[...So there's no running away from this. He stays quiet for a moment longer, preoccupying himself with the excuse of food in his mouth, before giving in even as he picks up another piece]

For years... How things have been for me, and how it looks it would turn out, has mostly been the same. That.... might have been repetitive... or... [Lonely.] isolated. But... I had the benefit of knowing that nothing would change much... and that I knew where I would end up.

[In an afterlife for virtuous people.]

That's... reassuring in its own way.