[ A bold claim—and one that's unrepentantly incorrect. But he doesn't note it and simply moves on. ]

You attribute your affliction to me? [ After a moment of thought... Fair, he supposes. ] Hm. You're proposing it was a flaw in your biology, not a learned response. ... An anomaly in your sensory receptors, then? Something that could have thrown your perceptions into disarray.

[ He thought he tested all of this when Belial was created, but perhaps he missed something. Some minute defect that worsened over time. How annoying.

Lucilius deposits an elbow onto the table and holds his hand out toward Belial. The gesture is similar to the way one might ask a dog for its paw. ]