I paused, then continued.
"Despite how she acts, deep down she's cold. Logical. No emotions to cloud her judgment. No greed. No ego. No lies. No delusions of grandeur. Just function. Purpose. Survival. Progress."
Julian exhaled sharply through his nose. "She's also got the social tact of a buzzsaw and the subtlety of orbital bombardment."
I nodded.
"Exactly. That's the point. People get drunk on power. Corrupted. Twisted. But Invicta? She doesn't bend. She doesn't break. And she will never will because she already has It all, Immortality, beuaty, power, strength and everything"
Another beat.
"So I'm putting her on the throne. As the g*dess Imperatoress. As the law. The blade. The shield."
I stepped forward again, meeting each of their gazes one by one.
"I'll be her sword, her shield, the first to bleed if needed, and she will be the one who'll lead humanity into a better and brighter future."
I raised my bottle again.
"So boys… are you with me?"
The pause that followed wasn't indecision. It was understanding. Processing. Accepting the weight of what I'd just said. Paul was the first to grunt.
"Well, at least she's hot."
Julian cracked a smirk.
"I'll follow her. But only if she stops calling me us meatbags."
Darius scratched his jaw.
"Can't say I trust AIs, but I trust you. And that's enough."
Robert shook his head slowly.
"F*ck it. Humans tried. We blew it. Maybe it's time a cold murderous AI b*tch ran things."
Then Airid finally stood. Looked me dead in the eye.
"If she ever goes rogue…"
I nodded.
"I'll be the first to end her."
He stared a second longer. Then held out his hand.
"Then I'm in."
I clasped it. Tight. They all were, seeing this I decided to proceed to phase two of my master plan.
"Alright,"
I muttered under my breath, cracking my neck as I turned toward the exit.
"Now all that's left is to convince Invicta to go along with It"
Behind me, I caught the not so subtle sound of my battlebrothers trying, and failing to suppress their snickering.
"Yeah,"
Paul said under his breath, grinning like a g*dsdamn hyena.
"They definitely f*cked."
"Yep. It's f*cking obvious,"
Julian added, elbowing Darius.
I just shot them the middle finger without even turning around, kept walking as their laughter followed me down the corridor like a pack of mocking wolves.
Dumb bastards. Couldn't blame them though. If the tables were turned, I'd be doing the exact same thing.
The ship buzzed around me a hive of activity, technicians jogging past, pilots going back and forth, contuberniums of clones marching.
The whole damn ship smelled of oil, metal, and barely contained war. As I navigated the maze of corridors, boots thudding against the plating, he reared his ugly, smug ass head again.
Demon Drac. Manifesting right next to me in the air.
"Hmm,"
He hummed, swirling his drink lazily.
"Alright... that's not what I expected, but whatever."
I side eyed him, not breaking stride.
"What, you expected me to go full dictator mode? Mass executions? Forced loyalty?"
He grinned, shark teeth glinting.
"Honestly? Yeah. I mean..."
He gestured dramatically with his free hand.
"...you're one traumatic breakdown away from setting up a g*d Imperator cult, bro."
I snorted.
"Yeah, well... maybe I'm saving that for phase two."
He laughed, slurping obnoxiously from his straw.
"But seriously,"
He said, dropping the act for a heartbeat, voice low, a little too close to serious.
"you realize what you're doing, right?"
I didn't answer. Just kept walking.
"You're not just naming her queen of the ashes. You're making her humanity's last hope. Their new artificial g*d. If she ever cracks, ever breaks..."
He snapped his fingers with a devilish grin.
"Boom. Total extinction speedrun. No second chances."
"I know,"
I muttered, jaw tight.
"That's why I picked her."
"Because she's cold and logical?"
"Because she's cold, logical..."
I exhaled slowly, feeling the weight of the world pressing against my spine.
"...and because she's the only thing left I could actually put my trust to."
Demon Drac whistled low.
"Damn. That's either the most romantic sh*t I've ever heard or the most depressing. Might be both."
I didn't answer. Didn't need to.
...
In the dim, sterile lighting of her quarters, Invicta stirred. At first just a small shift a twitch of synthetic nerves sending a ripple down her sin forged body.
Then she squirmed, sighing through her nose, and tossed lazily onto her side, expecting to find warmth, weight, him.
But instead, she found only cold, empty sheets. Her purple eyes cracked open. Her brows furrowed.
"Tch."
Her facial muscles twitched slightly in annoyance, her jaw tightening for half a heartbeat before she muttered under her breath, voice raw from sleep and something else much deeper.
"What an asshole... So you f*ck me, and just leave like that, huh?"
She sat up in bed, the blanket sliding down her naked form like silk. For a moment, she just sat there, elbows resting on her thighs, glaring at the empty space beside her as if it had personally offended her.
Finally, with a low grunt of exasperation, she pushed herself up onto her feet.
The cold air of the room kissed her bare synthetic skin, making her shiver slightly a rare involuntary motion she hadn't experienced in what felt like centuries.
She padded silently across the room, hips swaying with a mixture of irritation and lazy satisfaction.
The door to the shower cabin hissed open automatically the moment she approached. Hot water cascaded from the ceiling like a monsoon, thick plumes of steam instantly fogging the air.
She stepped in without hesitation.
The moment the water hit her, streaming down her hair, over the ridges of her shoulders, the curve of her hips she couldn't help it.
A grin. A sharp, wicked, genuine grin stretched across her face.
"Tch..."
She chuckled to herself, low and throaty as the water coursed down her body.
"Gotta admit..."
She murmured, leaning her forehead against the warm metal of the shower wall.
"That was the most fun I've had in... f*cking centuries."
Her laugh echoed faintly in the steamy room, mixing with the pounding rhythm of water. Because despite all her snark, despite all her cold calculation.
For the first time in forever, Invicta felt alive. And the bastard who made her feel that way was out there somewhere doing g*ds know what.
Maybe she should be mad. Maybe she should hunt him down, chain him to the bed, and teach him what it meant to run away after round one.
But... not yet. Not yet.
Right now, she just closed her eyes, let the water wash away the lingering blood, sweat, and sins of the night, and smiled like a predator who finally found prey worth keeping.
...
MC POV
The elevator doors hissed open. I stepped out into the dim lit room, my boots thudding softly against the deck. First glance toward the bed empty.
The sound of water hitting tiles reached my ears, muffled and steady.
"She's taking a shower, huh?"
I muttered under my breath. Scratching the back of my head, I made a beeline for the kitchen. Muscle memory took over pan, oil, whatever ingredients were on hand.
I cracked open a can of beer, took a long swig, the cold fizz biting my tongue. My mind wasn't on the food. It was on her. On the impossible thing I was about to ask.
Would she even agree? How the hell do you even ask someone to become the Imperatoress of a species that was the universes biggest mistake?
The thought looped over and over while I plated the food. I turned around plates in hand and stopped dead.
There she was. Invicta. Sitting on the table, legs casually crossed, droplets of water still trailing down her bare skin, butt n*aked.
In one hand, a can of beer. In the other, absolute f*cking dominion over my brain.
"What the...?"
I muttered without thinking. She grinned wide, wicked, like a cat who caught her mouse and was deciding whether to eat it slow or fast.
"Don't act so surprised,"
She purred, lifting the can to her lips.
"You were so deep in thought you didn't even notice me at all."
She shifted, purposefully, the motion slow, calculated giving me a full, tantalizing glimpse of her curves. A sizzle of heat flared under my skin, but I clamped it down hard.
Sighing, I set the plates down onto the table with a soft clink.
"Alright,"
I said, voice low, bracing myself.
"If I said I wanted you to become the G*ddess Imperatoress of mankind… would you agree?"
I expected her to laugh. To roll her eyes. Maybe throw the beer can at my head for asking something so insane.
Instead, she didn't even blink.
"Sure,"
She said, nonchalant.
"Sounds exciting."
My brain did a hard reset. I blinked.