Chapter 1: Divergence

It is said that there is truth to be found in every story told. Few truly understand how correct this is. Few also understand just how many permutations there are to those stories, echoes that are at once familiar and unique. Those that do understand these things can, even with only their entrance or exit, change one of these echoes, these stories, forever…

Yamanakako, Japan, 2009

Young Shinji Ikari still didn't know why he was here in this small, quiet home. He didn't fully remember what had happened to have him leave his old home, nor did his father, who he missed even now, give any indication of why he was with Sensei. All Shinji remembered of that day when his father left him was the vague, watery outline in his tear-filled eyes that turned away and stepped back onto the train. He remembered how sad and confused he was then, but even 6 years removed it was still a dull, painful memory to recall.

After that, he was found by Sensei and his wife, an older couple that Father must have trusted if he would leave his only son with them for so long. Sensei, who was really only ever that, was a decent enough man, and seemingly very smart, but distant to him as if Shinji had done something to upset him long ago. Mrs. Azuma, his wife, while also fairly distant, was kind to him on occasion, and he treasured those rare moments that he was shown some affection.

But, for the most part, he was left alone. Fed and clothed and kept warm, yes, but left alone all the same. First, Shinji was confused by this. Then he was angry. But now, Shinji was simply ambivalent. He had found ways to occupy himself anyways. His cello was his favorite, filling the space around him with deep, soothing notes. But he had other means.

The most conflicting one to him sat in his phone, used from time to time to truly block out the world. An SD card which was the only thing that his father had left to him, filled with music from younger, perhaps more ideal days. It was his only connection to his father. The only thing left of what could have been their days as a family. He loved and hated it in equal measure, and often thought about throwing it away, to show that he did not need his father any more than his father seemed to need him.

But always, like now, he would slot it back into his phone, plug in his headset, and let the strange mix of music wash over him.

It was during this time that Mrs. Azuma tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to open his eyes, pause his music, and take out a headphone. "Yes, Mrs. Azuma?"

He noticed she was tense, something that she usually wasn't. She tried to hide it, and she almost succeeded. But her eyes, strained even as they put on kindness, gave much away.

With his music off, Shinji could look into the empty hallway beyond the door, and hear the voice of Sensei in the living room, talking with someone else. The discussion was pitched low, too low for him to make out the words, but Sensei sounded like he was as tense as Mrs. Azuma looked.

She pulled Shinji's attention back from the doorway to her. "We have a… visitor," she said, seemingly not knowing what to call whoever that other voice belonged to. "and he has come looking for you. He says that he knows your parents."

Shinji's eyes widened at that. Someone who knew his parents? His mother? Someone who could tell him what had happened, why he was here? Someone who could, maybe, take him home? It seemed almost too good to be true. For the first time in a long time, Shinji felt hope, which felt strange after so long without.

"Who is he?" he asked, quietly, so as not to distract from Sensei's conversation.

Mrs. Azuma lowered her voice as well and frowned in what could only be confusion. "He's an American, that's for sure. Other than that, we don't know. He seems to know your father at least, as well as Daiki does. But there's a lot we think he hasn't told us."

After a moment's silence, Mrs. Azuma shook her head. "He seems to know a lot about you too."

Before she could continue any further, Sensei Azuma stepped into the doorway, looking intently at Mrs. Azuma. "Akina. Let's talk," he said, his rather deep, gravelly voice rumbled in the silence that followed, "in the hallway." Mrs. Azuma nodded and looked back at Shinji.

"We'll get this figured out, okay?" she said, with as much reassurance as she could put into her voice.

Shinji nodded, and he was alone in his room again. Immediately his mind whirled with questions, and twice as many possible answers presented themselves to him. Many of these scared him. Some of them worked with the small amount of hope that he had gotten, and a few seemed utterly ridiculous. But, at this point, what was ridiculous now?

All these thoughts seemed to last a small eternity as the Azuma's conversed in hushed tones out in the hallway. Then, they stepped away, and silence filled the room again. A few muffled words from the living room, and then Mrs. Azuma stepped into the doorway and beckoned to Shinji. "Alright, Shinji. Come and meet Daniel."

Daniel? That was American, wasn't it? Shinji stood from his small bed, passing by his cello and out the doorway, into the living room.

The man who stood by a still tense Sensei was, by all rights, a fairly normal-looking man. About 1.5 meters tall, he wore a simple white button-down shirt and black slacks, a somewhat eerie mirror of Shinji's usual attire. He was somewhat pale, with close-cut dark blond hair and a neatly trimmed beard. But perhaps the most intriguing of all was his eyes. Not for their fairly normal, somewhat piercing blue color, but for what seemed to hide behind them. What Shinji, by all rights a fairly perceptive young man, saw was a strange familiarity, a comfort within what should have been alien surroundings. And, as the man turned to look at Shinji, there appeared in his eyes a glimmer of… warmth? Finally, the man spoke.

"Hello, Shinji," he said, in surprisingly decent Japanese, "My name is Daniel. I'm here to help you out and be your friend. I've worked with your parents before." The man then crouched down to Shinji's level and extended his hand, which Shinji shook politely. "What do you like to do?"

#12 Line to Tokyo-3, 2015

A 15-year old Shinji blinked, a bend in the track of the train he was on shaking him from his recollections for a moment. Much had happened since that fateful meeting 6 years ago. Shinji had someone by his side, at least for a little while, that he regarded at first as an older friend, and in time, as perhaps an uncle which he had never had. They had shared many passions, especially for music, and Daniel had taught him a lot in the 3 years that they were together, helping him to grow from his shell of timid quietness, at least somewhat.

He had… a family member. Maybe not by blood, but Daniel really was family now, warm, kind, and always willing to cheer Shinji on no matter how he felt.

Which led Shinji to look back down at the object that started his recollections.

"Come."

A single word.

On a single piece of paper.

Along with whatever he may have said when he left him so long ago, this was the only word that his father had given him.

Why? Why was he so cold, so impersonal? What had changed? Why was he only being called back now? Why? Why?

That question continued to spin in his head from the minute he had opened the letter up to now. Daniel had heard about it, of course. Even after he had left for NERV, in Germany of all places, they still kept in touch. Shinji had come to admire the effort that Daniel went to do that, and what he had said on the night of Shinji's departure still reassured him. "Your father may be looking to make amends, or he might not. I don't completely know. But you are his son. I think that'll count for something, hopefully. However it works out, remember that I have faith in you, that I believe in you, even if no one else does. Good luck."

Shinji held on to that faith like a life preserver in the middle of the storm that his life had become, as the train slid into the Tokyo-3 station and opened its doors.

As Shinji stepped out, he couldn't help but marvel at the absolute emptiness of the station. Where was everyone? Then Shinji noticed the distant siren and a voice over the loudspeakers talking about an evacuation to shelters of some sort. Well, that explained it. Cell service seemed to be out as well and had been the entire trip thus far, so Shinji made up his mind to find another way to call the number on the other piece of mail he had received.

In addition to his father's cold, distant summons, Shinji had also received a picture of a woman named Misato Katsuragi, the person who, presumably, was supposed to be picking him up. It was a questionable photo for being given to a minor, to say the least, but it gave him an idea of who he was supposed to be looking for if nothing else.

Even still, payphone after payphone, seemingly relics at this point, offered no real help, simply echoing the statement of evacuation. After the fourth one that he tried, he simply stayed there, listening to the now somewhat distant sirens, the birds and insects that now filled the air with chatter in the absence of humans, and let his mind wander for a moment.

As his mind, and his gaze, swept across the buildings up and down the street he was on, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. As he turned to look, all sound seemed to fade away, and he was almost afraid to blink.

Far up the street, in what seemed like a haze, was a girl, pale and with… blue hair? That couldn't be right.

At that moment, a flock of birds flew off as one from an electric pole, drawing Shinji's attention for just a moment. When he turned back, the girl was gone. Somehow. How very strange, indeed.

Suddenly, the air rippled around him in a shockwave, rattling the metal shutters of stores and setting the electric wires overhead undulating with a swishing, cutting sound. As the noise passed, Shinji looked up from the protection of his arms.

As he did, the dull roar of massive engines drew his attention to the hillside, from which a swarm of some kind of attack aircraft emerged, circling…

An Angel.

And not just an Angel, but the one that Daniel had described to him. How did he know?

The Angel loomed large against the rolling hills of the city outskirts, making the usually massive aircraft seem like only a flock of birds surrounding it. It strode forward, entering the city proper, passing through the storm of missiles that screamed overhead and into its body as if it were a rain shower.

Eventually, it seemed to grow tired of the constant barrage and showed its displeasure by extending its arm out towards one of the aircraft. As it did, a massive spike slid partway out of the creature's elbow, beginning to glow a bright purple, until rocketing forward out of the thing's hand.

The unlucky fighter it aimed for made a valiant attempt to juke out of the way, but the Angel's spear sheared off its tail, sending the aircraft into a mad spin towards the ground.

The air around Shinji filled with the roar of the fighter screaming towards the street he was on, Shinji's own screaming lost in the noise. It hit the pavement several streets ahead of him, skidding towards him with the screech of dragging metal. It slowed, then stopped a few meters in front of him, filling him with relief he showed in a heaving sigh.

Then the Angel seemed to glow with a hellish light, doing the seemingly impossible and lifting itself into the air, seemingly defying nature even more than it already did by sheer force of will.

It touched down, almost crushing Shinji underfoot, and crumpling the downed aircraft it did step on like paper, the craft sparking and glowing in an imminent explosion. Shinji threw his arms around his face, certain he would probably die here.

It was then he heard the explosion, saw it even through his eyes squeezed shut. He almost missed the squealing of car tires under the noise. As he hesitantly opened his eyes and lowered his hands, the door of the small, foreign-looking sports car swung open, revealing Misato, or at least it looked like Misato, in a stylish black dress and shades. She looked at him with a smirk, like she had the entire situation under control, or at least thought she did. "Sorry I'm late. Get in, and let's get out of here."

Shinji quickly scampered into the proffered seat, closing the door behind him, and fumbling with the seatbelt before the woman slammed the car into reverse, starting to speed away.

The military continued its seemingly useless barrage now just overhead, the Angel simply standing there, almost seeming confused. It then took a step forward, almost crushing the vehicle, but the car narrowly avoided the step, its roof denting from the rubble falling around it.

After a moment, the car turned its nose towards a street, and it sped off, the sound of the furious battle fading into the distance, the sight more slowly.

After a while, filled with the relieved silence of escape, Shinji and Misato stopped on a road overlooking the hills, slowly turning into mountains, and Misato grabbed a pair of what looked like binoculars, leaning out the passenger side window, her chest hanging uncomfortably close to Shinji's face, scanning the hilltops until she found the Angel and it's military opponents. Shinji wondered what was going on, listening to Misato grumble under her breath, "those military idiots. Have they figured out yet that it's useless?"

Shinji didn't know whether to reply or not, so he took the safe route and simply sat silently, his face slowly turning red as Misato continued in her somewhat embarrassing position.

Then, Misato lowered the binoculars suddenly. "They can't be. Are they nuts? They're arming an N2 bomb?", she almost shouted incredulously. Then, she threw herself over Shinji. "Get down!", she yelled somewhat uselessly, as the world went white, and a roar that made the missiles from before sound like firecrackers drowned out anything else that might be said.

Then the shockwave hit, sending the car sliding, then tumbling into the ditch opposite the road, as both Shinji and Misato bounced around the cab until finally coming to a rest on the side of the car.

Both groaned as they lay there, the tumble sure to give them bruises later. After a moment, they struggled out of each other's awkward embrace, and looked up out of the shattered window of the door now above them, and took in the pillar of flame that seemed to pierce the sky where it stood as it faded away.

. . .

After a little longer, they extracted themselves from the car, examining it. Misato turned to Shinji. "Are you okay?"

Shinji nodded. "Yeah," he said, "but I'm probably going to be tasting upholstery for a little while."

Misato chuckled at the remark. "Well, we aren't going anywhere like this. You should be able to help me get this thing on its wheels again. Come on."

She led Shinji to the roof of the car, putting her back against it, Shinji following likewise. "Push!"

After a failed attempt, the next set the car back on its wheels with a crunch. Misato clapped the dust off her hands, then groaned, slouching a little. "And I had just gotten to my next payment, too."

She straightened herself, turning towards Shinji. "Well, I couldn't have done it without you. Thanks."

Shinji nodded. "No problem. I should really be thanking you, Ms. Katsuragi."

She took off her shades, whipping her hair out of her face. "Please, call me Misato. It's nice to meet you, Shinji Ikari."

They then started at the task of pushing the car back up onto the road, eventually succeeding. As they sat next to the car resting for a moment, Shinji turned to Misato. "You don't think that N2 thing stopped that Angel, did it?"

Misato turned, a look of surprise and a little suspicion evident in her eyes. "No, I don't. How do you know it's called an Angel? We haven't called it anything like that, at least in public."

Shinji blinked. "I got a packet from my father. It's buried in my bag, and I only really read up until it mentioned Angels."

Misato nodded, "Well, I guess that makes sense. I guess the packet I have for you is mostly useless now, except for your ID and some other things."

Shinji nodded in turn and looked down. It felt weird, having to outright lie about how he knew some of the things that he did. However, Daniel had made it quite clear that he had to not tell anyone about these things, not even his father. It had seemed silly before. Angels and AT Fields and souls? It felt like something out of fantasy. Why shouldn't he tell anyone? Now, however, he wondered.

After a moment, they patched up the bumpers, both at risk of falling off, and began to make their way again, Misato handing Shinji the now crumpled and somewhat torn packet in question. "Here. It's going to be a little while before we get to the Geofront. Read up," she said, that seemingly trademark grin on her face again, "and try to get past the section on Angels this time."

Shinji nodded. "Okay." After taking the ID inside the packet, he began reading.

The miles melted away, the stops barely noted, and even as the light faded, he continued to read, taking in the information that was proffered to him, Misato's talking on the phone to someone a dull, muted rumble in his focus on the packet. After he finished, he noticed Misato, seeing a mix of despair and annoyance on her face.

"Ms. Misato?" She seemed to not notice. "Ms. Misato?" he asked again, this time seemingly snapping her out of her reverie.

"Yes, Shinji?" she asked with a startled look on her face.

He looked around the interior of the car. "Are we going to be okay in here," he said, his gaze landing on a frankly massive pile of batteries wired together in the back seat. "Especially with those?"

Misato chuckled nervously. "Don't worry about those. We'll be able to get to the car train long before they run out."

Shinji kept his eye on the pile. "That wasn't quite my concern, but as long as you feel certain about it, I'll keep quiet."

Misato grinned again. "Of course! It's all under control. I'm an international civil servant who knows what she's doing. Do you think I don't?"

Shinji slowly nodded, a small smile playing across his face. "I guess you think so, with an attitude like that."

Misato nodded, then whipped her head around to glare at Shinji for a moment. "And what does that mean, exactly?" she said accusingly, eyes narrowed and mouth set in a thin line.

Shinji, taken aback, stammered for a moment. "Nothing really, Ms. Misato. You just seem…" he stammered again, searching for the right word. "Confident?" he finally settled on.

Misato's playful grin came back after a moment. "Of course I'm confident. As I said, I know what I'm doing."

Finally, they arrived at the entrance of the Geofront, entering a long tunnel and driving onto the car train, which jostled slightly as it carried them down to the Geofront proper. Shinji noted the strange logo, both on the packet and the fence surrounding their descending platform. "So, NERV. This is where my father works?"

"Yep, Special Agency NERV." Misato replied. "We're dedicated to the defense of humanity from a variety of existential threats, including the Angel that you saw outside. And yes. Your father is the director here at the Geofront."

Shinji nodded. With work seemingly like this, it would make sense that he was sent away and that his father wouldn't be able to visit much. But that still left a lot of questions unanswered.

As the train quietly rattled on, Shinji spoke again after a moment. "So... are we going to go see my father then?"

Misato closed a makeup mirror she was holding, turning to Shinji. "Uh-huh. At least I think that we are."

Shinji nodded, and his mind raced into the past. A youth with a simple bag of clothes and nothing else, standing on a train platform in the rain as the only person he even thought he knew turned around and walked away, seeming deaf to all the world. It still had the familiar sting of all those years ago, even after Daniel had entered his life.

After a moment, another question pressed into his mind. "So what am I doing here? With all this information I've been given, I must have something I'm supposed to do. I wouldn't have been brought here if there wasn't. So what is it?"

Misato seemed to take this question in without any sort of response. After a moment, she spoke. "I think I get it. You're not comfortable around your father, are you?"

Shinji was silent for a moment, taking in Misato's mysterious non sequitur. She probably wasn't wrong, but even he was unsure. "Well, I haven't really seen him since I was 3." he said slowly. "I don't really know."

Misato nodded as if the answer confirmed a suspicion. "I see. You and I aren't all that different then." she said quietly.

Shinji glanced at the relaxed Misato, wondering what that could mean.

The moment after, they emerged from the enclosed tunnel, and the sight that greeted them was nothing short of magical. Entire skyscrapers seemed to hang like mighty stalactites, glowing with light. On the floor below, a scene almost taken out of nature greeted them, a deep green forest bordering a brilliant blue lake. The only man-made things that seemed to dare to tamper with this scene were a few roads and bridges, and a massive pyramid, visible even from their height as they slowly spiraled down the sides of the gargantuan dome.

Shinji's face was plastered against the window, glowing with awe at the majestic sight. Misato laughed quietly, amused at the wonder evident in Shinji's face. "The sight gets everyone like that the first time they see it. Yes, this is the Geofront, and where we're going, right below us, is NERV Headquarters itself. The home of the protectors of humanity and the greatest bastion for the restoration of life as we knew it."

As they entered the Headquarters proper, long after the awe had worn off and been replaced with simple appreciation, Shinji couldn't help but glance again at Misato, who was intently studying the mess of lines and shapes that apparently passed for the map of this place. "Oh, come on," She groaned. "I'm positive that we're going the right way. Or at least we should be."

Shinji stood only a little ways ahead and spoke up. "And you know where we're going, right?"

Misato looked up, her brow furrowed by annoyance. "I would if this place wasn't so convoluted. It doesn't help that I only got here somewhat recently." Shinji didn't seem placated by this.

Misato continued to stare at Shinji for a moment, then took a deep breath and straightened herself, seeming to make a great effort to relax. "And anyways, NERV should have systems in place to help us get to where we're going coming up soon. Hopefully."

They eventually reached an elevator, then another, and soon after another one. As they traveled down this one, the elevator opened its doors with the now customary tone, presenting a blonde, green-eyed woman intently looking right where Misato now stood. Misato seemed somewhat startled by this woman's sudden appearance. "Ah... hello, Ritsuko." she said with no small amount of embarrassment.

She entered the elevator, wearing a white lab coat over what appeared to be a swimsuit, and wore simple flats. She continued to look intently at Misato. "Captain Katsuragi," she replied in a cool, calm voice, "you really should stop messing around wandering about the base. We don't have the time or the people to waste looking for you."

Misato chuckled. "Sorry, " she said, a sheepish grin on her face.

With a sigh, the woman in the lab coat turned to study Shinji as intently as she looked at Misato, and Shinji could only see in her eyes a detached, almost clinical interest. "So, is this the Child?"

Misato nodded, looking at Shinji then back at her. "Yep. He's the Third Child, alright. The Marduk Institute hasn't been wrong so far."

Shinji's brow quirked at hearing this. "The Marduk Institute? What's that?"

Ritsuko blinked, seemingly surprised by Shinji's apparent inquisitiveness. Misato hid a small smile under a presumed cough. "He's a good bit more inquisitive than his father, and a fair bit more approachable too."

Ritsuko turned to glare at Misato once again. "Katsuragi. The commander should be respected. Try not to say that in front of him."

Misato nodded, clearly not amused. "I know. And I will when I'm around him."

Shinji's brow furrowed slightly at the adults seemingly ignoring his question. "You didn't answer me. What is the Marduk Institute? Why am I the Third Child? Where are the first two?"

The two adults turned back to him, the surprise now evident in both of their faces.

Before either could answer, the elevator dinged once again, the doors sliding open quietly. Ritsuko looked out into the hallway, dark save for the ominous glow of the red running lights. "Well, young Mr. Ikari," she said, "you can follow me and find out."

. . .

They walked through the hallway, boarding a moving platform that ascended through a cavernous room. The room echoed with the announcements of the loudspeakers. "Battle stations, Condition 1, repeat, Condition 1. Ready ordinance for intercept deployment."

Misato sighed with the news. "Well, it seems we'll be on soon. At least, so they say."

Ritsuko nodded in the darkness. "Seems like a pretty big deal." Shinji was still confused as to what they were saying.

"What's Unit-01's status?" Misato asked, now sounding almost deadly serious.

"It's in Type B configuration, in the process of cooldown," Ritsuko replied, equally as serious.

Misato scoffed. "Does it even work?" she asked incredulously. "It hasn't even really worked once, right?"

Shinji was now thoroughly confused. Unit-01? Type B? What did any of this have to do with the Marduk Institute, or the Third Child, or even just him?

They continued in their technobabble, any understanding of it sliding off him like the dew off the leaves in the morning. As such, his gaze began to wander. He seemed surrounded by a dense liquid, a deep crimson light filtering through it. As his eyes glided across the area of the liquid, he noticed a massive, dark shape, which soon made itself out to be a giant hand, seemingly reaching out to them.

Shinji stepped forward, taking in the sight with wide eyes. Misato and Ritsuko turned from their conversation, noticing his apparent interest. Shinji continued to drink in the sight. "Is that…" he trailed off, unable to find the words to describe the monstrous thing before him.

Misato stepped up alongside him. "Yes, Shinji. That is Unit-01. An Evangelion."

Shinji's head whipped around to stare at Misato. Another thing that Daniel had described. Only once though, and seemingly by mistake. He never mentioned it again. What made this so dangerous that even Angels and AT Fields could be talked about freely, but not the Evangelion? More about Daniel became mysterious, even a little frightening. How did Daniel know about these things?

The platform stopped, leading to a dock with a motorboat moored to it, floating in the vast lake that the liquid made up. They boarded, and sped across to a great wall of metal, a vast arm, at least as large as the Angel's, hanging in the liquid, its shoulder encircled by the wall.

They arrived, and passed through the door in the side, and entered a room shrouded by darkness. The door behind them closed, the darkness now smothering them.

Shinji refused to move, unsure of how large or small the room was, or what he might risk tripping on. He remained silent however until a brief flicker of light and a click preceded the blinding overhead lights switching on, and the coming of the light brought Shinji face to face with a massive mask.

Its eyes were a baleful yellow, set in a helmet of purple and lime, striped through with red highlights. It loomed over Shinji and the others, and stared unblinkingly, its gaze almost seeming to pierce Shinji's soul.

This must have been the Evangelion, the thing that seemingly frightened even Daniel into silence. "What is it?" he said in an almost dreamlike tone. "Is it a robot? A mech of some sort?"

"It is the ultimate multipurpose combat weapon." Ritsuko intoned in an almost reverent voice. "The artificial human. The Evangelion. This is Unit-01. It is humanity's last hope, the secret weapon with which we will save humanity."

Silence filled the massive room for a second, then another, as Shinji took in what Ritsuko described. "So this is my father's work." he nearly whispered. Then he blinked. "Artificial human? What does that mean?"

"We don't have time for such questions right now."

Shinji jumped slightly, then looked up. There, high above the helmeted face of the Evangelion, in a room with a massive window overlooking the bay, was the man who could only be his father. Who could only be Gendo Ikari.

"It's been quite a while." he continued, his voice echoing throughout the room over the loudspeakers.

Shinji stood still, but within was reeling from the sight. It was his father, before him at last. What did he do? What did he say? He had no idea. "Father…" was all he could get out.

Then, with all the aplomb of a man who knew he would never be denied, he gave his command.

"Launch the Eva."

Next Time on Apotheosis Echo...

Shinji gets in the Eva and faces off against the mighty Angel Sachiel, but this is just the beginning. What shall change now? Will Shinji run, or will he stand? What will others do in his wake? Next Episode: Trial By Combat.