"A network of dead informants who needn't listen at keyholes when they can walk through walls," he says, quoting from The Life of Lethe. Palamedes' distaste at the idea is obvious, even if some of the terms he uses to express it are not. Darlington can't entirely disagree. "Which is the kind of purpose you apparently turn such power to when one of your alumni was recruited by the CIA before he'd even graduated. Before he was even tapped, frankly."

Picking up his spoon, he stirs his tea, then lifts the mug to take a sip. "What does your Eighth do, that's so similar?"