End of the Future, Part 19
Today is a Good Day for a (Metaphorical) Rebirth!
Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I am doing wrong (to correct it).
Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
McFly Compound (in Construction)
1986
George McFly served himself a glass of orange juice, watching as both pilots ate with a very healthy appetite.
"Rei is with Lorraine at the house." He said, "A man sent by the Japanese government has made an appointment to deliver your…" he air quoted the next two words, to the pilots' bafflement, as they were not used to that gesture. Fortunately, George's intonation was enough to convey his meaning, "replacement documentation. He will visit tomorrow, so you can be rested and settled for the visit. All you have to do is put your fingerprints in some documents, sign on the dotted lines and provide a few pictures for your Ids. There's a photo studio that makes rush jobs, so we will drop by before going back to the hotel. I'll get the pictures tomorrow morning."
Shinji tilted his head, eerily mimicking Pen-Pen, "Wait, what replacement documentation?"
"Yeah," Asuka added, "What do you mean? How can we have any documentation here, in the past?"
The laptop's screen saver changed, and Lisa's face smirked at them. "I c/c/confess! I did/did/did it!"
George leaned back on his chair, an amused smile on his face. "Lisa meddled with a lot of governmental databases."
The CGI AI smiled widely, "In short, I made you a nice little anime of a story, not Remi or Candy Candy (1) level, still relatively believ/va/va/ble; so you th/th/three lived in an isolated area, and were completely home-schoo/scoo/ooled. There was a terrible accident/t, and you are the only sur/sur/survivors. Your documents were lost/lost/lo/lost in an explosion, the same that killed your fami/fa/family and destroyed your home/me. Your only living relative is Doctor B/B/Brown, who was contacted and asked if he would take/take charge of you. He naturally accepted and once you receive your legal pa/papers, will be free to go back to Hill Valley with him." She shrugged. "T/t/though you still have to ta/ta/take a placement exam in the USA, sorry about that/t."
"So, what? Are we all siblings or what?" Asuka asked acidly.
"Nope. Only Shinji and/a/and Rei. I thought it would be better/better/better, considering your actual relationship. I esta/ta/established a very far ancestor, enough for you three to be legally considered as family, you are just not c/c/closely related to Rei and Shinji. Now you're all related to Doctor Brown on your maternal si/side, seven generation back/ba/back. I k/k/know about your stra/trained relationship/op with your pa/pa/parents, Shinji, so I t/t/took the liberty of changing your surname to Ayana/na/nami."
Shinji's eyes opened wide as saucers, his lips contorted, and to everybody's surprise, he laughed! "That's great! The bastard took my mother's name, and both abandoned me for years!" He wiped his eyes, "I.. I feel…" he hesitated, under Asuka's worried gaze, "…free! Thank you, Lisa!"
He looked at Asuka, still smiling, "Hello, my name is Shinji Ayanami. Charmed to meet you." He bowed respectfully.
She bowed back, "Indeed. I am…" she turned to Lisa, raising an eyebrow. Lisa shook her head, Asuka cleared her throat before continuing, "I am Asuka Langley Soryu. Charmed."
Marty asked the question in his mind. "Hey, how exactly did you made them new identities?"
Lisa smiled, "Easy as pie! Each year, every government reserves a few identities for their operatives, they leave some blanks in their birth certificate/c/cates databases to create new, legal, identities for spies, agents, witnesses in protective custody, things like that. I just took advantage of that and usurped three/th/three of those identities. As the blank/k/k registers are top secret, and not checked until used, they have some priority co/co/codes, so I just used those codes to fabricate the new/n/n/new identities. In about twenty/ty or thirty years, the government/ment will need to use the blanks for the years 1970 and 1971, but won't find these three, as I/I/I have already replaced the identifier co/codes they had attached for regular coding. For all purpo/purposes, you three have always existed. The replacements t/t/took about a month to arrive because I had to make a c/c/convincing paper/p/per trail, order several government employees, and basically, put/t everything in motion as if the government itself was creating identities for agents, so no one/no one/no one asks any awkward q/q/questions. You are very welcome." (2)
Shinji bowed deeply to the CGI image, "Thank you so much, Lisa."
Asuka followed suit a moment later saying, "Impressive work! Especially with the primitive computer network in this time!"
Jennifer piped in, "And the computers and the LCL gel?"
"Props for a mo/movie!" (3) Lisa answered, "Doc and George are trying to get in/to/to the SFX business! I commissioned a small group/p of techies to build re/replicas of the real 2015 computers, they will deliver them to a small warehouse, where we will replace/replace/ace them with the real computers. I have blocked all the functions of the real/re/real pieces. Any tests, of which I'm sure won't be/be/be any, would show non-functional, but ve/very convincing props. About the only th/thing they do now is make some noise and lit some lights. The gel has been/b/been approved by c/cus/customs."
"Wow…" Shinji exclaimed.
George looked at his watch, "We should go back to the hotel."
About half a mile from the race track future site, a glob of slime was accidentally picked up by a passing truck. The headlights flashed orange for a moment. The stowaway wouldn't risk himself by going anywhere near Rei Ayanami. It would take the long way to wherever this Hill Valley was.
The Next Day
"I wish you the best in your new life." The small man said as he bid goodbye with a respectful bow. It took a couple of hours to finish, but all the legalities had been satisfied. Rei, Asuka and Shinji were now fully accredited Japanese citizens. And were in possession of new Passports and all other documents needed to emigrate to the USA.
Doc Brown smiled widely at the pilots, "Well… I must admit this not the way I thought I would have a family, but I'm glad!"
Shinji put his brand-new documents inside a small suitcase, and hesitated a bit before speaking. "Uh, Doctor Brown? Now that we are legally your relatives… what should we call you?"
"Well," he answered, thinking for a moment, "I guess we are technically something like Third or Fourth Cousins I'm not sure how many Removed." Asuka and Shinji exchanged a confused look at the nomenclature. "But in the name of clarity, and due to our age gap, just call me Doc, just as Marty and Jennifer do. Or Uncle Emmet, or just Uncle, if you prefer."
Rei spoke then, "Would not it be disrespectful?"
Doc snorted, "Pfah! I've been called way worse, Miss Ayanami. So much worse. A bit of familiarity won't hurt. We could even say that due to the difference in age, it would be better to consider me an uncle even though we are actually cousins."
Shinji nodded. "Um… where will we live?"
George answered, "For now, with us. Dave and Linda are moving soon into their own places, and their rooms will be…" he paused, "Oh, boy… they are moving out…" he wheezed. "I guess I hadn't stopped to realize they are so grown up…"
Doc patted George's shoulder, "The Law of Life in action, George."
George smiled weakly, "Lorraine did warn me it would hit me like a speeding truck…"
Marty exchanged a look with Shinji first, then Asuka, and finally, Rei. "Guys, be ready for some heavy motherly instincts kicking in."
At that precise moment, Lorraine McFly entered the room, having listened Marty's words, she laughed as she playfully slapped her son's shoulder. "Marty is exaggerating! Though you three could stand to gain a little weight." She walked among the group, George and Doc exchanged a look, and both nodded.
"Uh, Honey… We have to tell you some stuff…"
"Can it wait? We have to ready a lot of things before going back home. We have to buy some clothes for the kids, they can't go in the plane with just those old clothes!"
"I know, but…" George sighed.
"And maybe a couple of Walkmans and cassettes." Lorraine continued.
Doc pinched the bridge of his nose. "George, I think this is a talk we can schedule for later. Right now, it's better we prepare to go back home."
Shinji had to stifle a yawn, Lorraine noticed, "Did you sleep well, Shinji?"
He smiled awkwardly, "Um… Actually, it took me a long time to fall asleep, I'm used to the noise of cicadas all the time, it was too quiet and the noise of traffic is…"
Asuka added, "Same with me, we will need a bit of time to get used to the change, that's all."
"Ah, I see. Then, how about you take a nap, and we go shopping in say…"she looked at George, who discreetly extended tree fingers while he pretended to scratch his cheek. (4) "three hours?"
Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Commercial Area
Electronic Shops and Arcade Alley (5)
Four Hours Later
"Shinji, are you Okay?" Marty asked, as the teenager sat on a bench, breathing quickly, his eyes darting all over the place.
Immediately, George sat next to him. "Shinji, Shinji!" The teen looked at him, his face twisted in fear. "Look at me. There's nothing to fear, I am here, just focus on my voice and breathe."
Shinji nodded brusquely. George kept on talking. "Everything will be fine. It's just light and noise. Nothing harmful, just keep in breathing, son."
Two minutes later, Shinji had calmed down enough to relax a bit. "I'm sorry, I…"
"Easy. Take your time. You got overwhelmed. The lights and noise of the arcade, I think. Can you walk?"
"Yes."
"Good, let's go over there. It will be quieter." George pointed at a bench next to a Music Store, the sound of classical music filling the air.
They sat on the bench, Shinji struggled to keep control of himself. George was ready to call for help, but the former pilot managed to settle into a tensely controlled state, relaxing gradually. "I'll be okay, McFly-san; it's just that… it was too much noise and light. And I… I realized how small this city is now." He whispered the last words. "The buildings, the city, the town… its so small compared with Tokyo…" he interrupted himself before adding the number. He shook his head, focusing in the soothing notes of Beethoven's Fur Elise. He had never learned to play the piano, but right at that moment, he tried to convert the music into a cello version, even if it was just in his mind. Concentrating in that relieved his stress.
"Everything I knew is… no more, or… not yet. The buildings, the people. My parents must be still children, I don't know if Misato has even been born… (6)" He shook his head. "And this place is so…" He took his time to find the right word. "So alive! Back there everybody was afraid. Not knowing when the next attack would come. We had evacuation drills at least once per month. Every black had stenciled instructions and routes to the closest bunker."
"I understand." George nodded thoughtfully. "I lived the most tense years of the Cold War. The Cuban Missile Crisis had us al wondering when the bombs would start to fall."
Shinji and Marty looked intensely at George, who shrugged. "There are still some problems with the Soviets, but not that bad."
Shinji smiled, "Well… that's gonna pass too. The Soviet Union will dissolve long before Second Impact. The Wall in Berlin will be demolished in just a few years. Just ask Asuka. She grew up in a unified Germany. She will remember the dates, I'm really bad at history."
George gasped, "I can't… I can't believe it…"
Marty nodded, "The books we got just skip over that, but yes, Shinji is right."
"Son, I really need to read those books. I focused on science and technology and disregarded history!"
"Doc has them in a safe at his home. He doesn't want to risk them falling in the wrong hands. I'm sure he won't mind you going to his house to read them."
George nodded emphatically. "Who knows, maybe I can get one or two good ideas for my next book."
Shinji stared at him for a moment, "Please, don't include me as a character."
"Why not? Most people would like to be a character in a novel or a movie." Marty said.
"I'm… not interesting. There's nothing that could be noteworthy about me." He shrugged sadly. "At best, I would be a one scene background character."
"Are you serious?" Marty exclaimed, "You…" he looked around, to check if there was anybody close enough to listen, he continued in a whisper, "You would be the everyday guy who gets thrusted into a life-threatening situation, yet finds the courage to keep on fighting to protect people."
"I failed at that." Shinji's voice broke. George and Marty squeezed Shinji's shoulders, in an eerie display of accidental synchronization.
Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Commercial Area
Clothing Shops Alley
"Have you thought about your new looks?" Jennifer asked Asuka and Rei.
Asuka passed a hand through her badly cut hair, "Yeah. I'd like a nice cut, something bold. And..." she smiled mischievously, "some of those neon colored clothes that look like they belong in a gym. Leg warmers, et al."
Rei shook her head, "Similar to the synch training outfits, I believe." Asuka nodded with a mischievous look in her eyes, Rei continued, "I see no need to change my haircut. However, I'd like to choose a modestly sized wardrobe. I dislike overly bright colors," she looked at Asuka, "Red is not my color, but pale blue or maybe black and white would be very acceptable colors for my outfits."
Asuka tilted her head, studying her former colleague for a moment, "That's fair, then I claim red and bright primary colors, including neon; excluding blue. I graciously concede pastel shades for your palette, First." Both nodded at each other, having reached a mutually satisfying agreement.
Lorraine smiled at the girls, "Well, we have time to find your best look. Tell you what, Jennifer, you go with Rei to the clothes stores, and help her find her style for America; while Asuka and I hit the beauty parlor, I think it's time for me to change my look too." She passed a debit card to Jennifer. "Stay on budget, please."
"Sure, Mrs. McFly." Jennifer and Asuka smiled happily at the chance to indulge in a shopping spree. Rei followed their big smiles with a small smile of her own.
"Now, Asuka, let's find a good place to get our hair styled!"
"Leave that to me, Mrs. McFly!"
Author's Notes:
(1) Two of the most unlucky characters ever! Especially Remi. I'll freely admit to not daring to watch the series. I think only Taylor Hebert, of Worm fame, has a worse luck than Remi and/or Candy; and that's because she lives in what can be charitably said to be a Crapsack World, so that adds to her own personal back luck.
(2) I don't remember exactly where I got this little bit of info, probably another fanfic, but for my life, I can't remember. In any case, I thought it would be a good way to get the pilots the needed papers to go to Hill Valley.
(3) Now, this bit is inspired by a strange and real story. Turns out that in 1978, the CIA, with a lot of help from the Canada government, enacted a secret operation to rescue several people from Iran. The pretext was to simulate the production of a movie, based on the novel Lord of the Light, by Roger Zelazny (great book, BTW), and several drawings by Jack Kirby (of Marvel Comics and DC Comics fame) detailing the scenery for the movie. The people were evacuated as part of the production team. The events were heavily fictionalized in the movie Argo. For more info about the real event, look for "Canadian Caper" in Wikipedia.
(4) The same technique Egon used to tell Peter how much to charge after they captured Slimer at the Sedgwick Hotel.
(5) I have no real information about Hakone in 1986, so I'll just assume there was a kinda mall style street, designated for pedestrians. If somebody has info about a similar, real place in 1986 Hakone, please send it to me and I'll make the appropriate corrections.
(6) Shinji is right, according to the NGE timeline, Gendo Rokubungi was born April 29 1967 (19 YO), Yui Ikari in March 30 1977 (9 YO), and Misato Katsuragi in December 8 1986. At this point in the story, Misato hasn't been born yet, but the date is quite close.