When a normal person suddenly saw a head appear in front of them, they should indeed have felt terrified. But instinctive fear and cognitive fear elicited completely different reactions.
Instinctive fear came from human nature. Before cognition took place, instinct drove people to feel fear; cognitive fear, on the other hand, arose only after one had processed what they saw and made a rational judgment that they were in danger.
Instinctive fear usually emerged when something beyond ordinary human understanding appeared before people, such as a monster with obviously twisted limbs or a ghost; cognitive fear usually concerned things within common human experience, such as a madman holding a bloodstained knife or a thug aiming a gun. The former was assumed dangerous by the brain because it defied reason, while the latter was judged dangerous because it posed a threat within the bounds of reason.
A moving head should obviously have belonged to the former, especially when half its skull had been sliced away and a long spine still dangled beneath it. Something like that was clearly far beyond reason and should have triggered the instinctive fear that arose the instant one saw such an abnormal shape.
But when Tony saw that shape, he felt no fear. Only after he saw Bruce's face and spent a fraction of a second recognizing him did he react in terror. That proved he was not afraid because the head was strange—he was afraid of Bruce Wayne.
Things were getting more and more complicated. Schiller thought to himself: It looks like Tony isn't experiencing this for the first time either. Then again, if Batman had already retrieved the nano equipment with the help of other Players, he might have killed Tony before. It was perfectly normal for Tony to recognize and fear him.
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