8:27PM, May 17, 2014 – Janjira, Japan

""A hop, skip, and a jump away" my ass." Ford mumbled as the speed boat rocked and jumped through the dark surf of the ocean.

"Almost there, Ford."

"You said that twenty minutes ago!"

"I know. But we're almost there. You can see the facility from here."

Joe killed the engine and guided the boat towards shore where it slid up onto the sandy beach. Donning their radiation protection gear, masks, and backpacks, they set off through the night towards the well-lit facility up the road.

"How are we doing this, exactly? It's not exactly abandoned."

"I know. I tried going through town before and they caught me on the road. So we're going around the side this time."

"This is dumb. We're going to get caught again. And I'm not exactly looking forward to having to call Elle to ask her to come get us out. Not really how I want Sam to meet you again after all this time, ya know?"

"Y-… Yeah. Just trust me. We'll be fine."

"Trust is earned, Joe."

What do you say to that?

As they approached the old and now broken down highway, Joe checked his radiation meter and noticed something peculiar. Looking up and around, he tapped the device a few times to joggle it and see if it changed. But nothing.

Joe looked back at Ford.

"My meter's either broken, or we're not in a radiation zone anymore." He said as he reached up for his mask.

"Hey, wait! What are you doing?!" Ford whispered forcefully.

The mask came off, and Joe took a deep breath.

"It's clean… I knew it."

"Are you insane?!"

"Ford, this lends credence to what your mother said."

"Don't you dare try and use that right now!"

"If there was an animal in the reactor, then it's either dead or it's feeding on the radiation which drains it from the environment and makes it as clean as it is."

"Does this look like a scifi movie to you, Joe? What you're saying is just stupid!"

"Not as stupid as suggesting that regularly recurring frequency patterns and tremors are really just sensory malfunctions?"

"Far more stupid than that, actually. What kind of creature on Earth is able to do that?"

"I don't know."

"Exactly."

"So your mother's final words mean nothing to you?"

BAM!

Joe fell to the ground as Ford landed a punch to his jaw.

"Try to use mom's words like that again, and I swear to God, Joe, that you won't need the Japanese authorities to put your ass back in the slammer. I'll bring you back there myself. Got it?!"

Joe rubbed his jaw and glared up at Ford.

"Your mother never lied in her life, Ford. But everything you're saying suggests that she was in her dying moments."

Ford stomped closer and loomed over his father.

"One more word, Joe. One more fucking word!"

Joe suddenly slammed his leg into the side of Ford's left knee, buckling it and bringing him down to the ground and grabbed his lapel and pulled him in close.

"You listen to me, Ford! You're not a child anymore! And you're not a bully! We raised you better than that, dammit! Both your mother and I did! And don't you dare try and deny that!"

Ford grabbed his father's lapel in return, bringing the situation to a stalemate.

"You really wanna do this, old man?"

"What was your time in the Navy for, Ford?"

Ford pulled Joe a bit closer and gripped more tightly.

"To make something more of my life than basically being an orphan under your roof."

"God dammit Ford! I never wanted to make you feel that way! But you don't seem to understand just how much I loved your mother!" Joe growled, tears gathering in his eyes.

"The two of you are my world! When I lost her, I lost half my soul! I looked into her eyes as she smiled at me and told me to go home and celebrate my birthday with you! I listened to her tell me that I earned my special day because she said I was RIGHT!"

The tears flowed freely, but not just from Joe. But Ford as well.

"Your mother insisted I was right, Ford… Maybe to you this is a crazy conspiracy venture. But that's because you're looking at it from the outside in. But to me… As the one who survived the horror of December 11th, 1999, this is about finding and revealing the truth about what happened that day. The truth about what took your mother away from both of us, and tore our family apart."

Joe let go of Ford, and Ford let go of Joe though he didn't lose his deep scowl.

"You did the last part yourself, Joe." Ford whispered as he pushed himself up to a seated position.

Joe did the same, wiping his face and taking a deep breath.

"Ford… Your mother died at the doors to the bowls of the reactor. Whatever's in there is past that point. So…"

"You're saying we're going to see her corpse, aren't you?"

"If whoever made that facility didn't do something to it first… Yes."

Ford wiped his own eyes and stood up.

"If we do find her body, I'll handle it. That's non-negotiable."

Joe nodded and started to stand, but stopped when he saw Ford extend a hand for him. He hesitated a moment, but took his son's hand and was pulled to his feet. He'd forgotten how strong the Navy life had made Ford.

"Thanks, son."

"Don't get used to it. We've got some decent ground to cover. So let's get moving."

Joe nodded with a chuckle, and their trek continued.

About fifteen minutes later the two of them had reached the outer wall and slunk around trying to find an opening. And as luck would have it, they found one.

"Looks clear." Joe whispered.

"Let me check."

Joe backed up, and Ford leaned over and scanned the area.

"I got two on the catwalk up just above this opening. Looks like they're facing out watching the roads." Ford whispered.

"How can you tell?"

"The shadows. There." Ford said, pointing at the shadows in question.

Joe saw the vague humanoid shapes move slightly, and one of them turned their heads enough to see the nose and chin.

"Damn. You're right. Think it's safe to go through here?"

"No. But we don't have much choice. I don't think we're likely to find any other way in before they catch us. So we may as well take this one."

"Okay. I'll go first. Follow me."

Joe and Ford crept through the small opening on their stomachs and used the shadows and various objects in their path to stay in cover. The watchers up on the catwalk didn't look armed. But Ford didn't want to take any chances so he gestured for Joe to have them follow the outer wall further away from them before going more toward the heart of the facility.

As they reached arguably the best place to cross the way, they had to duck down as a military jeep approached the front gate and entered the premises. The jeep's lights crossed just over their heads as it pulled up and parked. And out of the jeep stepped an older Japanese man and a Caucasian woman followed by a few armed guards.

"Well that's not good." Joe whispered.

"Recognize them?"

"No. But the guy definitely looks in charge."

"True. The guards are keeping closer to him than the woman."

"Let's wait for them to go inside. Then we'll find a way in."

"Sounds good."

As the people from the jeep went inside, Joe and Ford watched the jeep leave and the guards at the gate return to their posts outside.

"Surprisingly lax security in here." Ford whispered.

"They must not be expecting anyone to make it past the gate."

"Then let's go."

The two of them waited for their opportunity to cross the way and enter the building. And as soon as they reached the entrance they double checked behind them and carefully knocked on the door. They hid on the side, but nobody answered or tried to open it. The two shared a glance, and then Joe chanced it and opened the door.

"Nobody. Let's go." He whispered.

Inside, Ford couldn't help but look around. It might not have been exactly the same as it had been fifteen years ago due to the collapsing structures. But even if it was rebuilt slightly differently this is where his dad worked all those years ago. And it's where his mom…

"Ford. This way."

Snapping out of his thoughts Ford followed Joe deeper into the facility. Due to how relaxed the security was compared to outside the complex, it was relatively simple to navigate the place and keep out of sight and out of the way of those who worked here. But the further and deeper they went, the more Joe got the feeling they were heading the wrong way.

But caught in his thoughts, Joe didn't recognize the next corner until it was too late.

Joe froze, and Ford nearly ran into him before looking over Joe's shoulder to see a pair of giant metal doors just ahead. He walked around Joe's side and looked at his face, and he could tell Joe was lost in the memory of whatever happened here that day.

This was confirmed when Joe walked forward and put his hand on the doors.

"So is this…?" Ford asked quietly.

Joe nodded.

"She died right here… On the other side of these doors."

Ford looked over at a control panel to the side of the doors and tried pressing a button. But they didn't respond. No sounds. No lights. Just the empty "click" of the button plastic against the metal frame.

"Fuck."

Joe sniffed back a sob.

"The doors have a manual override control in the Engineering room where we monitored most of the Plant's operations and data returns. I'll show you."

They snuck back through the Plant and paused when they saw a pair of guards up ahead. Ford nodded at them, and Joe returned the nod to Ford. That was the room. And there was no way in without going through them. And the voices they heard were coming from there as well.

"The pulses are becoming more frequent." Came a male voice.

"What's the interval?" Asked another male voice, more aged and weathered.

"About thirty seconds. It was forty just an hour ago." A female voice replied.

Joe and Ford backed away from the corner a bit and looked at each other.

"What do we do?" Ford whispered.

Joe shook his head.

"Do we go back?"

Joe shook his head.

"Let me think." He said.

"We don't have time for that."

Joe took a deep breath and nodded. And before Ford could react Joe stood up and walked around the corner with his hands up. Both guards turned to him, guns up.

"I'm unarmed." Joe said.

The rear guard alerted those inside the room, and from out of the room stepped the Japanese man from earlier.

"My name's Joe Brody. I worked at this Plant before the accident. And I know those frequency patterns you're seeing."

The Japanese man ordered the guards to lower their weapons and approached Joe.

"Mister Brody. How do you know the patterns?"

Joe brought his backpack around and pulled out his copies of the frequency patterns from fifteen years ago, and the ones he's taken recently.

"This one's from the day the Plant went down. And this was yesterday. I was here, on site that day."

The man looked over the images, and nodded to the woman who was now standing in the doorway while handing them to her.

"Please come inside."

"Wait. Ford! Come on!"

Ford came around the corner.

"This is my son."

The Japanese man nodded and ushered them into the room.

"Please tell us everything, mister Brody." The man said.

"Anata no namae wa nan desu ka?" Joe asked.

"Ah. Sumiasen. Serizawa Ishiro desu. Yoroshiku."

"Yoroshiku." Joe said as both men bowed to each other.

"So, mister Serizawa-"

"Doctor. Doctor Serizawa." The woman said.

"It's all right." Serizawa said. "This is Doctor Graham. She works with me."

Joe gave her a bow, which she returned.

"Fifteen years ago we started reading tremors with this frequency pattern about a week before the Plant went down. They started off smaller. Maybe half this strong. But they steadily got bigger and more frequent until the day of the incident."

Joe's lips tightened as his hands curled into fists on the table.

"My superiors thought it was a sensor malfunction or some kind of equipment failure. But something told me that wasn't it. Malfunctions don't remain consistent and then suddenly start increasing in frequency and strength. But since I wanted to follow protocol I asked my wife to-…"

Ford walked up and put a hand on Joe's shoulder, earning a nod and a wave of Joe's hand.

"I asked my wife to go down and look at the belly of the Plant. And when the first major tremor happened before the Plant went down, she contacted me on her radio and said she found a massive animal down in the tunnels."

Serizawa and Graham glanced at each other.

"She… She didn't make it. The breach reached the doors before she did and I had to close them to stop the breach from escalating… She appeared behind the door a few moments later. Just… Seconds too late…"

Ford's hand gripped his shoulder a bit more tightly as Joe couldn't hold the tears back.

"My wife died down there because I wanted to follow protocol."

"My condolences, mister Brody." Serizawa said softly.

Joe nodded, and looked back up to meet Serizawa's gaze.

"I don't really care about protocol anymore, Doctor Serizawa. If you know anything about what my wife was talking about, I want do know… I demand to know. Right now."

Serizawa nodded.

"Come."

He led them to the main window which overlooked the heart of the Plant where a massive structure sat in a large pit with cables above it and dozens upon dozens of armed guards around it on the catwalks.

"What's that?" Ford asked.

"That, Ford, is the creature Mrs. Brody saw that day." Serizawa replied.

"It's cocooned itself in that structure. But you can see every now and then the movement through the transparent sections." Doctor Graham added.

Sure enough, a moment later there was movement through the transparent red/orange sections.

"Whoa…" Ford whispered.

Joe walked forward to the window and put his hand against the glass.

"… So there you are." He whispered to himself.

Joe's body suddenly felt lighter. Like he just shed two hundred pounds of weight. The sight was horrifying. But in a strange way it also brought him comfort as he closed his hand into a fist and then dropped his arm.

"I was right." He whispered.

Ford came around and stood beside him.

"I can't-…"

His mouth remained open and tried to mouth words, but no sounds came out. His eyes remained glued to the strange, alien looking structure as he thought about the sight of the Plant collapsing in the distance as he watched from the school yard.

"So mom really did…"

He couldn't help but shake his head as he fought back a whirlwind of emotions. And a moment later, he put an arm around Joe's shoulder. Joe looked over at Ford whose eyes were transfixed on the structure. And he could see the confusion in his son's eyes as the tears began to well up within them.

"Dad… I'm sorry." Ford whispered before turning his head to meet his father's gaze.

Joe leaned over and embraced Ford, and Ford returned it. Hard. He'd never held his father this hard in his whole life. Not even the day he learned his mother had died. Nor the day of the funeral when he was arguably at his lowest at the time. But right now, he couldn't let his father go.

"How you've endured my… My anger, all this time…" Ford whimpered.

Joe shook his head and squeezed Ford.

"It's okay son… It's over."

"I love you, dad!"

"I love you too, son!"

Doctor Graham teared up, and Serizawa smiled calmly as he allowed the two men to share their moment.

However, the room suddenly shook and forced both men to part to steady themselves as the creature's cocoon flashed and a deep bellowing sound erupted from it.

"What the hell was that?!" Ford asked.

"It's done feeding!" Serizawa exclaimed.

A pulse exploded out from the structure causing the electricity to falter throughout the complex.

"Pulses are seconds apart!" Shouted one of the others in the room.

"We have to shut everything down, now!" Serizawa ordered.

"Shutting down!"

A switch was flipped, and power went down throughout the complex. Everyone looked on as another pulse hit them. And Serizawa sighed.

"Kill it."

The order was given outside, and numerous electric currents were run through the wiring and cables, as well as fired from the electric prods and weapons they had on the catwalks. Loud screeches and another pulse emerged before everything went quiet and all movement seemed to cease inside the cocoon. Serizawa couldn't watch, and the pained look on his face told Joe everything he needed to know.

"You study them, don't you? These things?"

Serizawa nodded.

A second later, something emerged from the cocoon. A massive arm broke through it and cleared the way for a massive head with a sharp beak-like mouth and long glowing red eyes. The mouth opened releasing a horrific shriek as the arm went up and slammed into the ground releasing an EMP which took out all the technology throughout the complex. Even the backup generators and had been taken out leaving everyone with only the non-electric weaponry and equipment they had at their disposal as the creature began to rampage within the cage destroying the rest of the cocoon.

"We need to evacuate!" One of the others shouted.

"No! We need to contain it!" Serizawa countered.

"How?"

"However we can! We can't let it escape the area!"

The ground shook and everyone had to duck for cover as debris flew through the window. Ford rolled to the side and as he started to get up was horrified to see that a large block of it had landed on Joe pinning him to the ground.

"Dad!"

Ford rushed to his side, but had to duck another volley of debris. Some of which struck his right arm which he immediately knew was broken as he went down onto one knee.

"Ford! Get out of here!"

Ford grimaced, grit his teeth, and used his left hand to grip the debris on Joe. Getting his legs set, he flexed his entire body as he lifted the block up and pushed it aside with a yell of effort. He held a hand out to Joe who took it and tried to stand. But he immediately let go and screamed in agony holding his lower back.

"Dad! Come on! We're getting out of here!" Ford demanded.

A moment later Serizawa was at his side helping get Joe up onto his feet. But Joe couldn't move his legs.

"I can't feel them." Joe mumbled in a daze.

"Ford. We need to go." Serizawa urged.

Ford nodded and they all fled the building together while fighting to maintain their balance through the halls as the sounds of gunfire and the creature's screams echoed through the halls. And as they all came outside they looked up in time to see the creature looking up towards the sky, completely ignoring all the humans beneath firing guns at it.

"Oh no…" Serizawa whispered as he got the full view of the creature's back.

"Brace yourself, Ford!" Serizawa said as he bent his knees.

Ford looked up and saw the creature's massive wings opening up, and he braced himself as the wings swept downward and propelled it into the air sending a massive wave of air pressure spewing out in all directions down below. Dozens of people were thrown from their feet while Ford and Serizawa just barely maintained their posture by backing up into the wall behind them. The creature disappeared into the darkness of the night sky as Ford and Serizawa brought Joe around to the grass and gently laid him down.

"He needs an ambulance, now!" Ford demanded.

Serizawa nodded and looked to Doctor Graham who was already trying to get on her phone.

"No service." She said.

"Fuck!" Ford yelled.

"It must have been the EMP it unleashed. The phones should start working again soon." Serizawa said.

"Is there anything we can do?"

Off to the side someone managed to jump start one of the jeeps and Serizawa immediately flagged them down and the jeep rushed over.

"Get him inside, carefully. Take him to our nearest medical unit. Immediately." Serizawa ordered.

"Yes, Doctor!"

Joe was loaded into the Jeep with Ford by his side and rushed off the premises as Serizawa remained behind and looked up at the sky to where the creature had disappeared.

"Sensei?" Doctor Graham asked.

Serizawa looked at her calmly, but with a hint of sadness.

"What do we do now?"

"Everything wait for an opportunity to contain it." He replied calmly.

She nodded and looked at her tablet which was just starting to work again.

"… Sensei. Look at this."

Serizawa glanced over her shoulder as she pointed to an auto-saved recording of the creature's call right before it broke free of the cocoon.

"There, Sensei."

"… Another call."

"A response, perhaps?"

Serizawa stood up straight, mouth hanging slightly agape.

"The other spore." He whispered.