The question is a silly one, at least to Peter, the kind that makes his eyes crinkle a little bit at the edges behind his glasses.

"What a thing to ask, but yes," he says. "Bigger, badder, wealthier, at least on the more populous planets in any case. Brahma was one of them, though I've no clue the state of it now," In a way, that mention itself is more than he'd like to let on, but there's a strange comfort that seems to unravel the words from him slowly, cautiously but with a sense of intertwining trust that leaves him feeling bereft of any other choice. "Empires rise and fall of course, but I think that's one aspect of humanity that's rather unstoppable."