…
Shinji…
"Huh? Who's there?"
Shinji… Ikari…
"WHO IS THIS?"
That… does not matter…
"EH? WHAT IS GOING ON?"
It is me, God.
"HUH? LIKE THE BIBLE!?"
Precisely.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"
Clearly, you want a successful career. And I've found the perfect reality for you.
"Huh? What? What is it like?"
You will see… when you wake up… In 1960, anyway.
"EH? 1960? WHAAAT!?"
There is no worrying about the year. Only thing you will worry about is the debate.
So wake up, Ikari…
Wake up.
Ikari…
"SENATOR IKARI!" Shinji snapped back to reality, forgetting all of the faces that were watching him. Across the podium from him, stood the man named Richard Nixon. Shinji had announced his candidacy several months prior, and here he stood representing the Democratic Party. This was the second debate they had had against one another. Shinji Ikari indeed had a successful career, with a large family behind his back. His relationship with his father was… strained… to say the least.
"Senator Ikari, what is your rebuttal against Vice President Nixon?"
"Uhhhh… Can you repeat what he said?"
"Vice President Nixon mentioned that you plan to pass a "Civil Rights" bill, in response to the ongoing Civil Rights Movement. Is that true?" Almost like they were being fed to him, Shinji immediately knew what to say, despite being out of reality only seconds ago.
"Er, yes. I do in fact plan to pass a Bill of Rights that will guarantee basic human rights for the ones who are discriminated against in this current system. My father would agree with me on this, but I've heard Mr Nixon is against any progress in removing the Jim Crow laws."
"Mr Nixon, do you have a response?" Richard Nixon had been representing the Republican Party ever since his vice presidency, and he was not about to give up his party's reputation over a stupid bill.
"Well… er… Yes. I do indeed oppose a Civil Rights bill. I believe that desegregation would endanger the lifespan of these great, er… United States." Shinji was not surprised by Nixon's statement, after all he knew Nixon was an… ethically dubious figure. Nevertheless, he ignored it and waited for the next question.
"Alright, next question. Senator Ikari, what is your stance on Cuba?"
"Well I do not think it's entirely lost. The er… The USSR may be funding them but I am certain we can lead an invasion to reinstate a perfectly democratic regime. Mr Castro hasn't er.. Made any provocative statement against America yet, so we might have a more diplomatic solution to Cuba. Nonetheless, the loss of Cuba is still a great one. It is a big priority that we try to retrieve it." Nixon was rather puzzled by Ikari's answer, but it didn't matter. A game was to be played, and Nixon would win.
"Mr Nixon?"
"Well, Senator Ikari, If we decide to do that, we might as well intervene in every single other communist nation on the planet! Like… forsay… Vietnam. My point is, there is no point in wasting resources on combating communism externally, what we should REALLY focus on is internal affairs! The communism killing can come later, I'm sure."
"Alright, final question. Vice President Nixon, what are your stances on the CIA?" Nixon knew he was in full support of the CIA, but who knows how long until he wasn't?
"Well, personally the CIA has been beneficial to the safety of the United States from communist espionage. Back to my earlier statement, I believe the CIA can be efficiently used to combat communism internally, and it can also be used to safely and effectively conduct operations abroad, which will be necessary if Senator Ikari's ambitious plans come into effect." Once Shinji heard the words "CIA", all of his memories came flooding back. He then immediately threw up on the spot.
"Holy crap! Someone get Ikari cleaned up!" After an uncomfortable few moments, and him assuring he was fine, Shinji got himself together and produced his rebuttal.
"Well.. er.. NERV- I mean, the CIA, is a very important asset to us, yes, but the recent U-2 incident over Russia has made me a bit concerned in terms of the international espionage part. I mean, why bother sending men to fly around Russia, when we could send better satellites with advanced imagery to conduct espionage from space? Sure, we'd need to make more technological advancements, but I am confident that we would be able to achieve that. Perhaps the CIA would be more useful as a more regional agency, instead of bothering about Japa- I mean, Europe." Shinji had almost screwed up, but luckily his mistakes were unnoticed, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Alright, the debate is finished. This has been Frank McGee, from WRC-TV, Washington D.C." Shinji had hopefully had a good debate, and he was getting a few death glares from some obvious republicans, but most in the room were applauding him. Despite their political rivalry, Nixon had gained a large amount of respect for Shinji, and had created a rather normal relationship with him. Election day was coming up, and both knew it was Judgement Day.
NOVEMBER 8, 1960
"And the results are in, folks, Senator Shinji Ikari wins the presidential election by only a 0.17% margin. Looks like the Republicans will be in an uproar tonight. Surprisingly, the faithless electors won both Mississippi and Alabama, but either way, our new president is now Shinji Ikari." When he heard those results, Shinji could not believe his eyes or ears. He had gone from a Senator in Massachusetts to leading the most powerful nation in the world. He was also the first Japanese-American to lead the nation, definitely a first since World War Two. Little did he know how much the immense weight of being a president would weigh on him.
INAUGURATION DAY
President Ikari walked up to the podium stationed outside the Capitol building, and prepared to give his speech to the massive crowd watching him. Upon being ready, he began the speech.
"As I turn from Senator to President, I am reminded of my upbringing, my late mother, my father, and everyone else along the way. I am also reminded of the fact that I believe that America will thunder on into the latter half of the 20th century as a powerful nation, unified under the flag. No longer will we be separated by race, but we will all be one nation. My Japanese roots give me the ability to not give up, and my American roots give me the ability to know that I'm not alone. As my recent past lingers in my brain, I hope the future will give me, and you all, hope for a better life." Shinji was met with a large round of applause from the crowd, until he realised something was wrong. The area around him began to dissolve and.. the floor turned to a strange shade of blue, Plus, everyone from NERV was back.
"Congratulations!"
"Congratulations!"
"Congratulations, idiot!"
"Congratulations buddy!"
"No… NO… NOOOOO!"
"Congratulations!"
"STOP CLAPPING!"
Ikari, isn't this what you wanted? A good life?
"I did not want to be sent back here, where everyone DIED!"
That was the whole point of this exercise. You can either… be the President of the United States, or… go to 2015 and have a second chance at doing everything right this time. What do you say, Ikari?
"I…"
TOKYO-III
Shinji stared at the suggestive postcard his old guardian had sent him. Well, old to him, not old to her. Shinji was prepared to do it all again.
"I'm ready."
Close to him, the screeching of wheels filled his ears, and he noticed the familiar Alpine behind him.
"Hey! Sorry I'm late, get in!"
A/N: Silly little oneshot I made. No clue how I came up with it, lol.
-nbcman67