I don't disagree with you, my dear. The Imperium of Man would rather see humankind strangled on its leash than flourish free of its collar. How could I not have come to loathe the tyranny of its law?

[ And yet, even as he says as much, the tone his voice holds is one of humor, rather than any guilt for the atrocities he had carried out in the Imperium's name. He loathes it, true enough, but not for any moral objection he happens to have to genocide. ]

In any case, [ he says, and only now does he slide into the seat across from Annie, ] I must thank you once again for this gift. I cannot wait to wear it.

[ Eridanus is going to loathe it, and that makes him even more excited to try it on at home. ]