[Cliff didn't know Souji's future-- That era was considered ancient history in his time line, and he only had a basic understanding of pre-star date history on Earth-- but he glanced over when he caught that brief pause. There were times when he wondered about what went on in those silences...but, he had his secrets too.

He began to rinse off the rest of the bubbles while he pondered the question.]

It's been interesting...but also sorta frustrating. My people have only been active on an intergalactic scale for about a century or so, so there's still a lot of pressure to either conform to Federation standards or go home. There's a lot we've gotta learn still, but that pressure kinda takes the fun out of it sometimes.