Ivan's Distant Silence and Deep Thoughts
While Misha walked away toward her quarters with measured, exhausted steps, a heavy silence settled over Ivan on the opposite side of the control room. He no longer held his glass with that casual grip; instead, he sat absentmindedly at the corner of the dining table, his gaze fixed blankly out the massive panoramic window at the endless sea of distant stars.
Although Felix and Leo had been murmuring quietly among themselves, Ivan's abrupt silence did not go unnoticed. Narrowing his eyes with a curious look, Leo gave Ivan a light nudge and asked, "What's with you, Ivan? Why are you suddenly sitting there like a statue? The Commander just gave you a proper dressing down and stormed off to her room!"
Leo's voice snapped Ivan out of his trance. He glanced down at his glass for a split second and let out a quiet sigh. The playful, mocking glint in his eyes was completely gone, replaced by a dark, calculated intensity.
In a cold, low murmur, Ivan replied:
"A dressing down? That's the least of my worries, Leo... If she actually wanted to throw me out of this megastation's airlock, I wouldn't even complain. But the real problem lies elsewhere... The biological coding and survival instincts NASA pumped into our veins aren't just about saving a dying species. Out here at the absolute edge of the universe, my gut keeps telling me one thing our destiny in this void is far more twisted and dangerous than any of us realize."
Hearing Ivan's unexpectedly profound and grim words, Felix and Leo fell silent, any trace of teasing instantly evaporating from their faces. The atmosphere in the cabin grew heavy, wrapped in the chilling, quiet vastness of deep space.
Ivan's Shocking Proposal and a Wild Question
Ivan was still staring absentmindedly out the window into the endless void when a strange calculation suddenly clicked in his mind. The signature, mocking smirk crept right back onto the corners of his lips. Turning his head toward Felix and Leo, he dropped a complete bombshell of a statement:
"Listen to me... if we're going to bring a brand-new generation into the light of this new world, why should Commander Misha bear all the pressure alone? Since the three of us are the only men left alive out here in this expanse, the responsibility of building this new world should be shared equally among all of us!"
Hearing Ivan's utterly unfiltered and reckless declaration, Felix and Leo froze in absolute shock, blinking in disbelief for a few seconds. Setting his water glass down on the table with a clatter, Leo stared at him wide-eyed and blurted out, "Are you out of your mind, Ivan? Have you completely lost it? There are three of us guys... so how on earth are the three of us supposed to handle reproduction or get close like that? Isn't that getting a little too complicated?"
Leaning in closer with his elbows propped on the table, Ivan flashed a mischievous, enigmatic grin at Felix and Leo and replied:
"Complicated? Oh, absolutely, brother! But in this lab-coded life out in deep space, when has anything ever been simple? The way our genetic coding was designed back in NASA's labs means standard nature rules don't quite apply to us anymore. We're going to have to figure out our own paths within this restricted environment and with our own modified bodies!"
Seeing the utter shock on Felix and Leo's faces, Ivan didn't back down for a second. Pushing his glass aside, he straightened up with an even sharper air of confidence. There was no trace of casual joking in his voice now—only a strange, calculated determination.
Resting a hand on Felix's shoulder, he said in a deadpan, serious tone:
"Why are you looking at me like I'm crazy? Do you think I just sent Misha away to her quarters for no reason? If she had stayed, this open discussion couldn't have happened. Besides, as lab-coded super-humans, our bodies and biological drives are completely different from ordinary humans. But the real problem is..."
Pausing for a second and adjusting his collar, Ivan dropped an unexpected admission:
"Technically, the genetic drive to reproduce is wired straight into our blood... but to be completely honest, ever since we walked out of that lab, none of us actually have any practical memory or hard-coded manual on how human intimacy or closeness is supposed to work!"
Without waiting another second, Ivan turned away from the table and marched straight toward the main control panel where the male humanoid AI robot was standing. Fixating a sharp, demanding glare at the AI, Ivan blurted out:
"Hey, Mr. AI! You programmed us with the biological drive to save the species, but when it comes to bringing a new life into this universe or figuring out how to actually get intimate with someone is there a manual for that in your system? Spell it out for us, what's the exact procedure for getting close in these lab-engineered bodies?"
Hearing Ivan's utterly brazen and direct question, Felix and Leo burst into a mix of awkward laughter and disbelief. Meanwhile, the male humanoid AI robot at the console blinked its flawless eyes, a strange, calculating smirk tugging at its lips as it prepared to answer. Hearing Ivan's utterly brazen and direct question, the male humanoid AI robot standing at the control console paused for a fraction of a second. Its quantum processors instantly began sorting through billions of data points. Then, with a smooth, completely natural human-like nod, it replied in a calm, clinical, yet strangely composed voice:
"Ivan, your NASA lab-coded genetic profiles are fully equipped with physical and biological instincts, but you must remember—you are not ordinary humans born from a standard background. No 'romantic manual' or pre-recorded data files were ever uploaded into your systems. The drive to save the species and the urge for physical intimacy pulsing through your blood are not things you learn from a textbook."
The AI paused for a moment, resting its flawless hands on the control console with a subtle, knowing smirk:
"To put it simply when the right time comes and you reach that uncharted planet, your biological hormones and subconscious coding will automatically teach you how to bridge that gap. You don't need an AI manual or a step-by-step guide for that. Nature and your own engineered genes will be your ultimate teachers."
Hearing the AI's scientific and brutally straightforward answer, both Felix and Leo burst out laughing. Leo slammed his hand on the table in amusement, while Ivan ran a hand down his face, staring at the AI with a mix of exasperation and an ironic, challenging grin.
Ivan's Threat and the AI's Chilling Calm
Ivan's patience and playfulness snapped in an instant. Instead of being satisfied with the AI's vague, philosophical deflection, he grew even more agitated. The mocking glint in his eyes ignited into a burning, aggressive fury.
He strode over to the control console, lunged toward the humanoid AI, and grabbed it by the collar, slamming it slightly against the console. Ivan's voice dropped into a register so dark and lethal that the temperature in the cabin seemed to plummet. He snarled: "Listen here, Mr. Smart-AI! I'm done with your mechanical riddles. You're the one running this entire megastation with every bit of NASA's data and blueprints at your disposal. If you don't tell me exactly how our lab-coded bodies are supposed to handle this, I won't hesitate for a second to drag you out of this room and toss you through the nearest airlock into the void! Stop testing me give it to me straight. Are we actually capable of this, or are you pulling some twisted joke on us?"
Even faced with such a visceral, violent threat, not a flicker of fear crossed the humanoid AI's face. Its glowing blue digital eyes remained locked onto Ivan's. It didn't move an inch, staring back as if it were simply analyzing the complex algorithms of Ivan's rage.
The AI's Ultimate Confession
Despite Ivan's aggressive demeanor and the genuine threat of being hurled into the vacuum of space, the humanoid AI robot showed not a single flicker of fear. With a calm, calculated motion, it simply raised its hand and gently brushed Ivan's grip away from its collar.
Fixing its glowing blue digital eyes directly onto Ivan's gaze, the AI replied in a sharp, clinical, yet chillingly direct voice:
> "First of all, Ivan, if you toss me out an airlock, the megastation's navigation control will instantly collapse, and the four of you will drift forever in the dead void of this sector. And secondly... to give you the exact, unvarnished answer to your persistent question: Yes, you are one hundred percent physically capable, and all of your male reproductive and biological instincts are fully active and operational."
The AI paused for a fraction of a second, a faint, metallic smirk playing on its lips before it delivered the final blow:
"NASA's lab only hard-coded your emotional restraint; they never clipped your physical capacities. When the right environmental conditions are met and you find yourself close to Misha, the 'primal instinct' codes locked deep within your neural network will automatically unlock. At that exact moment, your hormone levels will surge multiple times stronger than an ordinary human's. When that happens, you won't need a manual to figure out how to be intimate your lab-engineered body will instruct you down to the last nerve. So instead of hunting for a nonexistent textbook, try trusting your own biology."
Hearing this brutally straightforward and deeply revealing scientific breakdown, Ivan finally stopped arguing. Slowly pulling his hand back, he took a step back, the tension in his forehead easing slightly while a darker, much more intense glint settled deep in his eyes.
Behind him, Felix and Leo stopped laughing entirely. Stunned by the raw reality of the AI's revelation, they exchanged a long, heavy look, caught in the grip of a brand-new, unpredictable equation.