Tseng nodded faintly. That, at least, was a fair enough answer. They were hardly friends, after all. Rufus went out of his way to antagonize Tseng, and there were days when the boy was lucky he wasn't on Gaia, because he'd find a deranged Turk strangling the life out of him in short order if he was.

"I know it's... unorthodox, sir," he said, finally, "but if at any point you feel that an outside opinion would be useful in the thought process... I have been known to omit information from reports to your father in the past already."

He was a professional storyteller at this point. The President didn't need to know any of what went on over on that damn island.