"Oh, I mean. No one told me good job or gave me something, or anything like that."

But it was still a pretty motivating factor. Had it just been praise or tangible goods, maybe he would have just looked the other way. Things might have been a bit different-- whether or not that was actually for the better, Kai wouldn't have been able to honestly say.

Had Shinji not seen what he'd seen, or if they hadn't talked about things before, maybe Kai would have hesitated a bit more to keep going. They had though. "Told you before, I think," Kai said in a low hush, "that people kept me 'round cuz I was convenient. I just tried to stay that way."