[ Matt nods ruefully. It's a relief to hear someone else say what he's thinking, and not in the "the Regent murdered my old god" way Liem had done it. Not that Matt blames Liem: He'd been understandably upset, and Matt had gotten him drunk, albeit by accident. ]

I've been ... trying to think about it on my own. The reasons there might be.

One being that, you know, everyone here will have to die eventually. Us too. Which doesn't answer the whole ... why we're picking who we're picking question, apart from politics. [ Pause. ] But then I thought, I guess it's possible that a bigger rebellion would make it harder for us to do what we need to. Some of us could even die, or--our version of it. And then it makes sense to put it down while it's smaller, even if I can understand why people might rationally be doing what they're doing.

[ An almost hopeful note has entered his voice. There's a reason, after all, that Matt returned to academia when he didn't have to anymore--when his parents did their best to forbid it, and finally cut him loose. To make the world a better place, yes. But also because a piece of him yearns for the approval of having his ideas validated, cited, degreed. And what's the church if not another ivory tower? ]