If the big red button is just a metaphor, technically the explosion that happens when she hits it is just a metaphor, too. (After all, there's nothing actually exploding here.)

The moment the safeties are off, Computo surges off in every direction at once. Where Cortana was an army, he's more like a wave made of sand, exploding outward, a million particles getting into every little crack and making a mess of things.

He can't stop the virus all by himself or cure it, that's a little beyond him. But he can slow its spread, interfere with the Brainiacs' control of the mechanoforms, and toss the Roboticans some tactical insight to give them more of an advantage. In short, he can be a whole lot of spanners in a whole bunch of works.

As far as distractions go, this one's pretty killer. Definitely something that might keep the Brainiacs occupied as the group moves through the base. He also hands over some security codes with all the blushing bashfulness of a teenage boy handing his date a corsage on prom night. (Gosh, her code's so pretty).

Then, as he zips out the digital door, there's a brief thanks. It's not in words.

It's more like the code equivalent of a giant fistbump.