He's surprised that Nick sounds so optimistic. A leftover personality quirk from the original Nick, perhaps? "For your sake, sure. I haven't seen that kind of acceptance until fairly recently, and even then it was hard-earned."

It does change his initial impression of this ex-friend of Nick's, however. He had written the guy off as someone who doesn't have anything to believe in, but if he had actually led a synth revolution, maybe that wasn't the case.

"Caspar Millen," he replies, shaking Nick's hand firmly but briefly. "I don't live here, but I visit frequently enough. What sort of detective work does someone do in a world like yours?"