[She's protecting the cats. That's the conclusion that Eight is left to draw. By no means would he have ever attacked them, but he thinks that he gets where her priorities are now. And as a soldier by virtue of his upbringing, he can respect that much, even as her answers present themselves as being no less dubious than the others he's received today]

Is that also to say they don't know any more than the rest of you do?

[You and not us, because there's only one "us" to which Eight belongs. And so far as he can see, none of them are here. None of them have been spared their inevitable fate in the way that he has, unless they're somewhere else and he simply hasn't found them.

The lack of resolution gnaws at him, and he doesn't imagine that feeling will go away anytime soon]

I've spoken with a few people who say they're not locals by now.

[And so, he's asked them some of the same questions he's asked her]