Chapter 6 – Shinji Steps Out

Shinji made his way out of the apartment carefully. While Misato wouldn't be hard to sneak past, heavy drinking making her sleep like a log, Asuka might be a different story. Shinji didn't know, and wasn't taking any chances. It's not like I've tried this before… well, with Asuka here anyways…

All in all, his little subterfuge mission was a success. He didn't bring much, just a few changes of clothes and his money. He didn't leave a note, and felt slightly guilty about it. Still, he didn't think that it was wise to give his father (or Asuka for that matter) anything to go on that might be used to find him and bring him back, no matter how much it would have soothed the concerns of his roommates, or how improbable it was that Gendo would ever want him in an Evangelion again.

Shinji paused to have one last look around, fixing the space in his memory. He thought briefly about looking in on Asuka and Misato one last time, but in the end considered it too risky to his plan to leave to attempt. But, all of Shinji's planning couldn't take one thing into account. When he stepped into the hall outside the apartment and closed the door softly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Shinji whirled around ready to defend himself as best he knew how, and make a break for it, only to come face to face with Kensuke Aida. Shinji sighed in relief, and collapsed back slightly, leaning against the wall.

Kensuke grinned and readjusted his sack over his shoulder, and opened his mouth to speak. Shinji shook his head and gestured towards the door. Kensuke nodded and they didn't speak until they were in the elevator. "Thought you'd try something like this. Leaving, I mean."

Shinji nodded a little. "I'm a little surprised you're here. Why?"

Kensuke blinked, then smiled. "What do you mean? I'm going with you. Where are we going anyways?"

Shinji stopped for a moment. "Look, Kensuke… I appreciate this and all, but you don't have to come with me."

Kensuke shook his head. "Of course I do. Besides, what's left here for me, anyways?"

"School, maybe?"

Kensuke snorted as they reached the ground level and exited both elevator and building. "The same could be said for you. Face it Shinji, you're not going to be able to get rid of me. Toji'd be practically dragging you off if he were here."

The memory of their friend, and his fate tumbled through their minds, and they were silent for a moment in respect. Shinji opened his mouth to protest anyways, to say that Kensuke should stay anyways, but then closed it again. Truth be told, he wanted the company. He'd talked his way through more than one problem with Kensuke before, and, in the end, he knew he needed something to hold onto. Kensuke saw his mouth close and nodded in approval. "Good. Now that that's settled, you didn't answer my question before. Where are we going?"

Shinji shook his head. "I'm not sure, really. I suppose I figured I'd be lucky to get past the front door without an alarm sounding."

Kensuke nodded slightly. "Well… how far away did you want to go?"

Shinji sighed. "Anywhere my father can't find me to drag me back."

"Well, I suppose we could just go to the train station-"

"ShinjiKim!"

Kensuke didn't get to finish his thought as Shinji was tackled from the side out of the alley they were walking past by a figure with long, flowing light green hair.

The girl (Kensuke could easily tell that Shinji's aggressor was female by the large bust and general figure) was not so much assaulting him as happily hugging him, while chattering excitedly. He couldn't quite make it all out, but numerous 'ShinjiKim's and other rushed things on people like 'Elly' and 'Billy' and 'Bart'.

What in the name of all that's great and good does he have that I don't! First Misato, then Mana, and then Asuka. And now random women on the street are groping him.

The girl was now sitting up, straddling Shinji's waist, and still talking excitedly. Kensuke still couldn't follow her, catching only things like 'Rico' and 'Citan'.

"Emeralda… stop that. You're confusing the boy."

She blushed, and stood then, if a little reluctantly. Shinji looked over from his position on the ground to see a man with slightly graying brown hair captured in a long braid approach.

"Sorry Dr. Citan."

He smiled indulgently.

"It's fine Emeralda. Just be careful not to damage him." He turned to address the two boys. "I apologize. Emeralda's a bit… excitable. She's been looking forward to meeting you two for quite some time."

Kensuke blinked, and responded, as Shinji seemed to still be attempting to catch his breath and ward of Emeralda's attempts to help him up. "Us?"

Citan nodded. "Yes, the two of you. If you'd be willing to come with us, there's a diner nearby where we can discuss this with a bit more comfort." Kensuke looked a little nervous and looked to Shinji for an answer. He didn't want to assume anything without Shinji's input. After all, it was Shinji's escape, and they didn't know the first thing about this guy.

Shinji was back on his feet now, and Emeralda had taken complete possession of one arm, resting her chin on his shoulder and gazing at him adoringly. Shinji looked distinctly uncomfortable, but nodded at Citan.

"Good. This way please."

Emeralda did let go as they walked, and she now smiled and talked and virtually bounced around just in front of Shinji, who was looking bewildered. Kensuke could follow her a bit better now, and she seemed to be telling him all about her friends.

---

The four now sat around a booth in a diner. Citan and Kensuke sat on one side, mostly because Emeralda looked like she might start bawling if they tried to suggest she sit anywhere other than Shinji's side. Shinji was just grateful she hadn't insisted on sitting in his lap. She also wasn't burrowed into his side like Kensuke thought she would be, though. Actually, she was glaring at the menu with an odd sort of intensity. The waitress came around, and looked at them.

"What'll it be?"

"Hamburger."

"Cheeseburger."

"Pork Chops."

Emeralda stared at her menu for a moment longer when it came to her turn, then declared her choice defiantly, while jabbing her finger at it on the menu.

"Pizza!"

The lady smiled a little.

"Of course dear."

Citan smiled at the waitress as she left the table, then turned back to the two. "Just how much do you two know about the Evangelion program?"

Shinji and Kensuke stiffened. His personal opinion of his father not withstanding, Shinji still didn't feel comfortable with talking about this with a complete stranger. Citan blushed slightly.

"My apologies. I wasn't thinking. Well, let me say first that NERV, while being ultimately selected for the task, was not the only organization in the beginning to look into the problem of the 'angels'."

Citan seemed amused by the term, but didn't comment any further. "There was another organization, the one I am a part of, called Jet Alone."

Shinji's eyes narrowed. "I've heard of you. Your robot almost killed a friend of mine."

Citan nodded. "That particular machine was an experiment, and a failure at that. The robot was controlled from a remote site, by a competent crew of people. The robot was given commands, and it acted on them. But… somewhere in there, something went wrong. Usually our units have pilots, so you could consider it an equivalent to the dummy plug. We don't quite know what went wrong with the test, and there's no way knowing. Especially after you and the robot destroyed the facility in your battle, not that I'm blaming you. As to exactly what went wrong… let's just say I have my suspicions as to what happened, and leave it at that."

"But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. No, I'm talking about Jet Alone's purpose, now that NERV has the 'primary task'."

Shinji was slightly intrigued, in spite of himself. "What do you mean?"

Citan sighed. "Even with a man like your father in charge, Shinji, how long do you think it will take for Evangelion plans to make it to the black market?"

Kensuke's face went drawn. "Oh no…"

Citan nodded. "Imagine it. Every petty despot, every terrorist organization, all of them with Evangelions at their disposal. The next world war won't be fought with nuclear weapons, boys. Not when the risks are known, and not with the fact that every other country in existence will gang up on you if you tried. No, the next world war will be fought with Evas.

"And here's the worst news. Somehow, someway, the plans have already been leaked. We've been able to keep all of it under wraps so far, eliminating the new Evas before or just after completion, but I doubt it will be long before the world at large starts hearing about it, or one of the new breed goes online and starts something before we hear of it.

"And that's where Jet Alone is now. We're building weaponry to take down Evangelions quickly and effectively. We're building stations all over the world to handle these sorts of crises as they come up. Emeralda doesn't look it, but she's one of our best pilots. You witnessed her work earlier against the angel that destroyed the 01.

"My particular piece of the organization is the elite. The best. We're a mobile response unit, to be sent into the worst of the situations out there, or to the relief of the standard Jet Alone units that are being overwhelmed.

Citan paused for a moment here, and addressed them both.

"And we want you to join us. Both of you. If you're interested, we can take the elevator in the back of the kitchen down to the dock, where a submarine is waiting for us."

Shinji and Kensuke just stared at each other as the waitress brought their orders.

---

The door made a slight 'hiss' as it opened, revealing the massive storage bay before them. Standing at the massive average of around eighty feet tall, the machines before them were slightly shorter than the Evangelions they were used to, but also slightly bulkier.

Citan walked out before them, moving towards a raised room, gesturing for the two younger men to follow. He stopped and turned around when he realized that they weren't following.

Kensuke had his mouth hanging open, and a noticeable line of drool was coming from his mouth. Citan smiled softly to himself, and wandered back towards where the boys… wait. Only one of them was standing there.

Citan glanced around a little nervously. Shinji didn't have any knowledge of gears, well other than his Eva training (which was almost compatible) just yet. So where was he…?

Oh.

Damn. Citan thought. How far along is he…?

Shinji was standing blankly in front of one of the hangar's bays, looking up at the big, black behemoth locked within. Standing at ninety-four feet, seven inches tall, it was the second tallest gear in the hangar (The tallest being the Seibzehn, which comes to the truly gigantic height of one-hundred-thirty-seven feet, six inches). The body was a deep blue-black; the only differing parts being the bright, eerie red markings in the joints. It was tall and broad shouldered, with a small, thick, fin across the head, and had two large fins on it's back, each with large holes about halfway down, reaching from about the middle of the fin, all the way to the end, cutting out vaguely rectangular shapes. Engine ports.

Citan smiled up at the gear, despite it's foreboding appearance, like an old friend. Weltall…

The gear, technically the Weltall-2, was a masterwork of construction built by Taura, back in the early days, from the wreckage of the first Weltall. Taura built the gear to be faster and stronger than most other gears, and it lived up to its hype. It was also built with a few other… special… features.

But only time will tell, Citan thought, if Shinji can use them.

Citan knew what very few others in the complex did. That Shinji would be Weltall's next pilot.

"Dr. Uzuki?"

Citan jumped slightly, startled out of his thoughts. Kensuke Aida, apparently broken out of his fantasizing, stood next to him, while Shinji, broken of his trance as well, came closer.

"Yes Kensuke?"

"Um, you wanted to show us something?"

Citan adjusted his spectacles as Shinji nodded in confirmation of Kensuke's question.

"Well, I was going to show you boys the various statistics of the gears inside the hangar office over there. Much more convenient than walking around craning our necks."

"But much less exciting."

Citan laughed out loud at that.

"Well, you may come to view it differently in time, Kensuke. Besides, some of them aren't in dock right now. Let's go."

They once more ventured towards the hangar office, Shinji slightly troubled. Citan noticed, and slowed a bit.

"Something troubling you, Shinji?"

He looked a little uncomfortable.

"I know… I came here to pilot a gear for you. I'm not really sure why, I guess… I mean, when the 01 was destroyed, I felt relieved, no matter what anyone else said. I thought, 'Now I won't have to do this ever again.' And when we got on board, I was still feeling like I didn't know why I was here… but seeing… that… thing back there-"

"Weltall." Citan said softly. "That gear is called Weltall."

Shinji nodded, and continued. "When I saw… Weltall… I was always uncomfortable with the 01… something about it just… I don't know, just creeped me out. But this… Weltall… creeps me out too. But that's because it felt right. Almost too right. Like it was made for me, and me alone… does that make any sense?"

Citan smiled. "More than you might think, Shinji."

Shinji nodded. "May I ask how…?"

Citan sighed. "Shinji… this may be more than I have the right to ask of you, but I'm going to anyways. I need you to trust me. It'll all make sense in time. That much I promise. You'll have to find the answers yourself, and you're free to talk with anyone here, or on the Kislev, about what you know, but you have to discover the information yourself. It's the best I can do for you without sounding like a raving lunatic."

"I don't see how that would matter, everyone I've ever known has been a lunatic in one way or another."

Citan and Kensuke both burst out laughing at that, and soon even Shinji was snickering a little. Citan calmed down and smiled at the both of them. "I promise you, both of you, that the answers will come. But just understand that it's all I can say right now. Now, let's get going on to the office."

---

As Citan led the boys out of the hangar, the intercom came on.

"Attention all personnel, opening forward hull for gear recovery."

Citan glanced up. Then nodded to the two boys. "Come on, you'll want to see this."

He led the two down near the end of the docks, when the ceiling moved, bracing itself. Then it opened outwards, exposing the sea to all sides. Strangely, the water stayed put, and didn't come rushing in to drown them. Citan explained without being prompted. "Force field. It stops the water, and repels fish, but it wouldn't stop anything else that wanted to come in, as you can see."

They could see. Entering the gear dock through the field were three gears. The first was humanoid, turquoise in color with two yellow rods sticking straight up off its head, carrying a katana as weaponry.

The second gear coming in was greenish brown and had treads mounted on its feet. It had what appeared to be a large rocket booster on it's back, and seemed to resemble a humanoid tank more than anything else.

The third gear coming in was a bright red, again humanoid model. This one was slightly odd looking with a patch over one eye and a silver blade like feather sticking straight up from the center of its forehead.

The gears moved towards their docks, and then were locked into place before a couple of arms shot out for mechanics to look for problems. On the turquoise gear, which the boys recognized as Heimdal from the records, the chest opened to reveal the cockpit, and out jumped a boy with gray hair and red eyes, wearing a white short-sleeved dress shirt, red undershirt, black slacks and tennis shoes. Citan smiled and waved him over.

"Boys, this is Kaworu Nagisa. He's piloting the Heimdal. I used to do it, but it seems that HQ wants people like me out of the field. Still, he's an able enough replacement."

Kaworu smiled. To Kensuke, it seemed like this was a common thing between them.

"Perhaps, Dr. Uzuki, but surely I cannot match your prowess within the machine."

Citan grinned. "Kaworu, this is Shinji, and that's Kensuke. We're showing them around. How did the mission go?"

Kaworu thought for a moment. "It was not difficult, but you should let Rico calm down a bit before debriefing. The new pilot was green, as expected, but got in Rico's way a few times, delaying the end of the conflict. He was most displeased."

Citan nodded. "Thank you Kaworu. I guess I'll delay their meeting with Rico a bit longer if he's in that state. See what you can do to get Emeralda to go see him. She's in the mess hall. He tends to calm down with her in the area."

Kaworu nodded, and turned to the two boys. "It was nice meeting the two of you."

He hurried off then, just as there was a commotion from the large green gear, Stier. The man who stormed right past them was a giant of a man, with green skin, orange hair and black eyes with yellow pupils. Citan grimaced.

"That was Rico. He really doesn't like people who get in his way, especially on missions. He won't be the most pleasant person for the next few hours. Let's move on to Brigandier's pilot…"

Citan had a mysterious smile on his face as he said this, and the three maneuvered their way over to where the red gear was just opening up. The pilot jumped down, a clearly mechanical 'clank' coming from the left leg as he landed. The boy had a mechanical right arm as well. Wearing white slacks, tennis shoes, a black shirt and red jacket. His face sported an eye patch just like his gear's, and a face very familiar to the two boys. Shinji and Kensuke spoke at once.

"Toji!"

---

Nevewhere: Ah, memories. I think it's been about a year at least since I actually wrote this chapter, and the next five.

Okay, I need all you people who enjoy this thing to do something for me, and 'encourage' Classic to write the next chapter. And by 'encourage' I mean for you to get his e-mail off his author's profile and flame him until he does. Because once he does write the next chapter, these updates will be upped to once a week instead of once every two.