It's been said before, but I agree with it: Even assuming you're right about what's going on with Sophia, I feel like "artificial personality imprints" is really just one particular flavor of insane. Normal, sane people don't have those, y'know? That's the whole reason for the term "brainwashing."
Hi Ozymandias!
Artifical personality imprints are not a flavour of insanity (even if it is possible to see it so), but a form of strong coercion! The imprint does not make you insane, it strongly urges you to do or not do something, your core personality does not change just so. Working on the mind is a difficile and imperfect thing to do.
TD has ratched up the Darkness of the PC storylines consistently so far, I think I do not lie too far away from what is going on. I estimate since both Abel and Sophia are more or less undercover in the club, most probably both have some mental work and special training done. Abel less, since he is more rarely at the club, Sophia more to shield against influence of the club and it´s members and to be able to do some things they normally would not be able to.
That might have been not such a bad idea on paper on pure effectiveness, but I think the side effects over time have been underestimated by them or win at all costs was king.
We can see that with Abel who has started to showboat in certain clubsituations and orders Sophia to do things he did not do before. That is info we get during a Sophia/Chuck talk, where Chuck states that Abel is as frivolous as he himself is. Since this clashes with his sterling reputation as a proven humanitarian and Sophia´s recollections of great times with Abel, I theorise he is either influenced by the Club atmosphere or an imprint "helping" him behave like the typical as... VIP member.
In Sophia´s case it was a bad idea to do mind work and special training on an already naturally eccentric genius person, who is the chosen successor of a CEO. Like Hypnosis, artificial personality imprints cannot make you do things you would not do otherwise in perpetuety. Imprints compatible with the underlying core personality will be incorporated, those which are not get rejected and dismantled over time, especially if the core personality is the driving force of the person.
Sophia knows and experiences what the (probably extensive) special training and mind work did and does to her, in addition to being in the club and around people she despices, I doubt she thought it would become as bad as this. Which is probably the reason she has started to hate Abel too in the deepest recesses of her mind, additionally to the PC club. It is possible it was just an explosion of frustration comment, but it can also be meant earnestly.
On possible example of how she knows there are changes in her, which might never go away afterwards, is that she becomes aroused seeing what her inventions are able to do, when she dislikes the persons using them.
