"Oh, okay. Interplanetary empire, huh? Must be a pain to travel around. Unless you have some sort of faster-than-light drive?" Yes, Gene did occasionally listen when Tony waxed poetic about sci-fi and other shit Gene didn't care about. And he knows that space is definitely too fucking big to cruise through at the universal speed limit. Even if he can manipulate that speed limit himself, if he really tries. c be damned!