Prologue: Contact
A/N: Well, well. I got an idea and couldn't resist. This came about while writing Rei Grips, so I drafted some stuff up and came back to it later. The idea was inspired by a detail from Advice and Trust, and I explain more at the end of the chapter. I started this before Consequences, and I have the first few chapters of this story written.
2004
Gendo Ikari is considered by many people to be a fearsome individual who wouldn't flinch at the devil himself. 'Many People,' however, does not include his wife Yui. To her, Gendo is putty in her hands, he even gave up his surname in favour of hers. When she wanted to have a child, he obliged, and their son Shinji was born June 6, 2001.
However, Yui is still very aware of her husband's cold exterior, and interior.
Yui has been around men like him for most of her life. She grew up in the heart of SEELE, a secret organization that caused Second Impact and plans to amalgamate humanity into one. Her father is a member of this shadowy group, so the other men would come and go for dinners and whatnot, Including that Keel Lorenz, the man who she narrowed as the mastermind of this cabal.
As Yui grew older, she became more and more disillusioned to the ideas presented by SEELE, which also helped fuel her greatest project yet: Project E. Yui visualized a giant armoured beast that would effectively be a copy of the First Angel, Adam. Using Adam's DNA, her masterpiece slowly began to come to fruition: The Evangelion. The test-type Evangelion was created from Adam, and the prototype, which she spent most of her time on, was created from Lilith, the Second Angel, which sat crucified underneath Gehirn.
Along her research, Yui realized that in order to link the Evangelion to it's pilot, it would require a special bond. She knew what that would mean, and the fact that there was no other option tore her apart.
She knew she would have to be the special link between the pilot and the Eva, and that her son Shinji would have to be the pilot. She wished to avoid such a scenario, but there was simply no other way. As she developed the Evangelion more, she realized that she could directly interfere with SEELE's plan using it. She also grimaced when she realized that using Unit-01 meant that she would have to include Shinji in this plan.
Yui loved Shinji more than life itself, and aimed to do anything to keep him safe. From the moment he opened his dark blue eyes in the hospital, she knew she would die for her child if she had to. As time went on, she became more and more aware that SEELE was beginning to catch onto her plans, and they had no problem in making her disappear, despite her paternal connection. She had hoped she'd still be able to fly under their radar until Unit-01 was more complete, but she'd have to work with it and hope her husband didn't screw everything up.
Torn between motherhood and mankind, she devised a plan for both. In 2003, she arrived home with video recording equipment and took it to the bedroom of the Ikari household, to the puzzlement of her husband. When he went to see what she was doing, he stopped short when he saw a piece of paper taped to the door that read "Do NOT enter without permission OR ELSE!"
For the next year, she would spend an hour or two a day in their bedroom doing who-knows-what while he tried to keep little Shinji occupied. At times, Gendo felt that he wasn't cut out to be a father. When he expressed this to Yui, she would often slap him on the back of the head and tell him to stop doubting himself. He knew the basics, such as feeding, changing, and bathing, but he couldn't help himself from felling awkward. Thank the heavens for Yui.
The big day for the Eva's contact experiment came at last, and the two awoke to another hot day in a post-Second Impact world. As they were getting themselves ready for the next step in Project E, Yui made an odd request.
"Bring Shinji. I want him to see the bright future."
Gendo could not deny those eyes and that smile such a request, so he roused the young boy as she put breakfast together. Once the Ikaris had eaten, Yui asked Gendo to take Shinij to the car, saying she'd be down in a few minutes. Once he was gone, she hastily went to the back of the closet and pulled out an envelope that read "FOR GENDO" in black marker. She taped it to the counter, before pulling two boxes from the same spot. The larger one read "Shinji" and the smaller one read "Gendo." She placed them on the bed, thankful that the closet was basically all of her clothing and she was able to hide them.
She let out a sigh of relief as she grabbed the last of her things and made her way to the car.
Despite his 24/7 poker face, Gendo was extremely nervous about the contact experiment. He tried to wean Yui off of doing the contact experiment, but when she set her heart and mind on something, it was like convincing a brick wall to speak.
He paced as he watched technicians set up the incomplete Eva up for the experiment, and professor Fuyutski was eyeing him, sensing his nerves with a sympathetic look, when in reality he was just as nervous.
Gendo decided he was tired of standing there and made his way into the hall. His feet lead him to Yui's office, where she was standing outside with her test plugsuit in hand. She regarded him with a smile before entering and shutting the blinds and door.
After a minute of standing against the wall facing the closed door, he heard her voice. "Oh Gendooooo~" She called out in a sugarcoated tone.
His heart jumped as he stepped forward and gently opened the door. When he entered her office he looked around and couldn't find he-
Yui came out from behind the door, fitted in her test plugsuit, quick as a cheetah. Ferocious as one too. She grabbed his collar with one hand and pinned him against the nearby wall with a considerable amount of force, throwing the door closed. She pulled him close so that they were literally eye-to-eye and millimetre apart.
She had a stern look in here eyes "You listen to me and you listen to me good, Rokubungi. I don't care what happens today, but you need to promise me one thing. My last name is Ikari for a reason." He knew that when she used his surname she wasn't screwing around, so he hastily nodded. "If something goes wrong, I want you to promise me you'll take care of Shinji." She ordered, tone still icy.
Gendo's eyes went wide, and he began to sputter "B-but I can't do that alone! I won't be able to! The lab! The project! I can hardly be a father for that boy."
Yui tightened her grip "Figure it out, then! You said it yourself that he has to grow up in this hell, so it would be your job to make him somewhat comfortable at least."
There was a beat
"Promise?"
He sighed "Yes, dear."
"I wanna hear you say it."
He swallowed down his anxiety and locked eyes with her "Whatever happens, I promise to take care of Shinji."
Yui smiled, loosening her grip on his now-wrinkled shirt "Good!" and she pulled him in for a passionate kiss.
Fuyutski, despite his nerves, was puzzled at the scene before him: an excitable young boy in an underground lab, casually about to watch a possibly-revolutionary experiment.
"Why is there a child here?" He asked generally.
Naoko Akagi looked at the child, then him. "That's Ikari's son."
He shook his head, then turned to Gendo. "This isn't school, Ikari, this is important."
Yui interrupted, as she crossed the catwalk "Sorry, professor. I brought him here."
Fuyutski had a soft spot for the scientist, a soft spot that dated back to his days as a professor at Tokyo University, but didn't relent "Yui, today is your experiment."
She grinned "I know, that's why I brought him here! I want to show him the bright future."
He grunted, and the experiment was ready to go. Yui gave a thumbs up, and got into position. Naoko watched the Synchro-rate crawl up and up, until it suddenly spiked at 400% and there was a massive flash of light from the testchamber. When people could see the scene again, Yui was nowhere to be found, only her test plugsuit in her place.
"Subject vitals undetectable!"
"Dr. Ikari has gone missing!"
She looked back at Gendo, who displayed complete and utter shock, now standing at his desk.
Gendo's world began to spin. No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no-
"Daddy? Where's mommy?"
A small voice in front of him brought him out of his own head, and Shinji was looking up at him on the verge of tears.
At that moment, Gendo wanted nothing to do with the boy, to never see him again. To banish this small brat to the furthest corner of the Earth, and find his way back to his wife.
But then, he saw Yui's features in Shinji's young face.
"Take care of Shinji."
Like a mirage, he saw her face and heard her voice for a brief moment, and it was enough to give a small spark of warmth to his cold heart.
In this moment of lucidity, he came around his desk and scooped the teary-eyed boy up in his arms. "It's okay. Mommy's... away. She's going to be away for a while. It's okay Shinji, don't cry, I'm here."
As his son sniffled into his shoulder, Gendo sighed and looked to the biological behemoth standing in the testchamber.
Dammit, Yui. you have too much faith in me...
The night after the contact experiment, Gendo dreafully arrived home, a bag with Yui's clothes from that day in one hand, and a sleeping Shinji in his free arm. He dropped the bag down, carefully took Shinji to his bed and tucked him in before returning to the kitchen. Before he could begin to overthink, he noticed an envelope with "FOR GENDO" in Yui's handwriting. Carefully but quickly, he tore it apart and pulled the contents out. It was a single letter.
Dear Gendo,
If you're reading this, then I didn't come back from the contact experiment, And I'm now inside the core of Unit-01. As a contingency, I wrote this and probably would've burned it if I had come home. Knowing myself, I got you to promise to take care of Shinji.
DO NOT BREAK MY PROMISE, OR I SWEAR THE FIRST CHANCE I GET, I'LL TAKE CONTROL OF UNIT-01 AND SQUISH YOU LIKE A GRAPE, GENDO ROKUBUNGI.
There was the surname again.
In our bedroom there are two boxes: one for you, and one for Shinji. Shinji's box is larger because I have a lot to say to him. With the Dead Sea Scrolls and everything else in this hellish spiderweb, he's going to have a lot to deal with in the future. You know it, and I know it.
Your box is to keep you sane, and keep you from making any rash decisions. I know Keel has been trying to get more out of you, and he's definitely going to up the ante, especially when your wife is gone (which is why you're reading this), but he's a very suspicious and untrustworthy man. Bad enough that Second Impact is his fault. I know you were also directly involved, but if you stick with me here and LISTEN TO YOUR WIFE, you'll be able to atone. In your box I have an idea to keep him at bay for the time. Again, contingency, and Gods damn me, if I'm here, I'll fly to Germany and give it to the bastard myself. It's called the 'Human Instrumentality Project.' My real plan is also in the box and you will be needing that. I'll go into more detail there, but basically, give SEELE the Instrumentality plan, follow it along, and subvert things at the right time. Knowing SEELE and how they operate, I put together the Yui Plan. Guard that with your life, memorize it and eat the paper if you have to.
Shinji is a part of this plan, which is partially why I (most likely) made you promise to take care of him. Another big part of it is so that he grows up properly. He will need to be the pilot, which means fighting the angels and SEELE, and our boy needs to be confident in what he does. When the day comes that he has to link with Unit-01, if I see a miserable child, your days will be numbered.
Get assistance if you have to. I understand that Gehirn keeps you very late, but you can use funds to hire help if you need to. Don't abandon that boy. Please.
Shinji's box is a series of videos and letters for specific times in his life. In time, they will explain where I am and how he will need to pilot Unit-01, and I'll provide guidance on how to reach out to me as well. There are also videotapes for each of his birthdays until he turns 20, as well as videotapes on miscellaneous advice, because mother knows best. This was followed by a happy face.
If you destroy the box for Shinji, see the big underlined parts again.
The future of humanity is up to us. I hope this does something towards easing your pain and clearing your head.
Remember, anywhere can be paradise as long as you have the will to live.
Love,
Yui Ikari. She drew a heart next to her signed name.
Gendo let out a heavy sigh.
"Yui..." He looked on "I hope you put your faith in the right man."
A/N: Alrighty, so I was re-reading Advice and Trust by Panther2G, AKA Strypgia, and I noticed a small detail in chapter 10.7, so spoiler warning. When they are doing cross-synchs, Asuka gets a chance to talk to Yui through Unit-01, and in the scene Yui mentions that she left behind letters and videos for Shinji but Gendo destroyed them. That detail inspired the idea behind this fanfic. SO, basically the premise is that Yui, with her connections to SEELE, has knowledge about the angels and knows SEELE's motives, including their end goal of becoming gods. She leaves these videos and letters to Shinji for guidance through fighting angels, and since he'll know she's in there she can communicate directly with him and help him out. Chapter 1 jumps to 2015 and Shinji's backstory and stuff will be explained.
As I stated, I started this before Consequences, and have some chapters written. I'll probably wait a week before posting the next, and I'll post chapter 2, which I've nearly finished, of Consequences, next week or the week after. My plan is biweekly updates for that one, weekly (or biweekly, depending) updates to this fic, but I might post Chapter 1 in a few days to get the ball rolling, and I plan on finishing Rei Grips ASAP. I'm like halfway through that one, maybe a bit less than halfway. I do have a trajectory for that one, I just need to get it onto that .rtf file. Here's Sheriff rambling again. I'm outta here, gonna go watch Sopranos. See y'all next time!
Next time: An angel attacks Tokyo-3, and Shinji takes it on with help from Yui in Chapter 1: Dear Shinji.
