It gave us reason enough to be forever suspicious of such dealings. In some ways, one could almost argue it served as a blessing.

It was more that we were a convenient excuse to make an example of. Personally, I've long suspected they feared the prospect of a rival faction with access to vast synthetic resources.

This is why, where others have advocated wasteful military conflict in the hope of retaking our homeworld or, even worse, bed-wetting hope that the machines can be emotionally reasoned with for the sake of co-existence, I much prefer the strategy of reclaiming our creations, themselves.