Contact Experiment

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Contact Experiment (接触実験, sesshoku jikken^?) is an ambiguous term used in the Evangelion franchise to describe a certain experimental procedure conducted between a human and Adam with the intention of separating, fusing, and/or conjoining the body and soul of it's participants. There are three known times this procedure has taken place: The first time, about which little is explicitly known, but is understood to have birthed Kaworu Nagisa and was conducted between a human and Adam, playing a big role in the initiation of the Second Impact. This was eventually followed by two other contact experiments which differed in nature from the first, and kickstarted development of the Evangelion.

Adam & Second Impact[]

The Katsuragi Expedition Team undertook a mysterious procedure on 13 September 2000, which one scientist referred to as "the contact experiment with the donor". This "contact" was apparently physical, and resulted in DNA "diving" into Adam and "physically fusing" resulting in Adam's soul being transferred into the body of Kaworu and Adam's body being reduced to an Embryonic state.

Therefore, Tabris' birth via this joining of Lilin genes and Adam's soul, has been speculated to be the direct cause of the Second Impact. The original identity of the donor is unknown. The effects of this fusing are: Adam's Soul was separated from its body and transferred into Nagisa Kaworu and Adam was reduced to an embryotic state, the result of which was eventually implanted into Gendo Ikari's hand.

Yui Ikari & Unit-01[]

In 2004, Yui Ikari participated in a contact experiment with Evangelion Unit-01 at her own request. Upon contact, Yui's body dissolved into LCL and her soul was absorbed into the EVA's core. The subsequent attempt to salvage her soul failed due to Yui's desire to remain inside the EVA; with Lilith's soul instead being implanted into the copies of Rei Ayanami henceforth.

Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu & Unit-02[]

At an unspecified date, Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu undertook a contact experiment with Evangelion Unit-02. Unlike Yui's experiment, Kyoko's does not cause her soul to be wholly absorbed into Unit-02. Rather, only a part of her soul resides in Unit-02, the part that held her the undying love for her daughter. However, due to her soul being split, Kyoko goes insane and later attempts suicide, leaving Asuka without a mother. During Episode:25', both the insane and maternal aspects of Kyoko are heard talking to Asuka at the same time, suggesting that the remainder of Kyoko's soul was salvaged into Unit-02 at some point after her suicide.

Notes[]

• It is very strongly insinuated (in the manga, essentially stated) that Tabris was born from the joining of Lilin genes and Adam's soul.^{[citation needed]} With the only time such an event occurred being the Katsuragi Expedition.
• In Neon Genesis Evangelions' Classified Information on Adam explains it blew apart and degenerated due to its S² Engine "artificially going out of control" with both body and soul lost, to be recovered and reincarnated later by SEELE after Second Impact.
• Even with the scarcity of information on the first contact experiment, it seems to be inherently different from the two that followed in that it was the only known attempt to separate an Angel's soul from it's body and combine this soul with Lilin genes while the others exclusively involved Lilin souls being separated and combined with Adams genes.
• Third Impact, and the Human Instrumentality Project as a whole, share similarities with Contact Experiments whilst on a massive scale and between many souls but with the goal of consolidating them into one body.
• In ADV's Platinum translation of Episode 21', a Katsuragi Team member's line is furnished as, "The DNA that was inserted into Adam is already physically fused!" This is misleading, however: The Japanese clearly says that the DNA "dived" (daibu shita). However, since the concept of DNA "diving" of its own accord makes no apparent sense, ADV's Shoko Ono may have attempted to reinterpret the line into something that did.

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