Chapter 1: Enter Else DeMachina

Else writhed in agony as he struggled to awaken, but to no avail. The nightmare was oh so familiar to him...the cold, unforgiving glass walls all around him, enclosing like a clear coffin. He, Else, trapped inside, floating inside a pool of blood. And then that face. It was in shadow, but he could see a glint of light over the figure's eyes, as if he were wearing glasses, and whoever he was, he was very tall, and definitely male. He didn't know why, but Else felt an immense hatred swell up inside him as he saw that face, extending even beyond the dream's vapors, so his sleeping face turned red with anger. Then the unthinkable happened; suddenly, he felt his body pushing against all sides of the glass prison. The frozen look of absolute fear on the man's face. Oh, how his dreaming self had relished that fear; and that elation lasted for about two seconds, when the glass broke. He felt the pain, but not much, as if it were dulled somehow. Felt the cuts of a thousand shards of ice on his entire body, but paid them no heed. He only knew he had to destroy that person in front of him, and as he thought this, he felt an intense pain in his shoulder blades, and the ghastly sound of his flesh reshaping itself. He stood up now, and heedless of the glass shards in front of him, walked across the floor toward the man whom he hated. His hands suddenly rent the air in front of him with white lightning, and the man fell to the ground, unconscious. He bent down to look into his face, and had almost seen it when...

A car horn honked, and Else woke with a start. Even though it was only about 65 degrees farenheit outside, his entire body was drenched in sweat. Suddenly, he stiffened as he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Quickly, he looked around for hiding places, but being outside in the park as he was, there weren't many places to hide. Sweeping his long black bangs out of his eyes, he stood up. Might as well try and avoid detection. But, he thought to himself, for how much longer? As he climbed up a tree, he thought more. Ever since he could remember, he had been dodging the police, trying to stay out of the public eye. Else was an orphan, but so far, the police didn't know of him yet. For some reason he didn't know, Else didn't trust the government. He could be shipped away to a foster home, or worse. No, it was better to stay in hiding, to stay in shadow. He shinnied up into the branches of the tree he had climbed, then willed himself to be silent. There he sat, hardly daring to breathe. A policeman strode along the park's main walking lane, whistling as he went, and suddenly, he stopped just under the tree Else was in. Else held his breath; the policeman went on his way, and as soon as Else knew he was out of earshot, he scampered down the tree with surprising agility, and dashed off into the night.

xxx

The next morning, no one noticed the teenage boy with long black hair in the crowd of the busy streets of Tokyo-3. But then again, why would they? They all had their own agendas, as Else had his. He was incognito, or so it seemed. Inside a nearby car, a young woman with dark purple hair watched him as he walked down the sidewalk into the school, as if nothing was unusual about it at all. "So this is him," Misato Katsuragi said to herself, looking at the card in her seat in front of her, propped beneath the ashtray on the dashboard. "Else DeMachina." As Misato was musing thus, meanwhile Else was walking up to school, blending in w/the crowd of other students as he assumed his everyday guise of an ordinary student. No orphan here, officer...just a junior high school student, and thank you for your time. Here he could stay, and as long as he kept attending school regularly, the police wouldn't be any the wiser. No questions asked. Of course, no one ever spoke to him; then again, he chuckled to himself, why would they? It was human nature to shy away from people you didn't know, only to stick to the people you were close to; and the other people who were friendly, well, thanks to Else's appearance, no one would come within a mile of him. He had long black hair that hung almost down to his shoulders, but even his bangs couldn't hide the stare of his piercing red eyes that never seemed to blink. In fact, if you were to look at the back of his head, you would swear his eyes were staring through his head right back into yours, and if you looked right into them, you felt as if he was gazing into your very soul. Also, he had unnaturally pale, clammy skin, and the effect of all of these facial features was you got a vibe from him that screamed, "Demon!" with a voice that could shatter glass. But in his school uniform, he was invincible. The police couldn't, wouldn't touch him, and he never did anything really bad. He had an after-school job at a small ramen place, working behind the counter because, as he knew the manager thought but would never say to his face, his appearance would frighten away the customers; anyway, it gave him enough to make ends meet.

Actually, Else was around 15, but he was so skinny, they treated him just like any other student in the 8th grade class B. So he was surprised when the teacher called him up to answer a question, and he was even more surprised that he actually knew the answer, and even added a few explanations of his own. The other students were in shock, but Else was the most surprised of all. He hadn't even known he'd known the answer, and that quite frankly was scary. His thoughts were interrupted by the lunch bell ringing. Unlike most Japanese schools, the students were actually allowed to go outside to eat, and Else took advantage of this. The noontide sun was high, and Else just stared up at the sky absentmindedly as he ate his ramen quietly away from the others. Else really liked ramen, and looked forward to seeing what brand the restaurant owner gave him that day for lunch, and today's actually had chicken in it: which was odd, because usually it was some kind of fish or another. Ah, but he didn't complain (who would he have to do so to, anyway?) instead he carefully slurped down the ramen, being careful as it was still hot. Only minutes later, he had finished, and lay back onto the bench with a sigh. As he looked up, he noticed that he could see the girls' gym practice from here. And that's when he saw her. The girl was alone, as he was, but what stood out even more was her pale skin and red eyes...just like his, but a lighter shade, not as intense as Else's, and as he looked at her, she looked in his direction, and in that second, he was positive that she could see him, no matter how far away she was. What was her name? He'd heard it before, but it escaped him at the moment. The strange girl met his stare for almost five minutes, looking back at him as his gaze was fixed upon her eyes. She wasn't bad looking, he noted, but with milder interest than her eyes. Those eyes! Never had Else met a gaze as piercing as his own. His musings were suddenly interrupted by the bell to go back to class ringing, but he looked over his shoulder as he walked away, and saw her still looking at the back of his head.

Thus was Else's first encounter with the first child, Rei Ayanami. And from then on, his life would change forever, starting with the dismissal bell.

xxx

Else yawned as he filed out of the classroom with the rest of the students, ready to join his coworkers at the little ramen kiosk, but suddenly, he tensed, sensing that someone was watching him. Could it possibly be the red-eyed girl? No-the feeling was different. Turning, he saw an unsuspicious-looking car driving alongside him. The only thing was, it was following him at exactly the same speed. Else knew he'd be stupid if he tried to run, but he was saved the trouble of having to decide what to do next by the window being rolled down. "There any particular reason you're following me?" he addressed the occupant with a voice that could freeze beer. "Is this how you usually greet people?" the purple-haired young woman at the driver's seat countered. "Get in," she said, and even though the voice she spoke it in had no trace of anger, he knew she was giving him an order, "Come on," she urged. "It's not like you have anywhere to go now." He didn't like the knowledge she seemed to have of him, but she was right: his shift didn't start for another hour. So he shrugged and fastened himself into the car, and without a word, the car shot off, driving slightly over the speed limit. "So who are you, anyway?" Else addressed the driver, who pretended she was concentrating on the road, but eventually replied, "I'm Misato Katsuragi." Else didn't say anything after this, and turned his attention out the window. "It's polite to tell people your name," she said with a little authority, but was stopped by a glance from him. "Why should I tell you-if you know it already?" Misato was taken aback until he withdrew from his pocket his own ID card. She glanced at the dashboard, and sure enough, the card was no longer there. She hadn't even seen him reach for it...then he continued. "You really should be more careful where you leave things," Else said with a smirk. "You're not very subtle, are you?" Misato said, and even though it wasn't polite, she didn't seem angry. "Subtlety?" Else laughed as he took a closer look at the card in his hand. "Never heard of it. Do you work for these NERV people?" "Not that it's any of your business, but yeah." "And now can you explain all those unmarked car batteries in the back?" Misato froze. "You shouldn't ask so many questions." "So you did steal them, then?" By way of an answer, Misato peeled around a sharp curve, plastering Else up against the window. "Ouch..." he groaned. "Okay-no more questions." Misato smirked as he lapsed into silence.

Chapter 1 End.