Notes: This is loosely based off the movie ex machina...because...I really like the idea of kaworu being an android okay? Haha but when I say LOOSELY I mean LOOSELY. More notes at the end.

*Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion

ARTIFICIAL

"Shinji Ikari."

Shinji froze in his footsteps, causing multiple people to bump into his back and grumble at him on the busy city street. He didn't recognize the voice behind him.

"Shinji Ikari?" The mystery woman tried again, this time a little less sure of herself. Shinji turned around to face a young woman, her face seemed kind and she looked visibly relieved when he turned around. Shinji furrowed his brow, I don't recognize this lady.

"Um, yes?" He glanced around nervously. She must have the wrong person. Despite the fact that she was looking directly at him and called out his name. A sea of people continued to steadily move past the two of them. "I'm sorry…do I know you?"

"Are you busy?" The woman asked, taking a step toward him. It wasn't threatening or anything but Shinji couldn't help but flinch back. What does she want?

"I'm-I'm on my way to school…"

"Great, so you're free then." She excitedly grasped Shinji's wrist and tugged him in her direction, all while spinning around and nearly skipping away. "Your father sent me for you."

Father? Shinji's eyes widened and he tried to pull his arm away but couldn't against the woman's grip. "Hey, wait, my father? I don't even know you! Who are you? Where are we going?!"

The car bumped along the small cracks in the cement road, bubbly pop music flowed softly from the speakers. They were on the outskirts of the city now and traffic was thin. The woman driving, Misato Katsuragi, tapped a polished finger to the beat distractedly. Shinji tugged on his seat belt as if it were constricting him and looked out the window. Apparently she really had been sent for him by his father, but she refused to tell him for what exactly until they got to where they needed to be.

Misato said something about NERV.

The company was like a distant relative to Shinji. He vaguely remembered it while not remembering it at the same time. Like father.

"Ms. Katsuragi—"

"Misato's fine."

"…. Misato…I think I should call the school to tell them I won't be coming…"

"Don't worry, we've already taken care of it." She chirped, taking a sudden harsh turn onto a road that was mostly hidden by thick greenery. Shinji knocked his head against the window.

"Ah!" He rubbed at the bump forming on the side of his head. "Then what about my guardians, they should know—"

"Again, don't worry about it, NERV will take care of everything." Misato pressed on the gas and the car lurched forward. Why can't she tell me anything? Shinji thought in frustration.

The road from here was a lot bumpier and Shinji was surprised that they didn't crash. In fact, he didn't understand how Misato saw the road at all. Tree roots and weeds sprouted from the thinnest cracks, shrouding the concrete in foliage.

Eventually they came upon a dirt road that was even harder to spot than the one they were on. Misato slowed the car to a more tolerable speed before turning. There was a tunnel over-grown with ivy at the end of it. Shinji's heart began to pound in his chest as they drove into it.

Misato parked, and for a moment everything was pitch black and silent. Shinji quietly wondered if his life was in danger. The moment he seized the seat belt the car suddenly lurched and they were sinking into the ground. Shinji froze, his shaking hands releasing the seat belt as he sat back. What is this?

The car was being lowered like it was on some kind of giant elevator. Bright lights lined the metal shoot they were being carried down. It was narrow, and Shinji didn't see much past the lights aside for walls that were lined with millions of thick wires. Misato dug through her pocket and took out an ID. It had her picture in the corner and NERV printed boldly at the top. The rest of the ID was filled with some personal information. She had showed the ID to Shinji before he'd gotten into the car with her.

Eventually they reached bottom and all movement stopped. Misato got out of the car and patiently waited for Shinji to do the same. Shinji still couldn't see much of where they were as he got out. He looked up to see sunlight impossibly high up. Misato pressed her card to a small rectangular object protruding out of the wall. A door that Shinji never noticed slid open then, to reveal a brightly lit corridor.

A girl was standing there waiting for them.

She looked to be about Shinji's age, but Shinji had never seen someone that looked quite like her. Her eyes were red, hair a strange pale blue color, and skin white as milk. And her expression looked as blank as a slate. Misato barely regarded the strange girl as she turned back to Shinji. "You coming, or are you just going to stand there ogling?" She teased. Shinji blushed furiously and followed her into the corridor.

The halls were long, and lined with so many doors that Shinji didn't understand how a room could possibly be behind all of them. Almost every single one had that strange rectangle outside of it that he'd seen Misato press her card to, and none of them had any door knobs. People walked around in white lab coats with NERV written on a square breast pocket. They all had their own IDs clipped to their shirts. They paid the trio very little attention as most of them looked like they were rushing off somewhere or going over extensive documents. The walls were bare except for the occasional poster. NERV: leading the world into a smarter future they all read.

The girl leading them walked stiffly but swiftly. She hadn't said a word since he'd seen her. Shinji couldn't help but be curious. What's a girl my age working here for?

Eventually, they came to a door that had CONFERENCE ROOM printed into its middle. It was the only thing that separated it from every other one.

"He is waiting for you in here." The girl said, pressing her finger to what Shinji now called the "rectangle-thing". It blinked green, and Shinji wondered why the girl didn't have a card. The door slid open and Shinji stood frozen.

Misato urged him inside gently, tugging on his wrist again to get him inside. "Thank you, Rei." She said, and the door slid closed behind them.

The conference room looked like…well…a conference room. The walls were plain and there was a big round table in the center lined with rolling black chairs. At the head of the table sat a man, his hands neatly folded in front of his face.

Father.

"Shinji." Gendo Ikari said. "Take a seat."

It was hard to believe they were going even further underground. The elevator was silent and awkward because it was just him and Rei. Shinji didn't have enough energy to try and start a conversation with her, and she didn't seem all that interested anyway. He was still reeling from the encounter with his father.

"You abandoned me, why should I do anything for you!?" The anger and tears had come out of nowhere. He trembled so hard he thought he might fall over. Misato watched from the side uncomfortably, her expression soft and sad.

Yet, despite that, here Shinji was. Doing what his father had asked. It's because I'm weak.

AI…Artificial Intelligence…does such a thing even exist?

Gendo didn't seem fazed by Shinji's breakdown. In fact, he completely ignored it. "You will interact TABRIS, an AI created by NERV."

TABRIS was apparently some kind of artificially intelligent android…or something…that was in the last stages of being developed. The only thing now was it needed to be socialized and recorded in its interactions with a human. Their interactions would be watched and recorded for data.

I don't understand why they need me. Shinji thought. Can't anyone do this? He glanced at Rei, who was staring blankly at the elevator's door. "We are here." She said, her voice was clipped but soft.

The elevator stopped and slid open. This hall was a lot different from the busy one above them. It was dimly lit, and there were only two doors on opposite sides of the hall. One was labeled TABRIS. Rei pressed her finger to the access pad.

Shinji stepped into a tiny box of a room with a chair right in the center. It was facing a glass wall, something that reminded Shinji of an aquarium. But, on the other side was a bedroom. There was a neatly made bed, a book shelf, a desk, and a dresser. There was a small hallway that led to somewhere Shinji couldn't see. The room looked like a display one would see in a furniture store. It didn't look lived in. Rei had closed the door behind him and he was alone.

The first thing Shinji heard was music.

Ode to Joy…Shinji realized. The piano music seeped through the glass, it was beautiful…there must be a music player in one of the rooms Shinji couldn't see. Shinji glanced at the camera in the corner of the room. Was he supposed to just start talking? Um…He reached out and tapped the glass with a nervous hand. The music immediately cut off.

A figure appeared in the hall on the other side of the glass. Shinji's heart nearly stopped in his chest. Is that…? The figure seemed to hesitate only for a moment before walking forward into the light of the bedroom.

It was…a boy. He looks like Rei. His eyes were red, skin pale, and hair a pale silver…almost as white as his skin. There was something unsettling about his perfectly symmetrical face and long elegant body. He looks…fake. Despite the elegance of the boy in front of him, Shinji couldn't help but notice how artificial he was. Maybe he doesn't look so much like Rei. Where Rei's expression was blank, this boy's seemed to analyze everything. Eyes darted over Shinji's face and a smile immediately spread over his thin lips. He started walking forward in a strange too-fluid gate.

"A-Are you TABRIS?" Shinji squeaked, his voice suddenly lost. How could someone make something like this?

"Yes." TABRIS replied, his voice was silky and smooth. He'd grabbed his desk chair and mechanically placed it across from Shinji. There was just a thin piece of glass between them now. Shinji couldn't stop staring at the…thing…sitting in front of him. Shinji wracked his brain for something to say, but he could only gaze in disbelief.

"Actually," TABRIS suddenly said, his head tilting slightly to the side, "I am part of the TABRIS series."

"TABRIS series?" Shinji pulled at his school shirt uncomfortably. It was strange. He was usually shy around other people, but the AI in front of him wasn't really a person…yet he was just as shy as usual. "S-So there are more of…you?"

"I do not know." A pause to think, and then, "I call myself Kaworu. I picked my name."

"You p-picked it?"

"Yes."

Shinji peeked at the camera in the corner of the room again, wondering how many people were watching and scribbling his habits on a thick notebook.

"I'm Shinji." He mumbled, shyly meeting TABRI—Kaworu's gaze. It was too intense, too focused, like it was sucking up every observation it could possibly make.

"Shinji." Kaworu repeated, a smile stretching his lips again. "I like that name, maybe I will pick that name instead."

"What?" Shinji's face brightened in embarrassment. He flapped his hands around. "No—no I think you should keep your name."

"Okay."

They lapsed into more awkward silence. Well, Shinji felt awkward, but Kaworu probably didn't have the capacity to feel that.

"You are nervous." Kaworu suddenly said.

"It's just hot in here." Shinji shot back, defending the little dignity he had.

"You are lying." Kaworu replied. "Humans wear their feelings on their faces to better communicate with one another." Shinji didn't really have a response to that. Instead, he looked to the camera in the corner of the room for the millionth time. Kaworu's gaze followed his before quickly returning to Shinji's face.

"You are the first visitor I have ever had." He said, grabbing the boy's attention again. Shinji pursed his lips, folding his hands in his lap to try and stop their nervous fidgeting.

"I am? That must be lonely." Shinji laughed nervously.

"Loneliness is strictly a human experience."

"So you're never lonely?" Shinji frowned.

"No." Kaworu tilted his head to the side, and Shinji was painfully aware of his eyes analyzing Shinji's face. "Are you lonely?"

"No. I'm around people all the time." Shinji scratched at his neck as another disquieting smile touched Kaworu's face.

What's with that smile? "What is it?" Shinji asked, his cheeks heating up.

"I think we should be friends." Kaworu said, his voice rang like wind chimes. Shinji bunched the fabric of his pants in his hands. He tried to offer Kaworu a smile back in return but he's sure it looked awkward and lopsided in comparison.

"M-Maybe."

The door slid open and Rei stepped through. Shinji stood up, getting the impression his time was done here. Kaworu looked at Rei with a strange expression before standing up. He gave Shinji one last curious look before disappearing completely from the room.

The music started back up again.

Is Rei also…Shinji glanced at the girl. They were back in the elevator. She looked like Kaworu, but they were completely different in movement and nature. There was something almost predatory about Kaworu. Predatory and unsettling. Rei was mechanical in comparison, but although her expression was stiff, Shinji thought she could be soft and delicate if given the chance.

But he didn't like this. He didn't even know what was going on, what NERV was…what his father was up to. He'd made up his mind by the time they reached the top floor.

I will not be coming back here after today.

Notes2: This is also going to be uploaded on tumblr ( .com) so if you want to see more of my stuff and info on the story, go follow it please! Also, what did you think? I don't know if I'm going to upload more but if people want it then I will. Thanks!