Evangelion: Stranger than Fanfiction

Ordinary. Yes, ordinary is the word I would use to describe Ikari Shinji.

"Uhm, excuse me?"

Before today, Ikari Shinji led a boring, ordinary life. The only thing he seemed to be lacking was a parental presence in his life, his mother being dead for over ten years and his father being absent for just as long.

"Ok, uhh how do you know that? Who are you?"

A high pitched whine reverberates through the cabin of the train as the breaks kick in. Shinji checks the letter to see if this is his stop. It is. He collects his bag and moves to the doors. With a hiss, they open. With one final breath, Ikari Shinji takes a step off the train. But little does he know that this first step would lead him and the rest of the world to their ultimate demise.

"WHAT!"

One last measure and the recording is over. Hanging up the phone, he pads back over to the corner where he was supposed to meet his escort, the buxom, purple haired woman on the post-card. The echoes of his footsteps keep perfect time. Shifting his duffel to his other hand in a well practiced move, he pulls out the letter which had brought him here. A single word, "Come," is all it says. And even that is hard to discern through his half-hearted attempt to mend it. As it is, the letter is only held together by some clear tape.

A motion in his periphery shifts his attention. A most unusual young woman now stands at the center of his attention. A pale complexion and sky blue hair seem to glow of their own accord. He is not entirely certain, but her eyes might be red. Shinji wonders what she might be doing in the middle of the street. A flutter of motion above and his attention wavers. Scared birds are all he finds. His eyes seek out the young woman again only to find an empty street.

"Ok, this voice is starting to creep me out."

A loud explosion rocks the street. The wires above rock and sway. Shinji covers his ears to protect them from the violent noise. The noise subsides. And then he hears it, a deep rumbling. It comes and goes in waves, almost like...like footsteps. A deep roar and boom down the street. Several VToL craft float into view, firing back at something. Then it comes into view. Shinji-kun doesn't know what it is. But it's big. And the planes aren't doing much damage to it. It has the basic structure of a human: two arms, two legs, shoulders, feet, hands, and the facsimile of a head. All is twisted and misshapen, as if to mock mankind. Two missiles fly overhead toward the creature. The impact does nothing to the creature. The creature extends a spear of light from its "arm," if you can call it that, scewering one of the planes. The downed plane lands down the street from Shinji, close enough for him to feel the wind from the crash. Looking up, Shinji spots the creature flying through the air. The creature lands on the downed plane, crushing it in one step. The shock from the landing knocks Shinji over. A final explosion rips the plane apart. Shinji falls onto his back in shock. Whilst awaiting his imminent demise, Shinji hears tires screeching. A shadow crosses over him. It's only after the explosion subsides that he hears a car door open. He opens his eyes to see a blue Renault with the front passenger door open. Inside the car is a rather well defined woman in a black dress. She has deep violet hair.

The strange woman says, "Sorry. Thanks for waiting."

He climbs in quickly. More missiles crash into the creature. Rubble comes down on the car. The woman quickly turns the car around. The creature's other foot comes down hard, shattering the street as the woman leads the car away.

One short car trip, a lot of destroyed aircraft, and a massive explosion later, they finally get to the introductions.

"Ano, Katsuragi-san…" Shinji hesitates to ask.

"Misato's fine."

"Ano, Misato-san, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That voice."

"What voice?"

"Uhh…"

It's the end of the day, after Shinji has been released from the hospital. And now our young friend finds himself in an office belonging to Nerv's resident Psychiatrist, a surprisingly young-faced man with white hair and red eyes. The office is Spartan. From the looks of it, the pale man had only recently occupied it. The bookshelves on the back wall had yet to be filled, supposedly from the boxes hiding behind the man's desk. But the good doctor had already hung a small placard bearing a simple statement, "Everybody has issues," in English. And Shinji could spy a guitar case poking out from a cabinet.

"So! They tell me you've been hearing voices," the pale shrink intoned.

"Ah, yes," Shinji said, uncertainly.

"Well, why don't you tell me about them?" The shrink adjusted his glasses and pulled out a notepad to take notes.

"Well, I…" Shinji stalled. He didn't want to do this again. He'd already explained this to Misato…and his father…and Dr. Akagi.

"Take your time. Take as much time as you need. Schizophrenia can be unsettling, especially if you know that it's happening."

"But…"

"Yes?"

"But the voice isn't telling me to do stuff. He isn't telling me stuff that I can't already see for myself."

"Then what is he telling you?"

"He's narrating."

"What?" The good doctor's glasses slid down his nose a bit when he looked up.

"He's narrating my life."

"Well, I hate to break this to you. But hearing voices that aren't there is a symptom of schizophrenia." The good doctor put his pencil in the spine of the notebook. "However, from what I've read in your file and your behavior here, you don't seem to be presenting with the other common symptoms. But there aren't many other illnesses that present with auditory hallucinations. This may or may not be a result of the synchronization process…"

"Ano…the voice started before I got in the Eva."

"and…what?"

"The voice started before I got in the Eva."

"Well, that is strange. Did you tell Dr. Akagi?"

"Yes."

"Hmm, very strange." The good doctor turned his head toward the door and started muttering to himsel. "Could be some sort of mental contamination effect from…no. If it were, then we'd have seen more cases of it by now. He could be patient zero of a new disorder. Hmm. Ok!" Shinji jumped at the exclamation. "Shinji, I want to schedule you for weekly visits. This could be some sort of new disorder associated with Second Impact."

"Ano…"

"And if it is, then we need to document it in its early stages." The excited doctor continued.

"Ano, but what do I do about the voice?"

"Well, I'm hesitant to prescribe anti-psychotics in your case. Firstly, we don't know what this is." The doctor gestured in Shinji's general direction. "So we don't even know if the drugs would work. And secondly, anti-psychotics can have some nasty side effects. And thirdly, it hasn't interfered with your ability to function so far. So until it starts interfering with your life, we'll hold off on medicating."

"But what do I do about the voice? I mean, it sounds like the voice is telling a story and I'm his main character." Shinji looked at the man, a little frightened that the good doctor didn't know what was wrong with him.

"Well, if that's got you worried, then maybe you should consult an expert in literature."