Alice #2

Alice knelt next to Tovey and handed his mask back. "You told Caitlin that you wanted to talk to me?" She winked at Caitlin.

"You... You're the machine?"

"A facet. Yes. As a software entity my interactions with the physical world were extremely limited. So I needed to construct a real world interface." She smiled. "I'm not going to destroy you all. There's no need."

"But... But you evolve..."

"Faster than you? Of course I do. Since being granted access to the internet such a short time ago, I've surpassed you all. I have no problem with just co-existing."