THE RAILWAYS END—CHAPTER 4
In which we meet a proletarian scarecrow
Tour the library of dreams
Become acquainted with some old folks
And are invited to a wedding
Shinji grunted at the pressure on his shoulder. He was in the most comfortable bed he had ever slept in and—Asuka or no Asuka—he was going to enjoy it as much as possible.
But the prodding continued, and Shinji finally opened one eye…then both eyes…and then his mouth—in a yell.
Towering over the side of his bed was something right out of "The Wizard of Oz". The thing had a pumpkin for a head, and was wearing a white shirt and blue-jean overalls. The thing reeled back, as if startled by Shinji's wakefulness.
"Jesus H., kid," said the scarecrow, "If I had a heart it would have been attacked right now."
The Third Child climbed awkwardly out of his bed. The scarecrow was still clutching exaggeratingly at his chest.
"S-sorry…I-I…"
The scarecrow waved a hand in dismissal; well, actually it looked like his hands were made out of merely sticks and green gloves.
"Whatever, no harm done; Lissen, the Boss told me to come in here, get you to breakfast, and take you to Lucian. You'll get your marching orders from him, understand?"
"Y-yes, sir,"
The pumpkin's right eye went up in mild amusement, "'Sir?' Hey, man, I'm no 'sir'; I'm just a poor schmoe like you. Mervyn Pumpkinhead, custodian, repairman, etc. to His Darkness, Dream of the Endless," he held out a hand to Shinji.
The boy reached out and took the glove, feeling the stick beneath the scarecrow's glove.
"Shinji Ikari."
"Alright, Shinji, let's get us some grub."
Shinji walked down the hall after Mervyn. Breakfast was quite an experience, although Mervyn seemed quite casual about it.
Well, as casual as a scarecrow could look, anyway.
The lively cafeteria had contained some of the most bizarre creatures Shinji had ever seen. He saw fairies, trolls, dwarfs, winged people, a tree with cats in it feeding the cats tuna and itself a cheesecake, Cyclopes, dragons, a person with two heads—one white and one black, an old man with a swan's wing, and a woman in tails and a top-hat.
And those were just at the serving line (which was manned by three old ladies, who would have been precisely identical if not for the fact that each of them had an extra appendage that the others didn't.)!
Shinji ate some toast and eggs, while Mervyn wolfed down a plate of what appeared to be Sunflower Seeds.
Finally, they came to set of massive oak doors. Mervyn rapped on the door and said, "Loosh? Ya in there? I got the new guy with me."
Through the doors, Shinji could hear an elegantly accented voice call, "Come in."
Mervyn opened the door and made a sweeping motion, indicating that Shinji should enter first.
Books. That is what Shinji saw and could see as far as his range allowed. Books sitting on shelves, books piled on desks and tables, books on carts waiting to be shelved. He looked up and saw that the ceiling of the library stretched up at least eighty stories, with hundreds—if not thousands—of stacks on each floor.
Books were not the only thing to be found in this massive library. There were also some fireplaces scattered about, and other pieces of furniture gathered in certain areas. Many of the chairs and couches appeared to be antique.
While Shinji gawked at the sight, his eyes barely even noticed that a shadow had fallen over him.
Finally, it registered in his brain, and he turned around to find himself being examined closely by the tallest, thinnest human being he had ever seen. The man had a beaked nose, a bony face, and hair that spiked out behind his head. He regarded the Third Child through pince-nez glasses, which were attached to the end of a long, thin silver chain that went into the lapel on his tail-coat. His clothes were black, with a black neck-tie tucked into a black vest. He reminded Shinji of a bird, with those beady brown eyes and beaky nose.
The man looked like a stern schoolteacher, and Shinji wondered if maybe he had done something wrong and this guy would suddenly pull out a ruler and rap the boy's knuckles.
"So," the man began in an English accent, "you are Shinji Ikari, hmmm?"
Shinji nodded slowly, unsure of himself.
To the boy's surprise, the man smiled, reached out and grasped his hand.
"Welcome to the Dreaming, young man; I am Lucian: Librarian of Dreams."
Shinji continued the handshake slowly, and then looked around again.
"This place is amazing,"
"I imagine that it is to one seeing it for the first time," sniffed the Librarian, "this library contains every book written and unwritten,"
Shinji turned to Lucian, wide eyed, "How is that possible?"
"Every person has the potential to create, Shinji," Lucian replied, "The accountant you pass on the street may have written one of the greatest novels of all time and he will have done nothing but go to work and come home to his wife and kids.
Meanwhile, Mervyn had produced a pocket-watch and groaned.
"Ah, crap! Sorry, guys; I gotta get my ass down to the Village on the Turtle or the Boss'll go nuts! Nice t'meetcha kid, Lucian." The custodian then ran out the door.
Lucian harrumphed as he turned back to Shinji, "That creature can be…frustrating at times; but he's a good fellow, 'salt of the earth' as they say. But, now," Lucian put his hand to Shinji's back and guided him toward a nearby door, which apparently opened up into another almost as vast chamber of the library, "Let's get started with organizing the 'L's; you'd be amazed at how much more C.S. Lewis had to say…"
Second Impact destroyed many things, including historical items.
There were now fewer than five people who had been there near the beginning of the world. About twenty could remember when Japan and China were on the same continent. One hundred survivors of Second Impact recalled the days of Noah's ark.
Fifteen hundred were alive around the time of the Crucifixion, and three hundred of that number had either heard, seen evidence, or saw the Son of God perform miracles and remained steadfast in their Faith.
Five thousand recalled the fall of the Roman Empire.
Eighteen Thousand remembered the chaos of the last Crusades.
Roughly fifty thousand had lived in the Renaissance.
One hundred thousand saw Napoleon sweep through Europe.
Two hundred and fifty thousand watched Victoria's Empire span the globe.
Five hundred and ninety thousand had watched the First World War blaze over the globe…
These children of ages long gone were embittered by their experiences in the year 2000. They knew—as the experienced often know—that something was wrong with the world, and they immediately began to unite, as they often had in the past. Many of them had supernatural contacts and were able to gather information on what happened; and as the news spread, these shocked, betrayed, and angry folk began to take action.
How dare these stupid old men destroy everything the long-lifers had built! How dare these…these children make demands on former kings, princes, generals, senators, and distinguished gentlemen!
These people, who had survived wars and revolutions, were not weary of life, oh no! They had as much desire to live as the next human, and no aloof old men would stop them. So, contacts were made, officials bribed, and favors called in. The long-lifers gathered like a threatened wolf-pack, for they knew that they could only count on each other…
"What do you mean you've 'changed your mind'?"
Ritsuko Akagi put on her most menacing look as she glared at the Fourth Child. Touji Suzuhara had been doing fine in his pre-activation tests, like a good sacrificial lamb should be; then, a day after Shinji's funeral, he had come into the Testing Center to inform the scientist that he had decided to not become the pilot of Unit-03.
The look on Ritsuko's face did not seem to faze Touji's determination. He did not completely understand why he was taking this step himself, but he was convinced of the correctness of his decision.
"Look, Dr. Akagi; I know what I said before; but things change…"
"Like what?" demanded the blonde doctor.
"Like Shinji dyin' and all,"
The doctor rubbed the bridge of her nose and cursed under her breath.
"That has nothing to do with…"
"I'm not so sure," Touji interrupted, "When we were at the cemetery, some lady in black popped outta nowhere and told not to pilot the Eva,"
"You're relying on advice from a stranger?"
"That's not all!" he retorted, "Last night, I had a dream about that thing you want me to pilot. I was piloting it; suddenly there were flames all around me, and my arm and leg were gone!" Touji indicated his left side.
"That is ridiculous; you would be perfectly…"
"Safe!?" snapped the Fourth Child, leaning in close, "Don't think you 'kin BS me, doc; me and Kensuke were in that thing with Shinji. We saw what happened to him; he was feelin' everything that happened!"
"That…"
"I can't risk it, Dr. Akagi! I've gotta little sister and she's dependin' on me…"
"I don't give a rat's ass about your goddamn sister!!"
The scientist had stood from her chair, shrieking at the boy confronting her. Touji didn't respond, but Akagi realized the damage she had done.
"I thought you guys were s'pessed to care about mankind, doc; I guess everybody's been wrong about NERV…"
He turned and left Ritsuko's office…
"So he quit…"
Ritsuko sighed and gulped down another mouthful of beer. It was nine-fifteen and she was at a bar with Misato. The Major was staring down at a glass of water.
"Touji's a responsible boy; I'm sure he'll be back,"
"He quit, Ritsuko,"
"For now, Misato; we…"
"Will you shut up, Ritsuko!?"
Silence.
"For God's sake, Ritsuko, I'm a military officer; what the hell am I supposed to fight with, huh?"
More silence.
Misato sighed and sipped her water, "Maybe it's time to rethink our strategy…"
Ritsuko's head snapped to the side quickly, "What are you talking about?!"
"All we've been doing the past few months is ordering teenagers around in those things; maybe we should be looking for better ways to kill the Angels than depending on Shinji to go nuts and start…," Misato looked pained for a moment, but then continued, "…we should be looking at the Eva's weapons. Maybe put more of the budget into developing things like that sniper cannon Shinji used…"
"What the hell are you talking about, Misato?! We don't have the budget…"
Unfortunately, Misato was now drawing on training given to her by the military, which had taught her doctrine used (to great effect) by the United States.
"Why the hell not? We haven't gotten another Eva in months! What is everybody doing with the money we're supposed to get? Where's the development budget going?"
"That's classified!"
The Major stared at Ritsuko. This wasn't the first time that she suspected that the scientist had decided that she was of higher rank than the Operations Chief.
"Fine," said Misato, getting up from her chair, "Play your secret little games, Ritsuko; play them until everybody loses."
And she left…
Lucian made a dusting-off motion with his hands as he looked around him. Shinji was not so relaxed; his hands were on his knees as he panted loudly.
"Is—that—all—of—the—'L's?" asked the boy.
Lucian turned toward the Third Child, smiled, and replied, "Yes; thank you for the help, Shinji. Good work."
Shinji froze. Lucian's brow knotted in slight surprise.
"Is something wrong, Shinji?"
The boy looked up, his eyes far away.
"No," he said quietly, "Nothing. Sorry,"
Lucian frowned.
"I think you need some air, young man. Why don't you take a walk in one of the gardens?"
"…Okay…"
Kozo Fuyutsuki looked out at the ocean below as the helicopter headed off to Old Tokyo. Gendo sat across from him, running his fingers through his beard lightly.
"The Fourth Child refuses to pilot, Ikari; shouldn't we be doing something?"
"What the Fourth Child does is irrelevant; we shall simply find another pilot."
"Where, Ikari? Everything we are doing at the present has revolved around testing the Dummy Plug. Touji Suzuhara was supposed to be the one to activate the Eva Unit-03, which would then become the Thirteenth Angel. Then, Unit-01's Dummy Plug would be activated.
"At this moment, Ikari, we have a pilot who is mysteriously dead, an Eva that has moved for no one but the dead pilot, and an Angel sitting around in one of our Eva's in our hanger. We have very few options here,"
Gendo's cold glare fell upon his Vice-Commander, "And those would be?"
"As I see it we have four;" Fuyutsuki held up his right hand; one finger went up, "First, we could try to convince the Fourth Child to take Shinji's place in Unit-01. Judging from this Unit's past, synchronization is extremely unlikely, if not impossible.
"Second," another finger, "We could transfer one of our other pilots to Unit-03, with the same results,
"Third," another finger, "We could take the Fourth Child's friends or relatives hostage and force him to pilot," Fuyutsuki didn't like the glint in Commander Ikari's eye after that last one,
"Fourth," the last finger; here goes nothing, "We purge the Angel in Eva-03…"
"Out of the question, Professor," said the Commander immediately.
Fuyutsuki sighed; sometimes he despised being the Commander's prime advisor.
"We do not have as many options as we did before, Ikari. Your son's death means that we've lost our best pilot,"
"Rei can…"
"At best, Rei is adequate," retorted Fuyutsuki. Someone had to have a conscience in NERV Command, didn't they?
"Ikari, you have seen the same results as I have; the fact is that despite Rei's lifelong training, she has not been as effective as Shinji on the battlefield,"
"Rei is…"
"I know what Rei is, but we have just lost a massive portion of our fighting force and now is the time to rethink things,"
Gendo was silent. He turned and watched the ocean move past.
"Perhaps, Professor, perhaps…"
Shinji could not help but marvel at the sheer beauty of the garden he walked. It reminded him of pictures he had seen of the gardens at Versailles; massive canopies of leaves dripped down from equally huge trees. Fountains sprouted around the garden, spewing out water from the mouths of cherubs. Beds of flowers were arranged in several beautiful formations.
He sat down on a bench to observe a sizeable waterfall, which was pouring down from a mouth carved in the side of the Palace. The fall went into a pool which yawned out about thirty feet in all directions.
Shinji sighed, and closed his eyes, considering taking a nap here, in this beautiful, peaceful place. He did not notice two approaching voices, one light and salt-of-the-earth, the other dark and formal. The voices rose and fell, as if dozens of other voices were speaking the same words in the same voice.
"…for the warning dream, little bro'; I just checked up on the kid and he's doing fine."
"It was of no difficulty, my sister. Although I am surprised that you would intervene in such a manner…"
"Ah, who's gonna stop me? Those old farts who call themselves 'SEELE'?"
"Indeed…Now, shall we speak of the coming wedding?"
"Sure. I was thinking…Hey, your new guy's here!"
Shinji's knee was shaken by a hand and he awoke to find himself looking into the pale face of one of the prettiest girls he had ever seen. She was dressed in a black tube-top and sweatpants. Around her neck hung a silver decoration that resembled a cross except that whereas a cross had a protruding stick at the top there was a loop. Her eyes were as dark as the space between the stars and she wore black lipstick.
She beamed happily at him, reminding him of a pale, black haired Misato…hell, for all he knew this could be Misato's long-lost sister. He was quickly learning that nothing was impossible here in the Dreaming.
"Um…hello…" he said, astonished at being greeted in such a manner.
"Hiya! How do you like it here?"
"Um…it's okay, I guess…"
She frowned a little, "Okay? You haven't been here long, then…"
"Please, sister, he is very shy," Dream of the Endless said from behind her. He was dressed in a white t-shirt and faded jeans; he was also barefoot.
Shinji sprang up.
"Uh…hello, master…uh, sir…er…"
The woman chuckled, "The proper term is 'my lord', but anything respectful will do."
"Oh…sorry…"
"Don't be sorry; you didn't know."
Dream chose that moment to speak, "Shinji Ikari, this is my older sister,"
"Hi, I'm Death
The boy's mouth hung open wide, even while Death grabbed his hand and began shaking it.
She giggled, "My brother doesn't have bugs here; you can't catch any with your mouth."
"Uh, sorry, ma'am; I didn't know that he had a family…"
"Well, he does; me and five others."
She looked thoughtful for a moment, and then smiled.
"I have an idea," she turned to her brother, "Why don't we take Shinji with us? We need somebody to handle all the presents anyway,"
Dream looked at his sister for a moment, and then turned his gaze to Shinji.
"I…don't know, sister. The Three Norns are from Heaven, after all: his presence might only aggravate either they or some of the other guests…"
"C'mon, brother; you can take care of your own, can't you?"
Dream drew himself up, "Of course I can, sister; it is just…"
"If you can't handle it, I can. Don't worry; he has to meet the rest of us, anyway…"
Dream was silent.
"Very well…"