[Theo's eyes narrow, and he looks around at the Commissary, the ship - and then back to Volk. Wheels are turning, but they're on the wrong track. When a delusional person talks this way to a paranoid person, things are bound to get messy.]

Nah, it's-- this is too much. This is way too much to fake. [It sounds more like he's trying to convince himself than Volk.] I mean, projection? The amount of energy you'd have to spend to keep this up would be incalculable. Take a score of mages working round-the-clocks shifts. It ain't sustainable.

[Eyes narrow, again.] Ask for what, what's too big?