Billions. Once upon a time, the mere idea of it threw him into a rage. And as it turned out, his opinion that the Treaty should never have existed was correct. His opinion that the Commonwealth needed to be disassembled? Was not. So he's unsure of what route to take here, and would much rather entrust it to another's hands.

Most xenians, for all their weaknesses (whether it be sunlight or in his case, mood swings and a chronic sense of suspicion that's more genetic than learned) also have strengths beyond compare. And in the wrong hands those strengths are extremely dangerous.

"He can be gotten. My other skill is extraction. If they do obtain his sister and try to use him against her, I can make sure that they do not keep her." It's almost disappointing that he can button his sleeves at the wrists with no issue about how they go over his arms. Or worse, he's almost getting used to it. He feels like half of himself.

"No. And they were never going to be pushed out while my betrayal stayed as it was. So an opportunity came to change it- think of stelanmancy, only involving time rather than universes. I had the chance to change things. I did." And died. "And then I was here."