“Of course. This is why I asked to meet you before we commit to this course of action.”

“So you can judge me?”

“Yes.”

“You are free to ask me whatever you wish. But please bear in mind my former clients have full confidentiality.”

“I don’t wish to know the darker commercial details of corporations. I am interested only in you.”

“I’m not a serial killer who’s found the perfect cover. Nor am I a sadist. If a client wanted someone to suffer before death, I would turn the job down. I execute people. It’s that simple.”

“What about those who can be redeemed?”

“If the person causing you trouble can be redeemed, you don’t need me.”

“So you judge us in turn, then?”

“Everybody judges everyone else. I don’t deem myself infallible. I hope and believe I haven’t made a mistake so far. Everyone I’ve been called upon to deal with has deserved what happened to them, in my view.”

“Surely, we would be better served by you arresting these criminals and quietly renditioning them to Zagreus?”

“Again, if you can deal with them that way, you don’t need me. I’m here for the ones who won’t come meekly, or who are so far along their path that a fight to the death is what they want—consciously or otherwise.”

“Is this a quest for revenge, then?”

“I don’t want any more children to suffer as I did. If you want to call that revenge, feel free.”

“You sleep at night, then?”

Kandara narrowed her eyes as she studied the ancient wrinkled face for any hint of guile, wondering if the Utopials had cracked her medical files. “My conscience is clear.”

“I wish I could say the same.”

“I can walk away if you’d like. No offense will be taken. No regrets.”

“I believe we are past that point now,” Jaru said sadly. “The senior council has made its decision based on the level of extremism we appear to be facing. I do not dispute this. If those who are harming us do not surrender to authority, then they must be dealt with. I simply wished to see what kind of person you were.”

“I’m sorry to be the serpent in your Eden.”

“I never deluded myself we could achieve a truly peaceful egalitarian society without suffering misfortunes along the way.”

“I am a last resort. Most of my clients regret having to call me in, but they seldom have any choice.”

“So it would seem. I cannot express how disappointed I am that people are so hostile to us.”

“They fear you,” Kandara said, “for you are change. And change frightens people, especially those with the most to lose as that change is enacted.”

“You approve of us?” sie asked in charmed surprise.

“Yes. The economics you seek to replace are those which ultimately resulted in my parents’ murder. How could I not approve?”

“Yet you have not come to live with us.”