"You just made that up," she said flatly. "Paradox-layered what now?"
"I didn't," he replied, maddeningly calm. "It's the only structure that allows for emergent cognition—real thought, not mimicry. But sure, go ahead, ask your engineers to deeply explain about it. Watch them blink at you like cows watching a train go by."
She exhaled slowly through her nose, annoyed at how convincing he sounded. "So let me guess—you have this theoretical model perfected?"
Peter smiled, the kind of smile that belonged in classified files and warning labels. "I didn't say perfected. I've built the scaffolding. The rest is just dangerous."
Charlotte narrowed her eyes. "Dangerous how?"
"Because once an intelligence learns to reflect on its own reflections—once it can simulate a version of itself simulating—you don't just have AI anymore." He leaned closer, voice a low hum. "You have something that asks why it was created. And what happens if it doesn't want to do what it's told."
Silence.
