"All things considered, that went quite well," said Fuyutsuki.
"The Angel is dead. That is all that matters," replied Gendo. There were no titles in this office, the one place on the entire planet where he could speak freely. Even then... "No doubt the Council will be expecting a report."
"The old men expect a report when you take a shit. I'd have thought you'd have learned to live with it by now."
"It matters not. All is proceeding in accordance with the Scenario."
"You'd say that even if you were on fire, though."
"That is because it would be true. Nothing happens here outside of my control." Gendo picked up a file. Fuyutsuki was aware most were actually full of blank sheets of paper, kept around to intimidate people unfortunate enough to be called into a meeting with the Commander. "We need to keep the UN out of this. We can't afford another Jerusalem," Gendo said after a while. "The Council messed up there and we're still cleaning up after them."
"There was one surprise from that, though. Who'd have thought the British pilot was Rei's brother?" Fuyutsuki said. The response from Gendo when that had happened had been worthy of a recording, Illuminati be damned.
"Three years ago, even I wouldn't have guessed it. They did a remarkably good job keeping him out of the public spotlight."
"The kid was in combat most of the time up until twenty-ten, and when someone did get a shot of him outside Unit Seven he was in that damned armour. I'm beginning to suspect he's never taken it off."
"Regardless, he won't be a problem. The British aren't going to risk their only Evangelion, not with everything they have to deal with," said Gendo.
"They've done stupider things in the past. I distinctly recall you saying something similar back in late oh-nine..." Gendo snorted derisively at Fuyutsuki's comment. "Regardless, they can't do anything right now." There was a break in the conversation, before Fuyutsuki spoke again. "Have you visited Rei yet?"
"I'll go see her today."
"And Shinji?"
"We both know the answer to that question," was the curt reply.
"Right arm reading as broken! Armour plating on left shoulder down to six percent integrity!"
"What's he doing out there?"
"WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP FOR FIVE SECONDS AND LET ME KILL THIS BASTARD?"
Shinji woke up.
He took account of his surroundings, as he'd been teaching himself to do since that fateful day the news had shown the live images from St. Louis. Hospital room. No other people. I appear to be uninjured. My stuff isn't here. Unfamiliar ceiling. I am currently clothed in a hospital gown. Single window – large enough to get out of. Single door – check if locked. This must be a short-term recovery ward – no facilities in the room to accommodate long-term patients. He lay back, instincts satisfied, and began reviewing his observations. The panic began to overwhelm him as he realised his bag wasn't in the room, but forced himself to re-run several mental equations to calm himself down. The method worked... about ninety percent of the time.
A nurse walked into the room, and Shinji sat up again. "You're awake!" he said.
"Where are my things? What happened... out there?" Shinji asked, taking on the stutter he nearly always did when talking to another person.
"Well," the nurse said, "It seems you won. They don't tell us anything, but I get the impression we wouldn't be here if you hadn't. As for your effects... I heard some NERV officer wanted to talk to you about that." Great, Shinji thought, Misato got my equipment broken. I really hope she didn't get that girl killed; I'm not sure I could follow through on my end of that... Another panic attack threatened as he remembered what he'd said in the hanger bay. What the hell was I thinking!? Why did I threaten her like that?
"Um... are you alright, Mister Ikari?" asked the nurse.
"What? Oh, I'm fine," Shinji waved him off, "just... post-battle stress. Where's this officer?"
"Hey Shinji!" called Misato. Shinji's legs felt like lead as he walked over to her.
"Hi," he said, timidly. "The nurse said you wanted to speak to me?"
"Oh yeah! I got your stuff in the car. None of it seemed broken, but you're probably going to want to check it anyway," she said. "Oh, and Rei survived. It looks like you're not going to have to kill me," she continued, laughing.
Why is she laughing? Shinji thought. "That's... good," he said. He steeled himself, and continued, "Look... back there, I'm sorry I threatened to kill you."
Misato laughed again. "Don't worry about it," she said, "You went pretty cold back there. Better than snapping, I guess. You freaked me out, though – only other person I've seen get like that is the Commander. I guess there's more similarity in you two than I thought."
She thinks I'm like HIM? Shinji thought, horrified. Outwardly, he smiled. "I guess so," he said.
There were a few seconds of silence, before Misato spoke. "Look, we need to see about your accommodation," she said, "I've finished for the day, so I'll help you move."
"Thanks," said Shinji, smiling for real this time.
"What? Alone?! You can't have a kid like him living on his own!" Misato shouted at the NERV officer – he seemed faceless, generic, like a lot of the people around here. Maybe they have vats churning them out, Shinji thought. He wasn't paying attention to the conversation – he was fine with living alone, and it wasn't like - "Look, you know what, I'll take him in. I've got a few spare rooms. No, don't worry about the paperwork, I'll speak to the Commander or Doctor Akagi about it." The flunky walked off, apparently satisfied with this.
It took Shinji several seconds to process the new development, the very concept forcing him into a new set of equations to calm himself down. "Umm," he said, finally, "Miss Misato... what?"
"For the last time, it's just Misato. And like I said, I'm not going to just let you live on your own. Besides, the place they had you in was tiny, you'd never have enough room for all your equipment." That seemed to be all the discussion that decision was allocated, because Misato walked off.
Shinji sighed, and followed her. Maybe this won't be so bad, he thought.
He nearly had a heart attack when he saw the mess in the living room of the apartment. They'd picked up some food on the way; it was all instant but he was hoping that wasn't the warning sign it seemed like. Food with the nutritional value of cardboard, an apartment that looks like it's a war zone and probably harbours several new strains of disease, more beer than is consumed by North America in three years, and yes that's a penguin.
"What are you waiting for," called Misato, "Come in!"
Shinji took a nervous step into the apartment. "I'm home," he said.
"Welcome home," replied Misato.
The Angel stood opposite Shinji – or Unit 01? It was hard to tell the difference. It was stationary – was it confused? Shinji checked his surroundings. No weapons, no VTOLs or tanks around, very little cover unless he was willing to sacrifice a building or two...
He ducked behind an office building, hoping it had been evacuated. Or at least, he tried to. His mind sent the signal for his legs to move, but they felt weird, unresponsive. He fell forwards, onto his face. He tried to stand up, but again the response was slow.
The Angel walked over to him – walked, as if it wasn't even worried he was a threat – and picked him up by the head. It tightened its grip, and pain flowed in like his own head was being crushed. That seemed unfair – he couldn't control this damned thing but he could feel its pain?
The anger he'd felt back in the hanger flooded back, and he punched the Angel with his right arm. For the first time, the Evangelion responded to his command, and the Angel staggered back a little, dropping him. Perfect. He settled into a fighting stance – something mirrored unconsciously from a TV show or movie or something – and lashed out again.
This time, the Angel caught his arm, and pulled, loosing some sort of energy beam that scraped his left shoulder at the same time. Voices had been on the edge of his hearing since he'd launched, but now they flooded into focus.
"Right arm reading as broken! Armour plating on left shoulder down to six percent integrity!" said one.
"What's he doing out there?" said another.
"WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP FOR FIVE SECONDS AND LET ME KILL THIS BASTARD?" he shouted, pulling back with his right arm and punching with the left. Surprisingly, the radio fell silent, and the newly-awakened part of Shinji got on with its job. He pulled again with his right arm, the pain just a small sensation on the edge of his mind, and slammed the Angel into a building. That always seemed to work. Except... this time, it didn't.
The Angel let go of his arm, and reached out again. Shinji tried to kick at it, but an AT Field formed in front of his leg. He fell forwards, into the Angel's grip. A lance of pain stabbed through his head, and he realised the Angel was stabbing him with its energy lance thing and it hurt and he was going to pass out and IT NEEDED TO DIE NOW...
Shinji walked into the classroom he'd been assigned to. Misato had told him, the day after he'd moved in, that he'd be starting at the local school as soon as possible. He'd told her he was well ahead of any curriculum offered by a high school, especially in the field of science, but it was apparently more to do with socialisation than grades. He'd cursed the invisible psychiatrist who'd written that recommendation – silently, of course – but it was final. They had delayed his start to synchronise with the start of a new term, however – a delay of about a week – and Rei was supposed to be going back on that day too. Not that he'd spoken to the girl yet; he had no idea how one was actually supposed to go about doing so.
"Hello!" said a brown-haired, pigtailed girl who'd walked up to him. "You must be the new transfer student!"
"Yes," he said. Then he remembered he was supposed to be socialising. "My name's Shinji Ikari, it's nice to meet you."
"I'm Hikari Horaki, Class Representative. I have to say it's kind of weird you're moving in just as everyone else seems to be moving out..." Even he could tell that she was fishing for information. Even a high school student could connect the dots. New Evangelion shows up, they have teenage pilots, and oh look here's a new teenage student.
"I'm the pilot of Unit One," he said. Better to get it over with now than have it come out at some inopportune moment. Although if she starts bugging me for schoolwork in the middle of an Evangelion deployment, I will... do something. He'd censored his mind before he could mentally threaten another person.
"Oh! That's... okay. Are you sure?" asked Hikari. I knew high school kids were stupid, but seriously? Shinji thought.
"I took an energy spike through its skull about a week ago. I'm pretty sure," he said, a little harshly by his standards.
"I meant... it's just kind of a shock," said Hikari. "Like learning one of your classmates is a famous writer or scientist or something." There was a pause as the two collected their thoughts. "Look, just take a seat. I'll make sure the teacher knows."
"Thank you," Shinji said. He scanned the classroom for... ah, there she was. Still in bandages? Is she actually okay to be here? The last vestiges of the anger from a week ago welled up, but he suppressed them as he walked over to the empty seats around her. In front, behind, or beside? he debated. He decided on the seat next to her, and sat down.
"Shinji Ikari," she said, turning to stare at him. Her voice was very soft, he noticed. "You threatened a superior officer's life if she did not ensure my survival. Why?"
The question caused another near panic attack, but if he was good at one thing it was keeping those down. He thought for a few moments, trying to think of a reason that didn't sound trite. "I... I guess I was angry, and worried. She was the only person I could trust to do the job, and I needed to motivate her." That was, after all, the truth. He'd made the decision, his mind thinking with perfect clarity for the first time in a social situation. That answer didn't seem to satisfy the girl, however.
"Why were you angry and worried?" she asked. Before he could think of an answer, the bell rang his salvation and the teacher walked in.
A student arrived as the formalities were dealt with, and Shinji couldn't help overhearing that the student – a kid called Toji – wasn't exactly happy. That was going to make the next part of the day a little awkward.
The teacher called Shinji up to the front to introduce himself, and he actually managed to reach the board without collapsing in panic like he had the first time he'd done something like this. He wrote his name on the board, handwriting messed up by his unfamiliarity with the digital marker thingy the school was using. As he finished, he took a deep breath and turned back to the class.
"Hello," he began, cursing himself for being unable to think of anything better to say, "I'm Shinji Ikari. I'll be studying here for the foreseeable future, and..." he gulped, and continued, "I'm the pilot of Evangelion Unit One."
The classroom erupted into chaos.
A fist swung into his eye as he left the school building. He'd actually expected this, but made no motion to prevent it. This was, after all, something he deserved for once. He fell back onto the concrete, mentally remarking on how familiar this sensation was becoming.
"That's for my sister, you bastard," came the voice of the fist's owner. Toji.
Another voice came from above, accompanied by the face of Toji's friend. "Look, I'm really sorry about this," he said, "but you kind of got his sister really hurt. Even if you weren't the pilot he'd probably have punched you..."
"It doesn't matter," said Shinji. "I... I'm sorry about what happened." That seemed to make Toji angrier, as Shinji was lifted off his feet and thrown onto the ground. Shinji braced himself for another blow, but it never came.
"Pilot Ikari," came Rei's voice from the same doorway he'd been ambushed at. Shinji forced himself to his feet – if Toji started to take any of his anger out on Rei...
The other two boys were walking off, pretending nothing had happened. "What is it, Ayanami?" he asked, brushing himself down. The blows had hurt, but nothing compared to the feeling of a white-hot lance of energy spearing through his eye.
"You did not answer my question," said the girl. Shinji laughed. Of course that's why she decided to follow me, he thought. Rei looked at him curiously, and asked "Why are you laughing?"
That was when the sirens started howling.