The way the sim soldiers acted, you'd never have believed otherwise.
[That keeps him from undercutting the moment with the obvious: that he put a bullet in South's brain and then slapped the nitro-cored slab of C4 against her armor to finish what he started. That he put a bullet in Donut's sternum and didn't expect him to get up from it again. That he was fully prepared to turn in his old A.I. to save his skin, and hunt down hapless sim troopers with the emptied husk of his best friend to do it.]
[Maybe badass was never on the table. But hardened certainly came to be a word for it.]
[But he smiles, as though none of it scratches the back of his head.]
no subject
[That keeps him from undercutting the moment with the obvious: that he put a bullet in South's brain and then slapped the nitro-cored slab of C4 against her armor to finish what he started. That he put a bullet in Donut's sternum and didn't expect him to get up from it again. That he was fully prepared to turn in his old A.I. to save his skin, and hunt down hapless sim troopers with the emptied husk of his best friend to do it.]
[Maybe badass was never on the table. But hardened certainly came to be a word for it.]
[But he smiles, as though none of it scratches the back of his head.]