My name is Shinji Ikari, and I am alive.
I'm not sure how or why or if I even really wanted this, but here I am-I continue to exist as an individual. Rei said it was my choice...once again, I was too weak to make a difference without the help of others. Once again, I proved to the world how useless and pathetic I am. And yet...I am here, and the world is gone. By some twisted miracle, I, Shinji Ikari, survived Third Impact.
I sit up and stare into the vast golden sea of souls before me. Logic must also be resting in its depths, I think. I decide that this is clever, and so I say it out loud.
"Logic must also be resting in its depths," I say.
Asuka snorts. "What are you rambling about?" she asks, her voice shrill and nasal.
"Our situation makes no sense, so...I was saying that logic died and became LCL...just like everyone we ever knew did," I say.
There is a short, awkward silence.
"Dummkopf," Asuka mutters. Once again, silence reigns, save for the sounds of that vast golden ocean, its waves beating, exploding, flicking its fiery tongue at the shoreline-and, just for a second, I can swear I hear a chorus of screams disappear in the wind.