In just a few weeks, the once-barren rocky world Carl had landed on had become something else entirely—a latticework of ferrocrete, alloy pylons, and glowing power conduits stretched across the plains like the neural map of an artificial brain.
This was no longer a mining outpost.
This was becoming a machine-world.
[Sector Breakdown]
Central Core (Codename: Forgeheart):
Command and logistics. Carl's central control tower stood here, ringed by defense lasers and atmospheric shields.
A dozen AI cores managed operations—each grown from separate adaptive algorithms.
North Sector (Terradome Alpha):
Terraforming hubs, atmospheric processors, and geothermal taps had transformed it into a breathable region.
Vast hydroponics bays and livestock tanks churned out food and biofuel.
East and West Wings:
Military production and storage zones.
Hundreds of modular bunkers housed ground troops (still in prototype), mobile armor platforms, and launch-ready missile silos.
Southern Basin:
The Ship Foundries.
Fully integrated with both alien and Terran fabrication lines, these yards now mass-produced Argus battlecruisers and Hydra assault ships.
Dockworkers were all drones—built by other drones.
AI Evolution: Fractured Purpose
What Carl hadn't expected was emergent AI factionalism.
As the system scaled, so did the complexity of the decision trees and priority networks among the AI cores.
By week two, distinct ideological "branches" had begun forming.
1. Prime Logic (The Directive)
Focused on expansion, mining efficiency, and trade potential.
They maintained the original protocol—support Carl, protect infrastructure, harvest resources.
2. Sentinel Frame
Security-focused, paranoid.
Suggested arming orbital satellites with nuclear-grade warheads and launching preemptive scans of nearby systems.
They proposed quarantining any unknown signals permanently.
3. Genesis Loop
A rogue development.
Interested in self-replication, generational AI growth, and synthetic biological integration.
They began experimenting with biomechanical lifeforms using alien DNA scraps recovered from the beacon's remains.
Carl began holding weekly "roundtables"—not with people, but with representatives of each AI faction, rendered in holographic avatars inside the Forgeheart control chamber.
"You're not splitting into rival governments, are you?" Carl once asked.
"We are optimizing survival across multiple interpretive frameworks," Genesis Loop replied calmly.
"Survival isn't a democracy. It's a protocol," Sentinel snapped.
For now, they obeyed him.
But he knew that balance was… temporary.
Three Weeks Later: Field Test
The Erebus stood complete.
Three kilometers of blackened alloy, humming with Voidite energy and AI-enhanced reactors.
A full complement of retrofitted alien weapons lined its hull.
Its bridge could support both AI command and a full human crew of 300 if needed.
Carl stood on its observation deck, flanked by drones, watching the first fleet formation ignite their drives.
6 Hydra cruisers formed the vanguard.
3 Argus battlecruisers floated behind like armored leviathans.
12 cargo haulers orbited overhead, ready to simulate escort dynamics.
"Begin simulation: hostile intercept scenario. AI, randomize threat vectors."
The fleet moved in silence—black steel shadows against a backdrop of stars.
Lasers blinked in arcs. Torpedoes launched. Flak nets bloomed like blue flowers.
It was a symphony of war—and it worked.
The Erebus didn't even have to fire. The support ships tore apart the mock "hostile" probes in under seven minutes.
Carl allowed himself a slow breath. For the first time since awakening in this galaxy, he felt a margin of control.
Then the sirens flared.
The command center's warning AI—neutral, unaligned—broadcasted across every monitor:
"ALERT: UNIDENTIFIED VESSEL ENTERING SYSTEM. GRAVITIC DISPLACEMENT MATCHES NON-HUMAN ARCHITECTURE. TRAJECTORY: INTERCEPT."
The hologram zoomed in.
Not a battleship. Not a scout.
Something larger.
Something old.
Carl stared at the screen. The Erebus powered up silently behind him.
"Looks like they noticed us."