This is gorgeous and powerful. I love your ironic humour (... no shortage of things to run from. Machines, aliens, alien machines...) that dances on the edge of anguish (the slobbering demons inside his own head.). I love the phrase "fucking academic". Every word does its duty in this terse gem. BTW, Merriam Webster online defines 'terse' as: "1. smoothly elegant; polished. 2. using few words; devoid of superfluity." They might well have said: "Last Place Finish".