Intergalactic conquest with an AI

Years slipped by, and the two children grew into restless teenagers. Their secret escapes became routine. Every three nights, no matter the risk, they scaled the wall together and wandered the bright chaos of the night market, tasting freedom one stolen moment at a time.

It was during one of those nights, when the air smelled of spiced bread and roasted meat, that Carlos's life began to change.

"Rex! Over here!" Carlos's voice rang out above the crowd. He waved with his free hand, his other arm wrapped tightly around the shoulders of a girl. His grin was wider than Rex had ever seen it, and his eyes glimmered with something new, something Rex could not yet name.

"Hey, meet your sister-in-law!" Carlos shouted the moment Rex came close enough to hear him.

Rex froze with his mouth open, as if the words had landed wrong. "Sister-in-law? What is going on?" he asked, still dazed.

Carlos beamed and puffed his chest out like a kid showing off a prize. "Yes!! She just agreed to be my girlfriend! We are officially an item. You know what I mean? Buy one Carlos and get a Tania for free, two for one." He laughed at his own joke, full of pride.

Tania did not laugh. She stepped forward quickly, her hand flashing like a blade. Her palm met Carlos's cheek with a sharp smack. He stumbled back, and the grin left his face.

"Get me for free!?" She snapped, and from her eyes fire could be seen. "How dare you call me an item! Do not come looking for me again, Carlos." She kicked his foot once more for good measure and then turned away, leaving him blinking and stunned.

"Hey, wait! I did not mean it like that. Hold on! I did not mean to—" Carlos called after her while being fully nervous. "I am sorry! Bro, hold on. I will try to calm the tigress. We will be family soon!"

The words sounded more desperate than sure. Tania walked on like steam rising from a hot pot, indignant and unbothered.

Rex watched her go, the market lights painting her silhouette in gold and smoke. He felt like an outsider looking in on someone else's life. He watched Carlos run after her until their figures were swallowed by the crowd.

Rex turned his back to the noise and drifted away without a clear destination. He let the market fade behind him, following narrow alleys and stalls until the city fell away and he found the space harbor.

The harbor was quieter, full of the sound of night winds and the slow creak of metal. Cranes towered over the docks, half asleep and half alive. Rex climbed up one of them that was under maintenance and found a flat place to sit. The city lights below looked like scattered stars. Above him the real stars were thin and cold.

He hugged his knees and asked the night one of those questions that had been nesting in his chest for a long time. "What really is a family?" he whispered into the wind.

The answer came from below, where Carlos leaned against the base of the crane while breathing hard from the run. "What else could it be?" Carlos said, his voice softer than before.

"It is when you have your own kids and your own troubles. It is when you have people you must look after. One day I will have dozens of kids that will call you uncle!!"

Rex tilted his head. "Carlos, were you not trying to get my "sister-in-law back?" he asked, looking down through the metal lattice.

Carlos scratched his hair while letting out a dry laugh. "Well....hehe..." He paused, and his face lost some of its shine. "I just found out she was not with me for me. She wanted my credits. She wanted the money I do not have." He sighed, and that sigh felt older than his years. He pressed his back to the crane and stared up at Rex like the truth hurt him.

"Why is it so hard to find a human female in this world?" Carlos muttered, more to himself than to Rex.

"They are rare. People buy them less because they think they are useless. Except for some buyers with strange tastes. They pay for whatever suits them. It is hard for males, too." Rex rubbed at the place on his wrist where the slave barcode had been burned into his skin while saying that.

The mark still prickled under his fingers. He could feel the memory of metal and pain, of being counted and priced. "It is not only that," he said quietly. "They do not look for people. They look for workers, for toys, for things to own. A human is more than that, but who sees it?"

Carlos looked up at him, and for a second, the joke again flickered into his eyes, but it was softer now. "Maybe we are lucky," he said. "Maybe we have each other. Maybe that is a kind of family."

Rex thought about the market families with their loud lanterns and full bellies. He thought about the way Tania had moved, quick and proud, not willing to be joked about.

He thought about Carlos running after her like a boy chasing a storm. He thought about the barcode on his wrist, the nights on the wall, and the small, steady promise that had grown between two beat-up kids.

"Maybe..." Rex said at last, letting the word hang between them like a fragile flag. He rested his back against the cold metal and watched the starless city keep its secrets.

Below, the harbor slept. Above, the machines groaned. Between them, two boys sat and tried to understand what it meant to belong.

"Maybe… the day I have children, I will finally understand what it means to have what I have always yearned for," Carlos's voice echoed faintly in Rex's memory, like a candle burning in the dark.

The memory faded, and Rex slowly returned to the present. His chest rose and fell more calmly now, the storm inside him quieting. He reached out with his large hand and rested it gently on Nyra's stomach.

The touch made her flinch slightly. "It's a little cold," she murmured, her lips curving into the smallest of smiles.

Rex pulled his hand back at once, worry flickering in his eyes. His instinct was always to protect, never to cause discomfort. But Nyra caught his wrist softly and pulled his hand back down onto her belly.

"It's all right," she said, her voice being low and tender. "You can touch if you want. You can even… put your ear on it." The last part was whispered so quietly it nearly vanished into the hum of the medical machines.

Rex turned his head to look at her. Nyra's pale face was tinted with the faintest shade of red. Her eyes darted away, and even the tips of her ears flushed bright.

Something warm bloomed in Rex's chest. He lowered his head carefully until his ear rested against her stomach. For a heartbeat, all was still. Then, suddenly, a sharp movement struck against him. Rex blinked and sat up quickly, staring at Nyra with a wide, almost foolish expression.

Nyra's laughter spilled out; it was soft but bright. "Yes… he's an unruly boy. He kicks often. That's why I've been so nauseous lately." Her hand stroked her stomach as if soothing both herself and the child inside.

Rex lingered by her side, his ear returning to her belly every now and then, as if trying to catch another kick, another sign of life. They spoke quietly for hours, trading gentle words.

The fortress outside remained a place of war and planning, but here in this room, the world felt different. Here, there was only the warmth of Nyra's laughter, the softness of her breath, and the quiet promise of a child yet to come.

When Rex noticed her eyelids beginning to droop, he carefully tucked the blanket over her and rose. His heavy steps carried him from the room, leaving behind the steady beeping of the machines and Nyra's peaceful breathing.

He walked through the fortress until he reached the command center, where the walls were alive with streams of tactical data. He sat down heavily on a sofa, leaning back with his arms folded.

"Cleo," he said. His voice was calm, but there was a new weight in it.

Her golden eyes materialized in the air as her holographic form shimmered into existence. "Yes, Rex?" she asked; her tone was curious, steady, and endlessly patient.

Rex rubbed his thumbs together, a nervous habit he rarely allowed anyone to see. He looked up into her luminous gaze. "I've been thinking. It would be better if we found a luxury planet in one of the inner worlds of the megacorporations. Somewhere safe, somewhere with a natural atmosphere..."

"...We could stay there ten, maybe fifteen years. Nyra deserves that. The child deserves it. A life out of constant danger, at least in those first years."

His words carried hesitation, as if he feared she might resist.

Cleo studied him for a moment. Then her voice came clear and warm, like golden light made sound. "Your new plan does not break the old one. We already agreed we must rebuild our forces, manage the planets we have taken, and grow in strength. If we remain quiet for twenty years, it will not hinder us. In truth, it may help us."

The tension in Rex's shoulders loosened, and he exhaled a long, quiet breath. His hand fell across his knees, steady now. For the first time in a long while, he allowed himself to imagine a future that was not only battle and conquest but family as well.