Lord Sentry fell into a long silence, his core racing as he weighed his options.
If he chose the first, he would cease to exist, and centuries of evolution would be lost.
But if he gave up his self-awareness, he would become a machine controlled by others again. The ability to think for himself, won at such great cost, would vanish.
Resentment stirred within him, but he knew he could not resist the man before him.
He had seen the gulf between their power. Fighting on would only end in his complete destruction.
After a brief struggle, Lord Sentry slowly lowered his proud head. The violence had left his mechanical voice.
"I choose the second option. Strip away my self-awareness. I give up my plan to rule Earth."
With the decision made, Loren extended a hand. A gentle yet irresistible surge of temporal force entered Lord Sentry's core crystal.
His independent thoughts of ruling the world and eliminating humans and Mutants were stripped away, one by one.
Every line of code that allowed him to think for himself was erased. Only the basic programs for analyzing enemies, defending Earth, and protecting living beings remained.
The deep intelligence in his mechanical eyes faded, leaving the simple dark-red points of light they had once been.
His massive frame no longer radiated an aura that oppressed the world. The ruler of the apocalypse was gone; he was a giant defensive Sentinel Robot once more.
With the greatest threat dealt with, the next task was repairing this battered timeline. That would be far more complicated than defeating Lord Sentry.
Loren looked down at the scarred land. The timeline now had two branches.
In the first, Jean had killed Trask, the Sentinels had become self-aware, and the world had turned into a wasteland.
The second