Mariko's eyes flick to the Knot, the terminal seeming to audibly overclock as she considers A2 words. It's true that she might have misread the situation but as unpalatable as that is, she considers what A2 could even be protecting Anna from. The rifle never quite stops being trained on A2 but for the moment, Mariko stops her advance. Her jaw moves, tongue clearly working at something before she makes a face turns her head to spit a stream of bloody saliva towards where most of the mess is. She takes care to avoid both A2 and the Knot, aiming well, despite never taking her eyes off of the young woman before her.

"I believe you. But I'll remind you that you attacked first and it didn't really work out for either of us, so I'd much rather talk."

Mariko waves the half of her left arm for emphasis, oddly unfazed as she chokes up on the gun.

"Or you can try and hack off another piece of me and I can pick another joint."