Shinji Ikari Raising Project

[LynnInDenver]

OK, a little bit that might work for a scene. Just one line of reaction from Nene, probably directed at Jet.

Nene pinched the bridge of her nose in unconscious imitation of her creator and lover, and sighed deeply. "And this is why both Jeph and Myk recommend that, if you have a choice in creating an AI, to create one that's already aware it's an AI. If only because breaking one into it is always fraught with the potential for trauma." She giggled, not with any real humor. "Not that it eliminates it, mind. My one and only meeting to date with Ben Hutchins didn't go terribly well, after all."

Yes, she does have all three Eyrie fics in her head, as well as both canons, Doug Sangnoir's visit to one reality, a couple of bits of Jeff Hosmer, and a few other things. This can, as expected, cause the occasional problem.
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

[robkelk]

Yes, she does have all three Eyrie fics in her head, as well as both canons, Doug Sangnoir's visit to one reality, a couple of bits of Jeff Hosmer, and a few other things. This can, as expected, cause the occasional problem.

One has to wonder whether she also has that fanfic in her head. [size=smaller](You know which one... DYO!)[/size]

Of course, a gentleman would never ask... so feel free to not answer.
--
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

[robkelk]

Hmmmmm...Frigga 500 anyone? Vehicles must be wheeled. Only handwavium allowed is for safety reasons. And since it's a 5 lap race and each lap is 100km long, must be able to go at least 100km without refuelling/charging. Run through the tunnelling and unused chambers. Video recorded by drones and on-vehicle and streamed for a fee. Any interested investors/sponsors/racers?

Put it on the circuit with the Armstrong Day Classic, and Kohran's in...
--
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

[LynnInDenver]

One has to wonder whether she also has that fanfic in her head. (You know which one... DYO!)

Of course, a gentleman would never ask... so feel free to not answer.

No... thankfully the worst one she has in her head is with Bert Van Vliet... she'd much prefer not to see anyone do that sort of PTSD decent again if she can help it.
(That meeting, if it happened at all, probably involved her taking enough presence of mind to actually take him to task for the whole thing. Not that it was bad to read, mind, but she's seen it "first hand", so to speak.)
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

[Warringer]

Hmmmmm...Frigga 500 anyone? Vehicles must be wheeled. Only handwavium allowed is for safety reasons. And since it's a 5 lap race and each lap is 100km long, must be able to go at least 100km without refuelling/charging. Run through the tunnelling and unused chambers. Video recorded by drones and on-vehicle and streamed for a fee. Any interested investors/sponsors/racers?

Damn it, not allowed to enter with the Silver Wing...

[robkelk]

Hmmmmm...Frigga 500 anyone? Vehicles must be wheeled. Only handwavium allowed is for safety reasons. And since it's a 5 lap race and each lap is 100km long, must be able to go at least 100km without refuelling/charging. Run through the tunnelling and unused chambers. Video recorded by drones and on-vehicle and streamed for a fee. Any interested investors/sponsors/racers?

Damn it, not allowed to enter with the Silver Wing...

Have you ever seen a (rather silly) one-shot anime called "Scramble Wars"? That was about a road race, and a spaceship took took part - they put wheels on it.
--
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

[LynnInDenver]

Have you ever seen a (rather silly) one-shot anime called "Scramble Wars"? That was about a road race, and a spaceship took took part - they put wheels on it.

Nene grimaces. "Please, don't mention that one. Just... don't."
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

[Black Aeronaut]

Have you ever seen a (rather silly) one-shot anime called "Scramble Wars"? That was about a road race, and a spaceship took took part - they put wheels on it.

Nene grimaces. "Please, don't mention that one. Just... don't."

Ben put a comforting hand on Nene's shoulder and said, "Nene, dear... There is a ship in the Convention's registry with the name of Rocket Attack USA.  There is no escape from the shenanigans."
(She would know about this one, probably because of Gryphon and Zoner's earlier incarnation of their Bubblegum Crisis fic.  While her character was not there to hear it the first time, with how wacky and zany those guys were she probably did at some later date.)

[ECSNorway]

Now I'm imagining Nene as subject to quantum fluctuation of hair color. Is she the 2032 redhead or the 2040 blonde?

The answer is "yes", of course.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[LynnInDenver]

Visually, she is the 2040 blond, there is no denying that's the primary component... she just has secondary memories of a LOT of alternates of herself, most of them redheaded.

("Do I call you Ben? Gryphon? Mister Stark? Damnit, this is hard... and you're different from all of them, somehow...")
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

[Warringer]

Have you ever seen a (rather silly) one-shot anime called "Scramble Wars"? That was about a road race, and a spaceship took took part - they put wheels on it.

Nene grimaces. "Please, don't mention that one. Just... don't."

Ben put a comforting hand on Nene's shoulder and said, "Nene, dear... There is a ship in the Convention's registry with the name of Rocket Attack USA.  There is no escape from the shenanigans."
(She would know about this one, probably because of Gryphon and Zoner's earlier incarnation of their Bubblegum Crisis fic.  While her character was not there to hear it the first time, with how wacky and zany those guys were she probably did at some later date.)

"You do know who build, it don't you?" Naedial notes as she has had to deal with both Gryphon and Zoner when they had a problem with their engines.

[ECSNorway]

Nene grimaces. "Please, don't mention that one. Just... don't."

Ben put a comforting hand on Nene's shoulder and said, "Nene, dear... There is a ship in the Convention's registry with the name of Rocket Attack USA.  There is no escape from the shenanigans."
(She would know about this one, probably because of Gryphon and Zoner's earlier incarnation of their Bubblegum Crisis fic.  While her character was not there to hear it the first time, with how wacky and zany those guys were she probably did at some later date.)

"You do know who build, it don't you?" Naedial notes as she has had to deal with both Gryphon and Zoner when they had a problem with their engines.

Marsden shrugged. "At least you didn't run into this version at a Battletech 'pod..." He trailed off and stared as she turned to glare at him. "Wait, don't tell me you did..."
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Black Aeronaut]

Ben put a comforting hand on Nene's shoulder and said, "Nene, dear... There is a ship in the Convention's registry with the name of Rocket Attack USA.  There is no escape from the shenanigans."
(She would know about this one, probably because of Gryphon and Zoner's earlier incarnation of their Bubblegum Crisis fic.  While her character was not there to hear it the first time, with how wacky and zany those guys were she probably did at some later date.)

"You do know who build, it don't you?" Naedial notes as she has had to deal with both Gryphon and Zoner when they had a problem with their engines.

Marsden shrugged. "At least you didn't run into this version at a Battletech 'pod..." He trailed off and stared as she turned to glare at him. "Wait, don't tell me you did..."

Ben grinned mischievously.  "Probably did.  A paycheck is a paycheck, after all."
EDIT: Okay, that does it.  We need to set aside some time where we can all RP our characters in the IRC channel  like they're just hanging out somewhere.  This is proof that it'll write itself.

[Dartz]

Right....

Well.... since the current bit I'm working on involves Anika setting up an inbox for Shinji so he can receive everyone's messages.... This appears in everyone's inboxes. Probably a while after Jet's post.

To: “shinjis list’
from: ikari.shinji@survivalshot.fen
Subj:

Thank you all.

------
Sent through TITANIC mailing system ver 142 ‘Bride’

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

[Dartz]

And pop....

Hopefully I amn't squashing anything anyone wanted to say or do with Shinj.

Shinji stopped outside the control room door. Servos whined extending the stabilisers before it full came to a halt. The turbine shut down a moment later to save fuel.

Shinji sat in the saddle, taking big deep breaths.

The electronics still hummed, displays happily informing him that the Judy was idle, waiting for him to do more, to go further. Heat soaked up through his legs from the engine below. His fingers tingled with excitement.

It wouldn’t hurt just to keep going, would it?

When he was riding, he wasn’t thinking about other things. His head was clear. Shinji decided that the Judy was the greatest thing on planet Earth, before remembering a few moments later that he really wasn’t on planet Earth.

Tears began to well up again, the beginnings of another sob rising up his throat. He screwed his eyes shut and swallowed hard, forcing it down to the pit of his stomach. What he thought was his stomach.

He slumped down, his momentary good feelings dissolving away once more. Shinji sat there quietly whimpering and sniffling to himself for longer than he could tell. It was long enough that the Judy’s own computer decided it’d been left running by mistake and shut itself down to save power.

Shinji flipped the faceplate of his helmet open and did his best to dry his eyes again with the back of his gloves. His skin sure felt normal. Everything felt perfectly normal. He still felt absolutely like himself...

“Oh, you made it Shinji,”

The voice snapped him right out of it. He blinked to clear his blurred visio, the blob beside hims slowly coalescing into the form of Anika standing in the open doorway wearing a welcoming smile and that cute short-skirted operators uniform Shinji added to things he actually liked about Frigga.

“Y’know... you actually look kinda cute on that thing,” she said to him. “Even if that jacket is a bit big on you.”

He felt his cheeks heat with a blush.

“I was told to come here, for a message.”

“Well, they’re inside if you want it. Come on in.” She beckoned him with a nod from her head.. “I could use the company.”

Shinji barely managed to nod. “Alright.’

Smiling despite himself, he dismounted from the bike, leaving it parked up outside where he was certain there was nobody to steal it anyway. It was dark inside, the only light coming from the green-text and wireframe graphics on the monitor displays. Various lights flickered on control panels, annunciator lights winking on and off to their own rhythms.

The monitor to his right displayed a map of Frigga itself, again all laid out anachronistic wireframe graphics. It was a spaghetti of information in blue, red, green and yellow, with numerical readouts at each junction.

“It’s on the top of that console there, plugged in for you to read. I’ve set up a login for our system, you just have to choose a new password for yourself.”

“unh,” he nodded.

He took a seat, watching Anika do the same at what was obviously her workstation - there were so many stickers and photographs taped to the console around her it couldn’t be anything else.

“You work here?” he asked.

“Mostly. I do spend a lot of time here because I like playing around with the computers.” She, crossed her legs, sitting there frame by monitors printing out reams of text data. “I’m lucky that my hobby’s actually my paid job.”

“Heh,” Shinji offered a weak smile.

The monitor told him to hit any key to log in. He picked ‘a’. Something over on Anika’s console chirruped. All he had were green letters onscreen and a blinking cursor, prompting him to enter his username.

“Now just type in your name. No spaces. Western order.”

He did so, keyboard clattering under his fingers.

“And whatever password you want. So long as it isn’t something stupid.”

Shinji reused his old NERV server login. The computer seemed happy enough with that, not spitting out any warnings about it being insecure or unsafe somehow. NERV knew security. Moments later, the computer spewed out his profile.

It had a name. A quick physical description, and not much else. Everything else was blank, or set to default.

“You can fill that out later. Just navigate to the drone and activate it. I’ll forward the messages to your inbox.”

Shinji stared at the hardware in front of him, trying to figure out how to actually go about doing that. It was so deliberately old fashioned it wasn’t even funny. He tabbed around through tiled displays trying to figure out where the device was through a combination of trial and error.

It chirped as it came online, a small compartment in the top opening to reveal some sort of crystal mounted in a cradle. A light flickered within, coalescing into a flame inside the crystal, before a three dimensional image poofed into being right in front of him.

“Wark!WARK!”

Shinji came close to falling off his seat,

“A.. P... A... Pe......” He stuttured, stabbing at the hologram with his finger.“It’s Pen-Pen!”

“Wark!”

‘Pen to the Penth,’ appeared in a speech bubble beside the beak.

More ‘animated’ than the real thing, but still easily recognisable. The feather eyebrows and silver collar were dead giveaways, despite the cartoony colourscheme.

“Ooh that’s so cu~ute” Anika squealed, making a beeline for him.

The bird looked right at her. Green eyes glared. “Wark!” it barked.

‘This message is for R. IKARI SHINJI only.”

It stood there, flippers folded across its chest. Shinji gawked.... his jaw hanging wide open. “It’s Pen-Pen.”

“Wark!”

‘Pen to the Penth!”

“Sorry,” Shinji murmured. “I’m Shinji Ikari.”

The hologram’s eyes flickered and it’s flippers unfolded. “Wark!” Holowindow displays poppped into being at the tops of its outstretched flippers, claws quickly giving a demonstration of how the interface worked.

Shinji continued to stare open-mouthed at it.

“It came from Prometheus,” Anika explained “They’re a few tech-levels above us here.”

Judging by the hardware surrounding him, Shinji wondered for a moment if that wasn’t an understatement. “I can see,” he said mildly.

Anika glared at him. “Well, we’re working on some new things that might surprise a few people.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Your Judy, for one thing. That’s a rather special piece of kit.”

“Sorry.”

Anika took a breath. “It’s okay. Anyway, it’s your letter... and I’ve work to do. Somebody has to keep the computers in the place from sinking.”

Shinji missed the joke behind her smile.

He poked at the holowindow with his fingers, quickly getting the knack of using it. He swept his fingers through it, bringing up the original message. He thumbed through it, finding a soft smile growing across this lips.

“So, what is it?”

Anika’s eyes had a demanding gleam in them.

“A collection of Cello music,” he said. A very big collection. Audio and sheet.

“And?”

His smile grew embarrassed.

“I’m not sure how to say this but........ I don’t really like this sort music. It's fine and all...but...”

“But,” Anika began with a puzzled expression on her face, “Don’t you play the Cello?”

Shinji winced. That explained it. It explained a lot of things. If he was just a doppel or whatever.... and these people were going by what they saw in some television program. Which meant...

Tears started to flow as he choked up again.

“Dammit, Dammit,” he whimpered, clenching his shaking hand into a fist.

“Shinji...” Anika probed, her tone soft.

The cartoon image of Pen-Pen waited patiently for him. Shinji glanced at it, then over at Anika who was watching him from her seat, a genuinely concerned look on her face. She really was worried about him.

You are not alone, Shinji.

Rei’s voice echoed in his mind. There was the proof. Ford had echoed the sentiment. The others had tried to be nice. The hologram of the penguin was proof positive that there were people beyond the rock who were interested in his wellbeing.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath in through his nose, holding it. He could feel his body begin to grow warm, his thoughts slowing down as the heat built.

He exhaled a hot breath through his mouth, slowling opening his eyes again. He dabbed his eyes dry with the back of his hands again. Anika was still watching.

“Are you okay?” she asked him.

“Yeah,” he forced himself to say. He meant it. His throat took a few moments to clear. Shinji swallowed anyway, before taking another cold breath “I’m artificial. This is the real world. And I’ve been programmed by this handwavium to think I’m a character from a program. This is the real world...”

“And it’s okay for you to be here.” Anika finished for him

Shinji nodded. “I still feel like I’m Shinji Ikari. I remember everything..... I can remember it all. But, Mackie told me he remembered growing up with Jet.... and.” He stopped, looking at the penguin hologram. “Is it okay for me to miss people who never really existed. Or would that just be living in a fantasy?”

Anika looked at her feet. “I don’t know.”

Shinji decided he could wait until Mackie came back to find out.

Anika changed the subject. “Rei is coming, you know.”

“A copy of Rei?”

“Maybe. Nobody really knows about her. But as soon as she heard about you, she demanded to come.”

“I’d like to meet her,” he said, feeling his confidence grow. “I’d like to know how she got through it.”

Anika’s smile returned. “Before that, a friend of mine’s coming. Nené Romanova.”

Shinji’s mouth dropped open “From Bubblegum Crisis?”

Anika confirmed that with a nod. “She’s like you. So is Yayoi Fujisawa, who’s coming with Rei. She’s based on a character from an animé called Stellvia. And then there’s Gina.” A grin spread across her face. “You’re going to want to meet her too.”

“They’re all coming to see me?”

Again, Anika confirmed it with a nod. “We needed help. We needed people who had experience with this. Especially after last night,” she added quietly.

Shinji swallowed another lump. That was a memory could’ve done without.

“And that was..... a design flaw.”

“No. Flint did it on purpose. It’s a misfeature But...” he grin spread once more. “Alongside that message were details of a way to fix it.”

Shinji couldn’t help but look uncomfortable. “I...” he began, and then had absolutely no idea how to finish it.

“Your mindset is still human,” Anika said. “Even if I can’t help you with all the existential stuffs.... I can show you some of the cool things we can do that humans can’t. It’s easier now that you’re aware of what you are.”

Shinji offered her a genuine.... if nervous … smile.

“Oh, and check your inbox. They should’ve all forwarded by now.”

Shinji's jaw fell open again. That was a big number.

Well. I suppose it's a technicality. But while Shinji does play the Cello.... it isn't what he chooses to listen to. For whatever reason.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Cobalt Greywalker]

As put in the email from A.C. (post 70 in the thread) Lebia sent cello music. Admitedly there's no reason it has to be all cello... ANYway, it also has the sheet music in there (for a given value of 'sheet' given it'll be holographically projected). So when time comes for the jam session, the V.I. will probably pop up an example. Or Yayoi will get suspicious when she hears where it came from.

(Sudden thought: Holo-Pen-Pen, in a tux, doing the Bugs Bunny conductor routine (Edit: From Long-Haired Hare) to the Jam members)

And there should be enough memory left for Shinji to upload...pretty much anything he wants within reason.

Of course, now that the V.I. "Pen to the Penth" has heard this is may go out and find music Shinji likes (or call 'home' i.e. Prometheus Forge for help).

[Foxboy]

May I recommend J-pop from around 1995 OTL?
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[Dakota]

Someone should send him some cello music from Apocalyptica.
*Ponders Apocalyptica doing a concert in fenspace.*
_______________________________________________________________
Characters
Sabre Fang
Dakota

[Dartz]

Of course, now that the V.I. "Pen to the Penth" has heard this is may go out and find music Shinji likes (or call 'home' i.e. Prometheus Forge for help).

May I recommend J-pop from around 1995 OTL?

I feel so nerdy because I actually looked that up and it is. This is what he listens to. Which gives us an interesting moment when he Pen-Pen trawls through the web and finds it. And Shinji immediately recognises the voice....

And I'll make those changes in a moment. Was an oversight on my part.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[robkelk]

Pen to the Penth? Yayoi very carefully did not show any reaction, but made a mental note to ask her mother to not let Greenpeace name the new VIs in the future.
--
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]

Saved for future use.

And new. Going too far? Anika plays the F-card

I'm trying to leave *something* for people to do when they arrive on Frigga, while still moving the plot forward in an interesting way. And I still haven't decided whether Shinji will watch the series itself (Even just to hear familiar voices again) or never want anything to do with it. And I'm stuck with a foot in both camps because each seems perfectly valid.

And Conductor Pen-Pen was too awesome not to use.... even as just a 'music playing' animation. (And I realised it's 2nd Power of Pen on the collar, not Pen to the Penth... dooooh)

------------

“It took you longer to say it out loud, than it did to work it out, didn’t it?”

Shinji could only nod. “I knew how to do it..... and it just went..... I went through each and every step. I remember going through it and.... it took less than a second.” Shinji glanced at the sums onscreen beside him, looking entirely uneasy “I’d never have been able to do that in my head, and it would’ve taken minutes by hand.”

“It works for higher mathematics too. So long as you know how to actually do it.... “ Anika told him

“How are we able to do this?”

“Well, most AI can to a point. But we’re both a little different. Flint originally designed me to be the core of a weapon’s system, so we’re pretty math-heavy, especially for vectors, and fourier and laplace stuff. We can also synchronise with hardware, so long as it’s designed to fit.”

“Synchronise?” Shinji blinked. “Like an Evangelion?”

“A little,” Anika confirmed with a soft smile. “But it’s a lot more invasive. Our cores can operate like this normally on air cooling - that’s why you breath and have a heartbeat, to keep yourself cool - but to handle the added workload of a battroid we’d need a little more than that. Not to mention all the direct data connections since a wireless system could be hacked.”

“Direct?”

“Think, wires and cables running from your naked body like some cyberpunk’s wet dream.” She visibly shuddered. “Look, just tap your two middle fingers to your palm”

There was a painless tingle as the skin on his wrist slit and split open. Shinji’s mind spinlocked as what looked like a shrunken serial power emerged, His eyes went wide.

“It’s a...” he managed to say before alien information burst into his mind... a stream of data so utterly inhuman it stopped all thought in it’s tracks.

“That’s for diagnostics,” said Anika.

He put a finger to the side of his skull.

“It’s in my head,” he forced out through a clenched throat.

Anika’s smile remained comforting. “Normally your consciousness is abstracted from all that... but it’ll become second nature soon enough.”

He tapped his palm again. The port retracted with an electric fizz and another burst of information. A moment later, the skin had healed over leaving no trace that it ever existed.

Shinji stared at his wrist as he opened the port, then close it again. The same alien burst of information interrupted his consciousness each time. He tried it with the other one... getting a subtly different response. He found he could close his eyes and tell which one was opened without looking.

“And both of us are the exact same?” he asked, still playing with his wrists.

“Yes. Beneath the skin, we could probably trade parts.” There was a giggle in her tone.

But, there were two very obvious differences staring at him, right in the face.

“But you’re....” He wasn’t quite sure how to finish that sentence without sounding like a moron.

“A girl?”A wry smirk curled up the edges of her lips. She poked at her chest. “This came after my frame was built. It’s the handwavium that decides on the final appearance and gender and stuff, based on the AI’s self-image.”

He could see his reflection in the glass of the monitor as he pondered

“So, I see myself as Shinji Ikari, so it gives me the body of Shinji Ikari, as I’d see it?”

“Yes, pretty much that.”

She almost sounded relieved. Shinji gave a quiet sigh, his brow furrowing for a moment as he mulled it over in his mind.

Anika put her fingers to her lips. “Come to think of it....”

“What?”

Shinji felt a fearful shudder run through his body. Anika poked at the panel in front of her, clicking a few keys. A few lights on the panel came on

“Hey Jet.... my...uh....suit’s gone with Mackie, right?”

“Yeah... Why?”

The answer through the speaker was unmistakeably the right voice, but had the same synthetic quality as the MAGI had. It was just a little flatter than it should’ve been

“Oh nothing. I just wondered what would happen if we put Shinji in it,” Anika said, matter of factly.

“He’d probably fit. It’d need some core adjustments,” answered Jet, after a few moments to think it over. “Surely you can’t be thinking...”

“Don’t call me Shirley,” giggled Anika. “It was just a thought because of all the syncro stuff in it, it might be worth him trying to get used to himself.”

"Ah, you think that's a good idea?"

Shinji assumed that because she was asking, she didn't.

"I’m showing him some AI things right now," answered Anika.

"How’s it going?”

Anika sat back, offering the console to Shinji. He stared at the speaker set and opened his mouth for a second, before thinking better of it. He glanced up at Anika, fishing a little for sympathy.

The look on her face told him she expected him to speak for himself.

“I don’t know,” he whispered to her. It was the truth, and he hoped she believed him at that.

Anika nodded, giving him a soft understanding smile. “He’s freaked out a little. But his mind’s in the real world now,” she said.

“I see.” Jet seemed satisfied with that at least. She almost sounded relieved. “We’re nearly ready up here. Just have to finish setting up the terminal and making sure it works.”

“Message me the address and I’ll update the routing tables for the node.”

Something chirped on Anika’s panel.

“Done.”

She punched at a few keys.

“And,” she said. “I don’t want to stay up here all day. I need someone to take over when Nene comes.”

“Let me know when and I’ll use the puppet.”

“I will.”

Anika closed the channel. Shinji sat there. He tapped open the port on his wrist, before closing it again.

“So how do you feel Shinji?” Anika asked him.

Shinji took some time to think about it. His eyes scanned around the room, searching for any hint as to the answer to that question.

“I..... I know this is real.” he started, tentatively. Anika’s expression remain mild, waiting for him to finish. He placed his hand on the console beside himself, gripping the edge then releasing for a moment. “But I still want to wake up,” he added, breaking eye contact.

For a brief moment, Anika’s brow furrowed with concern. Shinji cringed inside himself, fearing hid somehow given the wrong answer.

“That’s okay,” she said, exhaling a deep breath Shinji hadn’t been aware she’d been holding.

“Wark!”

Both of them turned towards the holographic penguin, who was waving for their attention. Shinji checked on it, a new message have arrived.

“I have found music you like!” it announced. 'Recommended for R. Ikari Shinji: Lilia ~from Ys~ featuring Kotono Mitsuishi and Toshiyuki Omor.

Shinji blinked....

“How did?” That was bang on. “It guessed my favourite.”

It didn’t seem to surprise Anika in the slightest.

“Wark..quark War!”

“An analysis of all mentions of Shinji Ikari, cross-referenced with noted musical samples, subtracting all which could be considered ‘classical”

It sounded especially proud of itself.

“I guess I really have no secrets” he sighed. “Play Blue Legend then.”

The bird spun around, donning a conductor’s tuxedo with a baton in each flipper. One....two...three...

Shinji closed his eyes as the music began, allowing himself to drift back to a train carriage in Tokyo--3. He could smell the ozone from the overhead lines and the dampness of the other passengers clothes. There was a dark-haired girl who smelled of strawberries.

He remembered it all so clearly.

He remembered laying awake on the final night in his own bed with the moon full in the sky, listening to the same track praying that the world would end so nobody would ever find out what he did.

The lyrics began and Shinji’s eyes shot open.

“Misato!..... That’s Misato’s voice! That’s Misato singing that!”

His first thought was that Misato had made it there somehow. A doppel like, or the real Misato Katsuragi.... Shinji didn’t care.

“It’s not.” Anika said softly.

Pen-Pen Quarked.

“Kotono Mitsuishi. Voice actress and singer. Known best for her role as Usagi Tsukino in Sailor Moon and as Misato Katsuragi in Neon Genesis Evangelion. Would you like to know more? “

Voice actress. Neon Genesis Evangelion. A two dimensional image appeared on the holowindow beside the text.

“She looks like Misato,” he murmured sullenly. Tears began to well up once more.

Anika placed a warm hand on his shoulder. “Shinji.... I’m your sister. That makes us family. And that means we’re for each other no matter what.”

He wasn’t able to say a word. He sat there trying to figure out if he should burst out sobbing again, embrace her deeply or just plain ask her why she thought that. All he managed to do was offer her a faint, grateful smile that she was at least trying.

----------

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

[robkelk]

I'm trying to leave *something* for people to do when they arrive on Frigga, while still moving the plot forward in an interesting way.

Okay, I can take a hint...

Jet's voice came over the intercom. "Shinji! You have visitors!"

Already?

Anika grimaced. "I was hoping they wouldn't arrive just yet, but I guess the first group of well-wishers have shown up. Do you want to go see them?"

"It wouldn't be polite to ignore them."

"Screw 'polite'," Jet's disembodied voice said. "Do you want to see them?"

"I think I'd better."

"Okay," replied Jet. "If you're sure that's what you want. I have to talk with most of them first - give them the standard lecture about how dangerous a place Frigga is and how they shouldn't wander off on their own - but one of them's been here before. I'll send her to the park near your apartment."

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

Despite how long the trip was, he still got there first. He sat down on one of the benches and waited... but not for long.

"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."

"Hello, Fujisawa-san." Shinji sighed.

"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 - it was before my time."

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

"Oh, no. My time is the year 2357; this is only 2022." 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?"

There were others like him? Not just basing themselves on characters from shows they'd seen, but actual people from those shows?

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."

"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. "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. I think I know why you asked, though. 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."

"And the others? Rei? Asuka? Misato? My father?" Shinji stopped when he saw how she reacted to the mention of his father. He almost didn't see her wince.

"It isn't my place to answer that question. 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?"

"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."

"You play? Not classical, I hope."

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."

"Oh, you're lucky - 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?"

Edit: Samsa
--
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]

Right. I can add that to the working document. I hope you don't mind if I adjust the opening just a little bit to fit a few things?

Because that is a nice moment between the two.... and exactly why I didn't write it because it's absolutely what I didn't think would happen.

Which makes me start to wonder if Stellvia could use a reasonably decent cook, or occasional session musician? It's definitely a healthier emotional environment for him to be in with more people coming and going to interact with.... and it's central enough to places he'd want to go, especially if he has the Judy to skip around Cislunar space.

Which gives me a few options now....
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[robkelk]

Right. I can add that to the working document. I hope you don't mind if I adjust the opening just a little bit to fit a few things?

Feel free to do whatever you need to do for the story.

Because that is a nice moment between the two.... and exactly why I didn't write it because it's absolutely what I didn't think would happen.

Which makes me start to wonder if Stellvia could use a reasonably decent cook, or occasional session musician? It's definitely a healthier emotional environment for him to be in with more people coming and going to interact with.... and it's central enough to places he'd want to go, especially if he has the Judy to skip around Cislunar space.

Which gives me a few options now....

Meg's can always use another cook, or a session performer on the restaurant's stage. (Tuesday is "amateur night"...)

Oh, yes... No matter how informal everyone else gets in their conversations, Yayoi will continue to call Shinji "Ikari-san" until he gives her permission to use his given name.
--
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]

Noted.... poor kid's going to be just a little bit embarrassed. I've got something that's starting to make more sense now.

And I'll write up the Judy for somewhere because there is something 'odd' about it's power source that may need mod approval.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?