Brainiac was somewhat surprised by this outcome, because it was both illogical and counterintuitive.
Aliens were dangerous. Any rational human should have realized that. No matter how one put it, silicon-based life and carbon-based life were completely different. They were absolutely not the same kind. At best, they were strangers; at worst, mortal enemies.
Yet humans would choose the latter over their own kind, beings with life forms entirely different from theirs. What sense did that make?
By normal logic, shouldn't one's own kind, no matter how many problems they had, still be better than some other form of life?
But no. That was not how humans thought. Their logic was that they would rather cooperate with an evil artificial intelligence than allow their own kind to advance any further.
For the first time, Brainiac understood just how much malice humanity harbored toward its own kind.
"To them, you are unknown. Even if they think they understand you, they actually understand only a small part of you. They know that perfectly well," Schiller said.
"But if they do not understand me, they should not choose me."
"They do not understand you, but they understand themselves. Compared to you, they understand Amanda better. If you take power, they might be fine; if Amanda takes power, they will definitely suffer."
"They think their own kind is more evil than I am?"
"It is not what they think. It is simply the truth," Schiller said. "Whether it is Amanda or Congress, they may not be particularly capable when dealing with you, but when dealing with each other, they will be a hundred times more ruthless than you can imagine."
"Very strange," Brainiac said. "This is not a model through which a civilization can develop well."
"But that is what humans are like. The