"All I know is that this is better than what I had back home, on Earth, whatever you want to call it," he says with a disbelieving huff. "How sad is it to say this? That your life back home is worse than something that's probably purgatory."

Shaking his head, he turns instead to his drink, intent on that instead of being miserable. "Is there something next door to here? Maybe I could put myself there, in spitting distance for safety."