Kai couldn't believe what he was hearing. The tiny scout had just dismissed their biggest problem as if it were a minor inconvenience.

  “How about Scotty then? Since you were originally a scout, I think it’s a fitting name,” Kai said.

  “What! Scotty? I was thinking something more epic, something that reflects my true power—”

  Before the tiny scout could finish its sentence, the door to the storage room slid open behind Kai.

  “Kai! There are more of those things coming at us. The Commander wants you on the guns right now!” Eliana said urgently. Then her gaze narrowed on the tiny scout beside Kai. “Ehh... what is that?”

  Kai’s eyes lit up. He picked up the tiny scout and turned to Eliana. “This is Scotty, and he’s going to help us get rid of our stalkers.”

  “I haven’t agreed to the name,” Scotty grumbled, its little tentacles dangling as Kai held it up like a prize.

  “Alright, cute,” Eliana said, unimpressed. “But we really don’t have time to play around with toys, so let’s hurry.” She turned on her heel, already heading out.

  Kai looked down at Scotty, who was staring up at him with his tiny sensors.

  “Did... did she just call me a toy? That’s... unacceptable.”

  Kai smirked. “Then you’d better prove her wrong, Scotty.”

  ---

  Scotty’s presence instantly grabbed the attention of everyone on the bridge. A few pairs of eyes locked onto him, some filled with unease, others with outright suspicion.

  Robert, in particular, looked tense, his grip tightening on the turret controls. If he could have turned the guns inward, Kai had no doubt he would have.

  “Kai, I don’t mean to sound alarmed, but don’t you think it looks exactly like those machine creatures outside?” Robert asked, his voice edged with concern.

  Kai glanced down at Scotty, who wiggled his tiny tentacles. “No, this one is called Scotty. It might have been a stowaway on our ship, probably sharing our location with the scouts outside… but that’s a different story now.” He nudged Scotty slightly. “Would you like to introduce yourself?”

  “Ehh… yeah,” Scotty said hesitantly. He turned toward the rest of the bridge crew, his tiny speaker crackling as he scanned the room. “Whoa… that’s a lot more people than there used to be on the U.S.S.F. decoy ship. You’re making me nervous, Kai…” His tentacles twitched erratically.

  Kai smirked. “Huh. And here I thought you were the super-duper awesome artificial intelligence that could handle any situation. But now it seems like you’re just a toy.”

  “Oh, now you’ve crossed the line.” Scotty wiggled out of Kai’s hand and landed on the floor.

  Kai watched curiously, unsure of what Scotty was about to do. His outer shell began to vibrate, and his sensors lit up. Then, without warning, the entire ship lurched in a sudden shift in direction that nearly knocked everyone off balance.

  “Status report, now.” Commander Grayson’s voice was sharp, and his hand hovered near the pistol at his side.

  Teresa was already on it, fingers flying across her console. “We’ve turned 180 degrees and are burning hard—” She hesitated, her eyes widening at the data coming in. “We’re heading back toward the machine creatures, sir.”

  Kai snapped his head to Robert’s gunnery display. The zoomed-in view showed the dozen machine creatures in the distance, but they weren’t camping straight at them anymore. They had also turned around, decelerating rapidly to counteract the Black Swan’s momentum. Their tentacles were fully extended, twitching with anticipation as they prepared to intercept.

  The words crackled through Scotty’s tiny speaker.

  “Just watch.”

  The meeting happened fast. Both sides were still carrying high relative velocity, and Kai could already see the inevitable impact in his mind—hull breach, catastrophic failure, the Black Swan torn apart in seconds.

  And yet, Scotty remained completely still, as if he already knew exactly what was about to happen.

  The dozen scouts streaked past the ship in a blur, their previous aggression seemingly forgotten. The Black Swan decelerated sharply, then smoothly pivoted around. Everyone’s displays flickered, recalibrating to show the machine creatures now floating motionless in space, their movements sluggish—docile, as if they had simply forgotten why they were even there.

  Kai blinked. "What the hell?"

  “Ha!” Scotty’s speaker crackled to life. “Now you witness my super-duper awesome power!” He waved his tiny tentacles in front of his body, striking what could only be described as a triumphant pose.

  Kai exhaled in relief, a grin spreading across his face. “Nice! You put them to sleep! Now we can get away without them on our tail.”

  Scotty’s lights flashed red in offense. “Wrong! Is that what you think I did?” His voice dripped with condescension. “Because your tiny organic brain couldn’t possibly comprehend what I really did. Ugh, how disappointing. Fine! Perhaps I shall explain it to you then.”

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  His tentacles recoiled, and then, with a dramatic leap, he landed atop Commander Grayson’s command desk.

  Grayson instinctively took a step back, his hand shifting ever so slightly toward his sidearm.

  Kai raised a hand. “Relax, Commander. If he wanted us dead, he’d probably be smug about it first.”

  Scotty wiggled his tentacles proudly. “Damn right, I would.” Then, with an almost theatrical flourish, he extended one of his appendages and plugged directly into the Black Swan’s interface.

  The screens flickered. Data scrolled faster than human eyes could track.

  "Now you should all be able to hear me." Scotty’s voice echoed crisply through the overhead speakers.

  Kai blinked. Oh, that’s unsettling.

  "Alright, let’s break down what I just did in the last few moments." Scotty’s voice carried an undeniable smugness. "First, I took control of every system aboard the Black Swan. And, might I add, it was ridiculously easy to crack into. Seriously, the security on this ship was Laughable. Though, to be fair, I am vastly superior compared to normal nanite organisms. Kind of like… special forces, SEAL Team Six… Anyone get the reference? Oh, right, that was from Earth. You guys wouldn’t know."

  While Scotty rambled, Commander Grayson turned to Teresa, raising an eyebrow. She glanced at her console, confirming what he feared. She gave him a small nod.

  Scotty really had taken full control.

  "Second!" Scotty continued, "I used the Black Swan’s broadcasting system as a relay, sending out a very simple message to our dear little stalkers—letting them know that the Black Swan was, oh-so-graciously, surrendering itself."

  The main display lit up, showing an encrypted transmission. When translated, the message read:

  "The Black Swan surrenders. Ceasing evasion. Preparing to submit for processing."

  Kai’s stomach twisted. "Wait… what?"

  "And third—and this is the funny part—" Scotty’s voice crackled with amusement. "The message was actually an invitation—a backdoor trojan virus piggybacking off the transmission. The moment we got within range of those scouts, bam! Virus uploaded. They lost all function. Completely useless."

  Silence filled the bridge.

  Scotty stood tall on the command desk, his tiny tentacles shifting in what could only be interpreted as pride. He seemed to be waiting for some kind of reaction—applause, maybe?

  Kai still didn’t know how to respond. His brain was still catching up, trying to process whether all of this was real or if the nanites had finally driven him insane.

  Commander Grayson clapped his hands together. The sharp sound cut through the silence on the bridge.

  "Let’s give Scotty a round of applause," Grayson said smoothly. "For this spectacular display of both bravery and wisdom."

  Kai turned his head sharply. Is he being sarcastic?

  Grayson met Kai’s gaze and winked before turning back to Scotty. He extended a hand.

  Scotty eagerly reached out, wrapping his tiny tentacles around Grayson’s fingers.

  "What you did for us was fantastic," Grayson said, his voice practiced and sincere. "You saved this ship from certain doom. It’s clear that you possess knowledge far beyond our own, and we intend to learn from you—as humble students."

  A bright and loud laugh echoed through the overhead speakers.

  "Finally! Someone who truly appreciates my genius!" Scotty declared. "You should be honoured to know that I have personally taken the time to upgrade the Black Swan’s computer system. It is now vastly more advanced than before. And also—" his voice took on a smug tone, "—I have activated the coffee machine and brewed a special blend following a traditional Earth recipe. You’re welcome."

  Commander Grayson’s expression didn’t waver. "Wonderful," he said smoothly. "For your exceptional contributions to the ship, I would like to personally welcome you aboard the Black Swan as our official Knowledgeable Advisor."

  He turned to address the crew. "From now on, please direct any personal inquiries to our advisor and learn from him as much as possible." Then, his gaze landed on Kai. "Kai, since you’re the one most familiar with the structure of this scout bot, you are temporarily assigned to take care of Scotty until we can construct a more suitable body for him."

  Kai met Grayson’s eyes, immediately understanding the real message hidden beneath his words for him to play along.

  He straightened his posture and gave a crisp salute. "Understood, sir."

  Scotty spun in place atop the command desk, its tentacles wriggling with excitement. "Oh! Oh! What is this overwhelming sensation? Could it be… joy? Ah, how wonderful! Now that I think about it, I recall a character from a popular old Earth sci-fi series also named Scotty. Perhaps you have chosen a fitting name for me after all!"

  Kai smirked. "Thank you, Scotty, the Wise," he said with a slight bow.

  Eliana, standing beside him, let out a small chuckle.

  Kai straightened and looked at Scotty with renewed curiosity. "Scotty, if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly did you mean when you said you were ‘special forces’ compared to other nanites? I think I understand the concept, but I’d like to hear it from you."

  "Oh, that’s easy to explain!" Scotty wiggled its tentacles proudly. "We nanites were not created equal. Some of us were assigned higher rankings upon creation, designed to tackle more complex and important tasks. My original mission was to track down the U.S.S.F. decoy ship, which gave me an exceptionally high ranking—thus granting me far more power over the lower-tier scouts."

  Kai folded his arms, processing this new information. "Then… do you know who created you in the first place? Or what’s really making the stars go dim?"

  At that question, Scotty suddenly stopped moving. His tentacles lowered slightly, his usual enthusiasm dimming.

  "That…" Scotty hesitated, "that, I don’t know."

  Kai frowned. "You mean you don’t even know who made you?"

  Scotty twitched slightly as if shifting uncomfortably. "To my understanding, there exist even higher-ranking nanites—ones assigned to far greater missions than mine. If any entity would know, it would be them." His voice crackled slightly before he continued. "As for what’s making the stars dim… the only possible answer I can think of is that they are being used—drained for their energy. And when their energy runs dry… the star can no longer sustain itself. It simply dies, becoming something else."

  Kai swallowed hard.

  If his visions of stars dimming were an accurate representation of what was happening across the galaxy, then these events had already been set into motion billions of years ago.

  And that meant the civilization that created Scotty—the same one capable of draining entire stars—had existed for billions of years.

  Kai had a lump in his throat, the kind that formed when a crushing sense of insignificance settled in.

  What were humans to the civilization they were facing but nothing more than insects—something to be observed, studied, and ultimately discarded when no longer useful.

  He finally understood the purpose of No Man’s Land.

  They were like the ants he’d seen in the encyclopedia. Trapped in a carefully constructed habitat, living their lives comfortably, never realizing they were no more than specimens. And the Black Swan… it was the one ant that was accidentally about to crawl out of the enclosure.

  Kai also understood one more thing— the "traitor" he heard, it might not be said towards him afterall.

  "Whoever made this coffee was trying to take my job away."

  Lily’s voice cut through his thoughts as she strode onto the bridge, balancing a tray of steaming cups. She scanned the room, her usual confidence faltering the moment her eyes landed on Scotty.

  She stopped dead in her tracks, the cups wobbling slightly.

  "Uh… what is that thing?"