Heartbeat

[Apr 29 2015]

Ten days had passed since the leaking of the scoreboard. As always with simulator related news, the leaked scoreboard had been immediately surrounded by skepticism. It had gained popularity quite quickly, but it had come from an unverified source.

It certainly didn't look professional, just a screen grab of some text; but NERV had once again maintained an unusually long silence on its validity.

Two whole days after the leak the organization released an official statement that confirmed the scoreboard was real.

In the first hours after the scoreboard was confirmed there was a spilling forward of claimants to this new throne of simulator fame, but there was one small problem:

The information given about the pilot was just vague enough that it could cause some confusion.

Of course this was the right thing to do from a safety standpoint, it would be very irresponsible to leak so many people's personal information, not to mention highly illegal.

On the other hand, the entries on the leaderboard were just vague enough that they could apply to multiple people. In the following days this ambiguity caused tens or hundreds of people to come forward trying to claim they were the one that secured a given spot. Some had more proof than others, while some didn't even have a name that matched the slot they were trying to claim.

Stupidly, but predictably, some people went so far as to leak their own social security information, just for a chance at a little boost of fame.

Ironically, very few of those who came out looking for attention were actually anywhere near the position they were claiming.

Kara for one had absolutely no use for fame in the closed off ecosystem of the juvenile detention center, and many others felt that people knowing their identity could distract them, or even put them in danger.

Most of the middle schools in the country had turned into madhouses of flatout lies and unverified claims. A boy at Naomi's school tried to claim he was the "K Stevens" at slot number one, even though his first name was Johnathan. He claimed he'd simply typed his name wrong when entering his information, J was right next to K after all. This statement was met with roaring laughter and the bestowing of a new nickname "Fat Fingers" and all the permutions people could think of.

At Jacob's school two boys with the initials "R Gomez" were claiming to be the same entry on the list… all the way down at slot 128.

Noah would have found all the jostling for just a small chance at popularity at his own school completely infantile, if he'd noticed it at all. Just minutes after posting the scoreboard the reality of what he'd done had set in.

However easy it had been, in his mind Noah had compromised the security of a major government organization, he'd heard about hackers being all but banished from the country for similar things. That was not a fate he wanted to suffer.

As the days after the leak had passed, and NERV had remained silent, Noah only got more on edge.

On the second day his heart had nearly jumped out of his chest when he was called to the main office. He had to stop for water on the way to avoid hyperventilating, and he was surprised there weren't NERV personnel waiting for him when he arrived.

It had turned out to be nothing more than a reprimand for a few unexcused absences, but Noah could barely hear that over the sound of his own heart.

Luckily for Noah's heart NERV released their statement of confirmation only a few hours later. If they were willing to confirm the scoreboard then he must be in the clear… right?

Days passed and Noah didn't receive a single NERV-addressed letter in his mailbox, nor a single knock on the door from a man in a black suit, coming to take him to a federal holding cell somewhere.

So he waited.

And he waited.

Then, he got bored.

Maybe they didn't know it was him, he had been using several layers of security after all.

Even if they did know, If anyone was going to come after him, surely they would've done it by now… right?