"Ten"
--0))
"Now Shinji," said Misato, warily, "Please don't freak out…"
They were at the Command Center.
"What's going on, Misato?"
"Umm… Well…"
The lights flickered on. Standing before Shinji was the twisted form of Unit 01. Shinji took a step back, eyes widening. He felt his heart skip a beat.
it's evil it's evil it's dead it's evil
"Now, Shinji, I'm not going to ask you to fight with it, just-"
Shinji took another step back.
it's evil it's evil it's dead it's evil
He turned and ran. He fled through the desolate streets, towards someplace – anyplace – familiar. He found none.
He finally stopped in front of an ancient building. A sign there was advertising a forgotten foodstuff. He sat on the steps.
You mustn't run away
But he did.
You mustn't run away
But he had to.
You mustn't run away
"Shinji!"
It was Misato.
"Shinji! I'm sorry."
Shinji looked up. Misato was standing there, alone. No soldiers with her, just alone. "Misato…"
"I'm sorry, Shinji."
I mustn't run away
"It's- ok, Misato."
"It's just that there are other ways we can use the Eva. We could use for transport, construction, all sorts of things. You could save lives, Shinji!"
But who cared? He was going to fix things before they were ever going to go wrong. There was no point.
But what if you fail?
-
Unit 01 held the metal beam in place. The workers riveted it together, and they moved on, rebuilding the dam one support at a time.
Misato observed this from the command center.
"So," said Ritsuko.
"What?"
"How'd you convince him to do it?"
"Shinji?"
"You know what I mean."
Silence.
"I don't know, Rits. I really don't know."
-
A younger Rei saw a piece of graffiti, as she walked home from school. 'God Laughs at You.' She wondered what it meant. She had a habit of studying the graffiti that periodically appeared on her building's walls. She had seen a great many This one stood out, however; it had no unique lettering or calligraphic flourishes. It was simply 'God Laughs at You.'
Maybe He did.
She went into her apartment. Ramen. She remembered going to lunch with Ikari. That had been nice. That had been different. Oh well. Maybe they would be happy, in Instrumentality. As she ate slowly, the phone suddenly rang.
She picked up. The phone rang only for one reason: there had been an Angel attack, or else she was needed at headquarters. Only once had it rung for some other reason, when Ikari called. She wondered if he had called again.
"Ay-ayanami?"
"Ikari?"
Now it was thrice.
-
Somewhen in the past, somewhere far away, a man named Kaji was escorting a young woman by the name of Sohryu across the shining sea.
-