Angel of Man

Chapter II
Boys will be Boys

“What do you mean he’s gone?” yelled Fuyutsuki at the dishevelled and clearly disoriented guard.

“I…I don’t know Sir,” repeated the guard, “The kid started screaming then…then he glowed sir, I’ve never seen anything like it. When he stopped he jumped me and my men, we got knocked out and when we woke up he was gone and then you arrived. Sir, I don’t know where he went.” Finished the man, nervously glancing at the commander who stood silent.

‘Shit’ thought Gendo, this could not end well. “Issue an immediate alert, lock down this facility, I want that boy found and brought to me, alive if at all possible.” Was all he said as he turned to leave Terminal Dogma.

What the hell was going on? This had neither been in his or SEELES projected scenarios, this was all happening but there had been no indication of it from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Who the hell was this boy? Why was he here and how did he get here in the first place? Was there a connection between the boy and the second Giant of Light? These and more questions rushed through his head as he entered the lift, sirens and alarms starting to blare throughout NERV HQ instructing all security personal to apprehend the boy. So much for secrecy.

Many levels above, the two female pilots stripped down in the locker room. They had just managed to get back to the facility after being recovered during the fight. Though in pain, in particular Rei whose left arm might never feel the same, they had not needed immediate medical attention and had been allowed to go change.

However, the peace of the locker room had been disturbed by the alarms in the facility going off, something about a boy intruder. As the two pilots had just fought and lost to the 13th and where covered from head to toe in slowly drying and badly smelling LCL fluid they decided not to help the security teams, they had more than enough men to aid in the search they would most likely only get in the way.

As the fiery German girl stepped out of her plug suit and threw it into a nearby trash bin she glanced over towards her red eyes comrade, who was similarly stepping out of her white plug suit. Whatever qualms she had with the enigmatic girl she had to admit, she was beautiful; scarily so, with her smooth alabaster skin, unblemished even after the many injuries she had sustained in other battles, and her perfectly formed features it was like she wasn’t a person, more like something that had been crafted and moulded into this perfection of feminine beauty. Like a living breathing moving statue.

Then the red head violently shook her head stopping these thoughts before they started. Case and point then she was nothing but a doll, an obedient little puppet who did what she was told, she was even worse than Shinji. Damn she hated the girl; she hated her, nothing but a damn doll, a toy, a plaything to be used and thrown away, something pretty to look at, nothing but a pathetic doll.

“Pilot Soryu, are you well?”

The red head blinked at looked at the blue haired girl, taken aback by the sudden question.

“What? Of course I’m fine why the hell would you ask that?” said the girl with her usual gusto.

“You are crying.”

“Wha…” was the weak reply as Asuka raised her hand and felt the wet streaks running down her cheeks.

Blushing out of embarrassment and anger she quickly wiped them away and made up a quick excuses about dust, which even she wouldn’t have believed. Hurrying to the showers she intended to wash off the stinking LCL as well as drown her inner turmoil in the steaming hot water. She never got the chance.

Rei looked over at her red haired counterpart with her emotionless expression. Drops of water were falling from the German pilots eyes and running down her face; unsure on what to do, but knowing tears were normally a sad thing, she asked her if she was well. She watched as the girl wiped them away and lied about there being dust in her eye, then made her way around a corner heading to the showers.

Still not knowing what to do, she intended on follow Asuka and at least clean off the LCL when she heard the echoing screams of her fellow pilot. Rushing forwards she turned the corner and looked down at Asuka, who had collapsed to the floor and was staring ahead into the showering area with fear, alarm and anger in her eyes.

Following her gaze Rei looked to the very back of the showering area and was taken aback to see a naked boy huddled into one of the corners. Above him she saw that the grill to the ventilation system had been removed, so that was where he had come from. Unsure what to do she stepped forwards towards the red head who had managed to get to her feet.

“We need to call security and get this damn pervert out of here.” Said Asuka more out of reflex than coherent thought.

Rei said nothing as she looked down at the boy, never showing any of the confusion she felt inside. This boy seemed somehow familiar to her; she had met him before, she knew him, somehow, she felt like she did at any rate, but she couldn’t remember, couldn’t place him. It was like looking at a familiar face through a foggy window, you know you know the person on the other side of the glass but you can’t see their face clearly.

The boy looked up slowly and cautiously, all he had been trying to do was get out of this scary place, he wanted to get out of this cold place full of twisted and soulless metal, he wanted to go home He had been crawling though those dark passage ways for he wasn’t sure how long and they had led him to this place, which was warm and damp and smelled like home.

Then it had come, quickly walking round a corner it had screamed when the red furred thing had seen him. Acting on instinct, and fearing an attack, he ran into the nearest corner and made himself as small as possible, curling into a ball. Why had it screamed like that, it had hurt so much, his ears were still ringing, was that how this thing attacked by screaming?

Chancing a glance up at the thing he saw that there was another one with it now. With pale blue hair and red eyes it looked at him with no expression. He blinked, then did so again; no, it couldn’t be, it couldn’t be her…she was…no, it was impossible but he had to make sure it wasn’t a trick, it had to be a trick though…she couldn’t be here she was…

Rei watched as the boy looked into her eyes, fear and confusion clearly present in their depths. She watched on, never once flinching, as the boy unravelled himself and, moving slowly and deliberately cautiously, inched his way nearer to them, a silver necklace with a large egg sized red crystal around his neck swinging lazily with every movement. He moved on all fours, like a cat stalking its prey, never once took his eyes off of hers. He sniffed every so often, like he was smelling for her scent, or trying too at least.

Asuka, unnerved by the boy, back away behind wonder girl, like hell she wanted that boy near her. She couldn’t explain why, but that boy scared her, not just from the shock of finding him there it was something much deeper than that.

Perhaps it was his eyes which, though holding a life of emotion and were the brightest blue she had ever seen, seemed dead, cold and distant. Or maybe it was the way he moved, on all fours like an animal, but still holding a grace and elegance that most didn’t have when upright. And there was something off about that necklace, too.

Whatever it was she didn’t like it, and the feeling only got worse as the boy moved ever closer. Soon he was crouched before them and it was all she could do to stop herself from running as fast and far away as she could. Rei, for her part, looked down at him silently, wondering what he was doing. The boy leaned in close to her leg, so his nose was only an inch away and, closing his startling blue eyes, he slowly and deliberately sniffed her…then again.

Without any warning the boy suddenly backed away slightly and, looking up into Reis’ eyes with a child like smile of complete happiness and joy and tears forming in the corner of his eyes, he jumped. Before she could do anything, he landed on top of her enough force to through her backwards onto the ground, an uncontrollable grunt forced out of her, her breath momentarily lost to her. As she lay there, the boy on top of her hugging her tightly around the midriff and snuggling into her chest, like a cat, she wondered dimly what was going on.

Asuka looked at the two, blushing slightly at the sight of their naked bodies loosely entangled, then jumped at the sound of the door to the locker room slamming open and twenty heavily armed and armoured security personal entered, their weapons trained on to the boy who was paying them not the slightest bit of attention.