Even after hearing the AI's scientific breakdown, Ivan's stubborn curiosity didn't fade an inch. He wasn't going to let it go so easily he wanted a precise, concrete explanation, no matter how ridiculous it sounded.
Planting both hands firmly on the control console, he leaned in close, a mischievous, daring smirk twisting across his face as he lowered his voice:
"Alright, Mr. Smart-AI, you've given me enough textbook science! But all that talk about locked codes and future hormones activating isn't cutting it for me right now. Answer my plain, straightforward question: ordinary flesh-and-blood humans do all sorts of things when they get close holding hands, touching lips, and everything deeper beyond that... In these lab-engineered super-human bodies of ours, what does that step-by-step process actually look like? Tell me, how does the very first move even start?"
Hearing Ivan's utterly brazen and uninhibited question, Felix and Leo widened their eyes in absolute disbelief. Leo let out a sharp, stifled laugh from his seat, while Felix leaned back against the bulkhead and muttered under his breath, "Brother, this guy's head is literally a ticking time bomb."
Up at the control console, the humanoid AI robot froze for a split fraction of a second, as if its internal database was desperately trying to filter through a category of data it never expected to be cross-examined on. Faced with Ivan's relentless questioning, the humanoid AI robot's blue digital eyes blinked once. Its quantum processors spun into high gear. A faint, synthetic smirk touched its lips as it replied, "Instead of explaining it with words, visual proof is probably best, Ivan. Unlocking this file from NASA's classified archive wasn't strictly authorized... but to satisfy your excessive curiosity, I suppose I can bend the rules."
With a quick tap of its finger, the AI keyed a command directly into the main console.
In an instant, a high-definition holographic display materialized right in the middle of the control room. It projected a classified, meticulously simulated biological and physical intimacy sequence of a pair of lab-engineered super-humans from NASA's secret archives. It wasn't just ordinary romance; it detailed the intense neurological synchronization, raw physical attraction, and explosive hormonal surges unique to their modified biology—far more visceral and overwhelming than anything a normal human could ever imagine.
The moment the holographic sequence flashed into view, the air in the cabin grew suffocatingly dense. Ivan leaned in close, staring intently at the floating screen. But as the visual data laid bare the sheer intensity of a lab-coded super-human bond and its raw, staggering sensory overload, Ivan's blood pressure spiked instantly. His body stiffened rigid for a split second.
"Im... impossible..." was the only choked whisper that managed to escape his lips. Before he could process another thought, his legs gave out completely, and Ivan crashed backward onto the metal floor, passing out cold!
Felix and Leo bolted upright in utter shock, yelling, "Ivan! What the hell, Ivan! Open your eyes!" As they rushed over to haul him up, the humanoid AI stood calmly at the console, deadpanning, "I warned you... trust your own biology, but excessive curiosity is rarely good for the nervous system." The sudden sound of Ivan crashing onto the metal floor triggered a low panic alert in the cabin. While a panicked Felix and Leo scrambled to lift him, the door to the command quarters slid open with a sharp hiss.
Having just finished a quiet emotional breakdown in her room to cope with the overwhelming day (cry session), Misha stepped quickly into the control room. Her eyes were slightly red and tired, her exhaustion evident.
Seeing the chaos unfold right in front of her, Misha's brow furrowed with deep irritation. In a cold, sharp tone, she demanded, "What is going on here? What happened to Ivan?"
Wiping sweat from his forehead, Leo stammered, "Commander! This idiot kept pestering the AI with impossible questions, and when the AI played a classified holographic file... he literally passed out cold!"
Glancing briefly at the holographic projection still lingering on the console, Misha instantly pieced the situation together. She quickly brushed away the remaining trace of tears from her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. Walking over, she knelt beside the fallen soldier and gave his cheek a sharp, unamused tap.
"Get up, Ivan! Open your eyes!" Misha scolded, her voice biting. "You're out here on a deep-space mission, and a single holographic file completely knocks you out? How do you expect to survive the actual planet?"
At the sound of Misha's familiar, scolding voice, Ivan's eyelashes fluttered. Groaning softly as he pressed a hand to his throbbing forehead, he muttered, "Ugh... those lab-coded systemic data files are practically a nuclear bomb..."Just as Ivan was rubbing his throbbing head while sitting up on the floor, a piercing red emergency light flashed across the entire control room, accompanied by a deafening alarm klaxon.
The main screens on the control console flared crimson. The humanoid AI robot announced in a chillingly calm, urgent voice:
"Warning! Residual gravitational shockwaves from the wormhole have impacted the megastation's outer shielding. Sector-Four cooling system is overloaded. If the reactor coolant flow is not manually reset within the next three minutes, the entire station power grid will experience a total shutdown!"
Hearing the sudden, catastrophic alert, Felix and Leo scrambled instantly toward their respective terminals. Ivan, still recovering from his dizzy spell, struggled to get back on his feet.
In a split second, every trace of exhaustion or lingering emotional vulnerability vanished from Misha's expression. Her tired eyes hardened into the fierce, unyielding gaze of a true commander. Without wasting a single heartbeat, she marched straight to the main console.
"Felix, divert secondary power! Leo, secure Ivan and stabilize the thrusters!"—barking out crisp, authoritative commands, Misha stepped directly in front of the manual override panel.
She knew that out here in the unforgiving void, a single misstep meant total annihilation. Shaking off every ounce of her physical and emotional fatigue, Misha dove headfirst into stabilizing the megastation's reactor core with absolute precision. The core issue with the cooling system couldn't be resolved entirely from inside the cabin; the reactor's external valve panel had overheated and jammed shut. An automated mechanism or AI drone couldn't clear it from within.
Assessing the crisis in a fraction of a second, Misha didn't hesitate. She commanded in a cold, unwavering voice:
"Felix, check the thermal suit pressure. I'm heading out to the external hull myself."
Ivan, having just forced himself back onto his feet, snapped wide awake at her dangerous declaration. Panic and fierce objection flared in his voice, "Are you out of your mind, Misha?! Gravitational shockwaves are still hammering the outer shields right now—if you go out on an unassisted spacewalk, the cosmic radiation could sweep you away forever!"
One look at Misha's unyielding expression made it clear her mind was made up. Without wasting another heartbeat, she strode briskly toward the airlock chamber and suited up in her high-tech thermal spacesuit. As the sleek, dark helmet sealed into place with a hiss, the quiet hum of her internal oxygen recycler kicked on.
A second later, the heavy inner airlock door slid open. Misha stepped directly out into the void.
Outside, an overwhelming, silent expanse of a trillion distant stars stretched infinitely in every direction. The residual purple and electric-blue auroras from the wormhole cast a surreal glow across her metallic suit plating. Floating weightlessly in the crushing, absolute vacuum of deep space, she maneuvered herself with absolute precision along the massive outer hull of the megastation toward the jammed external cooling panel.
Pressed against the panoramic glass inside the cabin, Ivan, Felix, and Leo watched in breathless silence, knowing that a single miscalculated thruster burst could cost Misha her life.Misha was floating weightlessly in the brutal vacuum of space, desperately trying to force open the jammed external panel on the megastation's hull. Right at that exact second, another violent gravitational shockwave from the wormhole slammed directly into the outer plating. The brutal jolt knocked Misha's grip loose, and she slipped off the hull, beginning to drift helplessly out into the endless, bottomless void!
Inside the command cabin, Ivan's eyes widened in sheer horror as he watched through the reinforced glass. Not wasting a single fraction of a second, he sprinted toward the emergency airlock chamber. Without even waiting for full system depressurization protocols to clear, he slammed the manual override lever and hurled himself out into the outer chamber.
Firing his suit's thruster boosters at maximum capacity, Ivan rocketed across the gap like a streak of lightning. Just as Misha was drifting past the safety threshold, pulled away by the relentless orbital drift, Ivan lunged forward and grabbed her arm with a death grip, pulling her hard against his chest. With a heavy, jarring crash, the two of them slammed back against the metal struts of the station's outer hull—missing total annihilation by a hair's breadth.
Amidst the swirling cosmic radiation and flying microscopic debris, Ivan stabilized them against the metal plating, bringing his helmet's faceplate right up against Misha's. Through the thick glass of her visor, the lingering shock and exhaustion were painfully clear on her face.
And right there in the middle of a life-or-death crisis, throwing every rulebook and protocol out the window Ivan lifted his gloved hand, lowered his visor slightly, and pressed his bare lips against the metallic wrist-joint of Misha's thermal suit. It was a deep, intense, and utterly unexpected kiss in the middle of dead space.
Stunned by his absolute recklessness, Misha froze, mirroring the shock of Felix and Leo who were watching every second of it through the cabin glass. Even in the absolute silence of the cosmos, that single, daring touch sent a sudden, electric jolt straight through Misha's racing heart. Once the external reactor panel was fully secured and locked into place, Ivan and Felix managed to guide the airlock depressurization cycle, allowing both Ivan and Misha to step back inside the main control room. The atmosphere in the cabin instantly shifted into a thick, charged silence. Felix and Leo exchanged a knowing, mischievous look behind their consoles, having witnessed the entire daring, cinematic moment through the observation glass.
Misha's cheeks were flushed a deep, undeniable crimson, a mix of sheer embarrassment and lingering shock. She had never anticipated that Ivan would pull such a recklessly intimate stunt right in the middle of a life-or-death crisis in the vacuum of space. Her heart was hammering against her ribs at a frantic pace though whether it was from the adrenaline of near-death or the electric heat of that unexpected touch, she couldn't quite bring herself to admit.
Desperate to hide her sudden vulnerability and bubbling confusion, Misha snapped her gaze away. With a sharp, breathless jerk, she unlatched her helmet, pulled it off, and glared at Ivan with wide, flustered eyes.
"Cut the reckless nonsense, Ivan! The mission isn't over yet... and if you ever pull a stunt like that out in the void again, I'll lock down your suit systems with my own hands!"
Without waiting for a single word of defense, Misha spun on her heel. She practically bolted out of the control room, retreating straight into her private quarters and slamming the door shut behind her. Once locked inside the safety of her room, she sank onto the edge of her berth, burying her face in her hands. Even now, the phantom warmth of that touch lingered on her skin, completely shattering her hard-earned facade of an unshakeable commander.