"Shinji Ikari. Just listen for a moment," said the odd voice on the other end. "In a few moments you will get involved with things you currently think are impossible. Trust no one you meet at NERV. When you are offered the chance to make a difference, take it. There will be pain and fire, but you can survive and persevere. We will contact you again later after you've had a chance to settle in."
"What? Who is this?" asked Shinji as he heard odd noises coming from nearby. Had that been an explosion? What was that rhythmic noise?
"Someone who thinks you can do better," said the voice before it clicked off.
Then the VTOL fighters came into view, followed by a giant monster of some kind, and Shinji promptly forgot about mysterious phone calls in the effort of dealing with the more pressing events.
Shinji was in his hospital room, staring at the ceiling, remembering his battle with Ramiel. Remembering the pain as the Angel's attack melted the Evangelion's chest armor. Remembering Rei's words about him staying there to rest.
A cellphone rang. Shinji didn't recognize the music it played, but he thought it had a faint familiarity to it. He looked at the strange phone, it certainly wasn't HIS, before he flipped it open. "Hello?"
"This is our second conversation, Shinji Ikari. When I call you a third time, it will be to ask you to make a very important decision. It will be the most important decision you've ever made."
"More important than piloting an Eva?" asked Shinji. "Who is this?"
"Shinji Ikari, your decision to pilot Evangelion Unit 01 was less of a choice than you might think. There are many who will seek to manipulate you, with as many agendas as there are individuals. As for me, I have my own agenda but it need not conflict with your own."
"What agenda is that?" asked Shinji, wincing at a stab of pain as he shifted around on the hospital bed.
"I see the likely future if things remain unchanged. I see death and misery. I see the end of the human race and a Catch-22 you would fail to recognize. I would rather see a happier ending to this story."
"What's a 'catch-22'?" asked Shinji.
"The term 'catch-22' is a slang term for a no-win situation where two rules conflict each other. It was popularized with the example of a fighter pilot who wanted to get out of dangerous situations by retreating into insanity. Yet it was pointed out that the wanting to escape was itself a sane decision, and if the individual making that choice was capable of making a sane decision - he was therefore not insane enough to avoid going into battle. It is also referred to as a 'antinomy' or a 'Hobson's Choice' - look them up later when you have a chance. Our time to converse is limited. Soon you will have to take up the Evangelion again. Be kind to Ayanami when you get the chance. As much as your choices are constrained - hers are more so. As much as you think your life sucks, hers is worse."
"How do you know so much about Ayanami, or me for that matter?" asked Shinji.
"Try asking me again on the third call. You may be ready by then."
Shinji heard the click and put the cellphone aside on the table, then looked towards the ceiling again. He wasn't really surprised when he glanced back at the table and the phone wasn't there any more.
He'd been eaten by an Angel. Sort of. The shadow had completely swallowed him up.
Now he was here, drifting in the darkness. With it getting harder and harder to breathe as the LCL was no longer being oxygenated or filtered.
"Zankoku na tenshi no youni
shounen yo shinwa ni nare
aoi kaze ga ima
mune no doa wo tataite mo..."
Shinji picked up the cellphone he was sure hadn't been there before. "You know, for a hallucination, you sure are persistant."
"Oh, I'm not a hallucination Shinji. Though how real I am depends on your interpretation of Reality," said the voice. "This is that call I spoke to you about. The third call, where I make that offer."
"Who are you?" asked Shinji, expecting the voice to ignore him again.
"I have no name in the sense of a human name, something which handily defines and identifies you - setting the borders. I am old, Shinji Ikari. Old enough to have existed before names. Old enough to have seen your universe swell into being like a bubble of air forming in a pot brought to the boil. I have many names, many titles, given to me through the ages - none of which truly matter."
Shinji blinked at that and was aware that though the LCL was still murky, he was breathing easier for some reason. "I don't understand any of that."
"I am someone who can help you, Shinji Ikari. And in helping you, might be able to help everyone else out of the current track. What I need for you to do, is to state a desire and a willingness to go along with a different path."
"I don't understand that either," complained Shinji, not caring that his voice came out in a whine.
"In the simplest terms, you make a wish. I grant it. I could simply go away and leave you to your fate. Or you could change everything."
"How about getting me out of this... whatever it is?" asked Shinji.
"This 'Dirac Sea' as it is called, is a subdimensional pocket corresponding with a changing set of coordinates that is linked to your own world," said the voice on the phone. "Even if I leave without anything else happening - you will eventually free yourself."
"How?" was Shinji's simple question.
"You put Evangelion Unit-01 into berserker mode again, and she rips her way through the Angel you are currently within."
"Waitaminute. You said 'she' and..." Shinji stopped, his mind un-confusing suddenly as if a breeze had suddenly cleared a section of fog. This voice knew what the Angels were, apparently what the Evangelions really were, and had Answers.
"Yes, Shinji Ikari, I know all that," said the voice on the phone. "Also, yes, I can rewind and restart time. If you wanted to start anew as a mix of yourself, Char Aznable, Kamina, and Roger the Negotiator - I could do that. If you wanted Rei to not be your debatable half-sister and was instead your girlfriend - I could do that. If you wanted to Take A Level In Badass, I could do that too. If you simply want me to go away, that is what I will do. It's really all up to you, I'm just giving you a chance to embrace that or change your destiny."
Shinji considered that before deciding to just go ahead and do it. It was probably all just his imagination anyway, right? So he just :
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(Posted Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:14)
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