BY THE SEA by LilAsia (lilasia@juno.com) A small ripple slowly made its way to shore, testing the land inch by inch. Not like it was in any rush to cover poisoned ground anyway. Another wave formed and dared to be a bit bigger than the one before, if only to make more sound. It was too quiet. A world in vaccuumed space. The kind of silent which made a person parandoid and drove him insane. Nothing stirred. The world outside was dead. All that is alive is in... ... That wasn't right.. There were two more outside the artificial sea. Two who had rejected them. The boy hugged his legs, his chin resting on his knees. He stared out at the varying shades of red that surrounded him. Red sky, red sea, red earth... He turned to look at the figure beside him. Asuka was still asleep. 'I wonder if she's dead,' he thought. "Why are you here?" he asked. The train traveled through the endless tracks. The light that fell in through the windows, however, was no longer the soft yellow glow. It was pinkish.. from a red sky. "I don't know. Maybe because of all that 'Help me, Asuka, help me' crap you kept spouting. Gee, thanks," Asuka replied acidly. He blushed. "Nnn.. What I meant was.. why aren't you with them?" "Because man cannot exist alone," Rei replied. "You are now the Shinji in Asuka's mind. As she is the Asuka in your mind. If you were alone what would you be?"