Advance Note. I don't intend for Haruko to make an appearance as more than MAYBE, and a big MAYBE a side character. Plots just become too confusing when she gets involved and she doesn't translate well to written stories. But her influence may be seen in Naota to some degree. We'll just have to see.
Prologue: Dreams
Their was a knock at the door. Commander Gendo Ikari looked up for a moment. "Enter". The door was opened and closed again almost silently. An achievement few people could attest to. The Commander did not look up again as the footsteps came closer. Only one person had that gate. Never too fast, never too slow. Never too hard, never too soft. The footsteps stopped exactly three meters from the Commanders desk.
He laced his gloved hands together as he looked up. Red eyes looked back. "How are you today Rei?"
"I am well Sir". She replied.
"And school?" He inquired.
"No difficulties."
They were both silent for several moments. "And the dreams?" Gendo asked, this time far more severely.
Their was a long pause. "I had them again last night. The boy was their again, this time with an older man." She responded.
"Tell me everything you remember Rei." The Commander ordered.
Rei paused composing her thoughts. The first night she had dreamed had been right after the defeat of the 5th Angel. Her dreams had grown more detailed and more frequent since then. When she had told the Commander he had ordered Doctor Akagi to run a full battery of tests. She had not been informed of the results. But the Commander from then on asked her to speak to him about her dreams. She followed her orders.
"My dream began in a diner . . ."
Two people sat together in a diner. One was a boy about fourteen, fairly unremarkable with the exception of the electric guitar strapped to his back and the look of boredom in his eyes. The world held little to surprise to a boy, already a man, and already a legend in some circles. The boy who's Ano gate was more powerful than Atomsk', the boy who had released the Pirate King from the shackles placed on it by the Medical Mechanica.
Next to him sat an older man, with short red dyed hair and a pair of absurdly large eyebrows. He offered the boy a coffee mug.
"I already told you, I hate sweet stuff." The boy said, pushing the cup away without ever looking at it's contents.
The man sighed and put the cup down again. "I would have never thought we would be working together . . . Naota."
"Me neither Commander Amarao . . . But I have to know, I have to know what's going on."
The older man looked at his companion, he took a sip from his coffee. "All I can tell you is that the Medical Mechanica is planning something big. Something that makes the power of the Ano gates look like a joke. And even will blow away their Steel Blitz strategy.
The boy's eyes widened slightly. He had been on the receiving end of that attack strategy when they had tested it on Mabase. If it hadn't been for the timely intervention of the freed Pirate King, Naota and every other human being on the planet would be 'thinking flat'.
"So what are we going to be doing about it?" the boy asked.
In response the man tossed him a small card.
"Uh, what's this?"
"THAT is a registration card with the Galaxy Police Space Brotherhood, one of my contacts told me to give it to you. I guess they figure you're the man for the job. Whatever it may be, they've got me in this too so we'll be working on behalf of the Foreign Embassy on this one. Which means we would do well to speak softly and carry a cannon that thinks it's a stick. We cant afford to get involved unless the Medical Mechanica moves first."
The boy stared at the card for a few more moments. "And you think this will explain my dreams."
"No guarantees", the man replied. "But I'd be willing to wager on it . . . and there are reports going around that Atomsk is searching for something as well."
"What?" The boy asked surprised, what could a being so powerful it had no real need for a physical form ever want.
"You." The man replied.
"What?", he was even more surprised now, what would Atomsk want with him. "I, I don't get it."
The man looked back over the table at the kitchen section of the diner. "We don't either. Atomsk is a mystery wrapped in an enigma, and doing a damn good job of hiding in a labyrinth. Still I promise, you're more likely to find answers helping us then sitting around Mabase like you have for the last month."
The boy froze he needed to know about those strange dreams, of a girl with red eyes and blue hair. He nodded.
"Okay fine, I'm in." Just as the boy said it, two more beings entered the diner.
The first was a slim deeply tanned young woman in a t-shirt and baggy camo pants. She looked over at her boss. The man had a bad habit, he never wore anything but his middle class business suit. Even on hot days he just took off the over shirt. It made it hard for him to blend in.
Though . . . Their other companion made blending in rather pointless. A lanky blue robot with a TV for a head stood behind her. A message flashed across its face/screen.
TIME TO GO. It read.
The woman nodded her head, and gave voice to her mute companions words. "Come on Sir, Naota, we need to get going if we're going to make our schedule."
The Commander's newly repainted Volkswagon rabbit awaited them in the parking lot, a large canvas tarp was pulled over something in the trunk. They both nodded in agreement. The boy offered his hand to the man who had once been his sometimes enemy mostly irritating informant. They shook. Then the man asked a question that had bothered him all night. "You still have her parting gift I see. So you still love her?"
The boy paused and thought about the question. "She'll always have a place in my heart . . . Yeah I still love her, but not like that." The boy finally answered.
The man observed him quietly. "I believe you may have matured quite a bit since we last met Naota."
"Maybe . . . Don't know." The boy responded.
The man paid the check and was out in a minute. The woman who had waited for them observed the boy as he stood alone with his mechanical Companion. "The Commander told me about your dreams. They've been troubling you all month haven't they?"
The boy nodded. "Yeah . . . Its just . . ."
Rei frowned. "Its just . . . "
" . . . I get this feeling the girl my dream . . ."
" . . . I get this feeling the boy in my dream . . ."
" . . . is real."
" . . . is real."