Ergo Proxy: Proxy of Life
Ergo Proxy: Proxy of Life
Month Two: part one
Days went by, and Re-L's stomach inched forward ever so slowly. Kristeva had assigned herself to be Re-L's personal doctor, pediatrist, you name it; whatever Re-L needed, Kristeva was there. Pino often helped Kristeva, but something seemed wrong with her, almost glitch-like, for Pino would sometimes stare at Re-L, menacing and threatening, as if one day she would take her small instrument and permanently and personally put Re-L at an end. But other than those moments, she seemed perfectly happy at learning something new, following Kristeva around and constantly asking her questions, although most were repeated many times a day.
Re-L rather liked this pampering, and it gave her the chance to feel like Izzy was still by her side. Memories of Izzy often flowed through her mind, and her overloaded emotions immediately pounced on them, sending her into terrifying rages, or unbearable depressions that lasted for days.
The only thing wrong with the neurotic pampering was Vincent. Vincent, Vincent, Vincent. His Ergo Proxy fits became increasingly more, with him often disappearing for a couple days at a time. When he wasn't Ergo Proxy, he was frequently, persistently, and relentlessly waiting on Re-L, hand and foot and back and head etc. He wouldn't leave her alone for two seconds, and was always moping around when she told him to go away (which happened much more than it used to). Re-L could sense that something inside him was stirring, possibly waking, but most of those thoughts were pushed away by her own condition. She had also concluded that he had now become schizophrenic.
Food was also a problem, as there was a constant shortage, and Vincent had now resolved to skipping breakfast, and only eating half of supper, which may have contributed to his mental actions. There was only about a month's supply left, and at the rate Re-L was eating, it would be polished off, each scrap licked clean in about twenty-one days.
Re-L tried to write in her journal as much as possible, but between Kristeva coming in for periodic checks and Vincent's obsessive behavior, she barely got time to even think. Re-L snapped her journal shut for the 23rd time that day, and hid it underneath her pillow just as Kristeva walked in.
"How are you doing Re-L?" asked Kristeva. Pino had followed her in, her head barely reaching over Re-L's cot, her small eyes looking at Re-L attentively.
"What do you think?" Re-L spat at Kristeva. "I'm freaking pregnant. I'm hungry, I'm freezing, I'm sore, I ache. Is there anything else you need, doctor? And why does Pino keep looking at me like that! She looks like she's going to kill me!" And indeed, that was the expression that had come over Pino's face. Kristeva didn't answer, nor did she look at Pino, but calmly put a soothing wet cloth over Re-L's forehead.
What was that for, does she think it'll cool down my temper or something? growled Re-L, getting sick of Kristeva and Pino's odd new habits.
Suddenly, Vincent burst through the door, his almost-glowing green eyes wide with excitement.
"I thought I told you to get out and stay out!" snarled Re-L, trying to get up to teach Vincent a thing or two about disobeying her orders, only to have Kristeva push her back down.
"There's a dome outside!" blurted Vincent, pointing back outside. Kristeva, Re-L and Pino all made a mad dash for the door, with Pino reaching it first, then Re-L, bowling Vincent over. They all ran up the steps and out to the front of the Rabbit, hanging over the railing with growing incredulity as they stared at the looming mass before them.
It was, incredibly, a dome, but it was nothing compared to Mosque dome, or Romdeau dome. It was quite small, but large enough to hold perhaps a couple hundred people. It was almost like a miniature Romdeau in design, with a few minor changes in the outside structure.
"It's so small," remarked Re-L, critiquing it from first sight, curling her lip with immediate dislike.
"At least we'll finally be able to get you some proper care," sighed Kristeva, obviously relieved.
"Maybe I'll find some new friends!" cried Pino, a huge grin spread across her face. Vincent was strangely silent at everybody's excitement.
Re-L looked at him, studying his face and body posture, trying to decide if he was frightened or eager. Perhaps he was just nervous. After all, Re-L was going to have his baby, and now they were going into a strange dome.
A proxy's baby…she thought suddenly. The thought had never occurred to her, for some odd reason. It was probably just her fried emotions getting in the way of her usually sharp thinking and connecting skills. Her hand went to her stomach, to the growing, living thing inside of her. She swore she felt a small bump, perhaps a heartbeat, or a kick. Will it be a proxy too?
The Rabbit swung closer to the dome, its slender frame cutting through the air as it raced towards its destination. Re-L could tell that Vincent was now getting more and more tense, for he walked away from the railing and back downstairs, probably to figure out something that Re-L wouldn't understand.
Proxies, she thought, rolling her eyes, her minute twinkle of appreciation for the dome growing by the second. She then realized how dirty and smelly she had become; sitting under about three blankets and having hormones raging for days on end did not help her personal hygiene. Re-L walked back downstairs, to find the bathroom door shut.
"Vincent! Get out of there!" she screeched, banging on the door. No answer came from within. "Come on, Vincent, get out of there now, or I'm-"
She was cut off as, not Vincent, but Ergo Proxy blasted opened the bathroom door, towering over her with that frightening mask. Re-L stared like a terrified deer at Ergo, drinking his air of awe and supreme that drifted around his god-like body. He took a step towards Re-L, and she remained frozen as he reached his hand out for her stomach, a curious expression upon his face (or mask, if you prefer). He touched Re-L's stomach, but a golden shockwave was sent up his arm and around Re-L's body, making him withdraw, roaring and stumbling back into the bathroom, while Re-L screamed as her body was wracked with pain as the shockwave traveled across her limbs, and she staggered backwards also, fainting when she hit her head on her cot.
. . .
Kristeva heard Re-L's scream, and her and Pino bolted back downstairs to find Re-L (who was out cold) crumpled on the floor in the bedroom, and Vincent (who was groaning slightly as consciousness slowly came back) sprawled on the bathroom floor. Pino immediately ran over to Vincent, while Kristeva tried to piece together what had happened. She knew that Re-L cared about her personal hygiene, and had probably gone down to take a shower to clean herself up before they reached the dome. Since Vincent had already been down below deck, Re-L had obviously yelled at Vincent to get out. But what had happened after that was still a work in progress in Kristeva's Cogito-infected mind.
"Re-L-Re-L!" gasped Pino, pointing her small finger at Re-L. Kristeva turned back to Re-L, and realized that what was happening with her was crucial to the mystery. As Re-L lay distorted on the floor, unconscious, her collapsed form was glowing. It was a lovely, heartwarming glow, its color a rich golden. Kristeva looked again to Vincent, and realized that small, barely perceptible traces lingered around him also. She did a scan of Vincent, and his vital signs showed that it looked like he had just woken up from a long sleep. Kind of like the way he was when he came back from his long trips. Kristeva remembered that Re-L had mumbled that he had gone away to do Proxy things, and the rest of the mystery came crashing together like a gigantic tidal wave.
Ergo Proxy must have re-awoken in Vincent again while he was in the bathroom. When Re-L went down to take a shower, it was Ergo that greeted her. Something must have happened to the two, but after doing another scan, this time of Re-L, Kristeva had concluded something even more serious, something that she had missed before in earlier diagnostics.
Re-L's baby was a Proxy. And from what Kristeva had understood from Re-L's tense conversations, two Proxies could not live together…