"Yeah, the rest of us are humans, far as I know. Kinner might've recruited more folks. I know I turned you down before, but I've changed my mind. I can't fight the Thing alone. It's too dangerous."

With how big a threat the alien is, Palmer no longer has any problem with accepting help, forget the butterfly effect.

Palmer thinks for a moment. "You're mechanical, right? If there's nothing organic, there's nothing the alien can assimilate. That could really help us."