The words seemed to strike Lanmar like lightning, sticking the rest of his words in his throat. He opened his mouth to argue, but as he recalled how long it had taken him to accept the reality of John's powers and the machines' bizarre existence, his rage began to drain away, replaced by a hollow sense of helplessness.
"Anyway," John continued, returning to his work, "I'm fairly certain the machines don't have enough numbers yet to completely wipe out your people in a single blow. But I'm sure they'll do enough damage to weaken your defences."
"Then we have to..."
"Did you forget how the Mechanical Hivemind race operates?" John interrupted him again, his voice firm. "I told you before: they are cowards in the traditional sense. They use dirty methods to weaken their enemies from the shadows. They'll poison the water, sabotage the defensive bases, and pick off the weak. They never go into a full frontal confrontation."
