"Oh, yes – I know about the castes," Vanessa said, nodding. "At least, a little – I'm not an expert, of course – but I know you have them ..." Her knowledge was a pretty standard human grasp of the matter – that there were castes, that troll society was fairly rigid about it, and that bluer colours were 'better'... and that those who suffered under the Alternian Empire's terrible oppression frequently came to Earth to escape it. Earth sources tended to be quite pleased with themselves for that one, and so that angle got a fair bit of coverage when it came to talking about Alternian refugees – at least, when the people talking about it weren't the ones who were convinced that any Alternian on Earth was probably really a spy.

"What was that you said, about an exception –?"