[video]

[salarianpathfinder]

[Weird looking bug eyed aliens aren't anything new on Thisvarou, so one popping up on the network isn't all that out of place. Unfortunately, nobody that this alien has chatted with so far seems to have any idea what a salarian is. That's honestly far less troubling than the fact that she's here at all with no way to leave, and everyone she's chatted with so far haven't been the most helpful. In all fairness, she seems to have shown up in the wake of some kind of horrible catastrophe, sooo she's just not going to bother the technicians any more than she has to.

Which brings her to the network instead. Despite her frustrations with pretty much everything, Raeka looks perfectly calm, not quite cheerful, but certainly professional.]

Judging by the chatter I've heard around the Ingress complex, it would seem that I've arrived at something of an... inopportune time, so I'll try to be brief. I'm looking for any information that you can share with me in regards to Thisavrou's scientific departments. I specialize in ecology myself, and feel that my expertise would be put to greater use in a laboratory or on the field than it would be testing for bugs in the TAB's map application. Not that I don't appreciate having work secured for me, but I can't help but wonder how many other people are given jobs that are so unfitting.

Unrelated, but in the off chance that anyone from home might be here, this is Pathfinder Raeka, with the Andromeda Initiative. Any status reports you can share with me would be greatly appreciated.

That's all for now, thank you for your time.

Comments

[toservelife]

It sounds like it. [Like a level of trust beyond anything she's ever extended anyone.]

Letting somebody into your body like that - that would be a hard thing to let anybody do, whether they're an AI or not. I don't know if I could at all. [But she's only known the concept exists for about half a minute, so that's without too much thinking about it.]

Wait... Do you still have that implant here? Is SAM with you right now?

[salarianpathfinder]

I'll be honest, it wasn't an easy decision.

My implant is still intact, scans indicate that it's still functional. However, I'm unable to reach SAM out here. Either something is blocking the signal, or SAM is simply too far away, but we can't connect.

[toservelife]

Oh, SAM wasn't...inside the implant? [She knows AI can live inside computers, and computers can be as small as her Focus, and smaller still. She just assumed SAM was in there. Or maybe there's a robot SAM somewhere wherever Raeka comes from.]

So he was communicating with you from somewhere else?

[salarianpathfinder]

That's right. He just connects to my implant. SAM himself is integrated into my ship, the Ark Paarchero. He has an amazingly long range, but wherever we are now is simply too far away for us to connect.

[Or, from what she's been hearing, they could be in completely different universes entirely. Buuut that could be a chat for another time, because shit is already complicated enough.]

[toservelife]

The Ark Paarchero. [This feels like she's studying, and she's taking every opportunity she can.]

How does it feel? Being away from him? [She taps the computer clipped to her ear, hair pushed aside so Raeka can see it.] I've worn this almost every day since I was a child. It's not intelligent, I just use it to...to see things other people can't. But being without it for too long almost feels like missing a limb. Even if I don't need it all the time, it's nice knowing it's there.

[salarianpathfinder]

It feels... Empty. Too quiet. Like a piece of my mind has been hidden away, and no matter how hard I look, I can't quite uncover it.

[She doesn't mean for it to sound depressing, but damn. Being without SAM has made this whole thing a real pain in the ass so far.]

It sounds like your device is some sort of scanning computer. What sort of things does it let you see?

[toservelife]

I'm sorry. That sounds really difficult. [It sounds even worse than losing her Focus - her Focus isn't a person. She has an attachment to it, sure - but it can be (and has been) replaced, with all the same data. SAM isn't replaceable.

She doesn't have anything more helpful to say than that - maybe it just wasn't that great a question to make someone answer.]

It actually taught me to read and write, to start with. It lets me read the writings of the Old Ones, listen to them - even see them. It helps me look for tracks, hunt machines and animals... If somebody else has a Focus, I can talk to them as if they were in front of me.

[salarianpathfinder]

Heh, it's fine.

[It was an innocent question, no harm done. Raeka's more interested to hear about this focus thing anyway.]

Sounds like your technology isn't all that different from ours, actually. Makes me wonder if I can contact you through it with my omni-tool.