[ He's silent for a long set of moments, thinking over how to respond, sipping his tea. He understands John's point, and he doesn't want to discount it. In many ways, the two of them really had given up, or tried to, repeatedly. They weren't truly living, they were just trying to do one more good thing before they died.

But as much as he can accept that as truth for himself, he also thinks there's more to it for John than he's prepared to admit. ]

I did know who you were when I recruited you, [ he says quietly, but in a tone that implies he means something entirely different by it than John does. ] We didn't just help each other, we helped so many other people.

That was-- [ He falters, withdraws a bit. ] That was what the Machine wanted to know, in the end. That we'd helped some people.

And I think we did. How you feel about it, your motives, doesn't matter. Like I quoted earlier, have patience with what remains unsolved in your heart. Your actions have still done good.