"Why not the state jobs?"
"Without premium they're all low-rung tenders' places. I tried hard enough. But to sit pressing buttons when a light flashed, hour after hour—" Vye shook his head. "They said I was too erratic and gave me the shove. One more move on and it would have been compulsive conditioning. I turned port-drift instead."
"Ever thought of trying for a loan premium?"
Vye laughed shortly. "Loan premium? That's a true fantasy if you've been job hopping. None of the companies will take a chance on a man with an in and out record. Oh, I tried...." That memory arose to the surface, clear and very chilling. Yes, he had tried to break out of the net the law and custom had put around him from the day he had been made a state child. "No—it was conditioning, or port-drift."
"And you chose port-drift?"
"I was still me—as long as I stayed away from conditioning."
"Then you became Rynch Brodie in spite of your flight."
"No—well, maybe, for a while. But I'm still Vye Lansor here."
"Yes, here. And I don't think you'll have to worry about raising a premium to get a new start. You can claim victim compensation, you know."
Vye was silent, but Hume did not let him remain so.