It wouldn't have surprised him at all to find that this information put Chief immediately on edge. He knew that the topic of artificial intelligence was iffy, at best, and no one outside of the Project, as far as he knew, knew anything about it. Still, he could tell that the other man was instantly wary, even as he answered his question.

And almost as if on cue, Theta appeared at his right shoulder, though he did hang back a little - managed to stay partially obscured by peering around the back of North's neck. "No they aren't!" he chimed in with, and North .. was pretty sure he wasn't going to be able to keep the little guy quiet anymore.

"Several agents have them where we're from! North, tell him about -"

"Shh," he cut in, and the AI immediately fell silent. "This .. is Theta. And he's not a full AI. He's only a fragment."