VL

AN: And here's the last one.

Here's Misato once again...and she's about to have one of the most unnerving moments of her life.

•9:19 PM

A part of me really feels sickened right now. Not just because of NERV's blatant neglect of Rei Ayanami, and the Vice Commander's feeble attempts to claim that there was no prior knowledge of the squalor in which the poor girl was living...

No...not just that. Also making me sick is the fact that I've used the noble cause of providing a better home for Rei as cover for an entirely different endeavor.

I'd like to think, though, that I'd have done it anyway, without an ulterior motive...

'I guess I would have...after all, that apartment...'

When I walked in, I was horrified at what I saw.

The floor was scuffed, dirty, and appeared to be covered in a thick layer of dust. Indeed, the air itself felt thick and heavy with dust and airborne filth.

The kitchen, just beyond the front door, featured a grimy stove, covered in a multicolored hell of stains. Next to that, a cracked and heavily mildewed sink. And as I stood there, transfixed, I saw...something...scurry out of sight in the corner of my eye.

Moving forward without a word, I had looked around the main room that took up most of the apartment. The floor there was just as filthy as that of the kitchen...and considering the small size of the room, surprisingly barren...occupied only by a small chest of drawers, a bed, a large box behind it against the wall, a chair next to the bed, a tiny refrigerator, and another box next to it.

Inside this last box...were clusters of bloodied bandages. Looking back at the bed, I saw that the pillow upon it was also stained with blood...and the stains were disquietingly large.

The entire room smelled of...indifference...no other word could describe it, and...realizing that I was starting to sweat...I noticed that despite it being nighttime, the heat in the room was stifling.

Moving onto the bathroom...oh goodness...

Suffice it to say that it looked as though nothing had been cleaned in there for some time...if ever...

After that, and a quick call to the Commander, I rushed the two teens outside, and over Rei's initial mild protestations, drove them back to my apartment, and called to ask a favor of Makoto Hyuga.

'That's another thing that makes me feel sickened...after what happened to Shinji, I shouldn't be leaving him alone...'

Well, Makoto is with them both now...but still...after he told me what got him down from that ledge...

"...I didn't want to do it if it would mean hurting you..."

I could try to justify this as being for the welfare of the entire world...if indeed NERV is up to something nefarious...but really, I know the truth. This is me just being obsessed with finding the truth...just like Kaji...

'And we'll probably both die trying.'

And if we do...will it save anyone? What will become of Shinji, Asuka...or even Rei...without me around?

'But if SEELE and/or NERV are up to something...what kind of world could be left to them? If indeed one or both organizations really did trigger the Second Impact...would there even BE a world for them?! I suppose these are the words I'll have to believe in to lay me down...for now though, let's see if Kaji really is on to something.'

The hallways I walk are quite empty and silent; the only sound is the soft echo of my footsteps and-

My lungs freeze, the air catching in my throat. Another set of footsteps is making it's way towards me from the perpendicular corridor ahead of me.

'If that isn't-...there isn't enough time for me to hide!'

And across the mouth of the hallway where the two corridors meet, a tall man with long hair tied back in a ponytail strides past, not even turning aside to look my way.

Mentally breathing a sigh of relief, I begin to follow him in such a way that it looks as though I wish neither to be seen or heard.

When I decided to join in with Kaji's investigation, we decided that it would be best to time our arrivals in such a way that we would meet at that corridor. If one of us was late, we'd wait until we had heard the other's footsteps, making sure to have an ample hiding spot to safely watch from.

I had botched that last bit by allowing my thoughts to wander too much...but luckily, the person walking towards me was Kaji himself.

A few times, Kaji looks over his shoulder, and I make a point to dodge out of sight. If there are any cameras watching, we want to be sure that it doesn't look like we're in league with one another.

Eventually, after passing through several restricted areas that Kaji has somehow obtained access to, he reaches a lone elevator and steps inside.

Approaching quietly, I see, to my frustration, that the elevator has no floor markers to indicate it's progress.

Unsure of how long I'll have to wait for the cab to return, I try to occupy my time by looking around.

There isn't much to see in this room...just three featureless walls, the featureless hallway leading to it, and the lone elevator on the left side of the room, utterly innocuous...save for its odd location.

The room, or perhaps cul-de-sac would be more appropriate, is fairly dusty...like it's never been cleaned since its construction.

'God, this is maddening! It's too damn quiet in here.'

I don't know how many times I repeat that thought to myself before at last...

A mechanical rumbling begins to swell inside the wall as the elevator cab returns. And a moment later, the door opens to admit me.

As I step into it, I notice that the only notable feature of the elevator cab is how utterly blank it is inside.

It seems to take an age to reach the end. Once again, the surrounding monotony is nearly enough to drive me insane. So I try to turn my mind elsewhere...

I find myself thinking of Makoto this time...

Poor guy. I really do take unfair advantage of his crush on me. First my laundry...and now babysitting? He agreed to do it without much hesitation, but still...I owe him something for this. Really, if it weren't for-

'No, don't think like that. Don't go thinking about someone as some kind of rebound for you to fall back on. Makoto deserves better than that, and you know it.'

Maybe I could help hook him up sometime. I guess that'd be something nice I could do in return for all the favors I've asked.

Ah well...back to the missi-

'Oh good! We're here!'

When the elevator doors open, I see that the corridor ahead is made of carved stone rather than smooth metal.

'Just how far down are we?'

The air is warmer and thicker here, and I can feel the pressure change in my ears.

And there's another sensation that's...unpleasantly familiar...but I can't properly place it.

I pass through two security checkpoints, both of which are 'carelessly' left open. And upon turning the corner...

I draw my pistol, despite knowing that it might do nothing against whatever waits for us in Terminal Dogma.

About to slide the card through the reader, he pauses mid-motion.

"So, you've caught up to me then. I thought I heard footsteps." His tone is so convincing, I almost believe that he wasn't expecting me all along.

"Cut the crap Kaji. Let's get this over with."

Kaji nods, but pauses once more.

"Misato. Once this door opens-"

"There's no going back, right? I know. Trust me, I didn't endure that maddening elevator ride down here for nothing."

I turn to face the gargantuan vertical door in front of me. "Let's do this."

I hear the beep of the card reader, and the door begins to open slowly. As the chamber within begins to come into view, the familiar sensation I had earlier becomes stronger.

And then the door opening upward passes my eye level...

First I notice a huge red pillar at the center of the enormous hollow...running down it's surface to the floor beneath is a constant stream of a familiar orange liquid...a stream that seems to begin at the base of what looks ominously like some twisted mass of white flesh-

"Oh my god," I whisper.

The pillar is actually a cross made of some strange red metal...and nailed to it...

The flesh is pure, luminescent white...and it's shape is unmistakably humanoid...though this does not serve to make the beast less unearthly and unnerving to behold. If anything...

The face...if it has one...is entirely covered by a purple mask adorned with what looks like some kind of sigil...seven eyes arranged vertically; four one one side, three on the other, over an inverted triangle.

Out of the creature's chest, juts a massive two-pronged spear, seemingly made of the same strange red metal as the cross.

It is only upon seeing this that I notice...the beast has no legs.

The torso, rather than being neatly truncated at the base, is grotesquely marred and distorted by tumor-like bulges..and...protruding out of, and from between, the cancerous looking disfigurations are other growths...thin, dangling growths...growths that look horribly like...

Limbs...human limbs...

"Is...", I whisper, at last finding my voice, "Is that an Eva? N-no...but-..."

The vision of a glowing giant flashes through my mind...

"I-i-it can't be!"

"Yes." Kaji sounds calm, but much more subdued than usual.

"The key to the Second Impact...and everything that's happened since." He seems to be talking more to himself than to me. "The starting point of everything. This is Adam."

"Adam," I repeat the word, spitting it out like an obscenity. "But why is the First Angel here?! You're right Kaji, I don't know NERV!"

I glare at the monstrosity on the cross. "I don't know NERV at all!"

'Adam...I hope you're alive up there you bastard. I hope you're feeling every ounce of pain from being crucified!'

If the monster is alive, it gives no indication of being so...

Silent...unresponsive...its disturbingly human head lolling slightly downward to the right, Adam has made no attempt to escape, to attack...or even to move...or even to observe our intrusion into its prison.

'So it must be dead...right...?'

And yet...somehow...I know it is not...

There's a...wrongness...about the angle of it's arms. As the nail-pinned hands are the only things visibly holding it up, it's body should be dangling lower.

It gives me the ominous feeling that it's...holding itself here...willingly.

'Probably some apparatus fixed into its back. Either that, or maybe that spear is poking out through the back of the cross.'

I stare...fixating on the seven-eyed mask.

'I can't help but wonder. What does it look like underneath that thing?'

Shuddering slightly at the thought, I turn to Kaji.

"You're...certain this is Adam?"

'Wait...I wasn't thinking that...was I?'

Kaji, who has also been staring up at 'Adam', quickly turns to look at me. His face is suddenly pale, his expression unnerved.

"I was wondering the same thing. And yet..." He looks up again. "I don't know why I'm even thinking about that. After all, who...or what else could it be?"

Pondering that...I realize something. For a reason I can't explain, I'm thinking of a name.

'Lilith?'

Why is a name I don't even know randomly cropping up at a time like this?

A short time later, after further examination of the enormous chamber, we walk out into the dimly orange-lit hallway, the great doors closing slowly behind us.

Before they seal the room from sight, I take another look at 'Adam', half expecting it to start moving...or start screaming it's piercing, inhuman wail while trying to rip itself off the cross. But it does no such thing...remaining utterly, and eerily, motionless.

'It...doesn't look the same as it did fifteen years ago. The giant I saw in the distance looked like a glowing Evangelion. This...just looks kind of like an oversized human. Still, it's an Angel...I shouldn't be too surprised if it's changed it's form.'

The door closes...and suddenly it feels colder than before.

I hadn't even realized how much warmer the air had been inside Terminal Dogma.

And...the strange...prickling sensation...a sort of...squirming feeling in the infinitesimal space between my brain and skull...has subsided.

'I didn't even notice it until it stopped.'

Looking back at Kaji, I notice the way he's staring at the door, his face paler than ever.

'He felt it too.'

"Let's get out of here," he mutters.

I nod, and we make our way back to the elevator, making sure to reset the security points on our way back.

Once the elevator door closes behind us, the sensation I couldn't place earlier is gone.

'Now I know that the damn thing was alive in there. That feeling...as if the air around me were alive...the pulsating, as if of a giant internal organ...I felt it after getting off the elevator.'

The AT Field...

Clearly too weak to form a barrier...but still strong enough to create a sort of...aura.

I turn to look at Kaji.

'So...you really have been on to something haven't you Kaji? Well after what I've seen today...you've got yourself an ally to the end. If I can help you get through this alive...I will. Even at the cost of my own life.'

Deciding to break the silence I loathe so much, I ask Kaji what I believe to be a throwaway question.

"Hey Kaji, what do you know about the name 'Lilith'?"