Unfortunately for Vriska, her effort backfires pretty spectacularly. The glimpse of a fast-moving hostile switches his programming back on track, removing the uncertainty from his expression once again.

The smoke doesn't even register as a distraction- even if Vriska didn't leave fucking sparkles in her wake, he's been programmed with infrared vision that makes her heat signature stand against the cold background.

The sprite raises his sword, but doesn't move yet. It's easier to let the target come to him.