Intergalactic conquest with an AI

Her words stopped abruptly as realization hit her like a bolt of lightning. Her hands flew to her mouth, her glowing cheeks turning a deeper hue of gold as if she had just uncovered some deeply embarrassing truth.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Hahahahaha!" Rex burst into laughter, clutching his sides as his booming voice echoed across the battlefield. "Oh, this is great! Don't worry, Cleo; I don't mind if you keep calling me that. In fact, I'm totally fine with it!" He grinned even wider, his laughter ringing out as he relished her reaction.

Cleo, who was now visibly flustered, had her face turn as red as a virtual tomato. "I-I never―!" she stammered, her voice flaring with indignation before she promptly shut down her holographic form.

"HAHAHA! Now you're being shy!?" Rex said, his laughter growing louder. "Cleo, come on! I didn't think I'd ever see you like this again! This is priceless!"

Inside Rex's mind, Cleo's voice returned, flustered and defensive. "I-It's not my doing! It's all Mini Cleo's fault! She's corrupting my way of thinking!"

Mini Cleo's tiny holographic form popped up in Rex's HUD, sitting cross-legged on one of his displays with a mischievous grin. "What? Me? Master, I'm innocent!" she said, clearly anything but innocent. "You know, Rex, it's not my fault Cleo's been calling you those things. Maybe she just repressed her true feelings for too long, and they're finally bubbling to the surface!"

"YOU LITTLE―!" Cleo's voice roared in Rex's mind, the volume loud enough to make him wince slightly.

"Hahaha! Oh, this just keeps getting better!" Rex said, still laughing. "Cleo, don't blame Mini Cleo for this—you've been calling me 'master' and 'husband' since the beginning of this fight. Just admit it already!"

"I will not!" Cleo huffed indignantly, her voice echoing in his mind with a mix of anger and embarrassment. "And for the record, I only called you those things as a formality! It has nothing to do with any... feelings! You're delusional!"

Rex smirked, his tone still teasing as he floated through the air, wings beating softly to keep him steady. "Sure, sure, Cleo. Whatever you say. But you know," he added, leaning back slightly with a cheeky grin, "I wouldn't mind if you kept it up. It's got a nice ring to it: 'Master,' 'Husband.' I could get used to it."

"STOP TALKING!" Cleo shouted, her embarrassment now at its peak. "I'm shutting down ALL your interface systems for the next five minutes!"

"Hey, hey, wait!" Rex protested, still laughing. "Don't take it out on me—!"

Before he could finish, his HUD flickered, and Mini Cleo disappeared from his displays, replaced by a blank screen.

In the silence that followed, Rex let out one final chuckle. "Totally worth it," he muttered to himself, a faint smile still lingering on his face as he was falling like a rock toward the ocean.

Deep within his mind, Cleo's voice grumbled quietly, her tone still flustered. "Stupid Master... Stupid Mini Cleo... Stupid... feelings..."

Deep inside Rex's mind, Cleo was spiraling into what could only be described as an existential crisis. Her usually calm and logical thoughts were now tangled in a storm of doubt and emotions she had never fully processed before.

"I mean... I've already done the deed with him back there... but that was different! Feelings weren't needed for reproduction!" she muttered to herself, pacing back and forth in the virtual space of her own consciousness.

"Since I'm probably the last one of my race, it was a logical decision, yes, purely logical. It was my duty to ensure the continuation of my kind."

She paused, her golden holographic eyes narrowing as she tried to convince herself further. "This has nothing to do with feelings. There's no way I'd develop feelings for someone so... so imprudent! And reckless! He's constantly throwing himself into danger without a second thought, like some daredevil idiot!"

Her pacing quickened, and her hands balled into fists. "And his big mouth! He can't even stop himself from saying things that infuriate everyone around him! Who would ever fall for someone like that?"

But then, her thoughts took a different turn, much to her own horror.

"Well, he is good-looking," she admitted reluctantly, her pacing slowing. "And his muscles do make him look... undeniably sexy." Her face grew redder as she continued, her voice becoming softer and more hesitant. "And he was pretty good in bed..."

Her eyes widened as she realized where her thoughts had gone, and she frozen in place, covering her virtual face with her hands. "No, no, NO! This has nothing to do with feelings!" she shouted to no one in particular, desperately trying to reset her composure.

"I'm just overanalyzing things. That's all. It's purely biology. Purely!"

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Rex had his own problems. His exhausted body, still radiating heat from the supernova's proximity, plunged into the ocean like a meteor.

The water hissed and boiled on contact, creating an explosion of steam that sent waves rippling outward. The temperature of his body had been pushed to extreme levels despite the shields protecting him, and now, without Cleo's systems online, he was left stranded.

"Well, this is awkward," Rex muttered as he floated aimlessly in the water, slowly sinking deeper with every passing second. He crossed his arms behind his head, looking entirely too relaxed for someone drifting in the middle of the ocean.

"Without the systems, I can't even fly. Guess I'll just sink to the bottom and wait for Cleo to finish her temper tantrum."

The water around him grew darker as he sank deeper, but Rex showed no signs of concern. His energy, now elevated to that of a Tier 4 peak powerhouse, radiated like a beacon in the depths.

The surrounding marine creatures, sensing his overwhelming presence, kept their distance. Even the more aggressive predators dared not approach him.

"Well, at least there's no company down here," Rex mused, his voice echoing faintly in the water. He glanced around, noting the eerie stillness of the ocean. "By the looks of it, that Tier 4 beast I just took down was the big boss around here. Guess the rest of the food chain decided to steer clear of me."

Minutes passed in silence, save for the occasional sound of bubbles rising to the surface. Rex's wings floated limply behind him, his silver aura dim but still present as he waited.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, his systems rebooted. A faint hum filled his ears as Cleo's voice returned, her tone noticeably calmer but still carrying a faint trace of embarrassment.

"Systems restored," she said curtly, trying to sound professional despite the earlier events.

Rex smirked as his HUD flickered back to life. "Oh, finally! And here I thought I was about to become a reef for fish to live on," he said with mock exasperation, giving his body a quick stretch.

He flapped his wings once, propelling himself upward with ease as the water parted around him.

"Don't be dramatic," Cleo replied, her voice sharp but slightly flustered. "You were perfectly fine. I calculated your safety down to the millisecond. There was no danger."

Rex chuckled, his wings glowing faintly as he surged toward the surface. "Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that. You know, it wouldn't have hurt to bring me back sooner, unless you were busy... thinking about something."

Cleo's voice stuttered for a brief moment, the faintest hint of a virtual gasp escaping her. "W-What!? No! I wasn't—! I mean, you—!" She trailed off, clearly flustered, and Rex's grin widened.

"Ah, I see," Rex teased, his tone smug as he broke through the surface of the water with a burst of energy. "It's okay, Cleo. You don't have to explain. I'm sure whatever you were thinking about was very important."

"I wasn't thinking about you, if that's what you're implying!" Cleo snapped, her voice louder now, but the crack in her composure was obvious.

"Of course not," Rex said, laughing softly as he floated above the ocean, shaking water from his wings. "Whatever you say, Cleo. Whatever you say."

Inside his HUD, Mini Cleo reappeared, sitting cross-legged with her hands on her chin, grinning mischievously. "Master, I think you hit a nerve," she said, giggling.

"Shut up, Mini Cleo!" Cleo roared, her voice nearly deafening in Rex's mind.

"Hahaha!" Rex laughed, the sound of his amusement echoing across the calm ocean. "It's good to be back."

While Rex and Cleo were busy having their playful exchange, the allied human forces aboard the carrier were still grappling with the aftermath of the battle. The command bridge was alive with tension as officers scrambled to make sense of what had just occurred.

The massive steam cloud, a lingering consequence of the golden sword's supernova, continued to obscure everything in the area.

"Have there been any reports of the beast or the Angel?" Lilla asked, her sharp eyes fixed on the main screen. The live feed from the recon drone cameras showed nothing but the dense, swirling vapor.

"Negative, Saintess," one of the bridge officers replied, wiping sweat from his brow. "The supernova created too much interference. Our systems are still malfunctioning from the residual energy, and it could take two hours or more to fully restore functionality."

Lilla sighed softly, folding her arms. Her calm, commanding presence didn't falter despite the uncertainty. "Fine," she said, her voice steady. "Order all forces to keep searching the area. We remain on red alert until further notice. I want confirmation, make sure that beast is dead."

"Understood, Saintess," the officer responded, turning back to his console to relay her orders.

As the bridge crew worked diligently to piece together the situation, two familiar figures approached from the rear of the room, Nyra and Lyra, the silver-haired twins. Both looked as composed as ever, their expressions serene despite the chaos around them.

"Lilla, we're going to sleep," Nyra announced casually, her tone betraying no sense of urgency as she began walking toward the exit with Lyra following closely behind.

Lilla turned sharply to face them, her voice laced with disbelief. "Wait, you're leaving? Are you two seriously not worried about Rex?"

Nyra stopped and glanced over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow at the question. "Worried? About him?" she said, her voice calm but firm. "There's nothing to worry about."

Lilla frowned, clearly unconvinced. "How can you be so sure? We haven't seen or heard anything from him since the supernova. What if he's―"

Nyra cut her off with a small, knowing smirk. "He won."

Lilla blinked. "What?"