TOMMY
That was the way they prepared things for the landing. They sent four people. A mother and a father and two kids who looked just like humans . . . but they weren't.
There's another silence as Steve looks toward the crowd and then toward Tommy. He wears a tight grin.

STEVE
Well, I guess what we'd better do then is to run a check on the neighborhood and see which ones of us are really human.
There's laughter at this, but it's a laughter that comes from a desperate attempt to lighten the atmosphere. It's a release kind of laugh.

—The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,
Rod Serling

Which type of characterization does the author use in this passage to show that Steve is patient and thoughtful?