's gaze was gentle yet powerful. His words contained no coercion or command; they merely offered a possibility.
Shinji Ikari, being watched, lowered his head, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the cold casing of his player.
This man... is completely different from his father.
His father would only command him or ignore him.
It was as if he were just a useful tool or a clump of air that shouldn't exist.
Yet this man named Hansen was telling him that he could try, and he could feel.
Misato Katsuragi listened to the conversation without missing a single word. She leaned tightly against the man's broad chest, almost feeling his steady, powerful heartbeat resonate with her own heart through his ribcage.
A soft spot in her heart seemed to have been fiercely touched.
She thought of her own father.
The man who abandoned his family for his work and the so-called truth of the Second Impact, and ultimately died in that catastrophe.
She both loved and hated him; this extremely complex emotion was a wound in her heart that could never heal.
She had always longed for a figure who could guide her, someone as reliable as a mountain on whom she could depend.
Her ex-boyfriend Ryoji Kaji had satisfied part of her fantasy to some extent, but the emptiness following their youth and indulgence still caused her to actively flee the relationship.
Yet at this moment, the maturity, stability, strength, and reliability Hansen displayed, coupled with his gentle, non-utilitarian guidance toward the younger generation, almost perfectly filled all the gaps in her mind regarding the image of an "ideal father."
—It's over... I feel like I've crashed headfirst into a very bad vortex. Misato Katsuragi subconsciously gripped the man's lapel, wailing internally.
This man is too dangerous!
A withdrawn boy like Shinji Ikari definitely couldn't handle him, but for a love-starved young professional woman like herself, he was absolutely perfect... —Aaaahhh... Misato Katsuragi, calm down! What nonsense are you thinking?!
Just as she was letting her mind wander, the sports car drove into the entrance of a massive underground tunnel.
Following a burst of violent shaking and the sound of metal friction, a huge tram platform rose from below, steadily lifting her dilapidated sports car before slowly descending.
The scene outside the window rapidly changed, shifting from city ruins ravaged by war to bottomless darkness, and then suddenly opening up.
A massive, unimaginable underground metropolis appeared before their eyes.
This was the true face of Tokyo-3, a huge fortress city built underground to intercept the Angel.
"Welcome to the fortress of humanity, NERV Headquarters." Misato took a deep breath, adjusted her emotions, and showed the two passengers humanity's masterpiece with a slightly proud tone.
"Wow, it's magnificent! It's actually a real underground city."
Shinji Ikari, whose mood had relaxed considerably during the conversation, pressed against the window in shock, looking at the massive artificial lake and the technologically advanced cluster of buildings below, finally showing the behavior expected of a 14-year-old boy.
As for Hansen, whom Misato was secretly observing, his handsome face showed little change.
It was as if this magnificent sight, enough to shock any first-time visitor, was merely common scenery found everywhere on the roadside in his eyes.
—This man... just how vast is his capacity?
Misato felt her heart beating faster... The tram platform steadily stopped at the internal station of NERV Headquarters.
Guided by a certain directionally challenged Lieutenant Colonel holding a map, Hansen and his party ascended the long escalator and finally reached the core area of the massive fortress.
In front of the large porthole window of the main control room, a mature woman with neat blonde short hair, wearing glasses, and exuding an intellectual and ascetic aura while dressed in black stockings, was waiting quietly with her arms crossed over her chest.
She was the head of NERV's Technical Development Department and one of the developers of the MAGI System of Three Sages, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi.
When she saw the black-haired man walking out with Misato Katsuragi, even she, known for her composure and rationality, was momentarily stunned.
What a perfect... male.
This was the most intuitive judgment, based purely on biology and aesthetics.
Whether it was his flawless features or his body proportions comparable to the golden ratio.
Or the powerful aura that seemed innate, accumulated over endless years, he resembled a work of art born only after the universe's most precise calculations.
"This must be UN supervisor Hansen." Ritsuko quickly suppressed her internal surprise; her altered memories immediately put her into work mode.
She pushed up the glasses on the bridge of her nose. The lenses reflected a rational light unique to researchers as she proactively stepped forward and extended her hand.
"I am Ritsuko Akagi of Technical Bureau Section One, the person in charge of Project E. Please guide me."
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