Shinji Ikari Raising Project

[Dartz]

And more.... including a modification of the Yayoi scene. It was originally something for Jet to say, but it works better here.

Shinji awakens January 19th, 2023. When Frigga is about as far as it's possible to get from Mars and Earth. (And about as close as possible for Frigga to get to Atalante, if I read it right) Jet started work on him early in December. It took around 5 weeks to build him.... and another few days for him to properly take his shape and awaken.

And the Duplex Drive Battroid Anika stole had to go somewhere. It's mostly useless at this stage, only good as a diagnostic platform. Jet and Ford are much more settled with more free time, that actually allows them to pursue projects like Shinji. Or transforming motorcycles. Or helicopters. It probably doesn't bring that much, but it helps fill in the gaps in the off-seasons when Frigga is far from the core of Fenspace and runs short of money.

And the FDF was a bad idea, sunk by the trouble and cost of finding people to fly the spacecraft who could be trusted with the Saber's secret.... They're for sale again if anyone's interested. Functional. Barely used.

-------

Shinji’d lost count of the amount of times the sun had risen. Most of the snacks had long disappeared, followed by two Pizza’s and litres of soft drinks. Shinji then found that there were a few imperatives shared between androids and humans.

“You won’t get fat, at least,” Nené assured him.

I didn’t stop him from feeling sick to his stomach. He quietly marvelled at how awake he felt, despite having been awake for nearly the full 24 hours. A network time signal through the wristband confirmed that.

Still, he found himself astonished at how.... good …. he felt, despite hating half of what he watched. He still cheered on Hoichi as he royally screwed over his mad-scientist father’s plans for world domination.

There was, he quietly admitted to himself, a certain amount of wish-fulfillment in those few moments. But, he was still glad when it was finally over. It was followed by a more eclectic mix of things he hadn’t heard of, and very few that he actually liked.

It didn’t matter really. The fun part was spending it with people who genuinely wanted to be with him.

He made a quick run back up to the Control Room, startled Daryl who had the night watch up there, fetched something called Calla-chin Coffee for her by way of an apology from down in the store-room then finally picked up the Pen to the Penth hologram he’d originally gone for, stashed it in the pannier of his motorcycle and raced back to the apartment, propelled by frustration to a speed he didn’t dare admit doing to anyone.

It was liberating to roar around. Just twist the throttle and explode through a tunnel at three-figure speeds. Nothing at all was expected of him except to exist.

He was mind still swirled around some of the things he’d been shown how to do while he sat there trying to assimilate the alien information flowing through his thoughts, coming from the wristband.

He still couldn’t get his head around the fact that the flame-haired girl sitting beside him was, for all intents and purposes, his sister. She certainly seemed to be in love with the concept herself and if he was honest with himself, there was something exciting about the idea.

“Good Morning Shinji. We’re waiting for you in the auditorium. Rei is with us along with a surprise if you’d like to come down.”

Jet’s gruff voice cut into his thoughts like a knife, despite the synthesised edge to it. It wasn’t a choice, no matter how she phrased it. It was no more a choice than his father ever gave him.

For a moment, he genuinely considered pulling a Hoichi, just to show her that he could say no.

“You should go, Shinji. Rei travelled for days to get here.”

Anika’s soft voice changed his mind immediately. Misato’d said, don’t let others suffer for your personal hatreds. Don’t make Rei pay the price, after travelling so far.

"Thank you, Jet. I'll be there shortly."

He deliberately didn’t bother using any honorifics after her name. His moment of triumph soured when he realised nobody who spoke English would actually care about honorifics.

“OK. Someone’s on their way down to show you the way.”

Shinji wore an expression like he’d just bit straight into a lemon. A frustrated groan rose out of his throat. He rubbed at his eyes for a few seconds, trying to clear an imaginary headache.

The knock came just a few seconds later. He glanced at the door and swallowed.

“See you later, Shinji.” Nené promised.

-----

It loomed out the darkness, a malevolant armoured quadruped coated in a thick layer of dust covering vivid red paint. It was vaguely reminiscent of a big cat. Crouched down at rest its shoulders were still taller than a human.

The scarring from it’s one and only outing was still evident as dirty corroded slashing on it’s structure and black carbon scoring splashed across the armour. It’s weapons had been removed for safety reasons, but the chassis was still mostly intact. Technically it belonged to Anika.

It hadn’t been sold because it couldn’t be replaced. On one shoulder, encircling a proudly displayed Sparking-F Logo:

Flint Firepower Technologies. Duplex Drive.

“It was Anika’s idea. And I know he’s compatible.”

Rather than build all new diagnostic tools, she’d just used the ones Flint had built into the Battroid to check Shinji’s functionality. It was, basically, now an oversized fault code reader with a mean looking face.

“I don’t know,” said Ford, folding her arms across her chest. “But somehow I think putting a kid who pilots a robot known for going insanely out of control, in a robot named after another one known for going insanely out of control and requiring the death of its pilot to stop it might be a bad idea.”

Jet snorted “That’s what I told her. But it’s failsafe. And we can wait until we have the hardware back in case that fails and we have to stop it the same way.”

Ford kicked it in the shin. It gave a hollow thunk. “It’s a heap of junk anyway.”

“Well, since there’s no other diagnostic gear for them both now, we need to keep it.”

Or I’ll have to spend another few months figuring out how to replicate all the tools and rebuild them..... or pay money to have someone else familiar with Anika do it, she decided not to say.

Both of them circled the battroid, checking for any fluid leaks or signs that Mackie had been tampering with it for his own ends. All seemed well. A quick check of its onboard self-diagnostics showed nothing but the expected malfunctions.

“Looks fine,” Ford concluded. “For a definition of the word fine.” She slammed an access panel shut with a clatter that filled the room.

“I’ll wrap the feeds from the power cells in det-cord. If it goes wrong, just blow the cord, cut the cables and it’ll die right there.”

Ford gave her a dubious look. Harsh fluorescent lights above cast deep black shadows across its angular surfaces. It loomed over her, threatening to keep running once started, in spite of everything done to make sure it’d stop.

“Well, forgive me for expecting the rules of drama to take control of our lives again,” she said, dryly.

Jet shrugged. “Since when have I ever played by the rules?” She stepped over to windows which overlooked the main landing bay and the vehicles parked below. Most of them had sat idle since the planned FDF had fallen through at the last minute. She exhaled a long sigh.

“Ford,” she began.

“Yeah?”

“Our life has changed so much in the last few years, hasn’t it?”

Ford looked at the floor for a moment, then at the reflection of Jet’s expression in the window.

“Not for the worse,” said Ford.

“I know......” she paused. “You know. It’s so quiet and settled these days. Especially since we’re so far out in opposition for the next few months.”

“I do,” Ford nodded. “I miss the energy too. There was always something going on at Sara or Atalante, but here.....” she trailed off into her own thoughts for a moment, her hazel eyes looking out over the landing bay.

“Even with the Sabers work,” added Jet. Her shoulders dropped slightly. She looked down at Ford, wearing a thin smile. “As troublesome as Shinji’s been, I’m glad we did it. He’s brought a lttile more life to this place.”

Ford loomed up beside her, throwing her arms over cool ceramic shoulders “Oh I see.... someone’s feeling maternal,” she teased with an impish grin.

“No!” Jet stepped back out of her arms. A pink blush heated her cheeks for a second. “It’s not that!”

“Really?” Ford pushed. She stood there with her natural arm on hip, wearing a brilliant wide grin with a spark in her eyes

Jet couldn’t help but smile in return. “I don’t want to go through this again. But it’d be nice to have someone other than us out here on the quiet days.”

Both of them just looked at each other for a few warming moments, Jet’s body draining of all it’s usual stiffness.

“Let’s worry about Shinji before we worry about that.” Ford said, softly.

------

There was an old bench outside the apartments, where there’d once been a public meeting area. Overhead, a glass dome would’ve allowed a view of the stars beyond if they hadn’t been washed out by the overhead ‘streetlights’.

"Hello, Ikari-san," the newcomer - a very attractive young woman - said in Japanese. "My name is Fujisawa Yayoi. I've heard quite a bit about you."

Her eyes were hidden behind the reflection of the overhead lights in her glasses for a moment. It passed to reveal compassionate green eyes.

"Hello, Fujisawa-san." Shinji sighed, privately amazed at someone else who could speak Japanese properly.

"What's wrong?"

"You've heard about me. Everybody's heard about me. You all already know who I am, and what I am. But I don't know anything about any of you beyond what I've seen here in Frigga."

Yayoi smiled - a sad smile, but a smile nonetheless. "I've heard quite a bit about you from the mailing list. I know almost nothing about the television show that everyone else here has seen - “ She gave a slightly embarrassed smile. “ It was a little before my time."

"Before your time? This is your time, isn't it?"

"Oh, no. My time is the year 2167; this is only 2023." She sat down across from him. "I'm a lot like you, Ikari-san. We're both constructed people with memories from other universes. Would you like to learn about me by watching the show that I'm in?"

She was like Nené, like him? How many others like him were there?

She must have seen the question on his face. "There are hundreds of us scattered throughout the Solar System. There are even some duplicate characters from the more popular works of fiction; I personally know two people based on Readman Yomiko-san."

Shinji cringed nervously. "That must be awkward for them, whoever they are."

"Not really; they treat each other as sisters and lend each other books all the time."

Shinji hesitated. Should he ask? Maybe it would be better to work up to the question he wasn't sure he wanted answered. "Fujisawa-san, how popular is the story that you came from?"

Yayoi didn't say anything for a moment. When she did answer, her voice was strained. "The only reason most people have heard of it nowadays is because Noah Scott named his space station after the one in the show, and built me. I've never heard of anyone else from Uchuu no Stellvia being Awakened."

He could hear the capital letter; but didn't comment. It wasn't the right time.

“You miss them?” he said. His voice barely slipped out of his mouth before he immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

She shook her head. "No, it's all right. I've had a decade to get used to the idea that I'm never going to see Ayaka or Shima-san or Akira-san or Kent-san or the others ever again.”

“But,” He looked at her for a moment, then at his own shadow on the floor. “Isn’t that dangerous? If they never really existed, then that’s the same as a fantasy, isn’t it? I was....”

He stopped dead, noticing her expression

“Go on,” she said, gently.

“Third Impact gave me a perfect world, with a family and with the people I knew as my friends. But it was hollow, and it fell apart when I realised they were little more than caricatures of who they really are. It was nothing more than a self-destructive fantasy that made reality too painful to bear.”

Yayoi thought about it for a few moments. She clasped her hands together on her lap, a small smile spreading across her lips.

“Too much fantasy can be dangerous I agree, but just enough can put a man on the moon.”

Shinji blinked for a moment.

“It’s those fantasies that inspire and fire us to move out beyond the boundaries of the mundane. push the threshold of existence and boldly go forward. The desire to live and reach our dreams is the spur to make the impossible possible.” There was an energy and a zeal behind her eyes, an energy that demanded to be out looking forward at the stars, rather than looking up at them from the ground. “Living in reality doesn’t mean you can’t keep your hopes and dreams, even if they aren’t possible right now.”

But then, where is reality? The answer came to his mind, a recollection of Rei’s soft voice reassuring him.

“My reality is at the end of my dreams. And my dreams are the beginning of my reality.”

“What’s that?” Yayoi asked him.

“Just something I remembered,” he muttered shyly to his feet.

“Though,” she started tentatively. “I think I know why you asked. Ikari-san. Your story - Noah tells me it's not just the story you're from, it's your story - it's very well-known in this reality. I don't know of any one else sharing your name and memories, but as I said, your story was before my time."

My story? He pondered on the meaning of that for a moment.

"It isn't my place to answer that question for you. But it will be answered, soon. Maybe even today, but definitely before I go back home."

He was getting tired of secrets. "And if nobody else answers my question?" The note of frustration in his voice was obvious.

"Then I don't leave. I had a piano delivered here before I came; maybe I'll get a chance to play it while I'm waiting for you to get your answer."

Shinji gave her a surprised look "You play?"

Yayoi smiled - a genuine, happy smile. "I play whenever I have the chance, which hasn't been very often lately. And remember when I'm from, Ikari-san - to me, 'classical' includes The Beatles, Two-Mix, and Gregor Samsa."

"I've never heard of Gregor Samsa."

He smiled broadened. "Oh, you're lucky then - you still get to look forward to hearing them for the first time!"

"They're that good?"

"They're that different. And I think they're good. I'm told you play the cello. Did you want to try a duet? Even if we don't know any songs in common, I can read the sheet music to what you do know."

Shinji hesitated. "I don't know if I'm as good a musician as you."

"Considering how out-of-practice I am, you're probably better than me. By now, the others should be waiting in the auditorium where they set up my piano. Do you want to go see them, or stay here and talk for a while?"

“I think”... he looked up at her again, then back down at the floor, then at his motorcycle parked across the passageway.

Yayoi was a nice, easy person to talk to. There was something about her that just drew words out of his mouth.

“If it’s okay with you, I’d like to go.”

"Of course, Ikari-san,"

"Ikari-san is my father," he smiled at her. "Just Shinji, please."

"Of course, Shinji."

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