[He knows that will bother her, but it's better to be honest. He can't just hold back and pretend it's not a real possibility. That would be unfair to her.]

I did. That's what makes me think it's possible. [He appreciates that she expects him to keep tabs and doesn't resent him for it.]

If their tech is advanced enough to do what he's suggesting, then he's right and everything could be manufactured. Then again, what he's talking about could be a scenario created to see how live subjects respond to a given, invented environment. At that level, both are possible answers to what we're experiencing. I don't spend much time on full immersion projects because it frankly isn't viable. It's expensive, complicated, and hard to maintain. Finicky.

So if they're that good?

[He almost finishes that thought, but decides not to.]

We should meet.