@jak: we all know you come back even though you keep saying stuff like that.
@zero: That's just putting it lightly. Basically, the world is divided into normal society and the displaced society. The displaced society also has wmen but very few. Also, women in the displaced society have it a lot worse. First off because the men in the displaced society may abuse them; second, because they are considered incapable as both IS pilots and as workers, they lose absolutely all meaning in life.
Spoiler for a world in IS that may exist beyond our knowledge.:
The protagonist in such a world would know about the two societies. I imagine If Ichika were set in such a world, he'd be too sheltered under the protection of Chifuyu, so he'll probably be the padowan instead of the protagonist. The meeting between the protagonist and one of the girls would be random, a twist of fate if you would.
The girls sees a boy stealing and try to catch him, but they can't. He's much faster and craftier than they assumed and he gets away. By the time the girls lose the boy, they realize they're in an unfamiliar part of town, the dislocated part.
The residents don't take too kindly to them, especially when the girls make the mistake of saying they are IS pilots. The girls are attacked and they fight back. The girls are winning but that's only on the surface. The men seem to keep picking themselves back-up and their ranks just seemed to keep growing. The protagonist swoops in and distracts the mob enough for the exhausted girls to run.
He tells them to leave and they don't comply, asking what was wrong with those people. One of them asks how they could keep fighting like that, as if they were going to kill themselves. The protagonist explains that they may as well be dead. He explains the situation of those dislocated in society and tells them that those people no longer have a sense of life or death. Lost sheep who turn rabid for the gratification of direction; not even direction, just to satisfy the feeling that they are alive, needs and wants that escape the physical are what they crave. It varies from people to people but for those men, it was probably the need to be superior.
The protagonist tells them again to return with the added warning of never coming back again.