[ flat tilts his head to the side at the follow-up question, much like a dog that doesn't understand its command. ]

Efficiency is efficiency. You know like, um.... min-maxing and stuff like that? Maximum productivity with minimum waste.

[ does matt want flat to give him the oxford dictionary definition? he's not sure what aim he's going for here. somehow, the attempt at understanding flat only seems to make him feel more alienated, because flat himself can't understand matt's question, much less answer it. ]

Listen, I don't mind talking about the things that interest me! But there's a lot of things that I'm interested in, even some that might surprise you— so why don't you choose something else to talk about? I think it'll probably be easier for the both of us.