Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 223

Mason and I had a quick breakfast and then got on the road for L.A. He was getting in one last round of questioning.

"So how did you learn all this stuff?" Mason asked. "In the war?"

"I learned how to stay alive there. The rest of it was just trial and error. I made plenty of mistakes. I trusted people who turned out to be untrustworthy. I didn't trust people that I realized later I should have. There's no handbook. You either have what it takes or you don't."

"But you have what it takes and you left it."