The corner of Stein's mouth curled with the start of a grin. Hadn't thought that far ahead, had he? If anything, he would probably be happier if he never beat "Rock Man". His brother Rick, was it? And Wily was obviously Wilhelm. The boy had not only robotized himself but also the rest of his family?

"And what's the point of being the strongest, hmm?" he asked, the pretense of asking out of curiosity falling away. These questions were his scalpels, meant to cut as deep as possible and reveal what lay underneath. "Why is it so important to be the strongest? Because you were told to? What's the point?"

Obviously, he just wanted a direction away from what his real life was like. When he'd created this delusion, what had mattered was not where he was running to, but running from. Bringing that up would probably be the next step.