We Are Similar

The Final Nightmare

After the Tokio Bridge, they didn't think it could be any worse. And for the next three memories, they were right.

Otacross' voice rang through their pods. "Alright. Now, you're entering the final memory."

"We aren't directly appearing into it like all the other times." Niara commented.

"It gives us a little break, so I'm not complaining." Kousuke shrugged.

Jin sighed a little, but remain focused. "How's Eva?" He asked those in reality.

Professor Oozora shook her head. "Still no response."

"Though physically speaking, she's fine." Prof. Yamano stated. "Olivia, Izayoi, Gouda and Sendou are taking care of her."

Niara nearly snorted. "Okay, Olivia and Izayoi I'll believe. But Gouda and Sendou?"

"Anyway, you guys are almost there." Hugo said. "It's most likely going to be another one of Eva's memories. Either her happiest or her darkest, so brace yourselves."

"Could it really get any darker than the bridge incident though..." Kazuya mutered to himself.

The white faded from their screens and they found themselves in a lab. Jin immediately froze. He knows what this is. And he hated every second of it.

~~~~~

Mizel's eyes blinked red again. Perhaps it was cruel of him to make them see this specific memory, but it was the only way for them to understand. She had never been loved by more than a handful of people ever since she got the Optima. Not even those who helped fixed her cared about her in the slightest. He was going to show them the worst memory she had regarding said people.

How they tried to take away her life in front of her best friend's eyes.

~~~~~

The most noticable things in that lab were the two large tubes. They were connected to each other with a strange black cable and a man was standing by the controls. Within the two tubes, they could see two humanoid figures.

Kousuke blinked. "The hell is he doing?" The man, he recognized, was no doubt Kamiya Tougorou, his father.

On a screen, a download bar appeared. It seemed to be sending something from one of the tubes to the other.

"Ah. Kaidou-sensei's prized child." Kamiya turned to the door and they all spotted younger Jin standing there. It was strange to them because until now, they had only seen him when he was about 4, if not during the Innovator Incident. This time, he looked about 6 or maybe 7 years old. "Please come in."

The younger boy shook his head. He seemed terrified and they couldn't figure out why until he opened his mouth. "W-What are you doing to Eva?!" He did his best to sound brave.

"What everyone wants." The man replied, venom in his tone. "To get rid of her. We don't need her anymore. Don't you think trash should go where it belongs?"

"She's not trash!"

"Know your place, boy." His voice shaking in anger. "It's not nice to yell at adults." Then he smirked. "'Not trash' you say? Then what about the woman in the other tank? Does she mean less to you than this android child?"

Light shined on both tubes and they spotted Eva in one and an unfamiliar woman in the other. Unfamiliar to all but one.

The little boy's eyes widened. "Mom-?!" Everyone froze. Looking at the woman, she really does have a few resemblances to their friend.

"Exactly right. That is your mother. Or... Her body at the very least." Kamiya explained. "You're a child, so I will spare you the details. As you know, she is no longer alive. But with our technology, we managed to fix her physical form. All we need now is a source of power to awaken her conciousness."

"She... You're..." Though still in shock and slightly confused, he managed to keep up. "And... Where are you going to get the source...?"

"Look in front of you. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out." He replied coldly. "Our experiment on the prototype is complete. Now, we need to see it's full potential. And what better way to test something that gives life, than to give it to something that's dead?"

The boy stood still in front of the two tubes, his eyes turning from Eva and to his mom and back again. "What'll happen to Eva when it's done?"

"She'll die." He answered simply.

Panic ran through the boy's veins. His mind was in a conflict. He had wanted his mother to hold him again for the longest time, but was he willing to lose his best friend for it? Looking at he controls, he spotted the bar on the screen. It was over halfway full.

He knew that if he could stop it, then Eva could be saved, but his mother would not. But was there really any guarantee that her mother would be saved either way? Kamiya said it was a test, meaning it could fail. If it fails, then he could lose them both. He wasn't willing to take that chance.

While Kamiya had his back towards him, the boy forced himself towards Eva's tube. The labels couldn't have been clearer. All he had to do was pull the lever and it'll stop... So why was he hesitating?

None of them felt like they could even breathe. This was much darker than the bridge incident. All the LBXs turned to look at Triton, only to find it on top of the controls. Jin was looking down on his younger self, wondering how did he make that decision in the past.

He noticed tears beginning to spill over his younger self's cheeks and some gathered at the corner of his own eyes. He remembered how painful it felt when he stared at the two tubes. His younger self looked up at the screen. Seeing how close it was to reaching 100%, he closed his eyes and pulled on the lever before collapsing to his knees.

"You little brat-" If his phone hadn't rung, who knows what Kamiya would've done to him. With a grunt, the man left the room, swearing under his breath.

The boy sat on the floor and hugged his knees. He didn't want to look up. It was only a couple of minutes later that his butler came in, looking very worried.

"Young Master, there you are!" When he saw the tubes, he froze out of shock. "And Lady Evangeline...?"

"C-Can you get her out...?" He still didn't want to look.

"Of course... I'll bring her to her room. Young Master, you should rest."

"Right..." He stood up shakily, but once he turned to the door, he ran out in full speed.

The man pressed on a few buttons and lifted Eva out of the tube. "Poor little thing... So many people seem to berate you, but the Young Master is very fond of you. I hope you'll both continue to take care of each other forever more." He sighed as he walked out of the room.

Ban turned to his friend. "Jin, are you..."

He shook his head. Without another word, Triton touched the lever and disappeared.