Vreta gave a grin and leisurely took another drink. The taste was growing on him, though it still took him a moment to recover and reply. “One thing I do admire about your people is your confidence. You [i]are[/i] experts on the Cradle, and don’t let anyone try to tell you otherwise. If any of the Rothian members of the team try to be dismissive of your contributions, then be adamant about proving your capabilities. Some of them may enter with the notion that you are too far behind to be helpful, but if you prove otherwise, they will come around. They won’t deny the reality in front of them.”

“That said…” Vreta continued, interrupting himself by taking another, small sip. “I wouldn’t be doing my job if I did not prepare you for what my people will be bringing to the table. I would highly caution against downplaying what they can do. The Rahn’Saki themselves have decided to devote considerable resources to this endeavor, and they may commit even more once I inform them of the dangers your people may be in if this problem is not solved. Once we have the coordinates from your people, we will have our best scanning equipment to investigate the area. From there, the resources we have will largely depend on what we find, but if it is underground, which we suspect it must be to have not been detected, then my people will provide excavation equipment to uncover it. Our research team is being led by one of our most senior AI researchers, a woman named Marae’Ano.  And I [i]do[/i] mean senior. She invented the first true AI. Many Rothians, myself included, move between careers throughout their lives, but she seems content to simply move between fields of study. In any case, I would recommend forwarding all of the relevant information you intend to share about the Cradle to them as soon as we arrive at Rothia, so that they can get a head start on familiarizing themselves with it while we are still searching the planet. In fact…perhaps you can start teaching me about it? It  has been a whle, but there was a time when I was involved in the research of cutting-edge technology, AI included. That is one of the main reasons I was hired by the Zuraxi’Synkuur corporation; I do have experience. If I can learn more about the Cradle myself, I might be able to better prepare our researchers.”