The One
By
One-Winged Angel

Disclaimer: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion

Shinji awoke to face another day. He looked around and stared at his alarm clock. 'Hmm... that's weird, I'm awake an hour early.' He got up and went near the window. He slowly opened the blinds and saw that the dark night was looking solemnly at him, like a gaze of doom. He looked away from the haunting stare and sat down at the edge of my bed. He laid his head down on the pillow and folded his arms back towards his head.

Shinji remembered the previous day's events, he was trying to decide whether he would meet with this Ritsuko person. To tell the truth he was really very intrigued, he had always felt that there was a feeling that was nagging him in the back of his mind. That there was something wrong, but he couldn't quite place his finger upon it.

He decided to go along with it, he had nothing to lose. Except maybe, the possibility of him being kidnapped. He thought of that as being highly unlikely since he wasn't rich or some official's son. Besides if Asuka was right, this Ritsuko might have the answers that he has been searching for all his life.

He was jolted from his musing by the loud buzzing of the alarm clock. It was 6'o clock. The sun was slowly rising from the horizon, the rays of the sun were daring to pierce the blinds of Shinji's room.

Shinji went to the bathroom to take a bath and brush his teeth. He knocked on the door and thanked the gods that Rei hadn't been using the bathroom. She usually used for hours on end, he really didn't want to deal with that so early in the morning.

After doing his morning rituals in the bathroom, Shinji went into the dining room and saw his father, as usual, reading the paper. His mother was making breakfast. It was like clockwork, like it was specifically designed. The routine, for all his 14 years of living, never deviated from the usual events that happened. Shinji felt that it was too peculiar that everyday was the same thing, but he dismissed it, like he always does and concentrates on eating his breakfast.

"Good morning, son." Gendo greets in a deep voice.

"Good morning, son." Yui says merrily.

"Good morning, mom, dad." Shinji replies.

After wolfing down his cereal, he packed his bag, said goodbye to his parents and waited for Rei outside.

"I hope you didn't wait long." Rei calmly stated.

"Not at all, shall we get going?" Shinji asked.

"Sure." Rei replied.

They walked down the street together, neither one saying anything to the other. They had gotten used to this type of silence. One where they had nothing to say to each other.

Soon, they reached the school entrance, Shinji immediately saw Asuka waiting at the front gate for him.

"Rei, you go on ahead, I need to talk to Asuka." Shinji said.

"Talking to your girlfriend? Huh?" Rei asked in an amused tone.

Shinji blushed at that remark but managed to calm himself down.

"No, I'm just going to discuss business with her." Shinji stated.

"Right... I'll just go on ahead then, see ya later!" Rei enthusiastically replied.

Shinji went on and stood next to Asuka.

"You came. Have you decided?" Asuka asked in a monotone.

"Yes, I have decided to accept your offer, I want some answers and I hope you can give them to me." Shinji replied.

"I hope so too, let's go."

Immediately after she said that, a black sedan pulled up in front of the street. The car door opened and out came a man with long, shoulder length brownish, black hair. He stood near Asuka and held out his hand to usher us in. They entered the black car and sat on the leather-furnished seat. The seat was cool against Shinji's posterior, it almost felt like sitting on ice. The atmosphere felt cool against Shinji's bare skin, and he rubbed his arms in an attempt to cool himself.

The car trip was long and silent, the man, Shigeru was sitting next to them and another man, Hyuga Makoto was what Shigeru called him, with thick, black glasses with black hair was driving. It felt as if you could cut the silence with a knife and serve it to everyone on a plate.

The car stopped suddenly and Shinji jerked forward in his seat, good thing he wore a seatbelt or he would have had his face planted on the side of seat. He unbuckled himself and looked at where they stopped. It was a dilapidated building, that had lots of broken windows, creaking windowsills and felt as if the building was going to come down any minute.

They entered the worn-down building and walked upstairs. Shinji looked at his surroundings and thought that if the outside looked bad, the inside was worse, much worse. The ceiling was acting like it was about to fall down any second, the walls' wallpaper were all but gone now, only a few traces of it remain over the wooden planks that adorn the structures original structure. The floorboards were creaking like ducks that were constantly honking in the park, and the whole feel of the building just felt weird.

When they finally reached the top floor, Asuka opened the door and motioned for Shinji to go in. He saw two people were there. A man in his late twenties who had brown hair and wore it in a loose ponytail, he wore an unkempt blue long sleeve shirt that had a black trench coat. The other was a woman with short blonde hair and wore a bodysuit that was like a second skin. She had full red lips and had on black high-heeled shoes.

Asuka walked towards the man with the ponytail and stopped next to him, very near to him, that suggested that they were more than friends. Apparently, the guy thought they were just friends with the way that he was shying away from her even as she was rubbing herself at him. The other two men sat down near two consoles on the opposite corners of the room and worked on their respective tasks.

The woman sat on a big brown chair near the center of the room across it was a table and another chair. The table had a metal box, small box with no markings whatsoever, and a glass of water.

"Welcome, Shinji." A cool and smooth voice said.

"I am Ritsuko Akagi and I am here to offer you a choice."

"What choice? I thought you were going to answer my questions?"

"That depends..."

"On what?"

"On what your answer will be."

'This is really confusing, are these people trying to kill me or something?' Shinji thought.

"Sit down and I will tell you why you have been brought here." Ritsuko motioned me to sit in the chair across from hers.

Shinji sat down on the brown leather armchair, it was very plush and well- designed, which was quite unusual because this was a really trashy place.

"You are here because you know something. Have you ever felt that there was something wrong with the world, that it was different? You feel it every time you go to school, go to the supermarket or walk down the street. You see it out the window, every time you turn on your TV Screen. A weird feeling that you always have?" Ritsuko queerly asked.

"Yes." Shinji quietly replied.

"Good. You see this world is not what it seems, it is a cleverly constructed deception created by an Artificial Intelligence. This world is called the matrix. It is everything, yet it is nothing. You see it in the streets, in your school, you feel it in the air that you breathe. A subtle yet distinct feeling of genuine unease. That is the Matrix."

"That's impossible." Shinji stated. He couldn't believe that all of his life was some cleverly concocted sham.

"Believe it, I cannot say anymore. It is time for you to make a choice. By now, you must feel like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole, feeling lost and unsure. But be careful in your choice, for there will be no turning back once you make it."

Ritsuko was making it sound like some death threat, Shinji was very nervous, but steeled himself for this choice.

Ritsuko reached for the box, opened it and shaked it. Out came two pills, a red pill and a blue pill. She offered them to me, one in each open palm.

"If you take the blue pill, you will wake up in your home, not remembering anything that has happened during this time. You will continue playing your fantasy in this dream land and you will never hear from us again. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland and you'll see how far the rabbit hole goes."

Shinji looked at the two pills, deciding which to take. Did he want the truth, the answers to his questions or did he want to go back; back to his family and friends? Shinji made his mind up, took the red pill and swallowed it with a gulp of water.

Ritsuko stood up, went to my side and patted it.

"Good, follow me."

Shinji was led into another chair directly across a cracked mirror. Shinji sat down the on the chair and was strapped on the legs and arms by Asuka.

"This gonna hurt?" Shinji shakily asked. "Maybe." Asuka replied.

"If you feel a wave of nausea, that's alright. That means it's working, that pill you took was tracer program for us to locate you in the real world. Don't worry all will be explained." Ritsuko stated.

Ritsuko stood near Shigeru and looked at his console.

"Got him yet?"

"Not yet, ma'am. Just a few more minutes."

Asuka walked towards Hyuga's console and looked at his readings.

Shinji was feeling a bit woozy already, he felt that his entire body was feeling like jelly. He looked down and saw that his entire body was being engulf by a silvery liquid.

Shinji panicked, he was struggling against his bindings. He kicked against his chains until Ritsuko told him to calm down.

"Calm down, you're not going to be hurt." Ritsuko coolly said.

Shinji felt it hit, a sudden tightness in his chest.

"He's going into cardiac arrest." Asuka shouted.

"Hurry it up, Shigeru." Ritsuko's voice had an underlying sense of urgency but it was very faint.

"Got it!" Shigeru cheered.

Then Shinji felt it, a burning sensation throughout his body, something that was threatening to explode inside him. It was if he was going to spontaneously combust.

Then he awoke and all he could feel was the cold.

ooooooooooooooooooooooo

Thanks to all my reviewers, even if they are few and far in between.

I look forward to more people reading this.

Domo Arigato,

One-Winged Angel