I like the idea upthread about it presenting as different genders depending on who it is interacting with
Oh, it absolutely does - I mean, that supported by canon: Ernest Thornhill, of course, but also the even mix of male to female voices in the phone calls in God Mode, pretending to be the Special Counsel to move its server, letting Root call it 'she' (and possibly even tailoring its voice usage - we'll hopefully see that at some point). I guess I just compartmentalize that from how it *identifies*, because the faces it puts on to interact are all functional, i.e. towards a purpose. (Which ties into the manipulative streak, hah.) I think it's important not to anthropomorphize the Machine too much, because while it does care about things in a human way, it doesn't *act* on them in a human way, or think about them like we do.
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Oh, it absolutely does - I mean, that supported by canon: Ernest Thornhill, of course, but also the even mix of male to female voices in the phone calls in God Mode, pretending to be the Special Counsel to move its server, letting Root call it 'she' (and possibly even tailoring its voice usage - we'll hopefully see that at some point). I guess I just compartmentalize that from how it *identifies*, because the faces it puts on to interact are all functional, i.e. towards a purpose. (Which ties into the manipulative streak, hah.) I think it's important not to anthropomorphize the Machine too much, because while it does care about things in a human way, it doesn't *act* on them in a human way, or think about them like we do.