Got in the Robot, now what?! 1 (Patreon)

Got in the Robot, now what?! - Or ‘Where is the fucking instructions for this big ass robot?!?’ (NGE, Shinji!SI)

It’s a morning. I wouldn’t say it’s a good or bad one.

I only know that it’s been close to ten years since I was inserted as one of the wimpiest guys in anime and that I had made the best out of those years compared to what the renowned Ikari Shinji did in both the OG and The Rebuild of Evangelion.

And that is: 1) Studying a fuckton of Science between Medicine and Physics through the books available at the place I had been sent at 4; 2) Do some physical exercise and get mentally prepared at the thought of facing scary tall angels of the eldritch kind all to protect the tool which could easily destroy humanity in a single move; 3) Try to run away twice, only to realize that my ‘beloved’ dad had decided to employ snipers and cameras to keep track of me within the chance of a potential kidnapping.

It wasn’t for love, he just didn’t want to lose a worthy candidate to take care of the Eva-01. I was… Well, not sure of this bit. I mean, doing the right thing was still my prerogative but I was also unsure of ‘how’ it works.

And it wasn’t even something I could be ready for even minutes before I had to use it. The files Misato would end up giving were not going to mention the Eva at all so… I was up against some bad odds while facing a rather resilient threat on my first day in Tokyo-03.

Before leaving my ‘old home’, I had the chance to pack a few unorthodox things such as screwdrivers, some ropes, a journal which I can write on through one of those ‘secret languages’ I tested out at school, a strong flashlight with a durable battery and… a pair of boxers. You never know what situation may deprive you of your viable clothes, and some underwear was needed in any case.

Still, years of preparation culminated in this… unnerving situation which I was living in first person as I remembered it since I had already seen it in third person. It was pretty much the same through the early bit of Episode 1.

The place I reached was deserted. I tried to call my ‘father’ by one of the public phone booths in the area, and then waited for Misato to pick me up. The girl was ‘punctual’ in that aspect and… I have to say that she really didn’t give off the vibe of a responsible adult. After all, Katsuragi Misato was meant to remain stuck in the mindless spiral of booze, traumas and being stuck in singlehood for eternity.

“Out of all possible times…” She whined under her breath, growling at no one in particular as she knew that the main issue was, right now, out of sight. “Sorry, if I don’t talk much but-”

“Disaster?”

My interruption got a frown from her. “You- How?”

“Streets are deserted, you are panicking. So, what kind of disaster?”

“...Let’s just say it’s not natural to Earth.”

I merely nodded. I couldn’t exactly tell her I was aware of the situation- and I have to admit that I was a bit worried myself when I saw Sachiel so realistic and so ruthless, but I would say I could play a bit of a straight man if needed.

The real issue was the sight of what the military had to use before exhausting all options. I never have ‘experienced’ a nuke, and I doubt that the N2 Mine was truly a proper old-fashioned nuclear bomb but… fuck, the sight was terrifying. It just proved how powerful the bastard’s Absolute Terror Field was to sponge a fucking nuke.

I admit I could feel Shinji’s terror rising from this point onward. I have to say Misato was a good ‘comedy relief’ as she started to make conversation. Or trying to as she clearly was terrified herself and wanted to divert her attention from the fact we were close to a blast of a nuke and even closer to an angel being hellbent to reach its ‘destination’.

“So… How is it to be the son of the Director of NERV?”

Sadly for her, Misato was incredibly sucky when it comes to be chatty under pressure.

“I would call it the Black Family experience,” I hummed dryly. “Like, the Father ditching his familial duties for stuff because he can’t take it and leaving the rest behind.”

“...You mean he never- you know, he never tried to approach you? He never called?”

“Why would he? He literally sent me away a few days mother died so he could attain the ultimate and cringeworthy edginess.”

“M-Maybe he didn’t mean it.” I heard Misato’s daddy issues manifesting. “Maybe-”

“Misato-san, eyes on the road.”

She snapped in full attention and fixed the position of the car as she came close to see us hurling down the edge of the road.

“To make it simple, I don’t care. He didn’t care, so I see no point in giving him any care.”

“Yet you came to Tokyo-3 after he asked you,” The woman argued. “That’s bound to mean something.”

“I would say a choice was there. But it wasn’t about coming here or not, it was the way I was meant to come here- either willingly and under your care, or through faceless soldiers ready to treat me like a VIP target to bring from Point A to Point B.”

“That’s excessive-”

“He had snipers around the countryside town I lived to for the sake of ‘keeping me safe within my relatives’ home’.”

And that was quite enough to silence Misato for a while. We finally arrived at the entrance that led to NERV. The scenic view was impressive, there’s no denying that, but I felt it was too… slow of a shift into the base. We took far too many minutes just getting the car moved to the ‘main’ entrance, and Misato was easily lost within the maze of halls making up the entire structure.

Good news that ‘reliable’ Akagi Ritsuko was there. Woman was genuinely an exhibitionist by my standards of scientists- how many really went around in a lab coat barely covering her one piece swimsuit?

I got myself a dossier on NERV’s tasks and what we were facing. It wasn’t a page from the NGE Wikia, but it was still satisfactory in regard to what NERV knew about the Angels, their ‘official’ purpose, and… not much on what was really stacked against them.

When the dark room of the Eva-01 was suddenly illuminated and I found its head close to me, I couldn’t help but… pause at it. Shinji jumped at it, reacting like any other that would have at first contact with the scary head of a massive robot immersed in a pool of red liquid.

For some reason, perhaps due to me being prepared to this moment, I didn’t jump. But, then again, the sudden scare should have gotten me nervous or to flinch at the head. I just stood there and stared at the robot. I could also feel it stare back at me.

Odd, but… perhaps this was Yui realizing I was there. A fleeting fraction of what was left of her, stuck in the robot and acting by instinct alone.

“So, you want me to get into this and… fight the big bastard up above?” I asked, turning briefly to look at Ritsuko.

“Yes,” The scientist commented.

I nodded, turning back to the Eva. “Let’s do this.”

Misato looked surprised. “I would have thought that you would have been opposed to do this.”

“I am not doing it for my father," I argued calmly. "There are innocent lives at stake. People that have nothing to do with this and… I refuse to let them die. Get me in that fucking robot.”

Both women were stunned by that crass demand at the end, but Ritsuko seemed to react smoothly and even smiled a bit much to Misato’s confusion and annoyance over the delight at me using a foul word.

I literally skipped a talk with Gendo and meeting Rei, and I wondered how the bastard was reacting to all of this. It was a fleeting thought, one that didn’t last long as I was inserted in the capsule that was then inserted into the Eva. The process was a bit disorienting, especially when the cockpit was filled with the LCL. I had mentally prepared for it, but the knowledge of it didn’t protect me from the unease of being fully immersed in a liquid I could breathe within.

Likewise, I wasn’t expecting to make a good performance through physical means. I didn’t have training with the robot, I didn’t have directions to follow beyond ‘kill the Angel’- I was a boy that was just now tapping into puberty and no awareness of this sort of bullshit.

What I had was the meta-knowledge about the Eva-01 Unit and some of that made me curious about something in particular. After all, I knew it could use an AT Field if coaxed into it and… I didn’t need a grand display of it.

From my understanding, the AT Field was built around emotion as it was psychic in nature. So, it would be very difficult for an individual with no strong emotions to muster enough energy for it. But… I was a boy with ‘daddy issues’. I hated Gendo, I hated his idiotic plan and… I fucking hated Yui.

I focused that ‘hatred’ within the Eva’s palm, feeling the energy manifesting within it. I saw Sachiel preparing its eye-lasering attack, channeling energy within its empty gaze but failing to catch up to me as I was done with my own efforts.

Instead of a barrier, I created something ‘simpler’ to the mind and sight of individuals that were not aware of what kind of metaphysical bullshit I was relying upon. I didn’t expect anyone to know what it was, but I expected some of them to see it as-

“A… A bubble?”

Misato’s comment made me smile.

“You are correct, Misato-san.”

“What are you planning to do with a mere bubble born from AT Field’s energy? It can’t pierce that barrier if-”

“If it remains as such, yes. However, Akagi-san, that’s the plan- a ‘Spin’.”

As I said that, the bubble started to rotate clockwise, gaining momentum and, much to the surprise of the group ‘behind’ me, the act had already gotten a curious reaction. Sachiel’s aggressive posture had dropped to a more ‘peaceful’ stance, its attention clearly stolen by the need to marvel over the unusual display of AT Field.

“Energy reading confirms a rise of power within the bubble. Its scale- I-It’s skyrocketing beyond known levels.”

“What?! How is it possible?”

I smiled, and I just focused on my target rather than explaining what was going on to my potential detractors. The truth is that I am mimicking an attack from Jojo. One that non-Manga readers may be unfamiliar with, but that wasn’t needed as knowledge to understand what I was doing as it was similar yet different.

To put it in a few words, I created a special bubble born from numerous AT Fields miniaturized in a semi-perfect infinite sphere. The lines were so close to each other that they were almost non-existing and yet they still existed. A paradoxical existence- no, a ‘paradoxical bullet’.

The energy created by the infinite projection of the barriers started to burn bright within the sphere and I took aim with it, shifting Eva-01’s right hand to form a fake handgun. Its middle finger and index finger were ‘keeping’ the bubble forward as I aimed it.

Sachiel finally snapped out of its mesmerized glance and, seemingly driven by instinct, projected its full-powered AT Field. I smiled as this was confirmation that what I was about to do was going to kill it regardless of its barrier’s strength.

In a flash, I ‘released’ the bubble and it suddenly vanished from sight. One could mistake it as if it had burst, and that was what Misato thought at the sight of its disappearance.

“I-It broke? Shinji, you need to do something or-”

“The energy is still present,” Ritsuko interrupted, surprising those around her. “It’s not visible, but it’s moving- the radiation pattern suggests that it is about to collide with the Angel’s AT Field… I-It’s not possible! It just bypassed it!”

Right as the blonde said that, the bubble materialized between Sachiel and its barrier much to the Angel’s panic. Sachiel couldn’t move away as the bubble rushed through its core and pierced it. Its body went fully still, its entire being decimated by the deadly attack and… then it fell backward, crashing on the ground as its tendrils and body ceased moving.

There was a lengthy pause, but then Ritsuko’s voice came through.

“The Angel is dead. Readings confirm its body is rapidly losing energy and its approaching zero.”

…

“So, am I done now?”

For some reason, staying in this cockpit had me angrier than usual, so I wanted out. Much to my relief, it didn’t take long for that to happen. As I approached Misato and the others, I barely spared a look at Gendo. The bespectacled bastard possibly expected more, but I just turned to Misato.

“So, where’s my living quarters?”

“Oh, you can come live with me if you want.”

I frowned, tilting my head to the side at Misato for this offer. In the original series, she offered this to Shinji because he gave off the air of a social outcast. And, considering I was truly that myself except for different reasons… it felt fitting.

“Okay.”

Misato beamed, and she turned to Gendo to speak as she asked for us to be allowed to leave. There was a bit of a pause, but the man confirmed we could leave. There was a strange ‘upset’ within his voice, but I didn’t look at all. I just couldn’t- It was a habit I inherited from my previous life: if I hate someone and I have to be ‘civil’ with them, then I will find myself unable to truly look at them. It was like staring at them could give me a virus or something.

But this also prevented me to see someone that had been standing behind Gendo during this interaction and that went on to stare at me leaving with a degree of unnatural curiosity and wonder. Without realizing, I had a rather wounded Ayanami Rei’s attention on myself…

Still, right now, I wanted to get back to my bag, eat dinner, lay on my new bed and prepare for the next days of intense plotting to get this shit turned against SEELE, Gendo and Yui. No Third Impact for you, you scumbags.

—---------d-d-d-d—------

AN

Like a Ruthless Devil, SI!nji goes forth to dodge the pseudo-incest, only for the pseudo-incest to get offended and come for his butt herself.