[ He won't give up on the notion entirely -- he's planning to ask Aurora if his assumption is even correct, not that he believes she'd necessarily tell the truth but because he wants to see how she responds -- but in the meantime it seems like the height of hubris to convince himself he can keep any kind of communication secret. Aurora is based on technology Harold has barely any concept of; how can he know what she is or isn't capable of? There should be logical limits, inferences he could draw -- but there aren't. Not with the kind of magical effects he's seen, not with a literal angel wandering around.

The safest assumption to make is that nothing is secret at all from Aurora. But from each other, that Harold thinks he can manage.

After weeks of playing verbal fencing with others about his expertise and capabilities, it's silently a bit of a relief to have John's unreserved acceptance of his opinion. Humble as he is, Harold hates insisting to others that he does know what he's talking about, but he also hates being questioned. Which tends to leave him mostly just frustrated and mute. Now he gets to appreciate that John agrees with his basic line of reasoning and doesn't make him defend the premise. ]

Yes, that's the idea. No reason not to supply it to others as well; for all I know, it'll garner me additional 'points'. [ There's a sarcastic edge to the word that indicates Harold's continued displeasure at how mysteriously points are merited and handed out. ]

In addition, acquiring the hardware necessary to make new devices seems prohibitive. Not to mention, the ear pieces we were provided with supply translations, which I'm not prepared to replicate, either. So I don't think we could give them up entirely.

[ Of course he has been thinking through all the possible angles he can come up with. ]