Something like that, yes. I sincerely hope it doesn't come to that, but I've come close enough to that threshold before that it would be foolhardy to believe it can't happen here. I'm not the sort who wants to watch the world burn, no matter who I was in a past life.

[He reaches up to rub the back of his neck - a nervous tic, it would seem - and adds:] I realize I'm asking a lot of you, especially when you barely know me. You have every right and reason not to believe a word I say, especially considering how I was teasing you about how I think you're cute - which I meant, by the way, but now's not the time for that.

[He blushes a bit as he realizes what he just said, but soldiers on.] A-anyway, what I'm saying is that I want to prevent as much damage as possible, if the worst comes to pass. And I think you're probably the best person for it.