Albert narrows his eyes at the question, taking it for the insult that it is, though any real response he can have to it is ineffectual. "Better than most."

There's frost coating his words, and he's growing very suddenly but not unexpectedly tired of this conversation. Not that he can quit it as he likes without Tom trying to prod him through the bars like an excited child at the zoo.

"What is your endgame, then?"