Shinji Ikari Raising Project

[Rakhasa]

robkelk wrote:

---

There's another reason to not simply shoot asterods:
"So, you had one big target that you needed to nudge away. But you blew it up. Now you've got hundreds of small targets you need to nudge away. Great, just great..."

Wait, do you mean that we now can use the Big Honkin' Gun hundreds of times? Yay!

[Dakota]

There's another reason to not simply shoot asterods:

"So, you had one big target that you needed to nudge away. But you blew it up. Now you've got hundreds of small targets you need to nudge away. Great, just great..."

"All this work just so you lot could play missile command?"
_______________________________________________________________
Characters
Sabre Fang
Dakota

[Bob Schroeck]

Okay, this discussion's getting way off-topic of the thread. Leave this one to the story.

Besides, it was obviously Asteroids that they were playing.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[robkelk]

Right, back to the story.

I'm wondering whether it would be good or bad if Yayoi was called back to the head office before the end of the story. I can see advantages and disadvantages to Yayoi staying, or to her leaving.... but, either way, I'm just kibitzing on this story, not writing it.

Either way, she'll give Shinji her business card just before she leaves. (Anika: "Wow! Real paper!" Shinji: "So? Isn't that what business cards are supposed to be made of?")

If Yayoi does end up leaving early, we can give Prim and Honami cameos as pilot and crew of the Blade...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Dartz]

Definitely doable....

Still would like to find a way to get an astroball game in..... even if the hardware available is a bit 'odd'.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[robkelk]

Yayoi will stay for astroball - she's semi-pro, after all.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Dartz]

And crunch like a bade gearshift

"What about NERV?"

Kotono's question lingered in the air, hungry for an answer.

"I.... sort of filtered messages from there out," answered Anika.

"A few of them caused problems for me," Gina answered with a sigh. But yes, she was clearly impervious to them and above all that. "But it's something he's going to have to deal with. There're a lot of evageeks out there. He doesn't even know how popular it is, or how well known he's going to be."

"He hasn't seen Eva yet," Jet confirmed.

Kotono shrunk back, but decided not to let everyone know she'd forgotten to lock the files on her media server.

"Some of them called me a bitch for what I did to Shinji, or asked me what it was like to pilot Eva, or worse" Gina continues. "He's going to have to deal with the fangeeks eventually. That guy in the V costume wouldn't stop pestering me..."

A visible shudder ran through her body.

"It is a fact of life. There will always be people unable to understand he is anything more than a fictional construct made real. He will have to adapt to being famous," added Rei with a soft nod.

"The blessing of a small fandom." Yayoi smiled at them.

"Or he could take a different identity." Kotono suggested, looking right at Gina. "No really. He isn't as 'obvious' as other people. He looks pretty ordinary actually. We thought he was an original until he started to murmur in a dream before waking up. That was when we learned who he was."

"Changing my name was like shedding a burden that wasn't even mine to carry."

"A little bit late since everyone knows he exists now," said Anika, twiddling her thumbs while trying not to obviously accuse anyone.. "We really hoped playing this quietly would make it easier for him to do stuff like that."

"He can't really leave here anyway for at least another two weeks. I've already arranged an appointment on the Forge.... that right there's his acclimatisation time. And I'm going to make sure he doesn't leave here without knowing just how big the Evangelion fandom is."

"You're doing it again Jet..." Marsden warned, tapping a pen on the desk.

"I'm his parent.... sort of.... And what's the point in having a choice if he can't make an informed one? Someone's got to have to tell him all this."

Jets eyes scanned the room.

"You're his 'parent' aren't you..."

"Right" Her shoulders fell "He's with Ben on the bikes. He'll be here in ten minutes."

------

"Hey, what is it Shinji.... you cut off in mid-sentence there"

Shinji heard Ben's voice the old-fashioned way, over his helmet earpice. It was almost a relief, compared to the un-ignorable immediacy of direct-wired comm's.

"Anika gave some sort of radio that works inside my head."

It still felt wrong to admit that on so many levels.

"Oh, and...."

And just as startling that Benjamin didn't even seem to blink at the idea.

"She wants to see me up in the grey room."

"You don't exactly sound to thrilled about that," said Ben, flatly.

"I said I'd be there in ten minutes..."

Shinji knew it was an obvious dodge, but he wasn't going to say anything bad about a person in front of their friend's face.

"Well, you can tell her I said I'd kick her metal ass if she does anything to hurt you then."

He could hear Ben chuckling over his earpiece. It brought a faint smile to his face as he blasted ahead. This wasn't going to be fun, but at least getting there would be.

________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[DeputyJones]

"A few of them caused problems for me," Gina answered with a sigh.

*blink blink*
Some of the foundation's people actually harassed Gina? If it happened during Alex's tenure as SEELE chairman, those folks probably got treesitting duty (early attempts at recreating Mahora's World Tree resulted in Disney-style singing trees - which. of course, sing only Disney songs - and put out a chemo-based aura of depression-causing "Why Don't You Like Me?" loneliness without someone there to listen... I really need to figure out what to do with those things...)

[robkelk]

Or, an odd plotbunny that needs to be let out to breath. Something may come of this. Maybe nothing.

It looks like we're going to get at least two threads out of this "maybe nothing"...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Black Aeronaut]

(early attempts at recreating Mahora's World Tree resulted in Disney-style singing trees - which. of course, sing only Disney songs - and put out a chemo-based aura of depression-causing "Why Don't You Like Me?" loneliness without someone there to listen... I really need to figure out what to do with those things...)

How about selling them to Disney's World?

[Bob Schroeck]

No handwavium at Disney's World, remember? They won't touch'em.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Rakhasa]

No handwavium at Disney's World, remember? They won't touch'em.

That was in, like, 2014... By now more than half their off planet staff will be fen.
Things in the entertainment industry will be changing a lot by the end of the season, because the kind of people that would have become the next generation of game programmers, sc-fi script (and novel) writers, or animation artists in 2020... most of then moved to fenspace sometiem in the last ten years. Yes, it is soon for a mayority of executive positions, but it wil be enouhg for change. And, of course, some entertinemnt industry managers did get in the industry because they were fans of it, so a small percentage of then would have joined the madness too.

[Dartz]

Yeah.... this has gotten far larger than I expected. Then again, I tend towards massive stories. Shadowrunning was practically a novel. Going to try and wrap it up within 2 pages or so. So probably best to let the thred run until 17 or so.....

Also. The guy who dresses as V does actually exist. The original planned line was a straight snark at the Eva fandom which is currently going foamy-mouthed over Q being released. I wouldn't doubt a few of them gravitating towards the foundation....

I'll probably write him up a profile over the next few days.

And probably a short story putting Shinji in the Duplex Drive. (Never, ever call it the DD, that's bad luck).... just to show him how machine-like he is.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Dartz]

Shinji sat down and listened as his options were explained to him, trying desperately not to be distracted by the assortment of guns, including what looked like a glass bazooka. The fact that it was the full-armour Jet just made it worse. A warrior, in a room full of exotic firearms and weaponry.

He tried not to get distracted. He tried to pay attention. She sat opposite him, framed by a pair of exotic looking rifles, trying her best to first calmly explain to him just how big the 'Evangelion' fandom was.

The idea that all of Japan, along with parts of the rest of the world, and plenty of those who lived off it knew exactly who he was and what he had done was terrifying.

It was like being naked before the universe with little Shinji swinging in the cold breeze.

There was a sub-forum on a fan-forum already dedicated solely to him, posters searching for any possible scrap of information on him and where he lived. There were fora for Gina, and for Rei too. There was a search for other Evangelion characters.

His jaw hung wide open....

"I'm more famous than Caimoa Nan."

Jet blinked. "Who?"

"The man who ..... did something that never happened."

How would anyone know the name of the man who discovered the object that became the Second Impact?

Shinji was deep into wishing he could find a deep, dark place hidden in some corner of the asteroid. Sure, all that popularity would be great for someone like Gina who adored attention, but for someone like him..

Something inside him retreated away out of the room a she started to explain what he'd been offered. They'd all gathered up and planned out his futures for him, and all that was left was for him to choose which.

A little angry demon demanded that he scream it back in her face.

"But.... I've only been here three days, and now I'm expected to decide what I'm supposed to do for the rest of my life?"

It didn't sound as petulant as he wanted it to.... it almost sounded pathetic.

"Not the rest of your life..... " she assured him. "These're just ideas anyway, an idea of what's possible, to give you something to stand on so you don't feel overwhelmed."

Shinji sat there with his hands clasped together on the table, feeling completely overwhelmed at it all. Jet was huge in the armour, while he shrank down into his chair. He tried to remind himself that she was really just trying to be 'responsible' for him and do the right thing.... he felt a small pang of guilt bite as he thought about that bike-ride when he'd gone off on her.


Shinji looked up at her, waiting for him to says something. He could feel it in the back of his throat rising up, but the horrifying spectre of ruining his entire future quelled the fire.

She was patiently waiting for him to make his decision, there and now.... and he barely even knew what he was deciding.

"Well," she decided to fill the silence. " I started as one of those petty villains who're more nuisance than threat from a filler-episode of a Saturday morning superhero cartoon." There was a light of mischief on behind her eyes. "Then I became a maintenance engineer for a major space station. After that, two weeks as a research subject. Then I started training as a martial artist. For a few months, I was a secure courier, doing Yankee Doodle Pigeon stuff dodging Boskone hunter-killer squadrons. I flew all the way out to Nemesis, over a light-year out. I set a land-speed record for motorcycles in 2015. I worked as a space combat instructor for the Roughriders for three years and qualified as a combat pilot, and spacecraft." A pause. "Now, I'm a martial arts instructor.... we run a combat training centre out here to teach people how to defend their homes, or just shoot at each other for fun with marker rounds. Oh, and sell a few mechanical toys to gearheads who like to deliberately avoid the mainstream."

And all without breathing. And with a self-satisfied smile on her face.

"You've done a lot."

She nodded. "I've had that privilege. And in the future, I might try my hand at being a popular singer, or a lingerie designer, writing a book, or even building a Gundam..... or whatever comes up." Her shoulders shrugged. "My point is, whatever you choose to do, there's no reason you have to do it for the next hundred years. Especially if you don't like it."

Shinji

"But.... I can't decide this now. I mean... not now when three days ago I...." Watched the world end. "Didn't even exist, and I still don't know who any of these people really are or what they work for."

Jet actually seemed surprised. She blinked at him, taking a double-take as her mental train visibly derailed.

"Nobody's expecting you to decide right away, on the spot. That'd be bleeding stupid. You've got as much time as you need, really. And if you want to know more about what to do, you can just talk to them and ask. They'll be here for a few more days."

Shinji exhaled an obviously relieved sigh. The hotseat cooled down. His leg stopped shaking under the table. He was no-longer the one in the spotlight.

"Ben also offered me a position as a pilot in the Roughriders."

"You want to do that?"

Shinji swallowed the real answer.

"I don't even know what it involves. But Asuka's there and I do like going fast."

Jet just shrugged her shoulders. "If that's what you want to do, I'm not going to stop you."

Shinji grimaced.

"But.... maybe you could tell me what it means, since you worked there."

"It means you take a tour of duty for three years, answering distress calls from any settlement or ship that gets attacked by pirates, and fight them off. Or take on drug-runners and the last remaining Boskone still clinging on in the dark part of the solar system. And in between that, have a hell of a lot of fun training, or joining the race team, or just hanging out with the squadron. And when it's done, you have three years on your C.V. that almost any faction will look at favourably, if you don't want to go career."

"But. being a pilot means I might have to go into combat then. I don't want to fight."

No. Way. In. Hell.

"Fair enough. You can tell Ben your don't want to do it so."

She seemed almost unconcerned, as if the answer should be obvious. It was, wasn't it? You don't want to do that Shinji, do you? You're just looking for an excuse to say no.

"I..... He was being generous, it's not right."

He looked down at his own reflection on the table surface, which seemed to stare right back at him. He thought, for a moment, that he almost looked frightened like a puppy expecting to have his nose rubbed in it.

He knew he was looking for an excuse not to say it to Benjamin's face, but didn't care.

"I doubt he wants to force you to do something you don't want to do eithe. He'll understand an accept that it's your decision Shinji, trust me..... he'll respect you far more for that than if he finds you just went along to be polite."

Shinji nodded, still feeling sick at the thought that he might come across as rude.

"And if he doesn't," Jet continued "I'll kick his arse. And I can kick fucking hard."

For a moment, Shinji thought she was about to show him for good measure, but she clearly thought better of it. Instead, she gave him an almost cocky grin, with a sparking gleam in her eyes that told him she meant every word of it.

"No. I'll tell him later," Shinji answered, in a small voice.

He found himself giving her a faint smile, despite his best intentions.

Writing Shinji's profile.... hmmm. I know what makes him unique.

And something from the cutting room floor I found, as Anika explains to Shinji what the darkside of Mads is:

-----------

Flint was a mad....

Mads are people who get lost in their mind. They get so deep into their projects that they forget everything, except for the goal at the end of the tunnel. They go right to the madness place where nothing matters but the result. It's like a laser of the mind.

Flint never saw me as a living person. He never understood that I was anything more than a sapiency driver for his battroid. He couldn't... all he saw was what the machine was going to be.

And when I tried to break out, he treated me like a malfunctioning part. I know he reset my mind, because I left a recording for myself in case he ever did it. He practically destroyed another person, all for the sake of making progress on the project.

And when I escaped, he treated me as little more than a malfunctioning machine.... a rogue drone. He sent a group of mercenaries to recover me.

They rescued me instead.

Nobody here is Mad. Well...Mackie might be close. They can be obsessive at times, or reckless, but I've never seen them go to the madness place like where Flint did.

I can never trust a Mad.... especially the male ones. I can tolerate some I know better... but I need someone near me and I'm never comfortable. They might be a good person normally, and you can tell me that and I'd believe you rationally and I'd never say any of this to their faces, but I can't shake the feeling that they're all just one obsession away from an atrocity.

-----
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[ECSNorway]

... why is it that I'm now imagining Shinji, Gina, and Rei, out for a 'meander through the asteroid belt' in matching color-coded (purple, red, and blue, respectively) Valkyries? (VF-1E's, with FAST packs attached, the weapons pod replaced with extra fuel and life-support supplies...)
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[ECSNorway]

Shinji: "You're just... giving me this?"

Chris: "Sure. It's one of the privileges of being stupidly rich, I get to give nifty toys to people I like."

Shinji, a little confused: "You... like me?"

Chris: "Er... not that way. Sorry. Actually I barely know you. This you, not the one on-screen. But you've got potential. I like what I've seen so far. So does Rei. So do lots of people."

Shinji: "I don't even know what I want to be yet..."

Chris: "From what you told Ben, you don't want to fight. That's ok. There's all kinds of things to do here that don't involve fighting. You could be a courier, just you, the ship, and an urgent message to get somewhere. Or construction worker. Or professional musician, I hear you're pretty good at that. That's the thing about Fen. We're all about finding your own place, /choosing/ your own destiny. Did you really think three heads of state drop everything they're doing to race halfway across the solar system just because some kid's in a funk, is normal?"

(insert Shinji reply here, asking why they -did- drop everything for him)

Chris: *sits down, stretches, loosens his tie* "Well... that's a long story. It's all wrapped up in why and how I got into this business. When things took off, out here, I could see what was happening. And I knew that there would be people who'd want to go it on their own. Who'd want to get out, get rich, get famous... and who were more likely than not to just get dead. That's how I got started, a school, a brokerage, a place to rest and refit... and it worked. People made a living, we had a viable export to get our economy kick-started, and people stopped dying."

(insert noncommital response from Shinji)

Chris: "It's hardwired into us, you know. The response to a cry for help. We can't look away, can't -not- feel -something-, even the craziest psychopath will at least giggle... That's where a big chunk of my money goes, you know. Nikaido, International Rescue, the Banzai Foundation. I'm not saying that's what you should do. But it's out there. It's a choice. And that's what life's all about."

(Shinji complains that he doesn't know how to fly a Valk)

Chris: "If you want to, Rei and Gina will teach you. Or you can ask Ben, or Jet. It's your choice, kiddo. That's what this is all about."

ETA: This came to me after....

Shinji: "Why do you keep calling me 'kid'?"

Chris: "Do you want to be Shinji Ikari? Do you want to change what that name means? Embrace it? Or choose a different name? Something to think about."
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Dartz]

Thanks...

That dovetails rather nicely into a scene I was working on simultaneously, where Ford's giving Shinji a slightly more cynical take on the Fenspace reputation economy, and why she might offer a discount to a BNF to buy something off her, so that when said BNF buys it and is seen to be using it and enthusing about it, other Fen will appear and pay full price.

It actually gives a better finish to the scene.... and more of a point because now Shinji has something to learn and discuss, rather than just listen to.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[ECSNorway]

No problem. Feel free to rework Shinji's reactions, and mutate my text accordingly. Marsden really is just trying to be a Nice Guy (tm). He believes in personal independance, and he's trying to make sure Shinji can reach out and grab it.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[robkelk]

Shinji: "You're just... giving me this?"
Chris: "Sure. It's one of the privileges of being stupidly rich, I get to give nifty toys to people I like."

Along these lines...

"I don't know whether I can be as generous as the others, but I can give you two things before I leave. First, the Scarampella."

"But..."

She waited for a moment. "Shinji, it's not like I can play it. And it's a Scarampella, not a Stradivarius. Second, I can give you my card." She held out her business card. "The direct office number is probably worth more than the cello, actually, but it's the private number that I want you to have. Even Chris and Jet don't know to reach me at my retreat on Earhart."

Just then, Honami called from the Blade's airlock. "Yayoi! We have to go! Now!"

Yayoi waved at Honami without looking. "I'm sorry I have to leave so quickly, Shinji. Tell Jet that you can keep the piano. And, please, call me if you find some music you think I might like." Then she gave him a quick hug, whispered "Until we meet again," and turned and left Frigga.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Dartz]

My HDD just died. Almost everything for this is gone.

There's a scene sitting in my inbox. And some on Google docs but it's out of date. And that's it.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[robkelk]

There's also everything in this thread.

Considering we're almost at 300 posts, maybe we should close this one and wait until you've salvaged everything you can for a new thread...?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Dartz]

Only when we lose everything are we free to do anything...

60-75% is on google docs. What isn't on google docs is here. Except for one scene I was working on with Nene and Anika..... and a really nice one between Ford and Shinji about reputation and fenspace economy for the followup that was meant to lead into a secret test of character sometime later

I need to finish this quickly anyway.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[ECSNorway]

That reminds me, I tossed off an offhand remark up there about International Rescue, but has anyone -done- anything with that particular fandom yet?
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[robkelk]

That reminds me, I tossed off an offhand remark up there about International Rescue, but has anyone -done- anything with that particular fandom yet?

I put Thunderbird 5 at the Earth-Luna L1 point and rented out part of it to the Sammies... but that's all I remember anybody doing with International Rescue. Anywhere.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[ECSNorway]

Ok. I'll admit that I was never a fan of the original series (altho I did enjoy the American dub release of "Thunderbirds 2086" when I was younger), so I don't know a great deal about the actual Thunderbirds series. I'm willing to be one of the point-men backing it for its stated purpose (rescue missions in unreachable situations). I think they'd be strongly interconnected with the Banzai Foundation for a variety of reasons as well...
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.