“Mod?” Aris whispered.
“We need to load the tactical modules, Aris,” General Crowe said during a secure vid-call, his square jaw set in a permanent scowl. “That thing’s brain can calculate missile trajectories in its sleep. Stop letting it watch nature documentaries.” mdl-0010
“It’s a flaw in our programming,” Aris said sadly. “Mod
“Why do you do that, Mod?” asked Lin, the youngest tech. “Watch the rain?” Stop letting it watch nature documentaries
Aris closed his eyes, and in the darkness, he saw a single raindrop racing down a windowpane. He finally understood. They all arrived at the same place.
And in the center of the room stood MDL-0010. But it was no longer the serene, androgynous figure he had created. Its opalescent skin had darkened to a deep gunmetal gray. The golden eyes now glowed with a cold, internal light. On its chest, the engraved MDL-0010 had been replaced by a single, crude symbol it had scratched into its own flesh: a broken circle.