A low chuckle escaped him, a private sound of amusement, as Rex finally stood before the heavy, ornate doors of the Planetary Champion's office.

He gave a single, decisive shake of his head, and the constant digital chatter in his ear, the voices of his two most unpredictable companions, vanished as he severed the comms link. Silence reclaimed him. With a solid push, the great doors swung inward, and he crossed the threshold.

The man behind the massive desk of polished obsidian was already rising, the dark stone gleaming like a still pool of night. A diplomatic smile, well-practiced and smooth, graced the Planetary Champion's face, but it did not reach his eyes. Those eyes held a weary tension, a weight that the pleasant expression could not disguise.

"Welcome, my friend," the Champion said, his tone genuinely warm, yet underscored by a current of strain.

"I must offer my deepest apologies for summoning you here so soon after we agreed to cooperate. A mere handful of days, I know. But circumstances have shifted. There has been... a significant change of plans." As he spoke, his hand gestured toward a single plush, high-backed chair positioned directly opposite the desk, a silent but clear invitation.

"Oh?" Rex replied, his voice a calm counterpoint to the charged atmosphere. He settled into the offered seat as he asked, "What would that be?"

"It seems the intelligence regarding the mothership was somehow leaked," the Champion began, his practiced composure thinning to reveal clear frustration.

"We are no longer the only ones with our eyes upon that prize. In fact, there is a high probability that the other megacorporations are already aware. Even now, they are likely dispatching their own parties to pick the vessel clean."

To emphasize his point, the Champion summoned a shimmering array of news feeds from different sectors of the galaxy.

Each one blared headlines about the Void Mothership. Some channels openly recruited adventurers with promises of untold wealth, while others featured panicked commentators speculating on the nature and dangers of the Void itself.

"In a few words," Rex interjected, deciding on directness over a lengthy explanation, "what you're trying to tell me is that we have to leave immediately and arrive before anyone else, yes?"

"Indeed, it is precisely as you say," the Champion confirmed, already moving from behind his desk. "I have informed the rest of the team. We depart at dusk. Please, make all necessary preparations. We will assemble at Docking Bay One." He was already standing, preparing to see his guest out, but Rex spoke first, rising from his own chair.

"Since the other megacorps are joining this treasure hunt, can we expect to see Tier 6 or Tier 7 powerhouses on the field?" Rex asked, his gaze steady.

A flicker of relief passed over the Champion's features. "There is no need for you to worry on that account, my friend. The Void is acutely sensitive to raw stellar energy."

"Because of this, it has been strictly forbidden for any entity at Tier 6 or above to approach it. The prohibition is absolute, designed to prevent triggering a full-scale Void incursion into the galaxy."

Satisfied with the answer, Rex gave a simple nod and took his leave. Once outside the mansion's imposing gates, his eyes met those of the stoic Elite Guard stationed there.

A deliberate, mocking smirk touched Rex's lips, and in the very next instant, he was gone, vanishing without a sound or a trace, leaving the guard staring at the empty space where he had stood.

Back within the familiar walls of his own villa, Rex relayed the entire conversation to Cleo. She listened intently, her expression growing more determined by the second.

"If that is the case, then I will go with you," she declared while stepping directly in front of him. "If we face this together, our chances of securing the Void Gems increase dramatically."

"Denied," Rex stated, his voice firm as he shook his head. "It is far too dangerous to take you there. Given the history between the megacorporations, there is no guarantee they won't immediately turn on one another. It is better, and safer, if I go alone."

He was still speaking, his mind made up, when Cleo moved. It was not a hostile act, but one of fluid, startling precision. A shift of her weight, a deft hook of her foot, and before he could react, the world tilted.

He landed with a soft thud on the lab's cool floor, the breath leaving his lungs in a quiet rush. Before he could even process the fall, she was there, settling comfortably atop him, pinning him in place and looking down with a look of pure, unyielding triumph.

A storm of emotion swirled in Cleo's eyes, her chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. "Rex," she began, her voice trembling with a fervor he rarely witnessed.

"While I appreciate your concern for my safety, I have to remind you that I am a Kaelzar! I am of a race born for war, forged in conflict. I am not weaker than you. How could I be? We share everything! our strength, our progress, and even our very existence are combined! If you were to fall, I would fall with you!"

"But even if this body is destroyed, I would not truly die, for you are the anchor of my existence. Don't you see? In the most real sense, I am practically invincible!"

She leaned closer, her voice dropping from a shout to a raw, desperate plea. "So please! Let me stand at your side. Even if I must be your shield, let me be there!"

The silence that followed her outburst felt louder than her words. Rex could only stare, utterly captivated by the raw vulnerability she had just unveiled. This was only the second time he had seen her tear down her walls so completely, letting her feelings flood out for him to see, and the sight of it left him humbled and awestruck.

Slowly, he reached out, his calloused hand finding the soft skin of her cheek. The touch was a gentle anchor in her emotional tempest.

Her eyes fluttered closed as she leaned into his palm, her own hands coming up to cover his, holding it there. In that quiet connection, he straightened up, drawing her face closer to his, and pressed his lips to hers.

It was not a kiss of haste but of profound meaning. A slow, tender seal upon a promise, a silent answer to her desperate plea. For several long, breathless minutes, the world outside their embrace ceased to exist, replaced only by the warm, shared silence of their bond.

It was a voice, small and synthetically cheerful, that shattered the moment.

"Detecting a significant increase in core body temperature for the main body! Proceeding to execute emergency cooling measures!"

A miniature blur shot into their peripheral vision. The chibi version of Cleo, appearing from some hidden alcove, brandished a cooling spray with comical seriousness. Before either of them could react, a frigid mist enveloped them both, dousing the warm intimacy with the abrupt shock of a cold bomb.

The moment was well and truly ended.

Rex and Cleo pulled apart, blinking away the moisture, staring at each other in a state of stunned, damp bewilderment. The first sound to break the frozen silence was a low rumble from Rex's chest that built into a full, heartfelt laugh.

"Hahaha! What in the world was that?" he managed between breaths, his eyes crinkling with mirth. "Do you really have that kind of emergency protocol programmed?"

Upon hearing his laughter and the question, a brilliant flush crept up Cleo's neck, turning the tips of her ears a deep, embarrassed red. She buried her face against his chest to hide it. "Deactivate emergency measures!" she commanded, her voice muffled by his shirt.

The little chibi beeped in acknowledgement and powered down, but not without one final, defiant shot of the cooling spray directly at her creator.

"Hahaha," Rex chuckled again, holding her close as he smoothed her hair. "I like that version of you, you know. It reminds me... I haven't seen mini-Cleo anywhere lately. Where has she been?"

"She is still undergoing her upgrades," Cleo explained, her voice gradually steadying as her shame ebbed away within the safety of his embrace.

"What she desires is a true sense of self, an independent consciousness. That is not a process that can be rushed in a few months. It will take years, at the very least. But if all goes according to plan, she should be ready before we finally leave this planet behind."

As dusk began to paint the sky in shades of violet and orange, Rex and Cleo finalized their preparations to depart for the docking bay.

Before leaving, Rex stole a quiet moment with Nyra and his son; his heart was heavy with the weight of another farewell. Meanwhile, Cleo presented Nyra with a newly crafted arm device, a tangible promise of their protection.

A flicker of concern crossed Rex's mind about leaving Little Red as their sole guardian, but Cleo laid a calming hand on his arm.

"Even if the virus lifted its own ban," she assured him softly, "the core of her programming, the echo of the original Little Red, remains. Her thoughts cannot be completely free from that foundation. She will not harm them."

Only after hearing the full explanation of the virus's nature, its constraints, its origins, and the fragile logic that bound it did a measure of true ease settle over Rex.

The coiled tension in his shoulders loosened its grip. With a final, acknowledging nod to Cleo's reasoning, the matter was settled in his mind.