Stage 70: Multitudes of Nothingness

Cover: Rei in school uniform sitting with fingers
interlaced on the edge of a hospital bed in a bleak and
dingy room with medical equipment and medicines in the
background.

Scene: Ritsuko, Misato and Shinji descending down the
long elevator the structural hexagon wall toward
Terminal Dogma. They descend without speaking, and the
elevator arrives at the bottom with a clang to show a
door marked with the words:

ARTIFICIAL EVOLUTION LABORATORY
ANNEX NO.3

Below this is the AEL inverted triangle symbol mark
with lettering which mimics the mask of SEELE. Beyond
the door, Ritsuko flips a light switch to reveal a
stark room with a hospital bed and various medical
equipment and supplies. Boxes and equipment lie jumbled
in the corners, and pills and other medicines are
scattered on the countertops. The walls and floor of
the room also have large lettering that reads:
"Strangeness (dss)", "D20d" and "TiD2" etc.

Shinji: It looks like Ayanami's room...
Ritsuko: Yes, it is Rei's room. This is where she was
raised. The images of this place are still reflected
strongly in the light and water that constitute Rei's
deeper psyche.
Misato: Dr. Akagi, I did not come to see this.
Ritsuko: I know, Misato.

Scene: Ritsuko leads the two down a corridor to a
balcony overlooking the "Eva graveyard" where what look
like Eva skeletons fill a cross-shaped trench
surrounded by holes in the Sephiroth positions.

Shinji: These are... Eva?
Ritsuko: The first ones. All failures, disposed of 10
years ago. Now this is nothing but a dumping ground.
And also the place where your mother disappeared.
Misato (pointing pistol at Ritsuko): Ritsuko!!
Shinji (shaken but holding): It's okay, Misato...
Shinji (thinking): No matter what, I've got to face it.

Ritsuko: And in her place was born Ayanami Rei.
Shinji (shocked/thinking): Wha...?
Ritsuko: That girl was born in the same place where
your mother disappeared... in a soulless, empty state.
The heart she has now was painstakingly salvaged and
placed within her. Come with me. I'll show you the
truth.

Scene: Ritsuko leads them into another room. Convoluted
tubes cover the ceiling and connect to a spine-like
structure and wires which lead down to a transparent
cylinder located in the middle of the room that is just
big enough to hold a person. The circumference of the
room is dark except for a double strand of (DNA)
letters ringing the room.

Misato: What is... this?
Ritsuko: The plant that is the source of the dummy
plugs.
Shinji: Dummy plugs... (flashback of Eva-01 dummy plug
operation)
Ritsuko: And this (presses a button on her handheld
unit) is the core of the dummy system.
(The periphery of the room lights up, and Shinji and
Misato look around in wide eyes to see numerous Rei
clones floating in a tank that forms the walls of the
room.)
Ritsuko (smiling slightly): This is the truth.
(The Rei clones have varied expressions -- curious,
amused, smiling, resting, etc. Most of them turn and
look curiously at the three.)
Shinji (shocked): Ayanami...
Misato (shocked):  Rei...
Ritsuko: No, these are all dummies. They have been
simply produced for the dummy system, and are nothing
more than spare parts for Rei.
Shinji: It can't be...
(Shinji goes weak at the knees and Misato catches his
arm to support him.)
Misato: Shinji! Stay strong!
Shinji: I know, but...
Ritsuko (monologue): People found a god, and in their
folly tried to possess it. (image of Giant of Light in
Antarctic base) And so retribution was visited upon
humankind. That was 15 years ago. (giant wings of light
= SI image) The god they had taken such pains to find
vanished. So they then attempted to revive the god
themselves. -- That is Adam. (image of giant on cross
in Terminal Dogma) And from Adam, in imitation of God,
they created people. -- Those are Eva. (Image of the
three units Eva-00/01/02)
Shinji: People? Are you saying the Eva are human?
Ritsuko: That's right. The Eva, originally soulless,
were invested with human souls. (glances slyly at
Shinji) You've also noticed, haven't you, where your
disappeared mother is now?
(Shinji = shocked)
Ritsuko: But these Rei-like things are not human.  They
are nothing but soulless containers. Mere vessels for
the purpose of continuing to protect just one soul. So
I will destroy them, to prevent the vessel from ever
being changed again, and to end my suffering.
(Ritsuko presses a button on her handheld unit. Bubbles
propagate through the tank and the Rei clones start to
break apart and partially dissolve with expressions of
fright and agony, fouling the liquid around them.)
Shinji (clutching head in shock): AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!
Misato (aiming gun at Ritsuko again): Ritsuko (Lit:
You)!  Do you know what you're doing!?
Ritsuko (calmly): Yes, I know... Destruction. They're
not human -- they're just things with human form. But I
lost even to these things!  I couldn't beat them! .....
With simply the thought of him, I could have endured
any indignity! Even my own body didn't matter. (tears
form in her eyes) But I didn't want him to think that.
But... but he... I'm such a fool. ..... And I knew it.
Mother and daughter both... such huge fools!
Misato (softly): Ritsuko... you...
Ritsuko: Kill me if you wish. No... I would be glad if
you did so.
Misato (gun lowered):  That would be truly foolish.
(Ritsuko begins to cry in earnest, and falls to her
knees, slumped over and sobbing uncontrollably. Misato
and Shinji can only stare in silence.)
Shinji (thinking): Father... what in the world are you
trying to do? (shadowy image of Gendo) With Ayanami,
mother, Eva, and me. What are you trying to do? (image
of Rei and Yui) Ayanami... Mother... What should I do
from now?

- End Stage 70