Chapter 89: Trapped and Surrounded
Letting her pull her along, Ayanami followed Rana to the Eva cage. Turning a corner to the hallway, there was no one near the sliding doors. Standing in front of the entrance, the doors didn't open automatically. The female twin pressed the keypad; however, the doors still did not open.
"Are the doors not working?" Rana asked turning toward the First Child.
"…" she said as she walked toward the door panel and looked at it.
Pressing the open button, it didn't open still. Inputting a code, a mechanical lock sounded and the doors opened slowly. It stopped when the gap was enough to squeeze their body through, but not enough clearance for their heads. Instantly, Rei covered her nose and mouth from the strong aroma of blood coming out of the Eva cage. It was not a different smell from LCL fluid; however, there was something more rotten about it. Looking over at Rana, she was doing the same of holding her mouth and nose while looking nauseous.
Unable to pass through the gap of the doors, both walked toward it and peered into the Eva cage. Inside, the walkway was covered with carnage. Down a ways from the entrance, there was a big pile of red flesh. Burst opened organs littering around it while crimson was gushing out like a small waterfall. It was pulsating like a heart and was slowly growing again.
Bulging up, they saw a hand from the inside pushing out. It didn't break the membrane of the red organic mass. Goosebumps littered their skin when they started to hear white noise growing louder. The aura that was coming out of the Eva cage was freezing cold and extremely nerve racking.
[Ayanami! Rana! Get away from the doors now!] Ritsuko ordered quickly over the loudspeaker.
Complying quickly, the female pilot started backing away from the doors. However, Rana seemed still transfixed on the bio-mass that continued to grow as another limb was trying to get out. Feeling a sudden pull back from a hand on her shoulder, Misato hit the control panel of the doors. Peering quickly down the walkway before closing, her eyes widened seeing an arm slowly trying to push out from the red pile of flesh. What added a level of horror to her was how much blood there was. The entire walkway was coated heavily with crimson as a constant spillage was going over on both sides greatly.
'W-W-What the hell is that?!' the Major thought feeling sweat dripping down her face while inputting a lockdown code for the door.
Turning towards the two teens, Rana was sitting on the floor while breathing deeply with a couple of gulps. Looking at Rei, she was standing though looked nauseated. Looking at them closely, both of them seemed a little haggard from what they saw. Getting her cell phone out and looking up a number, Misato hit the speed dial. One ring passed till the line was picked up.
[Dr. Akagi speaking] Ritsuko said in a controlled and tense voice.
"What the heck is going on in there!?" Misato said hearing the tremble in her voice.
[Other than what looks like human limbs growing in that pile, I haven't found out why…a head and neck is forming…Maya zoom in…] she stated on the line. Two sharp gasps were heard on the other end.
[…oh dear god…] the head scientist said with Maya shaking next to her.
"W-W-What happened?"
[…there's a…-son #$% #$emerging…Eva cage…ing flooded#$^ $ rapidly...get bac-] Ritsuko said horrified cutting in and out with white noise.
'Getting flooded?' Misato thought feeling the grip on her phone loosen from shock. It slipped through her hand as she tried to catch it. Avoiding it hitting the metal floor, she sighed in relieve for a second. She failed to hear the rest of what the head scientist stated.
"Major?" Ayanami called seeing a frightened look come over the purple haired female's face. Feeling recovered enough from the small rest, Rana slowly stood up. Turning toward the doors, the impulse from earlier was still there. Slowly approaching the doors again, someone came into her view.
"W-Wait Rana. We can't go in," the Major said standing in front of the door panel.
"But!…he's in there! He needs my help!" the female twin stated firmly and desperate.
"Who are you talking about!?"
"Shinji! He is in there! Let me go in!" Rana pleaded standing in front of her as Misato's eyes widened with fear.
'Ikari is in there?' Rei thought looking surprised at the twin then at the doors. Looking at the door seam in the middle, something about it didn't feel or look right. Hearing a mild thud, it sounded like it was from the other side of the door. Recognizing the off putting aura, she slowly took a step back and blinked.
"W-W-Wait a minute Rana, that is impossible. He died. Besides, the Eva cage is contaminated now. You saw what happened. Until the recovery crew arrives and scrubs the room clean, we can't risk anyone going inside-"
[Misato! MISATO! Get everyone back here! Get away from the doors!] Ritsuko shouted from the phone. Alarms started going off as red lights were flashing down the hallways and corridors. Containment doors down hallways started to drop slowly. About to move, the doors to the Eva cage made a sudden loud bang noise.
'…no…' she thought as the flashback from earlier became even clearer. Remembering what happened, the doors made a loud thud again as if something very heavy was hitting it. Quickly putting the mobile phone in a pocket, Misato pulled both teens toward the hallway with the elevators.
"MOVE IT!" she barked pushing both them forward as another thud was heard.
'It isn't real…It isn't real…It isn't real…' the Major repeated in her head following both teens. The containment door to the elevators was near the ground when they rounded the hallway corner. All three quickly dropped low and got through as the rolling doors closed shut and audibly locked. The sound of it made Misato feel that they were safe at least.
Moving to the elevators and pressing the call button, the three heard a distant loud metal burst. Turning toward the containment door, a rush of water was heard and quickly banged against it hard. The impact was enough to rattle the metal door a little. A soft ding was heard to their left as the three went into the elevator. Pressing for the level of the control room, the containment door started to be pushed back with metal bending and creaking. As the sliding doors began to close, the three heard the containment door violently collapse backwards with an avalanche of crimson engulfing it.
"…!?" Misato pulling both teens back against the wall opposite of the elevator doors.
Despite the doors closing before any liquid got in, the rush of blood was frightening enough. Flinching hard when they heard the iron smelling fluid slam against the doors, the elevator started going up. Hearing more liquid fill up in the hallway space they were in, it became quieter and quieter as they continued ascending.
"…" Rei said seeing Misato trying to calm down despite looking spooked. Looking at the female twin, she had a look of ambivalence. Despite still recovering from the nausea attack, she was fidgety. Many sounds and alarms sounded through the loudspeaker in the elevator as the lights inside was mixed with a flashing red.
Reaching the selected level, the elevator doors opened. Seeing the hallway space was dry with no sea of red, the Major quickly led both teens to observation room. As the three entered the room, they saw the tech staff rapidly typing at their monitors. Maya was typing quickly as well with an alarmed face. Ritsuko seemed to have things in control despite the mild worrisome expression and her typing quickly at her monitor. Despite the lights in the room still illuminating everything, the control room windows were completely covered in crimson. It was thick with no bubbles to see while giving a soft flat red glow.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Misato snapped a little.
"It is what I hoped wouldn't happen," Ritsuko stated typing quickly. The blaring alarms were cut off but the flashing red lights continued to be lit.
"Is it Eva-03?" Misato asked.
"No…it is the Angel. The flushing procedure didn't get rid of it at all. It seemed to only have made things worse and forced it out."
"Okay…how come the Angel alarm isn't going off?"
"That is due from the Angel still being dormant."
"…" Misato said trying to process what she said. It didn't get far as she felt the mouse wheel in her head slow down to a stop.
"Wait wait wait…it is still dormant? Isn't it the one flooding everything with a bloodbath?"
"From what I have observed and read from the monitors, it is doing this. What I can't understand is it isn't infecting the equipment," Ritsuko said looking back at the Major. "Despite going into Unit-01 earlier, the Eva so far has not been affected nor is there an cellular structure changes in the unit."
"What's it doing then?" Misato asked as the scientist made a few types and brought up a window screen on her monitor.
"From what I have gathered so far, here is an image of a regular human blood cell and one from an Angel's. Both are very similar to the point that both species share a very close chemistry and DNA make up," she stated then typed a few commands.
"The sensors and data collected from the flush procedure gathered this red blood cell activity," Dr. Akagi stated. The window changed on the screen to show a short animation. The red blood cell was multiplying at a rapid rate.
"It is cell division at an exponentially fast rate."
"You mean that red stuff in there is the Angel's?!" Misato asked flabbergasted.
"Yes. It is the Angel expanding itself."
"Ugh," the Major said rubbing her temples feeling a large headache growing.
"Doctor," Rana asked fidgeting. "What about the person in there?"
"The one in that red pile? I do not know. If anything, that individual is either dead or a vessel for the dormant Angel," Dr. Akagi stated turning back to the monitor.
She continued reading data and typing to figure out how to contain the new threat. Rei had been standing in the same spot that she came into the observation room. Continuing to look at the observation window, the color made her feel odd. Seeing nothing but red made her feel edgy as she kept her stoic expression.
'…I do not like red…' she thought recognizing the feeling of dislike. Ever since entering the control room, her second self became silent. Even asking it what was happening, the voice never responded back.
"How are we going to fix this?" Misato stated out loud with a loud sigh. One of the intercom buttons started flashing near Ritsuko as she answered.
"Dr. Akagi speaking."
[Report Doctor. What is going on?] the Commander stated on the line. Breaking away from typing, she began to tell him what had transpired so far.
"…?" Ayanami said with a blink. Looking to her left, she felt a hand wrap around her arm with Rana standing next to her.
Ever since the previous Angel attack, it had been hard to get the Third Child out of her mind. Sometimes, she would dream about him; however, the dreams were very chaotic and disordered. One dream she had was being in the subconscious carnival and reliving the escape from one side to the other. The last thing from the dream was seeing the entire realm become flooded with blood. Hairs on her skin flared up remembering the surrealism of that portion of the dream and how gripping it made her feel.
Another reminder of him was Rana being that their faces were a mirror of each other. It kept the feelings she had of him present. The action of the female twin holding onto her arm made her think of when she held onto the Third Child. Remembering the sensations it gave her from walking home together, it made her want to do that again. Trying not to think about the emotions, Ayanami recalled what was said at the entrance doors to the Eva cage.
"Rana. Why did you state that Ikari was in the Eva cage?" the female pilot stated with a stoic tone and expression.
"…" Rana said looking down and adjusting her hold on the First Child's arm a little. "I…don't know…for a second…I felt he was there…in that pile."
"I know it doesn't make much sense-!" the female twin said looking up then gripped Rei's arm tensely.
"…?" Ayanami said in surprise blinking. Something stirred in her stomach and followed Rana's line of sight to the window. Her eyes widen.
"D-D-Dr. Akagi!?" Maya shouted with fright standing up and moving back a little.
Both Ritsuko and Misato looked at the spooked bridge monitor as she was staring at something at the window. Everyone heard a soft thud on the window that kept repeating slowly. Both women turned and froze with fear. A silhouette was floating in front of the window. There was a track line from its back area going down almost seemingly like an umbilical cord. As if there was an invisible current, its body kept swaying back and forth and running into the glass. Its features were not clear for them to see. The thick blood made everything passed the glass dull and indistinctive to see.
"…sir…" the faux blonde stated quietly. "…I will…have to call you back."
[Explain.]
"…" Ritsuko stated slowly and gently putting the phone down on its holster. "Everyone, stay still and don't make much sound."
"It's…it's the person," one tech staff whispered out loud. Dr. Akagi slowly moved toward a monitor while keeping her sights on the observation window.
"Rana!? What are you doing?!" Misato said quietly and harshly nearby while not moving. Only the female twin was moving and taking slow steps forward. Letting go of the First Child's arm, Rana continued toward the glass were the silhouette was.
"…" Rei said as a foreboding feeling washed over her. The figure on the other side of the window felt familiar. It reminded her in some ways of her second self; however, something about it was not the same. It felt wild, uncontrollable, and very unstable.
"…" Rana said as she stopped in front of the window.
The silhouette instantly moved to be in front of her. In the figure's chest, a line crease appeared and opened up. A large eye was shown in which the pupil rolled into view. Based on how the others in the room didn't say anything, only Rana saw it. The pupil moved up and saw a female silhouette on the other side of the glass. Feeling immense relief from having an escape route, the floating silhouette looked closer at its new vessel. With its features clearer, it saw a very familiar lilim with red-blue eyes shining eerily at it.
"…BRING…HIM…BACK…WORM…" Rana whispered with a murderous expression on her face.
'…no…' Bardiel thought seeing the same lilim. Despite the physical differences, the face, the shine of the eyes, and the aura was identical.
'NO! IT CANNOT BE!?' the Angel mentally shouted in fright and distraught. Sensing another one nearby, it split open the back of its body. Another eye quickly formed and the pupil frantically searched. Sensing it somewhere down below, it saw a pair of black eyeballs. It was where the large pile of flesh was continuously growing and staring back at it.
'NO! STAY AWAY! I SAID STAY AWAY FROM ME!' it mental screeched in fear seeing the pair of eyes started to slowly swim its way toward him.
Shaking with fear, a severe tremor took over its body from sensing another identical vibe. It was further way; however, something large was moving with the aura. Looking up with its shaking back eye, the Angel saw the purple war machine turn its head. The Eva's blackout eye slots had eerily shining dark magenta pupils staring at it. Bardiel's insides were squirming in terror from seeing a haunting glow of the Eva's teeth as its mouth made chomping sounds. The sight of its grin getting impossibly wider and wider pushed the Angel over the edge.
Without warning, the floating figure morphed rapidly into a hideous large creature that stretched the entire length and width of the long observation window. As if time slowed down, everyone's face slowly went into tense fright from seeing the Angel reached its disfigured looking form. Once completed, it made a high pitch scream as the Angel alarm sounded.
"Get out of here! Move!" Misato shouted as the tech staff started running for the exit. As they ran, only she, Ritsuko, Maya, Rei, and Rana stayed. Rana hadn't moved from the observation window as she continued to stare murderously at the Angel. About to move, Ayanami felt startled when a ping was felt in her head. The voice sounded desperate, delusional, in panic, and terrified.
[YOU! KILL ME! PLEASE KILL ME! PLEASE-TO-ADAM-AND-LILITH-KILL-ME!] it screamed in her head over and over again.
"…?!" the female pilot stated looking with surprised eyes and a parted mouth at the creature. Knowing it was the Angel, the First Child couldn't wrap her head around on how a superior being became so overwhelmed and wanted to die so strongly. From the forced telepathy, Rei felt its sensation. A sudden deathly chill ripped through her that made her legs weak as she recognized the aura.
"RITS! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"Misato shouted in fear.
"Help me get Maya!" Ritsuko stated seeing her assistant had fainted.
'…!?' Bardiel thought seeing that the pair of eyes below was still slowly swimming toward it. Sensing the larger presence's vibe become immensely malicious, it felt that the evil being was now right behind him. Its back eye looked up slowly shaking violently all over in horror. Eva-01 was still grinning wide with blackout eyes and shining pupils in the distance. Suddenly, it saw a large figure coming straight at it.
Both Ritsuko and Misato got Maya and were carrying her out. About to call Rei and Rana, all saw something approaching the hideous creature from behind quickly. Recognizing it as a prog knife, it was held in hand from an elongated Eva arm. Before impact, the blade activated causing an outline of plasma over the blade. The sea of blood around it instantly vaporized causing massive air pockets to form. Violently, the blade thrust into the creature. Looking at the exit entry, the prog knife tip stopped short from hitting the observation window in front of Rana.
"…" Rana said feeling the dark clone's overwhelming presence.
Her murderous expression instantly changed to terror as it felt gagging and extremely vile. Her insides immediately tensed up and squirmed. As the Major and doctor stood still and trembled from the sight, they saw that both Rei and Rana still hadn't move from their spots. What made both of them feel their mouths quiver in horror was how the creature was squirming and screeching murderously in agony. The plasma around the prog knife was boiling the disfigured Angel alive.
"…" Ayanami said grimacing from all the shouts of agony and pain that the Angel was communicating into her head.
Dropping to the floor on her knees, she held her head trying to stop the screaming. Abruptly, the voice stopped. Looking back at the window, the last seconds of the creature ended crudely. Its remaining body vaporized away from the prog knife as it moved up and down through its body. When creature was gone, the prog knife turned off. The elongated arm slithered and retracted back into the sea of crimson. A deep muffled sound of a chuckle was heard from the loudspeakers that made everyone feel goosebumps on their skin.
After the sound passed, the Angel alarm turned off leaving only the humming of the computer monitors. Several minutes passed when all was quiet and nothing stirred. The alarms from before were stilling going on with red lights down corridors flashing. Both Rana and Rei were hit with sudden exhaustion. The female twin suddenly fell backward on her rump and breathed deeply trying to rid of the fierce trepidation.
Ayanami took her hands off her head and placed them on the ground. She tried to focus on uncoiling herself from being forced to feel overwhelming terror. Misato and Ritsuko slowly laid Maya on the ground. Standing up, they looked at what was in front of them cautiously.
"What…just happened?" Misato asked in a whisper stilling feeling stressed and frightened.
"I…don't know. Check on the children and let me see what I can figure out," Ritsuko stated in a whisper. Heading to the nearest computer terminal, she began typing to see what data came through. The Major went to the First Child to see her shaking on her hands and knees. Kneeling down, she gently put a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright Rei?"
"…" Ayanami said slowly shaking her head.
"What's wrong?"
"…I…can't stop…this overwhelming…fear," she said quietly as a shiver went through her.
"It is okay. Everything seems to be okay now. Let's get you into a chair," the Major said and helped the teen up. Escorting her to a nearby chair, they heard someone vomiting. Blinking and looking in the direction of the sound, it was Rana on her hands and knees. Misato felt the First Child struggling to move and stand.
"Whoa, take it easy. I'll go check on her. Just sit here. Okay?"
"…" Ayanami said nodding her head a little. Misato quickly walked over to hear the female twin coughing and wheezing. Kneeling down quickly and gently grabbing her shoulders, the lavender haired woman leaned closer.
"Rana, are you okay? Talk to me," she asked worried.
"He's…he's…he's in there," Rana said quietly and shaking.
"…" Misato said feeling her eyebrows raise a little. Thinking she was still going on that Shinji was still alive, the dripping sweat on the female twin's scared face probably meant something else. Gently pulling her back to her, the Major heard Rana starting to hyperventilate a little.
"Shh. Shh. It's okay. It is over now," she said holding her and feeling the teen tremble in her arms. Hearing her utter sounds of fright, Misato felt her trying to lean back. Looking up at the observation window, the hairs on the back of her neck instantly flared.
"…!?" the Major said with wide eyes seeing a pair of black-red eyeballs staring at them.
They were floating in front of them on the other side of the observation window. An overwhelming sensation took hold as if the flood Eva cage of crimson was the body of the eyes staring at them. Staying there for a couple of seconds, the eyeballs turned around and faded into the sea of red. Feeling that the atmosphere was uncomfortably tense, the loudspeakers started to make a sound.
"…!?" Ritsuko saw a notification on her monitor that showed were the sound was coming from. Her face became bewildered on why the Eva was doing that. Too flabbergasted to think, she silenced the loudspeakers and continued typing.
'That sounded like,' Misato said slowly helping Rana stand up. 'Swallowing.'
"Uugghhhh," Rana said holding her head and stomach feeling nauseous. "I'm sorry…I'll go clean it up."
"It is alright. Let's get you in a chair next to Rei for now. Okay?"
"…okay…" she said and was escorted to a chair next to Rei.
Watching the Major walk away, the female twin looked back at the observation window. Nothing changed the sea of red that filled the Eva cage. Overhearing the adults stating about engaging the draining ports in the room, mechanical sounds were heard faintly. They stated it would be a little while before all the blood drained from the entire Eva cage and breached hallways. It would be even longer to go into either for having to decontaminate the areas first.
Looking back at the First Child, she was lost in thought not looking at the window. About to ask something of her, she saw something at the doorway. Turning toward it, she froze. Two dark magenta eyes were peering at her from a shadowed area. The sight intensely made her blink in fear and surprise. Suddenly, they were gone and the door was closed without a sound.
"…?" Rana said looking spooked and loss at the door. Blinking, nothing changed and the eerie aura had gone away quickly. Able to gather enough strength to stand, she started moving.
"…?" Rei asked seeing the female twin in her peripheral vision. Looking up and watching her, she was slowly heading towards the door. Despite feeling unsure of what was going on, she felt an urge to follow the female twin. Getting up and going to her, Rana opened the door.
"Hey! Where are you two going?" Misato asked as both she and Ritsuko turned around startled.
"May I use the restroom?" Rana asked turning to them. Both adults sighed as Ritsuko went back to typing on the terminal.
"Yeah, just come back here when you are done. Rei, stay with her," Misato stated turning back to Dr. Akagi to continue their discussion.
"Very well," Ayanami said seeing the female twin turn back to the doorway. She bent down and touched the ground. Standing up, Rei could see her finger tips became red. The air in the hallway had a faint iron smell.
"…" the twin said and looked at the adults. Both of them were absorbed at the computer monitor.
"Hey Ayanami…I'm…not going to the bathroom," she said quietly.
"…why?" the First Child whispered and blinked.
"I'm…going to follow the prints instead."
"Prints?" Ayanami asked to see the twin point to the floor. Looking at the ground outside of the observation room, there were bloody footprints. It showed that someone stood in front of the door then walked away from the room.
"Why are you following them? The restroom is in the opposite direction."
"I…I think…they are Shinji's," Rana said quietly stepping out into the hallway. Ayanami blinked a couple of times from the twin's answer then followed her. When both were out of the room, the door closed behind them.
"How are you sure?"
"…I can't say I'm sure…I just have…a feeling they are his," Rana said putting one hand above her heart.
"…" Rei said blinking and looking back at the prints.
Something inside of her was battling the logical side of her. The feelings of wanting the Third Child back fought against the aspect that she saw him die with no chance of being able to be recovered and live again. However, what she witness just now made everything baffling. There were too many questions that were left unanswered along with the battling to control her emotions that did not dissipate.
'Is this…what hope feels like? Wishing something to come true when the possibility of occurring can be high, low, or none?' Rei thought tilting her head.
'…maybe…maybe I feel the same…'
'I hope…that she is right despite it not being logical…it makes my head hurt more,' she thought feeling a headache brewing.
'…strangely…' Ayanami thought looking down at her chest and putting a hand over it. 'the thought makes it hurt less here.'
Looking down at the ground, the bloody footsteps walked down the hallway toward the elevators. As they began walking, the atmosphere turned murky and damp. A fresh smell of blood held onto the air as they continued walking. Feeling nauseated again, the two saw that the footsteps stopped in front of one of the elevators. Gulping, Rana looked at the call button and slowly pressed it. Both heard the humming of the pulley system. Looking up at the level indicator, it was coming up from below.
"I'll go check on them," Misato said after getting Maya off the ground and into a chair. She was slowly coming too but was still very out of it.
"Alright," Ritsuko replied continuing to analyze and type on the terminal she was using. The room phone rang again and she picked it up. It was the Commander. Leaving the room, Misato let out a sigh.
'God can this get any…' she thought then trailed off smelling blood in the air. Slowly looking down, she saw bloody footsteps that went down the hallway. The sight reminded her of a horror film she watched long ago.
"They wouldn't," the Major said out loud as she heard faint clicks from the other end of the hallway. Knowing the sound to be the elevators, apprehension and worry grew.
"Rei! Rana! Where are you?!" Misato called out while running down the passageway. Getting to the open space area where the elevators were, she saw both female teens standing in front of one of two elevators. Looking at the floor, the bloody footsteps led to the doors they were standing at. About to call out to them, the elevator dinged and opened.
Immediately, both Rana and Rei jumped backwards. The three saw blood flow out of the lift and spread all over the floor. Misato's eyes widened and feared that something was inside. With the same horror film in mind, there was a similar scene to what was occurring. Fearing what could happen now, she gritted her teeth and darted toward the girls. Stopping nearby, she drew her firearm and pointed toward the elevator.