Chapter 35: Paranoia
The black screen was filled with a description of time, location, and date. When the scene came, everyone's jaw dropped from seeing the dark lit carnage-operating room. Maya instantly held her mouth to keep herself from the rising urge to vomit. A sliding door opened and two lone figures came. Everyone saw vividly who the two were. Misato, Asuka, and Rei's eyes widen at a familiar male pilot realizing where he went after leaving early that night.
The NERV crew saw the other individual puking from the sight as she was sitting on the other end of the table. Suddenly an older man's voice spoke. A police routine of getting the suspect to come toward them with their hands up in the air came. The stark naked man came out and laughed with delight at the young officer being disturbed. When he turned around, the twist of it all began.
[H-H-H-How t-t-the hell a-are y-y-you still a-a-a-alive!?] he shouted.
They saw him falling backwards on the massive body count on the floor. The NERV personnel saw movement of the young female officer in the room. She closed her eyes and plugged her ears quickly. Rayne was shaking all over remembering it. This led everyone's shock written face to stare back at the screen of the Third Child.
The camera was viewing a ¾ profile view on the boy's face. They saw the dark magenta eyes shrink. His head began to throb visually as he dropped his gun and began to clutch it with his hands. Thrashing and growling emitted from him that seemed to get deeper in pitch till it started to become distorted. They then heard the naked man shout in fear at the young officer. Shinji bent over and placed his hands over his eyes seemingly in pain.
Shinji suddenly stopped moving as they saw blood dripping freely through his shut eyes. Standing up, he removed his hands from his eyes to show a bloody face. Opening his eyes, they became wide as a great toothy grin stretched his face a little. Most of the NERV crew felt instant fear. His dark magenta eyes were replaced with black voided eyes with dark blood irises.
[…ah…Mr…Rob…Tennsuki] Shinji said in a deranged voice. […it hhhhhaaasssss…been-BeEn-BEEN! AAAGGGEEESSSSSS!]
"…?!" the NERV personnel said with mouths open. All of them jumped when they heard the male pilot's voice boom from shouting monstrously.
[…w-w-w-w-w-h-h-h-h-a-a-a-a-t-t-t-t-t is the mmmmmmmmmmmmmmatter…Mr. Rob…Mr. Rob…MR. ROB…MR. ROB!?]
[P-p-p-p-please…d-d-d-don't k-kill m-m-me] the stark naked man pleaded. Everyone flinched hearing the sickening cartilage crack as the Third Child bent its neck. The insane and vile grin he had spread goosebumps to almost everyone in the room.
[What's this? What's this? Are you sure you want to do that Mr. Rob!? It be the greatest pleasure to do so! Even the woman would agree!] Shinji spoke in a growling distortion. His eyes slowly moved toward the female officer. […Y…E…S…!?]
"…!?" the NERV staff in the conference room continued to be locked in a scared stare.
A majority of them grabbed onto their chair's armrests and were squeezing them intensely. The male pilot was standing away from the naked man and the female officer. A glitch happened and the teen boy was now in front of the naked man. He grabbed the sides of the man's head and brought him to be face to face.
[iT wOuLd Be ThE AbSoLuTe EcTaSy To RiP oFf YoUr HeAd AnD eAt YoUr FaCe!] the male teen shouted in evil joy in the man's face.
'No…I can still hear it,' Rayne thought trembling all over trying to block out the sound what was going to come. The hairs on everyone's neck stood on end.
[Wouldn't you agree?!] the boy said squeezing his head causing the man to cry in pain.
[WoUlDn'T yOu AgReE?!] Everyone felt their eyes widen more from the change of voice to an innocent sounding child. Cringing from the naked man getting slugged in the nose, the innocent giggle with the same menacing grin was terrifying.
[wOuLdN't YoU aGrEe?!] his voiced shouted in distortion letting go of the man's head. Some staff members cringed more visibly as others were watching in a shell shock as the boy took a severed arm and clobbered the man to the ground. They saw him drop the arm and picked up the ax.
[…] Shinji grinned wider looking at the camera that made everyone push back in their chairs. The apprehension and tension was growing wildly in their minds as the teen turned around and forced the naked man up.
[WOULDN'T YOU AGREE!?] Shinji screamed at the top of his lungs and swung the ax at the mobster's head.
'Oh my god,' Misato and Kaji thought shaking with terror as the man's head got chopped off. As if the savageness wasn't high enough, it increased with each repeated down swing on the man's body. The boy's voice kept getting louder and more monstrous.
[WOULDN'TYOUAGREE!?] Ritsuko was white as a sheep locked in fear. The bridge monitors were the same.
[WOULDN'TYOUAGREE!?] Asuka felt petrified unable to move away from seeing a real horror movie scene.
[WOULDN'TYOUAGREE!?] Rei felt immense fear surge through her seeing the remaining alteration in its true form.
[WOULDN'TYOUAGREE!?] Ryu said nothing as he continued to stare down the Commander. Nami looked blue in the face. Rayne was clenching her teeth.
[WOULDN'TYOUAGREE!?] Kozo looked frightened and was sweating.
"…" Gendo said feeling his arms and legs shaking a bit.
Despite not moving from his hand pose, his heart was beating fast. On the last down stroke, carnage was spewed everywhere. They watched the Third Child turn to where the young officer was on the floor. He was splashed with gore as it dripped down his face. Even his teeth were stained with the fresh blood.
His malice toothy grin reduced to an evil eye smile. Turning around, he dropped the ax. Picking up the pistol, he walked toward the center in which the hanging bodies blocked the camera view. Everyone in the room started to hear him talking out loud. He sounded insane and deranged from slowing his speaking pace, change in voice inflections, and repeating words randomly. It kept the tension high for not seeing what he was doing or what was going to happen.
[YOUR ANSWER IS CORRECT!] Shinji suddenly shrilled deafening loud followed by a single pistol fire.
"...!?" everyone in the rooms said. It made everyone jump again as their nerves were already shot. The video ended by going black. When the lights came back on, everyone looked like they awakened from the middle of a terrible nightmare. Silence drifted through the room as people held their breath trying to figure what to do next.
"So Commander Ikari," Ryu said looking a little pale but was still staring down at the Commander. "Was that good enough evidence?"
"…" Gendo stated. Adjusting his glasses, he took a little time to calm down and collect himself before speaking. He needed to sound in a collected manner.
"That will suffice."
Nami and Rayne opened their eyes and unplugged their ears. Looking back at the NERV personnel, their predictions of their reaction was right. They were scared shitless. It took a couple of minutes till everyone calmed down, but most looked wearily and still shaken up. Kozo cleared his throat to get people's attention.
"Now that we've all seen the evidence, the objective is to retrieve information about the Third Child. From reports of the First Child and the Director of Operations, he carries a cassette tape that holds this information. By any means necessary, you are to retrieve this tape. Further instructions are in the documents in front of you. Are there any questions?" he asked. Everyone looked at each other and no one uttered a word.
"If there are no questions, you are all dismissed," Gendo said.
Everyone stood up and left leaving only the Commander sitting in his thoughts. The screens were reeled back to the ceiling. The lights dimmed again. After a few moments, a hologram of someone seating at the other end of the conference table appeared.
"So, the operation is under way Commander?" an old man with an eye-visor asked.
"Yes. Operation "Info-gave" is currently under way."
"And this will contain the Third Child to the texts of the Scrolls?"
"Yes."
"We find that hard to believe when the boy is unstable," a man with a Russian accent appeared.
"Surely seeing what the boy will do to a traitor inside your personnel will make this operation a failure," another man appeared speaking in an American tongue.
"I can assure you any other incidents of that nature will be taken care of," Gendo said calmly and unfazed.
"Is that so? Will this affect Project E production?" one asked the commander of NERV.
"No, current production of Project E will continue its course."
"…very well, the West will continue its development of EVA-04. But, we will all keep a close eye on your engagements," one said striking chuckles from other members around the table. All faded except the older man.
"SELEE will be looking very closely at the Third Child from now on Commander. Though he is an unstable pilot, he is an asset that is very valuable. If you don't produce results soon, we will push actions of our own with the approval of the UN," he said fading.
Gendo stared impassively at the opposite wall. He knew SELEE was pressuring him, but also knew their bluff. They weren't going to try and capture the Third Child. Evidence of the boy taking care of himself was evident throughout his employment of NERV. The Commander had to smirk at that.
Even though SELEE has current interest in the Third Child, he was intangible to them. The boy's loyalties to NERV were first than self-interest. The smirk faded away by a manic laughter heard in the distance of the dark room. Feeling that the room turned from cold to eerie, he left. There were other things he had planned for his agenda today.
Section-2 agents escorted the police personnel out of the NERV building and to the rail car lift entrance gates. Their police car was already placed on the automobile size escalator waiting for them. The three got in and Ryu pressed the up switch. With a small tug and a clank, the lift started taking the three up to the surface. Nothing was said for a while.
"Well, that went well," Nami said trying to start a conversation.
"Right, remind me to sign up for their social gatherings," Ryu snorted with his arms across his chest.
"Do you have a grudge against the Commander?" the secretary asked. Not answering, she turned to see him facing the driver's side window. In the reflection, he had a glare.
"I guess that face answers the question," Nami stated followed by another round of no one talking. The only sound being heard was the humming from the escalator. Seeing the afternoon sun starting to shine through, the Geo-Front site was getting smaller and smaller.
"Do you think that his kid was kidnapped?" Rayne asked from the backseat.
"…yeah…" the Chief stated still having his arms crossed. "He recognized Rob, developed a trigger, stated past experience with him, and then chopped him to pieces. Clear sign of a kidnapped victim."
"But we can't prove that," Nami stated making Ryu sigh loudly and pout.
"Yeah…I know."
"Despite the circumstantial evidence, Commander Ikari holds ground from documented evidence of the kid being with his uncle," the secretary stated.
"…" he said only grunting. "I still can't believe that kid use to look like that."
"You mean normal?" the older woman asked getting a confirming grunt.
"If that was what he used to look like, wonder what happen to make his eyes change like that?"
"He could have inherited some weird mutation at a young age. Probably the bastard asked his staff of psycho-scientists to put implants to make him look dead. The science and technology today can make that possible right?" Ryu said grabbing a cigarette out of his coat pocket. He offered one to Nami which she grabbed. Puffs of smoke exited their mouths flowing outside the car.
"You're saying that he's a GMO?" she asked.
"GMO? What the heck is a GMO?" Ryu asked.
"GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. Like it sounds, it means modifying any type of organism through genetic engineering," Nami answered. Looking out the window and tapping on the cigarette, she continued.
"Based on the medical and history reports, which reveal little of anything, they don't claim that engineering was done on him."
"But if blue was his natural color, then they had to have done something to him to make his eyes change color. I mean, no natural human being is able to change his whole eye that drastically in a short span of time," he stated which the blond agreed.
"I'll tell you this…I've never seen an albino with blue hair and red eyes. Do you think she would fit the GMO category?" he asked as the elevator stopped. Gates to a tunnel opened and he started the car. Nami shrugged her shoulders.
"Maybe or it could just be a fashion fad. You know how some of the youth will try anything to find their own identity from everyone else. Probably is a normal girl underneath all that make-up."
"I guess so. She seemed normal enough," he stated. As they continued to contemplate more possibilities of genetic engineering and mutation, the female officer in the backseat felt extremely isolated.
'GMO,' she pondered looking at her hand.
In NERV, the staff went back to their posts and continued to work even though they felt rattled for a while. Kaji was dragged and forced by Asuka to help her decide on what swimsuit to wear for the upcoming school trip to Okinawa. He didn't complain for it was something to do and to get away from NERV. Misato left to her office and didn't come out. Once in a while, small sounds of beverage cans were being opened followed by a clunk in a trash bin shortly after.
Ritsuko was at the bridge with the bridge monitors. She established a series of tests for them to perform. All of them related to security breaches and sabotage either by cyber-space or by physical destruction. Each of the three appreciated the tasks because it was something to keep their mind busy. Thinking about what they witnessed in the conference room made all of them shake a little.
Rei was walking the hallways of the NERV floors not conscious of where she was going. Her mind was lost in the sea of questions, thoughts, sensations, confusion, and not understanding. It reminded her of the time that she couldn't answer any of the questions swimming through her mind. However, this time she felt something different in her mind.
'If the Ikari here is not the same Ikari in the photo, then who is he?'
'An imposter,' a voice responded. Rei recognized the presence as the other version of herself in her dreams.
'…I do not know…he is the only one I have met,' she answered the voice in her head.
'That is true, but the first has met him.'
'The first?' Ayanami thought blinking and turning a corner.
'Yes, the first you. You are the second replacing the first.
'I see…' she thought going into an elevator. The doors closed and the elevator rumbled upward. Thinking about the statement, something seemed off.
'Why do I not have the first's memories if I'm to be the proceeding replacement? Shouldn't I have retained the first's personality and memories?'
'The first's memories and personality were erased. The leading lilim here believed it would contaminate the others thus rendering them useless,' it thought to her. The elevator stopped and dinged open; however, she didn't move.
'Useless?…why?' she asked to the voice in her head. Some time passed before she started walking again. The other version of herself didn't answer her wondering question and she started to contemplate about the Third Child again.
'If the first has met him, then Ikari would know,' she thought heading to a room that the Third Child visited often.
Turning down a hallway, the shooting range room loomed over on the opposite side. As she walked toward the door, the metal colored walls, floor, and ceiling seemed different than usual. A collapsing effect seemed to converge toward the door as she got closer. Between the clicks of her heels, the sounds of dull gun shots were heard. Oddly, they occurred in bursts of two shots before repeating over and over again. As she got closer, she felt her body shiver making her stop.
"Why do I tremble?" she asked lifting her right hand. She stared at her right fingers that tingled on the inside.
'I am going to ask Ikari a question. I have nothing to fear from him,' she thought.
Letting her hand drop to her side, she continued toward the entrance. Stopping in front of the door, the dull gun shots were louder. They sounded more like muffled cannon fire that filled her head and ears. She peered in the window and saw a shadow figure at a booth. The only distinct feature was the gun at the booth shelf table it was at. Assuming that it was the Third Child, she was confused. The dull booming sounds were still sounding while the figure wasn't firing anything.
"…?" she said blinking and looking down at the handle. Slowly reaching for it, the tingling in her fingers was present again. She then realized that the dull booming sounds were not from a gun…it was her heartbeat.
"Hello Ayanami," someone answered to her right. She flinched then slowly turned to her right. Blinking in surprise, a mild sweat developed on her back.
"…Ikari?" she asked. She saw the red-blue eyed Shinji clone materialize next to her. It was dressed in a blue kimono with a dark magenta obi. On the person's feet was white socks and sandals.
"How are you today?" it asked in a softer tone than she remembered. It was a gentle speaking voice which made her ponder if it could fool someone as a female.
"…I am…adequate…how are you?"
"I am well."
"Who are you?"
"Just another fragment."
"Fragment?" Rei asked tilting her head a little.
"Yes," it answered bowing with his hands in front of him. "Sorry, I need to use the restroom. I'll come back."
The First Child nodded and watch the thin boy walk away. The restrooms were down the hall. The odd thing was he walked into the women's bathroom. When the push door closed, Rei could only tilt her head. Turning back to the shooting range, she peered into the window again.
The shadow figure wasn't there nor could she hear the dull booming sounds in her head. Reaching the knob again, there was no eeriness about going in. She opened the door as it made a small creek sound. The room's lights were on, but there was no hint of gun powder in the air. Her first action was to check the storage armory room and look for the pistol he only use.
Heading towards it on her right, the room inside was dark. Trying the door, it was locked. Inserting her keycard, the door flashed red. Trying it again, it flashed the same light again.
'…it worked before…now it doesn't…' Rei thought looking at her NERV card. 'Did security update the key panel? Do pilots not have security clearance?…I don't know.'
'Then why is there a handgun on the booth table?' she pondered turning around. Looking at the booth, the pistol was still there.
'Did someone leave it there?'
Not finding an answer, she blinked and walked slowly toward it. Upon entering the walkway to all the booths, the illumination was dim and quiet. Despite the floor being padded, her footsteps sounded loud to her. Reaching the firing spot, it looked like the pistol that the Third Child used. Raising her hand, she touched it.
'…?' Ayanami thought in confusion. 'It's cold?'
Something slowly started to build in her mind as she tried to put pieces together of what was going on. Not sure how to put them together, she analyzed the sensation that was building. Recognizing it as foreboding, the First Child tried to figure out why it was occurring. Viewing around her, there was nothing here. Looking back at the weapon, a sudden impulse went through her head telling her to pick it up.
Confused again, she pondered why. The foreboding feeling continued to build as she still didn't know why. It made her reach out and grabbed the gun. For some odd reason, it felt assuring to hold it even though she didn't understand. A small shuffle was heard behind her making her whip around pointing the pistol in front of her.
"Ikari?" she asked out loud not dropping the weapon.
Timed dragged slowly through the silent filled room. Her instincts told her to copy the stances that she saw the Third Child use from previous observations. She walked forward to the back wall and turned around. She started scanning with her eyes from one end of the shooting range to the other end. There was nothing that seemed out of place.
"Ikari…are you there?" she asked out again. Noticing that her senses were acute, she scanned the spacious range again with a calm demeanor. Nothing moved, but she didn't stop holding the pistol in front of her. Slowly moving along the wall to the open sitting space, there was nothing there except tables and chairs.
'Maybe he is in the survival course?' she thought slowly turning around.
Walking toward the room on the opposite wall of the entrance door, she lowered the gun to point at the ground. However, she kept both hands on the gun feeling the need to be ready for something. Her dull footsteps filled the empty room with an echoing effect down the shooting gallery. Believing that the Third Child was here, she turned her head toward the targets. All of them had no bullets holes in them. The floor was clean of cartridges. Turning back to the room, she continued slowly.
"…!" she said.
Pulling the handgun up in front of her, a sudden sound occurred close. Listening and not moving, a water droplet fell to the concrete floor down the hallway. Listening to the sound, it echoed audibly throughout the room. Another one came and she turned toward the source.
'A pipe,' she observed looking at the ceiling. Watching a couple more drop the floor, she continued toward the door. As she closed in, each foot step felt slightly heavier than the last.
"…" Rei said forcing herself to ignore the apprehension.
Reaching the survival course door, she looked in the small window of the door. The room was dark. The only light shining through was the lights in the shooting range that she was in. Turning to the observational window, she slowly got closer to it. Uneasiness started growing inside her which made her stop.
'Why do I have this feeling of fleeting this room? I have yet to find anything to cause me to flee,' she thought to herself.
Her unnerving feelings didn't subside and she continued walking. Getting to the window, she peered at the survivor course. To what she could see, the obstacles were offline and lights were turned off. Her head tilted to the side in confusion. The eeriness around her seemed to be growing.
'Ikari isn't here? I thought I saw him a few moments ago…Is he hiding? Or was I mistaken…' she trailed off hearing another shuffle.
It was behind her. Remembering a surprise tip from the Third Child and practicing it, she took a small back right step. Immediately pivoting on the balls of her left foot and right heel, she instantly turning around 180 degrees. The muzzle of the gun was pointing at the face of the person behind her. However, it wasn't who she was looking for and felt her eyes widen a little.
"Commander?" she asked straightening herself and lowered the gun to her right side.
"..." Gendo stated. Blinking in surprise from the quickness of the First Child, he remained still. When the gun pointed as his face lowered, he breathed. Still weary from seeing the end of a muzzle near his face, he began his interrogation. He didn't feel any eeriness around him.
"What are you doing here Rei?" he asked in his usual tone and expression.
"I am searching for Pilot Ikari," she said. Suddenly, she felt something faint creeping toward her from the room behind her.
"Why here?" he asked curious.
"He visits here often," she said calmly. Remaining face forward, she was trying hard to not turn around or move away from her spot. The First Child didn't want to cause concern for the Commander.
"I see," Gendo said. He remembered that was written in Captain Katsuragi's report not too long ago.
"What were you going to do if he was here?"
"…" Ayanami said feeling a confliction.
Normally she would answer the Commander regardless of what it was. However, the aspect that there were too many unanswered questions swimming in her head made it hard to concentrate. There was also the aspect that going behind the Third Child's back didn't seem to sit well with her. Lastly, the thing she felt in the room was now somewhere close behind her. It felt vile.
"Rei?"
"Sorry Commander, I was thinking," she said as normal as possible.
Inside, she was panicking from the confliction of not wanting to obey and disobey at the same time. Suddenly, she heard soft scratches behind her which added more to her growing apprehension. Strangely, the Commander didn't looked or seemed uneasy. Thinking of the evidence video of the sixth alteration of Shinji, she spoke.
"I wish to ask him about the other alteration that was seen in the conference room," she answered. Remaining stoic, she started to feel sweat drip down her back a little. Gendo felt a cold shiver go up his spine from the remembering the beheading in the video.
"…I see. Is a direct approach a wise choice?" he asked.
He remembered reading the report that Captain Katsuragi made when she asked the Third Child directly. However, she didn't get many answers from the male pilot. Looking down at the First Child's hand, the pistol in her hand seemed like a very direct method. Interrogation and intimidation did seem his style.
"I would not know Commander. The Third Child is capable of resisting even under great stress," she said feeling awful and afraid.
The scratches became louder. There now was breathing behind her. It didn't sound normal as she still didn't know what was behind her. Seeing that the Commander wasn't affected, she steeled her facial expression and remained stoic.
"…" he said. Thinking about it, there were times that the boy was injured and pulled through.
"That is true. However, I would suggest you use a more discreet approach. I believe the Third Child would not respond well pointing a gun at him."
"…!?" Rei said.
Blinking in surprise, she forgot that she had the pistol in her hand. The sweat on her back dripped down more. She bit the inside of her lip to contain her expression as the eeriness around her started to climb up slowly. The soft scratches and breathing went up as well. Taking a couple of short breathes, she responded.
"I see. I will change my method then," she said. The First Child felt her insides knotting and the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
"You were going to use intimidation and interrogation?" he asked raising his eyebrows a little.
'…I…I…can't keep doing this…I feel…terrible…I don't know what is behind me…it is now at the ceiling above,' she thought. Struggling to keep her composure, her instincts were telling her to get out of the room.
"Rei…are you alright? You are sweating a bit?"
"I…I'm sorry," she said with a downcast head.
She couldn't meet his face. The female pilot was trying to figure out what to say to get out of the uncomfortable situation. It felt like she was doing the impossible task of not addressing the vile atmosphere around her. Her eyes looked at the ground in a panic trying to find answers as thoughts, sensations, and questions were racing in her mind.
"Did the video evidence disturb you?" Gendo asked a little concerned. The First Child felt her eyes widen and looked up quickly.
"Yes!" Rei responded.
"…?" Gendo said blinking seeing the First Child's face look a little contorted with wide eyes. It made him a little nervous seeing her out of sorts.
"I see…would it trouble you if I took the weapon from you?" he asked. Blinking, he saw a drop of water hit the top of the First Child's head. Looking up a little, it was a pipe with a little condensation on it.
"…!?" she said. Feeling something fall on her head, it was spreading slowly down. Goosebumps littered her body as she was still resisting her body's reaction to flee. Her racing mind started to hurt as her stomach started to turn violently. Feeling something inside started to rise up, she quickly gave him the weapon.
"E-Excuse me Commander!" Ayanami stated. Quickly putting a hand to her mouth, she darted pass him.
"Rei!?" he said. Turning around, the First Child ran to the door and shoved it open. Exiting and turning left, he followed. Pocketing the handgun, he exited the firing range. Upon getting outside, he saw the blue haired female pilot go into the female restroom.
Ayanami pushed open the door to the restroom feeling the bile come up in her throat. Rushing to an open stall, she reached the toilet and hurled into it. Haggardly breathing into the toilet, she dropped to her knees and was shaking all over.
'What…was that?' she asked staring at the bile in the toilet. 'It seemed similar to the alteration on the video.'
"...!?" the teen stated. A knocking came at the door of the restroom making her flinch a little.
"…yes?" Ayanami cleared her throat softly before answering.
"Rei, are you alright?" Gendo asked outside while opening the entrance door a little.
"I…I think I am," she responded. Despite feeling a bit rattled still, she tried to sound normal as possible.
"Do you need assistance?"
"…no."
"I see," the Commander said and looked at his watch. "It is time for our weekly gathering. Do you feel well enough to go?"
"I should be after cleaning up."
"Good. Meet me in sector P-3 in 15 minutes," he said and left.
Feeling the strength to stand up, she flushed the toilet. Flushing again after relieving herself, she exited the stall. Going to the sink, she washed her hands and her face. Rei could still taste the bile in her mouth and washed her mouth out with a few hand cup fulls of water. Spitting the last one out, she turned off the water. Drying her hands and face with paper towels, she looked at herself in the mirror.
"…!?" she said.
The red-blue eye Third Child was smiling back at her in the mirror. Turning around quickly, the clone wasn't there. Looking around with her eyes, she slowly turned back to the mirror. No one was shown besides her. She slowly exited the restroom and started heading towards sector P-3.