Well, not so many reviews on the last chapter; but anyway, I digress. Second-to-last chapter coming your way.
Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or the First Ancestral Race; however, I do own Alpha Omega, Alpha Omicron and Delta Theta.
EPISODE 33: THE END OF THE JOURNEYWithout warning, the landscape of Shinji Ikari's mind began to change once more, the dream that had previously occupied it evaporating as a nebulous and cosmic sight replaced it. All about, stars, nebulae, quasars, and even black holes were evident, all perfectly downscaled so that the nearest suns were slightly larger than he was. Despite the abject beauty and awe-inspiring view, his mind could only be focused on one thing: was he to be attacked again?
And, indeed, as he expected, another form began to materialize not long after. At first, he thought it was the intruder who had invaded his mind in the guise of his mother, but instead, it turned out to be an entirely different form. Once the entity materialized, Shinji's face paled; this guy didn't even have a face underneath those shades! All he had was an ethereal green aura surrounding him. Despite this astoundingly different appearance, though, he was still almost certain that it was his previous assailant in a new form, at least until a slightly jovial voice made itself known, "You probably think that I'm the same guy who tried to screw your mind over, yeah? Well, no worries, Shinji; I'm merely here to explain."
"W-who are you?"
"Name's Delta Theta. I'm a member of the species that your SEELE classified as Progenitors. However, we're more commonly known as the "First Ancestral Race" to most other cultures. I suppose you're wondering why I'm dressed like this, yeah? Well, I came to Earth in about 1715 with a couple of others like me, who thought that we could establish interspecies relations with our creations."
Shinji was confused as Hell right now. Actually, that was an understatement, but it's hard to make analogies about being more confused than Hell. But, the point was, this…whatever he was…was telling him that he was…God? An Angel? That's what calling humans your creations would mean, right? In attempting to assimilate this, Shinji's mind was spanning, assailed by these "revelations", a healthy dose of disbelief, and mainly the fact that he was talking to a faceless, glowing alien with a New Jersey accent and noir clothing. Before he could finish sorting out these thoughts, though, Delta spoke yet again, "I bet you're really damn confused right now, yeah?"
A weak "y-y-yeah" was all the reply Shinji could muster, understandably.
"Well, perhaps a tour'll help your understanding of the situation…" decided Delta, and a bright light suddenly began to envelop them both. A few seconds later, the blinding light suddenly disappeared and Shinji was staring with Delta at a blue supergiant sun and the six planets in its orbit. Every single one of them was unique in its own way, and all of them seemed to have an aura of beauty around them.
"W-what…what is this place?"
"This, Shinji, is – or was – my home. This is where my people, the First Ancestral Race, had always lived for quite some time. This is where the Seeds of Life were dispatched from to other galaxies to give birth to the different kinds of life that exist. Consisting of six planets circling the blue supergiant Leviathan, the first planet is my birthplace, Nightfire Prime," Delta said, pointing to the planet near to a gas giant. It looked like Earth, except it was colored in different shades of blue.
However, despite the awing beauty of the sight, Shinji couldn't bring himself to make comment, still shell-shocked and a bit dizzy, so he just nodded dumbly.
"It's also the birthplace of my master and friend, Alpha Omega. He's one of the most respected of us, and one of our most diligent and efficient Coordinators."
"C-coordinator?" Shinji blinked, managing to focus his mind on a smaller problem to block out the larger mass of impressions that still buzzed about in his mind.
"Members of our race who are deployed to star systems where species have been wiped out prematurely. Coordinators make use of a variety of techniques and methods to bring back races, preferably without suspicion. Omega's methodology is based on the Christian Bible's myths of the six days to create Earth, and the legend of Adam and Eve. He…was the one who invaded not only your mind, but Asuka and Rei's minds, as well." If the being possessed eyes, he seemed as though he would have winced as this was outlined.
Upon hearing of this admittance, Shinji paled once more. He had remembered the mental attack suffered inside his mind…whatever it was that had taken on the form of his mother was only repelled by a hidden feeling of love for someone who he was never really close to, but always held a high degree of respect and friendship for.
"W-why…w-why was he so…brutal?!"
"…He's a very lonely man, Shinji. Once, he had a wife. His great love, one of our females born from my family's house. They met at a social function, and one thing led to another. They married and had many children…until she was killed in an accident. Omega had become distant and cold, shutting himself out from almost everyone around him and delving deeper into his work. He reminds me of your father."
For a moment, despite his anger and sadness, Shinji perceived a slight bit of empathy in that voice. Did this…thing…have similar experiences? It had referred to the other as its master, after all…but still, he wasn't prepared to accept that explanation. Luckily, before he had to find another reply, Shinji noticed Delta's gaze shift to another Earth-like planet, this one colored in shades of magenta and pink.
"What's that, Delta?" he managed, biting back more harsh words against the other's associate.
"That's Nufire Prime, once populated by peacemakers, hippies, womanizers and beach bums. It was also the home planet of one of our most skilled negotiators, Omega's brother, Alpha Omicron. He just attempted to restore Earth outright by himself, but he didn't quite make the cut; he only managed to bring some grass and trees back in scattered places. Omicron's tagged along with Omega on almost every assignment they've been on, and for good reason; he serves as Omega's voice of reason and conscience."
"He sounds more…likeable…than Omega is."
"He treats life like an adventure, and challenges himself everyday to live life to the fullest. That's one of the things Omicron taught me, amongst…other things."
"What about you?"
"Me? Well, after I learned from Omega several offensive and defensive arts of combat, I took some additional life lessons from Omicron and began exploring the universe by myself. I saw that the attitude given to other species, our creations, was unwarranted. You see, Shinji, a large percentage of my species believe that our creations are inferior, and that we should want to bend them to our wills on our whims, that they must bend. I'm among the small group that believes that our creations are equal in potential to us. I've been watching over the Earth with about thirty like-minded Nightfire and Nufire for over 300 years, often taking on disguises to help and understand Lilim better."
"Err…so, then, um…were any of you…in Tokyo-3 with us?"
"Yes…me. I assumed many different forms, mostly that of the NERV mechanic who tried to make small talk with you every time you came back from a battle. You see…I was one of those who watched your mom get absorbed into Unit-01 during the contact experiment. I was one of the techs in the control room, monitoring your mother's synch ratio. I guess I can sympathize with you, Shinji. I hated the way your father treated everyone, like pieces on a chessboard. So, when I saw Omega attempt the same thing, my comrades and I decided to act."
"Act…?"
"Even as we speak, Omega, Omicron, and my followers are making use of their collective energies to restore Earth to a pre-Third Impact State. But, even after our work is completed, Earth will continue healing. From NERV and eventually the world's perspective, it'll look like you caused this regeneration in a moment of clarity during Instrumentality. It'll take the Lilim's ability to rise from the ashes to make it work, but I have confidence in that…"
Shinji knew he should be very happy right now, but it didn't seem right to be. The entire world had died on his whim, and now this person (or alien or god or whatever) was going to snap his fingers and fix it all? It seemed so…unreal? Wrong, maybe? He would be able to see everyone again, even those that had actually meant something to him…that should be good, but he couldn't feel like he was being let off too easy. Shouldn't he have to face the consequences of his actions?
"Listen, Shinji, bud…I know that some of this might not seem right to you. Hell, it prolly isn't…but would you really prefer it the other way?" Not waiting for a reply, as he presumed to know what it would be, he went on to say, "We were just trying to help, you know? It's intrusive, sure, but if we didn't, you'd die out. Would you want that?"
Shinji said nothing to this, trying in part to forget that he had wanted that. Maybe still did. It was wrong to have judged so selfishly, he knew, but this was just as bad, if not worse. At least he hadn't thought he knew what was best for people…
Trying to get off this depressing subject, one he had often tried not to think about too much, the Nightfire announced with manufactured cheer, "Time to go, bud. I'll see you back in the real world." With that, the scale model of the universe evaporated as it had come, and the sleeper finally awoke.
It's happened! Earth has been restored by the First Ancestral Race, and humanity's future looks bright! But can Shinji conquer his final demons and make peace with Omega? Tune in for the last episode of Evangelion, Episode 34: The Second Genesis!
