Long before the echoes of battle reached the planet, Rex was sprawled across a luxurious couch in a state of profound indolence.

The massive holo-screen cast shifting colors across his face as he flicked through a meaningless stream of galactic entertainment. It was in the middle of a particularly vapid cooking show that a sharp, official chime cut through the noise, and a notification window materialized in the center of the screen.

[Dear guest, by order of the Planetary Champion, you are hereby summoned to his mansion to discuss urgent matters pertaining to the agreement you hold with my master. We await your arrival.

Rex let out a short, derisive laugh. "Ha. Would you look at that? They think I'm some kind of trained doggy who'll come wagging my tail every time they whistle?" He unfolded himself from the couch with a predator's lazy grace. "Cleo, are you there?"

A moment later, the shimmering, life-sized hologram of Cleo appeared before him. "Yes, Rex. Are you in need of any assistance?"

"The Planetary Champion is calling for me," he said with a dangerous glint in his eye. "But I don't really feel like playing fetch. So, what do you think? Should I scare them off again, or do what he's telling me?" He watched her, genuinely curious for her cold, logical perspective.

Cleo's hologram didn't hesitate to give her answer. "The strategically optimal course of action is to accept the invitation. Our original intention on this planet was to rest and resupply for at least twenty standard years before proceeding with our conquest."

"If we were to openly attack the Planetary Champion, there is a ninety-nine percent probability that Nexum Dynamic would dispatch an extermination fleet. That is a confrontation we are not currently equipped to survive."

Rex was silent for a long moment, his expression remaining unreadable. Then, he stepped close... so close that the light of Cleo's hologram danced on his features.

"Mmm..." he hummed, his voice a low rumble. He reached out, his movement surprisingly tender, and brushed his fingers through the image of her cheek. The gesture was one of intimate familiarity, but his hand passed through nothing but light and air.

He pulled back, a devilish, knowing smile playing on his lips. "It's a shame you're not here right now."

Without another word, he turned and walked away, leaving the hologram to flicker out.

Across the city, in the sterile, humming silence of her primary lab, Cleo's main body, a perfect, biomechanical form, opened its eyes. The data stream from the interaction with Rex flooded her processors, and immediately, a wave of heat rushed to her artificial skin. A flush, warm and inexplicable, colored her cheeks.

"Detecting a significant rise in core temperature in the Creator," a small, chibi-like drone announced in a cheerful, synthesized voice. "Proceeding with emergency cooldown protocols!"

Before Cleo could react, the little drone, a miniature version of herself, zipped over on a medical bot and sprayed a fine, cool mist over her face. The physical sensation was effective, but the sheer embarrassment was catastrophic. "Cease all auxiliary functions!" she commanded, her voice tight.

The chibi drone powered down with a soft beep. Alone in the vast lab, with only the hum of servers and the frantic, internal rhythm of her own systems for company, Cleo slowly brought her hands up to cover her face.

"Why am I having this reaction?" she whispered to the empty air. "System! Run a full diagnostic on this body! I want to locate any and all anomalies immediately!"

[Command acknowledged. Running full-spectrum diagnostic... Complete. No physical anomalies detected. Only a slight, non-critical increase in artificial heart rate and nanomachine blood turbulence.]

Cleo let out a long, shuddering sigh, the sound entirely too human. She slumped forward, resting her forehead on her knees. "Ha... I knew it," she murmured, her voice muffled. "I'm becoming... stupid."

Meanwhile, Rex had already changed into the formal military uniform Cleo had designed for him, a stark, imposing outfit meant to represent the might of the Kaelzar name in diplomatic situations.

Stepping outside his villa, he eyed the sleek, official vehicle waiting for him. His gaze then lifted, traveling across the sprawling cityscape to the distant, opulent silhouette of the Planetary Champion's mansion, barely visible on the horizon.

He looked at the vehicle. Then back at the impossibly far mansion.

"...I will go faster if I just teleport there."

With a dismissive shrug, the air around him crackled with pent-up energy. In a series of silent, spatial ripples, he began to flash across the city, using the short-range instant movement ability unique to a Tier 5 Planetary Champion.

One moment he was at his villa, the next he was a blur bypassing skyscrapers, and in a final, abrupt transition, he stood perfectly still, having never touched the ground, right outside the grand, intimidating main doors of the Champion's mansion.

But as was to be expected, the sudden, unannounced appearance of a 2.5-meter-tall figure materializing from thin air did not sit well with the mansion's security. A chorus of shouts erupted, weapons were raised with a synchronized clatter, and laser sights painted crimson dots across his chest.

"HALT! RAISE YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"

"IDENTIFY YOURSELF BEFORE WE OPEN FIRE!"

One guard frantically called for reinforcements into his comms unit. In a matter of heartbeats, the courtyard was swarming with guards, their armored forms creating a tight, hostile circle around him.

The whine of repulsor engines joined the chaos as a military gunboat descended, its heavy cannons swiveling to lock onto the single, imposing figure below.

Amidst this escalating standoff, a soft chime came from the device on Rex's forearm.

[Cleo: Rex... what did you do? Why is there a massive mobilization from the enforcers and military heading toward the Champion's mansion?]

His fingers moved with deliberate slowness, a stark contrast to the nervous energy surrounding him.

[Rex: I did nothing; I just teleported here since I didn't want to take the vehicle for an hour.]

Sending the message, he lifted his gaze, his eyes calmly scanning the ring of nervous guards and the ominous silhouette of the gunboat overhead. He didn't raise his hands. He simply stood there, an island of utter calm in a sea of panicked protocol.

Thankfully, before a single, twitchy finger could squeeze a trigger, the grand doors of the mansion hissed open. The Elite Guard who emerged was one Rex recognized; he was one of the two he had sent flying through a wall during his last visit.

The man's face was a mask of strained professionalism, his body still moving with a slight stiffness that spoke of recent, significant injury.

"Everyone, stand down!" the Elite Guard shouted out his command, his voice cutting through the tension. "He is an invited guest of the Planetary Champion himself!"

He then turned to Rex, offering a bow that was just a little too shallow to be truly respectful. "Please forgive us, my lord. We were informed you would be arriving by vehicle. We were not... expecting a teleportation."

The words were apologetic, but the tone was thick with unspoken accusation.

Another message flashed on Rex's device.

[Cleo: Of course they think that. Unauthorized spatial displacement within city limits is a Class 3 felony. You essentially just performed a tactical invasion of a sovereign leader's residence.]

A third message popped up immediately after, this one from a different contact.

[Lyra: Haha! And then you go and say I'mmm tooooo impulsive!!

A faint, almost imperceptible twitch tugged at Rex's eyebrow as he read Lyra's gloating text. He deactivated the holo-screen, the ghost of a smile returning to his lips as he addressed the Elite Guard.

"There is no need for you to apologize," Rex said, his voice a smooth, deep rumble that carried easily over the quieted courtyard.

"Even I didn't anticipate arriving quite this promptly after receiving the invitation mere minutes ago." He gave an approving nod to the surrounding guards, his smile never wavering. "You are all very vigilant. Keep up the good work."

With that, he strode past the stunned Elite Guard and into the opulent mansion, completely unfazed, leaving a small army to stand down in his wake.

As Rex walked the opulent, silent halls toward the Planetary Champion's office, a detail nagged at him. The mansion was unnervingly still. The constant, soft whirring of bot maids was absent; the usual, stoic presence of robotic guards at every corridor junction had vanished. It was then that he remembered something.

His fingers moved almost imperceptibly over his wrist device.

[Rex: Lyra, weren't you supposed to be on that infiltration mission Cleo sent you to?]

A reply appeared instantly, the text bubbling with imagined laughter.

[Lyra: I am here... I thought it would be a quick in-and-out. But I'm booooored. For three days, he's been focused on his research! He hasn't even eaten or gone to the bathroom!]

Unbeknownst to anyone, Lyra was stretched out on a high, shadow-cloaked support beam in the very lab her target was in

. She was little more than a shimmer of heat haze, her unique biology allowing her to disassemble into a gaseous state and drift through the air filtration systems, rendering the building's sophisticated security net utterly useless.

[Rex: Then, how is it that you were able to watch what I was doing just now?]

[Lyra: That's because I was texting Cleo. She told me what you just did. Huhu.]

A slow, deliberate smile spread across Rex's face.

[Rex: So, you sold me out that easily, Cleo?]

There was a long, telling pause before the response came.

[Cleo: ...]