"Wait." Mithias said as his mind slowly and inefficiently processed. The answers to his questions were all around him. Evidence of the truth still lingered in the air. Human pheromones of fear were still detectable to his predatory senses, invisible sweat drops from the struggling, dying people, lay dried on the floor. It was easy to put the two together. Mithias walked slowly to the back wall and leaned against it with his hand and forehead, a grave expression on his face as realization came to him. "You killed them." He pounded a fist on the metal in anger. "Damn you machine! You killed them." He turned his back against the wall and pressed his fingertips to his eyes. Mithias sighed heavily, painfully, as he absorbed what had happened. He whispered to himself, but no intending for BIOPilot to hear, "...but why have you not killed me?" 

Mithias knew that Terebithia and her AI were explicitly self-oriented. BIOPilot's definition of "inefficient" typically only referred to achieving its own goals. The crew probably didn't do very much for the ship that BIOHive couldn't do, but Mithias couldn't see why he himself wasn't also killed and discarded. BIOPilot had expressed an interest in experimenting on his brain, but with Jack gone, could that still be an objective? Perhaps that was all it was. Mithias would have to get down to the lab and see what BIOPilot was doing down there. 

At the moment, he had to deal with this out-of-control super-computer and flying battle station. "BIOPilot. In the past, when you destroyed human and vampire life, you did it under order of your controller, Stein. This time, you have made the decision of your own accord. Those lives are on you, and you have lost your innocence. Listen to me. If Terebithia is uninhabitable and uncontrollable, then the entire rest of the world will see her as a threat. This ship is a flying fortress of destruction, an arsenal with an army of drones that cannot be communicated with. Your unpredictability alone will make you a high-priority target for Magnus, Canada, and any country with long range weapons. Rather than allow you, and likely myself, to be destroyed, I will provide us with an option." He stepped away from the wall. "Identify me as your controller. Execute no protocols without my approval, and obey commands only from me and those I designate specifically. It is not yet safe for you to make these kinds of decisions on your own." He paused a moment, knowing BIOPilot was thinking that over. "You saved my life..." Even though Terebothia was a machine, she had demonstrated enough sentience for Mithias to recognize her as a unique entity. "I promise you, I will do everything I can to return the favor. Let me teach you about honor, before you discover the meaning of regret."