Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Evangelion: OMEGA ❯ Infection/The Betrayal of Blood ( Chapter 10 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

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Legal Stuff: If I owned the original Evangelion, I wouldn't have to write this sequel as fanfic. Now please follow that train of logic to 'don't sue me' station.
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Dedication: The folks at WebMD, where I did all the medical research for this chapter.
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Author's Note: Once again, my bad for taking so long. I also took a few liberties in setting up the structure of SEELE. I don't *think* I've contradicted anything said in the series, but I guess you never know.
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Neon Genesis Evangelion: OMEGA

Chapter 0:10- Infection/The Betrayal of Blood


* * * * *

"Release EVAs!" With a shudder, Unit 15 drifted away from its transport and fell to the ground. Machiko closed her eyes and tried to ignore the weightless feeling in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't decide which was worse, the positive g-force of launching up from underground or the negative g-force of dropping out of the transport.

She bent her knees just as she had been told, landing in a crouching position. The ground shook as Michiru dropped next to her in Unit 01. A few seconds later, Unit 14 glided gently to the ground, folding its wings as it touched down.

"Must be nice having wings." Machiko muttered.

"It has its perks." Tai said.

"What's the situation, Misato?" Michiru asked.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Machiko asked. Her guards usually took her to NERV, or more often straight to the briefing room, as soon as the alarms went off. One of these days she was going to find out why NERV didn't trust her with a cell phone like Michiru and Tai. Today, however, they had taken her straight to the airfield, where the EVA transports were already waiting. The transports dropped them off in New Yokosuka, right by the harbor.

"Well we've made a bit of history today." Misato said. "We actually detected the Angel *before* it hit land. You should be seeing its wake in about two minutes."

"So we've got the drop on the Angel for a change?" Michiru asked.

"That's right." Misato smiled. "Expand your AT Fields."

"Finally." Tai said. "An easy one."

"Hey!" Michiru snapped. "Remember what happened the last time you said that?"

"Oh, right."

"What happened?" Machiko asked.

Tai frowned slightly. "I died."

* * * * *

"One minute to visual range." Minako said. "The Angel is moving at approximately twenty knots. Current scans indicate a roughly humanoid configuration."

"Size?" Major Suzahara asked.

"Unknown." Minako said.

"I'm just going to go out on a limb and say 'big'." Kaori added.

Misato flipped on the holographic link to the entry plugs. "All right guys, this one's a humanoid. Beyond that, all bets are probably off. Proceed with caution."

* * * * *

"Proceed with caution..." Machiko muttered, making sure her link to the command center was off. "When do we *not* proceed with caution?"

Looking out over the harbor, she could see a wake already beginning to form as the massive Angel pushed water out of its path in its relentless approach.

Machiko lifted her rifle and aimed it at the approaching behemoth. Her stomach began to tighten. She had been in battle against an Angel once before, but given her less than stellar performance that time the thought wasn't very comforting. Oh she had killed the Angel, sure; but if Tai hadn't tackled her she would have been a statue and the Angel would have gotten away, so she couldn't really claim the victory as her own.

Now she was hit by the depressing realization that although her rifle was actually taller than the apartment she lived in, it was woefully small compared to her enemy.

"Um guys...are these things even going to work?"

"They never have before." Michiru said, giving her a reassuring smile. "But there's a first time for everything."

That would have been comforting, except for one thing: Machiko was the only one who had a rifle. Unit 01 was armed with the guided rocket launcher while Unit 14 carried its trademark double-bladed sword. Machiko couldn't help feeling she had somehow drawn the short straw.

* * * * *

"We have visual, Commander." Minako said.

"Put it on the main screen."

The screen above the tactical map lit up with an image of the Angel, standing knee deep in the harbor. It reminded Misato a little bit of Sachiel, the Third Angel. It had two arms and two legs, covered in thick, leathery brown skin. Like most Angels it had little or no head, just a protrusion of bone that seemed to form a face or mask of some type. Right below the mask was the glowing red core, the Angel's one weak point. In place of hands, its arms tapered down into two wicked looking harpoons. No other weapons were visible, but experience demanded caution.

"Keep scanning the Angel, look for any weapons that may not be visible. And keep an eye on its energy readings."

"Yes Ma'am." Kaori said.

"This doesn't make sense." Kensuke said. "They've been getting progressively more powerful every time but now we have another Godzilla clone. There has to be something more."

"Yeah, but what?" Toji replied.

* * * * *

"What say we get this one over with quick?" Tai said.

"Sounds like a plan." Machiko replied.

"Can we please not rush into this?" Michiru said. "That *is* an Angel out there. When has it *ever* been easy to kill an Angel?"

"The lady's got a point." Tai agreed. "Still I think I can take this guy. Just give me a minute here." He stepped forward.

"Hey, hold on!" Machiko called. "What happened to 'ladies first'?"

Tai came back on, smiling. "In this case, it's 'age before beauty'." He winked at them before turning his attention back to the Angel. Machiko found herself blushing a little while Michiru simply rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself.

Unit 14 turned and waded into the ocean, raising its massive sword. The Angel saw Tai coming. Even as the giant blade swung down toward it, the skin on the Angel's left arm began to harden. By the time the blade reached it, the arm was hard enough to deflect the blow easily. The Angel used Tai's momentary loss of balance to its advantage, reaching across with its free arm and stabbing Unit 14 in the chest. Tai hissed in pain as the barbed appendage penetrated his armor. Before he could react, the Angel retracted its arm and backhanded Unit 14. The EVA sent up a tremendous wave as it crashed into the ocean.

"Ah! Son of a..." Tai struggled to his feet.

"Tai! Tai, are you all right?" Major Suzahara called over the comm. link.

"I think so." Tai said, rubbing his chest. "It just barely got through the armor. It...burns though."

"It could be some kind of poison." Maya said. "Or an allergic reaction in the EVA."

"Any danger to the pilot?" He heard Misato ask.

"I don't see how, except it could distract him."

Misato's holographic image appeared before him. "Fall back, Tai." She said. "Michiru, Machiko; move in and take turns."

* * * * *

"Just like we practiced, Machiko." Michiru said.

"You got it." Machiko aimed and fired a volley of bullets at the Angel. As she had expected, the bullets didn't scratch her enemy, but that was never the point. Her job was to distract the Angel while Michiru moved into position. Seconds later, she heard a series of faint explosions as Michiru emptied all six barrels of her rocket launcher at the Angel. The rockets swung in fast and engulfed the Angel in a wall of fire. Even as the big gun labored to refill its empty chambers, movement came from within the cloud of smoke and steam where the Angel had been standing

Before either of them could react, the Angel burst out of the dissipating cloud and stabbed Unit 01 with both of its harpoon-like arms, immobilizing the EVA. Machiko rushed to help Michiru, but before she even reached the Angel, it pulled one of its arms out of Unit 01, stretched it to an impossible length, and sent it flying for Unit 15.

Machiko relaxed and centered her concentration on the approaching weapon. At this range, her AT Field wouldn't protect her; the Angel's field had already neutralized it. So the goal was obvious: don't get hit. Just as the harpoon came within range, Machiko crouched and launched Unit 15 into the air, flipping to keep the Angel in sight. It wasn't an easy move to do; neither of the other EVAs could have pulled it off at all. But Unit 15 was built specifically for that kind of agility. Machiko landed on her feet facing her enemy. Even as she touched down, she raised her rifle and sent another ineffectual wave of bullets flying toward the Angel.

* * * * *

Tai turned around, having fallen back to what he considered a safe distance. He wanted to go back and help, but Misato had made her orders perfectly clear, he was to fall back until they could figure out what the Angel had done to his EVA. Engaging Unit 14's long-range scanners, Tai saw the Angel stab Unit and attack Unit 15 when Machiko rushed in to help. The 'little' EVA executed a brilliant twisting flip, landing well out of range of the Angel's harpoon, or so it seemed.

Even as Machiko regained her footing, the stretching arm swung around and drove at her from behind. Even if she had seen it, she wouldn't have had time to dodge. The harpoon struck Unit 15 in the small of the back, bursting out through the EVAs chest an instant later.

* * * * *

Michiru heard Machiko scream as Unit 15 was impaled on the Angel's barbed harpoon. She saw the weapon burst out of the smaller EVA's chest, shattering its silvery armor. A few trickles of crimson through the creases in the helmet indicated that Unit 15 was coughing up its own blood. But above all else, the panicked, agonized look on Machiko's face burned itself into Michiru's mind.

Dropping her useless rocket launcher, Michiru engaged Unit 01's progressive knife, slashing at the arm that held her.

* * * * *

Tai was about to go back and help Michiru. With his sword, he could cut through the Angel's arms a lot easier than Michiru could with only her knife. But just when he was taking his first step in that direction, his vision began to blur. The burning in his chest had grown to a blazing fire, making it difficult to breathe. He took another staggering step forward, dimly aware that he had sunken to his knees. He wasn't going to be helping Michiru and Machiko. He would be lucky if someone came and helped him in time.

* * * * *

"Tai's losing consciousness!" Kaori yelled.

"His connection is breaking off." Maya pointed to the signal graph for Unit 14. The graphs were flowing backwards as Tai's nerve patterns fell out of sync with Unit 14's.

"Tai, can you hear me?" Misato called to him. No response. "Tai! Respond!"

"He's unconscious, Commander." Minako said.

"Damn it! Eject the entry plug, get him to medical ASAP!"

"We've got another problem!" Maya interrupted. "Machiko and Michiru are losing signal resolution as well!"

"What the hell is going on?" Toji wondered aloud, watching as Units 01 and 15 lost synchronization and tumbled to the ground.

"Get them out of there!" Misato ordered.

At the press of a button, the entry plugs shot out of the EVAs, landing far from the Angel.

"Toji," Misato said, reaching for the smaller of her two necklaces. "Get your key."

Toji nodded and pulled his own missile key out of his inside jacket pocket, inserting it into the control panel next to Misato's.

"Three...Two...One." Misato counted. On 'one' they turned their keys. In the center of Misato's console, a small panel marked with yellow and black lines popped open, revealing a red telephone. Misato picked up the receiver and waited while it dialed automatically.

"This is Katsuragi. As soon as the entry plugs are out of range, initiate backup."

* * * * *

"At 11:46:13 Units 01, 14, and 15 engaged the enemy in New Yokosuka harbor." Maya said, motioning to surveillance photos of the battle. "All three EVAs took damage from the Angel's natural weapons. At 11:59:45, Unit 14 lost synchronization due to what we believe to be poisoning administered by the Angel. Units 01 and 15 deactivated shortly thereafter."

The view changed to a huge crater, slowly filling with water. Unit 01 and Unit 15 lay in the center of the crater, next to about half of the Angel.

"At 12:04:37 NERV Second Branch in New Mexico attacked the Angel with an ICBM equipped with an N2 warhead. 47% of the target was incinerated."

"Didn't we just leave this party?" Misato muttered. She turned to the three pilots. "What happened?"

"When the Angel stabbed us, it must have done something that broke synchronization." Michiru said. "We were fine once they got us out of the EVAs."

"So is it dead?" Machiko asked.

"Unfortunately, no." Maya replied. "The Angel is regenerating as we speak. At its current rate of regeneration, we predict it will be mobile again in just under twenty-seven hours."

"How much damage did the EVAs sustain in the blast?" Toji asked.

"The armor on all three Evangelions was melted down to the third layer." Kensuke said. "It should only take a few hours to replace it. Units 01 and 14 will be ready for combat again in approximately fourteen hours. Unfortunately, Unit 15 took a great deal more damage from the Angel than the others. It won't be fully regenerated before the deadline."

"That means it's up to you two." Misato turned to Tai and Michiru. "Get some rest and report back here in fifteen hours. That should give us plenty of time to destroy the Angel before it regenerates." Michiru and Tai nodded. "Dismissed."

Michiru and Tai stood up and headed for the door. Machiko stayed in her seat, staring at the gigantic crater on the view screen.

"Machiko?" Her dad sat down next to her. "Something wrong?"

"I thought I was ready." Machiko whispered, rubbing her chest even though the pain was long gone. "I thought I could handle it."

"The important thing is that you're safe."

"I'm useless. I couldn't help at all. They'll probably be better off without me."

"This was only your second time out, sweetie." He sighed. "I don't think it's any big secret that I wasn't thrilled about getting you into all this."

"Maybe you were right." Machiko said bitterly.

"Maybe I wasn't." That surprised Machiko, she turned to him. "You're doing fine, Machiko." He said. "I'll probably never like having to make you do this, but I'm proud of how you're doing."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. I'm proud of everything you do."

Machiko smiled. "Thanks Dad. That really..." She stopped as a sudden wave of dizziness hit her.

"Machiko?" Her father asked, concerned.

"I don't...feel so good." She tired to stand, but fell back in her chair. The dizziness was now accompanied by a feeling of intense nausea as her vision began to blur. She felt too weak to move.

"Machiko, you're sweating." Her father's voice sounded far away. "What's wrong?"

She wanted to answer him, but by the time she came up with a response, she figured he would be much too far away to hear it.

* * * * *

"This doesn't look good." Michiru said.

"Hmmm?" Tai replied absently, rubbing his eyes.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." He said. "Just a little headache. Probably from that smack down I got." He smiled. "Don't worry about it."

"If you say so." Michiru stretched her stiff muscles. "Oh, this is crazy! You know, it's one thing for Misato to tell us to get rest, but how am I supposed to sleep knowing that thing is still out there?"

"Oh we'll figure something out." Tai assured her.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." She said gently.

"Oh?"

"Well I doubt anything *we* might do would be very restful."

He laughed softly. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Take a rain check?"

Tai smiled. "Any time." Leaning over, he kissed her lightly. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home."

Michiru smiled and nodded. "Thanks." She turned to follow him, but a wave of intense vertigo came over her. She stopped, trying to clear her head. The entire world suddenly seemed to be spinning out of control. She staggered, feeling as though her legs were turning to jelly.

"Tai," she managed to call out. "Something's...wrong..."

Tai turned just as her legs gave out. "Michiru!" He rushed forward to catch her. "What's wrong? Michiru!"

But she couldn't respond. It was hard to even hear the question; Tai's voice sounded muffled and distorted in her head, like a record played at half speed. Before she lost consciousness, she felt Tai lifting her in his arms and running toward medical wing. Then everything went dark and silent.

* * * * *

"Get her on the table!" Maya moved out of the way, allowing Toji to place Machiko's still form on the exam table. She had to work fast if they were going to keep the girl alive, never mind finding out what was wrong with her.

"Pulse is faint!" The young nurse said. "I'm only getting thirty-four beats-per-minute!"

"Pupils are dilated." Maya said, checking Machiko's eyes. "What the hell happened to her?"

"I don't know!" Toji replied. "One minute she was fine, the next..."

"Somebody help!" Tai staggered into the infirmary, carrying an unconscious Michiru. "She..." He stopped short. "Machiko too?"

Maya didn't hesitate. "That's it." She said quickly. "We need to go to Level 1 quarantine! Seal off HQ, no one gets out! We need to isolate all three pilots along with anyone who's had contact with them since they got back to headquarters!" She turned to her assistant. "Page the rest of the medical staff, get them all in here. We'll put Michiru and Machiko in the intensive units, everyone else in Quarantine Four."

"Yes, Doctor!" The young woman headed for the phone and began dialing.

"Major, get Machiko!" Maya said. "Tai, you come too, bring Michiru!"

* * * * *

"What's the situation, Doctor?" Misato asked.

"Michiru and Machiko are suffering from an unknown viral pathogen. It seems safe to assume that the virus was introduced into their systems when the Angel stabbed their Evangelions."

"I thought you said there was no danger to the pilots." Toji said.

"There shouldn't have been." Maya said. "The entry plugs are sealed environments. Even if the Evangelions are exposed to an infection, there should be no way for the infection to spread to the pilots."

"So how did this happen?"

"I don't know. We'll need to examine the EVAs more closely. Somehow the virus must have worked its way into the LCL filtration system, that's the only thing I can think of."

"For now I'm more worried about how to get rid of this virus." Misato said. "We can figure out how it got in them later."

"That's going to be the really tricky part." Maya said. "This virus is unlike anything I've ever seen. The good news is that it doesn't seem to be communicable. But that's the *only* good news. The virus is destroying the pilots' red blood cells. That in itself isn't too abnormal, but it's progressing faster than any virus I've ever seen. The nearest on record would be the Ebola Virus."

"Ebola's practically extinct. There hasn't been a reported case in fifteen years." Kensuke said.

Maya nodded. "Well this isn't Ebola. It's much, much worse. To give you an idea, the Ebola Virus usually had an incubation period of at least a day or two, death usually occurred a week after infection. With this virus, the incubation period was only a few hours. And at the current rate of cell destruction...Michiru will be dead in twelve hours."

"And...Machiko?" Toji asked.

Maya frowned and shook her head. "Ten hours...at best."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Kensuke asked.

Maya sighed. "I'm going to start blood transfusions. But all that's going to do is buy us some time. It won't buy us that much though; we only have a limited supply of synthetic blood in the infirmary and we can't break quarantine to get more in."

"What about donors?" Misato asked. "We've got at least a thousand people here who aren't infected."

"Machiko and I have the same blood type." Toji said.

"Yes, but you can only give so much, we'll need more than one donor for each of them. Machiko shouldn't be too hard; her blood type is fairly common. But Michiru is type O Negative, she can't take any kind of blood except O Neg."

Misato nodded grimly. "All right. Let's work out a schedule to get everyone here tested for compatibility. Maya, get your staff working on a way to cure this. Everyone else report back to your departments and advise your people to stay calm. We still have one pilot available, so we can deal with the Angel as soon as Unit 14 is ready for combat. Our priority right now is to take care of Machiko and Michiru. Dismissed." Everyone began to file out of the conference room. "Maya, could you stay for a minute."

Maya nodded and came back from the door, sitting down next to Misato.

"*Why* do we still have a pilot available?"

"I don't know." The younger woman said. "The entry plug design is identical in all three EVAs. Tai *should* be infected just like the others."

"Find out why he isn't." Misato said. "I'm authorizing any means necessary. I want to know why it didn't affect him."

"Because that could be the key to curing the girls?"

Misato frowned. "That too."

* * * * *

The steady beeping of the heart monitor let Tai know that Michiru was still alive. He couldn't have been certain any other way. She lay motionless in the hospital bed, her breathing too shallow to be visible. Her hand felt cold in his.

"Tai." Dr. Ibuki said softly. "Can I talk to you for a minute."

Reluctantly, Tai let go of Michiru's hand and stood up.

"Yeah?"

"I need to take a sample of your blood."

"I thought you said I couldn't give them blood." Tai said. "If the Virus is in my system it wouldn't even do them any good."

"I know." She said. "This isn't for donation. I want a chance to study your blood."

"Why?"

"I thought you we're a med student." She said. "I should think it would be obvious."

"Humor me. It's been a long day."

"Somehow, you're immune to this virus. If I can find out why, maybe I'll be able to translate that into a cure for Michiru and Machiko."

Tai unhesitatingly rolled up his sleeve. "Let's get started."

* * * * *

"I've had a chance to study the virus more closely." Maya said, aiming her laser pointer at the video screen in the front of the conference room. The screen showed an enlarged picture of one of the viral bodies, a spherical arrangement of geometric shapes. "The viral bodies attach themselves to the red blood cells, then inject their own DNA, which acts as a poison, collapsing the cell walls and destroying the cell."

"That doesn't make sense." Misato said. "How does it reproduce?"

"It doesn't. Its behavior is unlike any virus on record. Most viruses are parasites, using the host to propagate their own DNA. Even in the case of deadly viruses, death is a side effect, not the goal. But this virus seems to exist specifically to destroy its host as quickly as possible. There's no way for the Virus to spread to a new host and no way for it to survive beyond the death of its original host."

"So it's not so much a virus as a biological weapon that imitates the form and behavior of a virus?"

"There's one other possibility." Maya said, hitting a button on the remote control. The picture changed to show a group of viral bodies somewhere in Michiru's femoral artery, according to the labels on the screen. "This is what happened when Michiru's immune system attacked the virus."

The video showed a group of white blood cells approaching one of the viral bodies. To Misato's untrained eye, it looked like several blobs of white play-do attacking a soccer ball. But before the white blood cells could attach themselves, they were brought up short as a shimmering field of concentric hexagons appeared in front of them.

"An AT Field?"

Maya nodded. "We've been operating on the assumption that this virus was one of the Angel's weapons. But according to this, the Virus *itself* is an Angel."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure." Maya said.

"I need you to be *absolutely* sure." Misato said. "If this is what it looks like, then that means that two Angels worked in concert specifically to disrupt our capacity to fight back with the EVAs."

"They're getting smarter, aren't they?" Maya asked in a fearful whisper.

"Smarter and stronger." Misato said. "One way or another...this war will be over soon."

* * * * *

--THINGS ARE PROGRESSING QUITE WELL.--

"Of course they are." Keele said. "I told you, all we had to do was wait."

--YOU HAVE LEFT OUT ONE VITAL PIECE OF INFORMATION.--

--WHAT?--

--WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?--

"I'm not hiding anything." Keele replied calmly. "I simply didn't feel it was worth mentioning."

--NOT WORTH MENTIONING? THE SEVENTH CHILD IS COMPLETELY IMMUNE TO THE ILLNESS! HOW IS THAT NOT WORTH MENTIONING?--

He turned calmly to the '05' monolith. "Were you counting on the Angel to solve the entire problem in one blow?"

--THAT IS WHAT YOU ASSURED US WOULD HAPPEN!-- The other man's voice boomed out of the monolith. --THE PROPHECIES *WHICH YOU DECIPHERED* INDICATED THAT THE ANGELS WOULD MANIFEST GREATER AND MORE TERRIBLE POWER. YOU ASSURED US THAT NERV WOULD FALL!--

"Since I'm sure you record these little chats of ours, despite specific instructions not to, I suggest you go back into you records before telling me what I have and have not said." Keele snapped. "When the Seventh Child was discovered, I specifically said that Third Impact through the Angels was no longer an option."

--YOU'VE BEEN HIDING BEHIND HALF-TRUTHS AND DELIBERATETLY VAGUE PREDICTIONS EVER SINCE IKARI RETURNED TO TOKYO 3.--

--ADMIT IT. YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE EVENTS WILL LEAD!--

"Careful." He said in a low dangerous tone. "You go too far."

--THE PROBLEM IS THAT WE HAVE NOT YET GONE FAR ENOUGH!--

--OUR TIME IS RUNNING OUT. IF ACTION IS NOT TAKEN SOON THE SCENARIO WILL BE RUINED. IT IS TIME WE STOPPED LISTENING THIS OLD MAN AND TOOK MATTERS INTO OUR OWN HANDS.--

Keele almost laughed out loud. "Listen to yourselves. What will you do? Attack NERV? Capture EVA for yourselves?" He chuckled. "You fools. It's too late for that. There is one chance for our New World to be born and it lies in the very heart of NERV. Any action you take could destroy that chance."

--WE ARE THROUGH TAKING YOUR ORDERS.--

--LET THIS SERVE AS NOTIFICATION OF YOUR REMOVAL FROM THIS COUNCIL.--

"You think you can get rid of me?"

--I BELIEVE WE JUST DID.--

"Very well." Keele did his best to sound defeated. "If you're all against me...I will step aside gracefully. Shall we reconvene in one hour to make it official?"

--VERY WELL.--

--ONE HOUR.--

The monoliths vanished, plunging the room into darkness. Keele leaned back in his chair sighing.

"Lights." A soft, female voice called out from behind him. The overhead lights snapped on, revealing a slim woman in her late thirties standing in the doorway.

A smile came to Keele's lips. "I suppose you were listening."

"Why Grandfather, I'm shocked." The woman feigned a scandalized gasp as she crossed the room to sit across from Keele. "You know only members of the Seventh Circle are allowed to know what takes place in meetings of the Council. And I've only made it up to six so far."

Keele laughed. "Of course."

Raina Lorenz frowned, shaking her head. "They're idiots."

"Well of course they are. You don't think they got to where they are today by being intelligent, do you? They are in the Seventh Circle specifically because their stupidity made them easy to control."

"And now?" Raina asked.

"And now, in their limited way, they are beginning to realize this. And in their arrogance, they assume they can change it."

"We should have gotten rid of them long ago."

"At the time it was necessary to keep them. Just as Ikari was needed to make the Evangelions work, their resources were needed to build them."

"Of course." Raina said.

"But...now they want to have their little coup at my expense. And that, I cannot allow." Keele said, leaning back in his chair. "I think it's time we...dissolved the Council."

Raina's face lit up with a predatory grin. "I'll get right on it." She stood and headed out of the room.

Keele watched her go, knowing that she was headed for the secure phone lines to call his deep cover operatives around the world. In half an hour, every member of the Seventh Circle, save himself, would be dead.

"It didn't have to be this way my friends." Keele said quietly. "You should have kept the faith."

* * * * *

Machiko was pale as death. Whatever blood remained in her small body was needed in more vital areas, leaving the capillaries just beneath her skin empty. It had been seven hours since she had fallen ill, and it was only thanks to transfusions from a half-dozen NERV staff members that she still clung precariously to life.

Toji hadn't left his daughter's side since she fell ill. He had given as much blood as he could, far more than was probably safe. As a result, he looked almost as pale and sickly as Machiko.

Maya pulled another chair up to the bed, sitting down next to Toji. He barely seemed to notice her presence.

"Any luck?" He suddenly asked. Apparently he had noticed her after all.

"We're working on a way to neutralize the AT Fields protecting the viruses. If we can do that, their immune systems should destroy the Angel. And we're studying Tai's blood too."

"Any luck?" He asked again.

Maya sighed. "Major...Toji, it's going to take a little time."

"Look at her!" He suddenly yelled. "She doesn't have 'a little time'! She doesn't have any time!"

"We've had enough blood donated to keep her alive for another twenty-four hours..."

"And then what? There's only so much blood in this place!"

"I am doing everything I can." Maya said calmly. "I will find a cure for her. I promise."

"Don't do that." Toji said, turning back to Machiko. "Don't make promises you may not be able to keep."

Sensing that anything else she said would only upset him further, Maya quietly left to check on Michiru, who had her own guardian keeping watch over her.

"I heard what you said about Machiko." Tai said quietly. "How you can keep her alive for another twenty-four hours."

"Give or take, yeah."

"And Michiru?" He asked.

"Michiru...has a hard blood type to match."

"I know. O Neg. can only take O Neg."

"And there's only three other people in the building who have that type of blood." Maya said. "We've bought her...another five hours. Beyond that, I don't know."

"And what about my blood?" Tai asked. "What did you find?"

"Nothing." Maya said, trying not to let her frustration come to the surface. "There's no evidence that the virus even got into your system."

"I just...I feel so useless just sitting here!"

"You've done everything you can." Maya assured him.

"That's just it!" He cried, slamming a fist down onto the arm of his chair. "'Everything I can do' pretty much amounts to jack shit!" He seemed to calm down a bit, sinking back into his chair. "I can't do this any more, Doc. I can't just sit here and watch her die."

"Tai, all we can do now is wait for the lab to come up with something."

"Maybe that's all you can do." He said, standing up and hitting a button on the intercom next to him. "Commander."

"Tai?" Misato's voice came through the speaker. "What is it?"

"How soon can Unit 14 activate again."

"Well it's...it's not fully regenerated yet, Tai." Misato said. "And the armor hasn't been replaced. It'll be another seven hours."

"Can it walk?" Tai's frustration was beginning to rise again. "Can if physically stand on its legs and carry a weapon."

"Theoretically yes, but..."

"Then have them replace the armor and send me out now, before the Angel regenerates."

"No." Misato said. "That's crazy, I'm not sending you out there until Unit 14 is completely healed."

"Misato, please." Tai begged her. "I need to do this now. That Angel won't even fight back, and once it's dead maybe we can study the body and find a cure."

"This is thin, Tai." Misato said.

"But if there's even the slightest chance that we could find a way to save Michiru and Machiko we owe it to them to take it."

Misato sighed and Maya swore she could hear the Commander weighing her options.

"Maya, what do you think?" She asked

Maya found that, despite her own reservations, she could not resist the pleading look in Tai's eyes. "It...might help." She finally said.

"All right." Misato relented. "Be ready to launch in one hour."

As soon as the intercom clicked off, Maya turned to Tai.

"You know this is probably futile."

"I know." He replied quietly.

"This virus is an Angel in its own right. The two probably aren't even related."

"I know."

"Well then why..."

"I can't save either of them." Tai said. "But I can at least kill the thing that did this to them."

* * * * *

It was early evening by the time Unit 14 reached the battleground. Tai's chest burned as he touched down at the edge of the still smoking crater. Unit 14's wound had been cleaned out, but it hadn't had time to heal properly. The new armor on the Evangelion's chest rubbed uncomfortably against the wound with even the slightest motion.

The Angel stood motionless in the center of the crater. It had regenerated most of its body, but parts of it seemed only half formed. The sections that had been incinerated in the blast still lacked skin, baring charred, atrophied muscles to the rapidly cooling air. The Angel certainly looked dead, but in this case appearances were quite plainly deceiving. Only hours ago, those same muscles had been completely nonexistent, having been destroyed in a non-nuclear blast.

Tai folded his wings and made his way down toward ground zero. The Angel remained motionless as he approached. Tai stood before the half-dead giant and lifted his sword, aiming for the glowing red core.

Suddenly, Minako Tanaka's holographic image appeared before him.

"Energy buildup!" She yelled. "Inside the target! Tai that thing's alive!"

Before he could respond, the Angels harpoon arm shot out, stabbing Unit 14 through the abdomen. Tai cried out in pain and frustration as he felt the barbed appendage bite into his flesh. He raised his own weapon, but before he could bring it down, the Angel's other arm shot out, striking the EVA dead in the chest. The harpoon cut through armor, flesh, and bone until it found its target, the EVA's source of power. The S2 Organ.

The pain was like nothing Tai had ever felt. It was as if a giant, ironclad hand were squeezing his heart into pulp. Blood and sparks flew out of the gaping hole in Unit 14's chest as the horrible sound of the Evangelion powering down.

"No God damn it!" Tai screamed at his opponent. "If I'm going dow I'm taking you with me, you BASTARD!"

With the last ounce of strength left in Unit 14, Tai brought his sword up between the Angel's legs. As the Evangelion began to crumple, the blade continued to arc upward on pure inertia, slicing the Angel, and its Core, neatly in half. The Angel remained intact for a moment, then the two halves lost their balance and fell away from each other. Before either half could hit the ground, the two sections of the core exploded. The blast crater was filled with a hellish explosion for the second time that day. As the sun dipped fully below the horizon, Unit 14 slumped over, silent.

* * * * *

Tai sat by Michiru once again, cradling her cool, motionless hand against his cheek.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I tried. But there was no body left. I failed you."

"You're being to hard on yourself." Tai turned to see Major Suzahara standing in the doorway.

"Major." He greeted the older man. "I don't believe I am. I went out there to kill the Angel so we could study it. Instead I got Unit 14 killed, maybe permanently, and I have *nothing* to show for it."

"Fine, except we both know that's not why you went to kill the Angel." Toji said.

"But..."

"There wasn't a cure in that Angel anyway." He said. "That was just wishful thinking. You went out there to kill it for revenge, because it hurt Michiru."

Reluctantly, Tai nodded. "That's right...I just wanted it dead."

Toji nodded and sat down next to Tai. "You love her, don't you?"

Tai nodded, this time with no reluctance.

"It's hard, I know." Toji said. "When someone you love so much is sick...and you realize...that you can't do anything for them. No matter how much you love them it won't make them well again. It's a horrible feeling."

"How do you deal with it?"

"When I figure that one out," Toji said, "You'll be the first to know."

* * * * *

"This is not good." Kensuke said, peering into the hole in Unit 14's chest. "The S2 Organ is gone. It's just been completely destroyed."

"Can it be replaced?" Misato asked.

"This isn't like an arm or a leg's been cut off, Commander." Kensuke said. "The very heart of the EVA has been destroyed. Tai's lucky to be alive right now."

"Yes or no?"

"Maybe." He said. "But it will take at least a month to grow a new one, and another two months to get it up and running."

"Then Unit 14 will have to run on external power until then."

"Do you think those cables will even hold a current any more?" Kensuke asked.

"We'd better hope so." Misato said, turning to Maya. "How is Tai?"

"He wasn't injured." Maya said. "Although I'm sure it hurt more than he's letting on. He seems more concerned about Michiru than anything else." Maya seemed distracted; she kept staring at Unit 14's wound, which still dripped blood.

"Kensuke." She said. "How did you get the infection out of the EVAs?"

"Uh...we didn't." Kensuke said. "It went away on its own."

"They healed themselves?" Maya asked, still focusing on the bloody wound.

"Well yeah." Kensuke replied. "I mean, they have a stronger immune systems, right?"

"Wrong." Maya shook her head. "Except for a few cosmetic differences, and of course the size discrepancy, the EVAs are basically human. They have the same immune systems we do."

"But their immune systems were able to destroy the virus." Misato said.

Maya turned to Misato, suddenly very excited. "Commander, I think we just found the answer!"

* * * * *

"You want to inject them with blood from the EVAs?" Toji asked.

Maya nodded, holding up two pints of blood. "If I'm right, it should allow their immune systems to attack the Angel."

"And if you're wrong it could kill them!"

"If I'm wrong, they're dead anyway." Maya insisted. "Look, all living cells generate an AT Field. But in humans the field is very weak, it's just barely strong enough to hold our bodies together. The EVAs have a much stronger field *in every cell*."

"I get it!" Tai said. "The EVA's blood cells will neutralize the AT Fields being generated by the Angel!"

"And then their own immune systems can destroy the Virus, especially if we give them Immuno-enhancers along with the blood." Maya finished, nodding.

"You're forgetting one thing." Toji said. "What if they reject the blood."

"EVAs have no blood type." Maya said. "The chances of rejection are about the same as with synth-blood, nonexistent."

"What did the Magi say?" Toji asked.

"Fifty-fifty." Maya said.

"You've gotta be kidding me! You're going to risk two lives on a fifty-fifty chance? That's a goddamn coin toss!"

"Well everything else was between zero and .01." Maya said. "Take your pick."

Toji cast a glance at Machiko. Her blood had become so thin in the last hour that she could no longer breath on her own. A plastic tube snaked out of the wall and down her throat, pumping pure oxygen into her lungs. Maya was right. If something wasn't done soon, Machiko would die.

"Do it." He said.

* * * * *

Michiru awoke slowly. She felt too weak to even open her eyes. Finally, she managed to lift one eyelid. Tai was sitting by her bed, holding her hand gently.

"Hey." He whispered.

Michiru sat straight up. "The Angel!"

"It's okay." Tai assured her. "It's dead."

Michiru nodded, falling back down on the bed quickly. Her sudden motion had sapped what little strength she had.

"Michiru!" Machiko walked somewhat unsteadily into Michiru's room. She was dressed in a hospital gown and had an IV unit full of some clear liquid strapped to her left arm.

"Hey, kiddo." Michiru greeted her. "What happened to you?"

"Same thing that happened to you." Machiko said.

"Which naturally begs the question; what happened to me?"

"Just an Angel acting like a virus." Tai said, smiling. "Nothing we couldn't take care of."

"Glad to hear it." Michiru replied. "I'm guessing you took care of the big Angel too."

"Of course. I mean there were a few...minor difficulties but I got rid of it."

"Then I guess I owe you one." Michiru said, sitting up slowly and leaning her forehead against Tai's.

"Aw jeez, welcome to the PDA wing." Machiko muttered, rolling her eyes as she headed for the door.

Tai, meanwhile, hugged Michiru tight and kissed her gently on the forehead.

"What's wrong?"

"I just...I didn't want to say anything in front of Machiko, but...It wasn't so simple. For a while...we didn't know if you were going to make it." Tai said. He kissed her again. "This time I almost lost you."

* * * * *

"That didn't go exactly the way we hoped, did it?" Raina said. "All that and none of them died. Not even that scrawny little Suzahara brat. I could have sworn she was done for."

"It hardly matters." Keele replied with a shrug. "There are two possible ends now. Either they will come up against an Angel they can't beat, or they will be destroyed from within."

"You're sure they won't find out the truth before it's too late?"

"The truth is beyond their ability to even guess at. I'm sure Katsuragi suspects something *close* to the truth. But right now she needs all the EVA pilots she can get her hands on. She's not about get rid of one without actual evidence."

Raina laughed quietly.

"Something amuses you?"

"I was just thinking about the Sixth Child."

"Ah yes." Keele said. "She is the 'X' factor in this whole setup. She *could* tip the scales away from our favor. It would have been so much easier if we could have just killed her."

"Oh not at all." Raina said. "I think this way will be much more fun."

"You certainly have a mean streak, Raina."

"It has served me well." She smiled. "I just wish I could see the look on that little tramp's face...when she realizes what she's been sleeping with."

* * * * *

To Be Continued...

* * * * *