[ Except he doesn't, and he wants to tell Eliot as much, but instead something else comes out of his mouth entirely: ]

You didn't think so when you decided to kill the Monster.

[ Ah, fuck. He can't take that back, can he? He's not backpedaling per se, but he's quick to launch into something else. ] How do we know we're not shooting ourseves in the foot? Just when we learn the rules, something fucks us over.