<
“We need a few safety protocols of our own,” I said.
<>Her excitement here was infectious.
“We shall,” I said, settling into the chair, a wave of protectiveness washing over me. “Let’s focus on any connections between the anomalies and external tampering. Then we can build in a few failsafe. ”
I rubbed at my tired my eyes, trying to ignore the metallic taste lingering in my mouth from dinner. The station food had been getting progressively worse—or maybe something was off with my taste buds. Everything had a strange, almost chemical aftertaste lately. Even the water tasted off, but I’d dismissed it as station recycling systems being what they were.
<
The holographic display shifted as data streams began cascading through the air, forming intricate webs of connections and flagged points. I watched as Doli processed the information with incredible speed.
“I’ve been thinking about your body, what you and Ashley have been working on,” I said, eyes tracking the data flow. “Looks amazing, but…”
<
“We were trying to fix your old body, are we abandoning that?”
<
“Tell me more about how it would work. If we were to move you fully out of her, and the Academy’s systems and into your upgraded... body, for lack of a better word.”
The holographic display morphed, pushing the suit diagnostics to one side while a three-dimensional schematic of the sleek processing unit I’d seen in Ashley’s office appeared. It looked similar to her first model, but nothing like the bulky servers that typically housed massive AI processing systems.
<
“Neural interface?” I leaned closer to the display. “You’re talking about hardwiring into ships?”
<
“We’d be much faster,” I finished for her. “No lag, no separation issues.”
<
>
I circled my finger around the design, studying it. “What would you need to build this?”
<
“Sounds risky,” I said, leaning back. “Would I lose you? The you I know now?”
Doli paused, her processing lights flickering slightly. <
The thought of risking Doli, of potentially losing even a fraction of what made her, her, sent a chill through me. But the alternative—being separated by increasing distance as I traveled further into space, the lag growing worse, her responses slower—wasn’t much better.
“How far did you and Ashley get?” I said finally.
<
“That’s great,” I said. “Thank you. It—it relieves some of the pressure.”
<
She wasn’t wrong.
<
“Yes,” I said, focusing back on the rest of her code and my suit. “Show me what you’ve found.”
My mind drifted as the data flowed. In the short time since reactivating Doli, she’d become more than just an AI assistant—she was a constant, a presence that filled the empty spaces I’d grown used to navigating alone. How many times in my life had I lost people? My parents, gone before I could form real memories. The foster families who never quite became permanent. Friends who drifted away when I moved again. Even here at the academy, I kept everyone at arm’s length, afraid of what might happen if I let them too close.
But Doli was different. She couldn’t leave. She wouldn’t abandon me. And I’d be damned if I let someone take her from me.
<< The intruder used the medical override codes then tapped directly into the thruster vectoring and stabilization gyros, deliberately overriding critical safety redundancies.>>
“Figured as much,” I muttered. “Anything unique about the code itself?”
<
I frowned. “So it’s not just sloppy. It’s rushed.”
<
>
I straightened and said. “Go on.”
<
<
<
I had to chuckle at that.
<
<
I reached for my water bottle, taking a long sip to wash away the strange taste in my mouth. It helped—the water itself cool and fresh. My stomach churned slightly, a dull ache spreading beneath my ribs. Maybe I was coming down with something? Just what I needed on top of everything else.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
<
"Seriously?"
<
She wasn't wrong. "Glad you have my back." I said. "Keep going though.”
Doli paused for a fraction of a second, a rare hesitation in her otherwise seamless processing. <
My blood ran cold. “You’re saying someone’s been tracking me?”
<
“Whoever planted it wanted to know where I was and what I was doing.”
<
A chill ran through me that had nothing to do with the station’s temperature regulation. Someone watching me, tracking me, studying my movements. The thought made my skin crawl. How long had this been going on? What else might they have seen? And why me specifically? Because of Doli?
I thought of all the nights I’d spent talking with her, sharing memories and stories I’d never told anyone else. The AI had become my confidant, my friend, maybe the only being in the universe who truly knew me. The idea that someone might be listening in, might be trying to steal that connection or worse—destroy it entirely—filled me with a cold rage I rarely let surface.
I rubbed a hand over my face, trying to make sense of it all. “Can you trace it? Find out where the signal was being sent?”
<
The holographic display zoomed in on a section of the station’s schematics, highlighting a specific location deep within the maintenance wing.
<
“Perfect place to hide,” I muttered.
I shifted in my seat, a wave of dizziness momentarily blurring the edges of my vision. When was the last time I’d eaten properly? Not the half-finished meal from the mess that had tasted wrong, nor the energy bar this morning that had left me nauseated. This wasn’t the time to get sick, but my body seemed to have other ideas.
<
I tensed. “Someone tried to hack you?”
<
“What is it, Doli?”
<
I felt the hairs on my neck stand up. “Are you saying this came from someone with military connections?”
<>
“I need to know if Andri’s or the Brakers have seriously tied to hack you?”
<
“Yes, this became one dangerous race, and it’s not adding up. Andri mentioned ethical constraints in AI code developed by his family. I need to know if those same constraints are part of your architecture.”
I thought back to my childhood, to the endless series of homes and schools. Never feeling connected. Always the outsider looking in. Technology had been my refuge, something predictable, something I could understand and control when everything else felt chaotic.
Maybe that’s why Doli mattered so much. She wasn’t just an AI; she was proof that technology could be more than cold logic and lifeless code. She had personality, empathy, an almost human quality that defied everything I’d been taught about artificial intelligence. If the Brakers got their hands on her, if they stripped away those ethical constraints, that spark that made her Doli... I’d lose the one constant in my life. And I wasn’t sure I could face that loss.
<
“I understand, but if Andri’s family built the safeguards that the Brakers are trying to crack, and those same safeguards are in your systems...”
<
My stomach lurched again, more insistently this time. I swallowed hard, trying to force down the nausea. Something was definitely wrong. The food, the water—had it been tampered with? Or was this just stress finally catching up with my body? Either way, I couldn’t afford to be distracted. Not with so much at stake.
I leaned back in my chair, staring at the glowing schematics. The pieces were starting to come together. Whoever was behind this wanted our version of Doli—her advanced systems, her capabilities, and potentially a way to bypass the ethical constraints embedded in her code. And they were willing to go to dangerous lengths to get her.
“Doli,” I said, “Let’s trace their signal back to its source and see who’s been trying to gain access.”
I leaned back in my chair, fighting another wave of dizziness. Whatever was happening to me would have to wait. I’d spent my entire life feeling like I was missing something essential, some connection or purpose that everyone else seemed to find so easily. With Doli, for the first time, that emptiness had begun to fill. I wouldn’t let anyone take that away. Not Macks, not the Brakers, not anyone.
“We need to access that terminal remotely,” I said, my fingers already dancing across the holographic interface. “Can you establish a secure connection?”
<
The holographic display shifted, transforming into a three-dimensional representation of the station’s network architecture. Glowing pathways branched out in all directions, with bright red barriers indicating security checkpoints.
“Virtual red zone,” I muttered, focusing on the nested security protocols protecting our target. “Because hacking into restricted military systems isn’t risky enough already.”
<
“Great,” I said, cracking my knuckles. “Precise timing is my specialty.”
I hoped….
I took a deep breath, trying to center myself. The strange taste in my mouth persisted, and there was a slight tremor in my hands that hadn’t been there before. I flexed my fingers, willing them to steady. Not now. I couldn’t afford weakness, not when everything I cared about hung in the balance.
The network visualization pulsed with activity, streams of data flowing like rivers of light across the virtual landscape. I began navigating through the first layer of security, Doli guiding my movements through our neural link.
<
My hands flew across the interface, injecting Doli’s carefully crafted code packets into specific nodes. The first barrier flickered and parted, creating a narrow opening for us to slip through.
<
I froze my operations, watching as artificial intelligence security algorithms swept through the network like digital predators, hunting for unauthorized intrusions. One passed dangerously close to our position, its scan beam sweeping within pixels of our connection.
“That was close,” I whispered, though there was no need to speak aloud. The sweat beading on my forehead had nothing to do with physical exertion and everything to do with concentration.
<
“They’re expecting us,” I realized. “Or someone like us.”
We pressed deeper into the protected network, each layer presenting new challenges. The third firewall required a complex encryption key that Doli had to generate in real-time while I maintained our connection, splitting my focus between multiple tasks.
<
My heart rate spiked. “Another hacker?”
<
“Friend or foe?” I asked, though I suspected the answer.
<
I made a split-second decision. “Change of plans. Let’s track them instead. They might lead us straight to what we’re looking for.”
We shifted our approach, maintaining a safe distance while following the mysterious third party through the network. They moved with practiced efficiency, bypassing security measures that would have taken us precious minutes to crack.
<
“Can we beat them there?”
<
“Then we watch and learn,” I decided.
The other hacker reached the terminal first, their virtual presence represented by a shadowy figure in the network visualization. They began extracting data, their methods so efficient it was almost beautiful to watch.
<
Suddenly, the shadowy figure paused. Their movements became erratic, as if they’d detected something.
<
Before I could react, a surge of countermeasures erupted from the terminal, racing toward our position. I frantically implemented emergency disconnect protocols, but the attack was faster than anticipated.
“Doli, status update,” I whispered, watching as portions of our connection began to fragment.
Silence. One second, two seconds—each moment stretching into eternity.