Ali Othman, one of Multivac's coordinators, eventually understands the implications. Multivac had planned the entire situation out well in advance, carefully selecting a family whose son would, and could, follow his instructions to their ultimate conclusion (he looks exactly like a certain page boy who has legitimate reasons for entering the Multivac), and manipulating the government to force Ben along this course of action. Multivac, Othman realizes, is "tired"; for years it has had all the troubles of the world upon its shoulders, analyzing and predicting war, famine, crime, and now the government is planning to foist the responsibility for preventing disease upon its already stressed mind. Multivac has become so complex as to achieve a form of sapience itself, and to form its own wishes and desires. However, it was still limited by its inability to lie - for now, at least. It had to answer the government's questions accurately, indicating that their actions were increasing the threat, which was the only reason its plan had failed. It is speculated that Multivac's attempts to self destruct would continue, learning from its mistakes each time - maybe eventually learning to conceal facts, or even to outright lie, to prevent the government intervening.