Razors Edge: Sci Fi Progression

Peyton

Mac took us into the docking station around Sigma-Seven Prime and expertly guided us in. Then we left Lia in charge and took off to meet Admiral Kuba.

"Finally," Sorrel asked linking my arm in hers. "A station that isn't under attack."

"Or falling apart," Lev added.

"I hope they have some good food," Mac said. "And a hot shower."

"That sounds great," I agreed and let out a long breath.

"Nervous?" Sorrel asked.

"Yes," I said. "This is Ashley's father."

"He's a good man," Sorrel replied. "And we just delivered everything they've being waiting for. Hold your head high."

"First time meeting an Admiral," Mac said and did his best to straighten his uniform.

Sorrel leaned into him. "You're nervous too?"

The docking tubes connected, and the air was filling while we waited.

"His record is outstanding," Mac said. "Anyone not nervous is weird."

Sorrel looked to Lev. "You nervous?"

Lev shook his head. "Nope."

"See, weird," Mac added.

Lev just laughed. "I was nervous meeting your parents. An Admiral is high up, but no one beats ONI for the fear factor."

"That just makes you even weirder," Mac chuckled.

We could see Admiral Kuba stood with three other figures as the tube cycled through to unlock. He was the easiest to spot waiting for us in full uniform.

<<He looks nervous too,>> Lia said.

He did, he was pacing back and forth the three with him just watching on. Eventually the younger woman reached out and placed a hand on his arm and the Admiral stopped pacing.

"He's been waiting for this moment," Sorrel said. "For proof that everything Ashley was working on actually works."

The clunk as the tube opened made me jump, and Sorrel squeezed my arm.

Admiral Kuba stepped forwards and we did the same, meeting in the middle. "Captain Tachim," Kuba said, moving to shake my hand. His grip was firm almost crushing mine, but when I made to pull back I noted tears in his eyes. "We all watched the tactical feeds Twelve thousand ships moving in perfect harmony, it was almost like they were dancing." He squeezed my hand even tighter. "You didn't just bring us Ashley's research, you proved to us that it works, that AI can do the almost impossible. Everything we've all sacrificed for. You made it real."

His words meant everything. We had done it. Actually done it.

"Admiral," I replied my voice cracking, "It's good to finally meet you."

"Likewise. Forgive me," he continued. "I'm not usually this unprofessional. Seeing what you did out there. For the first time in months my people are smiling." He waved to the people flanking him. "Let me introduce my senior staff. Vice Admiral Mitch Tarkov, and Rear Admiral Ali Raven."

Tarkov stepped forward, his handshake just as strong as the Admiral's. "Captain, that was some impressive flying out there."

"It wasn't me, just my name on the pink slip."

Raven's grip was much lighter but her eyes were sharp, assessing everything about me. "Captain Tachim. Commander Taves. Master Chief Vaytas and Dr. Kosta." She did pause when she got to Nyx. I thought she might have backed off, but instead she held her hand out. He looked to Lev, and he nodded to him. Nyx took her hand in his and they shook. "It is my honor to meet you," she said. "Thank you for what you did out there. Those extraction platforms would have wiped out every manned ship we had left."

She'd done her homework

"Let's get us all somewhere more secure," Kuba said, gesturing down the corridor. "We've set up a briefing room with refreshments. We have a lot to go over and a lot of questions."

"As do we," I said.

The Admiral's staff flanked either side of us and we followed behind him, moving deeper into the station. The corridors were busy, but they were filled with energy. Repair teams hauling equipment called out cheery greetings instead of rusing past in panic. . This was a place that had found hope again, just like we all had.

<<Security checkpoints are every fifty meters,>> Lia reported for me. <<Biometric scanners, and neural activity monitors. They're paranoid.>>

<<Can you blame them?>>

<<Not at all. One lapse in judgement here could be disastrous.>>

<<Infiltrators?>>

<<It could still happen, it did on the Faulkner.>>

I shivered. <<Sucks. But you're right.>>

We passed through three checkpoints, and each one I passed I worried for Lia.

<<They got nothing on me,>> she said. <<To them we're just the regular kind of Captain.>>

<<Your doing?>>

<<Nyx,>> she sighed, and I felt it.

<<Still not doing so great?>>

<<The manufacturing facilities are taking up the remaining spoons I have.>>

<<Spoons?>> I laughed and Tarkov gave me a side eyed glance.

<<Old-->>

<<Earth saying. I know, just never heard you use it.>>

We got to one large set of doors, and Kuba stepped to use his biometrics and an authorization code. Three separate locks cycled in, I heard each of them, then we stepped into one of the most secure rooms I'd ever seen. The room beyond was small, windowless, and lined with signal dampening panels. Kuba's boots outside had clipped the deck, but in here as he moved to the table at the center of the room, there was nothing. It was dead silence.

The doors sealed behind us and made the room around me wobble. I tapped the side of my head and blew air out of my nose.

"Finding the pressure off?" Tarkov asked.

"We don't need it to be that secure," Kuba said and put his hand to the table. The walls shimmered and my ears popped, instant relief.

Only then did Kuba's command demeaner crack slightly. "Ashley's chip. You have it?"

I reached into my uniform and found the chip, attached to a chain around my neck. I pulled it out and off the chain. When I held it out to him, he moved to take it, but I held onto it, and placed my other hand over his. I then stepped in closer to him. "Ashley left you a message," I whispered, hoping the others didn't hear my exact words. "Take it, for when you're alone."

Kuba put his other hand atop of mine. "I'm rarely alone," he said, his voice cracking slightly, "Have you?"

I shook my head. "It's for you only," I said. "Like mine was."

"I have so much I want to say to her." He took it from me, his hands shaking slightly as he pocketed the chip. When he looked up again, his eyes were wet but he was smiling. "Thank you, Captain. For bringing her home to me. For proving her work wasn't in vain."

"Her research, her sacrifice…it's the reason we're standing here. The reason any of us survived, from the academy right through. She saved us," I said.

Kuba nodded, composing himself. "Then let's make sure we honor that. Let me show you what we've built with the pieces she left us."

The room came alive with holographic displays as Kuba gestured. Fleet dispositions, production facilities, tactical networks—all bearing the unmistakable marks of Ashley's design philosophy.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Sadly that's not everything, we managed lots of field testing on our run from Sigma-Seven."

"The weapons modifications you've sent us specs on from Commissioner Ranger are worrying." Kuba said.

Raven's expression sharpened. "Specs?"

"Reach," Lev said. "They did everything they could to bypass any protection levels we'd accomplished."

"Ranger has changed the original weapons parameters by melding his mind with several others," I informed them. Together and with Doctor Hinada they've managed to do use accurate pinpoint targeting instead of blanket consciousness harvesting."

"Between his version of the tech and the Kathuri we're in trouble," Tarkov admitted.

Nyx coughed, "If I may, Admiral."

The Admiral nodded. "Go ahead."

"Ranger's enhanced targeting if in Braker hands requires predictive fleet positioning. I can model his expected target priorities and pre-emptively adjust formations. Human command makes strategic decisions, I execute tactical responses at machine speed."

<<Do you hear what he's saying>>

"Ranger has made Braker's even more dangerous, what if they get this system wide before we can implement the protection protocol.?"

I didn't have an answer to that. Not yet. "There's more."

<<They do need to know,>> Lia prodded me. <<The Admiral especially. He's been building with incomplete data for six months.>>

"Our protection levels work, but they do cost in preparation and production," I said.

"How much?"

"Resources per nanite does, it would cost like any high-end medical emergency," They're not just medical grade nanites, they're more."

"Each initial dose cost isn't that expensive," Sorrel said. "But with field testing, we ran at about 1k per shot, add in the second stage dose after alterations, at 400, the third does for maintenance, 200."

"For a ship even with the lowest crew counts, we're talking 300k each."

Tarkov whistled.

"That's some funding," I said.

"War is expensive," Kuba said. "We've lost billions already in ships and personnel. This is nothing."

I was nodding, I struggled to think of even Ring 14's cost, or Kepler. The mind boggled with projects that size.

<<Tell them the rest," Lia said.

"There's more," I said, and all eyes were on me. "Some of our crew members are different after the nanite injection and the extraction attempt," I said carefully. "Not dramatically, but enough that we need to monitor. Better focus and faster processing of information."

"We think partial exposure to the extraction wave," Sorrel added. "Combined with the upgrades for the protection protocols created some kind of adaptive response."

"Neural plasticity under adversarial conditions," Kuba said, his expression shifted to Nyx. "Ashley theorized about defensive adaptation in her early papers around AI construction. The brain reinforcing pathways that were being attacked."

"It's subtle," Sorrel said. "We just wanted you to be aware."

Tarkov's expression stayed blank, I couldn't say neutral, but dubious, yes. "How many of your crew are affected?"

"Eighteen survived partial extraction," Sorrel confirmed. "All showing minor improvements in stress response. Nothing dramatic, but in combat situations, small advantages matter."

"The question is whether it's replicable," Raven said. "Or if it's a side effect unique to your specific circumstances, it could be even down to where you were in space. The food or even the coffee you've been drinking"

<<She's right to be question things,>> Lia observed. <<We don't understand the any of it well enough to predict any outcome as yet.>>

"You're right, we just don't know enough," I admitted. "Which is why we need access to the rest of your research facilities and medical expertise." I paused, then added, "Lia's already done a lot of ground work. She's been busy."

Kuba's eyebrows rose. "Already?"

"The facilities were in rough shape," Lia's voice echoed through the room and Tarkov physically flinched. "Six months of emergency production without proper AI coordination. I've spent the last few hours running repairs and optimizations.

Lia brought up a detailed tactical display showing the fleet-wide protection priorities. The holographic table between us lit up with data:

"Six hours ago, we were on the brink of collapse," Kuba said. "Now? Now we have a chance."

"You do," Lia said, her head bobbing. "Sigma-Seven is remarkable, the manufacturing infrastructure there's nothing like it throughout the whole of the coalition."

"Ashley designed the systems to scale with her vision of AI." The Admiral was still smiling. "To coordinate fully without hesitation."

"I have done that, it was seamless. Perfect. With Major Kuba's research and the updates we brought, I can have enhanced nanite production online in hours, not days."

Kuba's expression shifted. "Hours?"

"Four hours for full integration," Lia confirmed. "And we're already ahead of schedule. Current output is eight hundred forty basic protection doses an hour. By this time tomorrow, we'll be producing enhanced protection at nearly three thousand an hour."

"That's..." Tarkov leaned forward, tapping a finger on the side of his chair. "That means command staff will have protection in under a day. Full flagship crews in two days. We can protect all our tactical decision-makers before the week is out."

"Exactly," Lia said.

"Admiral, with your permission," Nyx said. "I'd like to begin coordinating your fleet's tactical networks immediately. The unmanned vessels are impressive, but they're operating at perhaps sixty percent efficiency without me being fully integrated."

"Sixty percent won that battle out there," Raven pointed out.

"Imagine what a hundred percent will do," Nyx's grin widened.

Kuba studied the displays. His finger tracing down the production timelines, the fleet coordination protocols, the new consciousness protection deployment schedule. It truly was coming together for him, anything was possible.

Mac had been quiet, but now he spoke up. "Admiral, the real advantage isn't just the protection. It's having Lia and Nyx coordinate your manufacturing, your fleet logistics, your tactical systems. You've been running this operation with human-only coordination for six months. We just showed you what's possible with integrated AI support. Imagine that across your entire operation."

"Commander Taves is correct," Lia said. "My analysis of your current fleet operations reveals significant inefficiencies that AI coordination could resolve. Supply chain optimization, tactical communication networks, damage control coordination, and consciousness protection deployment can all be enhanced through integrated AI management. Through Nyx."

Kuba studied the holographic displays Nyx was generating alongside Lia's—production schedules, fleet protection priorities, tactical coordination networks. "You want Nyx to coordinate our entire operation."

Nyx lowered his head respectfully. "With your permission, Admiral. Final decisions remain with human command authority. However, I can provide real-time optimization, predictive analysis, and coordination at speeds impossible for human-only systems. Major Kuba designed everything with this integration in mind."

"My daughter built systems for humans and AIs to work together," Kuba said, something like wonder in his voice. "Not humans controlling AIs, or AIs replacing humans. True cooperation."

"That's what's kept us alive," I said simply. "Lia and Nyx don't make our decisions. They make our decisions better."

Kuba sat down slowly. Not collapsing from exhaustion but taking a moment to process everything. Sorrel moved to his side, as did Raven. The older man looked to his friend first. "I had not expected this to feel so raw... so possible."

"James," Raven put a hand on his. "We understand."

She looked to me, and I nodded. "There's upgrades in here too," I said, gesturing to the chip. "The Faulkner was the original prototype you built, but these are much better, much stronger. Lia and Nyx can implement all these changes."

"That sounds excellent," he said, and for the first time since we'd met him, he was smiling. Really smiling.

I studied his fleet displays. The ship configurations clearly bore Ashley's design philosophy integrated at the structural level. "These ships are something else. You've accomplished more with incomplete specifications than most engineers could manage with full documentation." It wasn't a lie.

"I had six months of determination driving me. Every ship we built, every system we modified, it was all an attempt to make her death mean something." His voice carried the weight of accumulated grief. "But now, seeing it come together, seeing it work—she'd be proud of this. Of all of us."

Raven's lip trembled but she was smiling through her tears. "I trained with her. I wanted deployment while she stayed in research."

"Only through the Admiral," Tarkov said. "But even with only that, I feel like I knew her."

"She lives on in this," I said, gesturing to the displays showing her integrated systems. "In every ship you've built, every system that coordinates with AI, every life these nanites will save. This is her legacy. And today, we're making it real."

"I like that." Kuba smiled and held his hand out to me again. "There's many qualities to you, Captain Tachim."

"Please," I said, taking his hand. "Call me Peyton."

"James," he said, shaking much softer this time. "I've spent the last six months asking myself if her sacrifice was worth it. If anything could be worth losing her." He looked at me directly. "But watching what you've brought here. Seeing what her work has enabled. Understanding that her death protected technology that might save billions..." His voice grew stronger as did his handshake. "She died protecting something that will change this war. That's not tragedy—that's victory."

When he let go of my hand it felt cold, but his strength had seeped into me. Thinking about her hurt, hearing her name hurt, but now there was much more to it than that, than of grief. There was hope.

"She spoke very highly of you and her brother," I said carefully. "Lia carries her memories, her thoughts. Ashley wanted you to know that everything you'd taught her about people, about AI was worth it."

The admiral was quiet, then he nodded. "Thank you. Now we finish what she started," Kuba said firmly. "Together."

"Admiral," I said. "You've seen what AI-controlled unmanned vessels can do. That's a strategic capability Brakers clearly hadn't accounted for and though Ranger's been testing consciousness extraction against unprotected populations for months. He has no data on how to counter what we just demonstrated."

"Because it's never been done before," Kuba realized. "In our entire history of warfare, no one has coordinated with unmanned fleets. Ashley created something completely unprecedented."

"And died protecting it so you could complete your mission," I said.

Kuba's composure cracked slightly, tears visible on his weathered face. "My daughter died for this—"

"She died knowing it was protected, that we'd take it only to you. That you'd been building the fleet she envisioned. That you'd prove AIs should be protected, not exploited." I paused. "Lia has been helping us survive specifically because Ashley believed we—all of us—would finish her work."

Kuba's tears slid down his face. He didn't wipe them away. There was no need for it, for shame, grief was something we both had, that we both understood.

"She is beautiful," Kuba said quietly, studying it.

"We've done our part," I said quietly. "We brought you everything Ashley died to protect. We proved it works in combat. Now it's your turn to take what we've given you and save the frontlines, the Coalition."

Kuba straightened, and I saw the Admiral fully return, not the grieving father, but the commander who'd held Sigma-Seven against impossible odds. "You've right. You've given us the tools. We'll finish the job." There was a finality to his words. "You and your crew have earned the three R's rest, refit, and recognition. We'll take it from here."

The weight finally lifted off my shoulders, and I looked to my team. Sorrel closed her eyes just for a moment, and I let out a breath.

We'd done it.