... Mr. Serling, I Presume?
By: Komodo Dragoon
Standard disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or any of the characters.
I wake like any other morning, groggy and slow. But this is different. My lungs feel clear, as if I had never smoked a cigarette in my life. And I smell...a woman in my bed?
"Good morning,dearest! Sleep well?"
I turn my head to see a beautiful sight. She is kneeling on the bed beside me,sleep-tousled hair, hazel eyes, and not a stitch of clothing to be seen. She is also, not Caucasian.
I would think this is all a dream, but this is too real. Her scent, the feel of the bedding, my arousal, ...this is not happening!
"Is there anything wrong,Roja? You look like you do not like what you see." She asks me with a demure smile.
"I like what I see, but I must get ready for work," I state quickly, and basically jump out of bed. I walk through the doorway to the next open door and find the bathroom. Inside, I find another shock: I'm not me anymore.
In the mirror is a thirty-something Asian male.
I don't know how I got out of the apartment and away from her, but if I hadn't, I know I would have gone insane. As I'm aimlessly walking, letting my body go on auto-pilot, I'm trying to come to grips with this whole situation.
Unfortunately, my body has led me to a security turnstile. I look up and see a sign which makes my blood run cold.
Nononononono...rummage through wallet, drivers license, credit cards, ID card.
NERV security: Roja Nakamura
THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO ME!... IT WAS AN ANIME ...IT WASN'T REAL!... I DON'T WANNA DIE!
My body doesn't seem to agree with me as it swipes the card through the reader and walks me through the gate. Into the elevator and down into the depths of NERV this traitorous shell leads me. By this point my mind is on the fringes of madness. People who I don't know call my name, joke with me,and herd me to a locker room.
I'm standing in front of my locker...at least I think it's mine. It has the same Kanji as my drivers license. I open the door, and there is the dreaded uniform which I must wear in this God-forsaken place.
After changing, going to the ready-room and getting my assignment, I find that I'm starting to calm down. Of course, the calming influence might be the Uzi that I'm carrying. Now if I can get out of here and get to the surface, I can catch a train and be well away from all of this...
In front of me at a checkpoint is a hummer and a large armoured vehicle. They look familiar for some reason...
Wait.. corridor W-5? Three security guards...
As if in slow-motion, I turn away from the checkpoint and look down the corridor. Two balls of light are lazily arching toward the armoured car.
OH GOD!... I DON'T WANNA DIE HERE!... I JUST BARELY GOT HERE AND ...SHIT...
White sound and light...huge pressure like I'm being flattened by a steam press...
I wake like any other morning, groggy and slow...until it hits me. I sit up so fast I'm almost dizzy from the reaction. My heart is racing, blood is pounding in my temples like I have the world's worst hangover. My stomach is in knots...I DIED BACK THERE IN W-5!
WAITAMINNIT...THIS ISN'T MY BODY! I'M A GUY!
It's dark as pitch in here. Can't see a thing...wait...there's some light in the hallway. Dreading each step I take, I make my way toward the light. It's the moon shining through the window in the bathroom. The pale light almost seems to make the light switch glow. With a trembling hand I reach out and flip the switch.
Two ruby marbles stare out of the mirror on a field of creamy-white skin, topped by an unruly mop of blue hair.
The eyes grow wider, the pupils shrink to pinpoints, and I feel a bubbling scream rising in the back of my throat.
NOOOOOO...NOT HER!...NOT ARRRAAHHHH...
The body turns back to the mirror and locks in position like a radar in track mode. The eyes swivel to front. Vision goes from close-focus to wide-peripheral. I stare at MY face...the face of Rei Ayanami.
The face suddenly takes on a sardonic cast...and then sinisterly smiles, showing teeth...
We now see a grey,featureless room. A man is standing facing three-quarters away from our point of view. He seems to be wearing an older-style suit,and is smoking a cigarette. He then lowers the cigarette and starts to speak.
"As we leave this tortured soul, there is perhaps a signpost which should be placed before the threshold of this doorway. It would read:" And here the man turns full- face to us. It is a younger Gendo Ikari with the same sinister smile as Rei.
"Be careful what you wish for."