Chapter 45: Neo-Tokyo Rush

"…wha?" Asuka said to herself.

Not understanding what she was seeing, her mind was trying to wrap around how the Third Child got a car and was driving it. The police video came to mind causing fear to build inside. Shaking her head, she immediately stated in her mind that the emotion was a sign of weakness. To counter that, she shifted the fear to anger and irritation. A frown registered on her face.

'He thinks he can do whatever the hell he wants and get away with it. Doesn't he know that we pilots have to be outstanding examples to the public?' she thought. Seeing his impassive face, it made her clench her teeth together.

'Like he gives a flying foot about public image! Well, we'll see about that. I am not going to jeopardize my status for this schizo-idiot's actions!' Asuka thought clenching her hands into fists. About to stomp to him and grab his shirt collar, Hikari took a couple steps toward him.

"Ikari, this feels like déjà vu," the Class Rep said smiling.

"Indeed Miss Horaki. However, it is under better circumstances than the first time," he said bowing a little to her. She giggled a little then placed her hands and bag behind her.

"Yes. Much better circumstances."

'Better circumstances than the first time!?' Asuka thought blinking in surprise. 'He has done this before? Hikari never told me about this!'

"…?" Rei said slightly surprised. She never heard about this as well. It made her curious and wonder what he would do. A phrase heard in school popped into her head regarding about car riding with a group.

"Ikari?"

"Yes Miss Ayanami?" he asked turning his head to her.

"I call shotgun," she said with a stoic face making Asuka recoil a little.

"Very well Miss Ayanami," Shinji said. With a small bow then a hand gesture, the female pilot walk around to the passenger side of the car. Hikari and Asuka watched as the Third Child followed Rei to the other side. He opened the passenger car door and she sat in. Closing it, he walked around and opened the rear seat door toward them.

"Miss Horaki…Miss Souryu, if you would please," he said gesturing inside.

"Guess Ayanami was quicker than me," Hikari said and got into the backseat.

"…?!" Asuka said. Opening her mouth, the redhead wanted to warn her friend about the Third Child. Looking back at his face, he kept a stoic face. Instead of lashing out, she frowned at him.

"Hmph!" she said turning her nose up a little. Climbing in the backseat with her friend, the car door closed softly. The Third Child got into the driver side and closed the door. Everyone put on their seatbelt. Putting on his sunglasses, he was about to engage the automatic stick shift when he stopped. In the rear view mirror, the Class Rep moved a little forward and opened her mouth.

"I did not forget Miss Horaki," Shinji said putting the car into drive and started turning the car around. He was going the speed limit which made her smile and sit back relaxing. He did all the traffic laws and drove in a calm demeanor. About five minutes later, he stopped at the closest evacuation shelter. Hikari opened the door.

"Thanks Ikari."

"You are welcome Miss Horaki. Please watch your step," he said. The three pilots watched the Class Rep step out and close the door. Seeing that she was away from the vehicle and waved at them, Asuka turned to him.

"Alright Third. We need to be at the base pronto. So step on it!" she demanded.

'Music to my ears,' both Sno and Shonj stated at the same time with a wild grin.

Shinji looked with his eyes to his right and saw two other cars were revving their engines inviting a race. Sno was driving a cherry red BMW e46 (3-series) with Shoji in the backseat with Shinzin in the passenger seat. Shonj was driving an electric blue Acura TL (3rd Gen) with Shino in the passenger seat. Looking in the rear view mirror, Rana was sitting next to Asuka with some excitement on her face. Blinking, he re-gripped the steering wheel.

"Very well Miss Souryu. If you madams will hold onto something," he replied. Putting the vehicle into auto-manual mode, he pressed the gas pedal down making the car do a rabbit start forward. The other two cars burned rubber before launching forward to catch up.

'Asuka probably told him to step on it…hope they don't make too much of a scene,' the Class Rep thought hearing the tires grip the road. Turning toward the car, she watched as the large sedan go faster and faster down the street.

While NERV was scrambling to get their computers operational, an Angel surfaced from a volcano. Matarael began its slow travel to the metropolis that was some distance away. It's body was in the shape of a four legged like spider behemoth. Eyes littered the main body allowing it to see a 360 degree view of its surroundings. However, it could only see clearly in a distance. Anything beyond that range, objects became fuzzy and blurry.

The closer it got to the city, the signal of its father and mother grew. At the same time, it felt an odd familiarity of something that moving between the city buildings. The direction it was heading seemed to be for a mountain to the far right of where it was walking to. Not sure of what it was, Matarael watched it while continuing its path to a certain location in the city.

Citizens that were in the city buildings heard screaming tires of burning rubber as a large matte black sedan drifted into a main street. It straightened out then powered forward going faster and faster. The car's V8 engine roared louder and louder as it passed a couple of cars that were parked along the curb. A turn came and the large sedan never slowed down.

'God damn!' Asuka thought cringing. Placing a foot on the car door, it prevented her from being slammed into it from the large centrifugal force.

'He's just as bad as Misato!'

"…!" Rei said pressing against her car door to not slam into it.

Feeling that this was similar driving to the Captain, something about it felt different. She felt herself getting a rush watching things go by fast and feeling the pulls of directional acceleration. Unseen by the two female pilots were the two other cars racing around them. Both had speed and acceleration; however, they couldn't drift around the turns. It caused a constant distance gap change between them and the dull looking American sedan.

Seeing another flank turn, Ayanami adjusted herself and became rigid. Watching him start a drift turn to the right, the tires started screeching again as everyone felt a sudden pull to the left.

"Damn it Shinji!" Asuka said. Quickly shifting to her other foot, she placed it on the other backseat car door.

"My apologizes Miss Souryu," Shinji said calmly. Straightening out the car, the road changed to go down a negative grade slope. As the V8 engine roared to life, two other cars were heard speeding up from behind.

"Would you madams care for some music?"

'Ooo, let me pick a station!' Rana said feeling the rush of the race.

"No!" Asuka stated. Feeling the car accelerate faster, she felt herself being pressed back a little into her seat. Rei felt the same forces and kept a stoic face. Rana pouted in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest.

'I take it back. He is worse than her!' the redhead thought gripping the backseat.

'Party pooper,' Rana said glancing at the redhead.

"Very well," he replied. Blinking and seeing movement in his side mirrors, he ignored the other cars on either side of him. The male voices were hooting and hollering at their street race.

On a different street away from the pilots, both Rayne and the male officer reached their destination. Driving to a parking area, they stopped their car. Getting out, they jogged toward the main electrical area. As they got closer, the female officer felt a dread growing in her mind. Rounding the corner of a small post building, they reached the access gate. The guard there was knocked out in his small post space.

Checking him, he was alive and breathing. Continuing, both cops opened the gate and jogged to the mainline electrical room entrance. Drawing their pistols, they stood on either side of the door. The male officer nodded to her in which she pointed the gun forward and stood in front of it. He opened the door slightly and pointed his pistol forward. Signaling that nothing was behind the other door, he opened all the way slowly. Both saw only emergency lights were on inside casting everything in a red light haze. Feeling the dread still present, both entered with their firearms in front of them.

Back in NERV HQ, the bridge crew was just about finish with getting more power. Once the bridge computer monitors were able to come online, there was a silent alarm going off. Maya read the alarm.

"Angel detected on outer sector of Northern Neo-Tokyo and heading inland!"

"So, it was a planned sabotage?" Fuyutsuki asked standing at the bridge behind Gendo.

"Anything is possible. Most likely it was SEELE," the Commander stated and stood up. "Take over for me."

"Where are you going or planning to do?" the Sub-Commander asked.

"Get the Evas ready," Gendo stated. He descended from the helm of the bridge and headed toward the Eva cages. Ritsuko was already there making preparations for manual loading. She also worked on getting the Evas supplies and doing calibrations for turning the skyscraper size humanoid machines on.

After drifting on a couple more streets, the road ahead became relatively straight. Feeling like the two females pilots could unglue themselves from their seats; they were still kept in them from how fast the Third Child was pushing the car. Asuka looked around her and saw that the city around them looked deserted.

'There doesn't seem to be anyone around…something must have happened,' she thought. Seeing buildings passing by quickly, no one was around. No cars, no people, or no mobile stands. There was nothing around that would indicate that people were outside. The highway came up in which the isolated island hill that led to the Geo-Front below was seen far ahead.

'Ha! You can't win!' Shonj shouted racing passed the Third Child.

'Eat my dust!' Sno stated pulling his right eye under eyelid down and sticking out his tongue. He passed the male pilot as well.

'Everyone seems very excited racing each other,' Rana stated in the backseat.

'Indeed,' Shinji thought. Feeling something slowly emerged, it was occurring below at his legs. Glancing down, one black-red eye was looking up at him. It blinked.

'Yes sir?' he thought looking back at the road. Suddenly, the airbag on the steering wheel unzip slowly open. Hearing it rip open like someone pulling meat of a bone, a crude mouth was seen. Glancing down then back at the road, there were thousands of jaded human teeth inside. Beyond them, a black and white esophagus was seen.

'…e-n-t-e-r-t-a-i-n…mmmmeeee... #% #$MakE#*#$%^sTaTiStIc…' the deranged voice breathed.

The creepy looking mouth move as if it were real. Vile breath hit Shinji's nostrils and made hair stick to his forehead sickly. Not even flinching, he glanced down again between his legs. The eye moved. It was at his chin and blinked at him.

'Very well sir,' the male pilot replied.

The eye's iris blend to form a crooked smile. The mouth on the steering wheel stayed and breathed a deep chuckle. Rana saw the turn to go to the isolated hill entrance coming up. The other two cars with the other voices turned into it ahead. There was a shallow elevation of the road followed by a slight downward turn to the left. The cars ahead started slowing down; however, the male pilot didn't let up on gas.

"…Ikari…" Rei said. Gripping the armrests, they were going too fast for the turn up ahead.

"Yes Miss Ayanami?" Shinji said with a calm demeanor. Barely turning the steering wheel into the off ramp, he did not slowg down. They rose up the elevation to the top portion of the road.

"H-H-Hey! Slow down idiot!" Asuka shouted. Seeing the yellow recommended speed signs, they were going way too fast as the downward turn came quickly.

'S-Shinji!' Rana shouted hugging the driver's headrest.

Both female pilots braced for impact and closed their eyes. The two car opponents had braked while going through the downward turn. Shinji let off the gas and initiated a tailspin to the left while engaging the emergency break shortly. As the car's orientation began turning left, the pilot turned the steering wheel to the right quickly. The tires started screeching loudly as the front end of the car hugged the left wall of the road. Alternating quickly with the brake and gas pedal, he kept up with the sustained tailspin.

The other voices driving saw the American sedan drift pass them making them accelerate to catch up. As the road straightened out, Shinji got the car back forward and accelerated forward into the hill tunnel. The other two cars entered shortly after. All the cars roared causing its exhaust sound to reverberate inside the hill road. The three inside the car with the Third Child felt no crash and slowly opened their eyes. They were inside the tunnel speeding toward the car lift entrance to the Geo-Front.

"…" Shinji said glancing down. The mouth and eye were gone, but the eerie feeling was still there. Looking back up, he saw the turn off and was about to brake.

'…w…a…i…t…' it whispered in his head.

'…' the male pilot said. Glancing at his side mirrors, he saw the voices' cars on his tail and catching up quickly.

'Y-E-S!' the maddening voice shouted. It sounded as if it was being tortured and pleasured at the same time.

"DAMNIT YOU SUCIDIAL LUNATIC!" Asuka shouted seeing he was going too fast again. There wasn't much distance to the car lift after going into the turn off. Closing her eyes, she clenched onto the car seats in front of her thinking he was going to crash.

"…" Rei said.

Looking at him, she saw that no fear was emitting from him as he started to tailspin again. Gripping for centrifugal forces, she decided to keep her eyes open this time. Rana saw him tailspin to the left and felt the car hit one of the two cars racing him on the right. The impact was hard enough to push the other car half a lane over. Glancing over, she saw the BMW slam right into the turn off entrance wall. An explosion and a plum of fire burst from impact.

'…' Rana said feeling the car then tailspin to the right. The back end of the Lincoln LS slammed the right front of the remaining car. It was enough force to cause the Acura TL to spin to the left and hit the left wall hard. It bounced off the wall and spun toward the right wall. Impacting it hard, the blue vehicle started rolling over and over again.

"…!?" Rei said hearing an explosion and something heavy tumbling around them.

Too rigid to look around, she kept her stoic face and watched as the car lift was coming closer. The Lincoln was slowing down quickly as Shinji straighten the car out. It slowed down to a stop just before going onto the car lift. The male pilot felt the eerie feeling fade away with a satisfied distorted chuckle. Nodding his head a little, he turned off the car.

"…" Asuka said feeling herself a bit shaken from the entire car ride.

Hearing two seatbelts disengage, she opened her eyes to see Shinji and Ayanami open their car doors. The male pilot nonchalantly went to backside door and opened the door. She went out the other side instead. Exiting and trying to stand up, she gripped the door feeling her legs weak and shaking. Looking up, the First Child was holding onto the passenger door; however, she was not shaking. Closing it, the blue haired pilot turned around and had her stoic face.

"Grrrr," Asuka said gritting her teeth. Rei's expression over what just happened got her feeling competitive and irritated. Thinking about who was driving, she immediately turned around stomped toward him.

"…" Shinji said.

Taking his sunglasses off and staring at the Acura TL, it looked beat up and impacted from tumbling over and over. The voices inside were hanging out a window brutally beaten and bleeding all over. Rana stood to his right looking at the crash. She was about to say something when stomping feet came to him. Both turned toward the sound.

"WHAT THE HELL!? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!?" Asuka blared at him with fear, anger, and adrenaline. She stomped her foot on the ground.

"YOU FREAKING PSYCHO!" she said as her loud voice echoed through the tunnel.

"…" Ayanami said. Walking around the car, she headed towards them.

"…" the Third Child said. Blinking a couple of times, he tilted his head.

"I am confused Miss Souryu. Didn't you tell me to step on it to get here?"

"That's beside the point!" she shouted gripping his collar.

"Pilot Souryu. Time is of the essence," Rei said stopping near them.

"…" Asuka said. Scowling at her, she then looked back at him. He didn't even flinch or express anything as he stared back. Feeling his murky aura get to her, she shoved him back a little.

"Whatever! I am not riding with you ever again!" she stated. Turning around, the redhead started walking away toward the emergency stairs.

Ayanami watched her walk away then looked back seeing him bow towards the Second Child. He gestured to follow her and both headed toward the stairs. Asuka felt glad for walking away quickly. Though she shouted in fear and anger at the Third Child, she still felt the rush from the car ride. It was giving her a high, making her feeling alert and full of energy. Reaching the stairs, she glanced back at him while clinching her skirt a little.

'…damn him…' Asuka thought quickly turning back to the door to the stairs.

Despite stating that she would never ride with him again, she was a little more than impressed. When the three reached the emergency stairs, Rei pointed out a mechanical overhead slide inside. It would take them down much quicker than the stairs. Entering and using it, they started descending down and would reach the base in a couple of minutes.

Back in the mainline electrical room, both peace officers were scanning with their firearms in front of them. Rayne tapped her partner's shoulder and pointed to the door that was on the far end of the room. Nodding, both quietly moved there and saw it labeled as the transformer room. Once there, the male cop was thinking of ways to enter without causing a stir. However, the young female officer wasn't on the same mental page. She kicked the door open.

"FREEZE! POLICE!" Rayne stated.

Scanning from the entrance, she ignored his sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. He followed her after she entered. The transformer room was quite larger than the previous room. Each of the electrical power convertors was twice as high as she was. There wasn't any sound in the room which conflict with the many warning labels of having proper hearing protection in the room. Both continued to scan with their guns till Rayne saw two bodies on the floor a distance a ways. Both got out a flashlight and cautiously walked to them.

Still trapped in a NERV elevator, both Misato and Kaji sat down. It looked like they would have to wait till the power came back on or someone to find them. The unshaven man started to make small talk in which the woman frowned but decided that it was better than silence.

"How much power have we recovered?" Ritsuko asked a technician who was working on one of the many power lines.

"Only about 1.2% of power."

"That is enough to operate and jumpstart the Evas" the scientist stated. Turning to her right was the behemoth robots' cage. Without power, many technicians used pulley systems to manual insert entry plugs. Eva-00 had already been delivered its cockpit unit. Unit-01 was next.

"Now heave!" Gendo said to the small band of technicians.

The group grunted and clenched their teeth pulling on the ropes in one motion. With the ceiling connection equipment to the pulley system, the entry plug for Eva-01 was being lowered. Once it slid inside the gaping hole in the back of the unit's neck, the behemoth robot grasped it and rotated the cockpit unit in to hold it. Finished, they moved to do Eva-02 next.

"Once they have finished with EVA-02, the children are the last piece," Ritsuko stated.

'Hopefully they are on their way here,' she thought wondering where the three pilots were.

The Angel made it to the position point it was seeking. Looking down at the ground below it, its eyes started to seep a murky orange liquid. The first fall of the tears splashed onto the street intersection bellow. Sounds of steam and crackling were heard as the liquid was a high corrosive. Parts of the concrete melted away leaving a depression in the street. While continuing, the strange familiarity was in the mountain going down at a constant pace. Blinking, Matarael wondered who or what the familiarity was as it continued pouring more of its tears to the street below it.

Reaching the end of the emergency stairwell, the three exited. Hurrying toward the parking garage, there would door terminals to get inside. Getting in front of one, the pilots were looking at the gate door. Shinji slid his card through the reader and nothing happened. Not even the light to grant him access or denial came on. Instead of trying again, he pocketed his card and went to a covered panel. Popping it off, he looked at the various wires on the circuit board.

'What on earth is he doing?' the Second Child thought. About to say an offhand comment to him, the blue-haired teen passed by the card terminal and walked toward him. Knowing the nature of things around the male pilot, Asuka walked pass the terminal as well.

"What are you doing Ikari?" Ayanami asked.

Watching him, he suddenly removed a wire. Taking it, he inserted it on another exposed wire end on the board. An audible electronic click was heard followed by a mechanical release from the door. The three saw that the door gate opened up a little showing a foot size gap. Shinji went toward the center of it and bent down. Gripping the bottom and pushing up with his thighs, the door gate slowly opened to about half way. Not waiting, Rei went through followed by Asuka. Rana crawled in afterwards.

Shinji came through carefully holding the gate door up. About to let go from feeling his muscles strain, all the male voices' head popped into view. All of them were looking at him irritated. Rana, who was standing next to him, moved a little behind him to avoid their stares. About to keep holding it open for them, swift movement went through his wrists. The gate door slammed down on the male voices' neck causing all of them to gasp painfully as each heard a crack in their necks.

"…" Shinji said blinking a couple of times. Looking impassively at his forearms, there were two bleeding stumps of where his hands were. Though getting his hands cut off hurt, he experienced worst. Focusing back at the trapped voices, his vision started to glitch and change orientation.

"Hey Third! Get over here!" Asuka stated down the hallway. Turning around, the male pilot saw that he was on the ceiling. Blinking, he walked toward them while Rana kept looking up at him wondering how that happened.

'…' Rana said confused. Looking back at the male voices, they were struggling to get the gate door open. Counting how many heads were present, there was one that wasn't seen. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

'Where…where is he?' she thought. Scanning around slowly while heading toward the female pilots, she would glance up to keep up with the Third Child.

Reaching the gate door and still in a ceiling orientation, he looked up a little to see them. Both female pilots were looking at the gate door. Seeing that the door had no power, the emergency manual crank wheel was to the right of the door. Blinking and turning to his right, the ceiling showed nothing but metal walls. Moving his two blood stump arms forward, he imagined gripping the handle on the wheel and began making rotating circles.

'God he looks so stupid,' Asuka stated in her mind. His movements were somewhat slow and robotic like while cranking the hand wheel.

'…Ikari's behavior is strange…' Rei thought. Watching him, he was being careful and precise in what he was doing. Both she and the Second Child watched as the door slid open relatively easy. When it was opened all the way, Shinji fell from the ceiling and landed on his back painfully.

"Guess that muscle body of yours is good for something Third," the Second Child said walking through the door.

"Thank you Miss Soryu," he said reaching in his pocket for a tissue.

"Ikari? Are you alright-!?" Ayanami asked then blinked in surprise. She saw droplets of blood hit the floor from his face. He got out a tissue and held it to his nose.

"Yes Miss Ayanami. It is just a nosebleed from a dry nose," he said nasally and turning around with a stoic expression. "Please, let us continue."

"…" she said nodding and going through the door.

Rana followed him through the door while holding onto his belt feeling the surroundings get cold. The Third Child heard multiple giggles emit from the hallway they were just in and ignored them. He heard something crawling up the wall suddenly, his ears perked up. Not saying anything, he moved his ears back a little to listen. No sound came nor did he turn around to look.

The group entered a corridor that would lead them to the main elevators. Looking at the open space, only a dull illumination showed the surroundings. Seeing the main lifts ahead of them, they headed there. Reaching the front of the elevators, Asuka turned around. She gave an impression of wanting to be authority.

"Alright, I'll lead this party to the Eva cages!" she proclaimed. Both Rei and Shinji blinked then nodded their heads. As they started walking, the male pilot checked his tissue to see that not much blood came out. Tossing it in a trash can, he continued following. After leading the party for about 10 minutes, they came to an end of a hallway.

"Damn it! Another dead end!" Asuka said in irritation and frustration. Despite her confidence and determination, having the electricity gone made navigating inside the NERV building more difficult. She let out a frustrated groan as the other pilots were looking in other directions. Shinji's voices joined them during Asuka's leading.

'Hey, hey, hey…let's go down the elevator shoot,' Shonj stated.

'Well someone is eager to perish,' Sno stated looking at him like he was stupid.

'Not hearing any good ideas from you demon lover,' Shonj said smirking.

'Watch it wonder boy!' Sno snapped back at him.

'The elevator shoot would be a nasty fall,' Shoji stated adjusting his glasses.

'Doesn't that ring a bell?' Shino thought crossing his arms over his chest thinking.

'Only you and the body do…it was like this,' Shinzin said grinning at Shinji.

A vivid flashback came back to the male pilot. It was younger version of himself. He watched as the kid was pushed off a ledge and fell on his back to a wet concrete floor. The sensation of a whiplash and a broken shoulder hit the male pilot like a rat trap going off. Feeling the sensation instantly hit him hard, it took all his strength to not gasp or fall to the ground. Blinking and composing himself, he turned around with a stoic face seeing the First Child turn toward a direction.

"Since all the doors are mechanically shut, our only option is to use the ventilation ducts," Ayanami stated.

Pointing out towards a grate opening to the vent system, there was a ladder to go into it. Despite the redhead wanting to grind her teeth, she just wanted to get out of the dead end they were in. Heading toward the duct, all three climbed the steps and entered the ventilation. The Third Child heard all his voices climb up the ladder as well. The crawling from early was heard again, but was inside the ducts.

"…" the male pilot said.

Glancing in front and behind him, not much could be seen around them. Despite the dull illumination ahead, anything beyond more than a meter or so was dark. The crawling sound from before changed. It now was multiple metallic tapping and slow deep heartbeats. He noticed that females shivered a little.

"Geez, it is freezing in here!" Asuka stated. She began leading the group going forward then looked behind her.

"You better not look up Third if you know what is good for you."

"I will try not to Miss Souryu," he replied. Looking down at the duct floor, he followed her.

"…" Rei said following behind the Third Child. She felt her tolerance for the redhead reached a limit and wanted space. Only seeing the crawling figure of the male pilot made her feel less edgy. Shaking her head, she thought about how much ventilation they would need to travel to get to the EVA cages.

"Better do and not try idiot," Asuka stated looking forward and continued.

Back in the mainline electrical room, both police officers got to the two lying people and saw both were shot dead. Rayne's dread from before was higher now. Shining her flashlight around the red lit room, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Finding nothing, she turned toward her partner who was looking at their identification with his flashlight.

"Who are these guys?" the male police officer asked.

"Hmm…I don't know," Rayne said looking at the other dead body's ID. "They have identifications for working in the building, but they are fakes."

"Fake? How…oh," he said seeing the translucent film being peeled off. The ID cards and the dead men were not the same.

"It would be the first time I saw maintenance workers needing to carry handguns," he continued. "Are they government workers?"

"It is possible," Rayne said then started thinking out loud. "Jack could probably dig up more dirt on them. For now, let's see if we can find something that they might have planted in here. It would need to be setup and connected to the entire grid."

"Is that it?" the male cop stated. He flashed his flashlight to a gray box covering over many connection wires. He remembered seeing it when they were sweeping light across the room when walking toward the bodies.

"Looks like it," she said as both walked toward it. Once there, the device had cables clamped on to it. Looking at where the cables went to, it went inside a nearby main transformer. Opening up the panel for the transformer, all they could see was an array of wires, cables, other panels, and connections. No lights inside were on.

"…" both cops said staring at it with no wheels turning in their head.

"Ehh, let's get a tech and recovery team in here first," he said.

Agreeing, both started heading back outside to their patrol car. Rayne had the IDs of the dead men in hand. Leaving the room, she glanced back seeing the bodies still there. The dread feeling was still in her mind making her wonder why. Closing the door, it went away.

"…" she said shivering and continuing with her partner to their patrol car.