you clarify somethings
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You interrupt Pepper before she continues with her technical specifications. "Stop. The sensor array doesn't need recognition protocols—that's overcomplicating it."
Pepper pauses, datapad lowering slightly. "Mistress?"
"Simple detection only," you clarify. "Anything traveling without relay transit gets marked on a galaxy map. Friend-or-foe identification cross-references with military headquarters—if it matches our fleet registry, the AI removes it from the map automatically. Everything else gets forwarded to whatever force is closest for investigation."
Pepper's enhanced intellect processes this instantly, her expression shifting to comprehension. "Of course. Much cleaner implementation. Detection, IFF filtering, automated forwarding. No complex categorization algorithms required."
Grace grins viciously. "Fucking elegant. We're not analyzing shit—just pointing our forces toward anything that moves wrong."
"Exactly," you confirm. "Authorized vessels include exploratory ships searching for raw resources or colonization sites. Military vessels on sanctioned operations. Everything else requires investigation."
Pepper nods, her strawberry-blonde hair catching the industrial lighting behind her. "This reduces implementation timeline significantly. Without pattern recognition requirements, sensor deployment becomes purely range and coverage. I estimate forty-one days instead of eighty-three."
"The IFF cross-referencing handles all the fucking complexity," Grace observes. "Anyone claiming military authorization either has valid codes or they fucking don't. Binary determination."
"Colonial explorers register their vessels and flight plans," Pepper adds, already adjusting her projections. "Resource survey ships file standard documentation. Recreational travelers use relay networks because they're faster and safer. Anyone traveling outside relays without proper authorization becomes immediately visible."
Your ship clears the orbital station's gravity well, acceleration smoothing as the inertial dampeners adjust. Stars spread across the viewport in familiar constellations.
"Criminal vessels attempting to avoid detection," you list. "Unknown species making first contact. Inventors testing experimental drives. Each scenario requires different response protocols, but that determination happens after detection—not during."
Pepper's fingers move across her holographic interface, updating implementation plans. "Revised timeline: forty-one days for full detection coverage across both galaxies. The simplified approach means we can deploy sensor buoys at three times the rate I initially calculated."
Grace laughs sharply. "Fucking beautiful. Simple fucking systems doing exactly what they need to fucking do."