Creation began on 06-24-15
Creation ended on 08-01-15
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Hope from the Sky: Expansion
It took less than forty pickups within the course of an hour, but by the time that had been achieved, the Walls' population had been reduced to just the wealthier citizens and the weaker members of the Military Police that didn't want to venture beyond the Walls, most likely to around forty percent. And the people that willingly left were relocated to the ruins by the ocean to reclaim them and begin further expansion.
The towns around Walls Maria and Rose had been completely emptied, and those still within Wall Sina's towns had been infuriated by the abandonment they felt due to the speedy relocation caused by the purple giant that drove the Titans away from the Walls.
While Shinji did feel bad for the people left behind in the Walls, it was their choice to stay where they felt it was the only place for them, that the rest of the world wasn't meant for them. And there were the plans to travel across the ocean and continue expanding the rebuilding of mankind, and Shinji would be involved to ensure protection against the Titans if there were any across the sea. He didn't mind it at all, but doubt that there were any ships big enough to carry an Eva (as he had informed the Survey Corps and the Garrison that while Unit-01 was tough in its own right, it was unsuited for any degree of combat underwater because of its armor configuration being the standard type and before they were stranded here, no research was effective in creating an armor suited for underwater conflict).
The buildings the citizens explored or even moved into were tall and sturdy, probably still durable from the day they were finished long ago, and the metal infrastructures hadn't shown a single decline in their durability, being re-purposed as homes for the citizens.
"The soil's rich with nutrients," a man said to several others as they evaluated the condition of a large patch of land away from the ocean. "Let's begin converting this place for our agricultural needs."
-x-
"…So he's alive, then?" Toji and Kensuke asked Asuka, who informed the Third Child's friends of his current status in this other world, the next day after she was informed by Misato.
"Yeah," she told them, "and he says he's not coming back."
"Why would he not come back?" Kensuke asked. "There's still the Angels here."
"He claims that the people that exist there need him more, something about some giant man-eaters that look like people attacking them."
"Giants? Like actual giants? From mythology?" Toji asks.
"Maybe."
"And is NERV really going to forget about him?"
"Don't know for sure, though the commander will probably want the Eva back."
Toji and Kensuke looked at one another and knew from the personal experience of Shinji that his father wasn't a nice guy and was beyond the capacity to establish a positive relationship with.
-x-
"…It could be an aircraft carrier," said Shinji to Levi, as the Survey Corps had found a large, rusty ship that was still in the water that seemed seaworthy and able to transport the Eva across the ocean. "Um, a large boat made of metal that was designed with the intention to carry aircraft, planes that could fly some distance in the air, making the process of getting from one place to another more efficient for the crew."
"And these…aircraft carriers," Levi responded to the young man, "they would be in the water most of the time?"
"Yes," Shinji answered him. "They served in military forces, such as the Navy and Marines, groups that fought on or near large bodies of water. Most were powered by nuclear energy because they lasted longer than other types of energy sources, but the people in charge of maintaining them had to be careful around them because nuclear material was difficult to handle and could cause large problems if they were ever compromised."
"But…if this ship could run, and we're careful with it…then we can use it travel across the ocean to other land masses, right?"
"Yes, we could."
Levi had to remind himself that Shinji's knowledge was derived from the history he picked up from his own world and the people he interacted with, and that just because he knew a little about things they knew nothing about, he didn't have any experience with said things. There was a difference between developing the ODM gear for use against the Titans and using it against the Titans.
-x-
"…We were successful in retrieving this probe," a retrieval expert under NERV's employment in the Nevada branch informed Major Katsuragi over the phone to NERV HQ in Japan. "It seems like the Dirac Sea can't take in and keep in whatever goes in it."
"That's good," went Misato, and then handed the phone to Ritsuko.
-x-
The more Eren achieved a Titan transformation, the more he control he obtained. While still limited to being the fifteen-meter variety of Titan that he could become, he could now demonstrate the type of power that his father's notes stated he now possessed; he could now exhibit a degree of control over the Titans.
Two Titans, a four-meter one and a seven-meter one, had been captured after the reclamation of the Troost District and kept confined at all times. With the relocation of the citizens of Walls Maria and Rose, these Titans were also relocated to ensure that the Survey Corps had a means to understand what the Titans were capable of and what Eren could do with this Coordinate power he had.
So far, Eren could make the two stand still and ignore humans, walk in circles, sit down, and now he had them digging trenches for agriculture.
"Incredible," went Mikasa, supervising the two Titans that Eren (in his Titan form) controlled with some effort.
"Um, excuse me, miss?" A female voice went to Mikasa, who then turned to see that it was a girl around the age of a young teen, with gray hair and blue eyes.
"May I help you?" Mikasa asked her.
"I was wondering if you knew where I could find the boy that rides the purple giant," she told Mikasa.
She must be one of those people wanting to thank Ikari for his contribution to defending and helping mankind retake the world, she thought. "He's over by the waterfront with several others."
"Thank you."
The girl than walked away, and Mikasa noticed that the girl had a flower in her left hand.
-x-
"…It looks like this aircraft carrier has a designation," a female member of the Survey Corps, flaking off several decades worth of rust and dust off the side of the large ship they intended to use to travel the ocean. "It looks like it says…'Abraham Lincoln'. A ship that was named after someone?"
"It's been known to happen," a male member responded, using a broom and garbage bin to sweep up as much of the cobwebs and broken glass as possible.
Suddenly, an echo of churning, roaring and hissing sounds reverberated throughout the corners of the ship, alerting the people inside.
"Um, is this thing on?" A new voice, a male one, came up on the ship's speakers. "If anyone can hear my voice, this ship has now become fully operational, power-wise. The engines are up and running."
They managed to get it up and running, thought Shinji, as he carefully put Unit-01 on the carrier and powered down to conserve its massive power reserves. But will it run?
As the Entry Plug ejected from the Eva and expelled the LCL, the pilot climbed out of the plug and onto the flight deck of the carrier.
"Is it always a risk on your life when you get into that giant?" A female voice asked him.
He turned to face the person, and saw it was the same, young girl from that night in the reclaimed Shiganshina District.
"It's not as hazardous as it was back home… Back where I was from," he told her. "It's easier against the Titans than the other monsters I used to face back then. But I don't want to jinx anything by saying it out loud."
A soft breeze came and the wind pushed up the girl's skirt.
Before Shinji could turn his head to avoid seeing anything, the wind revealed only a pair of trousers beneath the girl's skirt.
"Sorry about that," she apologized to him.
"Don't be, I didn't see anything I wasn't supposed to," he responded, grateful for the lack of surprise. "But what brings you here?"
"To see you again."
"Oh."
"Oh, it's… It's not like I'm an obsessed fan or anything. I…I like seeing you…and talking to you."
"That's good, talking to others."
She looked at the purple giant and then back at him.
"So…what can we talk about?" She asked him.
"Well, introductions would be a good place to start. I'm Shinji Ikari."
"Kaede Sogen."
"I'm fourteen years old."
"I'm fourteen years old, as well. Fourteen years, three months, and four days."
"I'm helping the people by using this construct to defend them from the Titans and retake the lands taken over by them."
"I'm a civilian, formerly from the Shiganshina District, then my family relocated to the Troost District…and then we relocated back to the Shiganshina District…and now we're helping to rebuild and expand the ruins of the city the Survey Corps helped to find."
"My favorite color is blue. My least favorite colors are white and red. And…I play the cello from time to time."
"My favorite color is green. My least favorite colors are also white and red. And…my mother insisted that I play the piano."
"I'm an only child. My mother past away when I was little…and my father left me in the care of a man for the last ten years of my life. We were never close."
"My father died a year before the Titans attacked the Shiganshina District. My mother remarried, but my stepfather and I…were never close. I just thought my mother would cherish my father's memory until she past away, but then she married another man almost a month after he past away."
"I don't even remember what my mother looks like…and my father threw away every photo of her."
"I don't really remember what my father looks like, either…only that he had gray hair, same as mine."
"How much do we seem to have in common?"
"We seem to both have absent parents, deceased parents that we have little to no memory of, and we both want a future of happiness in a world that's free of the Titans."
"Yeah, that's true. It's nice to talk with you, Ms. Sogen."
"Please, call me Kaede. There's no need to be so formal, Mr. Ikari."
"Okay, then, only if you call me Shinji…since we're breaking from the formalities."
"Eh-heh!"
Suddenly, several birds (seagulls) flew up from behind Kaede and she gasped in fear, trying to flee.
Shinji caught her and held her in an attempt to calm her down.
"It's okay, it's okay," he calmed her. "It's just a bunch of seagulls."
She calmed down and looked at the fleeing birds. She then realized that she was being held by Shinji, and quickly backed away.
"Sorry," she apologized to him.
-x-
"…So Unit-03 should be transported here the day after tomorrow," Ritsuko informed Misato of the status of the new Eva.
"Great," the purple-haired woman responded, as they were in the NERV cafeteria.
"Still against Commander Ikari's decision?"
"If Shinji decides to not return, then we shouldn't try to enter a world we don't know much about, except from his point of view, even if it's just to reclaim the Eva that he's using to help the people that reside there."
Ritsuko then took out a folder and set it in front of her friend.
"A lotta time with the MAGI and the satellites and a little patience get you greater results than what you were initially looking for," she told her. "Every time Unit-01 was active, it was recording all that it saw in that world. These…are the creatures Shinji is using the Eva to protect the people from."
Misato looked through the pictures and saw what Shinji had gone up against. Some of these pictures were of the Colossal Titan, before and after it was cut to pieces, and several other photos were of the lesser Titans, all of them looking like people, abnormally larger or inhumanly deformed and as bare as the day they were made.
"My God," she shuddered.
"It gets better," Ritsuko added, showing another picture without the Titans and occupied with numbers. "He lied about how he was able to keep the Eva moving. This…is how he really gets the Eva to continue functioning."
The other pictures showed the Eva's hands grabbing at the smaller Titans…and Misato had to use her imagination to picture the purple behemoth devouring them as though they were a type of food source.
"So he lied to us about how he was able to power the Eva while he was there," she told her. "He must've had a reason to."
"Somehow, he's able to use these creatures to restore power to the Eva. Better than restore, extends the Eva's time limits. It's currently over ten hours of operational power. An Evangelion with that much power could prove to be more valuable against the Angels."
"But against these…creatures, it's a one-man army, and the people placed on the brink of extinction need it to take back their world."
"And yet, we need Unit-01 to face the Angels or else we're done for."
-x-
Examining the photos taken from Unit-01's recording systems, Gendo evaluated the remarkable power it obtained from consuming these giant humanoids from the other world it was in. He imagined the other Evas endowed with the same degree of power from these creatures, enabling them to fight for longer time periods, to face the Angels longer without an Umbilical Cable to provide external energy. And what fascinated him a little more was the sight of a young man turning into one of these creatures and fighting against another creature that looked more primate-like than human. It was such a power that could've aided well in the war against the Angels.
No matter what happened, he wanted Unit-01 back in NERV's possession, and if there were any of these giants left in that world his son was in, he wanted at least a few of them for research and development purposes.
-x-
It was a tough decision, but it was one they needed to make. The Survey Corps had decided that Eren would stay behind to watch the people to ensure that were no surprise attacks from the Titans (this included the two they had in their possession), and Shinji would go overseas with the members aboard the carrier to see if there were lands they could reclaim from the Titans that could've been there. This way, they could be assured that there was no trouble on either side of the ocean.
As Shinji observed the vast ocean in front of him, he had to wonder how Kaede, who he thought had gotten off the carrier, wind up helping around the carrier along with him instead. Of course, since his combat training revolved around using the Eva, he had to make up for his uselessness as a noncombatant in other ways, which included his culinary skills, which the Survey Corps members aboard the ship praised him for, as many of them hadn't had a good meal in years.
While Kaede had some skill in cooking, hers paled in comparison to Shinji's, since she had only started just the previous year and openly admitted to sucking at it.
"Practice makes perfect, Kaede," Shinji had told her, "and if you enjoy what you love, you get good at it. Even amateurs had to start somewhere before they progressed to where they ended up."
"Hey, Shinji!" He heard Armin call out to him, and he turned around to face him.
"Yeah?" He responded.
"Miss Sogen needs your help in the kitchen again. She says she doesn't, but it's become a sign that she does each time she declines."
Shinji nodded and obliged, following him to the galleys where Kaede currently was at the moment. Initially, he had been surprised by the fact that this ship had more than one kitchen aboard it, and that Kaede wasn't doing anything but sitting down by a stove.
"Kaede, I was told that you needed my help down here," he told her.
"Huh? I needed help? They told me you needed my help, and that I should wait in here for you." She told him.
Clank! They both turned and saw the door to the kitchen closed and sealed.
"Aw, man!" Shinji groaned; they had both been deceived by some of the Survey Corps' members. "We've been had, Kaede."
"Sorry."
"No, don't be. It's not your fault. People do this sometimes, play tricks on others."
They then began the preparations for the night's meals for the others.
Kaede had learned a lot more about cooking from Shinji in the time they spent together, learning of newer recipes and adding different ingredients or seasonings to regular meals. And Shinji had someone to talk to as they cooked together. There was only so much one could do in their silence around the kitchen.
"Kaede, tell me what you think of this flavor, please," Shinji requested, holding a spoon of a reddish-yellow sauce adorned with several spices.
Kaede tasted the sauce…and quickly ran to the sink for some water.
"Ah," she panted. "Too hot."
"Sorry about that," he apologized. "Looks like we're going mild here."
"Yeah, I have an aversion to hot and spicy foods. I should've told you."
"Hot and spicy foods? No aversion to hot foods?"
"Hot foods, I can handle. Hot foods that are spicy, I have to have a cold beverage to wash the flavor out. Have you ever had an aversion to spicy foods, Shinji?"
"I have, but I learned to tolerate them over time."
-x-
As scheduled, Unit-03 arrived to Japan after being removed from American soil due to the failed experiment with Unit-04 and the S² Engine.
Misato and Ritsuko saw it set foot on the ground, and the NERV crew members present went to work on transferring it to the Matsushiro facility for its startup test.
"So, who's going to be the pilot?" Misato asked Ritsuko.
"The Marduk Institute is still searching for the Fourth Child," the faux-blond responded.
"And the operation to enter the Dirac Sea?"
"First, a squadron will be sent through it, and once they establish a base and contact with the people there, they will try to convince Shinji to return with Unit-01."
"And if that don't work?"
"Either the First or Second Child will be sent to retrieve the pilot and Eva."
This was something Misato was still against, and only because Shinji made the conscious decision on not returning after wanting to help these people on the brink of extinction from these giants that hunted them over time. She even feared that there was some other reason to sending another Eva to retrieve the lost one that became a lot more than a killing machine against the Angels.
-x-
"…I've never done anything like this before, Shinji," Kaede told him as they were on the deck of the carrier, away from the rest of the Survey Corps, enjoying their dinner.
"Me, neither, Kaede," Shinji confessed to her, taking another bite out of his bread roll to absorb the sauce of his pasta. "But I believed we needed to get away from the craziness of the ship."
Beside Unit-01, the two were atop a blanket so that they could enjoy their meal while looking up at the stars and listen to the ocean waves. Some would probably view this as a date of romantic proportions, while others would wonder what the two were doing.
"Kaede, I have to ask, just how did you get lost on the carrier after we met?" Shinji asked her.
Kaede sighed and responded, "I asked that man, Armin, to show me the way to the deck, but after we were done talking, I tried to guide myself back to the exit used to get onto the carrier. Unfortunately, I'm a lousy self-guider and couldn't find the way back. By the time I got back to the deck, the ship had already set sailed, so I couldn't get off. My unintentional stowing away was not something I expected."
"Well, I'm kinda glad you got lost and…unintentionally stowed away."
"Yet, I could get in the way if there are Titans."
"Even if there are Titans where we're heading, you forget that I pilot a behemoth that can consume them to make itself stronger. And I will do all that I can to ensure the safety of the people, including you, Kaede."
"Thank you."
Unknown to the pair, several corps members (including Armin) were eavesdropping on the two.
"Aw, come on, you guys," went Armin to the others. "This is totally unnecessary."
"You seriously need a girlfriend, Armin," said one of the men to him.
"Wow," they heard Shinji utter. "Your eyes are like sapphire in the moonlight."
From his perception, Shinji saw Kaede's eyes shine brightly in the moonlight.
"Sorry about that," he apologized to her. "That probably sounded rather corny to hear."
"No, of course not," Kaede responded to him. "Any girl would like hearing that. I mean, there must have been dozens of girls back where you're from that admired you."
Shinji's memories of Tokyo-3 and the people in it made him think less of the past few months he'd ever spent there after meeting his father and knowing why he had been sent for.
"No, not really," he told her. "They only admired me for piloting the Eva, not for me. There was even my fellow pilots, both girls that knew more than I ever could, and my relationship with them was anything but a relationship."
"Why?"
"One of them, Ayanami, Rei, was closer to my father than I hoped to be myself, and her relationship with him seemed all that mattered to her. And the other, Asuka Langley Soryu, wasn't a girl that you could go near without some sort of consequence because of her ego. It was like she hated everyone around her, and the thing of it is that nobody did anything to her. She's always invasive of other people's personal space, and feels that she's superior just because she can pilot the Eva. Not long after our first encounter did she always refer to me by some foul designation, like 'Stupid Shinji', mostly just because I felt the need to ask questions I had no answers to, like why the so-called enemy was called Angels or why we were fighting them. She never letup on anything she said or did to anyone."
Kaede placed her left hand over his right hand, hoping to quell his would-be anger over his past.
"I'm sorry that they didn't appreciate you for you," she apologized to him.
"Thank you, Kaede. That means a lot coming from you."
The boy then picked up his cup and sipped some more of his drink.
SWISH! Something flew past the carrier, high above in the sky, mirroring a shooting star of sorts.
"What was that?" Kaede asked Shinji.
"It could've been a shooting star, but it was a little too close, which would have made it a falling star. It's going to crash somewhere on the ground on in the water."
-x-
If only Shinji or the Survey Corps knew any better about the falling star, they would've known that it wasn't even close to what Unit-01's pilot had assumed, but a space shuttle, having entered through the Dirac Sea and into the planet's atmosphere, setting a landing course towards a large patch of ground.
It managed to make a safe landing on the ground and opened up its top to unfold a satellite antenna.
"This is New Traveler, contacting NERV HQ," a male voice spoke out from within the craft. "Come in, NERV HQ. The New Traveler has arrived onto foreign world. Over."
"Communication with New Traveler received," a female voice responded upon receiving transmission. "Confirm establishment of communication with natives ASAP. Over."
-x-
"…Looks like they made it into foreign territory," said Ritsuko in Central Dogma.
"The sooner they are able to try and convince the people there to relinquish Unit-01, the better," expressed Gendo, wondering if these people would follow such a request to forfeit the Eva without a fight from the squadron sent there.
To be continued…
A/N: What do think so far? The fact that they found an aircraft carrier can make readers assume that the world of Attack on Titan is set somewhere far in the future from our present-day world, and Shinji's help to their expansion operations is invaluable to their hopes of retaking the world. But now NERV has sent people over to attempt to reclaim the Eva and, if possible, some Titans for their own purposes. And as for Shinji, he may have a chance at true love with someone that wants him for him, not as a pilot for the Eva.