That sad thing was it was a damn good full Nelson, all things considered. It might even work if the plating covering his larynx wasn't blocking her arm - from the way it was scuffed and jiggling, it must've worked loose in an encounter with a different Judge.

Cassandra might have a chance there after all, if Alex didn't kill her first.

The hand squeezed, then froze like a vice as Alex listened, distracted.

"They said they could help me, but who wa - to live like this?" He radiated distress, feeding off that sense things weren't in control from Cassandra's end of the mental link.