"You make a valid point, but it begs the question as to why it was this Solarian who left the ship with a medical bed to collect him," Eight replied before adding, "Also, why didn't she leave the ship with the others?"
"An android would remain on the ship," The woman answered.
"That's true," Eight conceded before asking, "If it is an android, how does that alter the plan?"
"It doesn't, we just take some EMP weapons since androids are more susceptible to them than standard blasters."
"Very well proceed," Eight instructed before adding, "Acquire the ship and deliver it to the aforementioned location, if it really is an android, disable it so that we can study it along with the ship and kill everyone else aboard."
"Understood," The woman replied before ending the call.
"So, since we are going to be staying here for at least a week while you recover, Lorelie has agreed to perform at the celebration," Stacey stated.
"That makes sense, it will be a great way for Lorelie to get her new music out to even more people and also add to the Phoenix's celebration," Adam replied.
"It's not like she needs to work to get her new music out there, I'm sure pretty much everyone in the universe has heard about Diva Lorelie's New Genre Tour by now," Stacey replied while rolling her eyes.
"Don't be so sure, there's bound to be someone who's been living under a rock somewhere that hasn't heard it yet," Adam said with a chuckle.
"Stacey was about to reply when Spector suddenly made an announcement.
"ALERT"
"Several individuals are approaching me in what appears to be a stealthy manner."
As it finished speaking, Spector's construct vanished while the white virtual world around Adam changed to the docking bay Spector was parked in as Adam himself floated in the air and a holographic screen showing the docking bay appeared before Stacey.
Below him, Adam could see six individuals wearing phoenix security forces uniforms attempting to stealthily approach Spector while constantly staying vigilant to their surroundings.
"Phoenix Security Forces!" Stacey remarked in surprise before asking, "What are they doing? Revi ordered no one to approach."
"Did she give a reason why?" Adam asked as he observed the six humanoid phoenixes.
"No, she just ordered that they keep everyone clear of Spector along with themselves lest they risk their own lives," Stacey replied.
"Well, it seems they didn't listen. I wonder why," Adam remarked.
"Preparing to eliminate targets based on emergency medical protocol X-ray Nine Nine," Spector announced.
"Members of the phoenix race are reborn after they die as long as their hearts are intact, right?" Adam suddenly asked.
"That's correct," Stacey replied.
"Spector, target their heads, that way Revi can take them into custody and question them once they are reborn," Adam instructed.
"Affirmative," Spector replied before adding.
"Eliminating all targets."
Eight sat comfortably on a luxurious sofa, watching the group of six phoenix security force members on the large holographic screen before her.
These were just some of the spies she had placed around the Ashes Galaxy that relayed information to her and occasionally carried out secret assignments.
As she watched, she suddenly saw several sections of the ship's hull retract before what were obviously weapons deployed. She was able to observe this because she was watching through the docking bay's surveillance system, which gave her an angle the team of six didn't have.
Before she could even think of notifying them and before the team of six could even react, the weapons rapidly fired and tore through the six individuals' heads, melting them instantly before the weapons disappeared back into the ship.
Eight stared in shock at the scene for a few moments before yelling, "FUCK!"
"Are the preparations complete?" Revi asked as she sat behind her desk, going through documents that appeared on multiple different holographic screens.
"Everything except the decision on where Diva Lorelie will perform," Elemence replied before grumbling, "You could have warned me you planned to ask her to perform. It would have given me a chance to arrange the best location for her, but now I need to see about squeezing her in somewhere.
I mean, honestly, if word ever gets out that we're having to 'squeeze in' Dive Lorelie, the top diva in the universe, we'll be the laughing stock of the galaxy."
"Haha, my bad, my bad," Revi chuckled before adding, "But I didn't expect them to suddenly change their plans and end up staying for a week."
"No, you planned to run off and have your vacation," Elemence replied in an annoyed tone.
"Humph, I haven't had a vacation in over ten years, I think I'm deserving of one," Revi retorted.
Elemence sighed and rubbed her forehead before saying, "No one's saying you don't deserve a vacation, respect for how hard you work.
What's annoying is how you decided it all of a sudden instead of well in advance, like normal and therefore giving us ample time to prepare."
Revi was about to reply when Elemence's uniband notified her of an incoming call, which she answered after seeing who it was from.
"Admiral Nite, is there a problem?" Elemence asked as the image of a woman wearing an admiral's PSF uniform appeared on a holographic screen before her.
"That's a distinct possibility," Admiral Nite replied before saying, "The sensors outside the docking bay where the ship belongs to the Empress's guests have just detected energy signatures similar to those of ship-based weapons."
"Where did the weapons fire originate, Nite?" Revi asked in a serious tone.
"That's the thing, empress, it seems to have come from within the docking bay; however, internal sensors failed to detect anything and the security footage shows that everything is normal," Nite replied.
"Send people to investigate," Revi ordered.
"Already done, empress, I was just calling to inform you of the situation," Nite explained.
"Good, keep me…" Revi began before a holographic image of a man suddenly appeared in the middle of her office.
"Revi, we have a problem," The holographic man said after he appeared.
"Adam!" Revi said in shock as she instantly recognised who it was, while Elemence and Note looked at the man cautiously and wondered how a holographic projection of him had just appeared on its own without Revi's authorisation.
"I thought you were still unconscious," Revi asked in a relieved tone.
"I am, part of my consciousness is currently inhabiting the virtual space of my ship's AI, which is why I can appear to you as a holographic projection," Adam replied.
"Is such a thing possible?" Nite asking in surprise.
"Theoretically, I mean that's essentially what happens when someone enters virtual reality; however, I've never heard of it happening to someone unconscious," Elemence replied.
"Oh, right, let me introduce you…." Revi began only for Adam to interrupt her.
"That can wait a moment; we have a more important matter to discuss. I'm assuming you didn't order members of the Phoenix Security Force to try and secretly access my ship?"
"What! No," Revi replied before saying, "I strictly ordered everyone to stay clear of it and for the PSF only to make sure no one tries to approach."
As she finished replying, Revi realised something and so asked, "Did the weapons fire that the space ports' security sensors just detected come from your ship?"
"Yes," Adam replied.
"But the docking bays' internal sensors and security footage show that everything is fine," Nite said in a confused tone.
"I have just run a diagnostic of the docking bays' internal sensors and security feed and determined that both have been tampered with and put into a loop from three hours ago," Spector announced.
"That would explain why we failed to detect them, but why would our own people do this?" Nite asked.
"Could it have been intruders masquerading as PSF officers?" Elemence asked.
"Unlikely since they would have needed to gain access to the surveillance systems to loop the feeds," Nite explained before asking, "Speaking of which, who was that who just said they ran a diagnostic on the docking bays' security systems and how did they even gain access?"
"I am Spector, the artificial intelligence of the ship bearing the same name," Spector replied before adding, "I simply hacked the docking bay's security feed; it was a simple matter for me."
"You simply hacked our security feed?" Nite asked with a mixture of shock and anger before adding, "That's no simple matter, as you put it, we now have to do a full check of the systems and reset all the codes."
"Which you should be doing anyway, since these supposed fake PSF officers managed to access them already," Revi retorted in annoyance.
"Yes, empress," Nite replied meekly.
"If they are fake PSF officers, they might not be members of our race and we can therefore examine their bodies in an attempt to identify them," Elemence suggested.
"Are there any bodies left, Adam?" Revi asked.
"No, the six of them all had their heads melted before going through their rebirth cycle," Adam replied before saying, "Spector, show them the footage."