Chapter 65

The sign read:

Terminal Dogma

Mega-depth facility

Code 1 Authorization required

Junichi Nakayima had already lost track of how many thousands of meters below the surface they were, but it seemed-both judging by the length of their trip and the noticeable changes in ambient pressure which made his ears pop-that it was at least a kilometer or more. And there must have been another three or four hundred meters down a long, dark corridor before he found himself in front of an enormous metal door with an imposing sign besides it.

The agent shifted his weight uncomfortably for the hundredth time. His arm, which he carried in a sling, hurt, and every time he moved his shoulder screamed in pain. He wasn't sure if he should simply be glad to be alive, or if he should have tried to escape, but one thing was certain: Gendo Ikari wouldn't have called for him if he didn't have something important to say.

It certainly couldn't go any worse than his last meeting with Kluge. The fact that he still had a job was astounding. Even this lovely trip to the bowels of Tartarus itself could only end, at worst, with him being shot. Again.

The ride on the elevator had taken more than half an hour, and it was one of those big express elevators, like those used on skyscrapers. Oddly enough, during that time Gendo Ikari, along with his gray-haired Sub-Commander, had remained very quiet. Finally, after another half hour or so of walking around, they had come upon this large corridor lit only by dim lights in the ceiling. There were no guards anywhere, which seemed strange.

Ikari stopped by the door, adorned with the NERV fig leaf, and carefully studied the access panel on its side.

"What is this place?" Nakayima asked, unsure of what to say. His voice sounded awkward, although he wasn't sure why.

"Heaven's Gate," Ikari said. "Many people have died for just a glimpse of what you are about to see." He typed the entry code and pulled a security card from his jacket pocket.

The doors beeped and opened.

"Oh, my God," was all Nakayima could come up with.

In front of him was a large cavern, so big that most of it was covered in darkness. In the center of the cavern he saw a huge red cross, and…. something nailed to it, something as big as the Evas. But so much more macabre. It was white, all over white, nailed by its hands to the cross, with no face. Instead, it wore a mask on which was carved an inverted triangle and seven eyes. And it sent a shiver up his spine.

"This is the source of everything since the Second Impact," Ikari said, seemingly addressing the darkness itself. "The reason for the existence of NERV. This is the truth that they have been hiding from you."

Then he turned to Nakayima who didn't even notice, because he was staring at the thing, frozen. His mouth hung open, eyes unblinking.

"Second Impact?" he murmured incredulously. "You can't be serious."

Ikari continued, "I am. Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant. This is the technology they used to trigger Second Impact, our doom and salvation at one. We copied from this. We did not create it. Perhaps not even the SEELE did because if they had they would not be looking for this one. Have you ever heard that name?"

Nakayima tried to recall. The word seemed strangely familiar. "I think perhaps in a file somewhere. A name? An organization? Some computer system?"

"Consider yourself fortunate," Ikari said. "If I had to describe it as anything, I would suggest … a presence."

"Men?" Nakayima suggested.

Ikari nodded grimly. "Dangerous men. Maybe the most dangerous men who ever lived. Enough to make Musashi Kluge seem like a mouse."

The idea made the government agent feel nauseous with fear. Half the things that were rumored about Chief Kluge would be enough to … and these SEELE men were worse? Gendo Ikari surely would not make such a claim lightly.

"Why are you showing me this?" Nakayima didn't understand. He didn't know where to start. What to think. This thing … what the hell was this thing? And what could this SEELE want with it? Three billion people died during Second Impact. How could the cause be standing right there?

"Like I said, many people have died for this. But some knew about it from the beginning. Studied it. Worked with it. And some hoped that it would one day prove the future of mankind. Your father was among the latter."

The imagine of his father came to mind, stern and unyielding.

"H-how do you know about my father?" the stunned agent asked, finally tearing his eyes off the thing and focusing them on Ikari. The man stood like stone golem, hands in his pockets, eyes hidden behind his glasses. A man in total control.

"I knew him," Ikari said slowly. "We were in Antarctica together before it happened. He and Katsuragi had high hopes for their discovery. The rest of us were not so sure. We knew those in power would not let such a chance slip."

"Katsuragi?"

"The sins of the father," Ikari said, "always return to haunt the children. But your father was a good man. A man of convictions. If he knew what those he trusted have done with his life's work …" he paused. "With a name like yours I wonder how you have lasted this long."

"I believe Special Agent Kaji Ryougi got me recommended to the Ministry of the Interior. Certainly someone had to pull some strings or I would have never made it in," Nakayima confessed, not really knowing why. "I also believe he might have gotten me through the screening process. To be frank, I don't know what he was thinking. We knew each other from the SDF when they stopped being all about self-defense. From Sepang. I think he felt he had to look after me. Kluge came to me after that."

"So, you are here to seek the truth for yourself, like Ryougi did?" Ikari said. "Or are you here to snoop for your masters?"

"Neither," Nakayima smiled weakly. "I was sent here because somebody thought it was a good idea. Kluge said he didn't have a choice. Before he shot me. I didn't come here because I wanted to. He … "

"Interesting," Fuyutsuki said from behind. "You do the bidding of others but claim to have no interest yourself?"

"Why would I?' Nakayima said. "The relationship between the government and NERV boils down to a simple oversight operation. I didn't know … "

"And now you do know," Fuyutsuki said calmly. "Part of the truth. The real truth."

Nakayima turned around and stared at the creature once again.

"So this is what killed him?" the agent asked himself. Suddenly another sound filled the air. He recognized the unmistakable click of a gun's safety being removed. Nakayima turned back to find the white-haired Sub-Commander holding a gun to his head.

"I must apologize for this," the older man said, with real remorse in his profesorial voice. "I hate the bruttish simplicity of guns. Such harsh devises leave no room for intelligent discourse. But fate makes puppets of us all, and thus I must play my part."

Nakayima could have laughed. What did it matter? A bullet was a bullet. Fate had nothing to do with it.

"You must be very proud of your father," Ikari said, suddenly. He moved closer, still keeping his hands in his pockets. Nakayima wondered if he might also be holding a gun..

"Why do you say that?" the agent whispered, shaking his head.

"Because if I had thought of him as a lesser man, I would have killed you when you first showed up," Ikari said. "But a man leaves a legacy in his son. And I had enough respect for that legacy to wait and see how his son would do. I was not disappointed."

Nakayima suppressed an ironic smirk. "And yet here you are, pointing a gun at my head."

"A necessary precaution," Fuyutsuki explained. "For which I have already asked forgiveness. I'm sure you understand."

"I'm not a threat to you. Chief Kluge saw to that." Nakayima lifted his injured shoulder. It sent a spike of pain through him. "I don't even have a gun anymore."

"The fact that he did not kill you but still chose to hurt you means he does consider you a threat on some level. Otherwise he would have simply dismissed you and sent you back. At the very least it points to him considering that you needed … a lesson. In any case, it's only a matter of time. You won't last on your own," Ikari said. "Luckily, I do not believe in wasting people as long as they are useful to me. And you, placed within the hierarchy of the Japanese government, are in a unique position to be particularly useful."

"My own boss shot me," Nakayima said, narrowing his eyes. "I don't think I'll be working for the government much longer."

"NERV has recently come into a lot of influence, as you might have heard. We no longer need a government liaison, but the position was a mutually-agreed-upon decision designed to show our willingness to cooperate. As such, it cannot be removed if NERV requests that you stay. And if I request you, personally, you will not be going anywhere."

"Do you mean … work for you?" Nakayima hesitated. "And if I refuse?"

"Are you under the impression that we are bargaining?" Ikari said, and pointed to Nakayima's injured shoulder. "The people who did that to you are the same people who killed your father. I do not expect that you would help me out of the kindness of your heart. I will give you something in return."

"I am not after revenge." Nakayima studied him, trying to determine his motives, and found that he might as well have been trying to read Lucifer himself. Ikari's face was perfectly calm, not betraying a hint of emotion or anything else that might allow him to gauge the man's sincerity. Still, he was not the one who'd shot him for doing what he thought was his job.

And it was tempting. He couldn't deny that. With by his side, he could cause a lot of trouble for Kluge and the Ministry.

"Justice, then," Ikari corrected. "For him, and for yourself. You have spent your entire life hating your father, but you don't even know what he achieved. And what you think you do know is wrong. Lies meant to hide the truth. You must at least be curious."

"So what is the truth?" Nakayima asked. The white monster loomed above him, like a wicked savior on its iron cross. The featureless steel face gleamed in the scant lighting, its gigantic pale body bloated grotesquely, seemingly almost without shape in places. A thing of nightmares. It was beyond farcical that so much pain and power could have their origins in something like this.

Ikari waited, letting the sight do his job for him with incredible effectiveness. Nakayima had almost given up on any response and was expecting to get the bullet when NERV's Supreme Commander finally spoke again.

"That noble men attempted to save the world and were destroyed for it," Ikari said. "That any lie can become truth if it is large enough, and repeated often. In such ways are things built. That is how humans make the future. By building on hidden foundations of deceit. What you see before you is the mother of lies, and in being so, the original font of truth. The weapon of retribution for us-for every one of us. Yourself included, should you choose to cooperate."

Nakayima had already made up his mind, but he had to ask the most obvious question anyway. "And if I don't?"

"Then no one will see you again. You will die here for nothing and become part of the lie. Like all false men who fall as offerings to God. Hopeful, you are smarter than that."

Junichi Nakayima was not sure that he was. A smart man would not have gotten himself into this. A smart man would have listened to his father, and done as he was told. It was too late for that now; it had been too late for many years.