At that moment, inside NERV headquarters, Yui Ikari stared blankly at the television screen.
"These guys sure are energetic..." Glenfire watched the crowd on television demanding that they be handed over, his gaze icy.
"Aren't you angry at all? Maybe you should stop watching."
Yui Ikari watched the frenzied people on the screen with distress. Reporters had already broadcast footage from the scene to numerous television stations.
She turned to look worriedly at Mirror Knight and Glenfire, who had flown back with Jean-bot and Jean-nine not long before.
After Yui Ikari officially became the acting Commander, Guren and Mirror had rushed back with the Jean Brothers.
The Jean Brothers had activated an alternate-dimensional space, entered it, and begun emergency self-repairs inside.
Glenfire and Mirror Knight had both returned to humanoid form, their faces bearing visible injuries. Their bodies had never fully recovered to begin with, and after this battle in which they had risked their lives, they were left in little better shape than Zero had been earlier.
Warriors who had fought for humanity were now being demanded as sacrifices by humanity itself. As Yui Ikari understood it, Mirror and Guren, who were not Ultra Warriors, surely had to feel anger or disappointment at this moment. She could completely understand either.
Yet she saw no anger on Mirror Knight's or Glenfire's faces, only a faint trace of disappointment.
She did not quite understand why, even with Zero's example before her.
Mirror Knight closed his eyes and spoke slowly:
"Some disappointment is inevitable, of course, but it hasn't reached the point of anger."
"And even that disappointment isn't directed at humanity as a whole. It's only directed at these particular people."
Mirror Knight rubbed his neck.
"We could never become disappointed in all of humanity because of what some of the