Chapter 88: Reaching for Salvation
"NO!" Rana shouted waking up from a nightmare. Sitting straight up quickly, she was sweating all over with fright. Ever since Shinji exploded, her dreams slowly changed to more horror themed. Staying with the Eva pilots and Major next door did help initially. Each day afterwards though, the dreams would become more morbid, violent, and distorted.
"…" she said breathing heavily.
Touching her neck, she felt her pulse slowly come down from its elevated state. Once calmed down, the twin tried to get her bearings of where she was. Knowing that she was in his room and sleeping in his bed, there was little of his scent left. Unable to get comfortable, Rana curled her knees to her chest and rested her head on them.
'Not being able to visit either the control room or Eva cage is so frustrating,' she thought wiping her eyes and shaking a little. 'He has to be there…he just has to be.'
'Maybe I can visit today?' the female twin thought getting up despite being still being dark outside. Looking at the time, it was early in the morning. Not caring, she got ready for school. Once cleaned and dressed, she made a simple breakfast for two. Sitting down, she had flashbacks of the first days both she and the Third Child ate together.
"A little early for breakfast, don't you think Shinji?" Rana said smiling at the empty seat to her right. Seeing the seat vacant and no response back, she shook her head and ate.
"You missed a lot of stuff at school," the twin said quietly. "Most of it was not that interesting, but let me tell you about…"
In the neighboring apartment, Misato woke to the sound of mumbling. Knowing who it was, she looked at the time. Groaning a little, she tried to block out the noises and fall back to sleep. Becoming mildly successful, she subconsciously visualized the mumbling in her sleep.
'…' the Major thought opening her eyes and frowning again. 'I don't care if the control room is off limits, that girl needs to move forward. I don't care if I get labeled the bad person. I do not want to deal with another child going insane. Especially when the brother was a massive piece of work.'
'Not mention,' she mentally stated while sitting up from her futon. 'I need both girls here to put on big sister shoes and help her. It has been two days since she went back to the apartment and neither of them has said anything about it to me.'
Grumbling and patting around her space, she found her cell phone. Disregarding what time it was, she looked for a certain person's number and hit the dial button. After two rings, the phone picked up.
[It is bit early for you to be calling me] Ritsuko stated while sipping coffee. [What's wrong?]
"…" Misato said blinking. "…morning…when will the children be able to visit?"
[The lockdown was lifted yesterday, but I haven't authorized visitation yet.]
"Can you make an exception?"
[You mean for Rana?] she asked hearing a tired verbal agreement on the line. [Any particular reason?]
"She's in denial and has been talking to herself for the past two days."
[Some people take longer to coop than others. Study cases on twin siblings show that they experience longer duration of turmoil than non-twin siblings.]
"You are saying that her behavior is normal?"
[Just the aspect of dealing with a loss will be longer than normal. You suspect it is leading to something else?]
"Her brother was a schizo…must run in the family. The trauma of his death could push her over the edge," Misato commented rubbing her eyes.
[That is a possibility. If you assess that she is showing signs, we can have her admitted to the medical facility for a closer watch.]
"I'd appreciate that," the Major stated feeling semi-relieved though still felt groggy and irritated. "How has Dr. Ikari been?"
[…] Dr. Akagi said blinking with a pause. [Other than depression, she is physically fine.]
"Must be hard for her."
[Sure. Anything else? Maybe sing you a lullaby to go back to sleep?]
"You'd do that for me?"
[No.]
"I didn't think so," Misato said smiling a little. "I actually did have one other thing, it is about Rei."
[Yes?] Ritsuko said mildly interested.
"I have noticed that the Commander has not been calling for her as of late. I don't see them meeting up for their meetings or anything either…do you know what is going on?"
[…] the scientist said feeling her mouth frown a little knowing the answer. [I wouldn't know. I don't know the Commander's schedule any more than you.]
"…"
[Why?]
"I don't know…she just seems…very lost at times. I can't seem to get her to talk to me anymore."
[Well…she did grow up with the Commander as her guardian so to speak. She also seemed close with his son.]
"I get with the loss of Shinji…but I am not sure what is going on with her and the Commander. I mean, with his late wife back, wouldn't Rei have a mother figure now?"
[…] Ritsuko answered. Feeling something building inside of her, she pulled the phone away from her face. Putting her free hand over her mouth, she willed herself to not giggle or chuckle. Based on the feeling from her palm, there was a grin on her face. Closing her eyes and calming down, she put the phone back to her ear.
"Rits?"
[Possibly. Ayanami would have to be the one to decide that] Dr. Akagi replied normally with a neutral face.
"I guess that is true," Misato agreed while yawning out loud. "I thought Asuka would be affected but she was the first to cope and recover."
[I'm sure she did. Anything else?]
"Would bringing both Rana and Rei after school be fine?"
[Should be.]
"Has the Commander been hounding you on reports?"
[Yes and no. You know how he is.]
"True true. Okay, I'll see you in a few hours. Bye."
[Right. See you.]
'Alright,' Misato said closing her phone and lying back in bed. 'Hopefully this will help move things forward.'
In the medical facility, Yui was still in her designated patient room. Since the lost of the Third Child and unable to find a way to bring him back, the scientist went into a state of depression. Despite Gendo coming to visit every day, she couldn't uncoil herself fully. An immense sense of failure and guilt gripped her hard. Though wanting to think of ways to save the male pilot and bring him back, his death and being mentally reminded of what the female twin shouted at her kept her from pursuing. Gendo tried to give Yui suggestions on what he could try to do if she asked him for it. Though the cloning option was still available, he was internally relieved that she did not seem interested in it anymore.
At school, both Hikari and Kensuke kept asking Asuka and Toji if Shinji was doing alright. Both continued to keep up with similar stories that the Third Child was still in recovery and that his surgery went well. As much as they kept up with telling the lie, both of them started to react differently. Asuka became more pointed in remarks regarding the Third Child. Mentioning his name caused her to frown and become irritated. Toji would become uncomfortable talking about the Third Child and change to a different topic.
When the Class Rep sat and talked to Rana, the female twin stated that she felt worried about him. Aligning with the Second and Fourth Child's stories, she hoped that his eyes recover well. Both students thought about asking Rei; however, she seemed to revert back to keeping people at a distance, being cold, and being hard to approach. Toji would get nervous talking to either of them still thinking the loss of the Third Child was still raw to them. The past week so far had an off and depressing vibe from the Eva pilots. Students in the class noticed it in which a couple that conversed with Rana asked if she was doing okay. The female twin appreciated their concerns and that she was just worried about the surgery results.
After school, the Eva pilots received a text from Misato. She stated that the visitation restriction had been removed for the control room. Both Asuka and Toji stated that they would visit next time. Both Rei and Rana stated they will visit after school. Oddly, the Major felt a small sense of relief from both of them replying back. The female twin added characters to show that she was eager while the First Child was plain. Ignoring that, Misato continued with the thought plan of bringing both girls a reality check and about what they need to do onwards.
During the ride to NERV with Section-2, Rei looks out the rear seat window while Rana looks out the other side. Ayanami was contemplating the dreams of her second self trying to convince her to give up on the dead lilim again. Oddly though, the voice was more adamant and aggressive toward her about not being controlled by human emotions. It also repetitively emphasized that the Commander had replaced her with the other adult female lilim.
"…" Rei said remembering how agitated and reactive she shouted back.
Stating to herself, she did not believe the Commander has replaced her with Dr. Ikari. At the same time, she couldn't say that statement with confidence. Feeling herself becoming agitated again, she silently wished that the Third Child would come back. She felt unable to control various things: The non-stop emotional rollercoaster each day, the seeds of doubt in the people she looked up to, the unfazed faith from the female twin, why she couldn't get rid of the feelings she developed, and the difficulty of answering questions with her unclear mind.
Arriving at NERV, both teens went straight to the control room. The closer both got to it, Rana felt more and more anxious. Upon entering, both saw the technical staff at their terminals along with Misato, Ritsuko, and Maya. Rana walked straight to the observation window and saw both Eva-01 and Eva-03 in the Eva cage. Rei walked to the observation window as well and stood quietly next to her. Everyone in the room glanced at them then went back to their tasks.
"How do the scans look?" Ritsuko asked.
"All scans read clean," Maya replied from her monitor.
"Good," she stated marking a check on her clipboard. "We'll start with the next procedure."
"Roger," Misato stated and hit the intercom button to state the new order. Once the announcement finished, many maintenance crews began moving around. On the metal moveable decks, there were various sizes of hoses. A good number of techs grabbed them one by one and installed them securely on Unit-03. The diameter of the flexible tubes ranged from that of a small child to being 7ft wide.
"Doctor…what are those hoses going to do?" Rana asked looking out the observation window.
"We are going to flush out the fluids in the Eva and replace it with a newer LCL formula," the faux blonde stated not looking up from her clipboard. "Since Unit-03 was overtaken by the previous Angel, we can safely assume that anything inside the Unit is contaminated. Also, that the Angel is probably dormant inside of it."
"Even though the scans and even MAGI stated that Unit-03 came negative for any Angel material?" Maya questioned looking up.
"It is possible that since it was a microscopic Angel, it has various ways of hiding. It wasn't detected when being transported from America," Dr. Akagi stated.
"That's true," the monitor tech stated looking back at her monitor.
[All hoses and cables are attached] a maintenance crew member stated after a short wait.
"All right. Maya, how are the replacement fluids?"
"They read green and are ready to go."
"Good. Commence flush procedure," Ritsuko ordered. Maya pressed a couple of keys and various machines came to life. A large turbine began functioning and humming quietly. The maintenance crew heard a rush of liquids go through the hoses on one side of the Eva. Upon entering, little to no leakage around the insertion areas was observed.
[No leakage to report upon entrance] a tech stated. After about 30 seconds, the crew on the other side heard fluid leaving the outlet hoses.
[No leakage to report on the outlet hoses]
"So far so good," Ritsuko stated.
"How long does this go on for?" Misato asked looking at the computer monitor showing flow rates coming into and out of the Eva.
"Less than five minutes."
"…" the Major replied. Looking at the female twin and First Child, they had unreadable faces.
"What's wrong?" Ritsuko asked in a low voice noticing.
"Trying to find an opportunity to help them move forward."
"…" Dr. Akagi stated glancing at her then at the two teens. Blinking, she looked back at her clipboard and wrote on a section of the document.
"I have setup a room in the medical facility. I just need you to confirm and sign at administration to admit her."
"I'll do that after this. Thanks."
"Hopefully they listen to you."
"I know Rei will."
"I'm sure she will."
"…you make me feel less confident about that."
"I do not know what you mean," Ritsuko said looking at a reading and marking on her procedure chart. She ignored her friend looking at her.
"That's not reassuring."
"Sorry."
"…" Misato said with a sigh through her nose. "Anyway, has there been any clue on what happened in the cockpit to cause that accident? I thought it was an extremely rare occurrence."
"It is. I have studied both footage and readings inside the cockpit. I even ran tests through MAGI…but all came out with no indication to cause that accident."
A gloomy silence took place as no one in the observation room said anything till the procedure finished. The rush of liquid going through the inlet slowed down to a stop. Fluid coming out of the outlet side stopped as well and began draining.
"Flush procedure is completed," Maya stated pressing the intercom. "All turbines have shutdown. Disengage hoses and cables."
[Disengaging hoses and cables] a tech replied.
After the fluids in the hoses were emptied, the maintenance crew began removing them. Watching the last hose being pulled away, Misato saw the crew started to retract the moveable deck platforms. Turning her sights to the face of Eva-03, she just stared at it. A flashback from months ago came suddenly. Strangely, she couldn't remember clearly what it was about. Looking over at Eva-01, it stood still and offline. Wondering to herself on how the dummy system could make that Unit do what it did, she blinked.
"…!?" the Major said seeing dark magenta orbs in the Unit's offline eye slits. A deep mental cackle filled her head that made her shiver. Blinking again, the orbs were gone as well as the demented mirth.
'What was that?' she thought feeling her nerves were rattled quickly.
Seeing movement in the control room, she turned her head to the observation window. The First Child had tilted her head a little while Rana had pressed her hands closer to the window. Seeing something flowing from the Eva cage, she nervously turned toward where Eva-03 was. Blinking rapidly, she started to see red liquid seeping out of the mouth guard of Unit-03. The oral contraption started moving a little.
"…no…" Misato whispered feeling the hairs on the back of neck rise. The flashback became semi-clearer as the vision showed a walkway that led to an elevator. Despite not recalling anything passed that point, trepidation had gripped her to make her feel alarmed.
"No about what?" Ritsuko said looking to her left. Blinking in surprise to see the Major look a little disturbed, she followed her line of sight. Seeing the same thing as the Major, her eyes widened in surprise.
"Unit-03 is becoming...active?" Maya said confused. Looking back at the scientist, she saw her and the Major staring hard in a direction. Turning her line of sight toward the window, her hands moved to her mouth. Crimson was leaking greatly from around the mouth guard of the Eva as its head started moving slowly.
"…" Rana said slowly taking a step back from the observation window. The vibe emitting from the dark blue unit was foreign, paranoid, and frantic. Its eyes slowly glowed into a haunting white before leaning its head back suddenly.
'…?' Ayanami thought to herself in confusion. Blinking, she heard her second self utter something bizarre. There were many techs in the cage that were shouting and running out of the room. Streams of red liquid were gushing out from the mouth guard cover as Eva-03 was shaking.
'Its…coming out?' she thought when quick movement was heard from behind.
"Everyone in the cage get out of there now!" Misato yelled in the intercom.
As the remaining of the maintenance crew rushed out of the Eva cage, Unit-03 began to pulsate visually. It gave an impression that it was going to regurgitate. It leaned forward quickly to hover over the main walkway platform. The mouth guard fell off and the Unit vomited a waterfall of crimson. As the massive pool of red splashed and flooded the walkway, the Eva started coughing. Deep sounds of forced air filled the room as it echoed off the walls. Despite the mouth guard being back on Eva-01, it tried grinning wider underneath.
Without warning, Eva-03 stood up and reached toward Unit-01. Getting a hand on its mouth guard, it ripped it off with one pull. Deeply coughing again with more crimson coming out, it forced the purple war machine's bleeding mouth wide open. Emitting a loud low grunt and gurgle, a red fleshy orb came out of Eva-03's mouth and entered Unit-01's mouth. As if the regurgitation took all the energy out of the unit, the dark blue war machine fell backwards. Like a lifeless doll, it clanked hard and loud with the Eva cage walls causing a mild vibration throughout the floor level. Laying/sitting awkwardly on the floor of the Eva cage, the staff in the control room continued to watch the apprehensive spectacle.
"…what the hell," Misato stated in a whisper. She did not moving from her spot seeing the red fleshy orb worm its way further into Unit-01's mouth and throat. The sight gave her instant goosebumps.
"…is that?"
"How should I know?" Ritsuko whispered back equally tense and intrigued. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end.
"Eva-03 is inactive," Maya whispered feeling nauseous and scared.
"…!?" Rana said blinking in surprise and fearful. The organic orb was pulsating as most of it had gone down into the purple war machine's throat. Seeing something out of her peripheral vision, Rei had a look of bewilderment.
'…!?' Ayanami thought blinking several times. What her second self blurted, it was things from shock, agitation, denial, and superiority. It even threatened her if she thought of getting involved of what was occurring.
"What's wrong Ayanami?" Rana whispered not moving from her spot.
"…I…do not know," Rei said not sure what to think or how to act.
"What readings were picked up from what came out and into Unit-01?" Dr. Akagi asked wondering why there were no alarms sounding. "Any indicating an Angel signature?"
"There was a faint signature, but it was not active," one tech monitor stated.
"The Angel is still dormant?" she asked confused.
"Scans read that the Angel is still dormant."
"How is that possible?" Misato questioned equally baffled from what she just witness.
Walking over to where her friend was, the staff in the room didn't notice sudden movements in the room. Both Rei and Rana were shaking and staring at Eva-01. They recognized the aura belonging to the evil version of the Third Child. However, its vibe was tenfold from what they remembered. It was as if they were engulfed and surrounded by its hellish madness. What made them both take a step back with frightened faces is seeing dark magenta pupils staring at them with a blood dripping grin on its face.
In a desperate attempt to escape the psychotic and agonizing hell of the dark blue Eva, Bardiel sensed another synthetic being close by. Not feeling anything emitting from it, the Angel frantically molded itself into an organic core. Once it accumulated enough of its mass, it ejected itself out forcefully. What made it not look back or question its actions was feeling the murky voice stalking and following its pathway in the Unit. Escaping and entering the other unit, it immediately started spreading itself out. Slowly infecting the insides of the war machine, it felt something off.
'…this…feels…familiar for some reason…' it thought continuing to expand itself. Once it completely spread its cells throughout the Eva, it decided to activate it and use it to complete two purposes. It would destroy the dark blue unit then proceed with its one purpose.
'…strange…why is this synthetic being not responding,' the Angel thought still feeling the vague familiarity. 'I can use its energy…so won't it-!?'
' #$HeL#$%#$L#$#$l#$^#$oooooooooo' a soft distorted sound of a small boy spoke with much white noise.
'…w-who…who are you?' Bardiel asked in a mild panic finding the voice to sound similar to someone else.
'I'mNoBoDy…s-s-s-s-s-s-saaaaayyyyyyyy…wHaT did/DiD/DID MYSEEDDO!?' the boy asked then shouted viciously. Its voice slowly morphed into an older one that sound demented.
'I am an Angel. Superior to all lilim. Tell me who you are or I'll erase you from this vessel,' the Angel shouted back delusional and paranoid. Looking around in the vast mindscape of the Eva, it couldn't find where the voice was coming from. Turning around again, it saw a figure and instantly recognized it. It had dark magenta eyes and a cruel looking grin on its face.
'…no…nononononono…HOW ARE YOU HERE IN THIS VESSEL TOO!?' it shouted in fear feeling the same aura; however, this version gave a much stronger and malicious vibe. So much so, that the Angel felt petrified. Its vision glitched then saw the figure had moved suddenly in front of its face. The physical features of the lilim changed so drastically, that its mind only felt horror.
'#$(*#%^HAAAAAAA $^$%^ RRRRRRRRAAAAAHHH $%^ %$^AHAHA % $& $HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!' the dark clone mentally screeched. So loud was the screams that all of its mouths roared in various versions of pain, anger, insanity, laughter, and viciousness. All Bardiel could see around it were black and red tentacles stabbing and worming their way into its being. In a blind panic of fright, the Angel used its energy reservoirs and purged its way back up.
"Something is coming out of Unit-01's mouth," Maya stated still feeling sick.
Everyone in the control room saw the purple unit gushing out red blood just like how Eva-03 did. However instead of the unit moving as if it were trying to regurgitate, it opened its mouth harshly as something red quickly squirmed out. The fleshy red orb came out of its mouth and dropped down onto the main walkway platform. As crimson liquids traced from the unit's mouth like spider webs, the organic sphere made a hard and loud splat on the metal floor. The pool of red already on it shot the fluid far and wide hitting walls and the observation window.
"Why did it come out again?" Misato asked looking at the camera feed of the Eva cage on the monitor.
"I don't know. I never dealt with this before," Ritsuko said intrigued and baffled at the same time. The staff in the room heard a small shuffle in front of them and looked up. They saw the two female twins were still at the observation window. Rana took a step toward the window.
"…its pulsating…kind of like a heart," Rana observed while squinting her eyes a little. Maya became more squeamish from the comment.
Without warning or indication, the red fleshy orb started expanding like a balloon. The more it expanded, the more people in the control room could see blue veins and blood pumping inside and outside of it. When it reached to about half the height of the Eva cage, it exploded violently. Gore was sent far and wide splashing nearby walls and equipment with red. A large portion of the walkway platform turned from green to dripping red. What was more disturbing was the crimson organ matter was pumping blood out of it faster and faster. The trickles slowly turned into streams and getting bigger.
Everyone in the observation room jumped when half of the window got splashed with what seemed like blood. Along with that, several human and not so human looking organs splattered on the elongated window. Misato and Ritsuko stood shivering. They were feeling the same level of fear and horror as the hallucination hallway prior to the Third Child going completely schizophrenic. Maya, unable to hold her stomach in, threw up in a nearby waste basket. The rest of the staff became queasy and scared as they quietly murmured to each other.
"What on earth is going on?" Ritsuko said perplexed and apprehensive. Shaking her head, she went to a free monitor and started typing trying to find out what was happening.
"Find any reading regarding what is in the Eva cage!" Dr. Akagi ordered. It got the staff out of their stupor and actively looking at the data on their monitors. To their surprise, a flood of information was coming through.
"…" Rei said blinking in confusion from what just happened. Watching the female twin move slowly, she stopped at a clear spot on the window and looked through it. After a short stare, the First Child saw Rana have a facial reaction of shock and recognition. About to say something, the female twin suddenly turned around and bolted out of the room.
"R-Rana, where are you going?!" Misato asked surprised. The female twin quickly exit the room without a reply or stopping. Looking back at where Rei was, the First Child was looking through the same clear part of the window. Not able to see what was going on below, the Major shook her head a little.
"Rei, follow her," she ordered.
"…" Ayanami said turning around and nodding. Jogging out of the room, Misato saw the teen leave and the door close again.
"…oh my god…" Ritsuko whispered looking at the monitor with ambivalence. An equal look of fascination and horror came across her face.
"W-What's wrong?" Misato asked apprehensive. Turning back to her friend and looking down at the monitor, it had a bunch of text filling the screen. Looking up at her, the faux blonde expression made her feel tense.
"Go after them. Don't allow anyone to enter the Eva cage! I will lock down the doors from here!" the head scientist and began typing fast.
"What?"
"GO!" she yelled.
"R-right," Misato stated then went after the teens.
"Force lockdown all access doors and vents! Prevent anything from escaping the Eva cage!" Ritsuko barked as she continued to frantically type on her monitor. Hearing the staff in the room give an affirmative reply, it didn't give her any comfort from what the analysis was showing from readings.
While Ayanami jogged down a hallway, she was trying to figure what caused the female twin to suddenly bolt out of the room. Rounding the corner, she found Rana frantically pushing the call button for the elevator repetitively. Slowing down to a walk, a vague sensation in her chest was developing. Recognizing that more than one feeling associated with it, she didn't try to analyze it yet. Just about to reach her, the elevator doors opened.
"Rana, what is the mat—" Rei asked when Rana reached for her wrist and pulled her into the elevator quickly.
"Ayanami…please…please tell me the level for the Eva cage! Please!" the female twin pleaded with tears running down her face.
"…" the First Child stated with a surprised and confused look.
The elevator doors started closing. Pointing to the number on the button panel, Rana let go and pressed it. Starting to descend, Rei looked at her wrist. There were no hand markings despite feeling the strong pull and grip the female twin did. Looking back at her, the female pilot saw Rana wipe tears from her eyes as more kept coming down. However instead of looking sad and in pain, she looked anxious and happy.
"…" Rei said tilting her head a little and blinking. The elevator slowed down to a stop and slowly opened its doors.
"Why are you crying?"
"Come, let me show you!" the female double stated with a large smile and grabbed her hand.