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When the Crystal Titan indeed remained silent as he flipped through the file, Hector decided that perhaps now was a good time to bring up his own reasons for coming to Intar.

"...So you already know that I'm from Atreya, right?"

"Yes," said Jackson.

"I came here to Andeyal in order to retrieve some of my countrymen. Specifically, Prince David of House Lumenbel, along with his bodyguard."

Vito Sebolt wasn't actually his countryman, of course, but Hector made sure to keep that thought firmly tucked away. As laidback as these two appeared to be, he could tell that they were also very serious men, deep down. He could see it in their auras.

No matter how friendly this encounter seemed to be, he still had to be extremely careful here.

"Ah," said Jackson. "And you would like clearance to escort them back to your homeland, I take it."

"Well, maybe, but not necessarily."

Jackson raised an eyebrow.

"Mainly, I just want to confirm that they're both okay. And if they want to stay, then that's fine. But if there's some sort of problem, then yeah, I might want to take them home."

"Have you been able to contact them?"

This conversation was going down a difficult road, Hector sensed. "Technically, yes, but..."

Jackson just waited.

Agh. How to put this diplomatically? "...It was clear to me that they were not behaving like themselves."

Jackson held his gaze, expression unreadable.

And now it was Hector's turn to wait. He didn't want to push and give away too much, and he was also quite curious about how the Radiant Sentinel was going to respond.

But all Jackson said was, "I see."

Perhaps he would have to push, anyway. Hector considered his next words carefully. Other than a sliver of goodwill, he didn't have a whole lot of leverage here, nor did he know Jackson particularly well. It seemed like a bad idea to just--

"What're you hesitating for?" came Sermung's voice. "You already know they're being manipulated. And I bet you know it's for their own safety, too, don't you?"

Aw, fuck.

"Just say so," said Sermung. "Jackson's a big boy. He can handle it."

Hector's face felt like it was trying to scrunch in on itself.

And Jackson's looked much the same, actually. "Commander, please don't just go spouting--"

"What? Let's skip the meandering and posturing. We're not politicians here, are we? Just lay your cards on the table, and let's figure out the best way to resolve things."