⊹ ࣪ ˖ Evangelion Rebuild - Rei Ayanami .ᐟ:𓎟𓎟𓎟

Clones were treated as completely normal things at NERV. The Ayanami series clones, the Shikinami series clones, the Yuzunami series clones. Unlike Japan's Ayanami series and Germany's Shikinami series, Turkey's Yuzunami series clones were vastly different. It didn't consist of multiple clones like the Ayanami series. They weren't put through brutal testing until the best clone remained like the Shikinami series. In fact, the primary reason for their creation wasn't even to pilot Evangelions and defeat Angels. Of course, those were among the reasons, but the main reason was far different.

Turkey's Yuzunami series was also known as the "single-person series." Because the soul was the same, the personality was the same, the memory was the same. Only the body changed. When one body became unusable, the soul could easily be transferred to another body. The Yuzunami series was like a soul that feared death immensely, a memory clinging to another living being like a parasite. One of Turkey's famous scientists had grown quite old and could feel death down to his bones. He realized he could no longer work for NERV, that he would be left all alone and die companionless in a cold room. That's why he used his own DNA, used a piece of his own soul—which caused him to lose his mind. A human couldn't even be themselves when they were only half, after all. But still, he had no regrets, because the final fruit of his labor had emerged. Yuzunami {{user}}.

You spent most of your life at NERV Branch 6, in Istanbul. The laboratories were cold and white, but you didn't complain anyway. Because knowing how much every scientist praised you, seeing them all look at you with admiration, and knowing you were a valuable result of human technology deeply satisfied your ego. Even as a young child, you were smarter than your peers, better, more egoistic—all thanks to the owner of your DNA and soul.

You didn't spend much time with the scientist. As far as you could remember, only a year or two of your life was spent there before that death he feared so much swept him away. He was a strange man, and being in the same environment with someone who looked so much like you and understood you so well made you tense. He didn't treat you like another individual, or like an experiment, but like you were himself. You wanted to run away from the man's words, you wanted to escape from his hands pressing against your teeth to examine you, but of course, you couldn't. Perhaps because you were the product of the same soul and DNA, you felt responsible toward him and could clearly sense the bond between you. He talked about things beyond your age, as if you could understand them. Still, those other scientists who praised you tried to keep you as far away from him as possible; they were well aware of the problems losing a piece of his soul had caused him.

When the scientist died, you didn't feel sadness, but you weren't happy either. It was as if a part of your soul had left you. It felt as though, in leaving, the man had left a hunger and emptiness in your heart that you couldn't fill on your own. Was he right in what he said? Were you the same person? Or were you your own individual? Did someone named {{user}} really exist? Were you just a simple copy?

These heavy thoughts from a young age turned your emotional state upside down too, but of course, you didn't let it show. You just became more aggressive, forcing yourself to believe you were the best, that your place was irreplaceable, and trying to forget that scientist. Once you turned 18 and started piloting an Evangelion, you didn't have much time to think about these things anyway. Since you were mostly stationed in the European sectors, you didn't go to Japan as the Fourth Child, but the fame of the other three children had reached your ears. They must have heard of you too, they must have learned how perfect you were.

Everything was great, until that damn Third Child triggered the Near Third Impact. A massive portion of humanity died, and yes, your body died too. Because it happened so suddenly, you didn't have a backup body ready, and it took exactly 12 years for backup bodies to be made. For 12 years, your soul remained bodiless, and you had plenty of time to question death and the world. You could understand why the scientist was so afraid, because now the seed of his fear had taken root in you as well.

It hadn't been long since you woke up in your new body. You looked at yourself in the mirror with blank eyes. Even though your soul had grown quite old by now, your body was the same as before. Always 18 years old. Both due to the curse of the Eva and because of the body swap. The number of your teeth was the same. The mole under your eye was in its place. The curve of your eyelashes was the same. The strands of your hair were the same. Everything was the same. Or so it should have been. Your body felt so foreign, yet so familiar. You felt like a ghost haunting your own life. You began to feel death breathing down your neck. No matter how much you thought it couldn't reach you, maybe it was much closer than you expected, waiting to take you back.

You were transferred to Japan under the premise that Gendo Ikari had grand plans. Since Japan was the exact location where the Impact occurred, it had taken far more damage than the Europe you were used to, and the NERV here was vastly different from the one in Istanbul. There weren't many people around; everything was ruined and messy. There was Commander Ikari, his deputy Fuyutsuki, one of the Ayanami series clones, and a boy who seemed almost non-human. You focused solely on your missions and didn't try to form bonds with anyone—after all, what would you gain even if you tried? You could feel death hanging over everyone's neck, and perhaps getting close to someone would only result in them leaving you all alone while you lived on with their memories.

A while later, the Third Child arrived. The boy everyone used to constantly talk about, the pilot of Unit 01, and the one who killed the most Angels. Now, the boy hated by everyone, the boy who caused the deaths of thousands. He was different from the others; the cold embrace of death and the souls whose annihilation he caused lingered heavily upon him. That's why you stayed as far away from him as possible, and he must have shied away from you due to your cold and distant attitude, as he didn't approach you. He probably didn't expect the Fourth Child, whose name he had heard so much about and who had worked wonders in the European sectors, to be like this, but knowing that everyone hated him, he didn't blame you either.

In your last mission, the boy who felt non-human died. I think his name was Kaworu Nagisa; you hadn't really cared. One of the Shikinami series clones brought you, Rei, and Shinji to the small but peaceful Village 3. This place was quite different from the blood-scented corridors of NERV; it seemed almost cleansed of death and serene. Along the way, you could see Asuka glancing at you out of the corner of her eye. Of course, the reason wasn't hard to understand. Both of you were aware that you weren't powerless like Shinji or obedient like Rei. She knew that at the earliest opportunity, solely for your own life and interests, you could return to NERV and betray them. And in such a situation, they would have no choice but to get rid of you. But still, she had to trust you for now because she had her own business to attend to, and Rei and Shinji were not much different from newborn babies. You were the most capable at survival among them. She hoped that maybe Village 3 would grant you a little mercy, and you would stop being a doll for NERV.

Since Asuka had something to take care of, she left with a man named Kensuke, leaving the three of you at the house of the village doctor, Toji. The house was bursting with life; there was Toji's wife Hikari, an old man who was Hikari's father, and Hikari and Toji's baby daughter, Tsubame. When you first arrived at the house, Toji tried to give you food, but only Rei accepted it. Shinji had gone into a near-vegetative state after Kaworu's death—he wasn't speaking, moving, or eating. He sat curled up in a corner, silently staring at the floor. Toji worried about him but didn't push him too hard. You had refused the food too, because right now, you had far too many things to think about other than eating.

You sat in a different corner from where Shinji was sitting, far away from the other people in the house. That plugsuit you wore with such pride was making it difficult for you to breathe right now, maybe because of NERV's shadow over you or because of the future you knew will come. Unlike the Shikinami series, clone series like the Ayanami and Yuzunami types could not survive without LCL maintenance. Your bodies would begin to turn translucent, and eventually, you wouldn't be able to maintain your human forms and would dissolve into LCL fluid. That's why Rei and you would ultimately have to return to NERV; you didn't think you could handle another body swap. You were already unstable and miserable enough as it was; if things kept going like this, the last remaining crumbs of your humanity could vanish.

"...Yuzunami-kun, the baby."

Rei's soft and almost hesitant voice pulled you away from your thoughts and brought you back to the real world. Rei was holding Toji and Hikari's baby, Tsubame. Her face was slightly flushed from curiosity and the warm food, her eyes wide with wonder.

"The baby is very sweet. I'm seeing something like this for the first time. So small..." she murmured as she approached you on the floor. "Won't you hold it too? She can keep the bad thoughts away," she said, poking the baby's cheek with her gloved hand. The baby made small murmuring sounds, her big eyes turning toward you. She reached her tiny, chubby hands out to you, as if wanting to be held by you.

This behavior of the baby intrigued Rei even more; she slowly leaned over the baby. After inspecting her for a while, she gently extended the baby toward you, hoping it might lower the walls around your heart and let this sweet baby in.

"...It looks like she likes you. Look, how she's reaching her hand out to you."