Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Paths & Choices: Seeing red

A knock echoed through his office. They have arrived, he thought smugly.

"Come in."

The sound of unlocking doors was heard as the door opened smoothly. Going through them was a boy, about15 years of age, dressed in what it seems to be a school uniform. Flanked at each side were two burly men from Section-2. Truth be told, it was rather overkill to send two professionals to handle a child. He handled matters much more serious than this; still it pays to be sure, no matter how small. Now wasn't an exception.

Leaving the boy in the middle in the room, they left, having done their duty. Gendo examined him from his desk and was surprised at the striking resemblance the boy in front of him had with Shinji, despite his hair being longer. But he knew this wasn't Shinji. How did he know? Looking into ones eyes was one way to tell whether one is a fake or not.

But if the boy was truly his son, he would have either uncertainty or fear in his eyes; even then he would rather avoid his piercing gaze.

However, this boy had met his stare head on. Try as he might, Gendo could not find any type of emotion in those blank and dark blue depths. From previous encounters with his deceased son, he noted the subtle quality in his eyes. Now, he could only find nothing, also noting that the eye colour was much darker than he expected. He would shudder if he could but his body wouldn't let him.

Yes, those eyes...they are not his, Gendo affirmed to himself, willing to risk one more test.

 He formulated a plan. If the boy failed this one, he will be eliminated. He didn't think that the boy would pass actually. It was to more serve his sense of irony than anything else. Despite what everyone thinks, he had a sense of humor, albeit it being a tad sadistic.

Immediately, he said in his icy tone, "You will have a sync test. These men will escort you to the locker rooms and to the Eva Bay. Try anything suspicious and you will be shot immediately."

"..." 

He pushed a button, signaling the guards. Expectantly moments later, a pair of large men came and escorted the boy out of the room. Glancing back, he made brief eye contact with Gendo before being pushed by a guard.

Left alone in his large daunting office, Gendo tried his best to shake off the cool feeling those eyes left him.

He didn't succeed much in that prospect.

~~~~~~~

Alone in the locker room, the boy stood passively. One wouldn't notice the colour change of his eyes. From dark blue, almost bordering black, it changed to lively azure. Up until then, he wasn't in control of his body nor did he remember anything; all he felt now woozy and fatigue.

"What is going on here...?" He murmured to himself, his brain functions resuming normal operations.

'You are in NERV's pilot locker room, Shinji....'  a voice boomed in his already sore mind.

Immediately, the boy jumped, before he calmed down and asked quietly, "Who are you?"

The voice replied, faking the hurt in its tone, 'We have met a few times before...how could you forget me?'

 "..." If Shinji had any indication of who it is was, he didn't show it.

Nevermind, just change quickly into your plug suit, I will explain later, the guards are coming, the voice added hastily.

Wordlessly, Shinji changed into the plug suit. Seconds later, the guards came in holding batons. Eyeing the large batons and their burly owners warily, he decided to avoid a confrontation; the last thing he needed was numerous bruises on his already sore body.

"Move along." The gruff voice of the guard ordered, seeing Shinji not moving. He pushed Shinji towards the door. He staggered for a moment from the push, but he didn't resist.

Shinji was led towards the room where they conducted Sync-tests. He was placed within the metallic shell under the supervision of the not too friendly guards.  

He would get his answers from the ethereal being later, he thought as LCL flooded the plug.

~~~~~~

Looking at the sync test results, Ritsuko couldn't help but raise her eyebrows in wonder. She had been set free from her dark cell about two weeks ago, but her time were to be spent in NERV. From what she could see, something was stirring within NERV. Today's hushed up sync test for a candidate made

"78.4 percent..." She mumbled

"What?" Misato popped her head through the open doorway.

Ritsuko looked up from the report to glance at her purple haired woman who was somewhat her friend. "Oh, hi, Misato."

"What are you looking at?" She again asked.

"Sync test results." She replied curtly.

"Who's the one who got so high?"

"It is Asuka's." She lied. "She has been improving since...you know."

While it maybe a white lie, she noticed that the second child had been doing better now, so it maybe considered a half truth. What you didn't know could hurt you, she thought.

"Okay, I will tell her the good news later on, perhaps I might even bring her out for dinner." With that, Misato disappeared from her office. Misato always seemed to possess the ability to appear and disappear from sight at times.

She sighed, she knew how much they both needed a break. Shinji's death had affected them all in someway. Misato dealt it with beer while Asuka masked herself with indifference. Turning her thoughts towards her work, she looked at the blood sample she took from the boy which was being checked out as of now.  Still, she was curious as to why Unit 1, which would normally reject everyone except Shinji, would now accept a boy who looked alike to its former pilot.

It would take some time to confirm his DNA.

Regardless, she still had to give these reports to the commander. She wondered why he sounded rushed when he ordered a sync test.

Either he knows something or he getting paranoid again...., with that she left for the commander's office.

~~~~~~

Artificial sunlight beamed upon the office of Gendo Ikari, commander of NERV. A title he used to his advantage from the time he possessed it. He waited for the last test result of the battery of tests performed on the mysterious boy.

A series of knocks interrupted his thoughts.

"Proceed."

The clicking of the opening door echoed through the large room, revealing Fuyutsuki. He had a worried expression on his wrinkled face as he walked towards the seated man.

"The DNA test had proven positive." Fuyutsuki placed the folder for Gendo to view. "What does this mean, Ikari? The scrolls didn't say anything about this."

Despite the show of concern over the matter, Gendo did not move from his posture. "This doesn't mean anything. The council may have sent a clone; they do have the resources to do it, after all."

"A clone couldn't achieve a 78.4% synchronization with Unit 01."  Fuyutsuki pointed out, still apprehensive of the situation at hand. "And I am sure Yui would know the difference."

Again, Gendo didn't show any sign of movement, but Fuyutsuki saw through enough to see the man frown. He knew that he had struck a nerve.

Sensing the delicacy of the subject, Fuyutsuki turned the direction of the conversation around. "What of Dr. Akagi? Surely, she wouldn't tell anyone about this?"

He smirked in response. "The good doctor knows of the implications of leaking this out."

"Ah, I see." Fuyutsuki nodded his head. "So, what are you going to do to the boy?"

Gendo looked at his subordinate; revealing nothing as to what he would say in his sentence. "I am enlisting him as the sixth child, assigned to Unit 01."

Fuyutsuki showed surprise before quickly covering it up. "Ah.....I see. Will you be placing him in Major's care then?"

"No, she will find out eventually if I did. Placing him in a position where we can observe him silently is a much more feasible option."

"Hmm, I see. Shall I make the preparations?"

"Do as you wish."

~~~~~~

The red dimmed sun cast its light upon the train, illuminating Shinji and his surroundings in a tint of red. It was evening and soon darkness will fall. His eyes were down cast, pondering the situation which laid before him.

Seated in a train whose occupants were him and not too far off were a few Section 2 agents, he could feel their life force; A dull grey, to be exact.  But he didn't care though; He came under his mentor's request, nothing more and nothing less. He knew he had to prioritize his objectives. His first order of business would be to check his surroundings for information. As it stands, he would be probably stuck here for a while and for reasons he didn't really know, so getting a vague idea of what is going on would be the best course of action.

Ever since he came back, he could feel, smell, see and hear much better than before. The heightening of his senses didn't disorientate him anymore than a fish in water, making him wonder why he felt so awfully accustomed to it.

Strangely enough, he felt tired, as he seemed fine before. And, he was still waiting for the ethereal being to appear.

He felt a small breeze pass when he realized someone had arrived.

"Don't think too hard. Your questions will be answered in time." Shinji looked up to see the figure that appeared before him earlier, which was now sitting across him. A hood covered his face like before, the sun's rays failing to light up the covering darkness.

Shinji showed neither surprise nor shock, only neutrality. "You are the one who spoke to me today, aren't you?"

"My, my, aren't we straight to the point today?"

"It's probably because I don't really trust you." Shinji answered dryly. "Now, I want my answers."

"Shoot." He said as he removed the hood, revealing his face. His face was ageless, locked in youth. Pale his skin was, almost on par with Rei; it was the only way he could describe it, but it had little or no life in it whereas Rei could out color him if compared. Locks of long platinum hair were messily strayed about. The one thing that separated him from a normal person were his eyes; bleak and never ending.

"First of all, who or what are you?"

"Hmm, now that is a tough one...," The ageless being said. "You could call me a guide; a fail-safe within an immense weapon of destruction. I am bound to it, just as you are."

Shinji just smirked, uncomfortable warmth passed through as he did unconsciously.

"Thanatos."

"Correct."

"And your name is...?" Shinji looked expectantly towards the unnamed one.

The pale skinned being pondered for a moment, a puzzled expression on his face. "My name? I haven't used it for quite some time....but I believe I was once called...Lagieas."

"Lagieas...the one who does not age..."

"Correct again. But I believe now is not the time for talk." Logieas said coolly, as if anticipating something to happen, Shinji caught a glint of smile in those eyes.

"What do you-" Shinji began but a sudden wave of nostalgia came over him, making him unconsciously cover his mouth. As more time passed, the weaker Shinji began to feel. Lagieas didn't move to help the inexperienced boy, only watching with bemused interest and coldness.   

"The curse is beginning to show its effects...hmph," He murmured, standing up to face Shinji. With a wave of his hand, Shinji felt much better; the weakness momentarily disappearing. The cold look which Lagieas gave Shinji still remained.  "I am bound to Thanatos as you to it. And, you will not insult it, curse induced or not. But let me remind you this, you haven't mastered Thanatos yet, nor do I think you ever will. It's existence is greater than you and you will give it the respect it is due or be crushed by it."

The intimidating look vanished from his face, as if never there. Instead, a unnerving smile took its place, the change of  attitude didn't calm Shinji in the least. "And remember, Shinji boy, control is the key."

The train passed under a bridge, casting the carriage into temporary darkness.

Lagieas disappeared from sight.

At that moment, angry thoughts began to course through his mind uncontrolled. The uncomfortable warmth surged forth again.

Arrogant bastard, who does he think-, He thought angrily, before feeling the awful wave of nostalgia overcame him again. Immediately, he let his anger simmer, until he was calm again.

Never in his life had he lost so much control over his emotions or thoughts before; his upbringing made sure of that. His thoughts were interrupted when Lagieas repeated what he said earlier with painfully loud clarity.

Remember, control is the key, Lagieas purred, making echoes within Shinji's mind. Shinji's cursed anger sprung up once again, despite his attempts to control it. "I am trying, you bas-" He screamed at the ethereal being that was know as Lagieas, before wincing at the pain the nostalgia wave brought him.

You know the answer to your curse. The problem is: You don't really try correcting your situation..., Lagieas cheerfully said, making Shinji angrier if it was even possible at his current state.

Mocking laughter was heard by Shinji as Lagieas disappeared from the mind of Death before he could even resort.

His anger still clouded his mind, making him gasp with pain as he fought to control the unquenched urge to destroy everything in his way; so much that he barely noticed a grey aura which belonged to a Section 2 agent, who was checking up on him. Not giving the agent a chance to speak, he turned his head towards the unsuspecting mortal, glaring and letting out a feral growl, twisting his features into those which people would normally associate with the devil.

The unfortunate one stumbled back, still reeling from the effects of the glare. Quickly, he turned tail and attempted to walk back to his co-workers with unsteady feet. Shinji could have sworn that the man pissed his pants, judging from the smell of the air.

But he ignored it as he snapped his fingers, the air around him immediately purified.

He turned his head back towards the amber sun tinted glass window opposite him, his eyes widened with shock upon seeing his reflection, two glowing red orbs staring back at him.

They were his...

~~~~~~

By the time he arrived, night had settled on the city. With a small suitcase given to him by Section 2 before they left him, Shinji opened the door 716 and entered it, on the lights located near the entrance. As the lights lit up, he surveyed the apartment he was assigned with a small interest. It was small 3 room apartment and was very under furnished. It was situated on the 7th floor, giving it a good view of the metallic city. The building itself was built in a deserted area where crime is common. He was still perturbed by his eye "condition", but he momentarily forgotten about it when he examined his new dwelling.

The living room was a bit big for him alone, it was almost as big as the one in the Katsugari apartment, though his was decorated a bland grey, with only a TV set and a couch to take up only some of its empty space. Across that, a balcony was located; giving a better view of the city or to take a breath of fresh air in the morning. The kitchen was, like the other rooms of the apartment, small. A few cup ramen were placed upon the counter, obviously left there for his consumption. His room was no different then the one he previously inhabited while the toilet was sufficient enough for his needs.

Satisfied, he went to his room, placing the suit case he carried onto the desk. He opened it up to find about a few hundred dollars in cash, a few bottles of hair dye, documents, tinted contact lenses and last but not least, a ID card.

The cash was his "allowance", so to speak. The documents were the address of his school, which he was instructed to go tomorrow, school books provided conveniently in the room. The dyes and the contact lenses were for matching the picture in the ID card. The card said his name was Iraki Fujin, the picture resembling him except for the hair color, which were to be changed with the dyes provided.

He decided to remain passive under the situation turns for the better, he was stuck here until further notice, whether he liked it or not. Stifling a yawn, Shinji decided to go to sleep, forgoing the cup ramen in favor of something better in the morning. He was again unusually tired. Questions which were supposed to be answered were pushed aside, for the need to rest overpowered them all. They could all wait tomorrow, he thought.

And so, he slept. But this first sleep for him was unlike any other. For the second he dreamt, a life was extinguished.  Many people died due to natural causes, nobody noticing the slightly higher jump in mortality rates. 

And for the second time in history, Death was back in business in the mortal world.

TBC... 

Author's notes: Sorry if I made you all wait that long for an update but I was tied up with schoolwork and other whatnot. And since school has started for me, the updates will take longer, I suppose. But I will try to hasten it the best I can. I may be considering to rewrite the previous chapters so that may put off chapter 9 for a while if I do rewrite them. No Q&A because I am tired. Its 12.30am where I am at -_-.  I apologize if this chapter is not to your expectations. Many thanks to the people who continue to read or review this piece of fiction. Good night folks, I gotta catch some shut eye.

P.S: Anybody interested in being a prereader? I am accepting two for now.