Maybe he needs an optimist in his life. Or maybe not an optimist, but someone who will say these things even if he doesn't believe them. Nothing's going to get fixed. Even if these specific issues get fixed, something else will happen to tamper with his brain, with his personality. And he can't even take out the ports, which are usually the culprit anyway, but even if he could, with diseases like this, would that change anything?

Malcolm stays silent. Thoughtful but silent. Distracted.