"Then give me a clue."
"In the Iris Room was a clue. It was not till the color-filtered light intruded between us that we might safely take off our goggles. I would save you if I could. I want you to come back. But those higher in authority make the decisions. When you leave, you will not return here, or anywhere else. But already one has spoken to one who has spoken to one who has spoken too much."
"There is a point beyond which politeness is no longer a virtue, Mitzi."
"I know. If I could change it, I would."
So the period of the visit was at an end, and Marlow was at his last conference with OMTLM, following which he would leave Pudibundia, perhaps forever.
"Is there anything at all else you would like to know?" asked OMTLM.
"There is almost everything that I still want to know. I have found out nothing."
"Then ask."
"I don't know how. If I knew the questions to ask, it is possible that I would already know the answers."