[Programmed? Her reply momentarily dead in her mouth, her eyebrows furrowing but the fury so readily apparent in her expression clouds and obfuscates any confusion that might have danced across it. She knew Texas had Omega, the strongest of the AI fragments, whatever they were, and that's why she had been stronger, why Carolina had needed two to be better.
If Texas was programmed, that meant-- no. No. Shoving anything like that down. Not now. Instead, she snarls out,] I don't need anyone's help. I'm better than her.
[Not a we, not even close to a we. But her reply rings too much like a lie to be anything but a reassurance to herself. Because if she isn't better, if she isn't the best, then she's a failure.]
no subject
If Texas was programmed, that meant-- no. No. Shoving anything like that down. Not now. Instead, she snarls out,] I don't need anyone's help. I'm better than her.
[Not a we, not even close to a we. But her reply rings too much like a lie to be anything but a reassurance to herself. Because if she isn't better, if she isn't the best, then she's a failure.]