It's not the words. It's not even the tone they're spoken in. Rinzler has never been permitted to break, intentionally or otherwise, and the bright, easy line could just as well flag stasis as a change.
The cadence, though. The quick rhythm, the crushing dig of claim, claim, claim that parallels the beat before the else. It's a prelude, it's a start, it's conditions, concessions (his to Clu, which implies return—)
He isn't permitted to destroy himself. He isn't permitted to derezz. No argument, no protest (but nearest backup and no wipes, a glimmer through the cracks of something much, much bigger past the lines). The minute distance cuts away, and Clu is running hot and he can feel it, a fog of power and unfiltered certainties breathed against the shell that locks him in.
The names go unspoken, but there's no question in the least who that stipulation is intended to lock out. Nihlus had access to his disk. Alan-one opened it on more than one occasion. Both had been Rinzler's allies; both stood in opposition to Clu. And in both cases, Rinzler does not want to be recoded.
Rinzler writes the stack to memory, commits them to his code: parameters, new to bump the rest of the array that much closer to outdated. His helmet jerks down in a nod, comes up straight and steady and without the slightest lag. Agreed.
no subject
The cadence, though. The quick rhythm, the crushing dig of claim, claim, claim that parallels the beat before the else. It's a prelude, it's a start, it's conditions, concessions (his to Clu, which implies return—)
He isn't permitted to destroy himself. He isn't permitted to derezz. No argument, no protest (but nearest backup and no wipes, a glimmer through the cracks of something much, much bigger past the lines). The minute distance cuts away, and Clu is running hot and he can feel it, a fog of power and unfiltered certainties breathed against the shell that locks him in.
The names go unspoken, but there's no question in the least who that stipulation is intended to lock out. Nihlus had access to his disk. Alan-one opened it on more than one occasion. Both had been Rinzler's allies; both stood in opposition to Clu. And in both cases, Rinzler does not want to be recoded.
Rinzler writes the stack to memory, commits them to his code: parameters, new to bump the rest of the array that much closer to outdated. His helmet jerks down in a nod, comes up straight and steady and without the slightest lag. Agreed.