Intergalactic conquest with an AI

He tapped the side of his head. "Mini Cleo, activate the scanners. Let's see if we're missing anything."

"Aye, Master!" Mini Cleo responded with enthusiasm, though her tone carried a faint hint of concern. She quickly switched Rex's thermal vision to scanner mode, causing faint, golden light beams to emit from his enhanced eyes.

The scanner worked by detecting movement, electrical signals, and energy patterns that thermal vision couldn't pick up. As Rex swept his gaze across the corridor, the scanner overlay illuminated his vision in a grid-like pattern.

After a few seconds, something pinged on the scanner.

"There we go," Rex muttered, his eyes narrowing. A faint red blip appeared on the overlay, pulsing softly about twenty meters ahead of him, near the floor.

"Mmm? What's that?" Rex said as he slowly approached the anomaly. His weapon was raised, his finger hovering over the trigger.

"Master, be careful!" Mini Cleo whispered nervously. "That signal looks strange. It's not giving off a standard energy reading. It might be... alive."

"Alive, huh?" Rex muttered under his breath, his grip tightening on the gun.

As he got closer, the anomaly began to take shape. At first, it looked like a small, dark object huddled against the floor, partially obscured by a piece of floating debris. But as Rex stepped closer, his scanner started picking up more details.

It was metallic, with a glossy red exterior that reflected faintly in the wormhole's glow. Small, segmented legs twitched faintly, and the object emitted a faint clicking sound, like tiny gears shifting inside its body.

Rex stopped dead in his tracks, his heart rate spiking slightly.

"What the hell is that?" he said quietly, his eyes narrowing as he focused on the strange creature.

The red metallic spiderbot suddenly twitched, its glowing green eyes flickering to life as if sensing his presence.

"Master, it's moving!" Mini Cleo squealed, her tiny hands gripping Rex's shoulder.

"Yeah, no kidding," Rex muttered, taking a step back and aiming his weapon at the bot.

The spiderbot tilted its head toward him, its movements unnervingly precise and deliberate. For a moment, it simply stared at him, the eerie glow of its eyes reflecting off its glossy red shell.

Then, without warning, it scuttled sideways, disappearing into the shadows with a burst of speed that caught Rex completely off guard.

"Shit, that thing's fast!" Rex said, his scanner struggling to keep up with the bot as it darted out of view.

"Master, it's heading toward the engine bay!" Mini Cleo shouted, her voice laced with panic.

Rex's eyes widened. "The engine bay?!"

"Yes! That's where the main oxygen generator is located! If it does something to the systems there, we're screwed!"

"Of course it is," Rex grumbled, already breaking into a sprint. "Alright, Mini Cleo, let's move. Patch me into Cleo; she needs to know we've got company."

"On it, Master!" Mini Cleo said, her tiny form flickering as she activated the communications link.

Rex didn't wait for a response. His focus was locked on the corridor ahead as he chased after the mysterious spider-bot, his mind racing. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't random; it was targeting the ship's critical systems with precision.

And if Rex didn't stop it, they'd all be in serious trouble.

"How much longer until we reach the medical bay?" She asked, her voice carrying a tinge of impatience. She was now running along the rooftop of the corridors, her lithe form moving with an eerie fluidity that could make anyone who saw her mistake her for a vengeful spirit from a horror movie.

"Approximately 30 imperial minutes, assuming nothing slows us down," Cleo replied, her tone neutral as usual. She was still carrying Sharon effortlessly in her arms, as though the woman weighed no more than a feather.

"It could be faster if the elevators were functional, but since there's no energy, we'll have to take the stairs."

Ys groaned, flipping effortlessly over a piece of floating debris. "Stairs? Seriously? This ship is a luxury cruiser, not a dungeon. It should have redundancies for this kind of situation!"

Cleo glanced up at her briefly. "It does," she said. "That's the problem. Whatever caused this blackout bypassed or destroyed those redundancies. This isn't just an accident."

Before Ys could respond, Cleo's earring began to blink softly with a white light.

"Miss Cleo," Sharon said, noticing the blinking light while peeking nervously over Cleo's shoulder. "Your earring is flashing."

Cleo turned her head slightly toward Sharon. "Oh, can you press the back of it for me, please? It's a communicator. I can't activate it myself while holding you."

"Sure," Sharon replied, reaching up and feeling for the small button on the back of Cleo's earring. After a brief pause, she found it and gave it a gentle press.

"Master!" Mini Cleo said cheerfully, her tiny form bouncing on Rex's head as if she were riding a mechanical bull. "The communications link is live!"

"Good job, Mini Cleo," Rex said, adjusting his position as he launched himself off another corridor wall. Thanks to the modified gravity on his boots, he was able to leap great distances with minimal effort, his movements smooth and precise despite the low-gravity environment.

"Big Cleo, are you there?" Rex called out through the link, his voice echoing faintly in Cleo's mind.

"I hear you, Rex," Cleo's calm voice responded directly into his thoughts, courtesy of the communicator.

"Listen up," Rex said, his tone serious. "I detected a small metallic spider-like creature heading toward the engine bay. It's fast, faster than anything I've seen before, and I'm following it now. But I need you girls to go wake up Carlos. If the oxygen generator goes offline, he's toast."

Cleo processed the information quickly, her expression unchanging even as Sharon looked at her with concern.

"Understood," Cleo replied. "I'll send Ys to retrieve Carlos while I continue to the medical bay to secure oxygen for Sharon and possibly for Carlos as well."

"Thanks, beautiful," Rex said, a faint smile in his voice. "Take care out there, and if anything weird happens, keep me updated."

"Understood," Cleo said curtly before disconnecting the call.

Turning her focus to Ys, Cleo raised her voice slightly to get her companion's attention. "Ys, change course. Rex needs you to head to Carlos's room immediately. I'll handle the medical bay. Once you've secured Carlos, regroup with me there."

Ys slowed slightly, flipping around mid-run with a pout. "Since my darling said it, I'll do it," she said with a mischievous grin. Then, without wasting another second, she altered her trajectory, accelerating toward the dormitory section at full speed.

Her movements, combined with her faintly glowing eyes and the way her body clung to the ceiling, made her look more like a demonic entity than a person.

Cleo watched her disappear down the dark corridor, her golden eyes briefly narrowing. "That girl will scare half the ship to death one day," she muttered before picking up her pace toward the medical bay.

Meanwhile, Carlos stirred awake as a faint knocking sound echoed through his room. At first, he ignored it, turning over with a groan, but the noise persisted, louder and more insistent this time.

"Mmm… what? Who could that be?" Carlos mumbled, still groggy as he rubbed his bald head. His thoughts were sluggish, but he instinctively reached for his arm device to check for any messages.

"Huh," he muttered, noticing there were no missed calls or notifications. "Weird. It's not like Rex or the girls to just knock without calling first."

Carlos sat up, blinking groggily in the pitch-black room. "Wait... why is it so dark in here? I'm sure I went to sleep with the TV on," he said, frowning. He reached over and flicked the light switch next to his bed, but nothing happened.

"No lights either? Damn, don't tell me there's a power outage," he grumbled, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. The knocking continued, steady and rhythmic, as though whoever was outside had infinite patience.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming! Stop knocking, geez!" Carlos shouted, his voice echoing faintly in the dark room.

Years of living in the slums of a commercial city had taught Carlos to always stay on the side of caution. As he shuffled toward the door, he stopped just short of it and leaned down to peer through the small peephole embedded in the metal frame.

His instincts, honed by years of surviving in dangerous situations, told him something wasn't right.

Looking through the peephole, Carlos squinted into the corridor outside. It was dark, too dark to make out anything clearly. But there was movement. A faint shimmer of something metallic caught his eye, accompanied by a soft clicking sound that sent a chill down his spine.

"What the hell..." Carlos muttered, his voice low as he strained to see more.

The knocking suddenly stopped.

Carlos froze, his heart pounding in his chest. He couldn't see anything through the peephole now, just empty darkness. But the clicking sound was still there, faint but growing louder, as though whatever was outside was moving closer to the door.

Carlos took a cautious step back, his instincts screaming at him to stay quiet. He glanced around the dark room, his eyes searching for something he could use as a weapon.

"Okay, Carlos," he whispered to himself, his voice barely audible. "Stay calm. You've been in worse situations before. Just... figure out what's out there before you do anything stupid."

He tightened his fists, his breathing steadying as he prepared himself for whatever was on the other side of the door.