Programmed? [He leans forward and gapes. Behind those overgrown bangs, his eyes are wide.] Are they robots? And... replace? What do you mean? Where do they go, if they get replaced?

[This situation is strange. And despite what he picked up during his brief time on the phones, he trusts Pokey to...

Well, this isn't the kind of time that Pokey would lie and bluster to make himself look more awesome, right? This was too important for that, right? He wanted to trust his brother.]

...killed?!

[That's even worse than the robots. Now he's pulling back, looking scared. He listens to the rest, giving little nods all the while.

And then there's a long pause, before he nods rapidly to show that he understands. Even if he's not completely sure that he does. Lots of people didn't like Pokey, in his experience...

...but last he heard from his brother, he'd gone off to the big city and done... weird things...]

I get it. It's like before. You're... a big shot? Right? So everyone's got an eye on you? Especially bad guys?