Jade steps up and says, "I'm Jade.  I like the big weapons, but I'm partial to small firearms as well."

 "I prefer to use my hands, though I am equally skilled in handguns and light automatic weapons," Cala says in her standard monotone.

"You mean, you're tentacles?" Jade says, flashing a smile.

"An interesting thought," ponders Rabbit. "Cala, is the original purpose of your programming control of that sentinel?"

"Bigger is often better," she replies to Jade, "but small arms and grenades are more my size." She taps her thighs, "And my sticks for close combat."

 "No. I do not," Cala says bluntly. "I mean my hands... My real hands. I prefer to fight my kind code-to-code."

 The sentinel turns to Rabbit. "Yes, I am a sentinel program, created for the sole purpose of controlling this drone."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:12, Tue 26 July 2005.

"And is your programming, your self, completely contained within that sentinel machine? Or to exist must you maintain a connection to the Matrix or another computer network? Like the ship's or Zion's mainframe?"

 "Yes, I am completely contained within this form. If it is destroyed, so am I."

"Well that would just bite, wouldn't it?  So who is gonna fix ya then?

 "That," Cala says, "is a very good question."

"If you're just a program, couldn't you make a backup copy?"

 "I would assume it is possible. The though causes me some... distress, however."

"Then perhaps someone better learn real quick on how to put your squid butt back together."  Shadow finishes this statement with a large smile.

Still speaking to and about Cala, "If you are captured in the Matrix, I wonder if there is a danger of having your corporeal mechanical body remotely reprogrammed back to its original hostile intent."

"Hmmm, perhaps a fail-safe of some sort, ya know a dead man's switch."    His smile fades at the thought of having a rogue sentinel onboard.

 "I do not think that is possible; Zero-One would require a connection to the access the sentinel's systems. I believe your scientists stripped this drone of any wireless connections." The sentinel raises a tentacle to point out a  small socket on the top of its "head," clearly designed to support a Matrix jack. "They would need to connect through to this sentinel through an established hard-line."

"Isn't that what happens when you jack in? The Matrix is just an intermediary connection among the participants." Rabbit shrugs, "But I have neither scientific nor technical training." She turns to Locke, "One of my many weaknesses."

X answers, "Our top coders have coded in a block.  We do not believe Zero-One can access Cala anymore than it can access any of your minds.  At this point, we don't even think Zero-One realizes who...or what...Cala is.  And because the residual image in Matrix is human, it is doubtful that Zero-One would even think of Cala as anything but human."

Rabbit asks Cala a hypothetical, "Suppose that we are in the Matrix and about to answer the hardline. An agent appears, and there is time for only one of us to leave. If I asked you to go first, would you go?"

Dracos just tilts his head as he continues to watch those around him, "I sneak around and break things open. Not with violence, but with intelligence. THough I do feel confident with a few pistols and light weaposn as well. Heavy weapons remove the possiblity of stealth and stealth kills... I must say its always fun to hide from an Agent and pop out silently behind him..."

 Cala nods the sentinel at Dracos, then turns back around to face Rabbit. "No," she says simply. "I would make sure you had been safely extracted and then self-terminate to insure I could not be reprogrammed by Zero-One."

”You are a free human. Your life takes precedence.”

Rabbit runs her fingers through tangles of red hair. She looks over at Locke and X then back to Cala, "You are a rare if not unique asset. Your philosophy and personal agenda jeopardize the cause and greater good."

 "I am not eager to end, Rabbit. However, if I am forced to chose between my own continued existence and that of a free human, I will chose the human's," the sentinel explains calmly. "Many machines will be destroyed in the quest for humanity's liberation. If I must be among them, so be it."

Rabbit asks Cala, "Suppose you and I run into hostile security officers. Not an Agent this time, but manifestations of Humans who are unaware of the Matrix. Will you kill them to save me? To save yourself alone, if I am already dead?"

 "If there are no other non-lethal solutions, yes."

Rabbit concludes, "Well, I hope there aren't any more surprises today."