That’s a really, really good line. I mean, it works on a few different levels - still keeps the story embedded in sci-fi language (didn’t want to say ’grounded’ there). Good stuff!
Look... this is kind of a weird choice to excerpt, but as a former teacher, I can totally relate to, like, the awkwardness coming out of this guy’s mouth. Hahaha! Like, you try to hard so come up with something witty, only it ends up shitty.
So it’s not like he’s not empathetic, he just uses it for evil. ...nice, Dylan. Nice. This character trait could be something cool to build on later. His ability to read people.