"Alien invasion, 30 years ago. Most of humanity was wiped out, the rest went into hiding. My home island was actually a project to genetically engineer pilots capable of using Nothung-model Fafners, which were specifically designed to resist the Festum's mind reading abilities."

He sighs.

"Me and my friends didn't know anything until about a year ago. Our parents, who were the people in charge of the project, hid the island from the rest of the world so we could live a normal, peaceful life until the time came to fight."