Chapter 97: Distrust
During the 24 hours of being in the hospital room, the three pilots were subjected to many decontamination procedures, tests, screenings, and questionnaires. They did everything that was asked of them without complaint or question. During the break periods, all three would stay on their beds. Neither said anything to each other as they just stayed lied down until the next series of screenings came. Yui would come by a couple of times to see the status update of the teens and counting the hours toward the time that they would be cleared of quarantine.
After the time for the quarantine ended, the last tests and procedures ended a little afterwards. After reviewing the test results and documents, the three were deemed safe. The quarantine order was lifted allowing people to enter the hospital room without needing a contamination suit. There was a slight change in the room conditions. Given that the Third Child emerged from the previous Angel's red core, more extensive surveillance and decontamination procedures would have to be enforced. Though he nodded, the other two patients didn't like the idea of being separated from him. They were taken to their own rooms that were adjacent to his.
Remaining in the same room still, Shinji sat on his bed. Staring at nothing in particular, he lied down and waited. After some time passed, the hospital room opened again. Glancing over, he saw a couple of staff members entering. Instead of yellow suits, they came in their regular uniforms. Getting out of bed slowly to stand, the Third Child watched them enter his section of the room.
There were three female staffs with two male guards. Both men held sub-machine guns and pointed the weapons down. The other members were Dr. Ikari, Dr. Akagi, and a medical technician. The unknown individual was pushing a cart that had many medical supplies and solutions on it. A harsh flashback of something similar came over him making the hairs on his neck stand on end.
'…tHaTmEmOrY# $%#$tHeSmElL# $% #$ThEtAsTe #%#THESENSATIONOFLEARNEDFEAR!…i…s…d…e…l…i…c…i…o…u…s…m…y…sssseeeeeeeedddd,' it voiced with a satisfyingly morbid tone.
'…' Shinji said blinking and feeling his right eye twitch once from its comment. A monstrous and demented chuckle came from the dark clone as it breathed out slowly. All the staffers stopped in front of his section of the room then faced him.
"Hi Shinji," Yui greeted with a smile holding onto a clipboard.
"Greetings Dr. Ikari…Dr. Akagi…madam…gentlemen," he greeted back with a small bow toward the group. "How are you?"
"Doing okay. How about you?"
'LIKEAHAMSTERINANELECTRIFIEDCAGE!' it shouted madly causing the male pilot to blink from reflex. It inhaled sharply then bit down on something viciously. A deep groan from something resonated in his mind as chains sounded and moved around in the background.
"…fine…" he replied with a stoic voice.
"How are your wounds doing?"
"Recovering."
"Do they hurt?"
"No."
"Rather hard to believe they don't hurt," Yui mentioned with a small smile.
"…" the Third Child commented and blinked. "Is there anything else you wish to know?"
"Shinji," Ritsuko stated putting hands in her lab coat pockets. "We are going to be doing an interview with you regarding what has happened from the last Angel battle to now."
"I see."
"It will be rather long. You can sit down."
"…" Shinji replied hearing more deep groans followed by someone snarling and biting down again. The corrupted voice's growling was muffled and continued to chomp on something again and again. Liquid dropping to the ground and slurping was heard.
"I will stand for now."
"Okay. Dr. Ikari?" Dr. Akagi asked in which the scientist nodded and looked at her clipboard. About to clear her throat, the Third Child started walking forward. Taking a step passed the bed; the guards re-gripped their guns but kept pointing them down. Hearing them and stopping, he turned his eyes slowly.
"…" he responded slowly looking to each guard sensing them nervously watch him.
"Is something wrong?" Yui asked feeling a murky aura starting to build from him. The others felt the same thing making them more alert. His eyes slowly moved to look at the scientist and slowly blinked.
"No. Why?"
"Just…asking," she replied clearing her throat. "So let's begin. First, let's talk about your body."
"…" he said blinking.
"…?" Yui said expecting a response, but he didn't say anything. She continued.
"Could you remove your gown?" she asked feeling cold from remembering what his body looked like in the D-econt room.
"Very well," he stated and began pulling the gown up and over his head. Draping it over the end of the bed, he turned back with an impassive face.
"…!?" both Yui and Ritsuko responded blinking. Looking at his body, it wasn't as tattered and torn as it was from the D-econt room. Their eyes scanned him to see a large reduction in scars, drill holes, and depressions including the large scab on his chest.
"What happened?" Dr. Ikari asked feeling confused and uneasy.
"Could you clarify Dr. Ikari?" he asked as she stepped forward. Stopping to be in front of him, she reached toward the cross scar on his upper torso. Touching it, she felt the damaged tissue was cut deeply before it healed over.
'…aaaahhhhhhhh…THAT…ONE…#$% #$H #$%#U#$%#R#$%# $^T# $%#$' the dark clone ravaged while munching loudly. The chewing sounded moist and hard as various pops and crunches were heard.
"Where…where did they…go?" she whispered bewildered. She saw the elongated neck scar and slowly moved her hand. Touching it, the cut felt very deep. Moving up and down a little, she saw his skin quickly paled a little. Blinking, she looked up at his face.
'…DoEsN't ShE…REMINDYOU! #%# %$^ #$…of…those…young…sOiLed…mAdIeNs…DOESN'TITMYSEED!?'it screeched with demented mirth.
At the same time, the sound of a body part started twisting. Bones and cartilage started to bend and buckle in his mind till the dark clone let out a chorus of monstrous shrills. A gruesome bloody rip blasted in the male pilot's ears making him blink. Flashbacks hit him hard with the vision of the older sister touching the same scars; however, her face was blank with a crude looking smile.
"What are you doing…Dr. Ikari?" the male pilot asked stoically. Still having his impassive face, the hairs on the back of his neck and arms were standing on end.
"…I'm…I'm just inspecting your body. You don't have to be so cautious Shinji," Yui answered carefully with a small smile. Not knowing if she triggered something or not, she quickly thought about lightening the atmosphere. All the sudden, something warm was felt on her finger. Looking at it, blood was on it. Surprised, she looked back at where she touched last.
"…!?" Dr. Ikari reacted taking a step back. The neck scar was oozing out crimson. The others watching became alarmed from seeing blood slowly drip down the pilot's old wound. They saw Yui turn around quickly and placed her clipboard down on the cart. Getting cleaning supplies to wipe off the blood on her finger, she heard the medic assistant speak.
"Are you okay Pilot Ikari?" the person asked with concern. Turning around and blinking with surprise again, another scar was oozing out blood. It was the cross cut on his chest where his heart would be. Dr. Ikari quickly grabbed paper cloth and took a step forward toward the Third Child.
"…!?" Ritsuko responded blinking in surprise. Both the scientist and pilot move at the same time. When Yui stepped forward, Dr. Akagi saw Shinji take a step back to keep the same distance. Not moving and looking closely at his body, it was littered with goosebumps as he did not break his gaze from the scientist.
'Oh no,' she thought in her head. A foreboding feeling festered quickly making her think that something of a triggered memory occurred in the pilot's mind.
"I-I'm sorry Shinji! L-Let me help you," Yui stated worried. His retraction away from her made her feel guilty from not knowing what she triggered in his mind. Based on how his body looked along with the thought of him being possibly tortured, she feared he was seeing her as a tormentor.
"I will address the scars myself Dr. Ikari. What else do you wish to know?" he asked stoically.
"Shinji. I am here to help you, not hurt you," Yui stated taking another step forward. "Please, let me help you."
"…" he said with a blink. Everyone felt the atmosphere in the room become thick and eerie. They couldn't hear the shouts of cackling and fits of vile laughter in his mind. Trying to steer where things were going, Ritsuko grabbed the clipboard.
"Shinji," she called after clearing her throat. "Can you tell us about how you got those scars?"
"I can, but I don't wish to," he answered not taking his eyes off of Yui. The sight made her heart hurt as she struggled to contain her pained and guilty expression.
"Alright," the faux blonde said and marked it down. "Do you know you emerged from the previous Angel's core?"
"I gathered I did."
"Are you aware of the ramifications of emerging from that?" she asked. His mother turned around and put the items in her hand back on the cart. Her hands clenched into fists as she tried slowly breathing through her nose.
"Yes," he answered. He hadn't blinked yet and was still staring stoically at Dr. Ikari.
"Just to let you know, this is quite a phenomenon. To come out of an Angel's core and to look like a human still. There is a large possibility that you are more Angel than human," Ritsuko continued.
'SOMETHING!^$##$SOMETHINGBEYOND #$ #$^THEBONDAGEOFFLESH!' the dark clone shouted in distortion causing Shinji to blink.
"…" the male pilot responded feeling a cold chill go down his spine. Blinking, various places in his body started warming up. Ignoring them, he answered.
"I understand that possibility."
"Okay," she said marking it down on the clipboard. Yui turned around looking calm again.
"Let's move to your eye alteration. Can you do it at will-!?"
The group saw blood tearing out of his eyes as his eyes became pitch black. Two faint and haunting glows of red appeared in the middle of his eyes. Blinking, crimson irises appeared. The staff and guards could see faint blood lines in his scleras. The alteration happened so quickly that everyone felt immense eeriness and malice pour out of him. The guards immediately pointed their guns at the boy with blood dripping from his eyes and two scars.
"No! Stand down!" Ritsuko barked in fright.
"…" the security guards said slowly aiming their weapons back at the ground. However, they kept a firm grip on their weapons and looked on edge at the male pilot. Yui put a hand on her heart and one over her mouth grimacing. The medical assistant froze from the amount of fear that festered in her. Ritsuko felt a cold shiver down her spine and feeling creeped out again.
'tttthhhheeeeiiiiirrrrrffffeeeeeaaaarrrrrrr…HeRsAdNeSs…l…o…o…k…i…n…g…a…t…y…o…u…l…i…k…e…a…' the evil voice whispered innocently in his ears while crudely grinning. All of its teeth were clicking at different times giving the sound of light hailstorm.
"To answer your question Dr. Akagi…no, I can't," Shinji began to say and saw all of them lean back a little with apprehension from the sound of his voice.
'…m…o…n…s…t…e…r…'
"It seems to appear…under strong emotions or stimulations," he continued seeing their eyes look at him in a certain way.
'…mOnStEr…'
"I-I see," Ritsuko replied feeling her arms and legs have goosebumps. "Do they return to normal when you calm down?"
'…MONSTER…' it repeated grinning wider and clicking its teeth faster.
"Yes," the pilot said with a blink seeing everything in a tinge of red.
'MONSTER' it repeated again in a louder voice. An uncomfortable silence went by as no one said anything until the pilot spoke.
'MONSTER!'
"Is there anything else you wish to know?" he asked still with a neutral face. After a short silence, only Dr. Ikari stepped forward a little.
'MONSTER!…FILTH!…REJECT!…FAKE!HYPOCRITE!LIAR!FREAK!MURDER!MUTANT!#$ #$%#' the twisted voice shrilled higher and higher till it became inaudible pitch.
"Shinji?" she spoke quietly having a slight horrified and pained expression. She slowly held out her arms with palms open to him.
"P-please…let me help you."
"…" the male pilot said with a blink as his face didn't change. It caused the grimace on the scientist's face to increase.
'yyyyeeeessss…mmmmoooorrrreeee…MmMmOoOoRrRrEeEe…MMMMOOORRREEE!' its voice became deeper and deeper until it was just a low decibel wall of sound and vibration in the pilot's eardrums.
"…Dr. Ikari…why are you doing this?"
"…" Yui replied feeling her eyes widen a little. Biting her lip, she steeled herself.
"W-What do you mean?"
"Why are you approaching me now with open arms when previously you did not?" he asked calmly despite his eyes still being black-red. The blood tears had stopped, but stained his face. Ritsuko and the others in the room felt the tension increase to a near-unbearable level. His eerie and dark voice emitted such malice that it made them stand still.
'Don't falter…don't falter…I need to show him strength, reason, and resolve,' Yui thought in her head pushing through her fear.
"I was still in an aftershock from emerging out of Eva-01," the doctor answered as calmly as possible lowering her hands and arms. "It took me a while till I had a grip on what was real and not. After spending so many years in the Unit, I needed time to recover myself…you can understand that Shinji?"
"Yes," the pilot said with a slow blink. "I can."
"Now that I have recovered, the proposal I stated to you and Rana before still stands. I feel more strongly about it now," Yui said with a serious face.
"…" Shinji responded with a slow blink.
'…hehehehe…'
"…" Yui said still looking sternly.
'…heeeeeeee…hahaHaAAAAaaaa…'
"I see. May I ask a question Dr. Ikari?"
'aha…AhA…aHA…AHAHA #$%#$'
"Yes."
'…HAHAHAHA#$% #$#$% #$%'
"If you feel more strongly about it now…why did Rana say what she said in the D-econt room?" he asked with calmly. The expression on her face broke a little. The dark clone's laughter grew into a hyperventilating cackle. It echoed so loudly that its voice was overlapping on itself multiple times over. Nearing deafening volume, it developed into a monstrous, distorted, and vicious wall of hellish verbiage.
'I need to take control of this situation. We aren't getting anywhere with this,' Ritsuko thought putting the clipboard down on the cart. However, the other scientist took a small step forward.
"She is wrong!" Yui replied firmly. The blaring wall of sound immediately halted in the Third Child's head.
"Gendo and I did approach her offering our support and wanting to become a family. We…we would never consider cloning for the sake of replacing you!"
"…" he said calmly neither moving nor blinking. "Are you sure Dr. Ikari?"
"Yes!" the scientist said shaking a little. "Why wouldn't I be!? I am her mother as well as yours!"
' #$%^ $%^DoYoUuNdErStAnD #$^ #^ #$ #$%#'
'Understand what sir?' Shinji asked in his mind.
'ArEdHeArT…aNdAbLaCkHeArT…cAnNoT…CoMbInE…' it stated with eerie sincerity. Instead of its normal movement of slithering, he could hear it make soft footsteps. Based on how the sound was coming, it was getting closer and closer to him.
'…?' the male pilot blinked hearing what it said. How its tone and words sounded made him perplexed. Instead of either encrypted speech or distorted shouting, it spoke clearly in its vile tone. The soft footsteps sounded as if it was behind him. Blinking, he felt its breath as it spoke to him.
'…I…W…I…L…L…S…H…O…W…Y…O…U…' the dark clone breathed softly as possible to his right ear.
From reflex, Shinji's ears twitched slightly before not moving. Oddly, the sounds of many things slithering madly came in as a rushing wave. Before he responded, he felt his body and mind warm quickly all over. The staff saw all of the boy's scars starting to ooze blood out of them. In a short time, his body became its own trickling bloodbath as drips of the red liquid dropped to the floor. They froze in place not too sure what was going to happen. The apprehension felt from before increased when the room's door opened suddenly.
"Shinji!" Rana stated in her hospital gown. Entering the room, she only made two steps before stopping.
"…!?" the twin said looking at him with wide eyes. He slowly moved his eyes only to her and blinked. Goosebumps littered down her body from seeing his eyes and his body's condition.
"Greetings Miss Rana. I am in the middle of an interview at the moment. Could you wait until we are done?" Shinji spoke stoically as his skin was dripping with crimson. The black-red eyes seemed to shine hauntingly as he looked at her.
"…" Rana said feeling the hairs on the back of her neck rise.
Slowly looking with her eyes at the staff, they were looking at him the same way as in the D-econt room. Clenching her teeth together, her head became downcast and her hands closed into fists. Arms started shaking uncontrollably as she tensed up and become agitated. Not looking up, she walked toward him. Once next to him, she gently grabbed his wrist and pulled. However, the male pilot remained in the same spot.
"Shinji…you need to be cleaned up."
"I understand Rana. However, I am still in an—"
"It can wait," she interrupted becoming firmer with her grip and her tone. "It can wait after you get cleaned up."
"…"
"Who…who did this to you?" Rana looked up at him with an angered face. She slowly looked at the adults in the room. Ritsuko couldn't stand the tension anymore and took the imitative.
"Ikari, go clean yourself. We'll postpone this for some other time," she stated as calmly as possible despite shaking a little.
"…" Shinji said slowly turning toward her seeing her flinch slightly. He bowed a little.
"Very well. Excuse me."
The staff watched the female twin lead the male twin to the lavatory adjacent to the entrance door. Once the door closed and locked, the tension in the air started dissipating. It allowed everyone to breathe a bit easier. Ritsuko looked at Yui who looked both torn and frustrated.
"Seems we can't treat him like a normal patient," the faux blonde said quietly. It made the other scientist slowly look up at her.
"…" Yui said then looked down at the ground. "It seems so."
"Let's try again another time. Maybe if we approach it differently, we will get better results."
"…" Dr. Ikari said with a tired sigh. She turned around and headed out of the hospital room. Ritsuko motioned the guards and the assistant to leave as well. Following behind them, she looked at the lavatory door wondering if she should check on them. Immediately remember the eerie, creepy feeling from earlier, she decided to leave as well.
Inside the restroom, Rana sat Shinji on the toilet. Without saying anything, she immediately picked up the small trash bin near the sink. Removing the liner inside and setting it on the sink counter, she started to fill the container up with water. Once it was mostly full, she brought it over to him. Taking it without question, he dumped the entire amount on top of his head. The blood from his neck down slowly made their way down his body and to the floor. Repeating the action two more times, majority of the blood washed off him.
"…" Shinji said blinking a couple of times to get the water out of his eyes. The red tinge sight went away and he could see clearly again. Rana saw that his eyes slowly changed back to the dark magenta color with white scleras.
"Thank you Miss Rana," he said looking at her and bowing his head a little.
"Welcome," she said nodding with a sad smile. "What happened?"
"Dr. Ikari and Dr. Akagi were examining my body."
"Seems like they went overboard."
"Does appear that way."
"Did she say anything to you?"
"Who?"
"Dr. Ikari."
"She stated that she wanted to help me. It would seem that she is very determined on wanting us to accept her proposal," the Third Child said emotionlessly.
He stood up and turned around. Looking at the toilet from his water dumping, he grabbed some paper towels and cleaned it. Joining him without asking, both got the toilet to look almost clean and dry. Placing the dirty paper towels in the liner, he put it back in the trash bin. Placing it where it was before, he started heading toward the door. Rana had moved a little and stood in front of it. With her back towards the door, she looked at him.
"What did you say?"
"I asked Dr. Ikari if that were the case, why did Miss Rana say what she said in the D-econt room," Shinji stated stopping and blinking.
"…" Rana said feeling tense. Gripping her hands on her hospital gown, she walked forward to be in front of him looking face to face.
"How did she respond?" the female twin asked quietly.
"Dr. Ikari claimed that she and the Commander did approach you and offered you support and to become family."
"…" the female twin said with a surprised look on her face. Her expression slowly changed to being anxious, angry, hurt, and dismayed. A slow stutter sounded as she took a breath of air.
"Do…do…do you…believe her?"
"I don't have evidence to believe her nor not to believe her," the male pilot answered tilting his head a little.
"…" Rana said looking up to look into his eyes, she placed her hands on his chest. "…you…you believe me…right?"
"…" Shinji said blinking when heavy breathing was heard in his head. The sound of a heartbeat came too. It sounded like a megaphone strapped to the pulsating muscle. Thinking about it, it was her pulse that he was feeling from her hands. Even her fingers seemed to shake a little. The evil voice made a deep slow chuckle then made several morbid sounds of bones and cartilage snapping loudly.
"…yes…" he replied tilting his head back straight and looked at her eyes. "Are you wary I do not?"
"N-n-no! No no no no," she said embracing him and leaning her head against his. It almost seemed that holding him gave her more comfort as she started to stop trembling.
"It just…so many people here can't be trusted. They questioned my belief that you could and would come back. I felt…horrible when you were gone. If you didn't come back…I would be broken and alone again."
"I see," the male pilot said and slowly embraced her back slightly. His small action seemed to cause her to have a small amount of joy as she held him more affectionately. Feeling flashbacks creeping back into his mind, he pondered what Rana stated. Wondering if it had any correlation to what the dark clone said, it seemed somewhat relatable.
"He said…something similar to that."
"…!?" the twin said blinking in surprise and moved a little to be face to face with him. "He did?"
"Yes."
"…" she said blinking again with a confused look on her face. "That seems…uncharacteristic of him."
"It does in a way," he agreed with a small nod letting go of her. She did the same.
"Well…seems like you are dry," Rana commented smiling and stepping back a little. "Let's get your gown back on you."
Nodding his head, both left the lavatory. Closing the door, Rana watched him go to the middle bed. Reaching it with the gown draped over the front, he grabbed it and started putting it on.
"…" she said smiling at him.
The aspect that he had the less numbered scars from before made her feel better. In her mind's eye, she compared his body when he hid his scars to showing his scars now. Though him with smooth, uninjured skin had a level of appeal, there was also a certain alluring aspect of being scarred. Remembering the embrace she did during the locker shower and the one she did now, it made her feel good all over. Lost in her mental analysis, she blinked from hearing something. Focusing, the Third Child was standing in front of her with his gown on.
"Are you alright Miss Rana?" he asked stoically.
"…" the twin said blinking in surprise from not hearing him. "Y-yes. Sorry, I was spacing out."
"That is okay. Shall I escort you back to your room?" he said with a blink. His comment made her smile more and put her hands behind her.
"As much as I would like that, you probably aren't allowed to leave the room. Maybe next time."
"Very well," he said with a small bow. Both turned and walked toward the room's door. Reaching it and opening a little, Rana hugged him from behind. Her face was next to his head on the left side.
"I really missed you," she whispered into his left ear. Before he could say anything, she pressed herself more into his back and gave a soft peck on his cheek. Letting go of him, she moved around him and stood partially out of the door. Turning to him, she had a smile on her face and blushing cheeks.
"Bye Shinji."
"…" the male pilot said with a slow blink then gave a small bow. "…good day Miss Rana."
Hearing her walking away, he closed the door. Blinking, his hand hadn't let go of the door handle. Looking at it, his grip was murderously squeezing the handle and trying to rip it out of its socket. Slowly letting go, he brought his right hand up and looked at his palm.
'Bye-bye…my little manservant,' a seductive female voice echoed in his mind.
"…" Shinji reacted stoically staring at his hand close back into a deathly gripped fist and was shaking.
' #$% #$DID #$% #THAT$# $% GET#$%#$ UNDER#%^YOUR #$ SKIN? #$^% ' it questioned with an impossibly wide grin glitching in and out of chaotic noise and static.
'It seems to sir.'
'WoUlDyOuLiKeToCoNqUeRiT?'
'…' Shinji said blinking and felt his hand relaxing. 'I would be most grateful sir.'
'OFCOURSE!' it shouted in a screeching scream. '…c…o…m…e…t…o…o…u…r…t…h…e…a…t…e…r…o…f…m…e…m…o…r…i…e…s…'
'Very well,' he thought with a bow. Heading toward his bed, he removed the top sheet. Lying down on the bed, he closed his eyes and was instantly asleep.
Falling down in a sea of darkness, he plunged into what felt like a pool of water. Immediately, nightmare images were going passed his eyes. All of them in chaotic fashion, randomized with no structure of connection. Feeling the corrupted voice nearby, he turned around slowly and did not see it. Suddenly, he fell out of the pool of water. Falling slowly, he shortly landed on a bed of firm segments that made a wet splat sound. Immediately recognizing the smell, he slowly sat up.
'…' Shinji said blinking and seeing a tattered and torn body of his own. Though the surroundings were pitch black, its body and eyes were clear to see. Black-red eyes bore at him with an ear to ear smile. Opening its mouth, the numerous amounts of haggard teeth were replaced with shark teeth. Pieces of flesh were stuck between his teeth as his cut up black tongue picked at them.
'Hello sir,' Shinji thought sitting up straight.
'W-e-L-c-O-m-E…my seeeeeeeddddddddd…I…hAvE…s…o…# $ #$ $%^MUCHTOSHOWYOU!' the dark clone said with elated viciousness.
'Yes sir,' he thought and slowly stood up. Walking carefully on the wet segments, he could feel his feet become stained and drenched with the rotted smell of the liquid. After avoiding the slithering parts on the ground, he got in front of the dark clone. It was grinning maliciously at him as he stoically stared back at it.
'…CoMe…LeT mE…ENLIGHTEN-ENLIGHTEN-ENLIGHTEN!-ENLIGHTEN!' the twisted voice screamed in the male pilot's face then calmed down. '…y…O…u.'
'…' the male pilot answered blinking then bowed a little. 'Very well.'
It gave an evil toothy grin then snapped its fingers. The snap echoed throughout the dreamscape until two walls were converging upon them quickly. Both looked at each other knowing that the walls were littered with bloody syringes sticking in all different directions.
'…' the male pilot said with a blink. He expressed nothing and didn't emit apprehension. His double's eyes bulged as excitement grew on its gruesomely tattered and torn face.
'…WoNdErFuL!' the dark clone belted out a blood lurching scream before the two syringed walls slammed together sandwiching them.
"…" the Third Child said waking up from the dream. Dripping with sweat and heavily breathing, he sat up and rubs his forearm on his forehead. He could still hear and see what the dark clone showed him.
'…look…at them…LOOKATTHEM!' it said shouting in hysteria and mirth. Memories from people's past that the male pilot knew were playing fast in his mind as the dark clone continued.
'SeEhOwThEiRlIvEsHaVeBeCoMe…ISN'TITBREATHTAKING!?'
'THOSEREDHEARTSCOULDNOTENDURETHEIROWNTRAGEDY…i…t…w…a…s…b…l…i…s…s…f…u…l…t…o…w…a…t…c…h…over and over AnD oVeR AND OVERANDOVERANDOVER!'
'TTTTThhhhaaaaattttiiiisssswwwwwhhhhyyyyyy…black…bLaCkHeArTs…CaN…eNdUrE…BECOMESCARRED…INSIDEANDOUT!'
' #$! #$YOUBECOMETHEMEMORY!# $%#YOUBECOMEITSPAIN(*&^$$YOUBECOMEITSPLEASURE! *%$# YOUFEELITSEVERYTHING #$^ #$! #$!'
'DoYoUsEeThEeNlIgHtEnMeNt?…i…t…i…s…w…h…a…t…t…h…o…s…e…w…o…r…m…s…e…e…k #$% #$# $% #%$THEREDUTOPIAISWHATWESEEK!'
'IWILLLEADYOUTOOURSALVATION! ITHASBEENMY! #$# %$PROMISEBEFOREYOUBECAMEINTOBEING#$% #%$MYTRUESEED!'
"…" Shinji said shaking his head side to side a little. Turning and getting off the bed, he bumped into something. Looking down, he saw the lavatory sink with running water coming out of the faucet. Blinking, he puts his hands in the sink to cup the water. Not feeling it hot or cold, he brings his hands up to his face. Seeing nothing changed, he splashes the water onto his face. Bring his hands down to his side, he blinks the water out of his eyes and looks at the mirror.
"…" he said seeing the reflection of the dark clone's face.
'!#$ #$RRRREEEEJJJJJEEEECCCTTTTT! #$^ #^' the evil voice monstrously roared at him with several mouths opening and ripping apart in the mirror reflection. Everything went red and burned his skin as the dark clone's roar turned into a high pitched shrill. Everything reverberated and started to shatter as agony and chaos engulfed him.