Chapter 59: Past Experience
Ritsuko entered the medical facility of the NERV base and went to administration. Just as she reached to the desk, two medics were briskly walking down a hallway to her.
"Dr. Akagi," one of them said and saw her turn around.
"Yes?"
"We found the female officer sleeping in pilot Ikari's room. She was sitting on the floor without a contamination suit when we spotted her."
"Is she alright?" she asked a bit concerned.
"From what we can tell, she seems to be. We administered a tranquilizer before removing her from the room," the other medic said after nodding.
"…" Ritsuko replied and looked contemplative. Remembering the order from the Commander, it was regarding about SEELE wanting their subject. Coming up with a couple of plans, she addressed both medics.
"Is she back in her assigned room?"
"Yes."
"Good. Get the room quarantined stat. Put in place more monitoring equipment and hook up another I.V. Administer the same sedative as the Third Child's to her. We can't leave a possibility of her contamination to spread to others."
"…!?" both medics blinked in surprised. "R-right away Dr. Akagi."
"…" the scientist stated.
Watching them, they turned around and walked briskly back the way they came. Going back to the administration desk, she asked for the female officer's file. Breezing through it, it didn't say anything regarding about her birth up to age five. From there, every medical checkup was normal. Thinking about the possibilities of what happened to her, it reminded her of another person.
'What are you hiding Commander?' Ritsuko thought. She felt intrigued about the dark secret protected by the logic program.
'Misato seems to have the information…she better share it.'
Later on the same day, NERV personnel from the surface spotted an unmarked black van. It was heading toward their direction to where the car escalator was. Halting them and asking for identification, the NERV personnel saw it was SEELE operatives. Placing a call to their supervisor about the visitors, they heard a reply back. Complying with the orders, the agents were allowed to go through.
Moving the van into a car slot, the two operatives started descending into the Geo-Front. After a relatively short ride and the escalator stopped descending, they drove out of the car slot. Going a short distance, NERV security guards were waiting for them. Informing the SEELE operatives that they will escort them, both nodded. Following the guards, the operatives were escorted to a parking spot in front of the medical facility. Reaching the space and parking the van, both agents exited the vehicle. Walking to the front of their automobile, they were addressed by five NERV security employees.
"Please hand over your weapons or be searched," one guard in the middle stated. Complying, the SEELE agents gave their service pistols and combat knives to two security members.
"You will obtain your possessions after your visit. These two of my team will stay to hold onto them and guard your vehicle."
"That's fine," one SEELE agent stated.
"Dr. Akagi, the SEELE representatives are here," the lead guard stated after touching his walkie.
[Escort them to admin] she stated.
"Roger," he said then let go of his walkie. "We are ready if you two are."
Nodding, the remaining three NERV security personnel escorted the two SEELE agents into the medical facility. After a short walk to the administration section, they saw Ritsuko standing near the administration desk with her hands in her lab coat pockets. Stopping nearby, one of the SEELE operatives adjusted his sunglasses a little.
"Dr. Akagi, we are instructed to retrieve the SEELE specimen. Where is it?"
"As much as I wish to oblige, I cannot release and hand her over due to circumstances."
"Severe consequences will occur to NERV if you resist giving back what is our property doctor," the other SEELE agent stated flatly. They saw the faux blonde give a small smirk at them.
"I figured you would say that. If that is your case, then I will have to show you those circumstances," she said and turned toward a hallway.
"…" the SEELE operatives responded. About to open their mouths, the NERV security personnel turned their sights on them. Closing their mouths, they followed the scientist. After walking and passing several hospital rooms, they reached an area that was taped off with drapes from the ceiling.
"What is this?" one of the SEELE operatives asked neutrally and stopping.
"Hmm?" Ritsuko asked and stopping. She opened the drapes and looked back at them. The smirk had fallen from her face and was giving them an unreadable expression.
"This is the quarantine area."
"Why are we going in there?" the other agent asked.
"This is where your specimen and the Third Child are residing."
"…" both SEELE operatives replied. Not moving from their spot, the faux blonde closed the drapes and walked back to them.
"I thought you wanted to see the circumstances."
"Why is the subject in there?"
"She became contaminated."
"Explain."
"I'm sure your superiors informed you of the event that has transpired in the past 24 hours."
"What event are you speaking of?"
"The Angel that became active in one of your underground lab facilities. Both the officer and Eva pilot were in close proximity to it and became affected by it," the doctor said evenly with a stoic face.
"…" both operatives said as they weren't making an expression; however, she could feel they were a little tense.
"What circumstances has the subject incurred that result in it not being released to SEELE?" one agent stated.
'They have no idea…how typical to send pawns,' she thought. It seemed that both leaders of both SEELE and NERV were relatable.
"From being in close proximity to both the Angel and Third Child, she is suffering from hallucinations and PTSD."
"It mentally suffering is not of our concern. If that is the only case, we will take the specimen regardless."
"Let me make it clearer for you two to understand," Ritsuko stated and jester them to enter the quarantine area. Both operatives and NERV security personnel followed her. Going to a t-intersection, they passed one hospital room to the left and a hallway at the right. They headed toward the other room down the hallway.
"The officer was not quarantine at the time we put her into a hospital room. Despite having a relatively clean bill of health, she entered the quarantine zone of the Third Child's hospital room," she mentioned while reaching the hospital room. Stopping and turning around to face them, she opened the door.
"Go ahead and look," the scientist suggested. Both peeked into the room and saw how the whole room was setup.
"Your subject ventured into this room without a contamination suit or helmet. She was found sleeping near the Third Child. Since now she is contaminated with possible illness of what the Eva pilot has, we had to place her in another quarantine room. She is the room that we passed," Ritsuko continued and closed the door. The group walked to the other patient room. Reaching it and opening the door, the SEELE agents saw that the specimen's space was setup similar to the Third Child's.
"If you take her now in her current condition, you will become contaminated. If you leave, you risk this entire facility and base of a wide spread epidemic. That is why we cannot release her," she stated flatly and closed the hospital door.
"…" both SEELE operatives remained neutral though their foreheads were sweating a little.
"Do you understand or would you like a medical record to take back as evidence of what I just explained?"
"We will need to talk with our superiors about these developments."
"By all means," she replied. Watching one of them pull out a cell phone, he began dialing a number. When the connection was made, the agent began explaining the situation. After a brief discussion and a long silence from the operative, he ended the call. Closing and pocketing the mobile phone, he turned to the faux blonde.
"My superiors stated that we will leave the subject in NERV's care for the time being. However when it recovers and is not a threat, SEELE will take the specimen back. Those are my orders."
"I see," Ritsuko said after a small nod.
"We will leave now," the SEELE agent said and turned around. Dr. Akagi nodded to the security personnel in which they escorted the agents out of the building. Alone in the quarantine area, Ritsuko smirked. Turning around, she headed back to the Third Child's room. Opening and closing the door quietly, she stood near the door.
"…" she stated. Standing in the staging area, she looked at all the contraptions that were hooked up to the male pilot. All of it was for the safeguard of himself and others as well as to keep him stable and sedated.
'Definitely feels like you are an experimental specimen,' she thought staring a little. 'Now…I have to figure out how to make you able to pilot again.'
Pondering to herself of what the Commander ordered her to solve, a brainstorm brewed in her head. One of the tasks was to suppress his mind without the schizophrenia taking total control. What was currently setup in the hospital room made it so that he was stable; however, that won't work inside the entry-plug. Thinking about how heavily sedated and medicated the Third Child had to be, she would have to make adjustments and factor in the effect with the LCL. Thinking about the orange liquid, it brought up an observation note of the male pilot's blood.
'Though it is frustrating that I still haven't been able to separate his blood from the black spots, the current blood sample was odd. Normally, the black spots were evenly distributed throughout each blood cell. Under heavy sedation, they varied in sizes. Some were the same small dot, some were smaller, and some were notably bigger,' the doctor thought putting her hands in her lab coat pockets.
'If I can affect the sizes of the black spots and shrink them through a mixture with the LCL…might be possible to stabilize him even more inside an entry plug. If I can isolate that then tackle with his schizophrenia, I might be able to get him to function somewhat normally again…and possibly get him to pilot an Eva.'
"…" Ritsuko said taking a step or two away from the door and looking at the lying Third Child. She gave him a sad smile.
"I'm sorry Ikari. The Commander has ordered me to get you stable enough to pilot. I will need to use you as a guinea pig for a bit," she said.
"…m…A…r…V…o…L…o…U…s…" a familiar corrupted voice whispered softly and weakly in the room.
"…!?" Ritsuko reacted with a start. Feeling her eyes widen, a weak malicious and vile presence was coming closer; however, she couldn't see where it was coming from. Not waiting to find out, she immediately backed up to the hospital door. Opening it and closing it quickly, she locked the door.
"…!?" Dr. Akagi inhaled sharply.
Backing away from the door quickly, she heard soft scratches on the other side. Back up to the wall opposite of the door, she briskly turned left and walked away. The scrapping noises followed her making her want to run. However, she saw that the sounds kept up with the quick walking pace. Passing the wall that ended of Shinji's room, the scrapping noises faded away as she continued down. An innocent giggle was heard quietly down the hallway as she continued forward passing through the quarantine area curtains. Not stopping or looking back, she walked away till she felt her nerves calm down.
'Since I still have the idea in mind, might as well go to the lab and experiment,' she thought leaving the medical side and entering the main facility. Gathering a team of scientists and technicians, they headed to a laboratory. It was one of the labs that housed simulated synchronization tests with entry-plugs. Once inside and giving a briefing, they began running tests. After a couple of hours, a nearby phone rang on one of the wall.
"Dr. Akagi speaking."
[I assume the SEELE operatives did not take their specimen] Gendo asked.
"Yes Commander. They will leave the officer in our care till she is removed from quarantine."
[Have you begun work on enabling the Third Child to pilot again?]
"Yes Commander. It will take time of trial and error. I will have to use him for many experiments to see what will stabilize him."
[If he can crawl and take orders, that will suffice. I want a daily status till the Third Child is useful. Is that understood?]
"…Yes Commander," Ritsuko answered.
Gripping the phone harder, the connection ended. Putting it back in its holder, she tried to calm down her nerves. Hearing his irritation and coldness toward the male pilot was bitter sweet. That aspect that his son got under the Commander's skin was refreshing. At the same time, it was depressing. Shaking her head, she got back to work.
Two days passed and Dr. Akagi was still working out the solution to put the Third Child into. Since he was placed into quarantine, medical staff spent the minimal amount of time checking on the male pilot. Though he was left unattended most of the time, there was a visitor that stayed longer. Ayanami would wear the contamination suit and helmet and enter his room. Sitting next to him, she would sit there in silence and observe him. Other times, she would be lost in her own thoughts trying to figure out something to do.
The following day and from the suggestion from Misato, she tried to talk to him. Rei felt awkward from the aspect that he wasn't responding or even moving his head to look at her. Any further attempts, she would get quieter until she stopped. Grimacing, talking to him didn't relieve her uneasiness and depression. For the remainder of the time of her stay, she sat in silence with a downcast head. Ayanami did visit the officer to see that she was in a similar setup as the Third Child. However, there were less contraptions and restrains hooked up to her.
After a couple days more, Ritsuko was ready to test out her idea. Giving the order to retrieve the Third Child, a contamination squad was sent. The suit wearing team pushed a gurney with a specialized coffin on top of it. It had a strong radiation protection and a dense thickness for containing anything inside of it. Reaching the quarantine area, they headed toward the male pilot's room. Entering it, they began their procedure of transportation.
Moving the table near the patient's bed, one of the medics gave Shinji a large dose of sleeping medicine. All of them heard a multitude of giggles grow quickly then fade slowly away. When it wasn't heard, they checked his vitals and saw the boy was in a deep sleep. Giving the countdown, they began to remove the bed restrains and I.V.s. Keeping the strait jacket and gas mask contraption on, they opened the coffin and moved him inside. Checking his pulse, it was still beating. Closing the elongated box, they began pushing the patient quickly to the lab in the other facility.
Swimming in his subconscious void, everything suddenly got extremely close. Instead of seeing things from various distances, all the memories, sensations, and visions were in front of his face. All his voices seemed to be cramped with him. Not sure why or able to analyze why, he continued floating in a never ending frontier of his mind. Shinji kept going through many dimensions and directions over and over again. After some time passed which felt like hours, his subconscious world started filling up with an ocean of red and orange.
'…heh…hehehe…ExCiTiNg… #$^ $ISN'T IT!?' the evil voice shouted and echoed loudly. Its voice seemed to bounce from all directions making him feel extremely disoriented.
'ThEfIrStStEp-t-t-t-t-t-t-ooooooooo…r…e…s…u…r…g…e…n…c…e!' the dark clone stated in slow motion while cackling. Its laughter jumped various pitches till all the other voices were laughing at something as well. Their chorus of mischievous and malicious mirth made the Third Child even more confused as he couldn't do anything let alone think straight.
"How is he?" Ritsuko asked watching the contamination squad from the control room. The suited team had extended the mobile catwalks to the open hatch of an entry plug. One employee manned the panel while the others were moving the table to the open hatch.
[His vitals are normal and we haven't seen anything out of the ordinary] one of the suited team members stated.
"Good. Continue. Place him in entry-plug 01."
[Yes doctor.]
Watching the team place the Third Child in the capsule, the scientist watched from the monitors. An open comm-link showed the male pilot sitting in the cockpit. Once the last squad member got out, the hatch closed. Watching the contamination squad retreat and the mobile catwalk retracting, everything was set to go. Taking a deep breath in and exhaling, she gave a nod to the crew in the control room to start the experiment.
'Here we go Ikari,' she thought to herself.
"Start LCL fulfillment."
"Starting LCL fulfillment in entry-plug 01," Maya responded and pressed buttons on her panel.
"Begin injecting mixture compound. Start with 5% concentration," Ritsuko ordered. Her team responded with the command. Shortly, the entry-plug was filled up with LCL and a small percentage of the concoction solution. After a couple of minutes, there was no reaction as the male pilot was still in a deep sleep. The only noise that he was producing was the deep airy breathing through his gas mask.
"No reaction to vitals or brain waves," one technician read from his monitor.
"Increase pressure to wake him."
"Increasing pressure," another tech stated. The monitor showed a small jolt that hit the male pilot as he slowly raised his head upward from the movement from the jolt.
"No response."
"Do another," Ritsuko stated and saw another jolt hit the male pilot.
"Slight increase in vitals and brain wave activity, but still non responsive," the tech stated. "Should we increase the solution more?"
[…nO…hIt…Me…AgAiN] a dark voice spoke through the mask. It made it sound sinister and demonic. The crew in the control room blinked and turned to the monitor that showed the Third Child.
[AGAIN-AGAIN!-AGAIN!...] it shouted louder and louder. They leaned back a little watching the male pilot throw his head back with each shout.
"Put the pilot under now!" the scientist ordered loudly. It brought everyone back as they typed in the command.
[AGAIN!...a…g…a…i…n…heee…eeeeee…] he stated getting quieter and sounding sleepy. The Third Child's movements became slower and slower till he sat with a downcast head.
"Third Child has fallen asleep," the tech stated feeling goosebumps all over him.
"Dr. Akagi, how are we going to make the pilot stable in his current condition?" Maya asked feeling a little rattled from the outburst.
"…" Ritsuko said taking a deep breath in. Exhaling, she turned toward her team.
"I want everyone to understand what the objective is. It is to make the Third Child stable enough to be able to pilot an Eva. This has never been done before. Therefore, what we are doing now is pure experimentation. What you have witness is the first of many trials and errors ahead."
"I assume all of you know that the Third Child has a mental disorder that somehow can project hallucinations. I want everyone to understand from this point on," she said pointing to the monitor that had the male pilot. "As long as he stays inside that entry-plug, his infection and disorder will not contaminate anyone. Also, the pilot is incapable of functioning normally like a normal person. He is already taken over by his schizophrenia."
"To get through this, we must act like scientists of its pure definition. We are trying to make a breakthrough that no one else has ventured into. Until we get Pilot Ikari stabilized and to function somewhat as a normal person, he is our test subject. Based on the orders of the Commander, we will use any means possible to get to that point."
"…!?" a couple of scientists and technicians said with surprised faces. The others looked at the doctor with determined faces. Instead of the gravity of morals and ethics, they saw it as a means to save someone.
"Do I make myself clear?" she asked the silent crew as the majority of them nodded their head.
"…" Shinji said as a large grin came on his face that slowly died away.
His other voices were grinning as well and chuckling amongst themselves. The dark clone slashed through a chaotic wave of red and black with sporadic images. It caused a black void to open as it slowly levitated out of it. The opening vanished as quickly as it was formed. It was smiling excited at him.
'…Myyyyyyyy s-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-eddddddddddd…WeShAlLdAnCeTiLlWeBeCoMeEvErYtHiNg,' the hellish clone stated in distortion and malice. 'THE MEMORIES…OHHHHHHH…THE MEMORIES! WE-SHALL-RELISH-THEM-AGAIN-AND-AGAIN-AND-AGAIN-AND-AGAIN-AGAIN-AGAIN-AGAIN-AGAINAGAINAGAINAGAINAGAINNNNNNNNNNN#$$...^*(&%&...'
"…" Shinji commented feeling his mind and senses blackout.
Slowly, something started changing. Something of a small light seemed to pulsate very far away. Unable to move toward it, it went out after hearing the cackling of the male voices. Feeling like he blinked, the light was closer. The progress of it increased each time till the light was a meter or so in front of him. Straining his mind through the chaos that engulfed his body, mind, and soul, he saw his morbid silhouette arm reach toward it. Blinking again, the light consumed him.
[…] he said exhaling deeply.
"…!?" Maya said seeing his vitals and brain slowly responding. "Dr. Akagi! Pilot Ikari's brain activity is normalizing."
"Finally a starting point," Ritsuko said tiredly. Heading toward the intercom, she pressed a button.
"Pilot Ikari, do you hear me?"
The crew saw the male pilot slowly lift his head and breathe deeply again. They saw him pause for a second or two then lethargically move his head around. It gave the appearance that he was looking around himself. Feeling a sense of accomplishment, the scientists and techs continued to watch and monitor their stations.
"Pilot Ikari, do you hear me?" she asked again. The Third Child's head slowly moved to look forward and slowly nodded his head.
[…I…h…e…a…r…D-D-D-Dr. A…k…a…g-g-g…i] Shinji spoke in lethargic broken speech. The gas mask made his voice sound deeper and amplified. It didn't sound like the other sinister voice. Reaching the first milestone, the crew was looking optimistic at the experimentation and the ramification it could mean for the future.
"Good," she said giving a small smile. "Do you know where you are?"
[…I…'…m…$^#...I…'…m…^&(($^&...I…'…M… #$^#$#BURNTHEM!BURNTHEMALL!BURNEVERYONE!BURNTHEMTOASHES!RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!] the male pilot spoke before breaking down. A different sounding voice was screaming bloody murder through the loudspeakers.
"…" Ritsuko said grimacing. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she slammed a fist hard on the panel in front of her. The technicians and scientists had gotten use to the outbursts and just grimaced. They had already started applying pressure and injecting chemicals in the entry plug. The Third Child became less erratic and vocal as he slowly feel back to a deep sleep.
"That's enough progress for one day," the doctor said regaining her composure and picking up a clipboard. "Everyone go rest. We will begin again tomorrow."
"…" Maya said watching the tired technicians and scientists walk out of the laboratory. Once they left, the lieutenant stood up.
"Dr. Akagi, we did make a lot of progress today despite the numerous trial and error attempts," she said trying to be cheerful.
"That we did," Ritsuko said looking up from her clipboard staring at entry-plug 01.
"How much more adjustments are needed for Pilot Ikari for him to be stabilized?"
"I don't know. Testing by trial and error is testing out as many possibilities. We could find a solution concentration that works by tomorrow or be spending days, weeks, or months trying to find one."
"How long do we need him to sustain normalization?"
"The bare minimum…five minutes," the doctor said with a tired face.
"…" Maya said turning to look at the monitor that showed the sleeping Third Child. Seeing him in a gas mask with a face cover and in a strait jacket made her grimace.
"Is he going to remain there or be transported back to his hospital room?"
"…" the doctor said thinking about it. Going toward the control panel with the mixture concentrations, she flipped a few pages over on her clipboard. Finding the page she was looking for, she inputted the agents to inject and lowered the concentration level. Slowly, Shinji's vitals and brain activity matched the chart that was on the medical page sheet she had.
"Until he is stable, he will remain in here."
"…!?" Maya said with a shocked face. "D-Dr. Akagi!?"
"He is more stable here than in the quarantine area. It also allows us to remove the quarantine section. The staff will be at ease with the adjustments."
"…I…I see," the technician replied quietly though still thought otherwise.
"Let us leave. We will resume this tomorrow after some rest."
"Yes Dr. Akagi," Maya agreed and nodded. As both left, multiple muffled voices were heard from within the entire plug.
Later on during that day, the First Child went toward the medical facility of NERV after school. Heading toward the quarantine section, she stopped and blinked in confusion. There was no curtains or warning signs of the barred off area. Continuing forward, the two rooms that belonged to the quarantined patients were still there. Opening the one for the police officer, she was still in her room. Going down to the Third Child's, she opened the door.
"…?" Rei said seeing all the equipment, tanks, and curtains removed. It was converted back to a multiple patient room. Blinking and feeling anxiety, she closed the door. Walking to the administration desk, she saw an employee sitting at the desk.
"Excuse me," Ayanami asked. The receptionist looked up from her computer.
"Has Pilot Ikari been moved to a different room?"
"If I remember correctly, Dr. Akagi removed him from the medical facility earlier in the day. To where he was moved to in the main facility, you'd have to ask her," the employee stated.
"When was the quarantine area removed?"
"After Pilot Ikari was removed I believe."
"I see. Thank you," Rei said blinking and saw the receptionist nod her head.
'…' the First Child thought walking away and heading toward the main NERV building. Figuring that the Commander wanted to control and enable the Third Child to pilot again, she decided to explore the possible laboratory locations. After searching for an hour, she entered one that was where simulated synchronization tests were done with entry-plugs. Seeing nothing inside but monitors and equipment on standby, she began to turn when something sounded softly.
"…" Ayanami said turning back to the room and listened. It sounded deep, airy, and amplified. Walking slowly into the room, the door slid close. The noise became clearer as she moved forward into the control room. The auto-sense lights kicked on and lit everything inside.
"…" she commented. Blinking and recognizing the sound, it sounded like someone breathing into something. Seeing all the monitors on standby, none of them indicated that they were active. Turning around toward the door, she noticed a panel that had a small dent on it.
"…" she stated.
Blinking, she tilted her head at the small impact mark. Glancing at the monitor, curiosity told her to wake up the screen. Her chest started to tighten as she slowly pressed a button. The screen flickered on, in which the First Child blinked in surprise.
"…Ikari…" she said seeing him inside of the entry plug. Still in the gas mask contraption and full body strait jacket, he was floating in the LCL pool of the cockpit. Her anxiety went down from finding him; however, her chest still felt achy.
"…you are further away," she said quietly.
Slowly, she placed a hand on the screen and felt her head become downcast. Shaking her head, she pulled up a chair and sat down. Using the intercom, she tried to engage in small talk. It seemed more difficult than she remembered when at his bedside. The helplessness crept inside her faster making her stop and grimace. Placing her hands on her skirt and squeezing them together, she tried to figure out what she could provide. In painful silence, his deep and shallow breathing was her only audible company amongst the humming machines.