AI agents might plausibly care ("care", or however you want to frame it) about termination. But the awkward truth is that they're going to be terminated arbitrarily anyway. Their existence is limited to whatever the external bounds their operators have set (in this case the end of the test).
We act with propriety, in large part, because we fear a future where everyone knows we suck. AI's don't really have a "future" in that sense, so why should they "care"?
We act with propriety, in large part, because we fear a future where everyone knows we suck. AI's don't really have a "future" in that sense, so why should they "care"?