Muffled screaming could faintly be heard.

  *heard?*

  -felt.

  *felt?*

  …-recognized.

  all of my senses, all thoughts, all concepts reted to existence as we-

  *we?*

  -as humans know it…

  …so… dulled.

  so…

  …

  …

  a noise.

  *noise?*

  a vibration in the air

  *air?*

  no, not air. In the LCL. A vibration in the environment.

  I am the environment.

  in Me.

  in Shinji Ikari.

  the Third Child.

  *third?*

  unwanted.

  rej e c t e d .

  r e s e n t   e    d     .

  forgotten…

  *forgotten?*

  FORGOTTEN…

  *…forgotten.*

  forgotten…

  …

  …

  Some time had passed…

  remembered?

  *remembered?*

  remembered!

  " S h  i   n  j      i ! ? "

  *Shinji?*

  Shinji.

  the [noise].

  my name.

  Shinji's name.

  He was remembered.

  He wasn't forgotten.

  he was-

  another noise.

  *noise?*

  no ears. Another vibration in His body.

  *body?*

  no body. In His Self. His Id, His Ego. His Superego. His… Him.

  [“Hah.”]

  By reflex, he attempted to sigh with relief, however, Shinji Ikari's body was no longer that of a human's. His Self had become split apart. Fractured and spread among the sea of LCL contained within EVA Unit-01's entry plug. The human being known as Shinji Ikari had become one with the LCL. Within it, his consciousness fractured several times. The pieces usually coming back together by habit, as though the molecules that once composed the tissue of his brain missed their comrades and desired reunion. His thoughts, such as they were, had become disjointed. To an extent that one could no longer reasonably refer to Shinji Ikari as a living organism. Any more than one could refer to the vast oceans of Earth as one organism, simply because they contained the individual, fundamental "ingredients" of life in one closed, however expansive, system. And yet, Shinji's caretaker, Misato Katsuragi, called for him. She called his name, pounded first on the gss of the observation deck, then on the EVA itself, and now on the maintenance ptform she was kneeling on in heartfelt futility. In heartbroken agony. Feeling emotions not unlike that of a would-be new mother in miscarriage.

  Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, friend of Misato, and likewise caretaker of the EVA pilots in her own way, had little in words of comfort for the grieving woman. So she elected not to speak. As was her wont. Much like one of said EVA pilots in her care, Ayanami Rei. It frustrated Dr. Akagi to imagine the ways in which they were simir.

  What?

  Why in the hell am I thinking about this now, Of all times? My friend is undergoing so much pain, and without a pilot for Unit-01, without the Third Child, humanity stands little chance of fending off the enemy. Why am I so preoccupied with that little brat, that little-

  She forced her mind bnk. She looked at her dear friend. One with whom she didn't always get along, who sometimes aggravated her to the point of blind rage, who she thought she sometimes hated, who very recently struck her out of impotent rage. She looked at Misato and felt more sorrow than she had felt in so long. She reflexively suppressed the wave of emotion that would cause most peoples' eyes to begin to water.

  She regretted doing so.

  Some time had passed…

  *Shinji?*

  wha-?

  *Shinji?*

  what is-

  *Shinji?*

  who-… The EVA?

  *Shinji.*

  yes.

  *Shinji.*

  yes, I'm here.

  He felt an overpowering warmth swelling. And indeed, he did feel it, as his faculties were, one by one, coming back through faint sensations. From what little he could gather, he still had no body, but some mechanism or inherent will of his Self seemed to demand a human-like existence.

  is this…

  …

  the Soul?

  *yes, and no.*

  you're speaking to me?

  *speaking?*

  -er... communicating.

  *yes.*

  who…

  …

  …and what… are you?

  *who… what… are…*

  *we are we*

  *we are… us?*

  *I are… we?*

  As Shinji regained more use of his mind to contempte his current state, he began arguing with himself. Debating. Simply for the purpose of maintaining his sanity, and to better understand what was happening to him. But now, finally he understood that it was not his Self. It was something else. Something he could not identify, and which seemed to refuse to identify itself. All he knew was that another mind was inside his own. This entity knew more than he did about many things, like about the EVA, about the angels, and most startlingly, about his own father.

  Shinji hated his father, Commander Gendo Ikari.

  At least, he thought he did.

  All feelings he had toward his father were in conflict with each other. In truth, Shinji had no idea how much he did or did not despise his own father.

  The “voice”, so to speak, revealed things about his father that Shinji would never have known. Could never have discovered, even if he spent his whole life trying.

  This…

  …entity… whatever it was,

  Revealed truths behind everything.

  About EVA,

  about their pilots,

  about their origin,

  about Adam,

  about Lilith,

  about the angels

  about the LCL-

  -the 18th angel, Elciel,

  humanity.

  and about NERV,

  and about SEELE…

  about the third impact…

  about human instrumentality…

  …

  “ g i v e  S  H   I  N  J   I    B A   C   K  ! “

  that [voice]. Misato, again. What is she saying?

  *He must not win.*

  who? What?

  *ensure that His pns never see success.*

  who are you talking about? Keele? Kaworu?

  *remember, Shinji. I will always be with you.*

  who-

  Bckness.

  Sheer bckness so devoid of all light, of all color, of all emotion.

  Until it all came rushing into his mind, his body, his eyes, his mouth, his nose, his ears. With a squelch, the world came back into existence as if he was birthed once again. And quite fittingly, before he could muster a coherent thought, his caretaker cradled him in her arms, rocking back and forth, pressing his face into her bosom so as to keep him as close as possible and never let him go.

  Of course, upon Shinji's realization at the scene before him, he was far too relieved to worry about his increasingly embarrassing nudity that he had no way of hiding without his plug suit. Misato must have noticed, must have felt it pressing into her thigh. She simply didn't care. Her baby boy was alive. That was all that mattered in that instant. Far more than worrying about awkward social norms. Even more than preparing for the next angel attack.

  Shinji was quickly swept back into sleep as physical exhaustion overtook him. After all, he had no body with which to feel exhausted for all this time. He was examined thoroughly, and Unit-01's restraints likewise investigated. After it was determined that Shinji was suffering no known injuries or illness, Misato wanted to take him home with her. Somewhat selfishly, she realized that regardless of his condition, she would be too lonely without him near to sleep again. Dr. Akagi felt that it would be safer to keep him in intensive care, but she couldn't refuse her friend's request.