Alexander yelped as Tahlia stomped on his hip, before giving a mini-speech that, quite frankly, was mildly ignorant of how Burrows worked; which fit, as from what dossiers he read, Tahlia Styles was a surface-dweller. Once the woman had stopped her spiel, and furthermore tried to get the 24-year old to 'lighten up', the pilot gave his reply, saying, with misleading mildness:
    
"Miss Styles, tell me, what do you really know of the 'Burrows'? Do you really think that I'd let them take me back there, to [i]The Room[/i]?" If Tahlia wasn't blind and deaf, she would have heard rumors of just how the underground inhabitants of the Burrows were treated, and how dissidents were kept in line through brainwashing, brainwashing that was also rumored to make use of Neural Net-derived technology.

"But enough, I don't want to run a pity party," Alex continued. "Ms. Styles, I do not like your show of remaining loyalty to Red-Star, nor do I like how, despite your words, you're still here, on this tram, and you still have the Old Australian Flag prominently displayed. So, either you truly have remnant loyalties to Red-Star, which is dangerous for our new employer, or you're trying to get in my head, which is worse." The 24-year old pursed his lips.

"So, tell me what you want."

Alexander further observed Tahlia, looking for any tells in her behavior. She was clearly confident, assertive, and also physically tired. He would then continue:
    
"And if what you want is some sleep and a lighter mood, you're welcome to rest; I'll stand guard."

[@NuttsnBolts]