[ He gives a grateful nod as he blindly grabs for the cigarette. The act of taking a long inhale gives him the time he needs to pause and consider just how he wants to answer this question. The real answer will only lead to more questions, but a bad cover will do just the same.

A careful obfuscation of the truth is necessary. Not a lie, neither is it the full truth.

He exhales slowly, giving himself a little bit more time. ]

Ah, it was necessary. [ The imperial capital disappearing with the rest of the Singularity did make it a necessary act. ] I ended up being hired by someone else to work for them, so I'd say it worked out.

[ By "hired", he means "summoned" and by "someone else" he means his Master. ]

Now that I'm staying here for who knows how long, I may open it up again. Gives me something productive to do with my time.

[ And a useful front for gathering information. He's not going to use that information for nefarious purposes -- he's not that shady. ]