Doctor Who: The Evangelion Error (Book One)

Prequel to Episode 7

The TARDIS. Late September 2015.

The Doctor had made a terrible mistake. The truth had swept down upon him in the middle of the night. It was easily fixed, thank whatever powers might be -- but until he acted, nothing was safe. It all came down to him. The future of humanity -- and perhaps even the safety of all of space and time, in every universe -- hung in the balance.

Which left him with just one little dilemma, really: he couldn't for the life of him remember what the problem was.

He padded into the console room, wrapped in the old bathrobe Jackie had given him that one Christmas. He yawned and scratched the back of his head. What the hell had it been? It'd seemed fairly important when he'd thought of it. He remembered that much. He really needed to start carrying a notepad or something around with him...

He drifted around the controls, idly flipping through the sensors. Did he need to vent the thermal buffers? Or oscillate the gravitic anomaliser? Maybe it had something to do with the helmic regulator?...

That was as far as he got before he tripped over Shinji.

The boy immediately woke up with a start and sat up from his spot on the floor. The Doctor caught himself on the console's edge and stumbled back.

Okay, well, on the one hand, mystery solved, at least, the Doctor thought. Obviously, he'd forgotten to lock the door last night. On the other hand... "Shinji?"

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" The boy wriggled out of the blankets he was wrapped in and prostrated himself. He wore his usual school uniform, albeit with the hazmat suit tied around his neck like a superhero cape. He also had a duffel bag by his side. "Please forgive my intrusion! It's just -- I came in late, and I tried looking for you but you weren't in any of the usual rooms, and you told me not to go into any of the dark sections, so I --"

"It's okay, Shinji! It's okay! Breathe!" The Doctor held up his hands. The boy took a deep breath. "Just -- what are you doing here?"

"Um -- well." Shinji stood up. "It's just -- Misato -- she decided to room with Asuka instead of me. I didn't know where else to go, so I --"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "She just kicked you out onto the street?"

The boy looked away. "I -- I guess..."

"Yeah, that... really doesn't sound like her, actually." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "Did the captain tell you this herself?"

"No. Asuka did. She said --" Shinji stopped in mid-sentence. He hung his head. "... oh."

***

NERV Headquarters. Corridor BA34.

"She did what?" Misato pressed her head against the vending machine glass. "Oh, God. Who am I kidding. Of course she did."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," the Doctor said through her cell phone. "False alarm, Shinji! Just Miss Soryu thinking she's clever, I suppose..."

"Tell him I'm sorry." Misato rubbed her eyes. The elevator just down the hallway dinged. "I got pulled into a surprise debriefing with the Instrumentality Committee last night. I just got out an hour ago. I was planning to be there when she moved in..."

"Wait -- what do you mean, moved in? Are you seriously --"

The elevator door opened. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone step out --

Oh, crap. Him.

She leapt behind the vending machine. "Just -- hold on a second, okay?" she whispered into the phone. "There's this awkward situation I'm trying to avoid."