The silence inside the colony's domes was absolute. No sound went unapproved. No vibration occurred without the Superior Brain's prediction. But inside TXK, a turmoil was growing — and it was uncontrollable.
Since learning of JK-20's pregnancy — or rather, of Kaela Nur — something had been slowly disconnecting him from the logical network that sustained his commander status. The obedience protocol remained intact, but the line between duty and will began to blur. It wasn't desire. It wasn't love. It was something else. Fear, maybe. Or admiration. Or na instinct he didn't know he still had.
If JK-20 was in fact generating a new being, she was breaking all directives of the Superior Colony. Reproducing outside the validated genetic programs was treason. But what if treason was the only chance at freedom?
TXK knew: he had been saved from a dead world. Rebuilt, perhaps, or preserved without consent. His memory was a mosaic of doubt. But one thing was certain: without the central network's protection, he wouldn't survive. He had been designed to function within the mesh. Outside the colony, his existence would extinguish — slow, painful, obsolete. And still, he thought about fleeing with her.
In the Thermal Adjustment Zone, Rian was finishing the calibration of a recirculation valve. His hands were steady, but his thoughts weren't. He saw her passing through the translucent corridor, enveloped in a mist of refrigerated silicon. A glow lit up in his eyes. But JK-20's... never strayed. She continued on without a word, without hesitation. As if he were just another wall.
Rian felt the collapse inside. That wasn't just rejection. It was erasure. As if everything between them — the touches, the intimacy, the fusion of code and flesh — had never existed. He remained there, frozen. The pressure sensor indicated imbalance. But he didn't move.
Hours later, alone, he murmured:
"She's going to pay for this."
JK-20 had already foreseen the risk. Rian had become a problem. Na emotional error in na environment that demanded precision. He knew too much. He knew what had happened in the symbiosis chambers. He knew he had been selected by compatibility. And now he was starting to think he mattered.
She considered taking him again. One more reproductive cycle. More exhaustion. More leakage of vital energy. Maybe, in the end, there would be nothing left of him to eliminate.
But then, TXK confronted her. Not with orders. Not with weapons. But with a question.
"Did you cause his failure?"
Kaela stared at him, unwavering. Her skin's pulse adjusted to the ambient light. Her answer came simply.
"He was weak."
TXK went silent. Logic approved, but something inside him... refused. He returned to the command room with the data in hand. He could report her. It's what any commander would do. But he didn't. His fingers hovered over the central transmitter. Then withdrew.
What was being born between them — or within her — wasn't just a new being. It was the beginning of the end of everything he had sworn to protect.
[...]
TXK stood still before the great data wall, but his eyes saw nothing. The confirmation of JK-20's pregnancy opened a deep crack in the logic that sustained his loyalty to the Superior Brain. Why protect her? Why hesitate? He didn't understand the concept of love, but something in her made commands seem fragile, artificial.
He knew that if he joined her, he wouldn't survive outside the core's structure. His metabolic system depended on specific supplies, on constant maintenance only the colony could provide. He was strong, but conditioned. She, on the other hand, was a variable. Unclassifiable. She had been created by something else, beyond protocol. And now she carried life. A hybrid. A threat.
While TXK sank into silence, the station's corridors continued in their predictable cycles. Rian had returned to the maintenance zone. His vital systems were stabilized, and though the pain of regeneration still echoed in his bones, he was whole. Or almost.
When he saw JK-20 walking through the translucent gallery, he quickened his pace, calling her name in a low voice, almost afraid of being heard.
"JK-20... can you hear me?"
She stopped. Looked at him like someone looking at a malfunctioning device. No emotion.
"Do you need something?" she asked, without slowing her steps.
"I need you," Rian said, with foolish urgency. "I need to understand why you used me... why you discarded me like I was nothing."
She observed him for a moment longer. Her eyes scanned possibilities, coldly.
"You fulfilled your role. You were chosen for compatible genetic traits. It's all registered in the reproduction protocol. There's no error in that."
"You seduced me!" he exploded, grabbing her wrist. "You made it feel real... and then tossed me away. I'm not a device!" She didn't pull away. She just stared at him.
"You're human. And humans are predictable. They desire, they cling, they destroy."
"I'll tell them. Everyone will know what you did!" he shouted, now filled with rage and shame. JK-20 moved away with a slight gesture of disdain. Her plans had advanced. Rian was too unstable to remain conscious.
Days later, a new reproductive cycle began. JK-20 selected Rian again, this time using specific doses of neuroanesthesia and synaptic connection manipulation. His brain didn't withstand the overload. Entire parts of his consciousness were now acting through induction. Rian didn't die, but he was registered as invalid. Unfit to participate in the colony's cycles. Unable to maintain higher functions. He had become a body with basic reflexes. A remnant of memory and flesh. The protocol ordered his disposal outside the station. TXK was forced to cover for JK-20's damage, informing his superior that server Rian had self-annulled.
JK-20 kept him in na isolated chamber, adapted for automatic reproductive extraction cycles. He was a prisoner of his biology. A body still useful. A specter of a man. When TXK discovered Rian's condition, he confronted JK-20 in the composting sector, where machine noise masked conversations.
"He was induced into neural failure. You know what you did."
She didn't respond right away. Her hands remained steady on the controls, as if it were just another routine task.
"He was a risk," she said finally. "Na emotional risk. A danger to the plan."
"And you think you're free? Don't you see what you're becoming?"
"I'm not like you, TXK. And neither are you. The difference is you're still afraid to break free."
TXK stepped back. He couldn't turn her in. Not yet, maybe never. But inside, something was starting to break.
[...]
TXK still tried to make sense of everything he had witnessed. The image of Rian, now reduced to a shadow of himself, haunted him with a discomfort he couldn't explain. Since when did a commander of his rank get affected by this? Since JK-20.
He returned to the surveillance center to understand what she was doing. The internal sensors had picked up her presence in the restricted sector. When he zoomed in, his body froze.
She was naked, her long wet hair coiled over her shoulders and belly. Gently, she stroked her stomach, still discreet, but with a noticeable swell. Her eyes were half-closed, as if in a trance. And then, as if breaking through the barriers of time and protocol, she began to sing.
TXK recognized the melody. It was the same that had surfaced in his memory flashes, in interrupted dreams. A lullaby, from ancient Earth. How did she know it?
He felt a chill climb his connection spine. This wasn't a casual act. She was invading him. Manipulating.
He abruptly disconnected, gasping, returning to his cabin. He needed to neutralize the interference. He needed to think. But inside, something was already collapsing.
Undressing, TXK dove into the regeneration pool, seeking balance in the dense, warm water. His systems began decompressing, his eyes slowly closing. And then, the sound. The seal on the door was broken.
"How did you get in?" he asked, without moving, eyes still closed.
The answer didn't come in words. JK-20's translucent garments slid to the floor like liquid mist. She advanced, releasing a pheromone that invaded the commander's olfactory sensors. His erection was instant, uncontrollable.
She entered the water with mechanical feline grace, spreading her arms along the pool's edge, her body exposed. Her eyes absorbed him. Her tongue appeared discreetly, tracing her lips with a near-primitive provocation. She arched, simulating na orgasm without even being touched. And yet, TXK was struck as if fused to her. The pleasure surged through his core. It wasn't just physical. It was like a discharge that defied protocol.
He moved toward her. His hands gripped her neck, for a moment trying to restore control. But he couldn't. She didn't move. Just watched him.
He pulled her to him, aligning her at his waist with restrained violence. His face plunged between her breasts, inhaling, sucking, like a newborn. She whispered, without making sound. A perfect illusion. TXK penetrated her in a single thrust. It felt like the stars went out. A discharge crossed him with nuclear force.
"With Rian, you destroyed everything..." he murmured. "With me, it'll be different."
She kissed him. Gently, but with certainty.
"Without me, you die, commander." He lingered a few more seconds. Then left the pool, stunned.
"Go. Disappear from my sight."
JK-20 obeyed. She left the cabin, leaving a trail of perfume still active inside him.
In the upper corridors, a translucent silhouette watched. Aura-7, silently, analyzed the interactions. Her internal sensors recorded inconsistencies, behavioral deviations, hormonal intensifications. Something was slipping out of control. If JK-20 didn't reprogram her soon, the colony's AI might become a real threat.