[ His look becomes less skittish and careful, now studying her face as if it will tell Simon something her voice isn’t. Somehow, it does; there’s a look on her face he’s never seen on 2B’s, and for a moment she no longer looks exactly like her. But nothing that clarifies... that... thing. ]

Yeah, you mentioned that. The part about staying away from you. [ That’s just a very... dry joke... but he draws his hands down to clasp them at chin height, and when he continues it’s more soberly. ] Look, it’s— that’s awful, but you didn’t do it for kicks.

[ then he hesitates, eyes flicking away. ] There was a “virus” kind of like that on my Earth too. It didn’t let you die as yourself, either.