"Not a proper government. Not one that actually is doing what it ought. That's..." He shook his head. "That's the sort of thing that governments come down over. A gross miscarriage of justice."

He shook his head again, listening intently and trying to keep his voice even as he responded. Conner didn't...there were no words for how...the depth of the disgust he felt. That wasn't how the world worked, not a proper one. Not a world where anything approaching the best of humanity had a say in what was done.

"It's big of you, coming back. Most people wouldn't have been able to deal with them again. I'm shocked your populace stood for the continued existence of the group, once the information was leaked."

He tried not to think about the mind control thing, tried not to think of how much it would have changed.