Another snort, this one even closer to laughter. "That's exactly what the Combine public announcement system in City 17 calls me," he says. "They don't like using my name because people've turned it into a title, or something. I don't know."

It occurs to him, briefly, to wonder what his mother the judge would think. Of course, Barbara Freeman wouldn't've put up with a ruler like Breen for any longer than it took to construct the most scathing letter of resignation possible, so.