Spirit within 3: Evangelion: Unfamiliar ceiling.

Portions of this fic were taken directly from Manga and Anime.

	Shinji stared at the creature as it advanced on her. She felt her
muscles twitch as the familiar feeling of battle over took her system.
The only problem was, she didn't know how to move. "Instructions now."
she said with a nervous edge in her voice.
	"Try walking." said Misato's voice over the comm.
	"How do I walk?" said Shinji as she glared at the angel that
slowly approached her.
	"Concentrate, focus on the concept of walking." said Ritsuko's
voice.
	"Right, walk." Shinji frowned and glared at the now dangerously
close angel.
	Unit one lifted its foot and started to slowly move forward. "Its
working!" thought Shinji excitedly. "Okay stop." The unit kept its
forward motion at a steady pace. "Uh stop?" said Shinji looking weak.
"Dammit all! Charge!" she cried at last. The eva broke into a run and
stormed towards the angel. Shinji grit her teeth as the angel simply side
stepped and she crashed into a nearby building. Eva unit one fell to its
Knees and sat still.
	"Move dammit." growled Shinji as she pulled at the controls in
the cockpit. She had been shaken by the blow but remained calm. 
	"Get up girl! You can do this!" cried Misato's voice.
	The angel had other Ideas however. The massive claw reached down
and lifted the eva by its face. Shinji felt her neck snap straight and
strain as if it had been him and not the eva that had been grabbed. She
opened her eyes and saw the hole in the monster's claw begin to glow. 
	"Get the hell out of there!" cried Misato.
	The angel grabbed the eva's arm and pulled it tight, her own arm
moved involuntarily. With a single crushing motion the eva unit's arm
snapped and hung limply. Shinji simply grit her teeth and glared at the
angel in anger.

	"The arm has sustained damage. Disconnecting all circuits and
rerouting connections!" cried Maya from her terminal. 
	"Dammit can't you do something she's getting killed out there!"
screamed Misato. 
	Ritsuko simply glared at the screen in shock and ignored her.
"This can't be happening...Unless! Could the syncro frequencies have gone
into Hyper fluctuation?!" the thoughts ran through her head and she
stared at the data screens in awe. "Can you lower the neural circuit
feedback regulators a notch or even two?" she asked the young woman at
the monitor.
	"I'll try." replied Maya as her hands flew across the keyboard.
 
	Shinji began to hear a buzzing noise and stared into the claw as
the glowing in the hole began to grow brighter. "Damn!" she muttered. 
	"Move! Get out of the way!" cried Misato in panic. 
	"Shut up." muttered Shinji as she prepared herself for the
impact.
	The angel held the eva off the ground. A long pole like object
that glowed brightly protruded from the back of it's elbow. It moved back
and slammed forward into the arm. Shinji screamed as it impacted over the
eva's eye. She clutched her face and could actually feel the armor
cracking as the angel repeatedly impaled the pole like object into the
eva's face. Soon the armor cracked and shattered. The angel shot the pole
into the eva's face a final time and it went straight through the back of
the head. Shinji was thrown into a building and collapsed. Fluids poured
through the hole and the eva was silent.
	Inside the cockpit Shinji glared at the now silent screens all
around him. "Mother, I need your help to do this. I know your in here,
help me dammit." she gasped. Then there was only blackness.

	The control room was in a panic. Alarms screamed and emergency
lights flashed all around the room. Misato stood in the center in a numb
paralyzed state and looked at the screen in horror.
	"Degree of cranial damage unknown!" cried one of the men.
	"Cutting power to control neurons! Reversing syncrographs!" cried
another voice.
	"Pulse is surging back!" cried Maya in a panic.
	"Pull the circuit manually! Just stop that back flow!" cried
Ritsuko.
	"Negative! The signal�s been rejected! It's refusing all input!"
cried one of the men on the far side of the room.
	Misato moved and walked to the nearest technician. "What about
the pilot?" she said numbly.
	"Monitors not responding, We can't tell if she's dead or alive!"
he said quietly.
	That shook Misato completely out of her daze. "All right. I'm
suspending all original orders! Pilot safety is now our only priority!
Force ejection of the entry plug!" she yelled.
	"There's no manual override, We've lost all contact with the
eva!" replied Maya.
	Misato glared at her and looked at the silent eva on the screen.

	Shinji woke and looked at the ceiling. "Where?" he gasped as he
looked around groggily. He simply lay and stared at the ceiling after
that. "An unfamiliar ceiling." he said with a small smile at his private
joke.
	
	In a large dark room Gendo Ikari sat and glared at the men that
sat around him in a meeting. 
	"Mr. Ikari, surely Nerv and the evas could be used a little
more...efficiently?" said the man at the head of the table. He was old
and had a strange looking visor grafted onto his face.
	"First Unit 00 and now you've wrecked Unit 01 on her maiden
campaign! Their repair bills plus, reconstruction of the armored
building, why its going to cost as much as a small nation!" said a tall
thin man to his right.	
	"Your primary obligations are being forgotten, while these pet
projects of yours bankrupt us." said one of the other men on his right.
He had a prominent nose and wore a small pair of glasses.
	"Nerve and the evas are not your only concerns." agreed a man on
Ikari's left.
	"What about The instrumentality project? To us this project above
all others represents our greatest hope in these desperate times. Where
are your priorities?" said the man at the head of the table.
	"I understand..." replied Gendo simply.
	"In any case, I cannot and will not  sanction any delay in the
I.P. schedule, that is attributable to the second coming of the angels. I
will consider your budget request." said the man at the head.
	"Now, how is the Intel op progressing? Have we discovered who our
mysterious pilot is?" asked one of the men on Gendo's left.
	"No need for concern." said Ikari. "That matter has already been
delt with. She has personal ties with my son and will remain on nerv's
pilot roster for the time being. She is however under heavy
surveillance."

	Shinji stood in the hospital lobby and watched the television.
The news report said nothing about the Angel or the eva. He wandered into
the halls and gazed out of the windows at the world outside. Behind him a
cart skittered by being pushed along by a nurse and doctor. Shinji turned
and saw her for the first time. She was pale and had light blue gray
hair, her eyes were a strange reddish color and she watched him
passively. No emotion appeared on her face. Her right eye was bandaged
and she had a sheet covering most of her body. Shinji gave her a small
smile and waved as he turned back towards the lobby. He stopped and
turned to see his father talking with her further down the hall. He
sneered at him and smiled viciously before turning away.
	His smug grin was wiped away when Misato walked up to him in the
hall. "Such a cold man!" she cried.
	"Aren't I?" said Shinji. "I guess since I'm male now you have
become aware of my condition?" he said with a small frown.
	"What are you talking about? I'm just here to pick up that female
pilot you switched with during the battle you little worm." Misato did
not look happy with him. "I suppose you'll be transferred to live with
your father." 
	"Oh, Misato my dear don't be so cold." 
	"Come off it you little pervert. I heard about what happened ya
know, you scared that poor nurse half to death when she came in to bathe
you before you woke up. She's still in hysterics down the hall. What did
you do to her?" said Misato giving Shinji a condensing look.
	Shinji had spent a better part of the day explaining things to
several doctors. Until a message had been sent from some higher ups.
Shinji suspected his father. "Same thing I'm about to do to you." thought
Shinji with a small smile. "Misato-san we need to have a little talk
before you go down to her room." said Shinji with a sigh.
	"Stop." said Gendo as he walked up to the pair. "This information
has been classified. I have read your report on the particulars of this
situation and it will be released on a need to know basis, Captain
Katsuragi will be informed later."
	"I'm afraid it won't be that simple father. There are a few
things about the curse you don't understand." said Shinji at least half
civilly.
	"Explain." said Gendo. 
	"I get wet more times in a day on average that you would in a
year." said Shinji calmly. "This won't stay secret for long." 
	"Understood, but for the time being it is classified. Katsuragi
you will keep my son under close supervision at all times. I want daily
reports." With that Ikari turned and walked back towards Rei's room.
	"You know father, My sister looks exactly like mother did. I
suppose that was no accident though was it?" said Shinji with a smile.
Gendo froze in the hall and turned to face him. He looked at him calmly
and turned away again.	

	Shinji turned and smiled at Misato who simply stared at him in
disbelief. No one had ever gotten such a strong reaction out of the
Commander in her experience with him. 
	"Shall we go my dear room mate?" he asked as he walked into the
waiting room.
	"Wait a minute! What about..." started Misato as she finally got
her wits back.
	"These are your new orders." he replied before she finished and
handed her an envelope. "This says that I'm supposed to take you instead
of..." she dropped them and growled at Shinji. "Did you have anything to
do with this?" she said with a frustrated look.
	"Me? Goodness no." said Shinji with an innocent look.

	They stood in line at the grocery store and Shinji stood looking
bitter with a large basket of instant food. "Great this is gonna be like
that time I had to stay with Nabiki for a week." he grumbled to himself.
	"Oh, What are you complaining about now?" asked Misato as she
paid.
	
	"So I guess I'm stuck with you, might as well make the best of
it." she said with a sigh as she drove. "We'll have a party to welcome
you." she said trying to look cheerful.
	"Look Misato, I know you don't care for me much. You probably
think I'm a coward. I'm sure we'll get along fine after you get to know
me." said Shinji with a weak smile.
	"Why did you do it? You knew what was going to happen to that
poor..." Misato started to say.
	Shinji interrupted her. "She doesn't exist Misato. She is me,
we're the same person." 
	"What? What the hell are you talking about?" snapped Misato.
	"Misato, your orders never changed. I am the girl you saw in the
cock pit. It started when I was very young..." Shinji went into a brief
explanation of Jusenkyo that excluded the presence of Genma, or exactly
how long ago it was for him.
	"That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard! You expect me to
believe that?" she cried angrily as she slammed onto the breaks and
pulled over to the side of the road.
	"I don't care what you think Misato. You've been ordered to
believe it." said Shinji with another weak smile. The rest of the trip
was made in silence.

	"Welcome home." Misato chimed weakly.
	Shinji strolled into the home and sighed. "What a dump."
	"Put that stuff in the fridge will you?" said Misato cheerfully
as she walked into the back.
	Shinji somehow managed to fit it all despite all the beer and
snacks she had stuffed away. "Great." he muttered as she emerged from the
shower in a large T-shirt and long loose pants.
	"Keep your eyes and hands to yourself." she announced as he
placed the microwave and instant dinners down.
	"Jeez, don't be so hostile you psycho hose beast." he muttered as
he picked at his meal.
	"Well, you should go take a bath now. Maybe it will help you
relax your raging hormones." she sneered at him.
	"Whatever." replied Shinji as he stood and made his way to the
bathroom.

	Once inside he undressed and opened the door to the tub. Inside
was a good sized penguin soaking in the water. He walked over to the sink
and dumped a bucket of cold water over his head before wrapping a towel
around himself and lifting the bird out of the water.
	Misato stood watching the door way impatiently and snickering to
herself. She was surprised to see the bird gently booted out into the
kitchen. "Maybe I should be nicer to him, but he's probably already made
up his mind about me...I have been kind of a jerk though." she thought to
herself. "Nahh." she decided.

	Shinji was about to step into the furro and soak for a while when
he heard a light tapping on the door. "Shinji are you OK in there?" said
a quiet voice.
	"Yea, come on in. I'm decent." said Shinji as she dropped her
towel to the floor with a smirk.
	"Look I'm sorry I've been so..." said Misato as she opened the
door. She froze as the girl from the cockpit stared at her.
	"What are you doing here?" gasped Misato in shock.
	"I live here brainiac, you drove me remember?" snorted the girl
with a large grin. "I am going to enjoy this." she thought with a wicked
grin. "Your about to find out how ridiculous my story was." she said as
she scooped a large bucket full of hot water and dumped it over her head.
	Misato's screamed at the top of her lungs and backed into the
wall with a look of complete shock.
	"Now that we have that cleared up we can get back to basics and
cut this cynicism crap." said the now nude and very tired looking Shinji.
	Misato simply passed out.
	
	Later Shinji lay in his bed and looked at the ceiling. "I
probably should have found a better way to do that but it was to much fun
to pass up." he told himself.
	Misato had retreated to her room and was currently reading the
report that had all the details of his condition in it. She would
probably not be very happy in the morning. Shinji frowned and realized
that he would have to make some efforts to patch things up with her for a
while at least. She seemed like a nice enough person. He drifted off into
sleep and heard the foot steps of the Eva growing ever closer...
TBC...

	" 'I've never had any cherished dreams or ambitions. I don't
aspire to any career or profession in the future. Sor far, in the first
fourteen years of my life. Things always happen as they had to happen.
And things will probably continue int the same way. 
	That's why I never really cared whether I got into an accident or
something and died.' ...I wrote that in an essay for school, and
predictably, the teacher yelled at me...and told me to take the
assignment seriously."
--Shinji Ikari, from the first page of NGE Manga.



___________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]