Chapter 131: Bleeding In Again

In a conference room, both Commander Ikari and Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki were at their regular positions. Both received another message of an emergency meeting from SEELE and their committee. Sitting at one end of the long conference table, Gendo looked impassively forward with his arms on the armrests of his chair. Still waiting for the committee members to log on, Kozo spoke.

"Seems every Angel battle now is a cause for an emergency meeting."

"Those old fools are at the end of their rope," the Commander said not moving. "They are not in control anymore."

"In regards to what has occurred here?"

"Given the developments, the pilots, and the Units that are being station here, I have been given higher authority power. Those fools failed to see that."

"That is true; however, there are still two factors remaining to consider."

"You speak of the Fifth and Sixth Child?"

"Yes. They are still operatives of SEELE."

"If either one rebels, we can go through the emergency procedures for countering them."

"Those procedures for when in an Eva or not?"

"If not in a Unit, they will be captured and imprisoned. If they resist, they can be shot on sight."

"Will shooting them be effective given their origins?"

"…" Gendo said blinking and continuing to stare forward.

"What of if they are in an Eva? Shutdown remotely?"

"That or have the dummy system as a bypass."

"If those options don't work?"

"Initiate self-destruct," Gendo said slowly going into his infamous sitting position. "Regardless if normal methods do not deliver results, there is a weapon that can take them."

"…" Kozo said glancing at the Commander. "Are you speaking of the Third Child?"

"No. Regardless of what that pilot is now, it cannot defeat Angels."

"…" the Sub-Commander said. Cringing a little from his statement, he couldn't disagree with it.

"Unit-01?"

"Yes."

"Given how unstable that Unit is, how are you going to control it?"

"I have a method," he said adjusting his shades.

Despite how dark it was in the room, Kozo could tell that his leader was on edge. From how things have been going and the constant turmoil that Yui keeps going through, he had become more irritated and cold. His ruling slowly was turning into an iron fist. The insubordination from Dr. Akagi during the last Angel battle seemed to had pushed him over the edge a little. Recalling the last visit he did with Gendo to check on Dr. Ikari, it was depressing. Though Yui stated that she was recovering, her overall appearance looked weathered and started having a lifeless look. After leaving the room and walking down the hallway, the Commander punched the wall hard. Though the outburst was short lived, the agitation in his face was immense.

'From all that has happen so far…I wonder why he has never asked or mentioned about what is in Unit-01. Ever since Yui came out of it and what was witnessed that possessed it, he has become hesitant of it…even though it clearly has to be the essence of his son…or…a demented Angel of some kind,' the Sub-Commander thought.

Holographic activations were heard and the committee members slowly came on one by one. When the last one at the end of the table appeared, all looked at them with agitation of varying degrees. It gave Fuyutsuki confirmation of what Gendo stated was true. That the committee members were at the end of their rope and had lost much of their control over them.

[Commander Ikari] the leader with the eye visor stated with a passive voice. [This meeting will be short or long depending on the following answers you provide.]

"I see...very well," Gendo stated not moving from his position.

[We find that there are too many irregularities occurring at your branch. Based on how the last Angel battles have been conducted and ended, we find that the Units under your care have become…uncontrollable and unstable.]

"…" the Commander said without moving. "I see. Uncontrollable and unstable in what aspects?"

[How was this Unit able to produce this amount of power and destruction?] a committee member stated before the leader did.

A projector screen slowly lowered on wall in the room. Once all the way down, it turned on. It showed the Unit in question to be Eva-03. One of the images was the war machine with a dark halo over its head. Another showed when the Angel impacted with the Unit and seemed to have fused with it. The next showed when the Angel detached then straightened to its full length. Piercing it at one end, it slowly inflated till it burst from the seams of its skin. The last image was after the Angel exploded in which everything had a mild haze of the Angel's blood.

[Are you going to say that the dummy plug system was in control?] another member stated with a sneer.

"The Third Child was piloting the Unit during the Angel battle," the Commander corrected him.

[…] all of the committee members stared back in silence. A couple murmured with one another while the other kept quiet.

[P-preposterous!] one stated out loud; however, no one voiced anything afterwards.

[How was the Third Child able to display those feats? Especially when Unit-03 is attuned to the Fourth Child.]

"Dr. Akagi made experiments in swapping pilots with other Evas possible. In her research and findings, the change in pilots produced promising results. Since then, there have been less rejections of the Units with any of the pilots."

[Dr. Akagi created this and the Dummy Plug System…is that correct?]

"Yes."

[…] more murmurs from the committee members were heard. After some moments, the room became quiet again.

[Commander, the committee is interested in speaking with Dr. Akagi. Based on her creation of both systems, it would deem that she would be better able to explain these…uncontrollable and irregular occurrences during the Angel battles] the leader stated with head nods from the others.

"I see," Gendo stated only moving his head up a little. "You have my consent in interviewing Dr. Akagi for your...seek to understanding."

[How far does that consent go Commander?]

"However you see fit gentlemen."

[How gracious of you…very well. We shall send representatives to escort Dr. Akagi to one of our facilities.]

"Very well."

[We will contact you again Commander. This meeting is done.]

One by one, the holographic images of the SEELE members went away. When the leader was left last and vanished, the room's lights became brighter slightly. Leaning back in his chair, Gendo placed his arms back on the armrests. Despite hearing footsteps coming towards him, he continued to stare forward.

"Is it wise to let them interrogate Dr. Akagi?"

"It is fine. I have no use for her now given her actions and where we currently are in this Angel war."

"What if she tells them what we have been hiding from them?"

"Depends on what they do after they are done. If they imprison the doctor for their safe keeping, then she may live. If they release her and she returns, she will be imprisoned and executed for her treason."

"…" Kozo said frowning a little. "I see you are playing this by the book…how fair of you."

"…" the Commander said. Moving his arms back to put his hands on the armrest, he pushed up.

"Of course…?" he said.

Unable to stand up, he looked down at his hands and feet. Blinking in surprise, bleeding fingers, veins, and skin had wrapped around them. Looking at the chair, his eyes widen from seeing that it was alive. It looked like a morbid fusion of all forms of flesh, inners, limbs, eyes, and hair. Hearing sounds from the table, he slowly turned his head.

"…its…you…" Fuyutsuki stated alarmed softly. He took one step back and froze. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end from feeling something behind him. Hearing the sounds of skin cracking and cartilage snapping made him not move.

The room's lights began to flicker randomly until something materialized at the conference table. In all the chairs sat corpses of unrecognizable people. Some were mutilated while others were burned to death. Each of the chairs were a Frankenstein monster of stitched limbs and flesh. The large table was in the same state though pulsated to the sound of a heartbeat in the background.

Stilling at the other end of the table was the Third Child. However, it was the version with black-red eyes and severely bleedings. Being naked, the two Commanders could see all of its cuts, scars, burn marks, acid spills, drill holes, and open sores were fresh. The evil version's grin continued to grow as the corners of its mouth stretch and curl up to its temples. Opening its mouth, a spiral of teeth covered the inside of its mouth. A black slashed up tongue came out before going back into its mouth.

' #$%#$aMeThOdDDDDaadaddddd-a-a-a-a-YYYY?#$% #$DOTELL!?' it spoke in a distorted tone before shouting.

"…" Gendo said frowning at it. Sitting back down, a cold chill went down his spine feeling multiple moves in the chair. Feeling a cold sweat start to build on his forehead, the limbs holding his hands and feet slowly let go of him.

"Why are you here?"

'IhEaRd #$% #%$YoUwwwwwwwaaaannnntttteeeeddddd #$% ToMaKeUsEoF…m…e'

"Who are you?"

' #$%#%$heeeeeee #$% #$IwOnDeRrrrrrr# $%#'

"What do you wan-!?" the Commander asked. Both Commanders flinched hard from seeing the table rip in half. The sound of a body being ripped apart sounded loudly as the organic fixture moaned and screamed in agony. Goosebumps littered their bodies as blood flooded the ground heavily. Blinking, the evil version of the Third Child appeared in front of them continuing to grin at them.

Instead of the being in the conference room, everything changed to bleeding flesh. Even the ground they stood on was a fusion of skin, intestines, and organs. In a hypnotic sight, the walls, ceiling, and floor pulsated while a chorus of moans and screams filled the background.

' #$#$#$#$#$%#$UTOPIA#$%# $%' the entire room screeched at them in ear-bleeding volume.

With a violent eruption, the entire environment exploded in a bloody burst. Both Commanders reactively shielded their faces as Kozo fell to the ground. Time passed as nothing else happened. Slowly moving their arms, they looked around. The conference room had returned to normal. However, the ceiling lights were flickering again.

"…" Gendo said standing up. Turning toward the Sub-Commander, the older man stood up quicker than normal. Looking at him, Kozo looked disturbed.

"I take it this is similar to what you and the technicians saw of Unit-01's supposive self-activation," the Commander asked with a controlled voice.

"…it is similar."

"…" he said putting his hands in his pockets.

'…G…e…n…d…o…' a familiar voice called quietly from the room. Both blinked and looked around, but didn't see anything.

'…help…me…its…here…no…stay away! STAY WAY! GENDO HELP ME! PLEASE!' the same voice stated louder until it screamed in fright. Before Fuyutsuki could say something, the Commander ran out of the room. Shaking his head, he quickly followed him. Once he left the room, the flickering ceiling lights stopped.

In another section of the base, two staffers went into an elevator. Picking the level, the lift doors closed and descended. Standing side by side waiting for their level to come up, both kept quiet. After going down a few levels, the lift stopped and opened its doors. Stepping through, they turned left to go down a hallway. Up ahead, there was an administration desk to the custody sector. Reaching it, the security personnel behind the counter looked up.

"Yes Major?"

"Special Investigator Kaji and myself would like to visit Dr. Akagi," Misato stated. Both saw the guard pull out a clipboard. It had a sign in/out sheet with a pen attached. He placed it on the counter.

"Sign and date. Once done, I will let you two through. An escort will show you to the prisoner's cell," he stated.

Watching both individuals sign the clipboard document, he retrieved it. Placing it back where it was before, he pushed a red button near his computer. The door next to the desk unlocked. It opened up with another security personnel on the other side pushing it open. Following the guard in, the security door closed behind them. After a short walk, the three stopped at a cell door. Looking in the window showed Ritsuko lying down on the bunk bed.

"How long do we have?" Kaji asked.

"If it goes longer than 15 minutes, I will knock."

"Sounds fair," he said with a nod.

Hearing him walkie the one at the admin desk, an electronic unlock was heard followed by mechanical lock release. Opening the door for them, both Misato and Kaji entered. When the door closed behind them, they stared at the scientist. Lying on her side facing the wall, her lab coat was off including her heels. She was wearing her sleeveless blue turtle neck top followed by a black thigh skirt with black stockings. The sight gave both an impression of vulnerability for some reason.

"Hey there Rits," Misato said softly from where she stood.

"…" Ritsuko said not turning.

"We heard that you were escorted from your office earlier…but…can we ask you a couple of questions?"

"…"

"…" the Major said. Remembering how she felt when she was in custody, she decided to try to communicate instead of not saying anything.

"During the Angel battle…how did you know where Unit-03 was connecting to? Especially Unit-01 which was in Terminal Dogma?"

"…"

"Do you know what is in Unit-01 Ritsuko?" Kaji asked softly. He did not take his hands out of his pocket and felt something vaguely familiar. His eyes wondered a little in the room.

"Is it Shinji…or is it something else?" Misato asked walking quietly to the bunk. Still, the scientist did not turn toward them. Instead, she cringed a little.

'I have never seen her like this,' the Major thought.

About to reach out to touch her shoulder, a hand was placed on hers. Looking back, it was the investigator's who was looking at something above. His face looked extremely alarmed as he slowly gripped her shoulder. He was slowly trying to pull her back to him. Blinking in surprise and confused, she turned back to Ritsuko. Something black fell on her bunk bed followed by another. Apprehension ripped through her as she slowly looked up. Her eyes widen in fear seeing what was at the ceiling.

' #$%$BYALLMEANS!#$%#$!ANSWERTHEM!ANSWERTHEM!'

A hideous disfigured figure was hanging from the ceiling. Black-red eyes clustered in one area of its body as they stared madly at the two. Instead of an inhumanly wide grin, there were regular size mouth slits that littered its entire form. All of them were opening and closing with various words and phrases coming out of them. The hostility and insanity that emitted from it shook both of them.

'I'mCuRiOuS-s-s-sssssssssssssss#$...f...o...u...n...d#$!' the morbid being asked with malicious excitement. 'wHaTaMi-WhAtAmI-WHATAMI!-#$% $ISAIDWHATIAM!?'

"…" Ritsuko said covering her ears and clenching her head with her hands. Closing her eyes to not look at it, she could smell blood all around her. Its voice shook her as no other sound emitted from the room.

'#$%#$wHeRRRREEeeeeeee!#$%' it said vanishing and appearing in front of Kaji and Misato. In a vicious and bloody rip, it split itself into two. Instead of seeing its insides and gore, they saw a grossly enlarge mouth run the length of its height. Each had too many teeth and a bleeding black tongue that slithered in and out.

'ArEyyyyyyoooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuu#$%#$-g-g-g-goin-in-in-ing?'

'…oh my god…why is it here?' Misato said looking deathly afraid at figure in front of her.

"If she is not responding to our questions…then we are wasting both of our time here," Kaji whispered. Sweat was beginning to form on his face as he stiffly stood still.

'…going already…?' it asked with an innocent child voice.

It caused both to blink to see the hideous figures vanish. What was in front of them was a child; however, it was severely scarred and tortured. Looking up at them, the boy had no eyes and just empty bleeding sockets. The amount aura it produced had magnified more than what the hideous figures produced. It caused both Kaji and Misato to jump back to the room door and pounded on it.

'…isn't…she…your…fRiEnD?' the boy asked turning its neck toward them.

Snaps, cracks, pops, and blood bursting splats emitted from its neck. Instead of a smooth head turn, it was ragged and uncontrolled. Hearing the mechanical lock release with the door opening slightly, both quickly pushed it out. Walking out, both closed the door. Just as the lock sounded, multiple death screams emitted from the room. Recoiling away from the door, they looked at the viewing window. Blood started dripping down from the inside.

"…are you two…okay?" the security escort asked. He saw both flinch hard then looked at him with tense and scared faces. Immediately going to the window, he saw Dr. Akagi was sitting on the bunk bed with her hands holding her head up. She looked to be in deep thought as she stared hard at the ground.

"Yeah…we are fine. We are done," Kaji said nodding shortly at the guard.

"…?" the guard said. Nodding in confusion, he escorted both of them back to the admin desk.

Signing out, both walked away quickly. The further they left the desk, Misato felt an increasing guilt of leaving Ritsuko behind. However, she never stopped, turned around, or looked back. Both heard the evil voice whispering from the administration desk. Leaving the containment section and going into an elevator, both released a deep sigh of relief. About to speak to each other while the doors were closing, a sound emitted from the hallway. Both flinched from hearing a deep chuckle in slow motion followed by pounding from the other side of the doors.

The next morning, Kaworu, Rayne, and Rei were cleared and released from the medical facility. All three left the base in two black sedans. The First and Sixth child were in one while the Fifth Child was in the other. As they reached the surface and rode down the highway to the city, the two cars parted ways. One went toward the apartment complexes nearby. The other continued down the highway in the direction of the school the pilots went to.

After being dropped off next to her apartment complex, Rayne watched the black sedan turn around and head back the way it came. Still feeling tired and out of it, she turned around and headed toward the stairs. Upon reaching them, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. In the sitting area of the ground level, there were vending machines as well as benches. Two dark silhouettes were sitting at one bench. Recognizing who they were, she headed toward them. Going to one of the vending machines, she got a drink.

"I see that you are still alive," one of the dark figures stated with a male voice. "Though you don't look it."

"Gee…thanks," Rayne said with a slow blink heading over to the bench. Sitting on the bench across from where the figures were, she opened her beverage and took a sip.

"How are you feeling?" the other dark figure asked with a female voice.

"I feel tired…drained…drugged…and like I had an overdose LSD trip," she said rubbing her eyes.

"I heard that the Angel battle was not normal," the man said scratching his beard.

"…it was…definitely not normal," the Fifth Child said shivering and became more alert. "I really don't want to talk about it."

"Worse than your nightmares?" the female figure asked and saw the ex-officer nod without thinking about it.

"Speaking of not normal, have you heard what happened during that Angel attack?"

"Regarding what?" Rayne asked taking another sip.

"In the evening news, a large majority of people in Neo-Tokyo reported having nosebleeds. Oddly, all were reporting that it occurred the same time with others. There were also international countries that reported the same thing. All reports stated that those people had nosebleeds at the same time as the people here in the city."

"…!?" the ex-officer said looking more alarmed at them. "…no…"

"Do you think that the Angel battle yesterday caused something to do that?" the male said crossing his arms over his chest. "It has been a long time since I had a nosebleed, but that came out of nowhere. Messed up the document that I was working on while at the office. In fact, your document got the brunt of yours."

"Unfortunately, yes," the female said sighing and adjusting her glasses. "Though I am use to blood, it did feel odd. My nose wasn't dry or anything."

'…that thing did it…' Rayne thought gripping her beverage can firmer. 'It has that much power and control…how did it do that?'

"…?"

'There isn't a possible way it could generate that much energy…it was pinned to a cross…in the deepest level of the base…with its batteries depleted…and yet…'

"…uh…Rayne?"

'It has to be an Angel of some kind…it had to have taken control of Shinji…it just had to,' the Fifth Child thought clenching her teeth together. 'There has to be a way to…'

"Huh?" she said out loud. She blinked and flinched a little feeling a shake on her shoulders. Focusing, it was Nami and Ryu. Both had stood up and had a hand on her shoulders.

"You alright? You might have to wash your pants and shoes a couple of times."

"…?" Rayne said blinking again then looked down. Her beverage can was crushed in her hand. All the liquid had spilled to the ground while splashing her knees down. Releasing her grip on the can, she scratched her head in embarrassment.

"Oops."

The other black sedan reached the school parking lot. The Section-2 agents got out and escorted both pilots to the administration office. After some time there, the pilots were instructed to go to their home room. Parting ways, the operatives went back to their car to head back to base. By the time both pilots got to their home room, it was still the break between classes.

Upon entering, they saw that half of the class had students sitting or talking with others. Both their eyes saw the Third Child sitting at his desk and was listening to Rana speak to him. Seeing her laugh while sitting next to him filled both up with tension. It only took Kaworu by surprised while Rei didn't react to it. They heard the Class Rep state that class was about to start and headed to their seats.

As they passed by the twins, both gave glances to the Third Child. Shinji only looked at them with his eyes as he remained still. Taking their seats as well as the remaining students, the next period began. Class went on as normal; however two students kept looking in a certain direction. Both Ayanami and Nagisa kept glancing at the back of Shinji. Both kept thinking back to the mind merge and what happened during it.

'…!?' Rana thought feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Glancing at the Third Child, he was looking forward and taking down notes. Looking back forward, she still felt uneasy for some reason. Feeling a pair of eyes stare at her back, she looked down at her desk.

'Who's…are those…' she thought blinking.

Seeing her laptop open and reflect things near and behind her, she adjusted it a little. Appearing to erase something on the notes she wrote down, she took a quick glance at the screen. The distinctive red eyes of the Sixth Child were seen looking at Shinji for a second. Slowly sitting up straight, the same pair of eyes were back on her.

'…ooookkaayy…those are the same eyes he had in the hospital room,' the female twin thought. 'But…someone else is…'

Stopping her thought and slightly adjusting her screen to the left, the second pair of red eyes were staring in her direction. However, it was more so toward the Third Child. Placing her laptop back in front of her, she continued with note taking. However, she felt herself become slightly irritated.

'I have a bad feeling about what happened yesterday,' Rana thought resisting the urge to nibble on her thumb nail. 'Despite asking Shinji for details and what he stated what happened, there seems to be obvious gaps in events.'

'Could he be hiding something?' she thought glancing back at him.

He was still looking forward and taking down notes. Blinking, the dark clone stood in front of him as his evil double. Naked and savagely scarred, slashed up, and bleeding, Sid stared down at Shinji. Wondering if she was seeing things, Shinji's eyes slowly looked up and blinked. Seeing the dark clone grinning back, it slowly vanished while giving an evil chuckle.

"…!?" Rana said slowly looking back forward and trying to calm herself down. Despite having an idea what the dark clone did, she was convinced that what Shinji told her was only from his recollection of what happened. The one who knew what actually occurred was the evil voice in Unit-01.

Back in NERV HQ, Ritsuko was summoned to the Commander's office. Escorted by security personnel in handcuffs, they walked through hallways running into a few NERV staffers. Though none of them spoke out, the aspect that rumors would spread about was a known fact. Reaching the office, the doors opened. Walking toward the desk, the doors closed behind her. Looking at the lone desk, she saw Gendo sitting behind it. Having a fair guess at who else was in the dark office space, the Sub-Commander's outline could be seen standing behind him. Stopping away a certain distance, she stood straight with her lab coat back on.

"Dr. Akagi," Gendo's voice sounded. "Do you know why you are here?"

"…" Ritsuko said with an impassive face not looking at him.

"Do you not know Dr. Akagi?"

"…"

"Are you refusing to answer me Dr. Akagi?"

"…"

"I see…then I will tell you," he said not changing his tone.

"You are here to receive your sentencing…Accessing to high security clearance toward other staffers who do not have the same security clearance…allowing a pilot into a top secret sector without permission or clearance to do so…destroying top secret company properties without orders to do so…and detailing how the dummy plug system operates to a pilot without authorization."

"…" Ritsuko said with a smirk. She still didn't look at him or say anything.

"Do you have something to say Dr. Akagi?" the Commander stated with an impassive expression.

"To you, I have nothing to say. Your actions speak louder than words."

"Regarding what?"

"To ask me that, you really are selfish and pitiful," she stated dropping her smirk.

"…" he stated not reacting and staring coldly at her. "If you cannot state and act accordingly, you will be sent back to your cell."

"Oh my…I DO apologize Commander," Dr. Akagi said sarcastically and continued to not look at him.

"I see," he said and pressed a button on his desk.

[Yes Commander?]

"Escort Dr. Akagi back to her cell."

[Yes Commander.]

"This meeting is done. You will remain in custody until further notice. Once the war with the Angels is over, your sentencing will be conducted in court. There, you will receive your prison term for your crimes. Leave," he said coldly.

"…" she said cringing on the inside.

About to open her mouth and tell him how she felt, she bit her tongue. Instead of looking down at him with hatred, she relaxed and kept staring forward with an indifferent expression. Hearing the office doors open, she turned around and began walking toward them. Reaching the security officers outside, they escorted her back to the containment level.

"Another person that has lost control…or did you lose control of Commander?" Kozo asked. Stepping out of the back wall, he walked toward the desk.

"She made her own choices…nothing more."