Quote:"What can you tell me about this message?" Noah Scott held up a Trekkie-surplus PADD displaying the posting that had been made to a quiet forum for people who had to live with being not-quite-fictional, or who lived with people who were not-quite-fictional – a forum that was very carefully not hosted on a StellviaCorp server.
"A word-pattern analysis of the message combined with a financial means analysis of known fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion gives a 97% probability that the message originated from 77 Frigga."
"Thank you, Takami." Not for the first time, Noah wondered whether it was really a good idea to make his sysadmin that good at figuring things out.
Yayoi frowned. "If Jet's group didn't want to go public with this, and they're still looking for help, then our options are limited. Normally I'd volunteer to pay him a visit, but I don't think the Friggans would appreciate that in this case. They're trying to keep this a secret, probably for his sake."
"Yeah, you're everybody's big sister – mine too, even though you're a day younger than me." Kohran grinned. "If anybody could get Shinji Ikari to relax, it'd be you. How about encouraging him to grow away from who his template was and becoming his own person?"
Noah shook his head. "That worked for you and Sora, but you had a couple of years experience living with the knowledge of being ... what was Skuld's term, again?"
"'Lookalike'."
"Thank you, Kohran. You already knew what it meant to be a lookalike before you stopped being one. Shinji doesn't have that experience to build on."
"What about shock therapy?" Yuu asked. "Ask Greenwood to send a few of their Ayanamis over to visit, or maybe get the Roughriders to send over a dozen Jesses. Or both at the same time."
Leda shook her head. "I think that would be the fastest way to destroy Shinji's sanity."
The room was silent for a moment. Then Miyuri said a single word.
"Anika."
"I don't see how Sailor Atalantae could possibly help here."
"Not Anika Springfield. Anika Daini. She already lives on Frigga, and she knows what somebody needs to do to open up to the world. Sure, she isn't a trained psychologist, but that isn't what Shinji needs. He needs a friend."
"Ah. I suspect Shinji could use the help of a trained psychologist, but you're right – he needs a friend, and she's probably the best person to be that friend, given the apparent options." Noah thumbed the remote to open his office door. "I'll reply to this matter personally. Thank you, everyone."
(Yes, I'm referring to something in LoGG that I haven't published yet... Sorry about that.)
--
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