Cyber Shinji

Disclaimer: If I owned Evangelion then Shinji would not have been screwed over.

After the global event of Second Impact much of the world's geography, climate, and ecosystems changed. The rising sea levels submerged many of the coastal cities including Tokyo, New York, Hong Kong, and Sydney. The most northern and southern regions of the poles became lands with an everlasting if mild winter. Countries that were closer to the equilateral zones experienced everything from chilly spring to blazing summer.

That was as true in Japan that was considered a summer country, the sound of cicadas ever droning in the background, and the trees forever green.

Within one of these ever dressed forests near the home of a long retired teacher strode Shinji Ikari.

Despite all the time he spent out in these woods when he wasn't in lessons Shinji knew very little about the land around him.

He knew that many of the plant, animal, and insect species became extinct after the meteor hit the South Pole, but he could barely name a handful of them.

No it was not nature that the ten year old sought outside but the solitude it brought.

It was funny. Shinji hated being alone, yet whenever his lessons and chores were over he would go out and walk the same path. He may not be a mountain man of any sort but he knew the position of every single rock, tree, and stream that were along this stretch of land.

The reason Shinji walked this path was very simple. While he hated being alone and in fact craved human interaction, it was human interaction that scared him more. The fear that someone would come along, become part of the boy's life only to one day up and leave never to be seen again was the greatest fear Shinji had. So while the path was lonely it was at least familiar and unchanging. A place where Shinji could go and find everything the way he left it. And that brought him comfort. And on any ordinary night he would never dream to deviate from that path.

But then this wasn't an ordinary night, and Shinji would soon find himself departing this little path in the woods but also the path his life had been walking. Thus forever altering the course of human history.

Like many other nights Shinji was alone in the forest that surrounded the home of his teacher. Never his home, just the place he lived.

He was sitting on a large rock outcropping that he used to mark the end of his secret trail. Not once had he ever taken a step past these rocks.

They were as lonely as any other part of the woods but they were also the most unchanging, so they were the most comforting.

It was here Shinji went when he left his teacher's house, never anywhere else. And it was here that Shinji thought about his life.

Six years.

It had been six years since his mother died and he last saw his father. Not once had his old man tried contacting him. Not one visit. Not one letter. Not even a single phone call.

Shinji tried asking his teacher about his father but the man knew little about Gendo Ikari or was ordered not to say anything.

To this day Shinji could not understand why his father left him. Maybe it was because he was so average.

Shinji was, according to him, the very definition of mediocrity, and in many ways he was. Although his teacher would argue that the boy had talent playing the cello.

But he was not fast, nor was he strong and his ability to play sports was virtually non-existent. Intellectually he a good student.

Some people would call him bright when he applies himself but they would never think of using genius to describe him. The most advanced mathematical problems he could work were long division. He could barely play a computer game much less write a computer program. And his lingual skills were limited to Japanese.

Perhaps that was why Gendo had left him. After all his one of the few things his teacher knew about his parents was that both of them were geniuses. It was common knowledge in the world of academia that Yui had written some of the best papers on how to make theoretical robotics practical by using biomechanical engineering, and even though she pursued the life of a scientist she was stilled hailed as an artistic prodigy when it came to the piano. Gendo was not quite as well known but his work in the field of biology since his work never went public, but anyone who knew him in college could tell you that if he had been part of the cloning projects of the late nineteenth century the clones would have been perfect. He was also hailed as one of the greatest chess players to ever attend Tokyo University.

Shinji was just an ordinary boy.

Looking up to the stars Shinji saw a shooting star. Despite knowing that a shooting star was just a meteor burning up in the upper atmosphere he still decided to go along with the old tradition of making a wish. Closing his eyes he concentrated on what he desired. The wish he made was not for his mother to be brought back to life or even for his father to come back into his life. He knew the former was impossible, and something told him that wishing for the latter would be pointless. No, his wish was in essence simpler. Shinji wished that something would happen that would help him change, to become different.

Shinji kept his eyes closed concentrating on that desire, and then he heard it. It was a slight rumbling, similar to the kind of sound airplanes produced when they came in for a landing. Yet this wasn't quite the same.

Shinji opened his eyes and they immediately bugged out. The shooting star was still visible, meaning it wasn't burning up the way it was supposed to. It was also heading straight towards him.

Thoughts and images of another impact suddenly ran through the young boy's mind as he watched the fiery rock of death fly towards him and he did the only thing he could do. He ducked and covered behind the rock he was sitting on, which put him right in-between several other rocks.

It was a pretty good spot to hide as the stones were just a small part of much larger rocks that were in the ground, making them very stable. That was very fortunate as when the meteor crashed several seconds later it caused a strong tremor that knocked over a few trees but didn't even shake the stones loose. Add that to their density they made very good shields from any flying debris, of which there were quite a bit formed from loose rock, dirt, broken off branches, bark, nuts, and the like.

When things had quieted down Shinji stuck his head out of his makeshift shelter. The meteor had struck earth about thirty meters away, and from the looks of it went another hundred meters, if the path of destruction was any sort of indication.

Shinji's first instinct told him to run back to his teacher and to the safety of the house. But another part of his mind couldn't help but notice how big of a coincidence it was that he wished for something to happen to make him different and a space rock nearly lands on his head.

On the one hand was the sense of reality and pessimism that the early loss of his parents from death and abandonment brought him. On the other was the child like sense of adventure that had been sown when his mother was alive. The desire, no, the need to seek out the unknown and examine it until you knew it inside and out. A drive for knowledge that Yui believed that humans needed to live, to advance, to grow, to learn, to evolve. A final parting gift she left in her son, and that eventually won out against the more practical and fearful side Shinji's psyche.

So, repeating the mantra 'I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away,' over and over in his mind he climbed out from between the rocks and walked towards the crash site. A new path that took him away from the old an familiar.

The destruction caused by the meteor was a very easy trail as it started out as several meters wide turned over dirt with a number of fallen trees along the edge. The farther the trail went the narrower it got.

When he finally reached the end Shinji was a little confused by what he saw. Dug into the dirt was a small round black sphere about the size of a baseball. Now Shinji was not an expert on geology but he did know enough that rocks were only supposed to be smooth when they were submerged in running water, or were smoothed by man. And that the there was no way you could find such a perfect sphere in nature, that was not shaped by man first.

Shinji jumped down into the newly made ravine to take a closer look. Upon closer inspection Shinji's first thought was that it might be a satellite that had fallen from space, but those weren't made for reentry. He might have thought it was a new design but after Second Impact the nations of the world had lost all interest in space in favor of dealing with the plethora of new problems here on Earth.

Noticing a slight oddity, Shinji stuck his hand out and hovered it close to the sphere's surface. From what he could tell there was no ambient heat. The inquisitive side in him seeking knowledge forced Shinji to do just about one of the dumbest things anyone could do with an object that just fell from space according to conventional knowledge. He touched it with his finger.

The sphere was warm, but nowhere near as hot as it should be. Shinji estimated as only about 38 degrees Celsius, just a little over the human body temperature.

Taking his finger away he noticed a small black smudge where he touched the sphere. Shifting his gaze he saw that the sphere was not black, just covered in a substance similar to soot.

Once again letting his curiosity control him Shinji reached down and grasped the sphere in both hands. Lifting it up, he started rubbing it clean with his formerly white shirt. With the unknown object clean he gave it another inspection.

The color could only be described as metallic silver, its shine being almost hypnotic as Shinji contemplated what mysteries lay within it. Unintentionally Shinji, in the heat of the moment of this incredible find, let a single word slip between his lips that described this situation and the artifact he held. "Wonderful." That is when everything changed

That word combined with Shinji's touch were the keys needed to unlock the sphere's secrets. One of which was that it wasn't a sphere.

Shinji eyes widened and he gasped in horror the artifact's shape suddenly warped and shifted, before it stretched and thinned as it started crawling up his arms. He tried throwing it away but it had already latched onto the boy.

He screamed in terror as the liquid metal slithered over his skin towards his head. He grasped at it desperately as he tried pulling it off but like water it slipped through his fingers. Nothing he did could stop the metal from completing its objective.

Upon reaching Shinji's head the metal began flowing into the boy through any means. Shinji tried stopping in by shutting his mouth as he continually tried to pull it away, but it was to no avail. There was no space small enough that could impede the substance.

It slithered through the shut lips and clenched jaw. Up the nose and in the ears. Across and around the eyes. On the inside the liquid metal split apart to different parts of Shinji's body. Some began traversing the intestinal track. Some spread over the muscles and skeletal structure. Some more traveled to the skin and major organs. The last bit went straight for the brain as it was the most important part.

The liquid metal, in actuality nanites just a little smaller then the cells in the human body, began the process they were programmed to do. Unfortunately due to a lack of proper resources and the emergency assimilation they could not complete process in a single cycle. Instead the host would have to be made unconscious while they began the preliminary procedures then use any materials the body ingested over a number of cycles continue the process. It would take awhile but soon enhancement would be complete.

Shinji's worry increased as he felt an unusual sensation in his head. The sensation was like the pressure one felt when they were wrapped tightly in a thick comforter. His thoughts became hazy and his eyelids heavy. Despite his mental protests Shinji felt his body lower itself to the ground as his eyes closed. His breathing became deep and relaxing. Shinji's body was putting itself to sleep and Shinji was afraid that it would never wake up.

Sometime later Shinji groggily reopened his eyes. 'Was everything a dream?' Were his first thoughts.

Thoughts that were dashed to pieces the moment he saw the crash site around him that he had fallen asleep in.

Patting frantically at his body Shinji couldn't find a trace of the liquid metal.

As soon as he thought of the 'liquid metal' information flooded Shinji's mind. Without any logical reason he could think of he suddenly knew that the substance was a colony of trillions of microscopic machines called nanites that were designed to integrate with a host body and then enhance it.

Seeking a greater explanation new information was downloaded into his brain. The nanites were created originally as a military weapon used by a surprisingly human like race of aliens against an unusual enemy that they encountered in their exploration of space. As the war continued the technology used to produce the nanites was continually enhanced and the military was given the latest models while older ones went to civilians in the hope that it would help them survive in case of emergency.

The information told Shinji that the nanites in his body were part of an experimental project that would hopefully turn the war in their user's favor. However before the experiment could be moved into its final phase of testing the war cruiser the laboratory was kept on came under attack by an enemy assault unit. Overwhelmed the cruiser was close to destruction when the scientist in charge of the project launched the prototype out into space as well as a transmission to the nearest military base containing the nanites secrets.

In the vacuum of space the nanites remained dormant until they began atmospheric reentry where they needed to activate to survive. After landing an emergency program was initiated that would cause the nanites to assimilate with any organism that matched the genetic profiles they were programmed with used vocal communication, something the enemy has never shown the capability to do.

Shinji then used that information and made two hypothesis of why the nanites would integrate with him. Either they were damaged at some point thus resulting in the program experiencing digital detritions, or Shinji's DNA was similar enough to the nanites creators that they couldn't tell the difference.

Shinji stopped and blinked. Those were not normal thoughts for a ten year old boy who could barely use the more complicated word processing programs.

Looking at his watch to figure out how long the nanites had him knocked out he almost had a heart attack. He had been asleep for an hour! It was just a few minutes until curfew.

Getting up from the ground he raced through the woods back to his path. Then running down that path which was clear of obstacles he made it back to the edge of civilization that was his teacher's house just scant seconds before his curfew was up. Standing at the door was his teacher who gave Shinji a light reprimand for nearly missing curfew. There would be no punishment but he didn't want Shinji to do it again.

Shinji got ready for bed quickly not wanting to risk his teacher's ire. As he settled down Shinji wondered what was going on with the nanites that were now a part of him. As if in answer Shinji knew now the primary mental connection was established every time he went to sleep the nanites would induce a near coma like state so that he would not feel the alterations that they were doing to his body. The coma would only last the normal amount of time the body needed for rest, which the nanites will know as they will be constantly monitoring him. The number of times these cycles of enhancement would continue was not determinable, but until then Shinji would feel an increase in hunger as his body would be needing a larger amount of nutrients both to serve as energy for the body and to serve as the material the nanobots used to enhance it.

A month had gone by and the enhancement cycles were complete. In that time several government agencies had come to the area searching for the extraterrestrial object that they had detected. The people sent to retrieve it had found the crash site but were unable to locate the cause.

They questioned Shinji and his teacher as they were the closest living people to the crash, but they were unable to find out any solid leads to what happened to the meteor. It didn't help that they had very little equipment and manpower compared to what they had before the year 2000, but that's what happens when priorities change.

Speaking of changes, the nanites enhancements had a dramatic effect on the boy. The nanites had two primary objectives to complete before the enhancements were finished. The first was the conversion of portions of Shinji's brain so that it could be used as control center for the nanites once everything was finished. The second objective was to change Shinji's body so that was composed of an organic metal.

Even though it sounded contradictory, it was an incredible advancement in nanite technology. It combined several different nanite enhancements combined with a new integration process to create a material that was both organic material that imitated metal and metal that imitated organic material.

With the nanites Shinji could then change the properties of his body to complete specific tasks, within certain limitations.

The most basic of his abilities included his enhanced strength and speed. Combine that with his new computer like ability to retain information, compute mathematical formulas, and his machine like precision and he had become a genius both on the sports field and in the classroom. Although he did improve both those aspects in his life he did keep most of his new mental and physical abilities a secret. Didn't need people asking too many questions now did he?

And with the nanites' ability to change any aspect of his body, including themselves, they had numerous uses that Shinji only needed to do a bit of experimenting before he discovered them. Although there was only so much programmed into the little buggers. If Shinji wanted them to do anything that wasn't he would first figure out what changes needed to be undergone himself before he could order the nanites to make it happen. So he did a lot of studying on anything that pertains to machines, fortunately the nanites provided him with detailed schematics on their inner workings.

But what was probably the most important aspect of the nanites was their ability to replicate themselves. This was a feature that previous nanite models were incapable of, so if anyone needed or wanted nanites they had to go to the proper facilities, making said facilities targets in the war.

Shinji's nanites however were capable of constructing the microscopic components they were comprised of, then assembling them. Then once the nanites were uploaded with the proper programming they could be configured to serve a purpose in Shinji or be left in storage until they were needed. If he wanted to Shinji could even inject the nanites into someone else making them like him, as that was the original purpose of this specific feature. To help spread what was probably one of the best weapons to defeat the Enemy.

But Shinji is hesitant about granting people the nanites. They were a very powerful force, and in the wrong hands could spell disaster. Hopefully someday in his life he will meet someone he trusts enough to give this gift to.

(Time Skip – 4 years)

"We're sorry but due to a state of emergency in the Kanto and central Tokai region all phone lines are down. Please hang up and head to your nearest shelter. This is a recording."

Shinji was very tempted to fry the phone systems. Of course this was a state of emergency. Why else would the train station and the entire city around it were deserted? Why else would someone dial the emergency phone line? To wish the operator a happy birthday!?

Sighing Shinji reigned in on his more destructive impulses and instead focused on something more constructive.

Listening in on the military radio channels might prove useful if the low flying fighter jets were any sort of indication but for some reason the JSSDF had changed their codes early and he was still trying to crack it. All he knew was that something big was going on.

He tried accessing the internet wirelessly but it seemed that the government had shut that down as well. So no chance finding any leaked info there. Sure most of the rumors you hear on the internet were more or less a waste of time, but if you knew how to sift through the info you could find something worthwhile.

Sighing at the fact that two of his most useful information gathering techniques he did about the only thing he could do. He looked at the letter he had been sent and the picture that came with it.

After ten years without sending anything to indicate the man even knew that he existed, Shinji had suddenly received a letter from his father. The letter was simple in its content. It was merely a set of instructions to take the train to this station where he would be picked up by one Capt. Misato Katsuragi. On the back of the letter was one hand written word, "Come."

Shinji would have ignored it but apparently his teacher had known and already prepared Shinji's things. Next thing Shinji knew he was on the train to meet this Misato.

Looking at the photo of said woman Shinji had to wonder what exactly the woman did. Considering her figure, and how she unashamedly flaunted it in her photo he was a little worried. So before he left he managed to download all the public records there were to be had on the woman. But the confusing thing was except for her college records just about everything on the woman was classified.

Shinji found this interesting and decided to check to see what he could find on his father to be working with such a person. Unsurprisingly he could find just about anything he wanted on the man up until just after his marriage to Yui. The oldest thing he could find was that in the year 2000 he had joined the Katsuragi expedition to Antarctica. Although the mission itself was classified it did say that he was only one of two survivors because he left the site the day before Second Impact.

The other survivor being Misato Katsuragi who had survived by being put into a life raft that was designed to survive explosions.

Speaking of the woman, she was several hours late

Getting that feeling he was being watched Shinji looked down the street. There at the end was a girl his age. A girl whose appearance caused Shinji to forget just about everything. Her skin was pale and she had red eyes like an albino but something was wrong. An albino's entire eye was red, not just the iris. And they had white hair, never the shade of light blue that gave her an exotic air.

A flock of birds taking off distracted Shinji for less than a second, but when he turned back the girl was gone. Getting back to his senses Shinji started berating himself for zoning out like that. That girl was an anomaly and he would normally examine such things. Such as how she appeared without him noticing, and what she was doing here. Considering how she just disappeared he would guess that it was some sort of illusion and he would have known if he had done scans. But now all he had was his visual memory of her which was useless for the scans he needed to do.

Calling up said memory file from his computer like brain he zoomed in on her face. Taking care to maintain his focus Shinji noticed something that made him gasp. The girl was almost an exact copy of his mother!

Calling up a memory file he had of his mother that he managed to find he set to comparing them. If you factored out their age difference, hair color and style, eye color, and skin tone and you would have an exact match. But not even people of blood relation looked that close except for twins of the same gender.

Putting the files away Shinji noticed how the number of low flying jets had increased. Feeling a series of tremors in the ground he looked to the nearby mountain. Just as a giant green monster with a bird skull for a face walked by, being harassed by a number of VTOLs.

This time Shinji didn't let his shock stop him from scanning. Using the various optic scanners he had enhanced his eyes with Shinji first scanned with thermals, then for any ambient radiation, zoomed in to find any unusual physical features that would be too small to see from this distance, and basically scanning with every other tool that uses visual.

Shinji gasped at what his preliminary scans showed. This was the Enemy!

The very same Enemy that the nanites were designed to fight, only on a much bigger scale then what he had in his database. The Enemy the nanites were effective against were generally human sized even if they varied in shape. But this thing looked like it could take on a battle cruiser and win on its own.

So what the heck was it doing here on Earth? In a quadrant of space that was several hundred light years away from the war.

Shinji watched in a mixture of awe and terror as the VTOLs launched a barrage of missiles that smashed into the giant and exploded, but as the smoke cleared their wasn't a single scratch on it.

Then the giant lifted its arm and a lance of light flew from it, striking and destroying one of the VTOLs. The remains of the craft crashed only a few meters away from Shinji but still he did not move.

While the beast was distracted another salvo of much larger missiles launched from several gunships flew towards it. This struck a wall of orange light shaped into hexagons.

Pointless Shinji thought. This particular Enemy had a thick hide so most weapons would just bounce harmlessly off it. And even if they did throw something strong enough that could actually hurt it, they would be countered by the energy barrier that the Enemy could naturally generate. All currant Earth weapons were useless as anything more than a distraction.

Hearing the screeching of car tires, Shinji turned to see a blue Renault raced down the abandoned street. Stopping right next to him the driver's door opened revealing the form of Capt. Katsuragi.

"Get In!" She shouted. "Sorry I'm late."

Shinji didn't bother to respond as he calmly walked around and got in on the passenger side.

Misato stepped on the gas and the car peeled away just as the giant stepped onto the spot it had just rested.

As the car made its way away from the behemoth Shinji decided that there was just a little too much coincidence for his liking. The letter telling him to come on this day. The sudden appearance of the Enemy. Deciding to that the best way to get info right now was conversation he spoke up.

"So Capt. Katsuragi…"

"Oh please call me Misato."

"Alright Misato."

"Say, you're awfully calm given the situation." The driver commented, sounding pretty calm herself.

"I wouldn't say I am calm but I must ask. What is that thing?" He already knew but he needed something to base the woman off of.

"That thing is an Angel." Misato said, not keeping a slight sound of disgust and hatred out of her voice.

Shinji looked at her skeptically. Angels were what his people were calling it? The creators of the nanites had many names for them, the Enemy being the most common, but they were never called by the names of beings that were supposed to be protectors and saviors of the soul. But he better get used to it since he had a feeling that he was being involved with them.

But why? Why would they come to an unassuming teenager when they were dealing with a threat of this magnitude? Did they find out about the nanites? No that was impossible. He had done everything he could to keep a secret. So why?

They had made it a considerable way away from the city the car slowed to a stop.

"Why are we stopping?" Shinji asked nervously. She wanted to stop in the middle of a war zone? And the fact that she drove like a maniac. He ran the numbers and the statistics of him surviving if he didn't have the nanites were shockingly low. Not very comforting.

"Oh just taking a look." Misato responded as she took out some binoculars, and started scanning the area they just left.

Shinji followed suite and zoomed in on the area with his optics. What he saw was a large number of aircraft leaving the Angels vicinity. That could only mean one thing.

"Oh no, they're going to use an N2 mine! Get Down!" Misato shouted as she tried to wrap her arms around Shinji and cover him, only to have the boy beat her to the punch line.

The wave of light and air blasted against the car forcing it to take several nasty rolls before stopping on its side.

"Uhh…You alright Misato?" Shinji asked the purple haired woman in his lap.

"Uh, yeah. I'm ok," she replied, "but if I had known you moved this fast I would have worn my special panties." If Shinji's mild blush was any indication she had regained control of the situation.

Crawling out from the side that wasn't facing the ground Misato and Shinji set about to righting the vehicle. To Misato it seemed surprisingly easy for one woman and a thin teenager to push 

over a car, even one as small as hers. But with a good shove the vehicle was back on four wheels.

"Whew, thanks Shinji. You're pretty useful." Complimented Misato.

"Thank you Misato." Responded Shinji as he stared off in the direction of blast.

"Something wrong?" The captain asked seeing Shinji wasn't exactly paying attention to her.

"The N2 mine failed to destroy the Angel." Stated Shinji. The energy released from the blast interfered with his optics but he with a slight adjustment he could see through it. And what he saw was that close to forty percent of the Angel's body had been burned away. Enough to stop it but not nearly enough to kill it. Especially since there was virtually no damage visible on its exposed core.

According to the nanites files there were only two ways to destroy the Enemy. One was to destroy about ninety percent of their body, at which point their ability to operate ceased. Or the second and often easier way was to administer significant damage to the core. Anything else would force the damaged Enemy unit into a state of hibernation with their most powerful energy barrier erected as they focused their power into defense and regeneration.

"Oh no! Just look at my car! I still had 37 more payments on it!" Whined Misato bringing Shinji back to Earth. Again he had to wonder about the woman's mental condition. There was a giant green monster running amok and she was worried about the number of payments were left on her car?

Getting into the car Misato tested to see if it still worked. It didn't.

"Sounds like a problem with the battery." Suggested Shinji, which he confirmed as he looked under the hood. "We can probably get a new battery from that store." He said pointing to a conveniently placed auto parts store.

Misato grinned. "Shinji you're a genius."

A few minutes later the two were back on the road.

"Uh, Misato. When I said 'get a new battery' I meant one." Said Shinji as he gazed over the back seat full of batteries that Misato had relieved from the store.

"Heh heh, well this is an emergency. We never know when we might need another." She explained with a nervous chuckle.

Shinji gave her a look that said he didn't buy it, but he kept his mouth shut. He might be able to use those batteries to power an experiment later.

A short while later the two were in an underground transport system that was carrying the them and the car they were in down below ground level.

"NERV?" Asked Shinji as he looked at the booklet Misato had just handed him.

"Yup," she replied. "It's a secret organization designed to fight the Angels."

"And my father is a part of it?"

"Of course. Don't you know what your father does?"

"My teacher said it was important to mankind, but that was all I was ever told."

"I'm guessing you don't get along with your father?"

"Can't say. I haven't spoken to the man in 10 years." Shinji said as if he was talking about the weather as he looked through the book.

Noticing an increase in light levels he looked up at where they had just arrived. "A Geofront, impressive." He said in an impressed voice.

Misato was a little disappointed. Normally people were awe-struck by the impressive artificial environment.

"Arrrggg. This is why I hate wearing skirts in this place." Said Misato as they the door way in front of them opened and the pressure change caused the wind to lift up the skirt of her dress.

Shinji ignored it as he pretended to continue reading the booklet. He had already memorized it and was now building an internal map of the NERV facility. A map that told him they were going in circles.

"You know Misato, we've already passed this spot three times." He eventually said.

"Don't worry, they built this place like a maze. That's why they have these walk ways." She responded as she looked at her map.

"It might help if you weren't holding the map upside down." Shinji Suggested.

"What are you talking…Uh, Oops. We need to go this way." She said making a right turn. Shinji right on her heels.

Finally reaching the elevators the door opened to reveal a blond woman wearing a lab coat and a one piece bathing suit.

"Heh heh, Hey Rits." Said Misato nervously.

"Honestly Misato, you still can't find your way around this place?" Ritsuko Akagi said unbelievably. Turning to her companion she said, "So this is the Third Child?"

"Yup." Confirmed Misato.

Shinji this bit of info away for later. Whatever was happening they had been prepared for it for awhile. But it was best to continue playing the role of the polite boy who doesn't know anything. Mainly because that's what he was until he found a computer to hack into. "Hello, I'm Shinji Ikari." He said with a bow.

"Polite isn't he." Commented the doctor.

"Yeah, he's nothing like his father." Said Misato

After a trip down some mind boggling long escalators, where the doctor made some odd joke involving something called the 09 system being an Oni. Then a river raft trip across a vast room full of an orange liquid which confused Shinji. He had dipped his hand in the substance when the two women weren't looking and according to his scanners the liquid had a composition similar to blood.

They then walked through a pair of armored doors into an unlit room. Maybe they were going for some theatrical drama, too bad Shinji's eyes shifted over to night vision allowing him to see the giant head that resided in the room, the rest of it submerged under the orange liquid.

When the lights came one Shinji was already facing it and showed not a hint of surprise. He remembered Unit one thanks to the nanites enhancing his memories.

"A robot. How surprising." He said in an unsurprised voice.

"It's not a robot. It's the artificial life form Evangelion. Man kind's ultimate weapon and our last hope." Corrected Dr. Akagi.

"And is it what my father has been working on?" Asked Shinji.

"Correct." The answer did not come from the captain or the doctor.

Shinji looked up. There was the man who left him at a train station to be picked up by a stranger ten years ago. In that time they had only seen each other once. Three years ago at the empty grave of Yui Ikari. Not a word had been spoken between the two. They had just stood in respect of their fallen family member. Shinji had been the first to leave.

And now here he was again. Standing behind thick, probably bullet proof, glass on a platform above and behind the purple behemoth.

"It's been awhile Shinji." Said Gendo.

"Father." Curtly greeted Shinji.

Turning to the operations director Gendo and calmly said. "We're moving out."

"Moving out? But we don't have a pilot!" Argued Misato

"A spare has just been delivered."

"What?" Misato's eyes widened as she realized the implications. "Him?" She asked as turned to Shinji. "That's impossible. It took Rei 7 months to synch with her Eva. There's no way he could do it on his first try."

"There's no one else." Said Ritsuko. "He just has to sit in it. We don't expect anything else from him."

Speaking up Shinji said. "It sounds like a suicide mission. After all I've had no training, so what could I do? And what would you do if I refused."

Gendo's response was to contact the deputy commander. "Fuyutsuki wake Rei." He commanded.

"Can she pilot?" Asked the elderly man over the comm. systems.

"We have no choice." Was the response.

Hearing the armored doors open again Shinji looked to see a medical team wheeling in someone on a gurney. His eyes widened as he recognized the girl he saw earlier, but with some drastic changes. She was not wearing the simple green school uniform in his vision but a white, armless, skin tight suit. The suit left nothing to the imagination, especially the injuries that covered her body. The broken arm, the bandages running up both arms, the one that covered her eye.

"Rei, our spare is useless. You must pilot." Commanded Gendo.

"Yes sir." Rei weakly responded.

"You've got to be kidding!" Shouted Shinji. Quickly running the numbers of Rei's survival he paled. "I might die if I pilot, but she will die!"

Gendo turned to his son and said in a cold voice. "You have refused to pilot so you are useless and we have no time to deal with useless people."

Shinji might have responded had the ground didn't suddenly shake from an explosion on the surface. The explosion forced everyone but Shinji from their feet and had knocked several steel beams in the ceiling. Heading straight for Rei who had fallen from her gurney.

Everything that happened next was just a blur to everyone. Shinji acting on instinct rushed to over to the blue haired girl wrapping his arms around her and covering her body with his as he created an armor on his back that was several times harder then steel.

Moments before impact the eyes of the Evangelion glowed and its left hand moved, breaking the restraints, and placed itself between the children and their death.

"The Eva it moved!" Shouted Misato.

"That's impossible, the entry plug hasn't even been inserted!" Ritsuko shouted back unbelievingly despite the evidence before her face.

Misato looked over to the children and wondered aloud. "Did it move to protect him?"

Shinji knew what Unit 01 did but didn't care. He was more focused the girl in her arms. Her breathing was fast and labored. Some of her injuries had started bleeding. She was in a lot of pain. Acting quickly Shinji sharpened and extended his index nail into a needle and punctured Rei's neck, injecting her with medical nanites. They would numb the pain, make the girl unconscious, and then begin repairing any injuries starting with the critical ones. Then once their job was complete they would deactivate and be absorbed by her body. That was all he could do for her right now.

Well almost all he could do.

Looking up to his father he said. "All right. I'll pilot the Eva, but understand Father I am not piloting for you." Under his breath he then whispered something that only Rei would hear that he was sure she would forget when the nanites knocked her out. "I have my own reasons to fight the Angels. One of each now is to keep you safe."

Author's Notes: Well another story added to my archive. I got this idea in my head after reading Shritistrang's Super Smash Bro. The Evangelion Wars. Great story by the way. The main inspiration were the chapters involving the Apareis and that is all you are going to get out of me. You want to know more read the story.

Anyway I was recently encouraged by a correspondent of mine, who is also the inspiration for another of my Eva stories and has been helping me with another, guy should really try writing his own stories what with all the good ideas he has.

To be honest I don't really know where I am going to this will probably be put on the backburner for a while as I work on my other stories or studying. And for those that haven't guessed this will be a Shinji/Rei romantic pairing, but it won't be a romance without trouble.

Anyway I always appreciate feedback on my stories and on more than one occasion has a reviewer become an adviser. So…

Please Read and Review.