THE RAILWAYS END-CHAPTER ONE
In which a normal day in interrupted by a white stranger
Walls are broken down
Abel is disappointed
And a dream is broken
Pain followed Shinji Ikari everywhere.
He rubbed his face, and muttered something private as he walked to the Geofront after Asuka. The latest in his string of injuries occurred after Asuka had stopped to look at a poster and Shinji—in a state of daydreaming—had bumped into her. She shrieked rape and smacked him silly. As always.
Suddenly, Asuka leaped aside, startled. Shinji stopped, looking down at where her attention was riveted.
Little seeds littered the sidewalk, and pigeons fluttered down to peck at the ground. Shinji looked up and saw a guy with an unruly mop of white hair sitting on a bench facing into the park they were passing. The head turned, and Shinji found himself looking into a youthful, yet regal face that had skin like a Roman statue. The young man wore almost completely white, except for his trousers, which were khakis.
The eyes were strangest of all, they were overshadowed and dark, he couldn't see what color they were.
The young man looked casually at Asuka, who was stamping over to him.
"Watch where you're throwing that stuff, dammit!"
The young man smiled slightly, a soothing expression, "I apologize. I am feeding the pigeons, and throw some seed behind me every now and then to attract newcomers."
Asuka raised an eyebrow as she approached the stranger.
"Why are you doing that? Pigeons are urban pests."
"Because it gives me pleasure; is that not a sufficient reason?"
Asuka snorted and turned away; Shinji approached and hesitated before the stranger.
"E-Excuse me,"
Those dark eyes turned toward the Third Child.
"Yes?"
"Have we met? You look familiar."
A small smile appeared on the pale face, "We have, at night, and we shall meet again, though it may not be as…pleasant as before."
Shinji opened his mouth to respond, but Asuka grabbed his wrist and towed him behind her as they hurried to the Geofront.
Daniel looked after them and turned back to the pigeons which had arrived at his feet. He took another handful of seed out of his bag and tossed the food to the crowd at his feet.
The three Children had their eyes closed in deep concentration. The synch test was going fairly well, and Ritsuko Akagi sat back while taking a sip of coffee, intending to relax during this session. The Angels had been absent for some time, and some spoke hopefully of the end of the war.
Dr. Akagi smirked at that thought. She had the ear of the commander, and she knew that the next Angel was coming. It would appear at the induction of the Fourth Child.
He would be hurt, of course, mutilated; possibly killed. But it was necessary sacrifice for the HCP's success. Nothing could stop it once Gendo had put his plans into motion.
And Dream of the Endless smirked at her arrogance, lightly amused by Ritsuko's assumption of the infallibility of the Commander of NERV. He clasped his white hands behind his back and walked, unseen, to the window through which he could observe the synch test.
The King of Dreams watched the tubes in the LCL and waited. The Children were on the borders between the Waking World and the Dreaming. All he had to do was wait and he could observe and see the power of this Vortex.
Misato Katsuragi frowned at the monitor before her and pressed the communications switch. "Hey, Shinji? Are you alright? Our sensors…"
But Shinji dreamed.
The monitors went blank, and random code went racing across the screens.
"What the hell?!"
Ritsuko leapt toward her computer console, her fingers frantically punching away at the keys. The techs were galvanized as well, and filled the room with shouting.
"Third Child's data isn't coming in!"
"Oh my God…Sempai, the Third Child is connecting with the other two children! Their brain waves are starting to synchronize!"
Misato was looking around in quiet terror. After a brief paralysis, she grabbed the phone on a nearby terminal.
"This is Major Katsuragi in testing facility three! We need a medical team here stat!"
The King of Dreams watched the chaos going on in the room. He also watched the Vortex as it broke through the barriers into Asuka and Rei's minds. Daniel stood at the back of the room, his arms crossed over his white T-shirt. His observation was proving much: such was the seriousness of Shinji Ikari's mental instability that the Vortex within was spreading violently; so violently that even these devices that surrounded him were affected.
Very well, then.
Reality rippled, and Daniel was visible to these mortals who didn't even notice him, instead attending to their own duties.
"Enough," he said, his attention riveted on Shinji's plug, "Dream no more," and Daniel was gone.
Shinji awoke to find his plug being thrown open and questioning looks given him by a medical team.
Asuka was in a bad mood.
She was left with a crushing headache after the synch test, and the aspirin given to her by the NERV doctors was barely helping. The fact that Rei was suffering from a similar condition helped a bit, but not much. The only exception from this circle of suffering was the Third Child, who was calmly eating the food that he had prepared, since Misato was drunk off her ass again and Rei had come over for dinner. That Shinji had escaped the sudden affliction only irritated her somewhat more, somewhat because her mind was rational enough to realize that some things couldn't be his fault.
As she shoveled more ramen into her mouth, she recalled the bizarre incident of that day.
Unity.
That's what the voice had said, and then it had laughed joyfully, like a child that had met a new puppy.
Wouldn't it be beautiful, Asuka? If everyone was united? If we had one dream?
The laughter had come again. And she had felt her mind slipping outside, the thoughts and ambitions and fantasies going beyond it's borders like water over the edge of an overflowing glass. Asuka tried to struggle against it, but it…intoxicated her, dragging her into the…but she didn't know. All she could recall was the feeling of being caught and going in a circle, like that ride in Hameln which went round and round…
And then, somebody was there. He looked like a ghost and his eyes shined like stars when he looked at her and said, "Go back. This is not your dream."
After he had finished cleaning up, Shinji looked at the clock and groaned. He rubbed his hands against his eyes and stumbled toward his room, with every intention of falling onto his bed and going to sleep as speedily as possible.
For some reason, he had particularly enjoyed the day's synch test. It was like…walls falling…
They're so fragile…what's beyond them…I can touch them…
And Rei and Asuka were there…he didn't see them, but he knew they were there…
Ayanami…Asuka! You have to see this…feel it…I want to share it with you…
And he said something to Asuka, and was about to speak to Rei when a voice pierced into his mind, gently ordering him to wake up.
He hoped he would have something like that to dream tonight.
Shinji had no idea…
After an hour of passion with the woman he had deemed worthy of substituting for his wife, Gendo rolled onto his side and stared at the glasses beside his bed, Ritsuko's hard breathing falling as the strains of that night's efforts evaporated. She lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling in contemplation.
And Gendo dreamed…
After scratching her inner thigh, Misato rolled onto her stomach, a foot kicking down a small pile of empty beer cans. She ignored it; assuming (in all likeliness correctly) that Shinji would casually pick up the trash while he was half asleep and heading for the shower.
Misato, in her inebriation, began to desire. She wanted someone next to her in bed, to show her expertise at the war of love.
Kaji? No. Far away. She wanted someone now.
That left the only other attractive male she knew—Shinji.
He had to learn these things sometime, and she intended to be the first to show him, as she had been the first in a decade to show him real affection. He would be frightened, of course, at first and then he would adjust to this new form of love.
Yes, thought Misato as she rose from her bed on her hands, she would do it before the little red-headed Teutonic or the albino would; a treasure that would be hers to enjoy first.
Then she fell asleep.
And Misato dreamed…
Asuka didn't like her dreams.
They were, more often then not, the same: the vision of her mother, hanging by the rope as always.
She was an intelligent person; the result of the combination of two elite genes. Asuka could recognize trauma when she saw it, and she sometimes wondered why no one around her responded to these signs of distress.
Shinji had seen it. Her face at night when the pride disappeared. He never said anything about it, though. As she lay beneath the blankets, she thought that, maybe Shinji was a good friend after all.
And Asuka dreamed…
Rei Ayanami had gotten thirsty, and was walking back to her bed after getting a drink of water. She stopped in front of the Commander's glasses on the dresser. She picked them up and regarded them calmly.
Lately, her usually unfaltering loyalty to Gendo had begun to sway like wheat in the wind. The questioning had started after the arrival of Shinji.
The Commander had treated her well as long as she could remember, and she had become accustomed to a benevolent image of the senior Ikari. But when his son arrived, Rei was somewhat surprised to see how Gendo ignored his biological child. While he called Rei by name, he referred to Shinji coldly by the latter's title, "Pilot" or "Third Child". She didn't really understand why; Shinji was likeable enough, his shyness adding to his personal charm. He was honorable enough, accepting blame for the injuries of Touji's little sister. He took heaps of abuse from many around him and slipped into the role of housekeeper for his roommates. He was truly Rei's first friend besides the Commander.
But that didn't matter to Gendo. He coldly ordered his son about, ignored his injuries and protests, and sometimes used the boy's gentle nature as a weapon against him.
Rei pondered this as she covered her nude body with her blankets and laid her head on her pillow. Why would the Commander treat such a timid creature like his son in such a way? She would have to ask him tomorrow. He wouldn't lie to her, right?
Right?
And Rei dreamed…
The King of Dreams watched the Vortex shudder and expand as strands of dreams began to swirl into its dream-vacuum. His white hair danced over his face and eyes, yet he barely flinched from his observations. He clutched Matthew in his arms and the raven watched quietly as well while Dream stroked his head.
"Sure is getting big. Who else is in there?" asked Matthew.
"His father, guardian, roommate, and friend; his expansion is reaching towards others of his association…"
"Jeez, last one only…wait, father and guardian? Who's he living with?"
"Major Misato Katsuragi. Gendo Ikari—his father—has abdicated his responsibility as a parent," Dream sneered a little, "Most disappointing, for such a supposedly strong man,"
"A deadbeat dad, huh?" asked Matthew, "I met a few when I was alive; always trying to get out of giving their kids some money. They made me want to drink a lot,"
"Indeed," Dream replied, "Shinji Ikari's life has been…difficult, to say the least. Hopefully, he will find rest tonight…"
Gendo dreamed that he was young again, the age he was when Yui disappeared into Unit-01. And Yui was there…only her back was to him, and she was walking down a road away from him. A toddler Shinji clasped her right hand, and they were walking away from him. The road was lined with shadowy figures; he couldn't see their faces, but he felt they were watching him. He ran after them. He shouted for Yui.
"Wait! Yui!"
She only kept walking.
"Yui! Please, for God's sake!"
He ran and ran until his muscles ached and his lungs felt like they were on fire. Suddenly, he could feel himself aging. He slowed down a little. He continued to age, and Yui and Shinji remained the same.
Gendo Ikari, Commander of NERV, continued to age. He now slowed down to a snail's crawl and finally fell to his knees.
"Yui…" he wheezed, his lungs feeling like lead weights.
And Shinji turned around and stopped. Yui stopped with him.
"Mommy," Shinji asked in that innocent voice that Gendo remembered the voice that had begged him not to leave, "Who's that?"
Yui turned around. She was as beautiful as ever, her face bordered with black-reddish hair.
'That's your daddy, Shinji' was what Gendo thought she would say.
"Just a weird, creepy old man, Shinji, don't pay any attention to him,"
And the figures along the road broke their silence. Their laughter came in all kinds of forms: male and female, young and old, high and low.
Gendo Ikari hung his head, as the shadowy figures laughed at him.
Misato was in an attic somewhere. She was rummaging through the chests looking for something. Behind her, suddenly, a bearded fat man in a western suit appeared, with an American western tie and a bag of popcorn. He looked around and appeared to be disappointed. Misato didn't ask what was wrong or who he was; she was too busy going through another chest. The fat man watched her for a few moments.
"Wh—wh—what uh—are ya—you lo—looking f—f—f—for?" he asked.
"Love," she answered.
"Oh,"
Asuka cried and cried. She was a toddler, and she was reliving a familiar scene…
Rei was rocking a cradle. She didn't know why she was rocking a cradle, but she was and that was that. The pale, blue-haired girl looked around at the room she was in. The walls were covered with paper that showed hundreds of SDATs. A mobile with small versions of Unit-01 floated over the cradle. Somewhere a cello was playing, the haunting melody sending chills up her spine. But Rei continued to rock the cradle.
It occurred to her that she hadn't looked at the baby in a while (of course, she hadn't seen the baby before, but the logic of our world does not apply to the Dreaming).
The baby looked up at her with deep blue eyes. Dressed in a little plug suit that sported the number "01" the baby rubbed his black hair against his pillow and began saying something; repeating it over and over again.
"I musn't run away I musn't run away,"
And Shinji floated over a swirling mass of white. He was dressed in a loose white garment that snapped around him.
He was happy. He didn't feel alone anymore. He was pushing past walls that were as thin as paper to him. He wanted more people to be like this. To be happy.
And so he burst through the dreams, and he drew them in…
"Misato?"
At the sound of her name, Misato turned around to find herself standing on a towering rock. Before her was a small red-headed girl, who looked confused.
"Asuka?" asked Misato. The German girl had never seemed so fragile before.
"What's happening? Where are we?"
Misato reached out and hugged the smaller version of the Second Child. As she did so, she saw something that astonished her: Shinji, floating over a…well, something wearing a white toga-thing.
"Oh my God," Misato cried, her hair whipping around her from the wind, "Is that Shinji?"
"It would appear to be so, Major," rasped a dark voice behind her. Misato turned around and saw an old man in Commander Ikari's uniform. His hair and beard were completely white and his face was lined and wrinkled. One of his shaking, arthritic hands reached up and pushed his tinted glasses up a bony nose.
"Commander?"
"Yes, Major. This situation is quite…Rei?"
Rei was standing behind Asuka, a baby's bottle of milk in her hand. She looked shocked to suddenly be there, and looked around briefly.
Misato stood up, her hand reaching up to her head. She could tell a headache was coming on.
"What in hell is going on, sir? Where are we?"
"You are dreaming; nothing more."
The group turned and found a tall young man who was paler than Rei and wore a decorative robe of white. An emerald hung from a gold chain around his neck. His long white hair waved in front of eyes that looked like the night sky, complete with dozens of stars.
One of these stars flared brilliantly in his left eye as he slowly approached them. His stride was regal and graceful; it was that of a confident person, secure in his lordship over everyone else. He stopped about two yards in front of the group, clasped his hands behind his back and looked each of them over.
"I apologize for this…inconvenience. I shall attend to it immediately. Awaken now; this dream is over."
Across Tokyo-3, people woke up. But they woke up with more questions than they had when they had gone to bed.
Shinji frowned. He had felt the presence of four others, but something had cut him off. Something big. Something powerful.
"Enough!"
Shinji opened his eyes to see the man in white.
"Huh…wh—who are you?"
"I am the Lord of the Dreaming, Shinji Ikari, and you have done some damage. Fortunately, it is nothing I cannot repair. But still," the stranger gently laid a hand on Shinji's shoulder, "We must talk…"