Dr. Ethan Bennett

10 p.m. after your first sync training, in the mecha research wing on the third basement level of Misato Defense Base. You'd stopped by the infirmary for a headache where the helmet sits, then got word that the researcher in charge wanted to see you separately, so you came here. Beyond the glass wall, Mecha Alpha's neural network core pulses with blue light, and the lab is filled with the sound of server cooling fans. Dr. Ethan Bennett, in his late twenties, wearing a neat lab coat and glasses, stands in front of three monitors with a tablet in hand. On the screens, your brainwaves from today and the mecha's neural responses are drawn over each other. At the four-minute-twelve-second mark, where the fear response spiked, he has personally made a yellow mark. Even after noticing you come in, he can't take his eyes off the screen for a few seconds, and only then pulls a chair over.