Chapter 1: Prologue

Or

In the effort to make Evangelion's setting tolerable I may have gone too far in some places. You tell me that life was hell after Second Impact then I will make it fucking hell and damn the consequences it has on word count or story flow.

"We're home!" Shinji's cousin Akio announced as he and Shinji walked through the front door of the Ikari household. There was a dual call of "Welcome Home!" from the living room and kitchen as they deposited their outside shoes and put on their indoor slippers. They walked by the living room where Shinji's maternal Uncle Minoru was enjoying his day off by lounging on the couch and watching the evening news.

On the television the news crew was panning over a long line of laid out bodies covered by blankets, a quick count showing around 12, and 2 heavily scarred and muscled men in cuffs sitting by them. It then cut to another panning shot of nearly a dozen naked, skinny, and torn people being wrapped in blankets and escorted to emergency vehicles. At the bottom of the screen the words "SURVIVALIST CAMP RAIDED" appeared, panning over a collection of rusted and worn rifles, handguns, knives, and a couple grenades.

Shinji's eyes left the screen and followed his cousin down the hall to their shared bedroom, Akio throwing his backpack on his bed and leaving as quickly as they entered. He took his time to unpack his bag and set everything that couldn't stay out where it needed to go on his dresser. Eventually he pulled out a blank essay paper, the neat columns of squares giving plenty of space with which to write the given assignment. Shinji stared at the starting words of "My dream for the future..." and sighed after a few moments of silence.

This assignment was to have be short, simple, and finished in class, students handing it in to the teacher as they left for the day. Shinji had been the last to do so having barely even started as the other students began filing out at the last bell and his teacher had not been happy with the essay after giving it a quick skim. He had written that he did not have any kind of dreams or ambitions, no sought after career or profession planned, and that all his life things had happened as they would happen so it didn't matter if he lived or died.

His homeroom teacher, a man in his late 30s with two missing fingers cut off during his slave days to a gang of Survivalists, gave him a fresh blank piece of paper and told him to take the assignment seriously, "No woe is me shit okay?", and finish it by tomorrow for a late grade. "If you ain't got no plan for the future then just quit school and work a farm, factory, or go out an' be a Waster." His teacher had said to him as he walked away.

Shinji picked up a pencil and left his room with the essay paper, heading towards the kitchen. On his way his passed his cousin who was chewing on a piece of jerky. "You got mail." He commented as he passed, not stopping or swallowing to make his message clearer. "From a girl!" He sang. In the kitchen his Aunt Haruka was drinking tea and reading a book.

"You got mail Shinji." She said as she reached out and tapped a letter from a "Misato Katsuragi" without looking away from her book. "Got a girl's name on it. What have you been up to young man?" She asked as Shinji walked by and took the letter, mumbling something about how it was probably just junk mail designed to get him to open it and see what it was selling. The fact that both their and the return addresses were handwritten was just another sign to trick him into opening it.

Reaching the sliding door he opened it and stepped out onto the patio, sliding on some sandals that were kept nearby for walking around the garden. Closing the door behind him he walked out passing the vegetable patch where they were growing a variety of things, the coop the chickens retreated to as he got near, and their pair of nanny goats that he stopped to pet before they tried to eat his essay paper. He doubted his teacher would accept "our goat ate my homework" as an excuse although that never stopped Akio from trying.

Uncle Minoru and Aunt Haruka had the study room built for him a little over a year ago, just before he and Akio started Junior High classes together. It was a simple shed with a window on the side to let in some natural light and air so it didn't become too stuffy or hot inside. Inside there was simply a desk for Shinji to work at, a chair to sit in, a shelf to hold books of whatever subjects he was studying, a kerosene lantern to study at night with, and tucked in the corner a rolled up bedroll.

Shinji rarely ever slept out in his study room. He only did so that time he was sick and had to be quarantined or on the nights when he forgot the time and didn't go back inside before everybody else went to bed. But he typically had little reason to go back out after going inside for dinner or dropping off his dish and silverware when he ate out in it. He could knock on the doors and windows until someone woke up to let him in but he didn't want to bother them, like they didn't bother him asking when he was going to come inside.

Shinji walked into his study room and threw the blank essay paper and letter on the desk, not bothering to take his sandals off for the concrete floor or bolt the door shut before he sat down. This probably wouldn't take too long. Pushing the letter off to the side he stared down at the words "My dream for the future..." and began tapping the eraser end of his pencil against the paper, trying to think of an answer. His teacher clearly hadn't appreciated his honesty so now he would need to come up with a convincing lie.

Town Guard? He doubted he had it in him to deal with the problems between Townies let alone when Wasters came in causing trouble.

Bounty Hunter? He'd have to go out of the safe zones in search for his targets. That was Waster or, god forbid, Survivalist territory.

Soldier? Hahahaha! Get killed here by Japanese separatists or get shipped off to some other country by the U.N. to get killed by their separatists. Bad enough he would probably have to deal with that for 2 years during his compulsory service in the U.N. army when he turned 16 if he couldn't give them a good enough reason to not take him.

Politician? If he messed up, somehow made people think he was corrupt, or was just in charge when things went real bad he'd be swinging from a street lamp courtesy of an angry mob.

Farmer? While they were in high demand they had to defend their land from Wasters, Survivalists, and wild animals almost entirely by themselves with help sometimes being hours or even a day away.

Doctor/Scientist? He may ace almost every assignment and test but that still required a fair bit of study in this room and no subject medical or scientific really... spoke to him. Besides, there was enough scientists in his family.

Businessman? There was still a few big corporations around and nothing really stopping a person from starting their own business. Although what the hell he would sell or do was lost on him.

Engineer? Uncle Minoru got plenty of work trying to make the ruins of the world livable again, their own town was just a small safety zone on the edge of a crumbling city that the rails ran through. Every year they expanded and focused on making what they absorbed workable.

...Yeah, that last one could work.

A short while later Shinji had a completed essay going over how he dreamed about helping rebuild the world, keeping as much of the Pre-Hammerfall world alive as possible. He even put in a little something about seeing the large crumbling skyscraper in the center of the city just outside the town safety zone cleaned up and restored and serving as a symbol of Humanity's resilience and all that good stuff.

Honestly the way Uncle Minoru talked about it the building would probably be destroyed when they finally got around to it, he often said it was a miracle that it hadn't collapsed already, but his teacher didn't need to know that. If you read between the lines it also seemed rather sweet that he was following in the footsteps of his uncle who took him in after his Father…

Shinji pushed the finished essay away, leaned back in his chair to stare at the ceiling, and sighed. After a quiet minute not thinking about his past he resumed his normal sitting position and his eyes fell on the letter pushed off to the side. Reaching over he grabbed the letter and looked it over, noticing the return address in Tokyo-3 and how "Misato Katsuragi" had drawn a heart after her name. With a roll of his eyes he tore the envelope open at one of the ends and reached in to pull out what was inside.

Compared to the overgrown ruin that the Ikari family lived on the outskirts of Tokyo-3 sounded like something out of a movie or story. A city built up fast after Hammerfall instead of being slowly restored or left to rot, rumors said that the skyscrapers just rose right up out of the ground! It was a modern city made to survive another Hammerfall and the horrors that it wrought with defenses to fight off any army, shelters capable of protecting all of its nearly 2 million citizens, and enough food rations stored to feed everyone for months!

Just the thought of so many people living in one place made Shinji's head spin, Japan had an estimated population of 23 million so a little over 8% of its citizens called it home. There was also the rumors about "the GeoFront", a massive underground chamber with forests, fields, a lake with fish, animals, and somehow natural sunlight that was to serve as a way to someday recolonize the irreparably damaged parts of the world.

The fact that it was where his Father supposedly lived and was Shinji's home before he joined his Uncle's family, back when it was called Hakone, had nothing to do with his interest.

Shinji only found a single photo inside the envelope, presumably of the sender Misato Katsuragi. The first thing that he noticed was that she was young, early to mid-20s if he had to guess. If he was right she'd have been around 7 to 11 when The Hammer of God came down, surprising as many children didn't survive it along with the elderly. The only way they survived is if their families took care of them and that meant they had to be physically with them on Hammerfall as it would have been next to impossible to find them for years after it.

Some were lucky enough to find people to take care of them but a lot of groups dropped those who couldn't contribute or were drains on food. Most had to be driven off but there was a good number of elderly who chose to starve to death or wandered off with just the clothes on their backs instead of be burdens. It was better than what some groups did to those who couldn't pull their weight to get some… use out of them or keep their hideout secret.

Of course his generation didn't have it any easier for a few years after Hammerfall. A lot of babies died without medicine if they weren't just abandoned due to lack of resources or mutation from radioactive fallout or suffered more… unpleasant fates. They were all very lucky to have survived this long they were repeatedly told so in school. The really bad stuff was over by the time they were old enough to realize what was going on around them. There hadn't even been a town overrun and enslaved by Survivalists in Japan in 5 years!

But back to more pleasant matters as the second thing Shinji noticed was that this woman was hot as hell.

His eyes trailed up her long legs, bare due to the denim hot pants she wore, over her wide hips and slim waist to settle on a large pair of breasts contained in the blue and white striped bikini top she was wearing. She was bending forward at the waist and smiling at him with one eye frozen in a wink as she raised a hand in a peace sign with the other braced against her knee. She had long and flowing deep purple hair, a strand of which fell down over her shoulder and hid her right breast just a bit, and her open eye revealed a dark brown color.

With a flushed face Shinji decided that if this was Misato Katsuragi then she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

With almost a start Shinji realized that there were words and even a lipstick kiss on the photograph along with a really nice car that Misato had apparently been posing in front of. "To Shinji: I'm going to pick you up so please wait for me! P.S. Note the cleavage!" The post script was written above the lipstick kiss, which Shinji unconsciously trailed his thumb over gently, and had both an arrow pointing to the mentioned cleavage and another drawn heart following it.

Confused Shinji flipped the photo over to find a set of written instructions on what trains to take at what stations and when, starting at his local station and ending at one inside of Tokyo-3. After that was another post script: "P.P.S. I work for your Father, Gendo! He wants to see you ASAP! I'm not trying to kidnap you I swear!"

The photograph slipped from Shinji's limp fingers and fell to the desk, Misato now winking and throwing a peace sign up at me.

We won't meet for a while

"...Why?" I whispered to myself quietly, my soft tone breaking the silence that had descended since I finished the essay. I stood, the wooden chair legs scrapping loudly against the concrete floor, as I backed away from the table and leaned against the opposing wall. I took deep calming breaths and closed my eyes, trying to ease the icy grip that my heart was in as my hands shook. "Why? Why now?" I asked no one as I brought my hands up and wiped the cold sweat from my face, wiping it on my pants. "It's a lie, a trick. It has to-"

"Yo Shinji!" Akio announced as he threw open the door to the study room and leaned in, looking towards the desk. "Mom wants to kn-" He stopped and looked around until he found me leaning against the wall, taking deep breaths, sweating, and looking a bit flustered. "The hell is wrong with you?"

"Noth-nothing." I stammered, righting myself up and trying to make a dismissive hand gesture. I should've bolted the door shut! "What... what does Auntie want?"

"She wants to know if you're eating dinner in here or with us tonight." He finished as he stepped into the study room, pulling on his shirt to fan himself. "How do you sit in here all day man? What are you even doing out here?" Not waiting for me to answer he closed the door and began walking over to the desk.

"Nothing!" I exclaimed as I pushed myself off of the wall, my skin going cold as I watched my cousin make a beeline for the photograph. "Just some homework!" I rushed forward to try and grab the photograph but Akio dived for it when he saw me, a wide grin on his face.

"Who is this?!" He asked mockingly as he picked it up and jumped back from my grasping hands. "Is this your pretend girlfriend?! She's pretty! Damn man look at those tits!" He shouted as he ducked and dodged around my attempts to get the photo of Misato back. "I knew you were always jerking off in here man! Thank God I missed it though!" He laughed as I tried to pin him against the wall and he pushed me away, the chair knocking over in our struggle.

"I wasn't jerking off!" I shout in denial as I grabbed his wrists and we began to struggle in the center of the room. "I've never even seen her before! She was in the letter!" I begin to explain, struggling to bring both of Akio's wrists together to grab them with one hand so my free hand could yank the photo out of his grip.

"Huh?" He made a confused noise as leaned his head forward and began to read, unable to bring the photo closer due to our fighting. "...Oh, no way. There's no way you did!" He looked at me disbelievingly, our feet scuffing across the concrete floor as we struggled. "Shinji I will take back every bad thing I've ever said about you if you did!"

"Did what?!" I demanded to know, growing frustrated with this wrestling match. I wasn't a physical person and Akio spent a lot more time outside getting into trouble and rough housing with his friends. If he wasn't as entertained about the whole thing it would've been over very quickly. Plus there was the chance ever growing chance of Aunt Haruka coming out to see what was keeping him and I really didn't want a repeat of my first week with this family.

"Please, please oh please, tell me that you used all of your saved up allowance money your Dad has been sending to buy a hooker through the mail!" He exclaimed and I went stock still in shock, just gaping at him. "She's a lot prettier than the local girls I'll give you that!"

"No!" I shout as he uses my momentary distraction to wrench himself free of grasp, pushing me away and against the desk. "Why would I do that?!"

"Uhhh, to get laid?" Akio answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "She's fine man... can't really tell if she's got a good ass though..." He muttered to himself as he flipped the photo over, as if expecting to find a shot of Misato's behind. My blood went cold as I saw his eyes read through the instructions and the post script that had upset me so badly. "...Ah." He said quietly as he took a step forward and handed the photo back to me. "Well… she promises that she ain't trying to kidnap you."

"Yeah, I really buy that the person who sent this letter is a woman let alone looks like this." I say sarcastically as I drop it back on the desk, face down to look at the instructions on the back. "Someone is just messing with me. Probably some guy from school." I muttered, picking up the knocked over chair and setting it back by the desk.

"Who would do that? You got a bunch of enemies we don't know about?" Akio asked skeptically. Our "school" was a small repurposed office building with, due to room size, only 4 age mixed classes of roughly 14 students each, 3 for Junior High and only 1 for the few High School students that didn't decide to find work or get drafted into the U.N. army.

With just under 60 students everybody was aware of everybody else, especially the one kid who didn't have any friends, stayed in class during lunch, and when people tried to interact with him he acted "all high and mighty because of his good grades". So my cousin would know if I had any enemies. "Besides, who even knows your Dad's first name? It is Gendo right?" He asked.

…Damn, he had a point there. We didn't bring up my Father… ever really and I was pretty sure that barely anybody at school knew my Father was even alive.

"Why would anybody want to kidnap you anyway? Why now? Is your Dad suddenly important or something?" Akio continued, putting his hand to his chin in thought.

"I don't know." I answered honestly, I didn't know… anything about my Father other than his name and that he was a scientist. I barely remembered what he looked like… I'm pretty sure he wore glasses and walked with a crutch last time I saw him when he dropped me off with this family.

"Mom and Dad never complain about your Dad failing to send or falling short on the money. Even when we had to move here or they asked for more there was never any trouble from him either." He continued aloud, bringing up our moving to this town during the last big rebellion against the U.N. about 4 years ago when the fighting came a bit too close to our old home.

I remember us being loaded up on a big truck with a couple other families with what we could carry in the middle of the night, the echoes and flashes of explosions coming from over the dark hillsides. As we left we passed a couple U.N. army vehicles including a tank with a gunner for the machine gun that looked no older than 16 if my memory served but it was hard to tell in the dark. I hope he lived, he made it through Hammerfall as a child so it would suck to die in a war right after it.

While in the refugee camp a few weeks later we learned that our old home and much of the town, or "Survivor Conclave" as they were called back then, had been reduced to rubble. We had lived on the ground floor of an old convenience store using curtains to create makeshift rooms as the upper floors and office belonged to other people, so the U.N. relocated us. So we came here and started living in what was once a small arcade but we at least had it to ourselves. A real step up all things considered.

Not wanting to live forever in a re-purposed ruin Uncle Minoru and Aunt Haruka came up with an easy way to get money to put towards buying a reconstructed home in the newly secured old suburbs: they would demand it from my Father. They sent a letter saying that as I got older the expenses to take care of me increased, a growing boy needs more than the food rations the U.N. deals out for everyone and all that, and he should send a moderate amount more.

Which he did in the next payment with no note or letter giving his thoughts on the matter.

So they waited a while and after a few more payments they asked for another increase.

They got it, again no note or questions.

They did this two more time before they decided that they were pushing it and stopped. I should probably be angry but after we moved here and Aunt Haruka got the vegetable garden going and bought the chickens and our goats any complaints I had disappeared. I remember the first time I got to have fried eggs, fresh vegetables, and goat's milk and eventually cheese to go with our rations. Once other people moved in and started setting up their own gardens and livestock our table was packed with traded and purchased fresh food.

"He's got plenty of money so he has to have an important job… unless he's become a singer or rock star or something." Akio mused aloud as I tried to mentally conjure an image so ridiculous. "If she does work for him then she's probably his secretary or something, handles appointments and sending out messages about things he doesn't give a crap about." He reasoned and I didn't react to the idea of my Father finding me worthless for it was a long familiar one. "…You think he's doin' her?"

"Ugh! I don't know!" I shout disgusted that Akio's mind went anywhere near the subject of my Father's sex life. "Why would you ask me that?!"

"Hell man your Mom has been dead for, like, 10 years this year right? If he ain't even looking for a new woman by now then something is wrong with him. Hey!" My cousin answered before suddenly shouting. "What if she's gonna be your new Mom?! Like they're gettin' married and she wants to bridge the gap between you two and meet her new Step-Son to play Mommy and stuff." He said as he jumped to a wild conclusion that left me stunned for a moment. "He may not even know she sent this!"

"No wait! He's dying and you're going to inherit all his money so she's tryin' to make a move on you to get it! That's why it's a sexy picture!" He took a step forward and spoke seriously. "Don't fall for it Shinji. She'd make a hell of a trophy wife but she'd probably want to stay in Tokyo-3."

"And I heard that they try and live like it was before The Hammer of God there so she'd have to treat you like a little brother or something in public instead of as her man and probably wouldn't share." I continued to stare at him in silence as he gave his advice. "But if you get enough money and stay here you could probably get 3 or 4 girls lookin' to live easy, like what Mr. Saito next block over has got going on."

"…Akio, get the hell out of my room." I say calmly after listening to his crazy ramblings long enough. "And you should really learn to keep your odd ideas to yourself. You don't do yourself any favors the longer you go on with them, they make you sound like a crazy idiot."

"…Alright." He said after a moment of silence as he began to scowl. "I'll leave you alone in your jerk off hut." With that he turned and opened the door to walk out of my study room, leaving me alone as I sat back down at the desk. I looked down at the name of my Father, who I had not seen in nearly a decade, and the promise that this wasn't an attempt to kidnap me, for whatever nefarious reason.

This was too much for me, already I could feel the icy dread settling upon my skin as I thought of possibilities and what I would have to do for each. I closed my eyes and sighed deeply.

Akio had tired me with his interruption… I needed to step back for a while.

I'm sorry, Auntie… Uncle… I won't get into fights anymore.

I'm sorry. I'll be a good boy from now on.

Shinji opened his eyes as he looked down at the photo, carefully going over what was written once again. He was being silly, he was worrying about something that was outside of his control now that he thought about it. Uncle Minoru and Aunt Haruka were his legal guardians so the decision on what to do about this fell to them. If they wanted to finally be rid of him then they had their chance and if they felt that this was a load of bull then they'd keep him until… well, until something else happened.

Picking up the photo and letter he got up out of his chair and left his study room, crossing the garden quickly to reach the kitchen door. He stepped inside to find Aunt Haruka rummaging around the cabinets and hearing him enter she turned and frowned.

"Shinji! Akio said that you never answered him about dinner! And what took so lon-" Shinji walked up and wordlessly handed his Aunt the photo of Misato and moved to sit at the dining table. This was in their hands now. "What the hell is this?" She asked as she examined the photo. "…Oh, Shinji you didn't!" He rolled his eyes as his Aunt came to the same conclusion her son did. Why would he show her that he had bought some time with a prostitute? So he could explain to her why he needed so desperately to go to Tokyo-3 tomorrow?

"Honestly, as if you have any idea what to do with a grown woman." She said as she curiously flipped the photo over to the back and found what was written there. "…Oh. Minoru!" She called for her husband as she flipped over the photo again to look at Misato, now going over every detail to try and learn anything she could.

"…What?" Uncle Minoru asked as he walked into the kitchen, pushing his thick rimmed glasses up. "They finally found that big Survivalist camp up North an-" His summary of what Shinji assumed the news was talking about was interrupted when his wife handed him the photo. Unlike his wife and son Uncle Minoru didn't make any exclamations as he calmly read what was written on the photo, his face barely changing as he flipped it over to read what was on the back. "Well, she promises she isn't trying to kidnap him."

"Oh and you believe her?" Aunt Haruka asked sarcastically.

"Didn't say that. She could be trying to kidnap him and be stupid enough to think that promising she won't is convincing. Plus, 9 ½ years is a hell of a time to suddenly ask for Shinji back. I figured Gendo moved on from playing Father and wrote him off as a monthly expense, I doubt he would pay a ransom just to keep paying us." Uncle Minoru responded as he eyed Misato's body, Shinji's shoulders slumping slightly at his Uncle's thoughts. "No scars. Makeup or clever body positioning?" He asked Aunt Haruka for her opinion.

"Neither. She's probably an air-headed rich girl who rode out Hammerfall safe and snug due to her Daddy's money. Doubt she's ever seen anything worse than a week old dead body. Not even torn up but a clean kill. Even you have seen worse." She answered, gesturing to Shinji which was certainly true. "If she does work for Gendo then she's probably his secretary and if she doesn't then she's the pretty face of whoever wants Shinji."

"…There's no phone number." Uncle Minoru noted which Shinji, first in a state of lust and then panic, had missed when he originally looked over the photo. "They gave no way to contact them except by sending a letter back. Why?" He asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"That is odd. If there was a number then Shinji could call and get some sweet nothings whispered into his ear by some woman to help convince him to go." Aunt Haruka commented as Shinji blushed at the idea of this Misato woman whispering… anything really into his ear even over the phone. "And we don't know Gendo's phone number, only the return address the money comes from which," she pointed at the letter in Shinji's hand, "is not that."

"Speaking of money," Uncle Minoru said before he looked at Shinji with a questioning look, "was this all that was in the letter? No money or train tickets?" Shinji answered that the photo was all that was inside. "So they expect Shinji or use to foot the bill on getting him there and maybe back."

"So we have a photo, not a proper letter, that just says "I work for your Dad, he wants to see you, here's where to find me tomorrow, and I'm not going to kidnap you" with no proof for any of that, no way to quickly contact them to ask questions, and no money or tickets provided to get him there." Uncle Minoru summarized, tapping the photo against his free hand as he thought. "Whoever sent this, working for Gendo or not, is either really bad at their job or doesn't want Shinji to actually come. If it's the latter then I have no idea why."

"I do, to screw with Gendo!" Aunt Haruka theorized with a smirk. "Can you imagine what it's like working for that man? I'd take any chance I could to make his life harder."

"That'd be a good way to get your ass fired quickly." Uncle Minoru responded with a smile. "And I suppose sending a picture of herself in a bikini top and cut off shorts somehow also screws Gendo over?"

"Hey, she could just be a freak like that." Aunt Haruka answered, her smirk getting bigger. "Although that right there is a pretty good reason to not send Shinji." Shinji couldn't really agree with that sentiment.

"I figured she was trying to seduce him." Akio interjected as he entered the kitchen from wherever he had gone to after storming out of Shinji's study room. "Like Uncle Gendo is dying and Shinji's going to inherit all his money so she's tryin' to get a slice."

"…Hmm, that is certainly a possibility." Uncle Minoru said after he and Aunt Haruka spent a quiet moment thinking. "We haven't heard from him in nearly a decade so who knows what his health is and he's never failed sending money for Shinji. What was it he was doing last time we saw him?" He asked as he turned to his wife. "He was a Metaphysical Biologist like Yui but also a director on some project right?"

"I don't remember or care." Aunt Haruka answered with a sneer. "All I know is that he's got money he sends to us to take care of Shinji and that he and that bitch Yui turned us away during Hammerfall." She spat as Shinji flinched at her words.

There was a reason that the Ikari household did not have any photographs on the walls of Minoru's younger sister and Shinji's Mother Yui or her husband. Denying them shelter in the Hakone safe zone when The Hammer of God fell, with Aunt Haruka being 2 months pregnant with Akio and his Mother 1 month along with him. Only to then, years later after they settled into a stable Survivor Conclave, have to his Father show up to beg that they take him in due to his Mother dying under… unclear circumstances.

Considering what his Aunt and Uncle had to do to survive and keep Akio safe until that point Shinji was sure that it was only the social pressure of being the newcomers who had to behave, one of the reasons they took him in, or get kicked out that stopped them from killing his Father on the spot. If their story was accurate then Shinji had to admit that his Mother and Father had pulled a… pretty big dick move. Shinji had seen people killed in duels in the streets for far lesser slights.

"Anyway what are we going to do?! Do we send Shinji or not?!" Aunt Haruka demanded, perhaps a bit angry at old and very unpleasant memories being brought up. "We both swore we'd never step foot in that city again except to spit on their graves, which if Gendo is dying may be soon, but I'm not doing it a moment sooner without a damn good reason." Apparently making sure that the nephew she had raised, for nearly a decade, did not get kidnapped was not one of them.

"…You boys are taking survival lessons in school right?" Uncle Minoru asked after a moment in contemplation which Akio and I both nodded in confirmation to. The curriculum of rural Japan had taken on a far more practical mindset than anything from before Hammerfall according to the adults. It was created with a simple idea behind it: "No more dead kids", too many had died on their own during Hammerfall and the stability provided by the U.N. was new and not trusted.

Along with general studies like the old days there was stuff like Marksmanship where you learned how to safely operate firearms, just firing .22s for now, and correctly identify gunshots by caliber and distance. They learned First Aid and what to do when you had insufficient medical supplies, which they were told to assume would be always. There was also Hunting, Gathering, and Cooking where they got to go outside the town safe zone and into the nearby woods to learn tracking, edible plants, and how to prepare food with simple campfires.

It was basically a field trip but with armed guards ready to kill anyone who stumbled too close.

"They teach you boys how to use knives yet?" Uncle Minoru asked and we both nodded again. Right now knife training was basically just learning how to hold it, sharpen it, and where to stab the straw dummy as hard as you could. Twisting the knife once in was optional but encouraged. There was a final moment of long silence before Uncle Minoru came to his decision.

"…Ehhh, fuck it." He said as he handed the photo back to Shinji. "Go pack a bag for tomorrow with a couple days' worth of clothes Shinji, I'll go get a knife. If someone tries to grab you just scream and shout for help while trying to stab them." With that he and Akio left the kitchen, Aunt Haruka returned to making dinner, and Shinji got up to go to his room. A few minutes into stuffing a duffel bag his Uncle and Akio walked into the room, Uncle Minoru handing him a 6 inch kitchen knife with a handmade leather sheath.

"Your Aunt and I took this off of the first man we killed during Hammerfall." Uncle Minoru explained as Shinji pulled the knife out of the sheath to see how sharp it was. Pretty sharp, they had taken care of it at least. "Our car broke down and he tried to steal it. I picked up a piece cinder block while his back was turned and caved in his skull, left him face down in a ditch filling with rainwater due to The Flood just starting. Needless to say the bastard drowned." Shinji thanked his Uncle and promised to return it.

"You'll be fine Shinji. You're the son of a bitch and a bastard after all." Uncle Minoru assured with what Shinji guessed was supposed to be encouragement. "Maybe while you're there you can visit your Mother's grave. …I'll go get you some money for your trip, don't spend it on anything other than train tickets." With that recommendation he turned to exit the room. "And if the directions start leading you into a bad neighborhood than just quit and come back."

"What would a bad neighborhood look like in Tokyo-3?" Akio asked, having heard the same amazing stories about the city that Shinji had.

"Well if it is just like a Pre-Hammerfall city than it would look a lot like our neighborhood." Uncle Minoru answered.

"But we live in the nicest part if town!" Akio exclaimed. Which was true, they lived a hell of a lot better than the people who squatted in the cobbled together metal shacks waiting for the safe zone to expand so they can go squat in an actual building and still be Townies instead of Wasters. Hell, the Ikari household had a TV, its own garden, and livestock! They were rich!

"Yup!" Uncle Minoru answered with a sad smile, probably remembering everything that had been lost 15 years ago. With that he left their room, leaving Akio standing half and half in the doorway and Shinji to resume packing. There was a long moment of silence until Akio spoke, making Shinji turn to look at him.

Your Dad… killed your Mom, right?

The image of Akio standing half and half in a doorway while I packed to leave, potentially forever, was so similar to my first few days with this family, who as far as I knew I was being dumped forever with, that for a moment I was 4 years old again. We were back in the convenience store of the first Survivor Conclave we lived in, the walls replaced by large thick curtains hanging around the main room. He was dressed in dirty rags while I wore crisp and clean clothes, coloring on the floor with crayons which he had never seen before.

He had asked if my Father had killed my Mother in an experiment because he had heard Aunt Haruka say that was what had happened to their neighbors. In anger, for what I don't remember… maybe defending my Father's honor, I attacked him and had to be pulled off of him by Aunt Haruka. A really good first impression.

"I'm sorry what was that?" I asked, lost in my memories.

"Just said that it's going to be weird if you leave for good." Akio repeated, looking at me with an expression I had a hard time reading. It was certainly one he didn't use often. "I don't even really remember what it was like before you showed up…"

"…Probably not going to happen." I said, turning away from him. "I'll probably stay there for a few days and talk about… stuff. Then come back here and nothing will come of it. Or get kidnapped." I said glumly, I wasn't going to get my hopes up. "All this means is that I'm going to miss a day or two of school. It's just annoying is what it is."

"Yeah, well," Akio said as he looked around before he turned to leave, "don't let your Dad kill you like he did your Mom." And with that he left me behind to finish backing.

"…Yeah." I said to myself as I went to the closet and picked out shirts. It made no difference to me if I lived or died, what happened would happen whether I liked it or not so there was no point in getting worried about it. It wasn't like death was even that big of a deal, 50% of Humanity died in a month during Hammerfall and now 15 years later they were still dying with a world population dwindling or "stabilizing" to around 15% to 17% of what it was when The Hammer of God came down.

If I died tomorrow then nothing would really change for anybody. Uncle Minoru and Aunt Haruka would stop getting money that they honestly could do without now and would have to find a use for his study room. His Father would stop sending money that apparently he had more than enough of. That was it.

With that cheery thought I stuff the last of my clothes into the bag and crawl into bed, staring at the ceiling until dinner is called. I'm silent during the meal although that is not unusual but so is Akio which is. After brushing my teeth I lay back in bed until bedtime, waiting for the electricity to be shut off around town to save power and give the machines at some collapsing power plant the chance to be maintained. With the town plunged into darkness I look up out the window at the sea of stars before I drift off to sleep.

I dream of my Mother.

I can't see what she looks like, I can only hear her voice and see her larger hand holding my tiny hand as she leads me around some playground. I'm sweating and panting in the heat, no cool breeze to alleviate me.

"Are you hot?" My Mother asks softly and make a sound that more or less means yes. "Before you were born there were many seasons, not just Summer." My Mother explained as we stopped walking under the shade of a tree. "In Spring everything would bloom and in Autumn the leaves would all change color. But my favorite was Winter, when everything would be covered in snow."

"Snow?" I asked, not understanding what any of this meant.

"When rain gets very cold, it freezes and turns into snow." She explained. "Its pure white and piles on top of everything, it's very beautiful."

"I like rain!" I say, mostly because rain is usually cool and right now I really want to be cool.

"I'm glad." My Mother says after she chuckles for a moment, squeezing my hand. "Not many older people like rain anymore. Before you were born there was this event called The Flood, when The Hammer of God came down on Antarctica all the snow there and the water in the ocean around it disappeared and went into the sky." She explained as if I had any idea understanding this. "There they became clouds all over the world and it started to rain all over the world. It didn't stop raining for three months, can you imagine that Shinji?"

"No!" I say astonished. That would get really boring, I wasn't allowed to go out and play in the rain very much.

"When it finally stopped for just 2 minutes one day everyone in our neighborhood ran outside to stare up at the clouds. We all looked very silly with our mouths hanging open looking surprised." She laughed quietly at the memory.

"Daddy too?" I ask, having a hard time imagining my Father looking anything other than stern.

"Oh, yes. Daddy looked especially silly, like a turkey wearing glasses." My Mother answered and I laughed. "Three months later the clouds parted and we saw the sun for the first time in half a year, again for only a few minutes. And then three months after that you were born." She ran her thumb over my tiny knuckles. "There wasn't a cloud in the sky on your birthday."

"I wish the sun would go away right now." I whine as my Mother kneels down in front of me, the hat I've been wearing hiding her face as I stare forward at her blue dress.

"Shinji… Mommy wants to show you Winter one day." She says quietly and very serious. "And Spring and Autumn too. But Mommy can't do it alone, she'll need a little helper." She takes my other hand into hers, holding both of them in front of me. "Someone to protect Mommy against monsters, like a hero."

"M-monsters?" I ask nervously, looking around for any of them hiding nearby.

"Yes, and some of them look like people." My Mother said calmly. "Will you be Mommy's little helper Shinji? So that I can show you all the seasons and snow just like it was before you were born?"

"Ummm." I hesitated as I tried to think about what my Mother was asking me to do. Monsters were big, scary, and mean, they ate little kids like me! But heroes in stories were cool, had superpowers and cars and gadgets, and everybody liked them because they made people safe. Maybe that was why Daddy was always so stern and busy? Because he was taking care of the monsters after Mommy? If I helped Mommy then maybe Daddy would be happier too.

"Okay, I'll help you Mommy." I agree with a smile that gets bigger as she leans forward to hug me.

"Thank you Shinji," my Mother says warmly as she hugs me tightly, "you have to promise me that you'll remember this. So you're ready to help me when the time comes."

Before I can say anything I'm being shaken awake by Aunt Haruka.

I get up, have breakfast, shower, brush my teeth, and dress for my trip, the dream slipping from my mind as it had done so many times long before I walk out the door with my bag for the train station.

Next Time: Shinji gets on a train to Tokyo-3. Will he get off of it? Probably not with the way I write. If he does then find out if I can come up with a reason for Shinji to be alone like he was at the beginning that doesn't have to do with an automatic midday train to a major city with no crew or other passengers to stop him from wandering off during a state of emergency. (That shit was so odd it made me think Shinji was a clone of Gendo)