Disclaimer: Alright so obviously i do not own Evangelion. Or anything related to that. Only an Eva action figure, and Ayanami Rei Dol- I mean ACTION FIGURE.
Author's notes: This story is a oneshot, with an ending that can be picked up and carried once again if i ever feel like it, or someone feels that they have the skill to do (which considering my current track record should pretty much be 99% of the writers here).
Anyway, this is sort of a Crossover with my own original work. It's a book. Not (publicly) published, but just a hardcover that i handed out to my closest friends. It's about 300 pages long, so i don't expect anyone to read it. (Honestly, Shiro and the original story he spawns from is the only thing i DO own, concept included, so meh) Also, there might be this or that element that might have been taken from this one movie, but i don't own that either, so no sueing. I only used it out of sheer awesomeness of the whole thing.
Also, believe it or not i have written a total of 19 pages, and my heart fell when i saw only 8000 Words in the wordcount. I was hoping for a 5 figure number, so this is way below my expectations. Other than that, this is the product of a 6 hour writing spree that ended making me stay up til 4 AM when i have to get up in 6 hours. Yaaay. /Sarcasm. Anyway, don't expect anything much from this. It's just random stuff that wouldn't stop spewing from my head unless i wrote it down (i do that sometimes).
What else? Uhh.. Oh yeah, English is not my mother language so expect eva loads of typos, error, poor grammar, etc. I don't have the time or patience for a pre-reader. Meh. Oh yeah, flames needed. My gas line got busted so i have no source of heat for cooking food. So flame away.
To dumb it down, i don't know what I'm doing (at all). There, I've said it.
Edit: Sorry about the ninja edit, had to fix some consistency issues with info that didn't match, and typos.. Nothing else has changed.
- Unknown Time - Beach of the Sea of LCL -
A pair of eyes snapped open as the coldness and smell of rotting flesh assault the teen's sense.
Sitting up abruptly he coughed, splashing dark red liquid over his hands. 'Blood?' he thought as he looked at his hands, but pushed the thought out of his mind as he noticed the similarly colored 'water' coming up in small waves against his lower body.
He looked up, tracing the source of the water to the red ocean in front of him, and gasped in shock, as his eyes finally focused on the giant decayed half face in the distance. Bile threatened to rise up in his throat as his own eyes locked into a single blood red one, and the teen paled, realization dawning on him.
"Well, Shit." Were the only works spoken by the teen, as he looked away, lest he empty his stomach into the murky red water.
Standing up, his whole body ached, as if he hadn't used it in a while. Shaking it off, he staggered off the waters edge and onto the beach. Red tinted sand faded to orange and eventually yellow as he got further away from the ocean.
His clothes smelled awful. And tugging at the soaked material, the teen pealed off the black shirt and threw it away. It was cold, but the wet shirt would only further lower his temperature. Ahead he saw only rubble. In the distance, some tilted buildings. As far as he could see, devastation littered the land. Memories flashed across his minds eyes.
A flash of red hair.
A smile.
A kiss.
Nothingness.
A wave of pain washed over his head, going as quickly as it came but making him stop and grab his head in the process.
'That's right. I guess NERV failed after all.' Third impact had happened. He barely remembered anything that had happened after he lost consciousness, or how he had gotten to where he was, but he had a feeling those memories would come with time.
Looking down at his right arm, he noticed with relief that he still had a tattoo running down from his shoulder down to his forearm.
Off to the side, he noticed something that caught his attention. A circle of stones neatly aligned next to each other with remains of burns wood and ash in the center. Obviously someone had made a fire there. Walking closer he further inspected the site. There were bloody bandages, and empty food and beverage cans half buried in the sand.
By the looks of it someone had spent some time there, before wandering off. That meant there were still people around, and that was a good sign.
Picking up his pace, he headed into the distant ruins, in search of other signs of life.
3 Days later – 30 Miles from the Beach –
Another teen, Shinji, panted as he repeatedly hammered an iron pole against the tough mesh of steel that protected the small markets window. There were other windows, of course, but they were all covered as well. What made this one special is that falling debris had already damaged it considerable. Not enough to completely break the lock at the bottom but enough to dislodge it. Shinji had hoped to exploit this weakness to gain access to the market and the valuable items inside.
He was so engrossed into his task that he failed to hear the approaching footsteps behind him, or the call for his attention from the person behind him. Perhaps he just couldn't hear them over the constant hammering of steel against steel, or maybe he simply didn't expect anyone else to be around.
It was painfully obvious, from the way he reacted, that a hand on his shoulder was the last thing he was expecting at that moment. Reacting purely on instinct, Shinji jerked away, swinging the metal pole he was holding at the source of his scare.
The sound of metal hitting flesh, followed by a pained stream of cursing sent Shinji's mind into overdrive as he realized that, yes, there was someone there, and yes, he had just physically assaulted him with a rusty steel beam he had scavenged from a nearby collapsed section of wall.
The other person, who looked very much in pain as he clutched the forearm he had used to defend himself against the steel pole, walked around in a small circle while letting out yet another, albeit smaller, stream of cursing.
"God damn it that fucking hurt!" He opened and closed his left hand before moving his fingers around. Shinji stared, unsure of how to react. "I know I scared you, but come on! You almost broke my arm."
"S-Sorry!" Shinji stammered. "I didn't mean to. I just… I thought we were alone."
"Well so did I." The stranger said, rubbing his arm as the pain slowly subsided. "Until I heard you trying to break down this window a mile away. Well, not exactly a mile, but you get what I mean." The stranger slowly calmed down, and sighed. "Anyway, sorry about that, but I called. You didn't answer so I thought you were deaf or something." Letting go of his arm and extending his hand in greeting, the stranger introduced himself.
"My name's Shiro Tenshi. Just call me Shiro I don't really care for my last name." Looking at the hand for a few seconds like it was a foreign object, Shinji hesitated.
"What, you never heard of a handshake?" Shiro asked, confused.
"Ah… S-Sorry." Shinji once again apologized as he reached out and shook Shiro's hand. "I'm Shinji Ikari." Shinji weakly held and shook Shiro's hand for the duration of the handshake, before letting go.
Shiro noticed how Shinji's hands looked. They were bruised and bloody. This made Shiro sigh yet again.
"Listen, how about I help you?" he said as he unshouldered the backpack he was carrying. He opened it and took out a water bottle, offering it to him. "Meanwhile you rest and get your strength back up."
Shinji hesitated yet again. He wasn't sure he wasn't just imagining things. They had waited for over a month by the beach for anyone to come back, and had eventually given up before deciding to move away from the place, in search of a place better suited for survival, just a week ago. Since Asuka was so badly injured, they hadn't made much progress, but they had decided to follow the highway towards the nearest city.
But still, Shiro looked just like any ordinary person. Black hair, brown eyes, looked older than him, his clothes were dirty, he had bruises on his arms, much like Shinji himself. He was even offering to help him. They could both probably get it done faster, which mean Shinji getting back to Asuka faster.
After a few more seconds of contemplating, in which Shiro just looked at him with a raised eyebrow, Shinji finally gave in and took the bottle.
"Thanks." Shinji told Shiro, as he handed him the steel pole before uncapping the bottle and eagerly drinking it's content.
"Quite welcome." Shiro offered as he moved towards the window and examined the damage Shinji had done a surprisingly good job of further damaging the lock. Hitting it with all his strength a few times left his hands ringing from the force, and his palms aching from the friction against the poles rough surface. It made him wonder how Shinji had managed to do it for so long barely stopping. 'Either he's desperate, or has a very good reason for wanting in so bad. Either way it's up to me now.' Shiro thought.
His impacts were having an effect though, and with a few more, he felt the lock give way. Further examining it, he saw the lock itself had broken, but the aluminum casing was still holding it together.
Getting a large piece of concrete for the floor, he placed it near the lock and jammed the pole under it. He than proceeded to hang on the other end of the pole, pulling hard on it with all his weight. At first it didn't budge, but eventually he started feeling it give way, and with a final pull, the metal twisted and came apart. Finally free of the lock, the metal frame of the window suddenly offered less resistance to Shiro's efforts, which made the high end of the pole suddenly come down, making Shiro lose his balance, but not enough to make him fall.
Crouching down by the window, Shiro gripped the underside and pushed up. Ordinarily, the frame of the steel protection would come up and roll into itself on top of the window. The bent frame prevented that, Shiro was still able to lift it enough so they would be able to crawl into the store.
"Alright!" Shiro boasted, proud of his (but mostly Shinji's) work. Peeking trough the space he had just opened, Shiro frowned at the shattered glass on the floor. He felt Shinji kneel down next to him and do the same. "Damn glass on the floor is dangerous. Gotta get rid of it if we plan on using this entrance more than once."
Reaching for his backpack again, Shiro pulled out a ripped up shirt. He wrapped it around his right forearm before be dot down on his hands and knees and tried crawling his way inside, using the wrapped up arm to sweep away most of the glass as he did so. Once inside, he dropped the ripped shirt and used his foot to use it as an improvised mop to clear a way for Shinji. It wasn't perfect, but you wouldn't get deep gashes anymore.
"All clear." He let Shinji know.
"Thanks." Shinji said as his head popped trough the crawlspace. Shiro looked around. The market was dark, with all the windows firmly closed, but what little light was coming trough showed a fully stocked market. The smell let them know that any perishables, frozen and otherwise quickly decaying foods had long since gone bad. But there was still canned food, drinkable water, and a whole lot of other good stuff left.
The scene brought a smile to Shiro's face. It had been a while since he had seen so much food in one place. They wouldn't have to worry for a while. Walking over to the cash register, he placed the backpack on the counter.
"Damn.." Shiro sighed and rubbed his eyes. Shinji eyed him. "I forgot my wallet." Shiro said with a grin.
"Um.. I don't think you need your.." Shinji started but was cut off.
"Yes, yes I know. It was meant to be funny, Shinji." Shiro deadpanned.
"Oh." Was his only answer. 'Not very talkative.' Shiro though.
"So how long have you been here?" Shiro asked as he started sorting trough the goods on the shelves and picking what he wanted, mimicking Shinji.
"Almost 2 months." Shinji answered, short and to the point, putting some cans into a basket.
"Have you seen anyone else, or are we the only 2 people left around here?" Shiro asked, again.
"O-Only one other person. We, um, both woke up on the beach, and haven't seen anyone else until now." Shinji decided that telling him the complete story would probably be a bad thing. Telling someone you technically brought about the end of the world was usually a very bad idea. "She's hurt, so she can't do much. I've been taking care of her."
"I see." Shiro Said, thinking. "Listen, I think we should stick together." He said bluntly. "I mean, by all we know people coming back is totally random. It can be minutes, or months in between. If we stick together, we multiply our chances of survival. It always helps to have another hand around to help." Shiro watched Shinji. In Shiro's mind it made perfect sense. A bigger group meant bigger possibilities. Shared work would ensure that reaching their goals would be a lesser burden among all of them, instead of a single individual, which in turn made everyone not be as tired and better able to cope with the situation.
In truth, though, Shiro just felt that he needed to stick close to this kid. He looked like he was at least a few years younger than him, and he had obviously been struggling to survive. If what he said was true, and he had no reason to doubt it, than a he had the added hardship of the survival of not only himself but also his partner.
Shinji thought about it for a moment before answering. "Well, I guess. But we have to ask Asuka."
"That's the person your traveling with, I assume?" Shiro asked. 'Well no, duh! Who else would it be? Imaginary pet?' he mentally berated himself for the stupid question.
"Yeah." Shinji answered. Honestly he didn't mind. He agreed with Shiro. And the prospect of people finally returning has cheered him a little bit. Maybe everything wasn't lost after all.
"It's a girl right?" Shiro asked him, Shinji nodded. "Great." He continued, formulating a plan. "I'll get some chocolates. Girls like chocolates." He said, grabbing some. 'Operation Chocolate Bribe here we go!' Shiro thought to himself, with a smile.
Shinji, meanwhile, just stared at him blankly.
- One hour later – Shinji and Asuka's camp –
Asuka stared at the older teen that Shinji had brought with him like he had grown a second head.
'I seem to be getting that a lot today.' Shiro thought with a mental sigh. "Hi." He said neutrally. "I'm Shiro. Shinji said it was alright for me to tag along as long as you said yes so…"
Her eye switched back and forth between Shinji and Shiro.
"A-Asuka.. Um.. He helped me get food and water. I think he-" Shinji tried to explain, but was cut off by the redhead.
"I don't care what you think!" She spat at him, Shiro frowned. "What tells you we can trust him! Hmm? He could just be ACTING nice so he can get us when we're not expecting it!" She countered.
"Now wait a goddman minu-" Shiro tried to argue back, he wasn't going to take that from her. Or he tried anyway.
"Shut the fuck up!" She screamed, and Shiro complied. He could swear for a moment he saw someone else standing there. "Whatever you're thinking, forget it! I'm not letting you anywhere near me! And you!" She pointed at Shinji, who flinched. "You're the biggest idiot I know for trusting a total stranger to easily! What do you have to say for yourself?"
At Shinji's inability to answer, Shiro raised his hand, expressing he wanted to speak.
"What!" She snapped at him. Shiro popped a box from one of the bags he was carrying.
"I, um, brought you chocolate?" He offered hopefully. All his hoped were crushed when she walked up to him and slapped him across the face, before storming off, cursing in some weird language.
Shiro rubbed his face, and sighed, looking sideways at Shinji who was looking at the floor. Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder, which made him snap out of it with a yelp. "She's all yours." Shiro told him, dropping the bags he had with him. "I'll stay in the market for tonight so you can have these."
Shinji nodded. "I'm sorry Shiro-san. She's had it rough." Shiro sighed and gave a silent nod before reaching into one of his pockets and handing him a map.
"Listen, this will help you. I'm heading down to the town marked down south. That's where I lived before all this happened and I'm pretty sure it's not as bad as around here. And I know for a fact there's a safe place there."
Shinji took the map and looked at it for a moment. "Are you sure Shiro-san? How will you find your way?"
Shiro chuckled. "There's like 20 more back at the market." He looked back at where Asuka was, her back turned to them, and whispered to Shinji. "In the next town there's a big mall. I'll be making my way there ahead of you, since your being slowed down by her injuries. When you reach there, we'll give it another try alright?" He smiled at Shinji. "You know what they say about water." At Shinji's blank look, Shiro elaborated, by quoting a saying he barely even knew. "You know.. 'Drop by drop..' Uh.. 'Something Something Something?'" Still blank. Sigh."Nevermind. It just means you have to keep trying till it works."
Shinji nodded as Shiro started walking away. A few feet out, Shiro stopped and called out to Asuka. "The chocolate is in the smallest bag! Don't eat it all at once." He said with a grin, and dodged the rock aimed at his head.
Watching Shiro go, Shinji turned back to Asuka. She just gave him an annoyed look and turned away. Ever since they had emerged from the LCL, he had yet to see this side of her return full force like it had today. Yes, she still got mad at him at times but for the most part she mad been behaving a whole lot better than before.
"Asuka.." Shinji started, softly. "Why..?" he didn't really know what to ask. She had a point in what she had said, but to his defense he really did think Shiro wasn't a bad guy.
"Why what?" She asked him back, though the bite in her words was not as heavy.
"Why did you have to do that?" He avoided her gaze when she stared at him. "Shiro-san is the first person we have seen in almost 2 months. He came from the LCL, like us, a few days ago."
His voice got steadily louder, not to the point of screaming or yelling, but loud enough. Asuka noticed this.
"Don't you know what this means Asuka? We're not alone anymore! Shiro-san helped me get the food and medicine that will keep us fed and your wounds healing for a while longer." He started talking faster now, Asuka still just stared at him. "But not only that. It means we can see them all again Asuka! Touji, Kensuke, Misato, Hikari.. They can all come back too."
"But we don't know when that will be, Shinji." Asuka told him softly. "We were there for more than a month. No one came back. For all we know that guy is the only person to have come out, and there won't be anyone else for months to come. You were there too. You know what it takes to reject that world. And you know as well as I do that there's nothing we can do about the ones still there."
Silence fell between the two. Shinji didn't know how long it lasted. It could have been seconds, minutes or hours. Asuka, well Asuka could really understand where Shinji was coming from. She too was happy, at least a little bit, that someone other than the two of them had come out. She was disappointed it wasn't anyone they knew, as she had been silently hoping it would have been Hikari, or Kaji, or even Misato for the matter. Just another friendly face would have been good.
"And what if he had tried something with me?" She saw him tense. "I know you have your EVA training to fall back on, but do you think you would be able to protect me?"
Shinji didn't answer. He knew. He knew what she was saying was all true. He didn't think of that. But still, he had his convictions. He looked at her in the eye for a brief moment, his eyes betraying his seriousness.
"I would have fought. To protect you."
'There it is.' Asuka thought. 'The side of Shinji that has been appearing more often since we left the LCL.' She knew why. Shinji had changed during Third Impact. The only good thing that came out of that world was that something had happened to both of them. Call it Revelation, breakthrough, whatever. While they were there, they had came to understand a fundamental truth about themselves. She didn't know what Shinji's was, only her own. But she did suspect that that was the reason for the changes in both him and herself. 'That's the Shinji I want to see. The one I left the LCL for. The one i feel safe with.'
"I'm scared Shinji. We're two of the only people left alive. I don't want anything to happen to us." She told him.
Shinji shook his head and tentatively sat next to her. Not too close, but not too far either. At least to him. "I-I'll do my best Asuka. I promise."
Asuka smiled, but didn't let Shinji see it. Regular old Shinji was back. Stammering away. But that was a good thing in it's own way.
"Baka."
- 3 Years Later -
Shinji stood silently over the stone grave, eyeing the name etched in the gray stone.
Asuka Langley Soryu
2018
No birth day was marked. There was no need.
Today was the 68th day since her passing. He had come every day, and just stared at her grave. He never stayed long. Just enough to carve the image into his memories. Just enough to relive that day. To make sure he never forgot.
A hand on his shoulder didn't even make him flinch. There was only one person he knew that did that.
"Hey, Shinji." Shiro greeted solemnly. "We need to talk."
"What about?" Shinji asked, his voice sounding hoarse and strained.
"Dr Akagi and I have something we want to show you." The mention of the old head of Project E made Shinji's attention and head, snap up instantly. But before he could complain, Shiro stopped him.
"Please Shinji, I promise it's nothing bad. In fact, it's the opposite. I've never asked anything of you before, but I will now. This will be the first and only time. So please, come with me, as a personal favor." Shiro's voice was a mix of eagerness and compassion. Whatever he wanted to show Shinji was important.
Sighing, Shinji conceded and turned to follow Shiro out of the cemetery, and to the awaiting green military jeep at the gates.
Shortly after Shiro's own exit of the LCL, more and more people had started returning. The problem, however, was the stagnant rate at which they returned. In the last 3 years, barely more than 800 people had made it out.
They had started by hanging around the LCL ocean, making shacks for houses and slums for towns. They had all gathered together, whatever amount of people had returned, and never ventured out like Asuka and Shinji.
It had been only a few months later that they, plus Shiro, had came back to the beach to search for more survivors. They had agreed that it was the best thing to be done. The further they had gone from the Impact Site, the better the environment became. 50 miles away, they had seen vegetation. 100 miles further the damage to the infrastructure was minimal. Further than that, non existent.
As per Shiro's plan, they had reached a coastal city southwest of the Impact zone, way beyond the affected area, and had decided to settle in his hometown. Not only that, he told them that his dad had been the CEO of one of the few corporations to recover after Second Impact, and that the HQ for the corporation was also in that town.
There, they had found a working car (the first that hadn't been affected by the severe EMP waves that had literally traveled trough the whole world) and that had made tings a lot easier.
Coming back to the beach, armed to the teeth with food, medicine and water for whoever they might find (plus a few concealed firearms for personal defense, even though Shinji hated to admit it, he too knew human nature), they had met with a small collection of shacks not far from the beach. The people were battered, bruised, malnourished and sick.
Among them, surprisingly enough, had been Dr Akagi Ritsuko. Shinji and Asuka had been unpleasantly surprised about this fact, Shiro didn't understand why, as at that time they hadn't yet told him about their role as EVA pilots.
Dr. Ritsuko had, however, been doing her best to atone for her sins by taking care of the sick and injured. The arrival of much needed supplies, even trough such unexpected means, was seen as a miracle by the rag tag group of survivors. Not even reaching a hundred at the time, not all of them were the prime of the human race.
Dr Akagi hadn't been the only one from NERV to return. Some of the Bridge techs, maintenance personnel, security guards, even JSDF had returned. Now, they all banded together under the flag of survival.
Shinji, and specially Asuka had eagerly searched the survivors for their friends, but unfortunately they had not returned yet.
After a week of discussing, the decision had been made to relocate all the survivors to the city the pilots (plus one) had came from. Plans were made, a giant sign directing any and everyone who might later emerge from the sea in the right direction, detailing landmarks, and dates a search party could be expected to return was erected at the location of the shack town, and the first great survivor migration commenced.
Now, 3 years later, the city was no longer as silent as it had been. People, still banding together, were hard at work to rebuild their lost lives. Most volunteered as search and rescue parties that every week to go the beach to gather survivors. An outpost was build not too far away from the beach to welcome newly emerged returnees, and communications had been secured.
With the help of Dr Akagi and the returning NERV personnel, the massive reactor beneath the city (curtsey of Shiro's dad's corporation) had been reactivated, and now provided enough energy for the cities needs.
The rise of population, however, also gave rise to crime. Not everyone was adept at rebuilding, and like before, the more sinister side of humanity let itself be known.
'You can never truly stop evil. All you can do is have enough good that it cancels it out.' Shiro had said once, as the talks of finding a solution to the rising problem came about. In the end, the security forces were once again put to use to the best of their abilities, and now ex Special Forces and military patrolled the streets and did their best to keep the peace.
It was a fragile world.
But it was a world they lived in, and as Shinji and Asuka had started getting closer to each other, they also had a newfound appreciation for this life they lead. Shinji, unexpectedly enough, had decided to follow teaching. Asuka put her college degree in Chemical Engineering (The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree) to good use and had come up with a way to distill drinkable water from the LCL contaminated sources that now covered most of the planet. After that, she had kept busy with finding solutions to the cities several problems.
They had lived together. They had loved together. And than she had been taken from him. Word had gotten out about them being the Pilots that supposedly stopped the end of the world, but some people didn't see it that way, and plotted to get back at the pilots.
Shinji had survived, though he bore the scars. Asuka hadn't been so lucky.
"We're here." He heard Shiro say, and snapped out of memory lane.
They had stopped right in front of a large skyscraper. Easily the largest building in the city. 'Chronos Corp.' He read the worn letters on top of the main entrance.
Once the leading developer of new age technology, the company had been shaken once second Impact had hid. Still, they had persevered, and after a few years had managed to claw it's way back into the top corporations. Their holographic and computer technology had once again put them in the lead, but it had been their research and eventual breakthrough on renewable non nuclear energy that earned them a subcontract to supply several NERV branches shortly before 2013.
Now, the giant building stood silent as a testament of the ingenuity of times past.
As they walked past the lobby, and made their way to the main elevator, Shiro swiped a card trough a reader and a touch screen panel lit up, displaying several round 'buttons'. Pressing the lowest one, The elevator started it's fast descent into the depths beneath the tower.
'Feels like I'm back in NERV again..' Shinji thought, a little apprehensive. He knew what being dragged into the bowels of the earth could lead to, and he would have none of it.
A minute later, the doors slid open, revealing a large open space. Though this time is was relatively well lit. In the center of the cavernous room, was the equally large reactor that powered the city. It was the first time Shinji had seen it in person. It's hum resonated in his ears, a soft blue aura coming off of it.
"Amazing, isn't it?" he heard a female voice say from behind him. He recognized the voice right away, and didn't answer. "The alloy it's made from produces a large electromagnetic field when in the presence of heat. The allow itself absorbs the infra red radiation and turns it into energy that powers the field. Since the temperature inside the core is close to that of the surface of the sun, the field is equally as powerful, and this constantly balanced." The doctor took a few steps forward, standing next to Shinji.
"The fusion process itself creates miniscule amounts of antimatter, which when in contact with other types of radiation released from the fusion process, create a secondary reaction close to that of an explosion of pure white energy, That's when the receptors come into play, literally sucking the energy resulting from hose explosions and converting it into usable energy that is that channeled to the grid. Just imagine. A million lightning bolts a second being channeled into a capacitor than redirected to our needs."
She looked at Shinji, and smiled faintly. "It's been a while, Shinji-kun."
"Not long enough." Was Shinji's dry answer. The doctor expected as much.
"Listen, Shinji. I know I did horrible things to you, to a lot of people in the past. But I am trying to fix that."
"It's too late for that. You can't fix death." Shinji spat at her.
"Are you sure of that?" This time, Shiro's voice was what stopped him dead in his tracks. "We didn't bring you here for a tour. We have a something of a plan."
Shinji looked between Shiro and Dr Akagi. "Nonono! Last time one of you had a plan i ended up almost dieing on several occasions!" Shinji said, backing away from the 2 of them.
"I'm not going to lie to you, Shinji. This will most likely lead to the same." Said Dr Akagi. "However-" Shinji promptly cut her off.
"No! I don't want o hear it!" He screamed. He turned, heading towards the elevator.
Shiro closed his eyes, knowing the only thing that would work on him right now was a double edged sword.
"You can bring her back."
THAT, stopped Shinji.
"W-What?" He stammered, eyes wide.
"No, Not like your father. That door has long since closed. Please listen to us. Unlike before, we won't force you, and you don't have to do it if you don't want to. But please hear us out." Shiro pleaded.
With a nod, Shinji consented. Dr Akagi resumed her explanation.
"Are you familiar with the Multiverse theorem?" Shinji Shook his head. "Basically, it states that every time something happens, every single action, the universe splits into 2 separate dimensions. One where the original timeline runs its course, and the other where that event didn't happen." She paused, letting him absorb the information.
"This has been going on since the beginning of time, so as you can imagine there are a literally infinity number of these alternate dimensions. The flow of time is somewhat different in these dimensions. Basically, if one was to jump into one of these world and come back after a few seconds, anything from no time at all to a few hundred years might have passed by the time you return."
"So, your talking about time travel?" Shinji asked, quite perceptively.
"Yes and no." Answered Shiro. "You can't change the past, because it has already happened." Shinji looked confused. "For example, if you went back in time and stopped Asuka's death, than she'd be alive correct?"
Shinji nodded numbly.
"Than what reason would you have to go back in time?"
"To stop her death."
"How, if she is alive?"
Shinji didn't answer.
"That's exactly the point. Changing the past creates a paradox. You cannot go to the past and erase your reason for being there in the first place. This is where the Multiverse Theorem comes in. If you could go back and change the past, the moment you change it you are no longer in the original timeline. Instead, you are in a new dimension where what you were trying to change didn't happen. though you will still have the memories of the original dimension, you will effectively have created a new one."
Shinji looked up at Shiro and Dr Akagi. Unlike people used to think, Shinji was actually quite smart. He WAS the son of two brilliant (although one of them quite evil) minds.
"You mean.." He asked, hopefully.
"Yes, we can." Was Dr Akagi's Answer.
Shinji looked at Shiro, who nodded.
"We are dieing, Shinji. The human race will not last another decade, if that much. Third impact wiped half out ecosystem and all our marine life. This planet, simply does not hold the ability to sustain human life anymore. Given a hundred more years, and the whole planet will become like Mars." Dr Akagi Continued.
Shinji was in shock. 'Dead? We're all dead?' He thought to himself. "Ho- How long..?" He asked.
"About a year. Asuka knew too." Dr Akagi informed him. "She was actively involved in this project. It was her work that made it all possible."
"Back in 2009, an American scientist found a way to send energy signals trough the fabric of dimensions. Although the science was mostly incomplete and full of loopholes, he managed to send someone's consciousness back to a dimension a whole day behind their perception of present." Shiro told him. "My dad was involved in that research. The drawback is that only energy could be sent trough, and once on the other side the consciousness needed to take over someone's physical body to be able to interact with the world. Not only that, but there was a time limit, since the consciousness was still tied to the original body in the original dimension, it would always eventually come back."
"What we did," Shinji's attention snapped to Dr Akagi, as she took over. "Was develop a method that could not only send someone's consciousness temporarily but part of his being permanently across the dimensional bridge." She took out a cigarette and lit it. "Though the whole process is theorized to be excruciatingly painful, we don't know for sure since no one has attempted it before. There's also one other problem." She took a deep breath of smoke. "It's a one way trip. The power requirements are simply insane, and if not for this reactor they would be impossible to reproduce."
"Shinji." he turned to Shiro, in a daze. "It is entirely your choice to do this."
"What will happen if I do?" Shinji asked.
"Well, the only way this reactor is going to generate the power required to pen a rift big and stable enough to transfer you to the other dimension, is to purposely push it into a critical overload. But don't worry, we are deep enough that the blast will not affect the surface, though they will be out of power."
"No chance this great comes at no cost." Shiro told him. "But you will not be alone. When you reach the other side, your existence will fuse with the you currently there. Effectively you will become whoever Shinji Ikari is in that world. From there, it is up to you to change things." He scratched the back of his head. "It's not an exact science, but we have examined countless dimensions already and have pinpointed one that diverged from our own somewhere in March of 2014. Right now in that dimension, Only a few weeks have gone by from the divergence. By what we gather, you will have up to a year to formulate a plan before you are called to Tokio 3."
For what felt like an eternity Shinji was silent.
"Shinji." He slowly looked up at Dr Akagi. "We chose you because of what you've been trough. I know I am to blame for all of it, and I'm doing this now because if anyone of us here deserves a chance to make things right, it's you."
A ringing noise came from one of the consoles around the Reactor. Dr Akagi ran to it and read the display. "This is bad, the window is closing much sooner than I anticipated."
Cursing, Shiro turned to Shinji again.
"Shinji, I'm sorry about having to rush all this, but between dimensions there is a dimension we call the void. We don't quite understand it, but this void of dimensions is filled with a sort of interference that makes dimensional travel almost impossible. The only chance we have is when the interference becomes weak enough to overpower with our own signal." He took out a pad from his pocket and pressed a switch, the whole reactors rose up revealing a small entry plug sized capsule big enough to fit one person.
"We won't force you, and I feel bad about rushing you but that chance is now slipping away and every second is wasted." He put his hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to do this. We can find another dimension after you think about it."
"Will it be as close as this one?" Shinji Asked.
"There's no way of knowing for sure."
Shiro looked down, memories of his first fight in the Eva flashed across his minds eye. He felt a sense of deja vu, but knew this time was different. This time he could back out without hesitating, he could wait until he as ready.
'I mustn't run away.' His old mantra came back to haunt him. 'No. I want this. It's already way too late here. I can change it.' He thought to himself.
"I'll do it. I'll go."
Shiro smiled at his friends words. "Well now that that's settled, there's another thing we need to take care of." He reached into his pocket and pulled out 2 items, handing one of them to Shinji. "Since sending inorganic objects is much less energy consuming than sending the complexity know as sentient human being, I am giving this to you."
Shinji looked at it. It felt strangely familiar. It was just a black metallic sphere with a pattern carved all round it. He felt like he had seen it before. The next thing he felt was a sharp pain on his neck, and screamed, jerking away. Shiro held in his hand an empty syringe.
"Sorry about that, but the only way that is going to work for you is if you have some of my blood flowing trough you." Shiro said. That's when Shinji noticed something.
"Your tattoo? It's gone. What about the-" He stopped himself and looked down at the metallic sphere in his hand. Shiro grinned
"That's why. I won't need it anymore. So I'm giving it to you. I guess this makes us officially brothers." He gave Shinji a goofy smile. "Always wanted a younger brother. Now come on, we don't have much time." He said as he walked over to the pod and opened the hatch.
Shinji walked to the opening. Everything was too much to take in. He didn't know how to react. He looked over to Shiro, who was wheeling in a large weird looking chair and adorning what looked like the old A-10 Clips he and Asuka used when piloting.
"Now listen Shinji, When you get to the other side, it will take a few days for your body to integrate the new blood into your system. The shot Shiro gave you is a mix of his unique genes and DNA that will be assimilated into your body, and a healthy dose of the same nanites from that sphere to facilitate integration. Remember that once the symbiotic process starts, removal is permanent." Dr Akagi told him as Shinji climbed into the pod, and Shiro closed the hatch.
The interior was monetarily pitch black before a light flickered on and illuminated the white interior. To his left, a video image of Dr Akagi appeared. "Also, remember what the only visible manifestation of the symbiosis is. The me from back then.. Well let's just say I'm not dumb and have an eye for suspicious signs." She paused for a moment as something beeped on her side. "The nanites self destruct the moment they leave your bloodstream, same for tissue samples, but in depth exams would definitely reveal something is different about you. Fortunately that should only happen in case you come into direct contact with an Angel. Still, be careful."
"I understand." Shinji said, wondering if she could hear him.
"One last thing." He heard Shiro say, somewhere behind Dr Akagi. "Look for me. The gift I just gave you will be the single most important tool in convincing me your telling the truth. Don't worry, at this point in time I was already aware of my origins." There was a pause. "But please understand you will be meeting me at a very hard part of my life. You'll understand. Just don't think that I was like that all the time."
"Alright.. And Shiro?" Shinji sent.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
Shiro appeared in the picture grinning. "Don't sweat it man. You know i have a thing for redheads!"
Violent coughing, as Shinji choked on his own spit, was the only thing going trough the two way channel at that moment.
Another video window popped open next to the one of Dr Akagi and followed Shiro. He went, and sat on the weird chair. The back of the chair leaned back as Shiro closed his eyes.
"What's he doing?" Shinji asked.
"The overload reaction has to be monitored and controlled in real time in order to reach the desired magnitude. He's using a control system similar to the suit to control it." Dr Akagi Explained.
"Wait, but he's right here! What about the blast?" Shinji cried in horror.
"We both need to monitor our stations to the last moment. We are both aware of the outcome, but this is the only way."
Shinji went white. Suddenly the prospect wasn't looking so good anymore.
"Shinji, please don't worry." he heard Shiro's voice echo in the pod, though his mouth wasn't moving at all.
"Tetriary uplinks at 89%. Stand by."
A computerized voice boomed above them.
"Connection established. Handing over control to operator."
"Dr Akagi, I'm connected. Let's proceed." Shiro's voice now replaced the computers, though still distorted.
"She told you this would be painful." Shiro told him. "But the pain will go away. When you next open your eyes, you will be back in the glorious eternal summer of Post Impact Japan. And you will see us all again. Even Asuka."
"I.." Shinji started. "I understand."
"Good." In the chair, a faint smile came over Shiro. "Let's get this started than."
"Warning! Maximum antimatter reactions exceeding Level Alpha limit. Advise Immediate Abort!" The computer's voice once again boomed over them.
Above them, the constant humming of the reactor started getting louder, resonating on the walls and on the equipment.
"Warning! Maximum antimatter reactions exceeding Level Omega limit. Advise Immediate Abort!" The computer warned again.
"Output at 170%." Shiro 'spoke' trough the speakers. "Hit it Doc."
"Initiating signal transmission." Dr Akagi now spoke, as she furiously typed away at the keyboard. "Signal strength at full power. Initiating dematerialization sequence."
Shinji felt the walls vibrating in synch with the reactor as all the hairs in his body stood up. Something was starting, tingling at his extremities.
"Warning! Main reactor core overload eminent. Safety protocols Disengaged. Reactor will go critical in 17 seconds."
"This is going to be close!" Dr Akagi screamed, sparks flying in the background as equipment overloaded and burnt out from the excess energy. "15 seconds! "
Shinji looked down at his hands, or where his hands would be. He saw nothing. The tingling sensation had taken over his hands and feet, and he noticed his feet were no longer there either, though he was still standing. Instead of a bloody stump, as one would expect when loosing their hands, Shinji saw just pure light, almost petals, as his body was turned to energy. He should be scared, but he could only feel at peace.
"Warning! 10 Seconds to critical reactor failure."
"8 Seconds!" Dr Akagi once more screamed, unable to keep the fear out of her voice.
The reaction started increasing in speed as it finished consuming his arms and legs, and started to eat away at his torso.
"Warning! 5 Seconds to Critical reactor failure."
"3!"
"Dr Akagi?" Shinji whispered, as his head was the last thing left to be consumed.
"2!" Dr Akagi glanced at the monitor, at Shinji.
"I Forgive you."
"1!" She gave him a thankful smile, a lone tear rolling down her cheek.
She pressed a button, and the world stopped for Shinji. For a moment that stretched to an eternity, he just 'stood' there, without a physical body, and looked at the screens in front of him as in someone had hit the universal 'pause' button.
Inside the plug, reality started to distort, twisting and turning like a snake crawling trough a sand dune. He felt a tug at his back, like some invisible force pulling on him. He let himself go, as time once again resumed its course and the whole reactor room was filled with a white, hot, brilliant light. And Shinji was sent on his way.
- Unknown Time - Unknown Location -
"-ari!"
"Ikari!"
Eyes snapping open, Shinji looked to the side as the sun blinded him.
"Ikari, thank god! Do you know where you are?" he heard someone ask.
"Ugh.. on the floor?" Was the only answer his dazed mind could formulate. He looked around as his vision adjusted, and noticed he was surrounded by people. Not just any people. Young kids and one adult all in sports wear.
"No, Ikari. You're at school. Tell me your full name, date of birth and class." the adult told him. Shinji, recognizing the uniforms sat up and groaned, his whole body aching.
"Ikari Shinji, June 6th 2001, 8th Grade." He answered, feeling something hot in his hands he noticed he was clutching a black metal sphere. He recognized that too. His hands were smaller than he remembered, and so was the rest of his body. But he knew why. Everything was slowly falling into place. "What happaned?" He asked.
"You, Ikari," His teacher told him. "were just hit by lightning."
Pocketing the sphere without letting his teacher notice, he looked up at the sky, and took a deep breath.
"Tadaima."
Author's Notes: The End! (Or not. Who knows, meh)
Edit: Sorry about the ninja edit, had to fix some consistency issues with info that didn't match, and typos.. Nothing else has changed.