INBOX - NHD-C12-KRI-248 - IKARI, SHINJI

[forevalone]

ikari.shinji@cdc.org
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Comments

[forevalone]

Well, it is your name...which are you more comfortable being referred to as?

[sponsorigami]

... Most people call me Origami

[ Because he has like two people back home who call him by his real name. Everyone else is connected to Hero TV. ]

[forevalone]

...Do you like that name?

[sponsorigami]

I do, but I wonder if I should drop my hero name to make it easier on everyone

[forevalone]

You're a hero?

[sponsorigami]

Yes, I'm one of Stern Bild's heroes... I'm not a very high ranked one however

[forevalone]

What sort of hero are you? What do you do?

[sponsorigami]

I help protect the citizens and capture criminals

We earn points and are ranked based on how well we do

[forevalone]

You're graded? Like one would be at school?

[sponsorigami]

It's... closer to earning points in a sports game, I suppose. Though maybe also graded since how high we rank is important too

[ Like for paychecks.... ]

[forevalone]

Why is it important what rank you get? Isn't saving people more important?

[sponsorigami]

It is, but the ranking helps with popularity and sponsors to fund the heroes

[forevalone]

Funded? Like a corporation?

[sponsorigami]

They help with the costs of being a hero, like medical, training, property damage, communication, transport...

[forevalone]

It sounds like a proper career.

[sponsorigami]

It is. It's my job

[forevalone]

But...isn't that what the police are for? And firemen? And doctors? To save people and enforce the law?

[sponsorigami]

We still have those and work with them, but not everyone can become a hero

[forevalone]

You must be very brave.

[sponsorigami]

... I'm not. The other heroes are the brave ones

[forevalone]

_{[That hits a little too close to home for Shinji.]}

Why did you become a hero then?

[sponsorigami]

I felt like I didn't have any other choice... and because my friend couldn't anymore

[forevalone]

...I know what that's like.

<sub>[And boy does he know. He'd been forced into Unit 01 without much of a choice in the first place - it was either he pilot it or Rei get inside; Rei, who had been still hooked up to an IV and had been rolled out on a hospital bed.

No matter how many times he didn't want to get back into the Eva, he found himself doing so - even if he was scared, even if it hurt. Misato and the rest of them always said he had a choice, that he could leave...but he didn't really. Not if he wanted to doom everyone else by not doing something when he was capable of still fighting.]</sub>

[sponsorigami]

... I'm sorry...

[ Ivan's best friend back home is in jail for murder, when really he was trying to save someone from a criminal. Edward can't be a hero anymore because of it. Ivan never really believed he had what it took for the longest time. Origami Cyclone ranked dead last, never even in the competition. ]

Are you also a hero or something like it?

[forevalone]

I don't consider myself a hero.

_{[Really. "Hero" was the last word he'd ever associate with himself.]}

Back home I pilot something called an Evangelion. The Unit I pilot can only be piloted by me so I have to do it.

FROM: ikari.shinji@cdc.org

If I don't humanity will be destroyed by the enemy. It's frightening and painful but I don't have a choice.