Whoohoo! Break from school so I can finally finish a chapter. I hope you guys had a Merry Christmas and will have a happy New Year!

In the beginning there was one species of those who would walk the earth. One day beings from the darkness of space careened towards our atmosphere and in the wake of their landing led too much of the original species demise. The ones who survived began to notice the resurrection of those who looked like them but were not birthed from this world. Seemingly walking out of whatever was left over from the carnage of the other beings. They looked, acted and breathed like the originals but they were different. Left with no choice unless face extinction some decided to breed with them but many kept living within their own species. Many waded far from the others who shared the same anatomy and built their own cities.

The cities were vast and the result of scientific wonder. Over centuries the number began to grow but so did the others. It was hard to tell the two apart and due to their harmless nature many did not bother with their intermingling into our nations. Our bodies were equal, our desires were equal and our wars were equal. They shared our religious texts, our culture and assimilated into our society.

One important day came where a distinction was made. The original human beings, what some call the Progenitors, turned sand into gold. The invention was a triumph for the humans but the others were confused because they could not understand nor could they obtain the power to do such a feat. They feared our power that we suddenly had over them. Long gone were we of equal advantage to wage war with metal or even disease. Our alchemy led to our rising as a superior species but the power for alchemy depended on the region for some alchemy was used for war while others was used for medicine. But in our achievement our greed and pride began to overcome us. For those who could wield alchemy or obtained enough wealth to buy a person who could they were perceived as gods. In our arrogance our sins overpowered our humanity and we sought two things that were left in a realm of our Creator. We began trying to circumvent death and tampered with the normal life-span to live forever. We tampered into artificial humans, cross species of humans and animals, trying to bring the dead back to life and trying to gain immortal life. All trespasses against human nature. Our God who shined great mercy upon us left us to our own desires since we turned our back on him. Cities were destroyed, no…they vanished overnight. Large stone, marble and metal constructions of civilization's accomplishments left empty without a soul to walk the earth. In its wake was a red stone called a philosopher stone. The remnants of the ancient cities turned ghost towns overnight are still left but the stone has seen been driven into myth. Well…the one who possess the stone drove it into myth. The most interesting case is of the kingdom of Xerxes. It had a ruler who was noted to be fair by some but power hungry by others. His kingdom disappeared overnight but it is what resulted from that night that led to the problems we face today.

The original beings had diminished their population quickly from the various deaths and vanishings of kingdoms and only a few remained. More interbreeding with the others and multiple violations of humanity led to only a small population left in regions where alchemy's sole purpose was for healing and medicine. Strange enough there are different symbols to conjure up alchemy and some alchemy was taught for certain purposes but in the end they all could lead to war if the right applications were applied.

The others overwhelmed our population drastically but our equal characteristics saved us from possible domination. Alchemy was kept secret from the others not only because they could not use the practice but also because of the mysterious killings that fail upon those who tried. It wasn't until the domination of the Holy Roman Empire that led to an understanding as to who could have done this and this group was called Seele. Their records are expunged from history along with the deaths of those who tried to write about them. They were behind the formation of many civilizations and the fall of many as well. But it was their involvement with alchemy that made them powerful and mysterious. They have lasted for many centuries and still hold power over the world today. But the reason is why and how it is connected to Xerxes.

Keele speaks of Xerxes often and the glories of Xerxes and how that led to a "great sacrifice". He speaks of how we all will reach glory and be unified again on day. They take for granted that not all of us have forgotten the past but maybe they know and just don't care. If someone held something as powerful as the stone what do they have to worry about from mere mortals. And then there were the prisons. These were no ordinary prisons. They had a purpose. They specifically focused on those who could have any connection to the original humans. There were many more than expected but only fragments of DNA were found. But those were even strange. Many people were taken into the privatized prisons on trump and fake charges to keep the appearance of a prison and it fed the degredation of humanity in watching others suffer. The impact led to a gradual decrease in human life especially for those who became criminals and make the suffering worse. But all was just a hoax decrepit wardens and a "match". Those who shared the original DNA could do interesting things with their blood. When I visited the largest one in Russia they had a special block of inmates that held these abilities. They hypothesized that the blood of the originals who had the ability of alchemy when mixed with the others, now called Lillum, generated a strange range of mutations that varied from both Lillum and Humans. It was similar to alchemy in that some structure, blood for instance, could be changed into a weapon or a bomb but this was unique to both species. These were hybrids and this mutation could be experimented on during development so the best type to experiment on was children. Before second impact they were scarce and only acquired in child slave trades but after the impact they were in great abundance. So they tested many and collected a few but many died. There was a correlation with the number of mutations and the ability to withstand the experiments.

The ones who were promising sometimes had a connection to those working on Seele's main project which was Project E and Gehirn. One special child was actually the grandson of a chairman of Seele, last name Ikari. He had a very talented daughter but she was also very inquisitive. He also had a son but he disappeared upon realizing a secret that of course was not his to know. He was resilient though from reports I have read. It was not completely sure why this certain child of hers had a higher mutation rate and obtained more genes since she had no connection with progenitor DNA.

I suspected that she was a very strange woman.

According to the records, she married a man, a very strange man, and out of that union brought this strange child. When the mother died the father abandoned the son to a teacher and of course the child soon disappeared afterwards. I saw him in the cells and sometimes in the labs. On arrival his hair was dark brown and eyes midnight blue, a strange combination. The next year his hair was gold and his eyes were gold- a common use of genetic alchemy. It was then I realized his father had no intention to even check up on his son's presence, Seele knew and they had no intention of letting the boy go free. They knew the child's disappearance would never be known to his father. The genetic changes were the nail in the coffin.

But even then I did not understand what was happening. The feeling that something horrible was going to happen was in the back of my mind and a reason why I joined the division. Maybe if I was inside I could do something but nothing prepared me for a late night meeting with Keele after returning from the prison in Russia. He called me personally and spoke about creating a new genesis for mankind. I kept my face poker straight just like I had learned in all those years in special ops while he finished. He spoke about the boy and about the unification of Lillum and human. He did not explain the background of each one so I wondered if he already knew about my own knowledge. He stated that the most important thing was to make sure the boy fought when the time was ready. He trusted in me mostly because I already had a small family that could be used for negotiations and punishment.

He did not provide any background to his reasoning just gave strict orders in cryptic tones. A new genesis I wondered. The purpose of the 2nd impact was to awaken the alien and began the angel wars but to also provide a catalyst. Not all genes of the hybrids were on especially for the children but once the atmosphere changed there was a significant increase in hybrids. But yet this organization is trying to unite both species in what he called the Human Instrumentality project. This continues to confuse me but a new genesis has always meant the death of the old order. And the Lillim are just trying to re-equalize the playing field. The Eva creation and even what they use to power the Eva…they look human and they smell of blood. I began to understand my placement in life and cherish my role in the military even though it could very well mean my death.

A coup occurred at the prison. They took advantage of the crumbing state of the area that frequently fell into riots. I was ordered to quell the riots and deal with any skirmishes in the area. The only reason why they would call us human weapons would be for enemies who were non-Lillum, the hybrids.

By then I decided which side I was on. During the year before the coup I secretly ordered one of my non-alchemist operatives to keep watch around the compound under the guise of gathering information about insubordinate inmates especially in block G. My main command for him was to watch the boy. Yes, there were others like him but he was the favorite. He was the one connected to the woman who had disappeared in the Eva. The very fact that the boy was alive meant Seele needed him later on and even then I knew he would be important for the Evangelion program which was commanded by his father. After the operative, Major Dunes, found the boy's only friend and spoke to me about creating a possible relationship with the man and the division. He claimed that the man was previously a cop and seemed to be somewhat protective of the child. I was skeptical at first due to the normal insanity that many inmates acquired but the operative was persuasive. The man could be a bridge for our division when the time came since the boy would obviously be extremely cautious of us. Due to our own necessity to play the correct role since we were being watched we could not directly interact with the boy. So I allowed his plan. They discretely communicated via very small pieces of paper and once the prisoner gave a confirmation his only order was to keep watch over the boy. This communication ending as quickly as possible. We reported the coup as I ordered but we could not retaliate- that was up to the higher level prison guards called the Undertakers. This meant they needed to do something under the guise of the impending violence that would soon take place. The problem is that we needed to distance the boy from Seele for a few years at least. The coup occurred and there was much bloodshed and turmoil as expected.

The man who we then found out was called Leon had lost the boy beneath the fray. We all knew that the boy was not dead. A resounding riot occurred with the local inhabitants. The hybrids which were always under tight security quickly used their new found powers. Explosions from inside and out occurred frequently. A few days later we were ordered to go into the crumbling building and provide security. The upper levels with the non-hybrid or dummy prisoners were empty but the lower levels were still running quite well. We ordered Leon to linger around the area since if the boy left the building we would be ordered to stop him and that could not occur. We gave him one cell phone that had to be used only when he found the boy and thrown away after. As previously suspected the boy was still in the building being guarded by an unknown operative from Seele. The boy was unrecognizable as from the report due to his new golden hair and eyes. This type of alchemy was called augmentation. The genetic data of one person is alchemically bound to the DNA of another person. The gender of the donor is matched with the parental gender of the accepted. This is normally painful and done in series. The description is unique within itself and the chosen augments would make the boy stand out amongst any crowd so I could not understand their plan. But I did remember someone who looked like him.

He is mostly presented in folklore but during a tour in the eastern side of Russia that, after the 2nd impact, looked like a prairie instead of a frozen waistland there was a man there who had golden hair and golden eyes. The area was turned into farming by various ethnicities whose homes had been swept away. When I enquired about him around town most were put off by my uniform so I could enquire little information. An innocent child told me that he could turn grassy meadows into giant walls. After that small information I and one other operative changed into civilian clothes and paid the man a visit. I had no intention to try to draft the man but I did want to know him…I had a feeling he was important. One knock and he opened the door.

"I have no intention of joining your organization", he said boldly but without losing a friendly gesture. He obviously had more ears around the village.

"I had no intention of asking you to join. There are few alchemist around and I simply wanted to meet you", I stated as friendly as I could. "I was wondering about your expertise with alchemy", I stated plainly. I wanted to know if he knew a different type of alchemy then that used by my men.

"I'm sorry but I would prefer to not have any dealings with Seele", he stated again flatly. My eyes widened. The organization was quite secret and for a country man to know about it was intriguing.

I decided to stop beating around the bush "What if I told you that I don't plan to follow Seele", I said is a hushed voice. My companion gave a sharp breath. "I know Seele plans to destroy mankind and the Lillum but I do not plan to see it to fruition. I simply want every alchemist who can provide help-"

He cut me off with a held up hand. He walked towards a bookcase pulled one book off the shelf. "This is a piece of my research. As of now this is all I can help you with. You have seen my face and now you have a piece of my work. If you are true to your word this will be of some use to you and we will most likely see each other again".

"Now if you will excuse me", he ended while giving me the book. "Wait", I exclaimed with a quick hand on the hard wood of the door "What is your name".

"My last name is Flammel". And that was my encounter with the gold hair and golden eyed man. The boy looked oddly like him. I made sure to obtain a good alibi to the small detour but the man became quite useful later on.

But I digress, once I read the report I acquired after the riot was quelled I became quite worried. Though they had no intention of killing the boy they seem to desire a lack of humanity to develop based on the treatment in the prison. Since he was instrumental in the planned third impact his desire to save life would be important. But our hands were tied. We could not directly interfere nor could we make ourselves suspicious with the boy.

So we tried a different tactic…a drastic tactic. The camera system was off so we had a slight leeway. The boy already knew and could read through alchemic texts so while on a walk through the prisons Dunes slipped the book into the room through the food slot. The alchemy was definitely different from my own experience but I had a feeling the boy would use it. He had a determination in his eyes curbed with a raw desire to kill from the few times I saw him before the riots. A deadly combination but one that could be useful and not all surprising given his situation.

We waited for a month. Dunes walked along the single corridor that we had access to and that held the boy. There were others that we were sure were in use but we were only commanded to monitor the boy.

One morning at 12:30pm there was a loud explosion and half of the building crumbled to the ground. The weapon was purely alchemical but instead of the normal blue the color was a lovely shade of purple. Most of the alchemy in the region was blue. Dunes ran to the scene and spotted the child leap out of the building and behind the child was a monster. I suspected Dunes had been hit with some debri but he described an almost childlook being wearing black clothes shoot out a lizard green arm at the boy. The boy conducted another alchemical wave and later disappeared.

The alchemy was different in color and structure. It was loud and shot through the air like lightning.

Another month went by and we heard very little. We were ordered to comb the area for him. We knew we would have to turn a blind eye even if we found him but the boy was quite slick. He most likely hid in the broken down sewers and other small areas. Refugees frequently hid in the sewers to escape the brutality of the police that surged from the frequent revolts. It was an endless cycle of human carnage and general loss of compassion. The melting snow frequently flooded the area and only the mountains were high enough to allow farming.

At the end of the second month I was ordered to leave my post in Russia's capitol and continue to search with my men. I took a small cadre while the others were relieved. Dunes entered into my group.

At the beginning of the third month we received a call from Leon stating that the boy was found. Luckily the area was not too far from the prison city. The location was in an old mansion long abandoned by owners. By the time I arrived it appeared that Hell had broken loose for a moment. Much of the area was torn and in the grand hallway was something I had only read about in briefings: a chimera. Its eyes shone in the moonlight but it did not attack. Instead it ran. It seemed to be a wolf chimera. I heard fighting down below it was must have been the basement. Some opened fire immediately but the chimera ran and descended into the darkness.

As we reached the bottom stairs we heard what seemed to have been fighting and we were not let down. Leon had engaged the animal. It was quick and powerful. One quick look around and there was a pentagram on the floor with what seemed to be human remains. The boy could not be found at the moment. The chimera did one strong slash across Leon's arm and chest. Blood burst from the wound. The chimera sniffed the area seemingly trying to find something. This thing needed to be dead even if we needed to know its motivations so I engaged him with Major Howitzer. It was no match for a combined alchemic power and real steel from well trained swords. Its head was lopped off quickly. The rest of the non-alchemist treated to Leon while I searched for the boy. The floor had scratches of blood and the remnants of what looked to have been a failed human transmutation.

There was a blood trail on the floor that led out of the first room- Howitzer followed me in. I heard wet paper sounds. A sharp corner led into a room surrounded by books. And there we suspected we saw the boy…or what remained of him. An arm and a leg were stumps with dirty cloths binding them. His upper body was full of blood along with other cuts along with a rather dirty cloth around his neck. He was murmuring something. There was an orange rock that fell out of the book. It was a different color but I knew what it was…a stone.

"Boy, stop", I began but in his bloody hand he held the stone and he quickly swallowed it. A bright orange light erupted. We jumped out of the room worried about what could possibly occur from such an act. But the light simply vanished. We cautiously peeked back in to find the boy with sealed wounds. He fainted soon afterwards from loss of blood.

This was our chance.

I told everyone but Howitzer to leave and report that we were attacked by wolf chimeras and Howitzer and I followed it to further track down the boy. They obediently left and followed orders directly.

Howitzer and I changed again and took an abandoned car. Leon was placed in the back. Despite the stone the boy still needed medical care and he needed a new home. Leon needed to distance himself as to not draw attention but his work will still be useful in the future.

First we had to take them to a safe-military outpost and then I needed to take the boy to the only other human with gold hair and gold eyes.

But now even after all these years they still caught the boy again. He is in the lion's den with a father who seems to have an ulterior agenda that excludes his son.

And here I am now…sitting in front of the strange man turned controller of the new Seele puppet, Nerve. And I am here to talk about his estranged son.

"Commander Ikari, we present with some important and necessary information we need to tell you about your son", I began. The slightly disorderly man looked squarely at my eyes with strong focus. His steeple hands clenched lightly.

"By the way how is the third child?"

"He's fine".

"Where is he?"

"You have to check with his guardian. I do not keep up with the boy since I have more important things to do. But you have something important to tell me don't you?" Ikari stated impatiently.

"Yes. Of course, I will put it bluntly your child was not with the person you placed him with for the majority of his life", I stated while staring at any changing motions. His eye twitched a little.

"I doubt that. Though he was not in my immediate care he was under surveillance." He stated with confidence.

"Oh, I have to disagree", I pulled out the files from prison 10 where the boy was held. I spread them over the large desk.

"Here is his record at a now dismantled prison in Russia". I pointed towards the boys picture clipped to the yellowing piece of paper and his information. Attached was a copy of his birth certificate from Japan. Ikari's carefully folded hands relaxed and skimmed through the evidence. He had a true poker face but slight clues came through. More eye twitching, a growing frown and slight widening of the eyes gave indication of surprise and doubt.

"I am afraid you have the wrong child Commander Bradley. My son and I saw each other once a year at the burial site of my late wife", his hands rested on the desk and his eyes continued to scan the documents.

"Yes we know but we have come to believe that there was a doppelganger to prevent any suspicion", I took out more papers. "There were other children who, with further investigation, equally had another child who was the same age and physical look that took the place of the child in the prison".

"No. This does not make sense", Commander Ikari began.

"Well I am sure there were small distinctions. Maybe his voice was different or maybe his hair was one shade lighter. They might have been subtle but could very well be evident", I stated firmly.

"Oh well…no reason to keep beating around the bush…we found your son is a state of disarray and we have nursed him back to health. He will be returned shortly but there will be some small differences. From the reports read at the prison he lost an arm and a leg along with a possible change in appearance", the Commander shook his head in disbelief.

"We have checked him medically. There is no way he could have become an amputee-", I interrupted him.

"But if his limbs were constructed to pass general x-rays and scans then this could be quite possible", I checked my watch. I personally had to pick the boy up soon.

I pulled out a yellow envelope labeled "Top Secret" and passed it to the Commander. "Your son's connection to the prison and subsequently name of the prison is classified. Due to his involvement in the prison system and the reasoning for him being in such an area Seele has ordered his joint enrollment into our custody".

"Joint Custody? I never gave up custody of the boy-"

"Yes but you have in the past roughly 10-11 years assigned a guardian to him thus you have waived your custody rights. Also I would not necessarily call this custody. Seele and my division both have come to an agreement that his possible temperament and development of certain attributes obtained in such an institution could overwhelm your subordinates. We have experience in working with such youth and would provide a positive role in keeping him in order".

The sub-commander was quiet during the whole confrontation and only gave indication that he was alive with small movements of his eyebrow.

"He will have a special type of prosthetics and he knows how to take care of them properly", I started again after the commander remained quiet. "If you'll excuse me I have to pick him up now", I got up and gave a small bow. The look the commander gave was a combination of confusion and anger behind a crumbling mask of indifference. I made sure to keep my friendly, smiling face. And the smile was honest. I don't do well with men who decide to dump their son and in my opinion is not a man and never was one.

The Progenitor vs. Lillum story told to me just a few years ago has never made sense to me but now the puzzles are coming together. The Lillum were inside of me in stone form because I ate the stone to save my life. I was bleeding to death from trying to perform human transmutation… a failed human transmutation. One that still haunts me till this day. I was hunted by some type of wolf monster who I think was a type of chimera after breaking out of the prison. I was found by Bradley who took me to another man. His hair was golden and his eyes were golden. When I finally was able to look at myself through a mirror I realized I looked just like him…but then again I couldn't completely remember what I looked like before. The voices were gone because they were the souls that made up the stone so now…now I don't know where the stone is. They said they could finally become one with me but what did that mean?

I know one thing though…the boy in the mirror was simply me. My adopted father once told me that you really can't hide your true self. It will come out eventually and I guess his advice was real. It is cemented. That was me before I lost my memories. That identity was how I survived…but where is it now. Did we merge back together? I wish I could ask my adopted father since he knew everything. He knew everything and never looked down upon me even when I flew into rages.

The man was kind even though I was not his son and he adopted me.

But here I am now back with a hateful man who is my biological father and back in the hands of this inhuman creature. He was gone for the moment. I stared at the plate of food. It was actually good but I wasn't hungry at all. Actually I was a little nauseated. My head was again fuzzy. The skin around the metal stubs burned.

The door opened without a knock and in came the demon spawn himself. He came in holding to long objects wrapped in cloth and tied with cords. I knew they had to be my new limbs.

"Merry Christmas, twerp", he snapped the cords and rolled out the object on the bed. At the end were two shiny, new automail attachments. I made a mental note to check them later and see if there was a tracer.

"Oh, are we ready to re-attach everything", I heard an all too familiar voice. The doctor came in followed by a couple of other guys who I really did not know. I didn't want that doctor touching me. His eyes shot out in different directions but I could still see that he saw me as nothing more than a lab rat. Envy gave me a dirty smirk and walked to a corner of the room.

They crowded around me. I couldn't let them think they could just control me like a lab rat so I needed to provide a little leverage. I bit my thumb hard and was ready to reel out a large knife at the stupid doctor but then a large green hand shot out. It pinned by already bleeding one to the bed.

"Ugh, really, even with a missing arm and leg you still are trying to do something", the disgusting creature walked over retracting his arm. Geez, he was heavy and strong. I kicked out one leg but it was caught by one of the goons and forced down. I was tacked to the bed. I wiggled but I could muster too much strength. I think I was still tired from whatever happened.

"Okay let's do this quickly", the creepy doctor said and I felt something cold on my arm and leg. "We fitted everything while you slept but you awoke way too early for us to do this part. And besides, the way you are kicking now I can't imagine how you would be with all four limbs", he stated while attaching the automail limbs. I stilled. I couldn't move all the way and I was even off balance. I looked up at the disgusting, green cretin. He was steady looking at the clock and trying to avoid eye contact with me. He looked annoyed. Well at least I got that out of him.

"Alright, all connected now one…two…three", with a snap of connectors a surge of pain rushed up and down my spine until it hit the center of my brain. I had a headache instantly. I felt immobilized as all the neurons connected to the cold steel. The other pressures on my body were released and I mostly just sat on the bed unable to make too much of a fuss anymore.

I felt too vunerable. The last time this happened I was with my adopted father around people I knew. Presently, I wanted to kill all the people in the room. The blood rushing, pounding headache didn't help either.

"Get dressed your ride will be here soon", green jackass said as something heavy hit my normal foot. I wanted to leave this place so quickly but then again I just wanted to lie in this bed and wait for the pain to go away. I tore my eyes open and literally wanted to destroy the sun as it intensified my headache. I needed a shower but the green demon seemed to want me gone soon and I shared his sentiments.

I hauled myself up and put on the crisp navy blue shirt and black pants with belt. The automail worked smoothly as if I was never without it. But I wondered what the problem was with the old prosthetics they gave me. They looked so real and were able to fool even Ritsuko. I ignored the small spasms in my back until the job was finished and I collapsed back down on the bed. I dozed in and out of sleep until a sharp punch woke me up.

"Wakey, wakey sleeping beauty you need to go now", the androgynous voice said through my sleep haze. I heard heavy footsteps and forced myself up and into a state of alertness.

Two really big men walked through the door and one had to bend down. My mouth almost dropped.

"Third child, Shinji Ikari, please join us as we return to Nerv headquarters. We have already briefed your father about the changes", one of the men stood with a pleasant smile.

I couldn't really move all that much. In front of me were the two men who pretty much saved my life- Bradley and Howitzer.

Well another chapter done. Sorry about the long wait.