Neo genezis evangelion book 1v2. part 3.3

Chapter 3.3 Getting to know the NERVE.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about, Shinji?" Ritsko looked at me with interest, adjusting her thin metal-rimmed glasses. "It seems to have something to do with technology, if Captain Katsuragi told me everything correctly?"

"That's right, Dr. Akagi", I replied, sitting down on a chair and placing a small thin folder with brief information about the Evangelion weapons samples on the table in front of me.

I had already managed to take a shower, washing off the vile liquid, and change out of my contact suit into my uniform, so I was already in a completely civilized state in Ritsko's office.

"But if possible, I will first start with a question from a slightly different field, as I am VERY interested in it."

"Well, if that's the case, then start."

"Dr. Akagi, why is Evangelion powered by cable or low-power built-in batteries? Wouldn't it have been better to put a small nuclear reactor in it?"

"That's a reasonable question," Ritsko nodded. "I'll try to answer it for you... First of all, what do you know about Evangelion-type combat vehicles?"

"Uh... That is?"

"Well, that is, their structure, structure, and the like?.."

"To be honest, not that much. They seem to be biomechanical organisms — living flesh plus inorganic elements ..."

"In general, you're right, but Eve is inherently much closer to a living organism than to a mechanism. Yes, Evangelion has neither a digestive nor a respiratory system, but it has peculiar analogues of the organs of living beings... Only individual structural elements are made of metal and plastic — parts of the skeleton and armor, but the largest element of this kind in Eva is the A-10 nerve. It is a complex complex that includes a contact capsule, mechanisms of its fixation and protection, and elements of interaction with the rest of the Evangelion's body... In fact, A-10 occupies a very large proportion of the entire internal volume of Eva, so we couldn't equip Evangelion with even the most compact reactor — it just doesn't fit. So we had to limit ourselves to purely symbolic backup batteries, and put the main power supply on external sources. I hope I've answered that question."

"I understood that there was no place for the built-in reactor inside Eva. What about the outside? Well, say, in the form of a satchel?"

"It's too dangerous, Shinji," the blonde snapped. "You're not a stupid guy, are you, and you should understand what happens if an atomic reactor is damaged in a fight with an Angel? In a city of a million people, it's just a disaster, isn't it?"

"Uh-huh," I muttered dejectedly, realizing that the idea of making an atomic Eve had just failed miserably.

Damn it, I was already dreaming! I thought I was the smartest person here... But no! If Evangelion wasn't equipped with such an engine, then it was impossible. The Jet Elon over there with the nuclear reactor was precisely unmanned...

Okay, let's keep thinking...

"Then what else do you have to tell me?"

"Well, that's what I came up with after reviewing my impressions of yesterday's fight... Okay, but first about the existing weapons."

Ritsko grimaced a little-she didn't seem to have much love for the means of killing, preferring to tinker with more peaceful technology, in particular computer technology.

"The GG-2 rifle. What's the use of it? She won't break through the AT-field, and she'll be practically useless in close combat, unless you attach a bayonet to her... I began skeptically."

"As our calculations show, the long-term maintenance of the AT-field by the Angel depletes its energy reserves, so that the preliminary firing of the target has quite a tangible result. You don't care if you're going to fight a full-bodied enemy or if you're already pretty tired, do you?"

"Hmm, that's right..." I muttered, scratching my head in embarrassment. That's what I didn't know, I didn't know... "But surely ordinary troops can cope with this task?"

"You never know what can happen, it never hurts to be safe..."

"And that's right... Okay, now the gun. As I understand it now, does it have the same purpose as a rifle, but with the expectation of a shorter firing range? Yeah, then the grenade launchers follow the same article... Okay, then I don't have any more questions about this part, I'll go directly to my own thoughts."

"Come on, tell me what you got there..." Dr. Akagi spoke with genuine interest.

"First, the knife. It's inconvenient to get him in battle! It would be better to place it on your arm, belt, or leg. And to come up with something with the possibility of loss is the same as not doing figs! You can hang several blades, but, in my opinion, it would also be nice to make melee weapons embedded..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, in the sense of implanting, say, retractable or folding blades in Eve's arm, so to speak, as a last resort. Of course, without reducing the role of conventional weapons. It just seems to me, for example, that if my Eva had a couple of such surprises in her fist, it would be easier to cope with the Angel..."

"Hm... In principle, the idea is not bad ..." Ritsko thought. "You can think about it... Okay, go ahead."

"So, where was I there? Yeah, I remembered... the knife. Why only a knife? If cold steel is the best thing we can do against an AT-field, then why not expand its list? There's a quantum knife, so why not make a quantum sword? For the middle distance, I think it's the best..."

"Do you want a sword? Having a sword is not a big problem, but because of this you will have to introduce additional classes..." Akagi warned me.

No, how is it in Japan without a sword, that is, a katana? The disorder...

"I'll get over it somehow," I waved my hand carelessly. "And finally, what I wanted to say. Maybe we should think about Eva's ammunition. Okay, I'm not going to carry a rifle and magazines with it, but I can stick a pistol somewhere... Still, I think it's not always possible to get to the arsenal buildings, so it's useful to always have something on hand... I think so... ha! Yes, I know for sure! All the time, everything will not go according to plan..."

"Guys, meet me. Our beauty and pride is the Third Child of Ikari Shinji!"

Misato solemnly introduced me to everyone in the command center.

"Uh-huh, and also — intelligence, honor and conscience in one contact capsule," I grumbled, smiling.

The command room, I'll tell you, is a thing! Although, in principle, like everything else in the nerve. But there is still an excessive craving for gigantomania, well, this is to be expected — we are in Japan after all! Even during the Second World War, they liked to build something very large and ambitious, such as the Yamato battleship or, say, the Akagi heavy aircraft carrier...

Hmm, by the way, it's interesting — many of them... people in this reality have some kind of ship surnames. Akagi, Aoba, Hyuga, Maya — I remember exactly, there were such ships in the Imperial Japanese Navy.

It's a good thing I don't have that last name, because there's already a lot of Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern people and steamboats... Okay, but I'm going back to the command Center anyway. It was a huge room, half the size of a football field, and the height didn't let me down either... The entire edge opposite from me is occupied by an inhumanly large map screen with small mini-screens on the sides, all sorts of graphs and tables. I don't know what it's all about, but it's probably not for beauty. As I have already understood, the office is not so senile, and it knows how to spend money wisely...

The other part of the room was occupied by the command center itself, pyramid-shaped, rising up in steps. There were a whole bunch of jobs for operators here, but the most important were the places at the top of the "pyramid". There weren't many people here-Dr. Akagi, Misato, and the inseparable trio of miracle technicians they'd known from the series. All of them turned out to be quite young, no older than twenty-five.

"Lieutenant Ibuki Maya, MAGI operator," a short thin girl with short dark hair and a quiet voice. Unexpectedly for me, she was wearing a beige-and-red uniform that was not familiar from the TV series, but a dark green uniform with gold edging. "You can just say Maya."

"Lieutenant Shigeru Aoba. If you remember, my profile is Eva's weapon systems", The guy with his long hair looks like a hard-core metalhead. Dressed the same as Maya. It's probably the uniform of the science department officers... "You can just say Aoba."

"Lieutenant Hyuga Makoto, an analyst," is a smiling guy with glasses and a hairbrush, and holds out his hand to me. By the way, he was the only one of the technicians who was not wearing a dark green tunic, but in exactly the same black and gold uniform as mine. "You can just use Makoto."

"Nice to meet you," I say sincerely, having exchanged greetings with everyone.

"Well, that's wonderful!" Misato stated. "Shinji, do you want to watch the technicians work for a while?"

"Of course!" I exclaim enthusiastically. You bet! After all, my success in battle depends on the work of these three...

..Hmm, as it turned out, there was nothing particularly interesting about their work — routine is routine. The maximum activity, apparently, manifested itself only in extreme situations, and usually there is a rather boring atmosphere here. Yeah... Work is not always interesting and entertaining, but rather the opposite...

Maya was fiddling with her computer, it looks like she was programming, reprogramming, or correcting something in the program code — I'm not good at these IT technologies... Makoto was excitedly chewing on a toothpick (there was already a pile of debris from previous victims in the ashtray on his desk), flipping through a comic book (or is it called a manga here?..) and he giggled softly from time to time.

But what I was most interested in right now was Aoba. But what I was most interested in right now was Aoba.

The lieutenant was currently sitting at his computer, poring over something that looked painfully like electronic musical tablatures. From the small speakers located on both sides of the flat-screen monitor came soft but powerful music — the band "System of a Down", the song "Know". If someone looks like a metalhead, behaves like a metalhead, and finally listens to something commensurate with metal, there can only be one conclusion...

It is from such a person that I will be able to get hold of normal and familiar music, although, of course, there are great difficulties here. Firstly, most likely Aoba does not have Russian groups, and secondly, it is not a fact that many groups continued to exist after the Second Strike... Because, as I realized, Shinji's only tape had only old and rather soft music, like the same "Scorpions". I have nothing against them, I even quite adore them, but sometimes it takes a high-quality brainwash, right? You can't go into battle, for example, to a calm and quiet melody — you need something cooler here...

Okay, first let's ask, "Is this an attempt a torture, Comrade Beria?"..

"Aoba, can I distract you?.."

"Of course, Shinji. What did you want?"

"I can hear "System of a Down" playing, can you record it for me? And something of the same kind, otherwise I forgot my music when I moved..."

"No problem. Any special requests?"

"Well... Can I find something metallic and German or Russian? Like "Rammstein"?"

So, I hope they even exist here? Otherwise, it will be a loss of losses...

"You ask... I have a lot of things here, and where can I go without the "classics"?.." Aoba smiled. "How do you want to put it on a flash card?"

Yeah, so there are flash drives here after all, so not everything is completely lost yet... But here's the catch — Misato didn't even have the most cluttered computer in her apartment, and there was simply nowhere to dump music. The twenty-first century, damn it.... We even had computers in every dorm room lately, although the radio was considered lucky in the first year... No, you need to get yourself at least some kind of device.

"Let's use a flash drive, I think I'll get a computer for myself soon... Thank you in advance, Aoba!"

"Come on, what's the problem, Shinji," Shigeru smiled.

I walked away from his desk and pulled up to Katsuragi, who was sitting in a large armchair, calmly polishing her nails with a nail file.

"Misato, can I go to the shooting range?"

"Haven't you got your bearings yet?" even the captain was indignant. "You've been shooting at targets all day!"

"So it's in Eve and on the simulator! But I want to live, and in the end, I need to shoot a gun," I retorted.

"It turns out that he needs to shoot..." Katsuragi grumbled. "Don't you want anything else?"

"I'll come to the shooting range, and we'll see," I replied vaguely. I want to shoot a machine gun! Oh, well, it's a paradise for gun maniacs, not a closed institute...

"Okay, yeah... The Corporal!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Take the Third Child to the shooting gallery."

"Yes, ma'am!"

One of the soldiers guarding the NERV command cabin adjusted the MP-5 hanging on his right side and waved his hand at me:

"Please, sir, follow me."

Hmm, judging by the slight accent and manner of expression, the guard seems to be from somewhere in America... I wonder if there are any Russians here? Although even if there is, what's the use? I can't open up to them — I have nothing to explain my knowledge of the Russian language and habits, and I can't even count on great erudition.