[Should he be discouraging Rhys from potentially jamming his whole arm in the mystery space behind a huge appliance of unknown origin? Maybe. Probably.]

Deliberate tampering, most likely. The Admiralty seems to have some method of neutralizing potentially problematic abilities, and I believe your... echo-eye, [cool name,] falls within that category.

[He zips up the chicken bag.]

Shame. I'd be interested to see how it functions under normal circumstances.