Does "There's no Barba-" mean "Cheetah" is her true self?
That is the really interesting confession. Taken at face value, it means that she thinks of herself as the Cheetah, which is an entirely valid take except that there is no follow-up in Perez's portrayal. She is very much Barbara Minerva when she is in control of herself, and we shall soon see exactly what that means. It's probably just a plot thread that Perez dropped when he realized what he had created in Dr. Minerva. I mean, look at how long she was able to resist the lasso's influence. It usually compels the truth right away, but she was able to speak an entire sentence or so before the lasso started to pull the truth out of her, kicking and screaming all the while.