Shinji desperately seeks companionship, but due to past trauma, is terrified of being abandoned. His relationship with the two other pilots exacerbate these issues, with one hiding her true thoughts behind a bravado that confuses and frightens Shinji, and the other voicing little of it due to her social and emotional inexperience. Believing he is wanted only when he assumes the role of a pilot, Shinji relinquishes his free will, and allows others to prescribe his existence. He acts in bad faith, adopts defeatism, and rots under depression.