Shinji Ikari Raising Project

[Dartz]

And he's a 14 year old allowed to drive a Big-block.

Now for the hard part. I hadn't actually intended to do this here.... but moved it forward.

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Anika’s apartment was smaller than Kotono’s.... a lot smaller. It seemed cozier, more comfortable somehow. It was full of life, as full as Anika herself with her blazing hair and bright eyes. She was, cute. She filled the air with cheer Just looking at her made him smile. They were eye to eye just standing opposite each other.

Either he was tall for his age, or she was short for hers. They were both the exact same height. There was something oddly reassuring about that, even though he knew she had to be older than him.

Shinji’d immediately pegged her as another biomod. Handwavium made her look young, that had to be it. Anika sat herself into a plush fabric sofa, nestling down into a pile of cushions. Shinji took an armchair that tried to swallow him whole.

“All the others went for the biggest apartments, but I went for one that was just right for one person!” she declared, radiating self satisfaction.

Shinji offered her a queasy smile. “It’s.... nice.”

He was still speaking English. He was still speaking English as well as any native. He had no idea how. It got added to a rapidly growing thunderhead of trouble that all seemed ready to rain on his parade.

Behind her smile, she was hiding the same secret as everyone else. She was guiding him towards it, but wouldn’t tell him.

She meant well.

He had to keep reminding himself of that. They all meant well. They were trying to help.

Driving the Warthog had been fun. A massive shit-eating grin crawled across his face. No wonder Misato drove so fast. It was fun!

“Shinji,” Anika began. “I have a little secret I have to tell you.”

Her expression was cold and grave...

It was Misato trying to tell him about Touji. It drained any glimmer of cheer from his body. She was wrangling with something, turning it over in her mind as she kneeded her hands together.

“What?” he said.

“I’m an AI, like Mackie,” she forced out. “I don’t like telling people.... but I’m really five years old.”

Shinji blinked at her. “I thought you were going to tell me what was going on,” he said, a bitter edge to his tone.

She scowled at him, her expression going black. “It’s hard for me to tell people that much,”

“Sorry,” he muttered, turning his eyes down to the floor, “I’m just feeling a little frustrated. Everyone knows the secret, and they’re purposefully keeping it from me,”

“We think it’ll be easier on you if you work it out for yourself. It’ll soften the blow,”

“So it’s about me then?”

Anika nodded. “You’re near the end of the road. Let’s watch some animé.”

This made sense. He had to discover something about himself, and then it would end. That’s how it normally went.

“And this is supposed to lead me to the right conclusion?”

“It will,” she promised him.

He gave her a dubious look as she booted up her media server with a remote control. It sat one an image of dancing penguins while she gathered up bags of snacks. plates of cakes and bottles of soda.

It was more than Shinji’d ever seen in one place outside a Lawson’s.

“Help yourself,” she offered.

He did. Greedily and shamelessly. Anika set the server playing. The screen went jet black for a moment. He stopped eating as the word’s “Youmex Presents” lit up in the centre. It faded to a shot of a city tower at sunset, explosions rippling across it’s surface.

The old collapsed to make way for a ziggurat mountain of a building, still unfinished. It loomed over an electric city by night, futurisitic mini-choppers flitting between towers.

Megatokyo 2032. The Story of the Knight Sabers.
BUBBLE
GUM
CRISIS

By day, people went about their lives in this retro-futuristic grunge of a city. Homeless crowded around a smashed tram. Crowds thronged into an underground club.

The music began. And he was enraptured.

This singer on stage with wild hair stared through the screen with her red eyes, right at him. It merged with the animation, coupling with a passion and energy that thrilled him to the core. Explosions ripped through the city in time with the music.

It was ecstatic. It was energetic. It looked ancient.

As the music died down, Shinji realised it was Jet’s voice she’d been singing with. A little softer perhaps, but still unmistakable.

He looked to Anika. She’d just finished murdering an entire plate of cupcakes.

And then Jet herself.

Or her armour. The chest was a little different. It was the same basic design. A little shorter in the leg, but still a similar proportion.

Anika just smiled at him when he looked at her for an explanation.

The animation rolled on into morning, a little fanservice courtesy of lady Stingray in semi-transparent negligé. She was reading the paper when...

“Mackie!.... that’s Mackie,”

The voice matched. The face was close. Even reduced to animation the resemblance was clear. Shinji was halfway to his feet, staring at Anika waiting for her to do more than just sit there.

“It is,” she said.

He gawked for a moment. Of course... they were showing him this on purpose. They wanted him to notice.

It didn’t stop there. He could see shades of the individual characters in the people around him. Anika was Nené.... change the hair and eye colour and she’d be dead on. Kotono had echoes of Linna. Daryl and Jet warred for the role of Priss.... which left Sylia open.

No.... Jet was Sylia. Definitely.

“Is this....” the first thought that came to his mind seemed rediculous. “Is this based on you?”

“It predates us by about thirty five years,” Anika said. “We’re based on it.”

“And Mackie. He’s....”

He couldn’t finish that.

“You saw the Outlaw. the same way some people make spaceships based on fiction....... Sometimes an AI, when they wake up, they take on the personality of a fictional character. Mackie is one of them. Jet is too.... partially.”

Another idea began to form in the back of his mind.

“And you. And everyone here...”

“I’m an original.” she gave him a smug smile, “We aren’t based on them, but we’ve each got similar personalities to the Knight Sabers.... Jet hired us on purpose because of our personalities.”

“She’s insane,” he stated, straight off his cuff. He was certain of that.

She’s trying to live in a fantasy. She’s trying to create this animé around herself.

Anika cringed. “She saved me life, and gave me the chance at freedom.”

“Everyone up here’s insane,” he continued.

“Partly,” she said, softly.

Shinji could feel his momentum build. “People up here base their whole lives on fictional shows. They create artificial intelligences based on fictional people. They..... they....”

A dreadful idea came to mind. One so horrible it couldn’t possibly be real.

“Because handwavium is a memetic substance,” Anika broke in, keeping her voice as mild as possible. “Powered by how people think it should work. So naturally, it creates spacecraft based on the fiction people are familiar with. AI’s are just an extension of that effect. And some people just like the escapism of it... the adrenaline rush of being a hardsuited vigilante or the optimism of Star Trek made real or the empowerment that comes with being a Senshi. We have the chance to become the hero in their own personal sci-fi series,”

He scowled at her. “I’ve done it. It’s overrated.”

“And there’re just as many here who’ll agree with you, and are up solely because they want to be out here on the final frontier pushing the boundaries and having a bloody good time doing it,”

There was one obvious flaw in that.

“But... if there’re so many people up here, then how come I never heard of any of this?”

There was fear in her eyes. A small glimmer welling up.

“You’ve all the building blocks to form the right answer. Don’t worry if it feels ridiculous, it’s probably right. And when you have it, we’ll all be here for you.”

Shinji put it all together in his mind. Handwavium. Biomods. Spacecraft and hardware from animé. Artificial intelligence. Catgirls. People living their lives according to fiction AI based on fictional characters. False memories.... he could speak English as well as Japanese.

He came to a conclusion.

Either he was a lie.

Or the world was trying to convince him he was.

Terrified, he looked at her waiting patiently for him to say something.

“I’m Shinji Ikari,” he said, his voice shrinking back down his throat.

He could feel his heart pound against his chest. He could feel himself begin to heat up inside. His mind slowed down, clouding with panic. He remembered Rei’s words.

“I need to see myself to return. It’s trying to convince me I’m not me.”

Anika’s expression grew puzzled. “What?”

“It can’t be real, can it? I’m still trapped, aren’t I? I’m still in it. I’m still in the Rei. I’m still in the Eva. I’m still trapped.” That was the only But he knew the way out. “I’m Shinji Ikari, and I want to go home!”

Nothing happened. Anika stood, gawking at him.

“Please, I want to go home,”

He lunged forward. Anika stepped back.

“Somebody take me home. I want out of here. I want to get out of this. I chose to live in the real world so why won’t you let me!”

He was sweating. He was burning up inside. He was panting... gasping for air.

“But you are in the real world Shinji,” Anika said. Her voice was shaking

“Liar!” he spat at her. She jumped. His face was burning red, tears streaming down his cheeks. “I just want to see them again. Misato! Asuka! Rei!.... help m”

Click.

Shinji hit the ground, a lifeless lump as his core systems shut down. It was a thermal trip, to protect his systems from overheating. His grey eyes stared, his body reduced to nothing more than a complex mannequin gone rigid on the carpeted floor.

Anika was left standing there, unable to do much more than stare.

That wasn’t supposed to happen.....

She ran to the comm panel.

“Mad Machine....” The television began to sing in Jet’s voice.

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to: "Shinjislist"
Subj: I'm an idiot.

Anika tells me he gave himself a thermal trip. From what she told me, he think's his still in instrumentality or something. Physically he won't be damaged... his memory's non-volatile.... but it's going to tough when he wakes up.

-Jet
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Maybe not as bad as Jet thinks it is. I ran so late on this I really should get some sleep.
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?