The message came at 0600 hours.
I was curled up on my cushion, halfway between sleep and waking, when I felt Rayna's shock spike through our bond like an electric jolt.
*Rayna? What's wrong?*
She was standing by her terminal, staring at a holographic message that floated in the air. Even from across the room, I could see the official seal, the void-crossed star of the Astryx Dominion.
"My father wants to see us," she said quietly. "Both of us. In his ready room. Immediately."
*That doesn't sound good.*
"No," she agreed. "It doesn't."
Twenty minutes later, we stood outside the Admiral's ready room on the command deck. This was the heart of the ship, where decisions that affected entire star systems were made. The corridors here were different from the rest of the vessel: darker, more austere, with guards stationed at regular intervals.
Each guard we passed tracked us with professional wariness, their eyes lingering on me with obvious suspicion.
*They really don't like me being up here.*
"They don't know what you are," Rayna murmured. "That makes them nervous."
*Fair enough. I make me nervous sometimes.*
The ready room doors were massive, reinforced alloy designed to withstand orbital bombardment. They slid open silently at our approach, revealing a space that was both office and war room.
Admiral Kieran Azuriel stood with his back to us, studying a massive holographic star map that dominated one wall. Ship positions, fleet movements, and tactical data scrolled past in streams of light.
"Close the door," he said without turning.
Rayna obeyed, and the heavy doors sealed behind us with an ominous finality.
[ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN: COMPLETE]
[ROOM IS MAGNETICALLY SHIELDED]
[ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE: BLOCKED]
[PRIVACY LEVEL: MAXIMUM]
Whatever this is about, he doesn't want anyone else hearing it.
The Admiral finally turned to face us. He looked tired, not physically exhausted, but worn down by the weight of command. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and new lines creased his forehead.
"Rayna," he acknowledged. Then his gaze dropped to me. "Xiane."
He used my name. That's... unexpected.
"Father," Rayna said carefully. "You wanted to see us?"
"I did." He moved to his desk, a utilitarian surface covered in datapads and tactical displays. "We need to discuss your companion."
Here it comes, I thought. The ultimatum. The demand to get rid of me.
But what the Admiral said next caught us both completely off guard.
"How much do you know about the Nyxion Project?"
Silence crashed through the room like a physical force.
Rayna's shock echoed through our bond, mixing with my own sudden spike of adrenaline.
He knows. Oh shit, he knows what I am.
"Father, I—" Rayna started, but he raised a hand.
"I'm not asking if you know what he is," the Admiral said. "I'm asking how much detail you've been given. Did Dr. Ysmene tell you everything?"
Rayna swallowed hard. "She told me Xiane is likely a Nyxion. A bio-weapon from the Primordial Era. One of the last of his kind."
"And you kept him anyway," the Admiral stated flatly.
"He bonded with me," Rayna replied, her voice steady despite the tension. "The soul imprint was complete before I understood what he was. By then, it was too late to—"
"I know," her father interrupted. "I received Dr. Ysmene's reports. All of them, including the classified ones." He looked directly at me. "I know what you did in bio-containment. I know about your feeding requirements. I know about your evolution potential."
Of course he does. He's the Grand Admiral. Nothing happens on this ship without his knowledge.
"So why haven't you had him removed?" Rayna asked, and I heard the challenge in her voice. "If you know what he is, why let him stay?"
The Admiral was quiet for a long moment. Then he did something I didn't expect, he sat down, gesturing for Rayna to do the same.
"Because," he said heavily, "I've seen what Nyxions can do. And I know what they were designed for."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
"Fifty-three years ago," the Admiral continued, "I was a Lieutenant Commander assigned to a deep-space reconnaissance mission. We were investigating a dead world in the Abyss Sector, a planet that had been glassed during the Void Wars."
He pulled up a holographic image, a barren world of black glass and twisted ruins.
"We found a facility. Underground, shielded, mostly intact. Inside were stasis chambers. Hundreds of them." His expression darkened. "Most were empty. Destroyed. But three still had power."
Three Nyxions, I realized.
"They'd been in stasis for over forty thousand years," the Admiral said. "When our science team activated the chambers, the creatures inside were... aggressive. Feral. They hadn't bonded with anyone, hadn't imprinted. They were just weapons without purpose."
"What happened to them?" Rayna asked quietly.
"They killed seventeen people before we managed to contain them," her father replied bluntly. "Then they evolved. Rapidly. By the time we got them into reinforced holding cells, they'd adapted to resist our weapons, our energy fields, everything we threw at them."
He looked at me again, and I saw something in his eyes I hadn't expected: respect mixed with wariness.
"It took orbital bombardment to finally kill them. We glassed the entire facility to make sure nothing survived."
Jesus. That's what un-bonded Nyxions become? Murder machines?
"But you," the Admiral continued, focusing on me, "are different. You imprinted on Rayna immediately. You're not feral. You're... aware. Intelligent. Dr. Ysmene believes the soul bond fundamentally altered your base programming."
She's right. The bond made me... human. More human than weapon.
"So I'll ask you directly, creature," the Admiral said, leaning forward. "What are your intentions toward my daughter?"
The question hung in the air like a blade.
Rayna started to protest, but I stopped her with a gentle pulse through our bond.
*Let me answer this.*
I stepped forward, meeting the Admiral's steel-gray eyes with my own luminous gaze.
I couldn't speak aloud yet, my vocal cords weren't developed enough for human speech. But I could project intent, emotion, absolute conviction through the bond I shared with Rayna, and somehow I knew the Admiral could sense it too.
*I exist to protect her. Not because I'm programmed to. Not because I have to. Because I choose to. She's my anchor. My purpose. My family.*
*Anyone who threatens her,anyone at all,becomes my enemy. And I will evolve into whatever I need to become to keep her safe.*
*That's my intention. That's my promise.*
The Admiral studied me for what felt like an eternity.
Then, slowly, he nodded.
"I believe you," he said simply. "And that's why I'm going to ask something difficult."
He stood, moving back to the star map. With a gesture, he changed the display, zooming in on a specific sector marked in red.
"Three days ago, we received a distress signal from Research Station Kepler-Nine. It's a classified facility conducting xenobiology research in the Tethys Nebula."
[ANALYZING STAR MAP DATA...]
[LOCATION: TETHYS NEBULA, SECTOR 447]
[DISTANCE: 3.2 LIGHT-YEARS FROM CURRENT POSITION]
[CLASSIFICATION: EXTREME HAZARD ZONE]
"The station went dark twelve hours after the initial signal," the Admiral continued. "Standard protocol is to wait for a dedicated rescue fleet, but..." He paused. "Rayna, do you remember Professor Aldris Venn?"
Rayna's face went pale. "My old mentor? He's stationed at Kepler-Nine?"
"He is. Along with two hundred and thirty-seven other personnel." The Admiral's jaw tightened. "I'm taking the *Vigilance* to investigate. We'll arrive in approximately thirty-six hours."
"You think something attacked the station," Rayna said.
"I think something got loose," her father corrected. "Kepler-Nine specializes in studying aggressive cosmic fauna. If containment failed..."
Then two hundred people are trapped with who-knows-what kind of monsters.
"What do you need from us?" Rayna asked, though I could feel her dread through the bond.
"I need you to stay on the ship and stay safe," the Admiral said. "But I also need..." He looked at me. "I need to know if your companion can fight."
Fight?
"The rescue teams will face unknown hostiles," he explained. "Standard weapons and tactics might not be enough. But something that can adapt, evolve in real-time..." He didn't finish the sentence.
*He wants to use me. Not as a pet. As a weapon.*
"No," Rayna said firmly. "Absolutely not. Xiane is still developing. He's barely a month old. I won't let you put him in danger."
"I'm not asking you to send him into combat," her father clarified. "I'm asking if he's capable. If the worst happens, if something gets aboard the Vigilance,I need to know if he can defend himself. And you."
Through our bond, I felt Rayna's conflict. She wanted to refuse, to keep me safe and hidden. But she also understood the logic.
*Rayna,* I projected. *He's right.*
*No. You're not ready.*
*I'm a Nyxion. I was designed for this. And if something threatens you, or this ship, I'd fight anyway. At least this way, we can prepare.*
She looked down at me, her eyes shimmering.
"I don't want to lose you," she whispered.
*You won't. I promise.*
"Give me three days," the Admiral said. "Three days to work with Sergeant Thane and Dr. Ysmene. Accelerated training and controlled evolution. If you're going to be on this ship during a potential crisis, I'd rather you be as strong as possible."
"And if I refuse?" Rayna asked.
Her father's expression softened slightly. "Then I'll assign extra security to your quarters and hope for the best. You're my daughter, Rayna. Your safety comes first. Always." He glanced at me. "But I think your companion wants this."
*He's not wrong.*
[QUEST GENERATED: EMERGENCY EVOLUTION]
[OBJECTIVE: Reach 50% Evolution Progress within 72 hours]
[REWARD: Combat Skills, Enhanced Abilities, Partial Form Unlock]
[FAILURE PENALTY: Inadequate preparation for crisis scenario]
Three days to get strong enough to matter.
Three days to evolve from adorable fluff-ball to genuine threat.
Challenge accepted.
"Alright," Rayna said finally, though I felt her reluctance. "Three days. But I'm supervising every session. And if it becomes too dangerous—"
"Then we stop immediately," her father agreed. "You have my word."
He moved to his terminal and input a series of commands.
"I'm authorizing unrestricted access to bio-containment and priority use of Training Hall Three. Dr. Ysmene and Sergeant Thane will coordinate your schedule." He looked at us both. "This isn't an order, Rayna. It's a request. From a father who wants his daughter protected."
The vulnerability in those words hit harder than any command could have.
"Understood," Rayna said quietly.
As we left the ready room, I felt the weight of what we'd agreed to settling over us.
Seventy-two hours.
Three days to push my evolution to its limits.
Three days to become strong enough to face whatever waited at Research Station Kepler-Nine.
No pressure, I thought wryly.
But deep down, beneath the nervousness and uncertainty, I felt something else:
Excitement.
This was it. My first real test.
Time to show the universe what a Nyxion could do.
---
[STATUS UPDATE]
- New Quest: Emergency Evolution (72 hours)
- Target: 50% Evolution Progress
- Current Progress: 38%
- Support: Admiral Azuriel (conditional)
- Crisis Incoming: Research Station Kepler-Nine
[NEXT CHAPTER: "ACCELERATED GROWTH"]