"We—I didn't have many options," Strange points out. "If we failed in the attack or the Mother of Invention remained alive, those chips would have to be destroyed anyway. Besides, the chip itself isn't directly in her head. There's that casing where the chips can be swapped out."

Chip holder? Chip drive? Strange doesn't know the term, but he knows that's a thing thanks to Rita's handy infodump about the ports in the Deltas' heads.

"That should provide some protection. It would have hurt, but I wouldn't have killed her." Says one person who knows nothing about technology to another person who knows nothing about technology.