Intergalactic conquest with an AI

The elevator hummed softly as it rose. Several long minutes passed before it stopped. Finally, Rex stepped out into Cleo's private command room. The moment he entered, the pull of gravity vanished.

The room was completely gravity-neutral, filled with floating data screens, shimmering lights, and walls that seemed alive with flowing code. He floated forward until he saw her.

Cleo was already there, calmly drifting in the air like a queen in her celestial throne room. Her long hair moved gently around her in the weightlessness, her eyes sharp and focused, yet unreadable. She turned slightly when Rex entered, silently acknowledging him with her presence.

Rex floated closer, stopping just inches from her. He looked straight into her eyes, his own filled with a quiet storm of questions and unresolved pain.

"Cleo," he said quietly, "I want you to tell me the truth, no more games. Did your father… do something to me?"

His voice didn't tremble, but there was weight in every word, like an echo of doubt, of confusion, and perhaps even fear. Something inside him had been gnawing for a long time, and now it had finally surfaced.

Cleo stared at him, her expression flawless, cold, and unreadable like a sculpted doll. Her lips didn't move. Her eyes didn't blink. Time stretched in the silence between them.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she spoke, not looking him in the eye; her tone remained flat and measured.

"…Why do you ask?"

Rex let out a long, tired sigh and slowly closed his eyes, as if trying to escape from the weight inside his chest.

"I don't even know how to explain it," he said quietly, his voice trembling with confusion. "Lately… I feel like I'm not myself anymore. Just a few minutes ago, I saw a child burned, suffering... and I felt absolutely nothing."

His hands clenched into fists as he opened his eyes, full of turmoil. "The only thing I could think about was how it was a waste… a waste of a future worker. Not a life lost. Just… labor lost."

He suddenly grabbed Cleo by the shoulders, his voice rising with desperation. "What the hell is wrong with me!?"

Cleo stared at him; her face remained calm and unreadable as always. Her glowing eyes met his with quiet steadiness. "There is nothing wrong with you, Rex," she said gently.

"But… the truth is, during your last encounter with the Kaelzar emperor, he unlocked a set of ancient weapons inside you. One of those weapons, however, comes with... complications."

Cleo paused, thinking for a moment. She had planned to keep part of the truth hidden to protect him or maybe to protect herself. But then she looked into his eyes, saw the storm of confusion and hurt swirling inside them, and realized that lying to him now would cost her his trust forever.

With a quiet breath, she continued. "He also... altered your emotional regulation. He increased the control systems within your mind to stop your emotions from overwhelming you... especially after the breakdown you had. It was meant to stabilize you while your mind adjusts to the new enhancements."

Rex stepped back slightly, his expression shifting from anger to something like fear. "Wait… Are you telling me he brainwashed me? Made me into some kind of machine?"

"No," Cleo said softly, her tone firm but not unkind. "It's not like brainwashing. It doesn't control your thoughts. It simply suppresses the extremes and makes you think colder and clearer. Like a true Kaelzar warrior would. It helps you stay calm, focused… ruthless, if needed."

Her eyes met his again, more searching now. "Once your body and mind fully adapt to the new weapon systems, I can remove it. But if I do it too soon, your mind could collapse from the pressure. The pain, the confusion... it could break you."

"Then remove it now," Rex said firmly, stepping forward, eyes locked onto hers. "I don't care. I want to feel again. I want to be me again."

Cleo didn't blink. "Is dangerous," she said, her voice steady as stone.

"..."

A heavy silence fell between them.

No words were spoken for long, tense minutes. The air felt thick with unspoken fear, trust, and something else neither of them dared to name.

Their eyes remained locked, both of them refusing to back down, both silently testing the boundaries of loyalty, of pain, of what it means to still be human… or something more.

Thankfully for Cleo, the silence between her and Rex didn't last much longer. It was broken by the crisp, emotionless voice of the young AI.

[Reporting to Creator: the hostile fleet is beginning to move. Orders?] The voice, cold and mechanical, echoed through the chamber like a gentle buzz cutting through the tension. It pulled Rex and Cleo out of their standoff in an instant.

Cleo turned her head slightly, her expression regaining its usual calm. She raised her hand, and a shimmering holo-screen appeared in front of her, displaying real-time footage of the enemy fleet shifting into motion far beyond the atmosphere.

"Hold your position. We wait," she said clearly. "Redirect twenty percent of our energy output toward the shield systems. Let's see what they're planning before we commit to anything."

[Acknowledged.]

A few quiet moments passed before the young AI's voice returned, now tinged with a trace of urgency.

[Multiple wormhole signatures detected. Enemy fleet is entering transition.]

Cleo nodded, her eyes narrowing as she watched the enemy ships begin to shimmer and vanish, one by one, into swirling blue vortexes. "Good," she said calmly. "Looks like they've decided to retreat. That gives us a valuable window to reinforce our position and strengthen our forces."

Rex, who had floated silently beside her during the exchange, finally spoke up. "What are the odds they'll come back with something worse? Like… an extermination fleet?"

Cleo didn't hesitate. "Thirty percent chance," she said, conjuring several more holo-screens around her. Tactical readouts, enemy movement predictions, energy levels, and dozens of data streams flowed around her in midair.

"The other seventy percent? They'll probably just continue collecting taxes from weaker colonies and move on. From their point of view, they only lost a backwater planet in the outer rim. Not worth the trouble to reclaim."

As she spoke, more figures appeared around them, small forms materializing in flashes of blue light. At first, Rex assumed they were standard holo-clones that Cleo's usual remote interfaces used to process data and issue orders. But these looked… different.

He blinked in surprise.

Instead of the usual generic, glowing outlines, each projection now resembled a miniature version of Cleo herself, like tiny chibi-style clones, barely up to his knees.

They were identical to her in form but with exaggerated proportions like big eyes, little feet, and slightly over-the-top expressions as they zipped about managing controls and calculating numbers.

One of them floated by holding a data pad twice her size, puffing her cheeks in concentration. Another was juggling six holoscreens at once, sticking her tongue out slightly as she worked.

Rex stared for a moment, stunned. Then he raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly.

"…Really?" he said, crossing his arms. "Chibi Cleos?"

Cleo didn't even glance at him. "Their compact size allows for more screen space and faster task execution," she replied matter-of-factly. "Also, the no Kaelzar crew finds them less intimidating."

Rex couldn't help but chuckle. "I mean… fair. They're oddly adorable."

One of the chibi Cleos turned, gave him a stern little salute, and went back to her work with a dramatic spin.

Even in the middle of high-tension fleet movements and war calculations, Rex found himself relaxing just a bit. Somehow, the little Cleo's made the vast, cold command room feel just a touch warmer.

"So?" Rex asked, his voice calm but curious as he floated beside Cleo, watching her work.

"So what?" Cleo replied without missing a beat, her fingers still dancing across the glowing holographic interface.

"You know what I mean," Rex said while tilting his head slightly. "Who gave you the idea to use that kind of design? I've known you long enough to be sure this isn't your usual style."

Cleo paused, just for a second, and then let out a soft sigh, almost as if she'd been caught doing something she wasn't ready to admit. "It was Lyra's idea," she finally confessed.

"She's been constantly asking me to teach her how I make holograms. She said this design would be cuter and more fun to look at. She kept insisting I try it… so I gave in."

As she spoke, the miniature versions of Cleo, those chibi-like holographic assistants, continued working around them. They were efficient, cheerful-looking, and undeniably adorable, a strange contrast to the cold seriousness Cleo usually embodied.

"Lyra, huh..." Rex said softly, almost like he was talking to himself. His eyes narrowed slightly as a thought occurred to him. "That's kind of unusual, though. Since when do you spend time with the twins?"

This time, Cleo froze. A tiny flicker of emotion crossed her face, just the smallest twitch but for someone like her, that was practically a shout. She slowly stopped typing and lowered her head a little, not looking at Rex like she usually would.

"I... don't know," she murmured. Her voice was quieter now, more uncertain, like she wasn't sure how to explain what she was feeling.

But Rex wasn't the kind of person to ignore moments like these. He put the pieces together quickly, his tone softening. "You're feeling guilty about what happened on the Blood Clan planet... aren't you?"

The moment those words left his lips, Cleo's body gave a slight jolt, as if they had hit something deep inside her. She didn't speak right away. Instead, she just gave a small nod, her eyes still fixed on the holographic display.