1:6

"Aaaah!" Shinji woke with a scream, for a moment still rapt in his 
nightmare.

The dream faded and he realised he was laid in a hospital bed, curled 
on one side faing the windows. There was an old-fashioned radiator 
under one of them and the other was open, the light curtain blowing 
back into the room. Outside he could see the metal pyramid of Central 
Dogma and beyond it the incredible landscape of the GeoFront.

"Not a dream," he said slowly. "Not a dream."

He'd read somewhere that dreams were the means a brain used to 
assimilate each days experiences. If so then then a nightmare or two 
wasn't too surprising. He'd probably have more before this was all over and 
done with.

Sitting up in the bed, he considered the hospital gown and pajama 
trousers he was wearing. Good enough. He'd been kept in for observation 
after the battle but it was pretty clear he was okay. Good enough. He 
swung his legs out from under the blankets and padded barefoot towards 
the door, the chill from the floor brushing the last clouds of sleep 
from his mind.

He had a few things to do.

* * *

A darkened room, dominated by a huge table with seats and computer 
arrays for only six people.

All six seats were occupied, Gendo at the end. Or the head perhaps. It 
was merely a matter of perspective after all.

"Mr Ikari," said the man facing him. "Surely NERV and the EVAs could be 
used a little more... _efficently_? First Unit-00... and _now_ you've 
wrecked Unit-01 on her maiden campaign! Their repair bills, plus the 
reconstruction of the armoured building - why, it's going to cost as 
much as a small nation!"

"Your _primary_ obligations are being forgotten - while these _pet 
projects_ of yours _bankrupt_ us!" criticised the man to Ikari's right.

"Nerv and the EVAs are _not_ your only concerns!" added one of the 
other men at the table.

"What about," the first man said, examining a report on the screen 
facing his seat. "the _Instrumentality Project_? Eh? To us, _this_ 
project - above _all_ others - represents our greatest hope in these 
desperate times! Where are your _priorities_?"

Gendo Ikari lowered his head and looked humbled. "I understand."

"In any case, I cannot and _will_ not sanction any delay in the IP 
schedule that is attributable to the second coming of the Shito. I will 
consider your budget requests."

"And how is the intel op progressing?" asked a man who had not spoken 
yet.

"No need for concern," Gendo said coolly. "_That_ matter... has already 
been dealt with."

* * *

Shinji sat in one of the small hospital's waiting rooms and watched the 
news broadcast with interest. He'd only stopped for a breather - the 
fight had taken more out of him than he'd thought - but the words "Tokyo-3 
explosion" had caught his attention. The media were either lying or hadn't been 
told anything - as usual, Shinji thought cyncially. Probably the copy went 
straight from NERV or some related agency to the publishers and studios.

Nothing about the Shito, nothing about the evacuation or the gutted 
tanks and aerodynes, nothing about EVA-01 - just an explosion leaving a 
crater in the middle of the city. Word would get out of course, but 
would never be acknowledged officially. Nor would those who had died.

With a sigh, Shinji pushed hiself to his feet and continued towards 
what he hoped was the administrative area. He needed to check out of 
here. Needed to do _something_ before he went completely insane.

'Of course,' he thought with macabre humour, 'since I believe I piloted 
a giant robot against an alien invader, it may already be too late.' 
Wasn't there a song, an English band in the seventies... 'I'm Going 
Slightly Mad'? Something like that.

He pressed against the windows to let a nurse and a doctor wheel past a 
gurney. The girl on the gurney was about... well about his own age he 
supposed. The pale blue hair gave her an exotic look, even restrained by a 
bandage and it feathered around her face. As she passed the one red eye not 
concealed by bandages turned and met his own gaze.

Something electric seemed to pass between them...

...and then she was gone.

Shinji remained pressed against the cold glass. The lines of her face 
seemed familiar. It was Rei of course. But he had seen the face on 
someone else. He frowned. Change the colouring and... oh. "Shoan," he 
whispered. She'd worn her hair in a similar cut when she was younger. 
He remembered brushing it back from her face once, as she slept.

Shinji followed Rei's gurney with his eyes as it rolled down the 
hallway. Coming the other way, he saw his father pause to look down at 
the girl. The expression on the man's face was odd, almost 
compassionate, as he spoke to the other pilot.

As Gendo straightened, his eyes met Shinji's for a moment, before he 
turned, hiding behind the reflections of his spectacles. Shinji 
countered the grimmer look with a shrug and a weary grin, leaning 
himself against the window. His father looked away first, turning to 
accompany the gurney through the hospital halls.

Shinji felt suddenly tired and just stood there, resting his weight on 
the windowsill. He let his eyelids sag and his head was beginning to 
lean towards the window when a voice from behind him dragged him awake.

"Such a _cold_ man!" said Misato in a puzzled voice. "Surely his soul-
weary son deserves a kind word or two!"

Shinji sighed, half-turning to look at her. "Afternoon, Misato."


She grinned and waved one hand at him. "I came to pick you up! I heard 
you were feeling okay... I'm glad, Shinji."

"Yeah... well..." Shinji sighed.

"I can take you to your place. HQ's taking care of you. You've rated 
private quarters."

"Oh wow. The excitement. Private quarters."

Misato frowned slightly at Shinji's back as he pushed off from the wall 
and started to shuffle back to his hospital room. "You okay living 
alone? If you submit a petition, you could arrange to live with your 
father..."

The boy actually summoned the energy to snort at that suggestion. 
"What? Beside his desk? Or maybe in one of the high security areas 
under HQ. Gee, now there's a thought!"

"Oh, now come on! Don't be silly! Parents and children _naturally_ 
live together!" she said hopefully. "Don't hold back - if there's 
something you want to say, just let it out."

'Oh, yeah. Like I could do that,' he thought mordantly. "I guess I 
don't think of him as a parent."

"Oh." Misato said quietly. She didn't quite understand that.

He turned and smiled at her suddenly. "Come to that, I guess I don't 
think of myself as a child either."

It was a rather nice smile Misato thought and a decision crystallised 
for her.

"There  is another option, if you don't want to live alone," she 
offered.

He shrugged. "I've done it before, but what do you have in mind?"

"There's a spare room in my condo. You could stay with me."

Shinji blinked. That way she said that, low key and offering, not 
insisting... "That's... hmm, are you sure? To be honest I wasn't 
looking forward to being on my own here, but I'm not always the best of 
company."

"Oh don't worry about that," Misato grinned, pulling out her cellphone. 
"I was Ritsuko's room-mate all through college - you can't be worse 
than _her_. Do you know she can't even cook a curry?" Without waiting 
for a response, she hit a speed-dial, "Oh, hello, Ritsuko? Yeah, it's 
me. It's about SHinji - he's going to be living with me in my condo for 
a while, so..."

There was a muffled screech from the phone that Shinji couldn't quite 
make out.

"Don't be a _worry-wart_! I'm not so despereate that I'd jump a 
_child_..." Misato broke off for a moment to tsk at Shinji, who'd 
snapped his fingers in mock disappointment. "Just get me the proper 
approval from upstairs, all right? See ya!" She snapped the phone shut 
over whatever response Ritsuko might have made. "There, that should do 
it! Shall we get going?"

* * *

There was a scream of tires as Misato's sportscar blasted out of the 
parking garage. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" she chortled. "_Today we're gonna 
party!_"

"Party?" asked Shinji, cringing as the car swerved violently across the 
deserted road and almost hammered into an ambankment. "What's the 
occasion?"

"We're all _alive_, of course!" Misato grinned. "Besides, it can be a 
_welcoming_ party for my new housemate too!"

Shinji looked at her and then sighed, rubbing his temples with the 
palms of his hands. "I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this, 
am I?" he asked rhetorically.

"Geez," Misato complained, turning her head towards him.

"_Watch the road!_" Shinji yelled as he felt the car begin to slide out 
of the lane.

"Hey, I know how to drive!" Misato yelled, straightening up somewhat.

"Men wild and me insane!" Shinji shot back.

"What are you all huffy and sulky about _now_?"

Shinji sank back into the chair, muttering. The phrase: "muthering gurt 
battle" was the only part Misato could make out.

"So _gloomy_," she said. "Like some sort of _mood disorder_! _I'll_ fix 
that personality of yours!"

"Huh?" Shinji asked, jolted out of his funk. She was glaring at him 
menacingly. 'Kowai...' he thought. 'Her eyes... _paralyzing me!_'

The car took a turn and headed out of the city again. "Just a small 
detour on the way," she said, suddenly cheerful again. "_This'll_ cheer 
you up."

* * *

Shinji looked around the small plaza on the side of a mountain 
overlooking Tokyo-3. There was one of those pay-per-view binocular toys 
near the rail. "Why settle for a glimpse, Danno?" he muttered to 
himself, "When you can see it all from Lookout Mountain."

He looked at the sky for a moment but fortunately, no huge orange 
spacecraft flew over the city.

"Hey, com'on," called Misato. "What are you doing? It's almost time!"

"Just checking for Decepticons," he answered walking towards her. "So 
what's it almost -? Whoa!"

A klaxon moaned and across the city dozens of hatches that filled 
apparently empty lots slid open to reveal vertical shafts much like 
that used previously to launch Unit-01. Majestically rising out of them 
were high tech skyscrapers that turned Tokyo-3 from an urban sprawl to 
a giant metropolis, the metal and concreteshaded in oranges and reds by 
the evening sun.

"Wow, it really _is_ Autobot City," Shinji chuckled.

"You're a weird kid, you know that?" Misato saidwith a girn. "This is 
Tokyo-3, the anti-Shito seige fortress... _our_ city. More than that, 
it's the city _you_ defended!"

Shinji nodded and glanced across the city, picking out an area marked 
by the damage caused in his own battle. Tracing a path of devestation 
backwards he saw the line the Shito had followed from Tokyo-2, where 
the UN Army forces had been torn apart.

His shoulders slumped under the weight of that. 'Not fun and games,' he 
reminded himself. 'This is a responsibility. Can I do this?'

"Shinji?" Misato asked as she heard saw the boy lean his weight on the 
rail, a sorrowful look on his face. "Are you okay?"

Shinji choked back a wholly unfair choke of laughter. "I'll be okay," 
he answered quietly. "It's just..." He exhaled and shook his head 
slightly to clear it. "Look, can I ask a favour? There's something I 
need to do..."



You could never know what it’s like
Your blood like winter freezes just like ice
And there’s a cold lonely light that shines from you
You’ll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use

And did you think this fool could never win
Well look at me, I’m coming back again
I got a taste of love in a simple way
And if you need to know while I’m still standing you just fade away

Don’t you know I’m still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
I’m still standing after all this time
Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind

I’m still standing yeah yeah yeah
I’m still standing yeah yeah yeah

Once I never could hope to win
You starting down the road leaving me again
The threats you made were meant to cut me down
And if our love was just a circus you’d be a clown by now


Author's Notes
--------------------
I've stumbled upon Drakensis' webpage and fanfic archive a good while 
back, and went through almost the entire thing. He picks 'em good, what 
can I say? 'Nyways, I'd first read what he'd done with In the Know back 
then, and thought it'd be interesting to see where it goes. Back then I 
had yet to write anything and my writing skills themselves weren't 
anything to write home about (I still get a bit of a laugh going 
through my earliest published fic. How corny and cliche that was. Ah, 
sweet rememberance). The fact was, I wasn't sure I'd be ready to do a 
co-author sort of thing back then. A year or so ago a project called 
Shining Spiral was born, which, when we finally get something done and 
a page up, will be a multi-author SI megacrossover. It's relevant for 
this matter inasmuch as the fact that it got me to get to know Drake a 
little better through his posts on the dedicated forum (and vica 
versa... or something) is. I decided I liked his style and manner 
through those. I'd actually forgotten about In the Know by then, even 
if I checked up on his page ever so often to look for new stuff on the 
net. Well, I remembered a while ago, saw that nobody had actually 
called in to claim the co-author spot, went through what he had down, 
and decided - what the hell, it might be fun, and we ain't running on a 
schedule anyway so why not try? The fact that I had an urge to write an 
EVA-fic but no concrete idea regarding any sort of plot had a say in 
this. As it is, I wrote him. He wrote me. We put our heads together and 
got things rolling. We fleshed some stuff out, left some stuff to be 
considered later, and got working on getting the thing done. The first 
chapter at least.

Personally, I'm very pleased with the results. As it is, we're working 
on the following parts, and bits and pieces are falling together... 
even if it takes a while sometimes. Who knows, if we don't lose the 
momentum, we might actually get this thing done sometime in the coming 
years. And if not, well, it's a very fun writing exercise at least.#
--------------------
In the Know was originally just another cliched start at a NGE self-
insertion on my part. I'd been reading the manga and wondered how an 
insert character expecting the anime would do in that storyline. I 
wrote a few scenes, forgot about it and when I put together my website 
I posted it with a note that I would need some help to finish it, 
mostly with the fight scenes which were where I'd gotten bogged down in 
part.

And then Griever, who I knew from the Shining Spiral and from the now 
defunct PBEM GURPS Undocumented Features game I'd GMed, contacted me 
and asked if I was still looking for a co-author. I dug out the old 
notes, which had been twisted around a couple of times for various 
reasons and pulled out the version on the site. I wasn't quite happy 
with the plot I had but the scenes still looked good to me. And I liked 
the idea of writing the story with the Shinji who appeared in those 
scenes so I reworked my plot ideas and sent an email saying 'Hell, yes!'

So here's Part One. The game is afoot and it'll be a lot of fun finding 
out where this takes us.


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