Neat story, a moment in the thought process of someone with a unique power. Feels portentous, like a decision point that leads him to be hero or villain.

My only critique would be that I got momentarily lost in the shift from conditional (would and could) to past tense, though I did by the end figure out he was thinking out what he would say afterward, to himself or anyone else. I’m not sure, but italics might have worked in that situation to make it clearer, but I think that’d be a style choice.

Thanks, THX 0477. I think the edit should clarify that significantly.

yes, yes you could, yet you don’t. the government should pay you more, having read this second.. this is not as dry as the second one, you’ve changed your tone.