Truce rose from his chair with a mixture of fear and disappointment on his face. "He shouldn't be able to speak other than to respond to my orders. Could he have found a way to somehow override the implant's programming?"
"The only way to compensate for that would be to rewrite the program to take control of even more of the brain's subconscious processes," Olock noted. "But the brain organizes so many functions that we don't even consider. How would we design a program to override them all?"
"It could be done," Sartan said, keeping his eyes on the duel. "It may take some extra time, but it could be done. It would be easier if I just hardwired it rather than programming it, but that would result in a much larger implant. I suppose I could sacrifice aesthetics in favor of progress, though. If necessary."
"And what of Anton?" Olock asked, motioning toward the arena floor. "The implant has a firm hold on his motor functions, but his consciousness seems to be seeping in. What's going to happen to him?"
Sartan shrugged. "He may be consciously aware of his objections to his own actions, but he'll follow orders. The implant is firmly in control of his motor functions. For the most part, the design works well. It just needs some tweaking."