She knows that some of her pleasing behavior was brought about by programming, but this? This she knows is part of herself. That she loves K and will do whatever she has to to protect him.

She trembles softly as he touches her, goosebumps left behind. It feels good, better than good, better than anything she's let herself imagine before. And she tentatively reaches up to cup his face with her other hand. And as far as Joi is concerned, she's his down to her brand-new bones. She'd scream it from a rooftop if that's what he needed as reassurance. And if she's free, she's free to choose who she loves. And it's K. It will always be K.

"Yes. You were with me through everything. Just like you always have been. And while the fox may be capable of tricks, this isn't one of them."

That's why she doesn't want to tell him what becomes of them. Of her. Of her last words to him being "I love you," just before Luv crushed her emulator. She'd thought that was the end of her but there was the Fox in the void of nothingness she'd found herself in. And wouldn't that prove she has a soul, she knew of loss and despair, then hope.