Expressionless, Mithias listened to Stein. The human's mind seemed to show no emotional response to Mithias' accusation of heartlessness or acknowledgement of the vampire's admission of his secret wish to preserve him. Instead, Stein jumped directly to the matter of project Armageddon. This written copy of Stein functioned like a program. Was there never more to him than this? Perhaps, the real Stein was indeed dead, having taken any pathetic remains of his human soul with him. Mithias let his hopes sink with the weight of that reality. There was no redeeming or remaking Stein; he was gone. Mithias would just have to work with the cold code that had been imprinted in his mind as if it were merely another bank of data. Such a loss.

"Then I agree, she must be stopped." He turned to look at the flames on a group of candles stacked against the stone alter-like formation. "We will go back to Terebithia. You will convince BIOPilot to cancell the protocol for world destruction. Your mind and memories will be extracted from my brain, then... I will be killed." The vampire looked at him knowingly. "However you knocked me out, I am sure you can do it again, and as long as I am aboard your ship, I am regrettably at your mercy... of which, you have none. I know you would do it." Mithias looked away, seemingly agitated as he struggled with acceptance. He ran a hand through his hair habitually. Sighing, he continued. "There is still a chance, however. Martin knows of your plan, and the command to search the nuclear facilities of this country has already been given. Whatever you had setup will be discovered and undone very quickly, so even if you refuse to confess it to me now, Armageddon very likely will fail. Consider what then I might do to you... How long would Terebithia last in the skies before she runs out of resources, out of drones, out of weapons? I tell you, her days would be numbered. So tell me, Stein. Tell me how to stop Armageddon. Tell me why Terebithia is harvesting blood, and perhaps then I would take you to her to stand her down and save her existence. Neither of us wants the world to end."