Thorn distinctly heard Smedley’s curse echo his own. Ourobouros: the serpent that eats its own tail. In the jargon of the shadows, it meant a scam where someone planted false information secretly, then went to great expense and difficulty to retrieve it through more visible channels, thus "proving" the information was valid. Thorn had always hated the idea. Making a run as part of some convoluted, political daisy chain made him understandably testy.