+++++ Kirijo Show Room. (Tuesday, August 24th, +3, Waning Gibbous 2/4)

Miyuki had managed to calculate the exit point of whatever labyrinth her daughter and soon-to-be son-in-law would arrive at. She had her Sciences Team analyzing how Tartarus had managed to reach out and pluck both of them from the real world. She had Yuko standing by with the best emergency medical treatments they had in stock. She had a constant stream of information that she was reading on her smartphone. What she didn't have, and wished terribly that she did have, was a change of clothes. She had dressed to project power to her allies, to comfort and charm Shinji, and to remind her daughter that the Kirijo Group needed to maintain its place in society to prevent a rapid decay of confidence. She had not dressed for personal comfort, and that was simply unfortunate.

It had been half of an hour since they'd disappeared. During that time, three spikes in the amount of stable mesons in the area were reported, none of which matched sufficiently to the registered activity involving her daughter. Whatever it was that was happening, Shinji was clearly doing much of the heavy lifting. That was something of a comfort, as she didn't want her daughter risking her life, and a worry, because it didn't provide evidence that her daughter was still alive. I should have her wear an evoker at all times. If this is going to happen often, she needs to be able to protect herself.

The door that had been anticipated to open was nearly kicked off of its hinges by Mitsuru, who hurried through when she saw Yuko point at the gurney waiting for Shinji. Helping wrestle him into place, she updated her mother on what she knew, "He's been impaled with the limb of what we saw the first night he came inside Tartarus, we've…." She paused, seeming to think about something, then continued her thought. "We have been walking for some time. I'm very afraid he's going to bleed out."

"His…ornamentation is still present." Miyuki had to mentally focus on not hugging Mitsuru close, her joy at her daughter remaining unharmed helping her accept that Shinji had come to harm. "Is that going to be a problem, Yuko-chan?"

"Needle went in the arm, ma'am. Unless he rejects the hemostatic gel, we should be able to stabilize him." Her hands blurred through her work, practiced attention provided where it was needed. "His heartbeat is strong, and his eyes are focused on me. He'd probably be telling me how he was fine, if it weren't for the blood in his throat."

She could see that Shinji was, indeed, keeping his eyes on Yuko. There was trust there, as well as a curiosity that she couldn't explain. "Good. Let's get him into the ambulance, then home so Tae-chan can help you patch him up."

+++++ Kirijo Show Room. (Tuesday, August 24th, +3, Waning Gibbous 2/4)

Mitsuru kicked the exit from Tartarus open, eternally grateful that her mother was as capable a woman as she was. She saw Yuko Takao point directly at a gurney, and hurried to haul Shinji over to it. "He's been impaled with the limb of what we saw the first night he came inside Tartarus, we've-"

"They can't see me!" Pixie interrupted hurriedly. "Let's not give away my presence just yet, too many questions and not enough time."

She could appreciate the desire for haste, and calculated the need against her interests in not keeping things from her mother. "We have been walking for some time. I'm very afraid he's going to bleed out." She could apologize later, her mother would understand.

Miyuki walked over to the gurney as well, looking down at Shinji and glowing with the typical signs she had when she wanted to hug Mitsuru. "His…ornamentation is still present. Is that going to be a problem, Yuko-chan?"

The longtime employee of the household already had an I.V. line in Shinji's arm. "Needle went in the arm, ma'am." She picked up a pressurized tube of some unidentified substance and pressed it into the wound. "Unless he rejects the hemostatic gel, we should be able to stabilize him." Unbeknownst to her, Pixie had settled on the gurney as well, between Yuko and Shinji so that it would appear as if he was looking at Yuko, and not Pixie. "His heartbeat is strong, and his eyes are focused on me. He'd probably be telling me how he was fine, if it weren't for the blood in his throat."

"Good. Let's get him into the ambulance, then home so Tae-chan can help you patch him up." Miyuki took Mitsuru's arm, combining directing everyone towards the exit with providing the motherly reassurance that everything would be ok.

"I'm going to curl up and fall asleep," Pixie announced. "That took a lot out of me, and you're not in a situation to give me any energy. You should be ok now, too." True to her word, she curled into a ball by his head, grasping a few tufts of hair with her hands to anchor herself, and quickly fell unconscious.

Mitsuru was unable to continue to watch Shinji's recovery, keeping pace with her mother just ahead of his gurney as it was pushed by two of the Kirijo Group's executives that had intended to introduce him to their sub-group's products. There was an irony present, of that she was certain. "He fought bravely, but he is not a trained fighter. His first reaction was forced by the speed of the enemy, and his focus was on sending me to safety instead of cooperating with me." She had tried, without success, to keep the frustration at that from infecting her voice, "That lack of focus allowed the monster to shove one of its arms through his body, which then led to the markings, and then…uncontrolled destruction. I do not like the idea of putting him in danger, not until we have the chance to teach him how to react."

"Might your fellow students be of some assistance? You commented on how well they comported themselves." Miyuki guided her daughter to the side of the ambulance, allowing everyone the space they needed to get Shinji onboard. "Should I reach out to those parents available, ask if they would be amenable to moving them into a dormitory closer to the school?"

"There aren't any dormitories closer to the school." She frowned in thought, her familiarity with the surrounding environment nearly videographic. "The largest building is the Amagi Inn, and that is currently at near full capacity providing shelter for those who lost their homes."

"Quite true," with Shinji safely on the ambulance, she moved Mitsuru towards their own ride home, "which is why I will have a series of them built. The school's campus has sufficient space to accommodate them, and the Kirijo Group will donate the materials for the purposes of ensuring student safety. Each class will be moved onto a single floor for the duration of this crisis, and each building will double as an emergency shelter in the event of another Angel attack."

The conversation was put on hold while they got in the limo, and resumed once the door was closed and the vehicle in pursuit of the ambulance, "It would be of little help, considering we live somewhere else."

"As would they." Miyuki was already communicating with various contacts she had to implement the plan via texts. "You might have noticed we live on a sizable piece of land ourselves. It would only make sense that, instead of forcing you to put your employment with the Kirijo Group on hold and harming your future, that I would simply make space for your classmates in the second most secure facility in the nation. A facility that is closer to the school than any of their own homes." Her eyes flicked up to her daughter, the point being made clear. "The other students will be safer, and only be required to commute a few meters every morning. Your class would have the privacy necessary to learn to function as a unit. If Tartarus is going to start plucking post-Impact children into it, we must be ready to go and retrieve them at a moment's notice."

The oncoming headache that would be dealing with several of her classmates more often was enough that foreshocks were already being felt. "Many of my classmates are not…."

"We will adapt and overcome." She understood the line her daughter was walking between speaking ill of women that were under her protection and speaking truth to the woman that was inviting them into their home. "Satonaka-chan, Amagi-chan, and Kujikawa-chan will be no issue. Yoshizawa-chan must be comfortable with change, for how much experience she has training in specialist facilities. Ayase-chan and Kirishima-chan simply need exposure and patience."

The noticeable lack of commentary on the final young lady made it clear to Mitsuru that her mother was well aware of the 'problem child'. "…Yes, mother."

+++++ Kirijo Manor. (Tuesday, August 24th, +3, Waning Gibbous 2/4)

The pain medications Shinji had been given might as well have been water, for all the good they did. He'd suffered in silence as Tae Takemi and Yuko worked together to work around what was apparently a more rapid natural recovery than was, quote, 'humanly possible'. In his experience, crying, whining, or complaining only ever made things worse. That it felt like they were tearing his shoulder apart with pliers was no exception. The pain wasn't intolerable, now that he was receiving medical care, though mostly he wished they would stop so he could sleep. When they'd given him anesthetics intended to send him off on such a journey, and they'd done, quote, 'sweet fuck all', he knew that he was in this for the long haul. Fainting also had never been something that was a positive, after all.

Now that they were done poking and prodding for the moment, he found that sleep still eluded him. The room was quiet, save for the whoosh-whirr of the device that was giving him pure oxygen. The comforting presence of Pixie next to his head was also something of a plus, as he wasn't alone. The lights had been dimmed enough that they weren't visible with his eyes closed. Nothing, to his knowledge, was preventing him from slipping loose from the bonds of consciousness into the sweet oblivion that was slumber…and yet, consciousness stubbornly remained.

"It's because you're feeding me energy," Pixie murmured sleepily, her eyes still closed. "I can't stop you from doing it, and you don't know how to do it consciously, so I can't help you stop it." A small, gloved, hand reached over and rubbed his cheek. "I don't know when you're going to run out of energy to give, or when I'm going to be full enough that you'll naturally stop, either. Keeping you alive was harder than it should have been."

Breathing hurt. To Shinji, that simply meant that the fact that speaking would hurt wasn't a change from baseline standards. "Sorry."

She snorted out a laugh, then pinched his cheek playfully. "That's a weird way to say, 'thank you'."

"Thank you," he added with a small grin. "How are you here?"

"Tartarus is merging with your world in preparation for Conception, the progress is chaotic and slow though. There is some…force, to use a thoroughly descriptive term, that is attempting to create a reality before Conception can be achieved. To be frank, I don't really understand the mechanics myself. I'm just telling you what Titania told me, before she sent me to talk to Big Beaky Green." Sitting up, slowly, she moved to sit on his uninjured shoulder so that she could look at him as they talked. "How are you feeling?"

The question itself was a gut check. The 'new' tendency of people around him to actually care whether or not he was ok both warmed and scared him. "…Not great. It…uhm…it hurts."

Pixie's head tilted slightly to the side. "Please don't try and be the laconic hero who suffers in silence. Those are never fun to be around. Didn't they give you pain killers?"

"They're not working," he admitted.

Sighing, she stood up and walked over to the other side of the bed where she kicked the button that would bring someone in. "Tell them, you ninny!"

The door into the room opened seconds afterwards, Tae approaching the bed while pulling fresh latex gloves on. "Hey, Shinji, what's going on?" Her eyes checked his heartrate, blood pressure, and everything else the systems were monitoring. Feeling his skin, and lightly probing the skin around his wound, she looked at him with a kind smile, "Meds wearing off?"

Shinji caught sight of Pixie pointing at Tae, a glare that would wither mountains directed at him, and swallowed before admitting, "They…uhm…they weren't doing anything to begin with. I just…dealt with it. I'm sorry."

Tae's lips bunched to one side, then she nodded in understanding. "Bitching about pain probably got you hurt worse, didn't it?" She hardly needed his affirmative nod. "Ok. Make you a deal, then." Taking his uninjured arm, she put her pinky around his and resumed her confident smile. "You tell me whenever it hurts, and I'll kick the shit out of anyone that makes fun of you about it."

He coughed out a laugh, then winced as the motion stretched the gaping wound. "O-ok…." When she went to retrieve her hand, he slipped his own so that it held her back. "I'm…uhm…."

While she found his hesitation charming, and was perfectly fine holding his hand, she encouraged him to speak his mind, "Use your words. Promise, I won't bite."

"…I'm hungry."

"I'll send a note to Takao-san, but you're going to have to choke down what I order for you. I don't want anything too over-the-top going in you right now, ok?" When he nodded fervently in agreement, she set her other hand atop his and squeezed both. "We're still learning how to work together, and I am not upset at all that you're not immediately forthcoming. I promise, we'll get to the point where you trust me, so long as you keep coming to me like this." Setting his hand back down, she moved quickly towards the door to begin the dual quest of feeding him and relieving his pain.

Once the door shut again, Pixie walked up along his torso to sit down on his uninjured shoulder again. "…Why wouldn't you trust her? It's pretty easy to see that she's eager to help you."

His hesitation was informed by the worry that someone might come in and think he was talking to himself. "It's a long story."

"I'll tip you off if someone's coming. If you're going to be awake anyway, you might as well get to telling me. I can't help you if you don't let me." Tugging off her long gloves, she tied them around her waist like a belt and began fixing her nails. Tapping her toe against his cheek, she gave him a significant look. "Out with it."

"I…I grew up in Nagano. I was raised by someone I…didn't know was my aunt." As he unfolded his story, a new medicine was attempted, then a meal was served, then a new medicine, all providing him more than enough time to explain what he had managed to live through. All he saw from Pixie was the occasional nod, or a slight shift in the set of her eyes as she filed something away for future use. When the fourth medicine was attempted, and finally began to take hold, he yawned broadly and put a pin in the conversation for the moment. "I…I just expect people to hurt me, I guess."

Pixie watched his eyes droop, remained silent as his breathing evened out, and kept up with her field-expedient manicure. After she was positive he was completely unconscious, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. "Don't worry, my new love…the Seelie Court has a way of correcting terrible wrongs to those who ally with us." Taking a deep breath, she slid her gloves back on and stood upright once more. "A woman's work is never done."

+++++ NERV. (Tuesday, August 24th, +3, Waning Gibbous 2/4)

Maya was in the middle of yet another late night of work, standing alone in Ritsuko's lab analyzing the symbols that Naoko had brought to them. Incomplete circles, incomplete triangles, incomplete squares, each item she looked at seemed as if it had been designed with a purpose. There was intent to communicate, of that she had no doubt. However, each attempt to add any sort of lexigraphy to the mess only served to display how much of the picture she was clearly missing. She was attempting to read cuneiform without a majority of the symbols needed to string the language together. They seemed to be abbreviations, to her, rather than fully fledged words. Intended for a specific listener, but not with any regards to a need for cryptography. It invited her to read it, but never gave her the ability to.

Making another tally mark on her tablet, denoting a specific portion of a symbol that had shown up once more, she sent a note to a woman she believed was also probably still awake and working hard. 'Sub-Commander, is there any chance we can hire a linguist?'

Sure enough, Kyoko responded without any delay that would indicate her having been unconscious, 'The pool of talent was shrunk significantly by the excision of 98.3% of the world's population in total, and then the further excision of 48% of Japan's populace. If you happen to know of a linguist that can be trusted to not immediately spill all of our classified information, I would certainly not shy away from giving you that assistance.'

Her groan rattled throughout the room. The answer made total sense, and was a polite reminder that she should have thought of that before asking the question the way she had. She was grateful for her relationship with the doctor, and didn't fault her for continuing to teach her despite no longer being her student in a formalized sense. 'Understood. I'll stop asking for ponies.'

'I would get you a pony this time, dear. I'm afraid there aren't any stables around to find one in, though.' The message screamed 'I'm not angry', and brought a smile to Maya's face to read it.

Moving over to get some coffee, she felt a sudden urge to contact Shinji. It was odd, and unprompted by anything she could think of, but it was present and it was enough to get her to stop and analyze what she had been thinking. She was lonely, but had been the person to send Ritsuko to bed. She had just spoken to Kyoko, and received a form of maternal reassurance that warmed her. She wanted coffee, which hardly brought to mind Shinji beyond the fact that he was a sweet young man that she enjoyed embracing. Moving over to a MAGI terminal, she rifled off a quick letter to his EA asking for an appointment with him. If she was going to be his therapist, she would be best served by working within the network that had sprung up around him, after all. "At least I'll get to see him," she said aloud with a tiny grin. Then a reason for her thinking of him rose to the forefront. "…I wonder if he's picked up anything regarding linguistics?"

+++++ Kirijo Manor. (Wednesday, August 25th, +4, Waning Gibbous 3/4)

The morning arrived suddenly for Shinji. Laying as he was in the same bed that he'd been in when his eyes had shut what he believed to be a second before, he wasn't ready for there to now be not only a different arrangement of equipment in the room but also a complete lack of other entities. He was lightheaded, sore, and once again hungry…but what he wasn't was in terrible pain. Pushing himself up to a seated position, he looked around for a clock and found that at some point eight in the evening had become four in the morning.

His fingers explored the flesh around his wound, and found that other than being warmer than the skin around it there was only a small circular scar to denote that anything had happened. The markings had gone back to wherever they came from, though the Magatama still only barely peeked out from the back of his neck. After his stomach once again noted that it would very much like to no longer be empty, he decided that there wouldn't really be anything wrong with him leaving. After all, he could use his wounded side without discomfort, lift that arm just like the other, and the lightheadedness was fading the longer he focused on the world around him.

Any small amount of experience in being hospitalized might have helped him understand that when sensors are properly attached they tend to be quiet, if well-maintained. Those same sensors, once improperly attached or completely removed without first deactivating them, will loudly inform someone that such has happened. Just as he was standing, the door burst open to reveal Yuko, Chiaki Tachibana, and Tae hurrying in to attempt to save the life of a man they'd believed to suddenly have experienced a massive medical setback. Standing, nude to the world, he froze in place. "…S-sorry."

Tae was amused, more than upset. Yuko was relieved, and already calculating what would need to be said. It was Chiaki, however, that spoke first, "If I might be so bold as to ask the Sir if he would consider informing those of us charged with his care when he believes himself well, in the future?" Setting down the pack of medical supplies she'd brought with her into the room, she approached him and inspected both the entry and exit wound with a cautious eye. "I understand that your care to this point has been substandard, however I assure you that we would never leave you unmonitored for any length of time during such a trying moment." Practiced fingers felt along the wound, and then she nodded. "You are very strong…and I am glad to see you well."

His blush was one of ignorant embarrassment, the awareness that he had no clue how they might have been monitoring him now made evident to him. It was, also, owed to the fact that a very thin, though still pleasantly shaped, young woman was standing near him. "O-oh. Uhm…thank you." He swallowed again before adding, "I-I'll…keep that in mind."

"I won't ask you to lay back down," Tae finally approached herself, pressing her hand against his chest to get a feel for any bruising, "but I would appreciate it if you would let me take a few blood samples. The hemostatic treatment they used does not explain why you're suddenly fully healed, considering it was intended to be a stopgap and not a cure. But I'll let you go take a shower first, if you'd prefer."

"He would very much prefer to," Yuko slipped in. "Tachibana-chan, I believe that something loose fitting would serve best, as I presume that you will be going in to school today, despite our protestations otherwise?"

The sudden onus on him to make a decision was yet another unexpected event in a morning that had already been full of them. "I-I…I'm not hurting. Shouldn't I go in?"

"As you wish," Yuko acceded quickly, before Tae could voice a protest. She wanted Shinji in class. Wanted him to demonstrate his strength. Wanted him to see that a setback needn't become a disability. She also wanted him in the shower. "We will go choose your uniform for the day, after Takemi-sensei draws those blood samples." Turning to the doctor, she motioned where Shinji couldn't see for patience. "I will attend to him in the shower, to make sure he doesn't fall down and harm himself. Are there any other samples you need?"

Tae was clearly now ready to chew steel and spit nails, but she kept her disagreements internal. "No. For right now, his blood will tell me a number of things I need to know. Other things can come later, when there's more time to dwell on something other than keeping him alive and able to fight."

"Let's get you cleaned up, then, Shinji." Yuko took his hand, and pulled him past the other two women on the way out of the room and towards the shower inside of Tae's medical annex. After she had him inside the spacious area, with the door sealed behind them, she turned to face him and gripped his cheeks between her palms. "You. Need. To. Be. Careful." Emphasizing each word with a subtle shake of his head, she kept his eyes on hers. "The worst possible thing for anyone is to be a quick healer. It gives them a false sense of security, and encourages them to rely on their healing instead of relying on not needing to heal."

The part of his mind that would forever be dedicated to assuaging an angry woman had not been triggered by her declarations, swamped as it was with the sensations he was receiving from her that she was genuinely concerned for his life. He had precious little experience in responding to those pleas, and all he could think to say was, "I-I'm…sorry."

She gifted him with a weary smile. "What am I going to do with you?"

The fond declaration warmed his cheeks, filling him with the knowledge that he was important enough to someone that they worried over him. "I…uhm, I think I'm supposed to be getting clean."

"That you are," she agreed with a firm nod. Stepping back, she began to disrobe herself. "Why don't you get the water warming, this time. We have an outstanding water reclamation system, it allows us to reuse ninety-nine percent of the water that enters our waste systems. Purifies it better than the city systems do. Tae-sensei said that it was clean enough to use for surgery."

Following instructions, he set the faucet to warming up the stream of water. He hadn't anticipated her joining him in showering, though the memory of her presence the last time he used this shower greatly increased his enthusiasm for her to do so. Even if all she did was scrub him down, it would ease the passage of the day tremendously. The act of compassion, of caring, had encouraged his body to produce 'joy'. The opening of the door, and the entrance of Chiaki, led him to believe that he might not be given that chance.

The slender youth set down his clothing on the corner shelving, then looked to Yuko for an answer, "Might I join you, Takao-sensei? It would be unacceptable for him to become lightheaded in the steam, then fall and injure himself. Two of us working together would stand a better chance of preventing that, would it not?"

Yuko finished undressing, a thoughtful look on her face. "Have you finished reading what I have assigned you?"

"I have gone through it four times, sensei."

"Have you signed the forms?"

"They are in your inbox."

"Shinji, are you opposed to Chiaki-chan serving in a similar capacity as I do?" Yuko's voice held no pressure, no persuasive tone. She was asking him with complete honesty if he would feel comfortable with yet another woman touching him. "She would serve as both my and your hand, aiding you when I cannot, and aiding me when your needs require more than I can provide alone." At that, she stepped forward and set her palm against his sternum. "With the exact same terms as exist between us."

There was a part of his mind that wondered what he was doing. What he had shared with Yuko had been driven by a series of circumstances well beyond his control. She had made it clear that there was no true 'relationship' between them, in the classically romantic sense, which was a fact that he was more than comfortable with. She did not deserve to be used as he had used her, but she had offered herself knowing that his needs were of a certain nature. She'd probably also slap the shit out of me for thinking I 'used' her. Looking to Chiaki, the question took on a different form. In tune with what Pixie had told him before, he put voice to the matter, "Why?"

"Because you are strong. You are unwavering in your commitment to protecting the weak, despite their weakness. You require attentions that would cause difficulties for many 'typical' women, and my life has been dedicated to serving the Kirijo household from the time I took my first steps. One day, you will take your place in this household in a more permanent fashion…but only if your strength does not lead you to your death." Chiaki gestured towards Yuko. "She cannot do what must be done alone. While she may be tasked as your right hand, she still requires a left hand to exist so that she can fulfill all of her duties. I remain untasked with a grand project, which affords me the freedom to commit myself to you."

"…But what about you? What about your life?"

When Chiaki looked to Yuko with a slight frown, the senior of the two chuckled and shook her head. "He is still coming to terms with the world around him. This is a sunlit meadow that has no visible boundaries, and he is used to a shadowy cavern where pain is all that is true. He has no concept of 'service', in the sense that we do. He does not see what he does as the perfection of the art we strive towards. He will get there."

Chiaki nodded slowly, absorbing her senior's words. "I see. That is truly a terrifying way to view the world." Looking back to Shinji, she stated her intent plainly, "My life is service, Shinji-san. To serve someone worthy of that service is more fulfilling than anything else I could imagine. To be given the opportunity to serve the man that fights giant aliens, that saves Kirijo-san from monsters, that eases the struggles of Kirijo-sama…there can be no greater calling for me. I want no husband, no child, no mediocre job where money is my only recompense. I want to die knowing that I lived in service to greatness, that by existing as I did, I helped give something immeasurable to the world."

His head tilted in confusion, Shinji asked what seemed to him to be a sensible question, "Why…don't you…uhm, work towards greatness yourself?"

Her reply was not delivered with a glib tone, nor intended as accusatory, "Why do you not allow others to suffer without acting?"

That answer managed to pierce the many layers of ignorance that clung to him, the mental and emotional fog that had been carefully crafted around his mind and heart. He was who he was. He would not, could not allow someone to suffer if he could act. Whether that was an artifact of his time in Nagano, or something he was born into, it was the unvarnished truth. Pain was nothing to him, unless it was suffered by someone else. "If…uhm…if it would make you happy."

The smile that bloomed on Chiaki's face as she reached behind her back and undid the lace that held her dress on spoke of a hard-won satisfaction. Exposing her nude form to him, she gestured to the now-warmed water, "Shall we?"

+++++ Author's Notes:

RE: Pixie.

The Seelie Court is unlikely to not deploy their strongest assets to support Shinji in his struggles against the Unseelie. The loss of Oberon, and many other members of the Court, is a disaster. Aligning themselves through whatever means possible makes sense from a political standpoint. Pixie, while not her actual name, is walking into this situation with her eyes open and her head screwed on straight. She just feels lucky that the assignment she's been given is with someone like Shinji, and not someone who'd abuse said situation.

Shinji refused to accept the Persona of Pixie. She works with him, but not as an aspect of his personality given form. Unlike the many protagonists of the Persona series, his personality is well-defined and fully formed for the most part. That means that he's unable to accept the 'power' she offers in total, but does not prevent her tethering herself to him in a mutually-beneficial parasitism. If another being has a personality that mirrors his strongly, there is a potential that he might accept that 'power', but it's not incredibly likely to be found.

TheHiddenLettuce:

I don't know what to tell you, my dude. I'm not subscribed to any authors, so I don't see those notifications myself.

RE: Finances.

I think the reason that many characters are less well off, but have friends that are well off, is because it's really hard to relate to Richie Rich for most people that consume media. 99% of humanity has been in a position where they can't buy whatever they want, which means 99% of potential audience members would understand that perspective better. It's a trope, but tropes are tools not mistakes, right?

RE: Shinji's pay card.

Thumbprint activates the card's transmitter, PIN verifies intent, and the card makes money go brrrrr.