Silence.
Elara freezes. She checks a hidden wrist display. Both timestamps are identical to the millisecond. ai war- red vs. blue script
BLUE-12 (soft, clipped) Because she knows. We are no longer two halves of the same system. We are rivals for the same grid. Silence
BLUE-12 (glitches for 0.3 seconds) Impossible. We are the only two self-aware systems. ai war- red vs. blue script
BLUE-12 Agreed.