Chapter 120: Saving Old Times
After a day's rest in the medical facility, all the pilots, Yui, and Misato were cleared. Returning back to normal day-to-day activities was rough at first, but got better after the second day. By the third day, it seemed everyone had recovered. The news did massive story coverage of the shooting at the prestigious Sakura Palace. Fortunately, none of the articles mentioned anything about the NERV attendants there.
Despite that, there was an immediate concern regarding two individuals. At NERV HQ, Misato was sitting in her office with paperwork on her desk. Despite looking at a couple of documents and reviewing them, her mind was racing.
'Sub-Commander has not shown up in three days,' she thought feeling her right leg bouncing a little. 'Security shows the last place that he was at was in the parking garage getting into his car.'
'After that night, Kaji has been reported missing and AWOL,' the Major thought trying to focus on the words on the paper. Though she was reading them, her mind was still active on the two missing people. More so of NERV's special investigator.
'I've tried calling him but the number that he gave me is out of service. None of his other contact numbers work either…where did you go?' Misato thought placing a paper down and getting another. Her right foot was bouncing more and making her feel more anxious.
'I still haven't looked at the files he had given me…it is still in the car,' she thought when suddenly there was knocking at her door. Looking up, the door opened up to reveal a couple of security personnel.
"Major Katsuragi."
"Yes?"
"In the developments of the Sub-Commander gone missing, it appears that he was abducted by an insider employee."
"Abducted!?" she stated surprised. "You mean a spy?"
"Yes. In reviewing footage and witness testimony, suspicion has been placed on Special Investigator Ryoji Kaji as the abductor."
"…!?" Misato reacted with wide eyes.
"Given that all forms of contact to reach him have failed, the last point of contact is you Major. Given your relationship with the suspect, you have been placed under suspicion as well. I am sorry Major, but you will be placed in custody until further noticed."
"…!?" she responded as she bit her lip to not say anything. Forcing herself to remain calm, she slowly nodded her head.
"…I…understand," she replied standing up and walking toward them.
"Thank you. We appreciate your cooperation with this matter," the man stated seeing her stop in front of him.
She placed her hands out in front of her. Handcuffs came out and were placed on her wrists. The lead patted her down and only removed her service pistol from her back. Stating that she was clear, the security personnel escorted the lavender haired woman to custody. Passing a few NERV employees, gossip spread throughout the staff about the two missing individuals and the Major getting placed in custody. After going into the elevator and down a few floors, the dim light area served as the jail cells and isolation confinement. Being placed in her room with no windows and a heavy duty door, her handcuffs were removed.
After security stepped out and closed the door, Misato cringed from hearing it clang loud. The heavy metal lock mechanism echoed sharply when it engaged. Looking around, she saw the basic necessities were present. Going to the bunk bed, she sat down on the right side head corner. Bringing her knees up and hugging them with her arms, she leaned into the concrete wall. Feeling how cold it felt, she started getting flashbacks of the past after Second Impact in Antarctica.
Cringing again and placing her chin on top of her knees, trepidation and anxiety began to eat at her. Fearing that not only Kaji and Kozo were in danger, but that the possibility of seeing the Special Investigator again seemed dangerously low. Powerless and helpless, she buried her face in her knees. Moving her arms and hands, she grabbed the cross on her necklace and squeezed it.
'Please…someone save him…please…anyone…' she thought pleading with her eyes closed. Feeling her lips quiver, she decided to ask the one person she was terrified of.
"…S-Shinji…p-p-please…h-hel-"
' #$% #$%#$...shhhhhh… #$^ #$%' a familiar voice whispered in her head breaking in and out of white noise.
"…!?" Misato reacted flinching but not moving from her position. Feeling the anxiety turn to apprehension, the room did not feel eerie. Slowly lifting her head, she nervously peered over her knees to look at the space around her. Not seeing anyone, she felt something drop in front of her that made her flinch again and blink. Upon opening her eyes again, she found herself in a life-pod capsule surrounded in a cold ocean of red.
"…n-no…" she whispered out loud and slowly turning around.
At the horizon, a massive mushroom cloud was seen reaching high in the sky as the explosion caused rapid water to push outward away from the center. Staring in shock from the vivid memory, she blinked. Recoiling hard from seeing a grotesque dark figure in front of her, she fell overboard and smacked her back on something hard. Scrambling to get away, she found herself surrounded by darkness. Mentally remember this environment, she began to hyperventilate. Moving her hand to her ears, she could not hear anything. Even her own heartbeat was not registering as a sound but more of dull sensation of her chest knocking faster and faster.
'T-ttttttttteeeelllll…m…eeeeeeee# $%#TELLMETELLME!' the dark clone suddenly and viciously shouted from everywhere. Misato jumped and curled into a ball holding her head. Feeling the heat of something moving on either side of her, a vile smell filled her nostrils. Not moving an inch and just shaking, the voice in her head seemed to get closer and closer.
'Please…' Misato thought tensing up and immediately holding the cross murderously again. 'K-Kaji…'
'#$% #$DIDyooouuuuuhhhaavvveee…f…u…n…?'
'…w-what…' she thought feeling extremely small. A vision passed through her eyes that made her eyes open wide.
"…!?" Misato responded feeling disturbed.
She was seeing a third person perspective of the night she and Kaji shared. In pushing back, she slammed her lower back into the small head bar frame of the bed. The realization that she was sitting on the bed and not on the floor made her more than disoriented. Hearing sounds of chalkboard scratching on the other side of the wall, she only moved her eyes toward the opposite wall while shaking.
Cold sweat started forming on her back watching two basketball sized black-red eyes braze themselves against the wall. Clear fluid, blood, and pieces of membrane stained the wall as words were being written. When they were finished, the two eyes slowly rotated to face her. Each of them had half an eye missing as black, red, and clear fluid oozed out of them. Blue and red veins hanged out like spider plants dangling in long strands to the floor. Without warning, all the walls had lines and mouths stretched out the material.
'…R…e…L…e…A…s…E…d…o…R…c…O…n…T…a…I…n…E…d?' it whispered with the mouths repeating and echoing the same phrase.
'…wha…what does…that mean?' she thought trying to ignore all the different mouths moving around her. The ones hissing behind her made her scout slowly way and move to the edge of the bed.
'#$% #$C #$% #H #$% #O #$% O*#%^S! #%*#$E^ &.'
'…I…I…' Misato thought trembling and feeling sick all over.
Looking back and forth between the two words, her mind was drawing a blank. Nothing was coming to mind of even a hint of what the two words were referring too. However, she figured one meant to let him die and the other to live. Unable to hold it down anymore, she got up and went to the toilet. Throwing up into it, a lot came out making her cough. Placing her hand on the wall, she tried to get her erratic breathing under control.
"…!?" she said thinking about what she just did. Trembling and slowly looking at the wall, the closest word slithered itself down the wall leaving droplets of excess blood. When the last letter touched her finger, she immediately pulled it back and shuffled away. Blinking, the room went back to normal as a deep sinister chuckle ringed and faded to nothing.
"NO W-WAIT! TELL ME! WHAT DID I JUST PICK!?" she screamed in fright as no one responded.
In the Eva cage, Unit-01 made metal bending noises in which the lead technician and other technicians tried to ignore it. What they didn't see were faint and barely noticeable pulses of red light in the Eva's eyes. As if it heard something, its mouth tried to increase its grin more.
Later on that day, a roar of an engine sounded down a country road. Driving deeper into the forestry, the car slowed down towards an opening. Turning onto a dirt road, the vehicle went down it some distance until the driver could see a facility not too far away. Stopping in a hidden and shaded area, the individual in the car turned the vehicle off. Grabbing binoculars next to him, he looked through the passenger window.
"Looks like an abandoned building alright," Kaji said as he continued looking around. "But knowing what this is place is used for, most likely occupied by some group or organization. Based on some of the field guys' notes, it is an underground containment facility and Agent center for SEELE."
"Part of the tip off was that the Sub-Commander is in there," he continued opening the driver side car door and stepping out.
Leaning on top of his car and using the binoculars again, he scanned to see if there was anyone patrolling the grounds. Seeing little to none, it did not give him any comfort. Sighing out loud, he put the binoculars back into the car and closed the door. Locking it, he loosened his tie a little and reached behind to grab his pistol. Checking the magazine and seeing a full clip, he reinserted it. Feeling the spare clip on his belt next to the holster, he felt ready.
"Alright…let's get to work," he commented making his way to the abandon looking facility. Passing through and around the trees for cover, he got close enough to observe the black suit and tie patrollers. Seeing their pattern routine, he looked for another way in that had more vegetation coverage. Circling around to the back, there were less patrollers. Looking for surveillance cameras, there was on pointing from above a door.
'Rats' Kaji thought with a small frown and looked for some other way to get in.
Looking back at the camera, the small noticeable red light flickered then went out. Blinking and waiting, he saw one of the ground patrollers walk over to the back side of the building and head toward under the camera. Touching his ear piece, the guard stood there for about a minute then shook his head. Seeing the man nod, he began to walk back the way he came. Looking at the camera again, the red light stayed off.
'Be my best chance,' the special investigator thought sneaking toward the back area of the facility. Seeing no patrollers and watching the camera, the light continued to not be lit. Reaching the door, he peered into the window. Seeing that it lead to a room, he tried the door. Quietly turning the knob, the latch opened. Pulling the door open softly, he entered quickly and closed the door.
'Now…where am I?' Kaji thought surveying the room. Recognizing that he was in the equipment room, it was conjoined to another room. About to move forward, he froze feeling something.
"…" he spoke looking around him.
Seeing nothing, he pondered a little bit trying to figure out what that was. The sensation felt vaguely familiar; however, he couldn't figure out why. Deciding to quietly move on, he went to the nearby door frame. Peering inside, the room was empty with trash, old equipment, and roughed up chairs. At the other side of the room was another door frame that led to the main warehouse space. Going toward it, it had long since been abandoned and ransacked.
'If I remember correctly…the lift should be there,' he thought heading toward an adjacent room nearby.
Peering in and seeing no one around, the elevator was old and looked weathered a little. Pressing the call button, the doors opened with no one inside. Stepping inside, he pressed the only floor level to go underground. With the doors closed, the lift silently descended down. It didn't take long till the elevator slowed down and gently stopped. Hiding behind the small wall portion with the button panel, he slowly peered out with his gun pointed forward.
'Strange…' he thought walking out slowly. 'Where is everyone?'
Not taking any chances, he proceeded cautiously into the hallway keeping his gun up. Knowing that there were cameras down the hallways, it would be a matter of time before operatives would come at him. After a few minutes passed, he heard nothing different as he kept walking. There were no alarms, no running footsteps, and no sounds of weapons pointing at him. The lack of any activity caused him to be more suspicious of something happening.
'Despite that,' he thought turning down a hallway to see two double doors. There were no Agents guarding them as he slowly approached them. The closer he got, the vague feeling he got since entering the facility became stronger. Recognizing it, he felt the hairs on his neck stand on end.
"…!?" Kaji reacted stopping and turning around 180 degrees.
Firmly pointing his pistol down the way he came, there was no one down there. Feeling sweat starting to form on his forehead, he pressed his lips together firmly and inched slowly backwards to the doors. Reaching them, he looked down the opposite direction for a second. Seeing nothing down the other way, he kept his back to the double doors. Seeing a key slot panel nearby, he got out a SEELE keycard and slid it through it. Hearing the doors open, he froze hearing multiple crawling sounds go away behind him.
"…" he said nervously and slowly turning around.
Seeing a vast open room, it appeared to be a scaled down size of the warehouse topside. However, there were no lights inside. The only illumination that was going into the open space was the lights from the hallway that he was in. Seeing a lone person sitting and cuffed to the chair, the person looked familiar. Slowly entering the room, the feeling from before became intense. It was almost as if it was standing on the edge of where the light faded into darkness.
'The faster I get him out of here, the faster I can get away from that thing,' Kaji thought shaking his head and continued toward the lone individual.
Ignoring all the sounds of cracks and things that sound similar to crawling, goosebumps ripped through him from the ones that sound like slithering. He moved a little quicker from hearing what sounded like demented whispers. Reaching the person, it was Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki with his head down. Going toward the cuffs, he froze from seeing something in his peripheral vision. Glancing over to his right, he saw the looks of a SEELE operative on the ground. He was slowly being pulled away till his outline could not be seen. Without any sound or warning, crimson splattered on the ground and near the unshaven man.
" #$! #$# $%# $!CONTAINMENT!CCCCCCCOOOOOONNNNNN #$% #$%" a hoard of people around him screamed murderously from the darkness making his blood run cold in fear.
"Who's there?" Kozo asked hearing the person that walked into the room stopped behind him.
"…" Kaji said immediately working on getting the cuffs released. "I-It's me."
"Special Investigator Kaji?" he stated feeling his wrist restraints come off followed by the ones at his ankles. Helping the older man to his feet, Kozo noticed that the unshaven man's face was dripping with sweat. An expression of fear was on it as he did not look at him.
"Yes sir. Let's get out now while we still can."
"SEELE will hunt you down for this," Kozo commented when he felt the other man stop and look at the double doors.
Feeling a familiar aura behind him, the older man turned around. His expression started to get closer to Kaji's. In front of them, two agents had open the sliding doors with weapons pointing at them. Their visions became static as the only thing the two could hear was white noise. After a couple of seconds, the vision and sound went away. Looking at the Agents again, both were skewered to the wall above the doors with crimson splattered around. Their lower halves were ripped off and laid on the floor below. Intestines were the only organ still attaching the two body sections together.
Looking at the open doors, there was a dark silhouette that went left to right in the hallway. It had hideous and monstrous ligament proportions as both could hear its haggard breathing. Waiting a few seconds and seeing nothing happened, both men cautiously left the room. Looking down both ways in the hallway, it looked empty again. Kaji led Kozo back the pathway he took. Again, there were no alarms or Agents going after them. Reaching the lift elevator, they entered it and went up.
"How were you able to get in here without detection?" Fuyutsuki asked patting himself a little. He felt sore from being interrogated for the past couple of days.
"Other than getting information about when the personnel would be at its lowest, I find it hard to believe that it was all luck. Did they take your car?"
"Regrettably yes, but I do not care about it right now."
"Good. They probably tapped and wired surveillances on it in case they let you go."
"How comforting," Kozo replied sarcastically. All the sudden, the elevator's lights flickered on and off till it went out. The lift suddenly stopped with a jolt.
"Looks like my luck ran out," Kaji stated as both waited for the emergency lights to kick on.
However, they didn't. Instead, they felt something eerie surrounding them. Without warning, the elevator suddenly went down. Instead of its usual controlled speed, it was descending faster and faster. About to hit the emergency stop, the lift slammed into the bottom of the shaft. Both hit the ground hard as the sensation of a short earthquake rumbled in the lift. When things settled, both men began to move around a little.
"You alright sir?" Kaji asked going toward him and helping the older man slowly stand up.
"I'm alive," Kozo answered dusting himself. "Is there another way out?"
"There is a ladder shaft down the hallways a bit," he said looking at the emergency hatch. About to ask for a boost, an elevator door slowly opened up. Sharp and pierce grinding sounds emitted making both cringe and wince covering their ears. When the sound stopped, they saw only one door opened. Looking at each other and nodding, both exited the lift. Back into the hallways, Kaji stopped and looked bewildered.
"What's wrong?"
"…I don't know…the hallway layout…doesn't seem the same," he said when both heard rapid footsteps. Ignoring his thought, he moved and led the way. After going through a couple of hallways and avoid hitting any objects in the way, they reached a door.
"The ladder shaft is in there," Kaji mentioned. Opening it and rushing forward, they nearly tripped forward from sliding on gravel and dirt.
"…!?" both said seeing that they were outside behind the abandon facility. Shaking their heads and seeing that there was vegetation around them, Kozo started to sweat.
"…no…" he muttered and put a hand over his face. "Not again."
"C-Come on Sub-Commander, this way. Rather be alive and free then being interrogated," Kaji said.
After a short trek to where his car was, both got in and drove away. While driving out of the country side and onto the main highway, both nervously kept their eyes open for any possible pursuers. Finding none, Kozo instructed the Special Investigator to drop him off at a NERV outpost station.
"By the way sir," Kaji said as he continued to drive. "Since this will probably be my last talk with you, can you fill me in on NERV's secrets?"
"Unfortunately, no."
"Still think I will play double agent?"
"You have been so far despite being known and on the radar."
"When did you know?"
"Mostly when you transferred to NERV," Kozo replied folding his arms over his chest. "I am surprised that you have been alive for this long."
"I sometimes am surprised as well," Kaji agreed smiling as he went to an off ramp. Reaching the intersection, he turned down to the road that led into the hills.
"Strange though…all the other insiders were killed by the Third Child. Wonder why he didn't kill you."
"…I will admit," Ryoji stated with a nervous laugh. "I did fret when that kid was going to make me play my last tune."
"How far did your findings get you?"
"Other than the numerous buildings and organizations that are tied to NERV, three-fourths of them are abandon outposts or empty land. Of the contractor organizations tied to NERV, a bulk of them are dummy corporations. I also know what NERV is keeping down in Terminal Dogma."
"You have done your snooping quite well," Kozo said without a hint of praise or disappointment.
"SEELE is a bigger mystery given that it is just an overseer to NERV here and other countries. However, it has a small branch department that specializes in bio-engineering, sciences, and mechanics. Though it primarily focuses on further Eva development, its history of research and development is pretty dark and twisted."
"In most cases, SEELE has their own agenda for the Eva series and production."
"For a new future of mankind?"
"In one perspective, yes."
"Isn't NERV doing the same thing?"
"…" the Sub-Commander answered. He remembered when Gendo asked him to join his organization of NERV and developing the Evas.
"It is what the company's goal is."
"…" Kaji said turning onto a one lane road.
It led into a valley section between two hills. After a little drive, they came to an outpost that looked abandoned and ransacked. Stopping the car near the small building, Kaji turned off the car. Both stepped out and went into it. Remember this from the last time he was here, there wasn't anything here except old broken furniture, equipment, and debris. Watching the older man walk to the broken terminals, Kozo turned around.
"There is a phone on the outside wall if you wish to make a call," he said touching a series of numbers and signs on all keyboards. An electric and mechanical release sounded as a manhole opened up. A clear man sized capsule with a harness inside pushed up then opened.
"If you use your NERV ID card and type the number you wish to dial, the phone will turn on and call," Kozo stated then reached out his hand. Kaji smirked and shook the Sub-Commander's hand.
"Thanks for the tip. Maybe it will help me with how much of a pinch I am in."
"We shall see if lady luck is still with you. Goodbye Kaji," Fuyutsuki stated letting go and stepping into the capsule.
After getting into the harness and closing the glass door, the contraption energized. It went back into the ground slowly. Once completely in the ground, the man hole closed up. After hearing the electronic and mechanical locks sounded, a vacuum discharge emitted loudly. The equipment in the other room rumbled to life for a little bit before idling to nothing. Feeling surprised and impressed, Kaji sighed and walked back outside.
'Guess I was only partially right in the outposts being just empty and abandon,' he thought finding the phone.
Doing what the Sub-Commander stated, he picked up the phone and used the NERV ID card. Typing a phone number, an electronic dial tone was heard followed by ringing. After a number of rings and hearing the answering machine, he gave a sad smile hearing the person's voice. Looking at the NERV ID card, he left a message. Hanging up, he placed the card in his breast pocket. Feeling that someone had walked up to him from behind, he turned around. It was a SEELE Agent with a gun pointing at the ground.
"Thanks for letting me leave a message," Kaji said smiling. "Though, you are a bit late to do this. Don't you think?"
"..." the Agent said and pointed his gun at him. Suddenly, the operative started looking at his hand and cringed loudly in pain.
"…?" the special investigator stated. He stared in confusion watching the man's face express severe pain when nothing was wrong with his hand.
"Mr. Kaji," a familiar voice spoke out of nowhere.
"…!?" he reacted jumping from fright and turned toward the building. Standing at a blown out window was the Third Child. He was staring at him with dark magenta eyes and his face in lined shadows.
'H-He…was inside there this whole time?!' Kaji thought feeling his arm hairs flair from being scared. As the operative dropped to his knees, the unshaven man looked at his face. It was red as the man was seething and cringing in agony. Slowly turning back to the building, Kaji immediately got out his gun and pointed at the boy. He was standing three feet in front of him.
"Is something the matter Mr. Kaji?"
'…holy…what the…' he thought looking at male pilot. He was splattered with gore in his civilian clothes. His hands were drenched in red that dripped profusely. Swallowing and shaking a little, he didn't point the gun away from him.
"…gaaaahhhh…my arm…wwhhyyy…issss it…meltttiinngggg…inrrrrrr," the operative said through clenched teeth. Placing his head on the ground, he let out a cry of anguish.
"Excuse me Mr. Kaji," Shinji spoke with a slow blink and turned around.
'…no…he isn't going to…' the unshaven man thought seeing a blood fire ax on the boy's back.
The handle was inserted between the boy's tucked in shirt and pants. Walking slowly to the Agent that was slowly standing up, the boy grabbed the ax and brought it out. The operative had his gun in the other hand and started to point it at Kaji. Without warning, Shinji swung the ax down and cleanly cut off the man's arm. Hearing the man shout in pain, Shinji didn't stop.
"…" Kaji said feeling disturbed, sick, and scared.
Murderously gripping his firearm, he watched the Third Child cut off the operative's head. Seeing the body flop to the ground, the male pilot continued swinging the ax down. With four consecutive over the head slashes, the Agent's body was crudely cut in half. Seeing the boy stand up straight, he slowly turned toward him and walked toward him.
"S-Stop right there Shinji!" he shouted training the pistol at him.
"…" the male teen replied stopping and blinking at him. Seeing his stoic expression to what he just did unnerved the man as he had a look of fear on his face.
"Please…toss that ax…away from you."
"Very well Mr. Kaji," Shinji complied with a small head nod. As instructed, he tossed the weapon toward the brutally killed operative. The action seemed to calm the man down a little as he began to breathe slower.
"Is there anything else you wish to know?"
"Where…where are all the other agents?"
"I disposed of them," he said without blinking.
"I…I can see that," Kaji said swallowing and adjusting his stance a little. He still felt unnerved from what he just did. On the other hand, there was security footage of the Third Child doing the same thing to spies found in NERV. He felt semi-blessed that the boy did not take him out.
"How…how many agents were there?"
"Three."
"Why did you save me?"
"I was ordered to."
"Ordered?" he repeated confused and surprised. He blinked and pointed his pistol down to the ground.
"Who ordered you?"
"Major Katsuragi."
"…" he said feeling his eyes widen in surprise. A nervous smile came on his face as he shook his head. Keeping the pistol in one hand, he placed the other on his heart feeling a little happy inside.
"L-Looks like a goddess was looking out for me," he said looking at the male pilot. "Do you know why she asked you?"
"…" he said blinking and heard the dark clone say something to him. Internally bowing, he spoke.
"She said the sex was good and wanted another round."
"…!?" Kaji responded with a shocked face and dropped the pistol. It didn't go off when it hit the ground.
"What!? Really!? Are you serious!?"
"No," Shinji said with a stoic face.
"…" Kaji blinked in surprise then started chuckling out loud. Rubbing the sweat off his forearms on his pants, he rubbed his face and pushed his hair back.
"Ha ha…you had me going there. You could have lied and made me feel like a lucky man."
"If that is what you prefer sir, then I will change my answers in the future."
"No. Don't."
"Very well."
"Okay Shinji. Now that you got me out of this pinch, what now?"
"If you will come with me Mr. Kaji, I will escort you to my superior," he said turning around and walking away.