Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Program ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

Intro Notes (revised): Welcome to The Program, a joint effort by Bad Ronald and Kenshiro Mitsui. The story has been through quite a bit of flak and turmoil, but it is always to be expected with fan fictions in general. However, after a combined two and a half months of brainstorming, we are able to bring you the fruits of our labors.
The story is written in the same spirit as the novel/movie/manga Battle Royale by Koushun Takami, a disturbingly violent, psychological high-octane thriller. We tried to incorporate these elements while staying in an "Eva" state of mind, and this is the result. Enjoy, and review, please.

Updated 10.31..2003 on MediaMiner. This chapter has been updated significantly, to the point that we recommend you to look it over again, especially the "letters," and an added part in the end of the story. If not, you will have seriously missed some key facts.

~~~~~

FROM THE DESK OF THE CHIEF COMMANDER OF THE JSSDF

TO: BATTLE SUPERVISOR OF JSSDF

SUBJECT: NERV

THE COMMANDER OF THE JSSDF, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE BOARD OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE JAPANESE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND DEFENSE, HEREBY ORDER THE JSSDF TO CEASE THE TERMINATION OF NERV PERSONNEL, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. YOU ARE ALSO TO REVOKE ANY TIES ONCE HELD WITH SEELE AND TO REFUSE THEIR ORDERS. THE UN AND JSSDF WILL TAKE ACTION AGAINST ANY OFFICER WHO DOES NOT COMPLY WITH THIS ORDER.

WHILE LETHAL FORCE IS STILL ALLOWED FOR NERV EMPLOYEES WHO REFUSE TO SURRENDER, THE STRIKE FORCE IS NOW UNDER ORDERS TO CAPTURE AS MUCH PERSONNEL AS POSSIBLE.

IN ADDITION, YOU ARE TO CAPTURE AS MUCH OF THE ORIGINAL CHILDREN FROM THE MARDUK REPORT AS POSSIBLE. MOST OF THE CHILDREN ARE SCATTERED THROUGHOUT TOKYO-1, TOKYO-2, AND KYOTO. ONCE THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED, ALL CAPTIVES ARE TO BE HELD IN THE DETENTION AREAS IN CENTRAL DOGMA UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

A PRESS REPORT CONCERNING THIS MATTER WILL BE DISTRIBUTED TO ALL MAJOR NEWS NETWORKS IN A MATTER OF 48 HOURS.

~~~~~

FROM THE DESK OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE OF OPERATIONS, JSSDF

TO: BATTLE SUPERVISOR OF JSSDF

CC: SHIROU SHIROTA

SUBJECT: NERV PRISONERS

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR EFFORTS TO CAPTURE AND CONTAIN NERV PERSONNEL. FORTY-EIGHT HOURS FROM NOW, AT 0800, THE JSSDF IS ORDERED TO SEND THE PRISONERS TO THE MAIN CONTROL ROOM FOR A SPECIAL BRIEFING BY CHIEF COMMANDER SHIROU SHIROTA. AT THAT POINT, COMMANDER SHIROTA WILL TAKE CONTROL OF THE FOLLOWING OPERATION THAT WILL INVOLVE THE ENTIRETY OF NERV HQ.

IN ADDITION, THE MAGI SUPERCOMPUTERS, THE EVANGELIONS, THE FIRST ANGEL, AND ALL WEAPONS CACHES LOCATED INSIDE CENTRAL DOGMA ARE TO MOVED OUT OF THE GEOFRONT AND TAKEN TO SECURE FACILITIES WITHIN THOSE FORTY-EIGHT HOURS. THE MAGI AND WEAPONS CACHES STASHED THROUGHOUT NERV ARE TO BE TAKEN TO THE KYOTO JSSDF FACILITY, AND ADAM (LOCATED IN NERV'S LCL PLANT) AND THE EVANGELIONS ARE TO BE RELOCATED TO AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION IN MORIOKA.

IT HAS COME TO HQ'S UNDERSTANDING THAT SEELE IS GIVING ORDERS TO LAUNCH THE NINE TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT DESIGNATED TO CARRY THE MASS-PRODUCED EVANGELION UNITS. YOKOHAMA AIR FORCE BASE HAS BEEN GIVEN ORDERS TO REFUSE THEM AIR CLEARANCE SHOULD THEY TRY TO TAKE OFF, AND ARE TO BE SHOT DOWN ON SITE IF THE PILOTS REFUSE TO COMPLY.

~~~~~

*TOP SECRET* FOR THE COMMANDER OF THE JSSDF ONLY

OUR ORDERS HAVE GONE UNHEEDED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE INVASION LAUNCH. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, SHIROTA? OUR SOURCES TELL US THAT THE FORCES ABRUPTLY STOPPED THEIR ATTACK ON THE GEOFRONT, THE EVA-SERIES CAN NOT RECEIVE CLEARANCE TO GET OFF THE GROUND, AND THAT THIS MAY EVEN BE RELEASED TO THE MEDIA! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT CONSEQUENCES WILL BEFALL YOU IF YOU DARE CROSS US. THIS WILL BE YOUR ONE AND ONLY WARNING, SHIROTA.

~~~~~

**TOKYO NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL REPORT

UNIDENTIFIED SOURCES TELL US THAT A FEW KEY HIGH-PROFILE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN THE DIET HAVE BEEN TAKEN UNDER CUSTODY - -**

**REUTERS NEWS REPORT, MOSCOW

VLADIMIR BOSTANOVICH, FORMER EX-KGB AGENT AND CURRENT SECRETARY OF WORLD AFFAIRS, WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY BY UNITED NATIONS TASK FORCE MEMBERS, AND ESCORTED TO THE AIRPORT - -**

**CNN WASHINGTON

FBI AGENTS, WITH ASSISTANCE FROM THE UNITED NATIONS, STORMED AN INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX BELONGING TO A KEEL LORENZ. THE REASONS FOR THE RAID, AS WELL AS INFORMATION ABOUT LORENZ, ARE UNKNOWN AS OF YET, AS THE FBI WILL NOT DIVULGE ANY - -**

**ASSOCIATED PRESS, SOUTH AFRICA

JARVIS JONES, WELL KNOWN SOUTH AFRICAN PHILANTHROPIST AND DIAMOND TYCOON, WAS ASSASSINATED TODAY AS HE WAS ENTERING HIS LIMOSINE WITH HIS BODYGUARDS AT HIS JOHANNESBURG ESTATE. POLICE SUSPECT IT WAS THE WORK OF A SNIPER CONNECTED WITH REBELS IN THE AREA.**

**ASSOCIATED PRESS, NEW HONG KONG

FLYNN TAGGART, UN DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL AFFAIRS, WAS FOUND DEAD IN HIS OFFICE IN THE NEW HONG KONG COMMERCIAL DISTRICT. LOCAL OFFICIALS SAY IT WAS AN APPARENT SUICIDE - -**

~~~~~

**ASSOCIATED PRESS, CNN, REUTERS

A PRESS REPORT WAS RECEIVED FROM THE JAPANESE SPECIAL STRIKE DEFENSE FORCE CONCERNING THE LARGE-SCALE ATTACK ON AN ABANDONED TOKYO-3 MORE THAN 48 HOURS AGO. IT STATES THAT THE GROUP KNOWN AS 'NERV,' WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE PLANET FROM EXTRA-TERRESTRIALS CALLED 'ANGELS,' WAS SIEGED AT ITS HEADQUARTERS IN THE TOKYO-3 GEOFRONT. MANY OF ITS EMPLOYEES WERE KILLED OR CAPTURED. ALMOST EVERYTHING CONCERNING THIS MATTER IS UNDER A LARGE CLOUD OF SECRECY, AS THE JSSDF REFUSED TO COMMENT ANYMORE ON THE MATTER, ONLY SIMPLY STATING THAT THE ORGANIZATION'S CRIMES WERE INDESCRIBABLE, AND THAT PUNISHMENTS WILL BE DEALT ACCORDINGLY TO ITS EMPLOYEES - -**

~~~~~

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
TO: SHIROU SHIROTA

CREWS HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO REMOVE THE FIRST ANGEL FROM THE CENTRAL DOGMA'S LCL PLANT, DUE TO LACK OF RESOURCES, AND A FEAR AMONG SEVERAL CREWS OF AWAKENING THE ANGEL. THE FORTY-EIGHT HOUR MARK IS APPROACHING QUICKLY, AND WE REQUIRE ORDERS TO MOVE ANY FURTHER OR TO ABORT THE ANGEL'S REMOVAL.

RE: 'ANGEL' REMOVAL

TO: TRANSPORT CREW

ABORT ANY FURTHER ATTEMPTS TO REMOVE THE ANGEL FROM DOGMA. THE DIFFICULTY IN RELOCATING IT BELIES ITS USES FOR THE NEAR FUTURE.

- - SHIROTA

~~~~~

The Program
An Evangelion fan fiction
based on the novel Battle Royale
by Koushun Takami
Written by:
Bad Ronald
Kenshiro Mitsui -san
Prologue: The Last 48 Hours - Initiate Program

~~~~~

The soldier's tone of voice was harsh and menacing as he called out into the darkness of the holding cell. "Get up. We're taking you to the control room."

Two people stood up, casting long shadows in the dim light provided from the outside, throwing figures of a teenaged boy and girl on the grey metal wall. Shinji Ikari walked out of the holding cell first, his eyes squinting as his eyes adjusted to the brightness. Next came Asuka Langley Sohryu, dressed in her red plug suit. Both pilots looked disheveled, and were in need of a shower, among other things.

The two pilots felt that they did not have to say anything to complain or cry for help, since the two hardly said anything to each other since they were placed in the same cell. Shinji only felt despair, shortly after a brief display of surprise and relief that lit up his face for a moment, as soon as he set his eyes on the red-headed girl. For the rest of those two days, she did not speak to him, and he did not speak to her (except for that one time when Shinji accidentally tripped on her foot, and said a simple "sorry" to Asuka). The only contact they made with each other was eye contact, and even this was brief and fleeting.

Shinji thought about this, and felt the need to look back further, to tell himself is this was real. First of all, he was alive. He was so sure that the soldiers would have killed him. They've killed most of everyone else. Then, as if it was a sudden change of heart, they took prisoners. It did not mean that they would not be harmed though. Shinji was beaten into submission, even though it was not necessary. Shinji had surrendered long ago. He was angry that he was allowed to keep breathing.

When Shinji came back into consciousness, he saw other survivors, perhaps the only ones. He saw Misato. She was still knocked out, and a long thin line of blood dripped down from her lip to her chin, and to the floor. Shinji felt a pang of regret, not only for her, but for himself as well. He started crying when someone introduced their boot to his stomach, and spittle flew from Shinji's mouth as the wind got knocked out of him. Before he slipped back into unconsciousness, he saw more familiar faces: Dr. Akagi, Aoba-san, Ibuki-san, and Hyuga-san. All had looked like they had taken a beating, and Hyuga appeared to have lost his glasses. When he woke up again, he was in a cell with Asuka.

Shinji mind snapped back to reality when a JSSDF soldier pushed him from behind.

"Get in that elevator, you punk kids! We got a real nice surprise for you..." the soldier said with an evil grin on his face.

Maybe if I don't follow their orders, they'll have to kill me. That was Shinji's train of thought at that moment as he refused to budge. He steeled himself for the pain that was surely to be inflicted on him, and it came. The guard punched him viciously in the ribs, and Shinji doubled over. Catching Shinji off guard, the soldier pushed him once more, sending him flying into the elevator, and entered it himself. He pressed an elevator button, and the doors closed. Shinji could feel the high-speed lift jerk several times, indicating that they were now moving.

Shinji sat unceremoniously in a far corner of the elevator, nursing his side and warily eyeing the two accompanying him in there. A few moments later, the guard was standing too close, uncomfortably close, next to Asuka, as he toyed with her hair and started sniffing the shoulder area of her plug suit. Asuka remained the same, with those melancholy eyes, and a frown that seemed to have no emotion attached to it. Shinji looked away, and sat in his corner nursing his side.

The elevator doors opened shortly, and the guard snapped back to attention as a group of more soldiers awaited outside.

"This way," one of them ordered, and the Children were led to a familiar place; the main control room, the site where the original MAGI supercomputers stood (or once stood; they were removed by the guards, as Shinji was able to see later on), as well as the place where they received their orders during missions.

Shinji was able to see more people who were taken as prisoners. In addition to Ritsuko, Makoto, Shigeru, Maya, and Misato, there were several other faces he recognized but failed to know their names, and about fifteen more adult NERV employees. Rei was also alive, dressed in her school uniform, but with small tears and several bloodstains scattered all over the fabric. While everyone looked very miserable, Rei was strangely calm and cool; her face was completely benign of joy, of misery, of any emotion.

Then Shinji saw his father, Gendo Ikari, sitting on a chair across from him. His elbows were propped on each armrest, and his hands were crossed in front of his face, as if he was deep in prayer. Shinji's anger knew no bounds for this man after the way the elder Ikari toyed with him, destroying Shinji's life, and in one case, his friend, Toji. The once quiet, proud man was now a fraction of what he was now. His usually meticulously neat uniform was now dirty and slightly tattered, and a small crack formed in one of the lenses of his dark eyeglasses. Shinji couldn't help but feel redeemed a little bit, for himself, for the others, for Toji...

Toji. Shinji thought he saw him out of the corner of his eye, and turned his head to the side to confirm it. Indeed, it was him, sitting in a wheelchair, missing his left leg and right arm. Their eyes met briefly, and Shinji saw surprise, anger, and relief all at the same time in his eyes. Shinji tore his own eyes away from his, disgusted at himself for what he let happen to his friend.

Behind Toji were more familiar faces; his entire junior high class at school. Shinji's eyes went wide as he identified every single face in that crowd; there was Kensuke, Hikari, and about 20 more of them. Some of them were in casual dress, others in school uniforms he did not recognize. There also seemed to be a boy who looked like he suffered some serious burns; his face was mangled and dark, like a piece of beef jerky. This boy seemed to look intently at Shinji and the other pilots, but Shinji paid no attention to that, as he looked away from him. Perhaps at another time and place, Shinji would be glad to see them, that they did not abandon him after all. But they were forced to be here, and they would probably all die soon.

His neck began to itch. His hand moved up to scratch, it, but his fingers felt, smooth, cool, stainless steel instead. He remembered now; they placed this collar on him yesterday afternoon. The guard told him to stand up and come forward yesterday, and so he did. They placed the collar on him, shoved him back into the cell, and fed him his lunch, consisting of a bun, a slice of cheese, and some powdered milk. The rest of the day was spent tugging uselessly at the metal device, and scratching the rash that began to form where the metal touched the skin. Asuka, as usual, did nothing, save for slowly eating her meal, which lasted her almost all the way until dinner four hours later, when they were served a meal of beans and rice. Strange.

Shinji began to involuntarily tug at his collar again, when a man entered the room in a flourish. Everyone, Shinji included, turned to the man, watching as the soldiers respectfully moved out of his way, even bowing to him as he passed.

He was tall, of a medium build, and looked like he was nearing his forties. He wore a stark black standard business suit, complimenting with his grayish-brown, military-esque close cropped hair.

He entered the large circle of confused prisoners, stepping over them and shaking off the ones that clinged to him nervously as if he were some kind of savior. Reaching the end of the whole NERV technician base, which overlooked the vast bottom of the control room, he lifted himself up and sat leisurely on one of the technician's computer desks.

Running his fingers through his hair, he sighed and leaned his hands on his knees.

Shinji took notice of his haggard appearance and his sad, tired eyes.

"Hello, everyone," he finally spoke, his voice deep as a brass drum, a droll tone to it. "Welcome to the Control Room. I am Shirou Shirota. I will be your instructor for the next two days."

Shinji could only stare as the man slid off his perch and stood, dusting off his suit.

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance", he said with a tired face. "Let's be friends."

Before he even finished the sentence, all of the captives were murmuring between themselves. One voice silenced them all.

"What is going on, Shirota?" That was the voice of Gendo Ikari, his voice level, but dangerous.

"Please do not interrupt me, former Commander Ikari; I will get to that." A soldier carrying a club slammed Gendo once behind the back with it, making Gendo inhale sharply in pain.

"That means shut the hell up, Ikari!" the soldier said as he threatened to take another swing at him. Gendo immediately turned and stared him in the eye with his complete attention, forcing the soldier to move backwards a little, intimidated by his piercing glare.

"That will be enough, Sudo." Shirota raised a hand.

The enigmatic stranger continued. "You are all here for crimes against humanity. Whether you are innocent or guilty, it will not matter anymore. You are all here now, and that's all that matters."

"You are to participate in an activity that has been approved by the UN that the brains behind this like to call 'The Program.' What does this program involve? It is a simple game of survival. How to survive The Program, is another matter."

After a brief, dramatic pause, Shirota resumed.

"In the next hour or so, all of you will be randomly scattered around an empty NERV base, where there will be lots of space to move around, hide, run, and so on. Why? Because in the Program, you will all kill each other until one person is left. That's how you win."

A large clamor went up in the control room, as people began to cry, complain, or verbally reject what was just said to them. Shinji was disturbed by this announcement, but showed no outward emotion other than the one he had been holding since this whole mess began. Looking around, he could see more varied and different emotions than his. Misato had stood up and cried at the injustice of the situation, her eyebrows narrowed and her voice loud and clear.

"You can't do this to us! Almost nobody knew about the real reasons between Third Impact and the Evas! This is unfair!"

Shinji also saw that several NERV employees were crying with the female students. Maya appeared to be on the verge of fainting, and Hikari's face was streaked with hot tears.

Asuka harbored the same look on her face that Shinji had. Rei's face showed no emotion whatsoever, which scared Shinji the most (Maybe this is just another order for her to follow...).

One person came forward from the crowd of middle school students. It was Toji.

"Who the hell do you think you are, to force us to kill our friends?!? What if we refuse, you middle-aged asshole?"

Shirota didn't answer. He held out his hand to stop the soldiers from beating Toji to a pulp. "I want to hear what this young man has to say," he ordered them.

Toji continued, rattling his wheelchair in his attempt to get closer to the man, "I'm not participating. No way. This is a sick joke, and I won't be any part of it, you bastard!"

Shirota kept silent in Toji's berating, and snapped his fingers to the soldier next to him. Toji went silent as the soldier stood to attention. Shirota lifted an eyebrow and made a 'give me' gesture to the soldier. The soldier, understanding, handed him a manila folder, which Shirota took and looked through. He looked at Toji, handing the folder back.

"Mr. Toji Suzuhara. Let's stop this. Let's be friends."

Toji glared up at him and retorted, "Friends? Friends?! You're no friend of mine!" He waved out his hands at the other captives, "These people are my friends, and I'm not going to kill them."

The military stranger stared down at the enraged young cripple for a few moments, and then smiled gently. His eyes did not match his smile, and seemed rather out of place.

"You will have to do this. It's your duty. It is required of you--"

Toji finally erupted, screaming in Shirota's face.

"Fuck you!"

Shirota paused, as if he didn't know what to do. Then he opened his mouth again to console Toji, and- -

"Fuck you! I will never do this! You hear me?! NEVER!"

As Toji ranted and raved, the man stared at his right hand, clenching and unclenching it. Shinji, watching, couldn't figure out what to make of this spectacle. It actually seemed like Toji was going to be gain the upper hand in the argument.

"Shut up, Mr. Suzuhara," Shirota finally said. The room, which had been full of murmurs full of encouragement for Toji and disdain for Shirota, went totally silent. Shirota himself looked calm and peaceful now, the age-weary look gone from his appearance.

The military man looked up and addressed the literally captive audience.

"I have studied all of your files. I have had things prepared in case of emergencies." He looked down at the confused Toji. "I had hoped never to use them. Yours especially, Mr. Suzuhara."

Shirota pulled a small remote from his pants pocket, and pressed a button.

The screen that filled the front view of the control room lit up, and showed several forms. In the middle was a girl, no older than four or five, and around her, were three well-armed soldiers, their rifles pointed at her.

Shirota waved happily at the image, shocking the whole room. He had been glum and morose the whole introduction, this was the first time they've seen him truly smile while happy. Indeed, his brown eyes did match his smile.

"Hello, little girl! Say hi to your big brother!"

Toji did not say a word as her younger sister screamed, pleading desperately for her life.

"Toji! Please, help me! Toji! Toji!"

Toji gritted his teeth as he venomously spat out curses and threats with a low voice, while he tried to stand up from his wheelchair. Unable to balance himself, Toji fell unceremoniously on his stomach, right in front of Shirota's feet, much to the amusement of the soldiers inside the control room.

Shirota did not seem amused. "Mr. Suzuhara, this is disappointing. Look what you did to yourself. If you participate, I will have them leave your sister alone, and I'll even help you back to your chair… myself. What do you say?" He offered his hand to Toji.

Toji spat on Shirota's boots instead.

Regret and resignation appeared in Shirota's eyes, but it was almost too brief to notice. He gave Toji a sad grin.

"Just a sick joke, hey?"

Toji couldn't understand, "What are you… What are you talking about?"

"Keep thinking of it like that. I hate to do this, kid. I honestly do. Just remember: You brought this on yourself."

He turned to the soldiers and gave them a single command.

"Do it."

Shinji chose not to stare at the impending carnage on the screen, and instead looked down, gritting his teeth, and trying to fight tears that had already fallen on his face. The only thing he heard was the screaming of the audience, the incoherent stammering of Toji, the heartbreaking cries of the little girl, and the staccato pitter-patter of three machine guns going off at the same time, which canceled out all of the other sounds.

Shinji thought it would be safe to look up again, but was proven very wrong. Toji's sister did not even resemble a little girl anymore. Her face was caved in by the impact of the hollow point bullets, and the once-white hospital sheets were stained crimson. Shinji also noticed a grey, viscous fluid flowing from the holes in the girl's head, but had no idea what it was. Before he could think about this more, he vomited, along with several others in the control room.

Shinji's eyes watered, and his throat burned from the ousted bile. His vision swirled a bit, but he could see Toji in the middle of the room. With a good deal of difficulty, he was able to shakily sit back on his wheelchair, and began to roll himself towards Shirota, a mixture of anger and tears searing in his eyes. Letting out a constant stream of unintelligible curses, he used his remaining limbs to launch his body from his chair, hurtling towards the Instructor.

Shirota anticipated the attack, and reacted. He grasped Toji by the neck and shirt and threw him down violently to the cold floor.

Toji's back had only begun to rise when it was stomped back down by Shirota's meticulously shined boots. Blood oozed from Toji's mouth, nose, and several cuts on the back of his head and forehead as rubber soles collided with flesh to make a sickening sight, and bloodlust seemed to overcome Shirota's senses, evidenced by his sudden sadistic sneer, as he pummeled Toji's head to the floor, making a small puddle of blood form and splash around where Toji's head bounced.

With an exasperated sigh, and a sickeningly satisfied look in his eye, Shirota picked up Toji's barely conscious form, hobbled over to the edge of the control room, and flung the body over the ledge. A terrible silence was cut short by the sound of flesh hitting a steel bulkhead, like a melon splitting into pieces on concrete.

Cries of dismay could be heard throughout the control room, especially from the corner where Shinji's former class stood. Hikari cried out the loudest, and she had to be restrained by two of her friends.

Shirota, meanwhile, looked irritated by the noise while he smoothed the wrinkles from his dark suit.

"Glad it wasn't too messy..." he muttered to himself, while several guards brandished their guns in front of their captives to silence them.

Once the noise ebbed back down to a minimum (save for Hikari's quiet sobbing), Shirota continued to address his audience.

"As your instructor, I am required to give you certain lessons on life along the way. This is your first lesson today: You either get with the Program… or you die. You cannot refuse your fate. You are to survive or die for the Program. Mr. Suzuhara here died for it, just as his sister did. This is the most important decision of your life, and you will make it right now. You will tell yourself, 'I will survive, or I will die.' It is up to you to decide which will happen. It will be very hard on you, and that is why you must think of it in these terms; that life is a game, and in life, you must secure every advantage possible to succeed in this game. I want you all to do your very best to win."

From the corner of his eye, Shirota noticed one of the students tugging nervously at his collar. It was Kensuke. He appeared dazed and close to panic, as if he didn't realize that he was pulling his metal collar, but was instead trying to wake up from a horrible dream where his best friend was no more.

Shirota waved a finger at him. "No, no, Mr. Aida... I wouldn't do that if I were you. I almost forgot to tell you about your collars. These collars implement a tracking device which allows us to view where you are from this control room. If you try to remove the collar by force, there is a good amount of plastic explosive in there, which should blow your head clean off your shoulders."

Anyone who was still touching their collars from that point on kept their hands to their sides. Shirota smiled inwardly, and continued.

"To keep the game lively, we've added a few more rules to the Program. Every now and then, certain sectors of NERV will be off-limits, and I will refer to them as the 'Forbidden Zones.' If you should walk into a forbidden zone, the explosives in your collar will trigger, and you will die. This forces you to keep moving around the base. Of course, I will make announcements to you every now and then to give you the location of these zones, as well as the names of those who have died."

"The other rule we've added is this: if no one dies in the Program within 24 hours, I will personally trigger everyone's collars, and everybody will die. It's as simple as that."

Several of the soldiers began carrying black backpacks into the control room and setting them down in a pile.

"These are your survival packs," Shirota explained as he motioned towards the pile of backpacks. "Each pack contains a three day supply of rations, a map with which to mark your forbidden zones, and a random weapon with which to protect yourself with. When I call out your name, you will take one of these packs, and you will be escorted out of the control room. After that, you are on your own. You will have fifteen minutes to move away from the control room, and from the other participants. After fifteen minutes have passed, another person will walk out, and this will continue until everybody is gone."

"Oh, and one more thing... As soon as everybody has been released, the Control Room will become a forbidden zone. So, if you come within 100 meters within the Control Room, your collar will explode, and you will die. Additionally, there is no way out of NERV base. If you do somehow find a way out of here, your collar will explode. The only way out is through the Program."

"Ok, let's get started," Shirota said, clapping his hands at a half-hearted attempt to encourage his audience. "We have already randomly selected who will go first." He pulled a piece of paper from his jacket pocket, and unfolded it.

"And our first participant is... none other that our great leader, the former Commander Gendo Ikari."

"Let's go, Ikari," barked one of the guards as he lifted Gendo from his seat. Gendo elbowed the soldier backwards, who instantly poised himself to attack. The only thing that stopped the soldier was Shirota's implied stare.

Slowly and methodically, Gendo walked towards the pile of survival packs, chose the top one, pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose as he gripped the pack, and walked out of the control room with a defiant swagger.

Fifteen uncomfortable minutes passed, and another name was called.

"Keiko Kuronaga. You are next."

A frightened, timid girl stepped forward from the crowd of students. She took one last glance at Hikari (who gave her a look of reassurance). Keiko seemed to be clutching a piece of paper in her left hand, which she hid quickly in her shorts pocket. She took a backpack from the bottom of the pile, and walked nervously towards the exit. When she disappeared from view, her steps sounded quicker, until it sounded like she ran away from there.

"Shigeru Aoba. You are next."

This time, a man wearing a NERV uniform stepped up. He pushed his long hair back in an uneasy manner, and picked up a backpack. He dashed out of the Control Room as quickly as he could.

"Ryuhei Ogawa. You are next."

The teenager with the burnt scars on his face and arms walked towards the survival packs. He chose the nearest pack, and marched out of the room. Shinji felt Ryuhei's eyes burning a hole in his skull the whole time this happened, and tried as he could, Shinji could not ignore it, and he felt uneasy. Did this kid have a grudge against him? He remembered the name, but did not recall if Ryuhei ever even talked to him in school. He couldn't even remember his face. He let out a small sigh as he finally left the room.

"Misato Katsuragi. You are next."

Misato, still dressed in her NERV uniform and red jacket, walked forward. The guards seemed to eye her lustily, and one soldier even whistled at her. Misato did not seem to care, since her attention was placed on Shirota. Her face was full of anger as she yanked a backpack from the pile, and stormed out of the Control Room, but not before muttering a few choice words to Shirota.

"I will kill you; mark my words," she uttered to his face. Shirota nodded solemnly, as if accepting the challenge.

"Rei Ayanami. You are next."

A quiet "Yes, sir" was heard from a corner of the room, and Rei stood up and grabbed a backpack obediently.

"Ayanami." Shirota's voice called out, and Rei stopped in her tracks to turn around and face him. Shirota's voice was calm, almost compassionate.

"As your instructor and new commander, I expect you to do your best these next few days. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," came the terse reply. Rei marched steadily out of the room, and as her footsteps faded away, Shinji could not help but comment to himself that out of all the exits he's seen recently, Rei's was the most disturbing.

"Shinji Ikari. You are next."

Shinji heard those words echo in his brain, and he realized that his time was now.

But what if I don't want to play his game? A voice inside him said. He can't make me play if I die... It sounded reasonable, and a good idea at that, but whatever was left of Shinji's self-preservation kicked in, which forced him to stand up.

You don't have to play... They could just kill you, and this won't bother you anymore...

Shinji fell to his knees, and began to cry pathetically.

"I want to die..." he whimpered to himself as he rubbed away tears falling from his pale cheeks.

Shirota stared tiredly at him, and then replied, "I know what you want. You will not get it."

He motioned to the soldiers.

They filed in and surrounded Shinji. "Guards," Shirota ordered, "Strap a backpack on Mr. Ikari here and escort him out of the control room. We can't afford to lose any more participants in the Program."

A soldier took a random backpack and roughly slipped the straps over Shinji's shoulders. Two other guards grabbed him by his arms and literally dragged Shinji's body out of the control room.

Shinji's vision was blurred from the crying, but he could see the bright light emanating from the control room as he was dragged into a dark hallway. They would not kill him. He would have to fight, and kill... or he could just let himself be killed. That's it... just stay within the perimeter of the control room area and blow himself up, or have someone kill him.

After a good deal of struggling, the soldiers tossed Shinji out just a few feet from where the perimeter ends.

"Good luck, boy!" one of the soldiers mockingly said as they walked back into the control room, laughing.

Shinji did not move a muscle after that. He stared into the florescent lights above him, waiting for someone to put him out of his misery, until - -

"God, I knew you'd be stupid enough to pull something like this!"

It was Misato.

~~~~~

"Is the contingency plan in place?"

"Aye, sir. Collars are on, and tracking everyone, including the one you told us to keep an eye on."

"Good. It is imperative he survives as long as possible."

"Pardon me for asking, sir, but why him?"

"It is not your place to ask questions... Continue monitoring. I want to know of the moment the first participant dies."

"Aye, sir."

~~~~~

37 Participants Remaining...

~~~~~

END OF PROLOGUE

In the next installment of The Program, the game begins as friendships fail, rivalries are formed, and the first casualties of the Program turn up. Please review.

AUTHORS' NOTES:

Kenshiro (revised): Hi everyone, thanks for reading. An updated version of this has been on FFN for quite some time, and it has only been now that I've been able to update it on MediaMiner. It has been quite the last month for this story. After much brain-wracking, this story is most definitely on the right track, but for our past readers, I will have to clarify a few things:

First of all, there is a valid reason for all the gratuitous violence, and don't be so naïve as to come to the conclusion that the Program is simply a Holocaust on a smaller scale. Evangelion is known for its plentiful enigmas, and we as Eva fiction writers will follow this example.

Secondly, the plot thread in question has been modified greatly in order to coincide with the Evangelion universe, as well as for keeping within the realm of reality. The old plots were far-fetched and allowed OOC-ness in certain characters. With that in mind, anything you have thought of about the story may be invalid.

Thanks for reading.

Bad Ronald: Yo. Just for the record, this was wholly my idea, and Kenshiro deserves no recognition. No, I'm just kidding, Kenshiro was really kind enough to set aside his projects to help me brainstorm on the story, and eventually pitch in and co-write it with me. Thanks, man. I owe you one, and then some.

I hope you'll enjoy reading this story, it's too badassed not to. See you next chapter.