Ratchet doesn't deny that he thinks Helex is stupid. That's practically the same as admitting it to the massive 'Con, who sneers and vents caustic gas as the metal in his smelter roils with his anger.

"All you have to do," he says knowingly, "is say I tried to hurt you. Whether or not I actually did won't matter. They'll believe you anyway." He firmly crosses both sets of arms. "And don't you feed me that 'it's your job' scrap or tell me you don't hate me. I'm not stupid." Never has he heard a greater lie, really, than someone saying they don't hate the D.J.D. It doesn't bother him, being reviled; it's the thought that anyone would expect him to believe otherwise.