"It never ends. Not really. We just find someone else to fight against." That was the way it seemed. If that wasn't true, they wouldn't need mercenaries like him around. They'd all be out of business. "And you know as well as I do, winning the war was just an excuse for the Director. It was never the real reason."

He doesn't reply for a moment when York says that, and he can feel the words that remain unsaid beneath it.

"It took a while. But I wasn't as useful as they'd hoped. Why keep around someone who's half crazy and refuses to try another AI?"