The Main Body's response was calm and efficient, accompanied by a series of environmental parameter comparison data and socio-psychological model deductions.
"Logic chain established. This environment has a confirmed negative impact on standard human adolescent mental health. Suggestion: Provide environmental intervention or psychological counseling protocols."
"However, her core value as a pilot remains unaffected; the base environment is sufficient to maintain her biological existence and combat skill training. Emotional fluctuations are secondary variables."
"I plan to take her away from the Death World to a nearby Imperial World to relax," the Second Clone proposed with an undeniable persistence.
"Necessity is questionable." The Main Body's feedback carried pure rational weighing. "Investing resources into non-productive relaxation is inefficient. Her value lies in synchronization rates and combat effectiveness."
"Emotional issues can be diverted through positive stimulation by increasing training difficulty or introducing new technological modules."
"I'm the one who brought her here," a hint of emotional fluctuation appeared in the Second Clone's stream of consciousness. "I have a responsibility to her, not just as a pilot, but as a—human. A stable emotional state is more beneficial than harmful for her long-term development."
"Responsibility?" The Main Body's consciousness seemed to pause for a moment, not due to computational delay, but more like a deep search and questioning of a specific keyword.
"Our core objective is to gather knowledge and technology from thousands of worlds to find the way home. Serving the Imperial Adeptus Mechanicus is a means to gain resources and authority, not the ultimate goal."
"In an optimal efficiency solution, an individual's emotional state is usually viewed as a variable to be managed, not a priority. Your continued focus on this specific individual's input-output ratio does not seem to have reached the optimum."
The Second Clone fell silent for a moment. He could feel the Main Body's evaluation method based on pure rationality and efficiency—a result of the Adeptus Mechanicus's modifications and a long-term logic-dominated way of thinking.
But he himself, as a vessel closer to "humanity," felt something different.
"Efficiency—perhaps. But what lies at the end of the journey home? If for the sake of the goal, we eventually turn into machines that completely disregard emotions, then even if we find the way back, will I still be 'me'?" He paused, images of that red-haired girl struggling, longing for love yet being hurt repeatedly in her original destiny flashed clearly in his consciousness—precious information from a transmigrator's memories that made it impossible for him to view her as just a sample.
"Seeing her like this, I can't use 'efficiency' to convince myself to turn a blind eye. And—" his consciousness carried a hint of undeniable confirmation, "she is Asuka, isn't she?"
"The 'her' we know shouldn't be trapped in this gray despair. This isn't about efficiency; this is a choice I—we—made based on 'knowing'."
This time, the Main Body was silent for even longer.
The vast database not only retrieved personality models and behavioral prediction data for "Asuka Langley Soryu," but deeper down, those strictly sealed profound perceptions and emotional projections of the transmigrator regarding the EVA characters were also briefly activated and included in the weighted calculations.
The data clearly showed a strong correlation between the target individual's psychological state and combat effectiveness; the risk probability of effectiveness decay due to long-term low mood exceeded the threshold.
At the same time, a deeper, non-logical directive was at work.
Protecting these "known" individuals who carried special meaning was, to some extent, also guarding the "humanity" anchor points that were gradually being eroded by mechanical logic.
"Based on maintaining the long-term stability of a high-value experimental unit, optimizing her psychological state to ensure continuous output of research data, and—" the Main Body's final verdict was delivered. The logic chain remained solid, but the underlying parameters driving the logic now included the weights of those suppressed "special emotions," "—considering the selective protection you insist on,
which originates from our shared memories, the temporary environment adjustment plan is approved.
Target world: Corona 7, an Agri-World. The environmental parameters of this world are mild, and the information complexity is moderate, meeting the psychological relaxation needs of a standard human adolescent. Relevant permissions have been temporarily granted to your access identification code."
"Additionally," the Main Body's information stream continued, "the exclusive EVA Titan units for Shinji and Rei Ayanami have entered the final stage of assembly. Rei Ayanami's spirit-body synchronization repair treatment is basically complete, and she will soon wake up.
The three of them can form an EVA Titan combat group.
The Warhound Legion is very enthusiastic about this. They are eager to obtain combat data on the EVA Titans and explore the possibility of coordinated operations with Imperial Titans."
The information transfer was complete. The Main Body seemed ready to cut the connection, but a hint of sentimentality rose in the Second Clone's consciousness: "Bringing these three children out of that world of despair, only to throw them into a grander and more cruel war in this universe—is this really for the best?"
The Main Body's response carried a nearly cold, self-examining tone: "Before undergoing the full modification of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the systematic suppression of most emotions, was I... such a sentimental person?"
There was no answer, nor any further discussion; the conscious link quietly terminated.
Osiris (the Second Clone) took a deep breath of cold air and turned to walk down the observation tower. He needed to tell Asuka about the plan to leave briefly.
When the Light Transport's engine emitted a steady hum and smoothly broke free from the suffocating gravitational pull of the Death World, Asuka pressed almost her entire upper body against the cold porthole.
She stared intently as the gray planet in her field of vision gradually shrank, its colors fading until it finally merged into the endless darkness and starlight of the background, as if it had never existed.
The invisible pressure that had long occupied her chest, almost becoming a part of her body, seemed to quietly loosen as the distance increased, eventually turning into a sigh of relief that even she might not have noticed.
The voyage was so short that there was almost no time to savor the moment of escaping the cage.
When the eternal darkness outside the window was replaced by a gradually enlarging planet overflowing with the radiance of life, Asuka's eyes suddenly lit up.
It was a burst of full, vibrant colors that almost burned her eyes, which were accustomed to a gray field of vision—the vast, boundless azure ocean, like the finest sapphire, formed a strong contrast with the forests and farmlands of rich emerald and dark green that stretched to the horizon.
Fluffy, massive clouds, like white giants, slowly stretched their bodies across the clear sky.
This was a registered Agri-World, but unlike those planets that only pursued the yield of a single crop, the database showed that it was dedicated to producing a wide variety of crops that retained their original flavors.