-- Would you mind if we record this conversation?

  -- I suppose not. What for, if I may ask?

  -- Only for our records. It helps us finetune how we do these things, over the years. Only we will have access to the recording. And you, if you ever want to. You can change your mind later, and we'll destroy the recording.

  -- Sure, go ahead.

  -- Thank you. For the sake of the recording: this is the first interview with... actually my pronunciation is atrocious. Could you state your name?

  -- Dena Lodjeambo

  -- Much obliged. Mister Lodjeambo is officially a candidate inductee at this point, but has made it clear that there is no commitment from his side. He is here out of interest, and to learn. Is that fair to say?

  -- Sure.

  -- And for the record, you learned of our existence roughly two years ago, is that correct?

  -- Yes, towards the end of the revolution.

  -- This was in your capacity as a Minister of Foreign affairs?

  -- Interim minister.

  -- I see. Thank you. Now, where to start. In my experience, mr. Lodjeambo, people in your position, for all the manifold mysteries that surround us and our organization, people in your position usually only have one burning question. Something personal, something that they simply need to get off their chest before they can pay any attention to the details. Is that the case for you as well?

  -- I suppose, now that you say it, yes. Not really a question, so much as an issue.

  -- Well, then, let us begin there. I find that until we address the larger issues, it's very difficult to allow any attention for any of the more subtle questions.

  -- I'm not sure how to...

  -- Please do not worry about giving offense, mr. Lodjeambo, if that's what gives you pause. We are thick skinned, here.

  -- I suppose, to come right out with it. I lived most of my life in fear and poverty. And that's nothing compared to the majority of my country. So many of us were killed, tortured. We suffered for five, six generations under the regime. And then, after the revolution... I mean we expected to find the outside world to be far ahead of us, certainly, and to contain secrets. But to find you. And then to think that you had been here all those years.

  -- Yes. I understand what you're getting at, certainly. But would mind trying to ask a specific question? I find it helps to be precise in conversations like these. For both parties involved.

  -- Well, if you don't mind me being blunt. Why didn't you do anything? With your abilities. Why didn't you step in? You didn't need to kill anyone even. Just leak information. Expose something. There must have been ways for you to step in.

  -- Yes. That certainly gets to the heart of it. I won't lie to you. You are right: we watched your people suffer and die. We don't observe closely if we don't have consent from a sovereign nation, but we knew what was happening. Before I answer, let me say that I can offer you our perspective only. The answer, as we tell it to ourselves, if you will. I doubt this will convince you that we were right not to act. It will not make you any less angry with us. And, please believe me when I say that I am not trying to convince you of anything. I am not trying to bring you over to our side. I'm simply offering up the only answer that we have available.

  -- Very well.

  -- The short answer is, I suppose, that we are bound to a code. Our circle, here, we really have only one purpose: the proliferation of humanity. To stop our extinction, one way or another. That may seem like a simple goal, something difficult to take issue with. But it requires us always to look at the big picture. And that requires a kind of inhumanity when it comes to anything that is strictly smaller than species survival. Even mass multi-generational suffering, such as the kind your people were subjected to. I suppose that doesn't mean much to you?

  -- I guess not.

  -- A more honest answer, that every single one of us would tell you when pressed, is that we have all broken the code at one point or another. Or at least pushed it to its edges. We are human, I promise you, mr. Lodjeambo. There comes a point for each of us, when standing by becomes too difficult. And we intervene, sometimes subtly, sometimes with considerable force.

  -- And it doesn't work?

  -- Honestly, the first time it usually does. Let me tell you my own story. It's not easy for me to talk about, but I expect it will be more convincing to you if I stop dealing in abstractions. It was a long time ago. I was in charge of observing a nation state. Nothing you will have heard of, of course.

  They had some basic safeguards in their system of government, like term limits and so on, but nothing that couldn't be dismantled. And things weren't moving in the right direction. The leader of the country cemented his hold on power, and his behavior became increasingly erratic. He built up his military, and isolated himself from his advisors.

  You see, it turned out that he had been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease. He didn't have long to live, and in his mind, he had a goal to accomplish. He wanted, needed to restore his country to its former glory, and he was running out of time.

  So he decided to invade. A neighboring country that he felt had been taken from him. It was a pure war of choice, and it was him and him alone. His advisors were all yes men, and fanatics.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  So I decided to intervene. I had seen what a war on this scale would do, and I couldn't stomach it any more.

  -- You weren't stopped. By your organization?

  -- We don't have a hierarchical structure. Each of us is responsible for their own actions. If we break the code all we have to do is live with it.

  -- So what did you do?

  -- I killed him. I used a burrowing microdrone to work its way into his circulatory system and rupture the wall of a blood vessel in his brain. He died in his sleep. It looked exactly like a natural aneurysm.

  -- And did it backfire?

  -- Not at first. The government collapsed, war was averted and the international community stepped in to guide the country toward fair elections. But what I hadn't counted on was what the death of a leader, even an egomaniacal one, does to the people of a country. There were two main parties. One broadly pro-democracy, and one fanatically nationalistic, devoted to the ideals of the old leader. And the fanatics took the momentum. It was clear as daylight. The people were angry for all sorts of reasons, and the fanatics used that anger. I could have left it there. Let the election run its course, and let the fanatics take over. Let them have their war after all. At least there would have been political opposition.

  -- But you didn't?

  -- No. This is how it always goes. You feel responsible. You made a change and you want to see it through. Everything that happens is now your responsibility. So I changed the path of the election. It was all paper ballots, so this was a bigger operation than causing a single aneurysm. I could kill a small number of key players for the fanatics. The banking system was electronic, so I could cause some financial windfall for a few people here and there. Lots of little things, but they added up to a small win for the democratic moderates.

  -- Did the fanatics reject the result?

  -- There was a risk of that. But the international observers were there, and both parties had early on sworn to abide by the results. The fanatics were projected to win by a landslide, remember. Still, the whole thing was off. Not just to the fanatics. The whole country felt it. The democrats felt it as much as anybody.

  When they took office, they ruled as if they had something to hide. They hadn't themselves taken power that wasn't theirs to take, but if that's what it feels like to the people, that's still how you rule. It was an insecure government, looking to cement itself. Anything the fanatics said and did, they copied in a diluted form, just to take away some of their advantage. Slowly to the whole center of gravity moved to the fanatics. Before long the government and the opposition alike were calling for the invasion plans to continue, but this time with the whole country behind it.

  -- So they invaded?

  -- With a murderous devotion. The whole country had been whipped into a frenzy by the time the tanks crossed the border. The invasion would have happened anyway, but now there was no opposition. Now the army was motivated, and the people were convinced they were fighting an existential battle. And, now it was directly my fault.

  So, I did the only thing I could. I returned to the code. I wrote about my experiences in detail, and I read, again, the experiences of others in our long history who had intervened.

  -- You didn't face any punishment?

  -- Again, mr. Lodjeambo, this is not how we operate. Not one of us is in a position to judge. And as grim as it may sound to you, these experiences do serve a purpose. You may write my story off as bad luck. Perhaps I just acted carelessly. Perhaps the method just needs to be honed. But when you look at the records of our organization, the pattern becomes obvious. It never works out.

  There are two fundamental truths that we all learn eventually. First, humans are simply not equipped to oversee the consequences of a geopolitical intervention. And for all our abilities, we in our organization are no less human than you.

  And, second, a people cannot be forced into enlightenment. Everything, from feudalism to democracy to consensus-rule, needs to be earned. Step by step. I always think it's a bit like telling teenagers how to behave responsibly. You may scare them into doing what you say, but without any experience behind it, they will simply be acting out behaviors like actors on a stage. It's not real. When faced with a new situation, their true nature will emerge. Coercion doesn't ... generalize. I'm sorry, these ideas are difficult to express, especially in your language. I hope I'm not sounding too crazy.

  -- No, I think I see what you're saying.

  -- Good. I expect this all still sounds a little abstract to you. And abstract answers aren't much good in such personal matters. But I hope if you take one thing away from my answer it's that the reason we let your people suffer is not callousness or cowardice. It's simply that we cannot ensure that we don't cause more suffering by intervening. We've all tried at one time or another, and we all live with the consequences.

  -- I do see. As you say, it doesn't convince me. I feel how I feel about you. But I guess I understand your perspective.

  -- I think that's the best either of us could have hoped for. I think it's time for a break, mr. Lodjeambo. How about I show you how we live here.

  -- Sure.

  -- Any eh... lighter questions while we walk?

  -- Well if it's not too personal...

  -- Please, I'm not easily offended.

  -- Well, I'm quite curious how old you are exactly.

  -- Ah, I'm happy to talk about that. But the answer is a little more complex than you might imagine.