Shinji thinks back to the beginning of school, when he had first seen Hikari in this world. She was still the class rep, and acted the same. But there was something different about her, like everyone else.
"Hello, I am Hikari Horaki, class representative." She seemed distracted.
"Hi, I'm Shinji Ikari, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too. Your seat is right over there. The teacher will introduce you, then you may sit."
"Thank you." The teacher introduced him and he sat down and wondered about Hikari.
'She is distracted. She's normally much more cheerful than this. I wonder what is wrong. I'll talk to her at lunch.'
Lunch came and Shinji sat next to Hikari. She smiled at him, but still seemed to be thinking of something else.
"Excuse me if I'm intruding, but you seem to be a bit distracted. Is something wrong?"
"No no... nothing... yes."
"What's wrong, if I may ask."
"Well... right before you transfered in, another student, Touji Suzuhara, disappeared. He was the pilot of the giant robot, and I'm scared what might've happened to him."
"Oh. Are you close to him?" Hikari blushes.
"Yes, he was my boyfriend."
"Oh, it must be very hard for you. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, no... I'm sorry to lay my troubles on you. You're the new kid, that must be problematic enough as it is."
"No apologies nessecary. I'm very good at listening. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you."
"Thank you Shinji. You're very easy to talk to."
"It's my pleasure." Shinji smiles. Hikari blushes.
Rei slides open Shinji's door and steps in. It's dark inside, with Shinji lieing on his futton listening to his SDAT player. Somehow, it seemed exactly as it should be.
"Shinji?"
"Yes?"
"Oh, good, you're awake. How are you?"
"I'm... okay. It's weird, but everything just seems right here. It's as if this were the life I was meant to have."
"What do you mean, 'as if'. Of course it's the life you were meant to have. If you hadn't died in that acciden.... *giggle* this feels weird."
"What do you mean?"
"Talking about you as if you were dead, it feels weird. How did you manage that, anyway?"
"I'm not entirely sure. All I know is, one moment I'm ready to die, the next I'm here. Nothing makes any sense."
"Well, what's the last thing you remember."
"I'm in Unit-01 an-" Rei cuts him off.
"You were in Unit-01? Why?"
"I am.. I WAS the designated pilot."
"You were killed when you were 3. How could you be the pilot?"
"That's the strange thing. I have memories. They differ from what happened. Like the accident. It wasn't me that died, it was my... our mother. She was absorbed by Unit-01. I watched it happen. And then Father abandoned me. He forced himself into his work, became the commander of Nerv. I was passed around till I ended up with my teacher. Then I got a letter. When I arrived, the city was under attack by an Angel. The third Angel. When I refused to pilot, they were going to make you do it. And so I piloted it. And you were the pilot of Unit-00. But you weren't my sister."
"If I wasn't your sister, who was I?"
"I... I don't know. You were very... alone. You wouldn't connect with anyone except Father. It made for a tough time to get to know you."
"This is intresting. I wonder what it might mean, how all of this happened. I'm going to talk to Mom about this. You just get some rest. We'll figure this out." Rei walked out, and Shinji rolled over and fell asleep.
Shinji is awoken the next morning to classical music. Lieing there, listening for a while, he smiles as he recognizes the peice. He raises his body and walks to the door. Outside, he walks toward his parents room, where the sound of a Chello and a Viola can be heard. He looks in the open door and sees his parents playing. Rei walks up behind him and watches over his shoulder. His parents are completely absorbed and don't notice their children until the song ends and they applaude. The family smiles.
Gendo and Shinji go for a walk and a breath of fresh air. Gendo attempts to make conversation, but Shinji deflects most of his attempts. Gendo decides to get to his point.
"You have a synch test today."
"What?"
"A synch test. It's where you sit inside an Evangelion and attempt to synchronize yourself with it."
"I know, but I'm not a pilot, why are you testing me."
"Without the Third Child, we need another pilot. It is an extreme circumstance, so I'm asking you to help. We can give you basic training, and you won't be expected to fight right away."
"No."
"Son, please, we need your help."
"No, get Kensuke Aida, he wants to be a pilot so bad."
"Son, PLEASE. We need help, and I think you're the only one who can help us. Just one synch test, to see if it will work, and we can go from there."
"Fine, ONE synch test."
"Thank you son."
Shinji arrives at Nerv HQ with his sister and heads toward his father's office. He knocks, and the door opens. Shinji steps inside and immediately notices a difference. The room is much brighter, and Fuyutski is sitting at the desk. Shinji remembers his father isn't the commander and so he has a different office.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry sir, I'm in the wrong office. I'll leave."
"No, stay for a moment. I want to talk to you."
"Yes, sir?"
"You might not know me, I am Commander Fuyutski."
"I know of you, sir."
"Really? Hmmmm, intresting. I know you, I knew you when you were a little baby."
"You did?"
"Yes, I did. I've never had children of my own, but I've always considered Yui my daughter. In fact, I walked her down the aisle at her wedding. I felt like your grandfather, and it was hard to see you... to see you die."
"I imagine it would be."
"I'm being kind of selfcentered, aren't I? It must've been extremely hard to die."
"I wouldn't know."
"No? Why not?"
"I don't remember anything about it. I have a complete set of memories from another, completely different life."
"Really? Now that is intresting."
"Is it? I think it's just weird. Maybe it's my way of coping with my death and rebirth."
"Maybe..."
"Do you have another idea, commander?"
"Shinji, do you understand the Quantum Theory?"
"The what?" Fuyutski smiles.
"I didn't think so. The Quantum Theory is extremely complex, and would take many lifetimes of study to completely understand. But the jist of it is that every choice, or event, or anything where there's more than one possible action creates an alternate universe. If one choice is made differently, an entirely different universe is created, with different circumstances than every other one. Do you understand?"
"Kind of, but what does this have to do with me?"
"Some people believe it is possible to transfer between dimensions. I believe that when you were trapped inside the Sea of Driac, such a thing happened."
"So my memories are real? I don't belong here?"
"That's my guess."
"So how do I get back to my own world?"
"I don't know."
Shinji is sitting in the entry plug of Unit-01. There are technitions doing their job, making sure the activation and synch test go flawlessly. Dr. Ritsuko Akagi is overseeing the proceedure. Rei's picture appears inside his entry plug.
"Just relax Shinji, don't work too hard or you'll miss it. Let it come to you." She smiles.
"Thanks Rei."
"No problem." Her picture disappears. Shinji thinks for a second, and then reopens the channel.
"Hey Rei?"
"Yes Shinji?"
"Why do you pilot?"
"Why do I pilot?"
"Yes, why do you pilot?"
"I pilot because... I pilot because I can."
"Is that your only reason?"
"No, I pilot because Humanity needs pilots, and I'm one of the Children. Without pilots, the Angels would win, and we don't want that to happen."
"Of course... so, you pilot for the sake of others?"
"Well, I guess you could put it that way."
"Thank you Rei."
"Why do you ask?"
"Just curious I guess, just curious."
"Whatever Shinji."
"Hello, I am Hikari Horaki, class representative." She seemed distracted.
"Hi, I'm Shinji Ikari, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too. Your seat is right over there. The teacher will introduce you, then you may sit."
"Thank you." The teacher introduced him and he sat down and wondered about Hikari.
'She is distracted. She's normally much more cheerful than this. I wonder what is wrong. I'll talk to her at lunch.'
Lunch came and Shinji sat next to Hikari. She smiled at him, but still seemed to be thinking of something else.
"Excuse me if I'm intruding, but you seem to be a bit distracted. Is something wrong?"
"No no... nothing... yes."
"What's wrong, if I may ask."
"Well... right before you transfered in, another student, Touji Suzuhara, disappeared. He was the pilot of the giant robot, and I'm scared what might've happened to him."
"Oh. Are you close to him?" Hikari blushes.
"Yes, he was my boyfriend."
"Oh, it must be very hard for you. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, no... I'm sorry to lay my troubles on you. You're the new kid, that must be problematic enough as it is."
"No apologies nessecary. I'm very good at listening. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you."
"Thank you Shinji. You're very easy to talk to."
"It's my pleasure." Shinji smiles. Hikari blushes.
Rei slides open Shinji's door and steps in. It's dark inside, with Shinji lieing on his futton listening to his SDAT player. Somehow, it seemed exactly as it should be.
"Shinji?"
"Yes?"
"Oh, good, you're awake. How are you?"
"I'm... okay. It's weird, but everything just seems right here. It's as if this were the life I was meant to have."
"What do you mean, 'as if'. Of course it's the life you were meant to have. If you hadn't died in that acciden.... *giggle* this feels weird."
"What do you mean?"
"Talking about you as if you were dead, it feels weird. How did you manage that, anyway?"
"I'm not entirely sure. All I know is, one moment I'm ready to die, the next I'm here. Nothing makes any sense."
"Well, what's the last thing you remember."
"I'm in Unit-01 an-" Rei cuts him off.
"You were in Unit-01? Why?"
"I am.. I WAS the designated pilot."
"You were killed when you were 3. How could you be the pilot?"
"That's the strange thing. I have memories. They differ from what happened. Like the accident. It wasn't me that died, it was my... our mother. She was absorbed by Unit-01. I watched it happen. And then Father abandoned me. He forced himself into his work, became the commander of Nerv. I was passed around till I ended up with my teacher. Then I got a letter. When I arrived, the city was under attack by an Angel. The third Angel. When I refused to pilot, they were going to make you do it. And so I piloted it. And you were the pilot of Unit-00. But you weren't my sister."
"If I wasn't your sister, who was I?"
"I... I don't know. You were very... alone. You wouldn't connect with anyone except Father. It made for a tough time to get to know you."
"This is intresting. I wonder what it might mean, how all of this happened. I'm going to talk to Mom about this. You just get some rest. We'll figure this out." Rei walked out, and Shinji rolled over and fell asleep.
Shinji is awoken the next morning to classical music. Lieing there, listening for a while, he smiles as he recognizes the peice. He raises his body and walks to the door. Outside, he walks toward his parents room, where the sound of a Chello and a Viola can be heard. He looks in the open door and sees his parents playing. Rei walks up behind him and watches over his shoulder. His parents are completely absorbed and don't notice their children until the song ends and they applaude. The family smiles.
Gendo and Shinji go for a walk and a breath of fresh air. Gendo attempts to make conversation, but Shinji deflects most of his attempts. Gendo decides to get to his point.
"You have a synch test today."
"What?"
"A synch test. It's where you sit inside an Evangelion and attempt to synchronize yourself with it."
"I know, but I'm not a pilot, why are you testing me."
"Without the Third Child, we need another pilot. It is an extreme circumstance, so I'm asking you to help. We can give you basic training, and you won't be expected to fight right away."
"No."
"Son, please, we need your help."
"No, get Kensuke Aida, he wants to be a pilot so bad."
"Son, PLEASE. We need help, and I think you're the only one who can help us. Just one synch test, to see if it will work, and we can go from there."
"Fine, ONE synch test."
"Thank you son."
Shinji arrives at Nerv HQ with his sister and heads toward his father's office. He knocks, and the door opens. Shinji steps inside and immediately notices a difference. The room is much brighter, and Fuyutski is sitting at the desk. Shinji remembers his father isn't the commander and so he has a different office.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry sir, I'm in the wrong office. I'll leave."
"No, stay for a moment. I want to talk to you."
"Yes, sir?"
"You might not know me, I am Commander Fuyutski."
"I know of you, sir."
"Really? Hmmmm, intresting. I know you, I knew you when you were a little baby."
"You did?"
"Yes, I did. I've never had children of my own, but I've always considered Yui my daughter. In fact, I walked her down the aisle at her wedding. I felt like your grandfather, and it was hard to see you... to see you die."
"I imagine it would be."
"I'm being kind of selfcentered, aren't I? It must've been extremely hard to die."
"I wouldn't know."
"No? Why not?"
"I don't remember anything about it. I have a complete set of memories from another, completely different life."
"Really? Now that is intresting."
"Is it? I think it's just weird. Maybe it's my way of coping with my death and rebirth."
"Maybe..."
"Do you have another idea, commander?"
"Shinji, do you understand the Quantum Theory?"
"The what?" Fuyutski smiles.
"I didn't think so. The Quantum Theory is extremely complex, and would take many lifetimes of study to completely understand. But the jist of it is that every choice, or event, or anything where there's more than one possible action creates an alternate universe. If one choice is made differently, an entirely different universe is created, with different circumstances than every other one. Do you understand?"
"Kind of, but what does this have to do with me?"
"Some people believe it is possible to transfer between dimensions. I believe that when you were trapped inside the Sea of Driac, such a thing happened."
"So my memories are real? I don't belong here?"
"That's my guess."
"So how do I get back to my own world?"
"I don't know."
Shinji is sitting in the entry plug of Unit-01. There are technitions doing their job, making sure the activation and synch test go flawlessly. Dr. Ritsuko Akagi is overseeing the proceedure. Rei's picture appears inside his entry plug.
"Just relax Shinji, don't work too hard or you'll miss it. Let it come to you." She smiles.
"Thanks Rei."
"No problem." Her picture disappears. Shinji thinks for a second, and then reopens the channel.
"Hey Rei?"
"Yes Shinji?"
"Why do you pilot?"
"Why do I pilot?"
"Yes, why do you pilot?"
"I pilot because... I pilot because I can."
"Is that your only reason?"
"No, I pilot because Humanity needs pilots, and I'm one of the Children. Without pilots, the Angels would win, and we don't want that to happen."
"Of course... so, you pilot for the sake of others?"
"Well, I guess you could put it that way."
"Thank you Rei."
"Why do you ask?"
"Just curious I guess, just curious."
"Whatever Shinji."