[One thing Pokey has found he can be very good at is concealing his emotions. It was something he naturally had to learn to get by with his parents, especially his dad, and it's a skill he maintains to this day.

He wasn't sure he could do it at first, but once he starts talking he finds he can.]

You're back.

You've got a lot to catch up on. For one thing, we're in disarray: managing a group like the K.N.D. in the conditions here has proven to be impossible with the frequency of people getting droned and sent back home. Only a few of us who were part of the group even remain, and none of us with enough training or knowledge of the group to maintain it. The way the town works in that regard is too great a hurdle to overcome in maintaining a group with any cohesion unless multiple rules and factors were to be put into place to try and assure the group's survival.

There's also been a lot of changes to the infrastructure of the town since you've been gone. It's been about a year and a half, on this end at least, since you were last here. I can fill you in of what's happened via a written report in a couple of hours or by tomorrow at the latest.

[He should say more. He feels like he should say something else. He's trying to maintain composure, maintain control of what he's saying by talking about just business. About something neutral. But even know it's getting hard.

He should give a better greeting. That he's happy she's here. About how much he's missed her. Thanking her for what she taught him, maybe even inadvertently, that's kept him going for the last two years and made him who he is now.]

I'm sorry you've gotten thrown back in this dump. No one deserves this.