Aldecaldos Camp
Morning
Shinji tried to get up on his own, but his own body cried out in pain. He quickly fell back onto the cot, letting out a soft cry.
"I'm sorry… It hurts so much…"
V chuckled before pulling out a white and blue inhaler and handing it to Shinji.
"This doesn't have any real painkillers, but it has some small amount of adrenaline to help you get up and move. Here-"
Shinji hesitantly took the inhaler and examined it. The hole for the gas had a small seal that breaks when you bite it.
And Shinji did just that. He bit the mouthpiece and pressed down on the inhaler, allowing the pressurized medical gas to enter his lungs.
The adrenaline worked its way in, entering the bloodstream quickly and into the rest of the body. He felt his body spike and energize.
As the inhaler depressurized, he let go of the inhaler and handed it back to V.
"How ya feel?"
. . .
"Like I drank, Ms. Ritsuko's coffee that has her energy shots in it…"
V took a quick scan of him, seeing that his heart rate did indeed increase.
"Are you able to get up this time?"
Shinji tried moving up; the pain was still there but to a much lesser degree. He sat up and moved his legs.
He also noticed he wasn't wearing his original clothes. He wore a black tank top and some shorts.
"We took the liberty of changing you out of those soaked clothes… It got my stuff stained."
Shinji was about to apologize, but V's laugh stopped him.
"But I wouldn't worry about it. I've already got it cleaned up. Anyways, come outside with us. It's a beautiful day out for some breakfast."
Shinji stepped out of the tent and took in the sight before him. A few dozen people are milling about either eating breakfast, chatting, or just messing around. Children play with toys or use their imagination. Adults drinking or laughing amongst themselves.
A few people took notice and looked at him. All eyes were on him as he walked with V to a table.
Shinji kept his eyes on the floor as he sat down.
"We got some synth eggs, Synth Bacon and meats, some veggies we grew in a hydroponics truck, and some sodas. We also have some prepackaged food if you want."
Shinji thought about it for a moment. Was this what Americans eat?
"I'll have whatever… I don't know what to ask for."
He meekly said, getting a bit nervous from the people staring at him.
"I'll get you something with variety, don't you worry."
He patted Shinji on the back and headed over to the food truck.
He watched him go over to the line of people waiting to put in their orders.
Shinji sighed and kept his eyes down to the floor, not wanting to make direct eye contact with anyone else. He went to scratch his head, but it was slightly stiff.
He still had LCL dried in his hair. Examining the rest of his limbs also showed that he was still somewhat caked in LCL, and he still smelled like it, too.
The smell of blood.
Anxiety rose from within him, and his heart began to race.
What if everyone else could smell it? Would they think that he killed someone?...
But… He did kill someone.
Memories began to rush back in as he remembered what happened to Kaworu and everyone else.
His breathing began to get heavy and rapid, his mind going over every detail.
Shinji was about to release a single tear when a tray of food was placed in front of him.
"Here, I got you an Omelet since it has almost everything you would need for some nutrients. I also got you some water."
Shinji looked up at the tray; it was indeed an Omelet, with some vegetables he couldn't identify. He took a look at the water; it was in a bag with a straw. It looked like one of the military rations he would sometimes see the guards drink on duty.
V took a seat next to him with his tray full of food.
"T-Thanks for the meal…"
Shinji didn't clap his hands; he knew there was no real god anymore, and there was no reason to bless the meal.
He was god for a moment.
He began slowly eating his meal, taking a small bite at a time. It was ok.
V took notice of Shinji's rather dirty appearance and waited for a moment to talk to him.
"Hey uh… If you want to take a shower, there is an area where you can shower and use the bathroom. Just keep the shower quick; we can't waste too much water."
Shinji stopped eating for a moment and looked at V.
"Thanks… But this stuff takes a bit to wash this stuff out of my hair… It needs some hot water…"
Shinji didn't directly look at him; he was too ashamed to be such a burden on these people who had just saved his life and taken him in.
"We can turn on the heater for you; just finish up, and you can get cleaned up."
V turned back to someone who was walking by and asked them to do the chore, then went back to eating his food. Shinji took a sip of his pouched water and looked around; he could see a large truck with a tank in the back. He assumes it was the water truck and where he could shower.
As soon as he finished his water, he cleaned up and waited for V to finish his meal.
"You know, you shouldn't have to wait for me to finish eating. Showers are right over there."
He pointed to the same area Shinji was looking at earlier.
"Just ask someone for a towel before you head in."
7 minutes later.
"Well, you look much better now."
V said, a slight smile on his face. He watched a slightly damp Shinji walk his way over to him.
"Now listen, I'm gonna go talk to some people. Just stay here for a bit."
Shinji visibly tensed up as he watched V walk away to a group of people nearby.
V strode up to Saul, Panam, and Mitch, all of which were standing around a table, each of them with a slightly annoyed look.
"V, I saw the black box and what's on that laptop… while you made the good choice of taking him, but the bad choice of raising them on full alert."
Saul said, only to be followed by Mitch.
"If what the recording and the data says is true, then that kid is essentially the Antichrist! We need to keep him on a leash and away from that… That thing! That Evangelion or whatever has more chrome than Adam!"
Mitch was freaking out. V had never seen him so freaked out since the time V almost died during the Ripper-doc procedure.
"V, I don't know if he would make it out here. He looks… too fragile. Maybe we should fit him with something to help keep him moving."
V was already overwhelmed with the number of complaints he was getting.
He turned to face Saul first.
"Yes, I know I rushed in without thinking, but knowing what the corpos would do to him, I got a Lil too jumpy."
Then Mitch.
"The kid already cried enough yesterday from reliving those memories. And it looks like they can't start it up without him in it."
And finally, Panam.
"We'd have to ask him about it first, and even then… I'd only go to Vik's for this."
. . .
"Does that answer all of your questions?"
. . .
"Smartass."
Placing both hands and leaning on the table, V laid out his rather quickly formulated plan.
"I'm not very sure if the kid could handle getting implants. It could be more traumatic despite him going under for it. Arasaka and Militech may fit him with top-of-the-line stuff, but they will abuse the shit out of him."
Panam sighed, V was right. This could make things much worse for him and possibly the rest of them.
"Another thing is, there are a few people who have gotten by just fine without implants. Hell, girl, I know; Clair. She doesn't have any implants, she was going to get some but something came up."
He was right again, Besides he is pretty young for implants and it takes a while to fully heal up after.
"God damn it… You're right. And besides, it a lot of EuroDollars to get some-"
"I'll pay."
Everyone turned to face the voice who offered.
It was Saul.
"It's the least I could do to truly repay you for saving me from Smasher."
As he finished, V saw on his HUD that Saul transferred over 10,000 EDs.
"You sure Saul? You've said that a bunch of times. And I'm not sure if he is even up for it. May be too much information for him all at once."
"Mhm. That is a possibility, but we could also get him something to help him relax. Look at him."
He gestures to Shinji, who was sitting at the table where V left him. He had his head low and was twiddling his thumbs. His leg was jumpy and anxious.
"He looks like he is going to snap at any moment…"
"Well, I certainly hope he doesn't. He might be a risk to himself and others if he does."
Mitch said, shaking his head from the complexity of the situation at hand. The data on the Laptop showed the true extent of the catastrophe Shinji produced.
Whatever an AT field was, Shinji apparently caused everyone's to disappear and melt.
"Whatever you do with him, just keep him safe and away from the corpos. They'll probably use that thing as a way to threaten the rest of the world."
. . .
V took everyone's opinions in and thought about it.
"Alright, Im taking him to Night city. Arasaka won't be too much of a problem. The board there is too disorganized still from Yorinobu's and Hanako's death. And Militech can't just brute force the whole city searching for him."
The others nodded, remembering that fateful day vividly.
"I'll go talk to him. Panam get the truck ready. We are going to head out after we prep."
"Gotcha."
Panam left, and V was about to do so as well, but Mitch stopped him.
"We'll do some recon on the site you got him from. If they reverse engineer that thing… We're all fucked. Keep him away from them."
"Don't worry, I'll keep him safe."
And with that, V went to go talk to Shinji.
"Hey kid, Mind if I talk to you about something?"
Shinji was startled when V spoke. He quickly turned to face him.
"Y-Yeah?..."
V saw he was afraid, so he thought about how to articulate his thoughts carefully.
"So… We are going to take you to a place called Night City… And there is a doctor there that can help you with your anxiety, but it'll require surgery-"
"Please, take me to him… I don't want this."
. . .
"Are you sure? These are electronic implants. It'll go into your nervous system and body-"
"PLEASE! JUST MAKE IT GO AWAY!"
Shinji was practically yelling, drawing the attention of everyone around them.
. . .
. . .
"Alright, get ready, we leave by 2 pm. It'll be a long trip so just ask us if there is anything we can do to make it at least comfortable."
. . .
"I'll be fine."
To be continued.