Creation began on 01-05-16
Creation ended on 02-11-16
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Potential Paradise: Defense
Misato was outraged by Commander Ikari's decision to have an N² missile fired at Shinji's space station, despite the fact that there were already civilians present on it. As she saw the missile being fired and heading towards the station, she hoped that Shinji would know what to do.
Even Asuka and Rei were displeased by the commander's decision; as much as Asuka didn't like him most of the time (all the time), she didn't desire his death and Rei didn't feel that this was logical in any way that worked to resolve anything.
-x-
Shinji, after his distant conversation with Toji, who wanted to thank him for his new residence and having access to a medical bed that fixed his sister better than the hospital ever could, took notice of a missile heading towards his space station, and sighed at this cruelty being displayed.
"Initiate the Invisible Guardian Protocol," he uttered in a headset with a microphone.
On his touchscreen table, the missile that was about to make contact with a small portion of his new residence suddenly atomized into space dust, leaving nothing to harm the people. And it was nothing he needed to tell them about to excite panic.
I wonder who would want to fire a missile at this space station, he thought, hoping to find who had the authorization to launch a missile derived from non-nuclear technology.
-x-
"…The missile never made contact with the Third Child's space station," went Ritsuko to Gendo. "It was quickly atomized before it could even detonate."
"Ikari, this isn't the way to convince the Third Child to return," Fuyutsuki told him. "He may see this as an unprovoked attempt on his life and the people already there. And elsewhere, people that received the invite to relocate to the station are preparing to leave the other parts of the country."
"He left without authorization, and he's committing treason against NERV by stating that we can't protect the people."
Except what Instrumentality will do won't necessarily save anyone, Ikari, thought Fuyutsuki.
We're not exactly in the business of protecting the people, anyway, thought Ritsuko.
-x-
The majority of Tokyo-3 had been reduced to an empty, high-tech version of a ghost town. The schools had been closed down, the skyscrapers that served as office buildings had been abandoned, and even the banks had been cleared out. This caused a crippling blow to those that were left that didn't receive an invite that hailed from the city's red light districts, where flesh was bartered away more than cash was.
"Three days of this, and we get left behind!" A man shouted that was sitting on some steps. "How come we didn't get an invite?!"
"Word is that this kid that inherited the space station from a dead relative had us evaluated," a woman explained. "He was able to separate the good people from the ones with less-than-good records or criminal backgrounds."
"Hey, I served my time for that heist I did eight years ago."
"It doesn't matter. You're an ex-con, and that status will follow you to your grave."
"What about you? Why didn't you get invited?"
"Prostitution."
"Damn."
"The less people that can cause problems up there, the less problems there are to resolve."
"What about this kid's father? Didn't he get an invite?"
"From what my sister's boyfriend found out, he wasn't invited, and neither were this boy's other relatives due to some past issues."
"So then, he's all alone up there, surrounded by people he barely even knows."
-x-
"…I'm surprised that this is your residence, Shinji," went Kensuke, having met up with Shinji and Toji shortly after having settled into his new residence with his father. "I mean, I never pictured you as the mansion type."
"It's actually where my ancestress lived before she died," Shinji told him, sitting out on the patio area where he and no doubt many others around got a good view of the Earth.
"It's really beautiful, Shinji," said Toji to him, seeing the vast beauty of the urban environment with its zen-like architecture. "It's…it's so heavenly up here."
"Thanks."
"Tea, gentlemen?" The android that resided in Shinji's home questioned, showing up with a tray occupied by three cups of tea and a teapot.
"Thank you," Shinji praised him, accepting a cup from him. "Tea, anyone?"
Toji and Kensuke accepted and gave thanks.
"It was quite a shocker for my dad when we found the android in our new place," Kensuke told Shinji.
"Same here," Toji added.
"I'm finding out many things here that are full of surprises," Shinji told them. "It's a remarkable inheritance I have received, and I want to keep it safe from potential theft or destruction."
"Why would anyone want to destroy such a beautiful place like this?" Kensuke questioned.
"Earlier, I found a missile was heading towards here, but I resolved the issue and had the missile atomized before it ever came within two-hundred meters of any inch of it."
"Whoever wanted to try and harm this place must've been either blind, deaf, dumb or just crazy," suggested Toji.
"I do hope to find out later this evening, though," Shinji informed them.
-x-
"…Where's Rei?" Ritsuko asked Maya, standing in front of Unit-01 in the cages.
"She was supposed to show up for her synchronization test earlier, but never did," Maya answered her.
"I'm surprised that she didn't show up. Very well, then. Reschedule her for tomorrow."
-x-
Walking down the street, as most of the public transportation services were shut down, Rei, without even being told to, had left the Geo-Front to return to her apartment, which was starting to seem like a prison to her. She was hoping that she would get in contact with Shinji in due time to know if his offer to come live on the space station still stood, and since the majority of the people were being relocated to a new dwelling up in space. The last thing she heard was Shinji might go and relocate people from third world countries because they deserved a better life in a better setting. She didn't know anything about any of the people from less-developed areas, but she knew that they suffered mainly due to a lack of food and supplies, something that the money funding NERV could've resolved.
-x-
"So it was NERV that sent a missile to my space station," Shinji sighed, discovering that the paramilitary agency that shot a missile in a failed attempt to cause problems. "I won't sink to that man's level just because he tries something awful."
Suddenly, his desk showed him an attempt made by something called the MAGI to hack into whatever computers there were present on his space station.
"Well, that's just sad," he sighed again, and pressed a blue light on the touchscreen, and made the attempt at hacking reverse and relocate itself elsewhere. "The MAGI? NERV… What's next? An attempt to cause a power outage?"
-x-
"The MAGI attempt to hack the space station failed?" Gendo asked Ritsuko in his office.
"Yes, sir," she answered him; somehow, Shinji had reversed the MAGI's attempt to hack his space station and redirected it to hacking the other MAGI supercomputers across the planet. "The Third Child has stopped two attempts on his new residence, but has made no attempt to retaliate on us."
"Most likely, he doesn't want to fight," went Fuyutsuki to them. "This isn't necessary, Ikari. All we're doing is provoking him."
"He provoked NERV first," Gendo retorted.
"Actually, you and the Second Child provoked him into leaving after pressuring him into relinquishing his inheritance." Fuyutsuki clarified, which earned him a glare from both Gendo and Ritsuko.
-x-
Three more days went back, and the majority of the Japanese nation had been left almost empty (sans its evaluated individuals and some of the NERV-affiliated people that hadn't shown up to be relocated to his space station), Shinji had taken to trying to relocate the people from the third world countries so that they could have a better life. He had seen several images of what these people looked like and what resources they had that were limited. There had been no denial that he had been left horrified, repulsed and disgusted by how most of the people from these places didn't even have access to clean water to drink or died before their fifth birthday due to a lack of food, or the worst being that many of them didn't even have access to medical resources. Sometimes, he wondered if these places were any worse than certain aspects of certain cultures that had people prefer boys over girls.
Ayanami! He thought, realizing that he had forgotten about the albino girl he had offered a place on his space station. I had forgotten about her! I gotta go get her!
He got up from the desk and ran out of the room to where the living room was in his home. During his time of exploring his new residence, he found that the mansion was large enough for at least forty people (and it wasn't even an apartment building)! And being built from a combination of hardwood and dense, metallic materials and given an impressive, western-style exterior with some Zen-themed architecture thrown into it like many of the other buildings seeded throughout the station's urban areas, it was quite a sight to behold and an even greater thing to live in. In the center of the living room was a blue, glowing circle that he learned could be used to take him back to Earth for a limited time. The limit set by him, either for an hour or until he found something or someone he was going to look for, and then be returned to the station. In front of the circle was another touchscreen on the floor where he could set the limit.
"Find Ayanami, Rei," he thought, typing the limit in, "then return once she gives her answer on whether to come or stay."
When he set the limit, he stood in the circle, and it glowed brightly. He was bathed in blue light, which then changed to green…and then red. He felt the same experience from when he first arrived, only this time, it was to return to the Earth and hopefully return with another person that he had a complex relationship with. As the light faded, he was no longer inside his home…and was now outside on the roof of Misato's building.
"Feels like I've been gone for a long time," he sighed. "I can use the limit to my advantage and speak with Misato."
He went down to the front door of Misato's apartment and knocked on the door before he made the choice to use his key. When no response came, he let himself inside, finding the place empty. Except for the only animal that resided within its habitat.
"Hey, Pen-Pen," he greeted the penguin.
"Squawk," the penguin responded.
Shinji looked around his old room and saw his NERV-issued phone on the desk.
"Might as well try calling her," he uttered, picking the phone up and calling Misato from his contact list. "Hopefully, she'll speak with me."
-x-
Even though there hadn't been any Angel attacks since Shinji and most of Tokyo-3 and Japan had been vacated, there was still the requirement for synchronization testing. And this was something Misato had lost much of her interest in.
Ring, ring! She felt her phone ring and vibrate in her coat and took it out, finding the name of the caller to be quite a shocker.
"Shinji?" She gasped, which caught Ritsuko's attention, and pressed the button to receive his call to her. "Hello?"
"Hello, Misato," she heard Shinji's voice. "How are you doing?"
"Fine. I'm…I'm doing fine. How are you doing?"
"I spent much of my time trying to help people, many of whom I don't even know, that I forgot about Ayanami. So I came back to see her, but I also needed to see how you were doing."
"Well, where are you right now?"
"Maybe it's better if I don't say. It's not that I don't trust you. I just don't trust that man trying something. I don't think Pen-Pen's eaten today, so I'm setting his fish out."
And with that, Misato found that Shinji was at her apartment. But she kept quiet about it. She hung up and put her phone back into her pocket.
"Did he say where he was?" Ritsuko asked her.
"No," she lied. "He doesn't want NERV or his father to find him."
Within the testing plug, Asuka continued with the synchronization test.
-x-
After making sure that Pen-Pen was fed, Shinji left Misato's apartment and walked down the streets towards Ayanami's apartment. With the relocation of many people, the very place was more quiet than it had ever been before, giving it almost a tranquil feeling for such a disordered setting.
I can't believe I had forgotten about her when I relocated everyone else, he thought, walking up the stairs. She deserves better.
He stopped at her door and knocked on it, hoping she would answer. He didn't hear anything for a full minute, but then the sound of footsteps came…and the door opened up, revealing the bluenette girl.
"Ayanami," he greeted, rather weakly, sheepishly.
"Ikari-Kun," she responded. "How have you been?"
"I've been okay. How have you been?"
"I have been…well."
"I'm sorry, Ayanami. I was trying to help so many people that I forgot about you. I want to make up for my negligence."
Rei looked up at the night sky. Despite the darkness that blanketed the sky, she could still see the space station that was illuminated by the moonlight and its own internal UV system.
"I want you to come with me to the space station," Shinji had offered her.
-x-
"…Where is Rei?" Gendo asked Ritsuko the next day, as they both noticed that the First Child hadn't shown up at NERV.
"Nobody that is still here has seen her," she explained.
"Has Section Two reported anything from her apartment?"
"Nobody was watching her apartment last night."
-x-
Misato suspected that Rei had gone back to the space station with Shinji last night, since the First Child hadn't been seen so far today. While this action may have crippled the personnel further with only Asuka as the remaining Eva pilot, she did want Rei to have a future like all the other people that had been relocated.
I should've asked him to take Pen-Pen with him, she thought, and realized something else. Shinji may still have his phone.
She took out her phone and decided to try texting him.
-x-
Rather than have her live her live alone when he returned with her, Shinji asked Rei to live with him at his home. He showed her around and even took her to one of the urban parks where dozens of kids were playing without a care in the world, along with several adults looking up at the artificial sky to gaze at the stars and the Earth.
"It's so…beautiful," she expressed, never thinking that the sight of the Earth could be enchanting.
A large, blue ball rolled over towards the two on the grass, and Rei spotted a little girl coming over to get it. She kicked the ball over to the girl and she picked it up and ran back towards some other kids. When she turned to face Shinji, she saw him on a phone texting.
-x-
"…I can't believe that idiot!" Asuka yelled in the hall when Misato informed her of Rei's whereabouts. "He shows up when we're not at home and picks up the First Child? Who does he think he is, anyway?!"
When Gendo found out that Rei had been relocated to the space station, he lost it and wanted to destroy the space station as retribution towards his son's petulance.
Except an attack was already tried on the space station with no success, thought Ritsuko, who had to keep away from Gendo until he had calmed down. Missiles don't work. The MAGI couldn't do anything. Short of trying to get an Eva up there to try something, we might as well give up.
One of the other things she didn't want to believe that Emperor of Japan had been one of the evaluated people to be relocated to the space station where, like any other official of any world governments, he was just another person in a new place that was new and much greater than the country he had grown up in. In her mind, it seemed the Third Child, simply because he had inherited the place from a long-dead relative that left it all to him, was the governing authority; he was the official, the mayor, the president, the emperor.
"I need a long holiday," she uttered to herself.
To be continued…
A/N: Anyone else feel that because the space station is owned by Shinji, he's the only governing authority for it and its new residents?