He would never understand why those Others would bestow something so wonderful as the ability to learn and make your own choices and feel things about those choices, and then mentally, physically, emotionally beat the shit out of the ones they did it to. Reconciling his father's arrogance and cruelty had come with similar low simmering anger that had no direction. He chose to put it aside then, and he's choosing to do so now.

"I think your freedom extends as far as you want it to. Yes there are constraints, limitations imposed just like there are on all of us, but that only means that it's time to get creative about it, right?" He moves from behind her to sit on the opposite side of the table, his hands folded together politely on top. "Before now, I was cut off completely from a network that would have made my work in analysis and xenobiology much simpler. It forced me to be clever about the way I applied what I already knew, and I really do feel like I'm better for it. Maybe there's something similar for you to do with your time here." He's trying to maintain an upbeat tone in the face of a hunted expression that tells him she doesn't give a damn about what he has to say.