It is definitely a stupid reason, he's had a while to come up with something he's content with and he just hasn't. So much time wasted coming up with references, and for what? He could just pick one! "Sure!" Shardik is a perfectly good name, so long as someone's a bear.

"..Ah, yeah, that's a good point." He crosses his arms over his chest, looking thoughtful, a boot placed on the trailing rope of the sled full of parts. Humans really could be very dangerous, and for someone as young as Vash, who surely had no idea how to use most of his abilities.. "It's not a bad idea for the most part. You'll get a better knack for picking out the good ones from the dangerous ones as you get more experience but there's no real reason to start on that right away." Nowhere in that is any claim that all humans or good or that everyone should get a chance, he didn't believe in that anymore. "The best thing to do is make sure they don't know you're a plant, if you have to be around them. But I wouldn't recommend trying to go over there. Everyone's got guns. Hell, I don't even plan on going over there."

What if he disappeared upon approach! He's pretty sure he'd just come back in an hour or so if it's some weird death field but dying was not a pleasant experience. "And scared humans can be even more dangerous than normal ones, because even good humans can be risky when they're frightened enough. Being trapped in a city that keeps popping in and out like this has to be terrifying. But at least if they're inside, they're still there. I'm pretty sure that one guy with the red moustache has been there the last two times."