“You made it.” Not allowing Matata to distract and derail him, Ishant allowed a touch of mocking to accentuate his tone. He’d encountered this archetype before. The kind who believed in exceptionalism. The self-satisfied accomplished who believed because they succeeded, everyone who didn’t was guilty of whining or playing the victim. That somehow the systems in play designed to specifically hold people back were an illusion. Rooting their stories in themselves, they wielded the language of their oppressors as their weapon.

“Damn right, I did.”

Ishant swiped at his data caches and reports. “You studied at the Thmei Academy. Were one of their brightest stars. The way I heard it, you weren’t as good with relationships. Had a way of burning bridges wherever you went.”

“That’s how they spun it,” Matata said.

Ishant splayed out the holovids. Matata’s history within the Thmei Academy. Bouncing back to O.E. Reconnected in Muungano after a brief stint in the HOVA. Joining the Niyabinghi. Rising quickly and with a favorable word from Xola, his attachment to Jaha.

“This doesn’t look like spin,” Lebna said.

“The facts were simpler: I outgrew them.” Matata stood up, careful not to move too quickly and earn a pehla stick response. “The Muungano rhetoric sounds good for a minute, but the lifestyle becomes claustrophobic, and they give you no choice but to get out.”

“Back to O.E. Where you bounced around looking for a cause—” Lebna began.

“No,” Ishant said. “Looking for a master.”

Lebna and Matata both turned to him.

“I can’t be controlled by nobody. I have the power in my hands. You have no sense of self, so you push this collective bullshit. Afraid to think for yourself. I’m here to do it for myself, by myself. I never looked for no handouts. If I wanted it, I went and got it. You preach complete reliance, and anyone who disagrees you call names and exile from the community. But I’m a freethinker you can’t silence, and now I’m here to break the chains.”

“Look here, Grandpa Moses, we get it. You want to make O.E. great again,” Lebna interjected.

“You laugh, but that’s the point. There are threats out there we haven’t considered. Muungano is so busy spitting on its ‘oppressors,’ it doesn’t know how to ally with those who are ready to give us power. To face what’s coming, we have to stand together as one people. Earth, Mars, and Muungano.”

“Ah, a reintegrationist. I should’ve known.” Lebna tossed his hands up and threw his head back in exaggerated exasperation.

“Only with the reintegration being on my terms.” Matata’s voice rose with the concern of not being taken seriously.