Disclaimer: This world does not belong to me; I'm merely borrowing it

Disclaimer: This world does not belong to me; I'm merely borrowing it. I do not intend to profit in any monetary way by writing this fanfiction. Therefore, if you sue me for copyright infringement, I will summon the armies of otaku to crush you forever!

Disclaimer II: heh heh heh, heh, heh heh, … HA HA HA! Beware: Spoilers.

A Dream Come True?

Kensuke stood in the Geofront, a place he had previously seen only in pictures, or in brief glimpses while sneaking out of shelters during an Angel attack. It was beautiful. Tears of joy streamed down his face. His videodisk recorder was in his hand. He was capturing it all on disk!

"Segoy," he whispered to himself. "It's so awesome!"

"Indeed."

Kensuke turned. Ikari Gendo stood there, looking inscrutable behind his glasses. He nodded slightly to someone off to the side, and a pair of NERV intelligence agents appeared and took Kensuke's camera away. Before he had a chance to react, they had vanished again, as mysteriously as they had arrived.

Wow, thought Kensuke. They are pros. A slight cough along the lines of 'ahem' caught his attention, and he looked at Gendo again.

The man looked even more imposing than NERV's public relations pamphlets had indicated. Although a short man, he somehow managed to loom over Kensuke. The light reflected off of his dark glasses, obscuring his eyes. His facial expression was even more emotionless than Rei's. His dark uniform made him seem like an impenetrable chunk of labyrinthine darkness, manifested in human form.

Misato and Dr. Akagi materialized behind Gendo, looking grim and authoritative. Kensuke had only seen pictures of Ritsuko before and glanced at her curiously. He was unnerved, however, by Misato's businesslike stance and professional stare. This must be what she's like on the job. No wonder Shinji was annoyed by her at-home attitude. It's like she's two different people.

Dr. Akagi read off of a clipboard. "Aida Kensuke."

Kensuke nodded silently.

Misato addressed him. "Aida Kensuke, you are obviously aware of the existence of Project E. Given the number of hack attempts traced to your desk console and home computer by the Magi, it would seem you want to know a few of our classified secrets as well. You are blatantly interested in how the Eva program works, as evidenced by your presence here today. Unfortunately, your data disk must be destroyed because of the sensitive information it may contain."

Kensuke sighed inwardly, but remained standing straight. Misato continued.

"You have questioned Evangelion pilots concerning their work and fraternized with them on a daily basis. You have gained entrance to an Entry Plug. You have covertly observed Evangelion in action on multiple occasions. You know more about NERV operations than any other civilian on this planet. This, added to the needs of the Eva itself, gives us only one real choice."

Kensuke closed his eyes briefly and apologized to Touji, whose chance at pilot had gone so badly. He looked again at Misato, who was looking sadly at Gendo.

"Commander?"

Gendo nodded.

Dr. Akagi bowed slightly to Kensuke. "I apologize in advance," she said. "I can assure you that it will be painful. But somebody had to be chosen, and you were the best candidate, given all the information."

Gendo spoke coldly. "Marduk has demanded another sacrifice to the Eva program. Shinji won't be happy." Misato gave her commander an odd look.

Kensuke bowed mutely. He could not speak. Words to describe his feelings simply would not come.

Dr. Akagi took a whistle out of her pocket and blew a shrill note on it. Kensuke faced the trio and bowed again. "Arigato," he began. "Thank you—"

Misato turned away a little too quickly. The commander spun on his heel and vanished in the direction of the NERV command building. Ritsuko backed away and began making notes on her clipboard.

When he heard the footsteps, Kensuke turned around. He was just in time to see the Eva, without any armor, bounding towards him. He had barely enough time to gasp out "Segoy!" before he was snatched up and eaten alive.

"Interesting." Dr. Akagi made another note before blowing again on the whistle. The Eva turned and shambled back to their Cages.

Kensuke woke up and checked the calendar. Today he would go with Hikari to visit Touji in the hospital. He was late, and had to run to meet the class rep at the train station. For some reason, it made him feel better to have skipped breakfast.

Author's Notes:

This weird little fanfic came to me without warning one afternoon and wouldn't let go. So, I had to write it. I don't know where it came from.

"Segoy" means "cool" or "awesome."

Note that at the end, Kensuke isn't dead. I guess I did this for two reasons. First, I didn't want to actually kill him just for the sake of a weird story idea. (Does this mean I'm not a true fanfic author yet?) Second, the fic can now fit into the Eva series continuity any time after Touji becomes the Fourth Children.

-Worldmage