Herbert is about to dive into the whole 'you are very devoted to your costume' thing again when he really stops for a moment, for once. It's difficult to switch gears, especially now with these confusing socialisation impulses, but he is a scientist. It's worthwhile to analyse new, presented variables.

"A girl I spoke to previously had a, passing fancy of extraterrestrials--whimsical, yes but still plausible in this circumstance. Are you verifying that theory?"