I make a face when Thomas goes on about his world, a cross between horror and disgust at the idea that something like that can exist for real somewhere. Even if it's another universe or whatever, it exists and is very real for Thomas.

"They're not." I can agree with that much, even though I have nothing so different to compare it to. Darrow's government doesn't seem that much different from my own home town, and I'd only just recently started to care about that sort of stuff. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you're here and safe from all that."