[ He expected as much, really. And he'll acquiesce, despite the 'but' that he could give, but lacks any real heart or conviction. It's not an avenue he wants to argue--not after the last time he did it, put everyone through. ]

Okay. [ Affirmation sits in his tone. ] Hey- if this experiment works, we can always just ask it to let us in, right? We just need enough people to ask.

[ A joke, to help shift things away from that dire note, to go along with Roland. ]