"That's it exactly," he says quietly, nodding mostly to himself. "Cults and organizations like that, there's so much isolation, so much self-doubt and manipulation. To keep you faithful, keep you believing. And to remind you that there's nowhere else to go, that they are the center of your world." He huffs, runs a hand over his short-cropped hair with a soft sound.

For a while, he'd believed that. That he was alone. That associating with anyone else would bring pain, and visit upon them a fate that only Jaeger could prevent.

"The breaking point for me was when they threatened my wife and daughter." The words hang heavy in the still air, a surprising confession. He stops, shakes his head, lets his hands drop to his lap again and clench into quiet fists. "When I was no longer obedient, they used what leverage they had."

He goes quiet for another few seconds, because that part hurts. Even with Jordan and Claudia dead in the ground with iron curses on their graves.

What follows is a quiet laugh, and the strain goes out of him just as suddenly.

"It's hard to unlearn lessons drilled into you with pain and fear. But I think I'm starting to get there. It feels different, and that's something. Even just having made the decision to do things in a new way...it's freeing, even if it's also a little terrifying."