Freyr ran a hand through her hair to help her think; it was getting quite long. “Again, this thing could be completely different from the Cradle. But… the only real ‘upload’ we’ve managed would be Human consciousness using the harnesses. Pretty much everything else requires a link to be established from inside the environment first. It’s definitely worth a try though. In fact, we have the latest iteration of our Hunter Gatherer program in stock. It was showing promising results in Cradle data translation trials.”

“Perhaps we should run both programs at the same time and see which one does best?” 595 offered, picking at her teeth with a tiny sliver of plastic. Freyr glared at her and snipped a message over privately. “What are you doing? It’s not a foot race, Agent.” 595 grinned, showing off pearly white gnashers. ”Just trying to keep things interesting, Doctor.” Freyr turned back to the Rothians. “Please excuse my bodyguard. She means well.”

595 scoffed. “So i’m just a bodyguard now?” Freyr turned back to her. ”Please, be quiet. I am running things here.”

“That’s my girl! Now; say that to the Rothians.” Freyr gritted her teeth. The Agent was really starting to wind her up today.

While Marae did little to even acknowledge the Agent’s behavior, just as most Rothians would have, Nirann, surprisingly, actually engaged with the comment. He chuckled as his hologram appeared in front of 595, towering over her. “Is it a contest I sense? Are we doing bets? If so, I’ll put a thousand down on my program. There’s not a programmer alive that can best me. You do have the advantage of hundreds of years of study on the Cradle environment and much more familiarity with its software architecture, but…I’m confident.”

Marae let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. “Nir, what did I say about your gambling problem?”

Nirann turned his head back and pointed a finger towards Marae. “Hey, it’s not gambling if there’s a guaranteed profit. I’m telling you, those returns were staying steady at 52.38%, and the margin of error was only 0.43%. That is hardly a gamble.”

Marae rubbed her hand over her head, sighing once more. “Please do me a favor and don’t encourage him. I make that mistake...far too often, as you can see.” She said as she enlarged the hologram of the new object and centered it between them all. “Let’s just focus on the task at hand. Once we are permitted to interact with the object, we can see if the hardware you use to access the Cradle can also access this device. If that works, we can try to send in our scouting programs. If that does not work, then we cannot make any decision that will potentially risk lives unilaterally. I do not know what authority you have been granted by your people, Dr. Lang, but any dangerous experiments will need to be run by Rareth’Jharn first for approval.”

The moment the holographic Rothian mentioned a bet, Freyr communicated one again with the Agent via comms. “Do not take that bet, i am warning you! I will get the captain down here.” 595 shot her a wry look and stood quietly while the two aliens bickered. ”You love it.” Freyr ignored her, instead smiling politely and sympathetically at Marae’s exasperated aside. She knew how she felt.

“That sounds like a good strategy. Ultimately, the safety of the Human science team is my responsibility. I know Captain Andersen is committed to the success of the mission, but I will consult her on the use of any military personnel and materiel. And of course, top of everyone’s mind is the safety of Rothia. We are guests on your beautiful planet, after all. Any eventual course of action will be conducted with extreme caution.”

"Don’t roll your eyes." Freyr sent immediately after, without looking.

"I would NEVER!" Was the response.

“If it came to it, have you got a team ready to go into a simulation?” Freyr asked Marae.

“That would also be a question for Rareth.” Marae answered. “Though, I would guess that she does. I do know that the first we send in will be soldiers to scout and secure a safe place for us to work.”

Nirann gave a quick glance over to the hologram of the octahedral object. “If this thing is a supercomputer like the Cradle, I definitely want to go in. I’ve never had the chance to learn about something so strange and alien that wasn’t also frustratingly primitive. Even I have to admit that your administrative capabilities on Outremer are impressive with your use of the Cradle, and you don’t even understand the thing fully. And considering that I’m in charge of the administration of Threria…well, you could see how that would interest me.”

“If we can confirm that it is safe, then maybe.” Marae said, narrowing her eyes at Nirann before returning her attention to Freyr. “We will need one of your harnesses to modify to our needs. If there is a simulation, then Rareth wants to make sure she and her people can be properly armed, and I definitely want to be able to use our equipment. We could develop one of our own, but it would be faster to work off of yours as a base.”

“Ah yes, so we’re currently working on a solution for this.” Freyr replied. “The standard harnesses we use to access the Cradle are not equipped to generate non-organic matter. They just give you an ID code, which is used to provide you with authorised gear milliseconds after you spawn in. In the early days, this was simply because we didn’t know enough about the technology to pre-load assets. Now, this two-step process has been baked in as a failsafe to keep track of people and stop them bringing dangerous items in. Obviously the Skinner’s Guild found a way around this, as they brought a bomb.” Freyr explained, momentarily thinking back to that haunting camera footage of the would-be terrorists.

“That gave me the inspiration to start building a pre-load packet system. A kind of executable file which means we can specify the gear we want to bring with us before actually logging in. This does assume the object uses all the same language as the Cradle, But the notation we found in Rothian DNA is cause for cautious optimism. We can send you the process for scanning the items you want to assign to each member of your team as soon as it’s ready. Some members of my team are just finishing up the design.”

Marae nodded in response to Freyr. “What you describe does sound acceptable. However, there is one, non-negotiable condition. Any device that scans our technology must remain with us, and you must not be able to access data from it. There is no way I will be able to get approval for its use otherwise. No amount of cooperation is going to make the Rothian people any less protective over our technology’s designs, no doubt as you expected.”

Almost as soon as Marae finished speaking, Nirann chimed in as well. “And if it would upset you to lose your scanning device or your harness, I can just scan yours and fabricate a new one for us. Or, you know, just pay you back or something. Maybe in cash, maybe a…gift card to Etisxa’Maan. Whatever works.”

“That’s quite alright. I think you’ll be able to scan what you need using existing Rothian tech in the lab. We’ll just send you a template of the file for you to fill for each member.” Freyr explained. “I suspect we’ll be fine with the amount of harnesses we currently have in stock, but thank you anyway, Nirann. If you’ll excuse me, I need to check up on my team.” She smiled politely and turned away.

595 peeled off with her. “I’ll liaise with the captain and muster the troops; make sure we have all the gear we need for the expedition here on the ship.” The agent updated. “Good idea, buzz me if you have questions.” Freyr replied, cold as ice. 595 gave her a quizzical look, before they separated to go to their separate consoles.

The wait for the containment field to be completed felt like an eternity for many of the scientists, despite the fact that the work was eventually done an hour ahead of schedule. For most, there was little to do except wait. Among the Rothians, Nirann had the most important work to complete, as he took one of the harnesses to scan, study, and prepare for Rothian use. Though, it was not a task that took him all that long to complete. With the resources he had at his disposal, he needed only half that time to make sure the Rothians would be ready. With the rest, he started exploring options of how to potentially improve the Human design with Rothian technology, Though, he certainly would not have any results before their first use.

---

Ultimately, the containment shield was completed around the object without any issues or delays. Laser drills dug down to the object and hollowed out cavities in the rock around it where the shield projectors were placed. The heat became more intense the closer they came to the mantle, but it still remained well-within the operating range of their equipment. Once the shield was ready, more than just the scientist made their way to the lab. Rareth’Jharn made certain to show up in-person to be present for any decisions they might want to make in regards to the object. Vreta too joined them in the lab, though as his presence was not strictly needed, he made sure to mostly keep out of the way at first. He lingered around the observation window, looking out over the ocean floor and the occasional, and sometimes frightening sea creatures that would swim by.

Marae’Ano had taken over what was normally a conference table with multiple holographic displays, including the object itself, the section of the deep crust around it, and pages upon pages of notes she had brought up for viewing and “pushed” aside without closing. Rareth had finally given the approval to begin direct observation and experimentation with the object, so now they just had to decide what to do first.

During the intervening time, Freyr ordered the requisition of a Hunter Gatherer program from the Barbarossa. A potent sim-virus, it had been specifically created to survive in Cradle space, and send translated data to the outside. Freyr made sure to remove all traces of Cradle learnings data from this iteration of the program, to ensure there wasn’t any cross-contamination.

Freyr also supervised the final touches to a pre-load template file. Once the team were confident it could work in an environment like the Cradle, Freyr put her best systems engineer in charge of building out files for the Human elements of the entry team.

They had planned for an ‘in-person’ eventuality, which meant it didn’t take 595 long to muster the Sacred Band. Six super soldiers clanked into the lab behind the agent, the leader of whom Freyr had already seen at the initial meeting between the Human & Rothian teams. This light-blue armoured titan strode over to her station with 595 while the others hung back slightly.

“Sacred Band, reporting for duty, ma’am.” He snapped smartly to attention. His voice was deep, measured and accented. “I’m Thebes, Fireteam Leader. Captain Andersen has put us at your disposal. Where would you like us?” Freyr glanced at 595, who looked slightly irritated but put on a brave face when she caught Freyr looking. “Don’t say i never get you anything.” 595 winked; Freyr ignored her. “Over there, by the harnesses for now please.”

Freyr turned away and headed to the briefing table. An assortment of Rothian & Human scientists, along with some other conspicuous characters, were assembling. She took her overlay glasses off and let them hang around her neck - a huffed silence fell. “So, are we ready to proceed?”

The abundance of armed individuals, especially the Human soldiers, was a source of discomfort for some of the Rothian scientists. They were accustomed to Rothian authorities, but foreign soldiers could put them on edge, at least subconsciously. Though, Rareth, of course, was perfectly calm. She had been the one to approve the presence of Human supersoldiers, and as a Datius, her own capabilities were legendary. Even a Rahn’Masser agent like Vreta did not truly know how much of their reputation was true, and how much was propaganda.

Now that it was time to get to work, Marae cleared the space around the conference table for Freyr, Rareth, and the others to join her. Rareth stepped up to stand at one end of the table, while Nirann’s hologram appeared in the seat next to Marae. Vreta knew that his presence was not entirely necessary at the moment, but if there was space at the table, he intended to take a seat as well.

Marae was the one to start, once Freyr posed her question. “Yes. Now that the containment shield is in place, we are free to interact directly with the object. While we do not yet know the purpose of this object, I do agree with the approach of treating it as we would the Cradle. Given its location and properties, testing whether or not there is a simulation within is a fair starting point. Nirann has prepared a simplified scouting program. It is designed to carry out its one task, then shut itself down. It is not adaptable in the slightest, but it should be reliable. It is my understanding that your team has a program to try as well, Dr. Lang? I see no reason that we cannot attempt both, and once we have the results, we can decide on our next move.”

“Yes, to give us options we’ve queued up a Hunter Gatherer. It doesn’t induct via the harness like yours will; it instead relies on the object taking the bait and responding to a handshake from outside. It will then hopefully find a way in and begin reproducing.” Freyr stopped herself from explaining all the intricacies of the program and looked at her team. “Are we in position?” She got a unanimous nod in return. She looked back at the Rothians. “Let’s begin.”

---

“Nothing, it’s not taking the bait.” Freyr sighed, taking her glasses off again and rubbing her eyes. She was leaning in to study one of the holographic displays on the conference table. “Did you regain a connection?” She asked across the table to Nirann for the third time. “What about if we try to pull what we can back out again and retrieve the data that way?” People were beginning to shuffle uncomfortably where they stood or sat. This operation with the programs had been dragging on for nearly two hours, and there was very little either team could do once they were deployed. That is, apart from watching and waiting.

Marae shrugged and turned her head towards Nirann. “Do you have anything, Nir?”

“Nothing tangible, other than that initial telemetry.” Nirann answered. “I’ve been collecting and analyzing every bit of the data stream coming from that object, checking for patterns, any way it could have been encrypted or corrupted, but…this is a process that deals with the data stream of an entire living mind. That’s a mountain jumbled up data in a programming language I haven’t seen before. Before I can even think of trying to interpret the raw data stream, I need to solve this language issue. Now, I’m good, but it will still take me time to work miracles.”

Marae tilted her head and crossed her arms skeptically. “It’s just a language translation. I could understand the delay if you were restricted to just this ship’s computer, but you have the Core at your disposal. With that kind of power, you should have the translation nearly done by this point.”

Nirann suddenly appeared beside Marae’s chair, just to start pacing around it. “Correction, I have access to the partition of the Core allocated to this expedition. And, as much as I hate to admit it, I can see why the Humans have had trouble with this one. This language is…weird.”

Marae narrowed her eyes. "What sort of 'weird'?"

“Weird…weird.” He answered.

Marae sighed and rolled her eyes. “Very helpful. But I know you have access to more of the Core than that. Just allocate more.”

By this point, Nirann was pacing back and forth around the entire table. “You know I have to get approval for that…”

Before the pair’s bickering could continue any longer, Rareth’Jharn made a quick connection with the outside network and, with just a few thoughts, made a decision to help move things along. “I’ve sent back my approval, with my authorization code. Make the allocation request and you’ll have as much of the Core as you need. Within reason.”

The expression on Nirann’s face could, perhaps, best be described as “giddy.” He clasped his hands together with a wide grin. “Ah, now that’s what I’m talking about. I can practically taste that sweet, sweet processing power. I’ll see what miracles I can work while you deal with this.”

It was difficult to tell if Marae was legitimately frustrated, but nevertheless, her attention was soon back on Freyr. “As for your question Dr. Lang, yes, I think that’s about the only step we have left with this experiment. We know that there is a simulation in there for the programs to observe, at least. It might just be that there’s something interfering with the return transmission. If that’s the case, our program does store a copy of all its observations in its internal memory, so hopefully we will be able to see its findings when we pull it out.”

“Wait a second. Let me see that, please!” Freyr interjected, hand outstretched just when Nirann made to disappear again. Using one hand, she moved aside constellations of data points like she was searching for a puzzle piece within a vast stack. With her other, she placed her overlay glasses back on her nose. The throbbing notification in the periphery of her vision subsided.

Eventually, Freyr found what she was looking for. A dizzying pattern of symbols that her glasses instantly drew connecting lines between and created a hologram for the rest of the group to see. “This sequence contains the co-ordinates we found in Vreta’Sori’s DNA. The set that led us to find this object. Your program must have picked it up inside somewhere.” Freyr scratched the top of her shoulder through the open neck of her environment suit. “What are you saying?” 595 asked, standing next to her.

“I don’t know, yet. Can we see any patterns between any of the data surrounding this sequence that may correspond to Rothian genetic makeup? See if we can isolate a life form.” Freyr asked, fairly openly to the group.

“A genetic sequence from within the simulation, but…why?” Marae remarked, briefly showing a perplexed expression as she observed the hologram.

Nirann reappeared next to Marae and shrugged. “Could just be noise in the transmission from our program. I did wrap it in an artificial impression of a Rothian mind, and a very realistic one, if I do say so myself.”

“But…it might not be.” Another of the Rothian scientists chimed in. He was a xenoarcheologist named Artek’Qin. His scales had perhaps some of the most elaborate decoration of any Rothian the Humans had seen since their arrival. Much like Marae, he had black detailing on a backdrop of white scales, but his patterns were a mosaic of symbolically-represented scenes from Rothian history in an ancient artistic style. He called attention, for those gathered, of the sequences Freyr had mentioned, as well as others from the Cradle’s language. “Maybe there is something more to this…genetic connection? Whatever species created the Cradle, this object, and however many others are scattered across the galaxy, they clearly had a far reach. They may have even influenced the development of our species, and others.”

Marae looked on somewhat disapprovingly. “Now let’s avoid jumping to hasty conclusions. We have hardly confirmed that the interaction went to such an extent as…”

Artek held up his hands and shook his head. “I know, I know, just hear me out. Whatever the nature of our interactions, this species was still clearly spread out far beyond just one planet. If the evidence is as it seems, then this species was directly meddling with lifeforms. What if this Cradle language follows that connection with life? What if this is a DNA-based language? For a species that may have interacted with many other forms of life, what better a basis for a language than the language of life itself? There could be patterns we are not seeing, hidden among the existing patterns of life. Proteins as letters or ideas, epigenetic markers as accents or punctuation. There are possibilities I do not think we have begun to approach.”

Nirann appeared in a chair so he could lean back and stroke his chin. “I…don’t think I can rule that out. Normal genetic patterns could be hiding deeper ones. I’ll have to write up a custom algorithm to try and filter unrelated patterns, but…I could give it a go. Maybe give it a few trillion iterations in the Core and see what pops up? Oh, and Artek, don’t think I missed that little implication. I do take offense to it.”

“You can try it, but don’t get too sidetracked. Dr. Lang may be right as well. Even if you are right about this language, there could be one or more digital lifeforms within the simulation. Dedicate a subroutine to that task as well.” Marae commented.

“Very interesting...i don’t think we’ve fully considered that yet.” Freyr ruminated on what the monochrome Rothian had said about a DNA-based language. She turned back to her team, who had gathered around three consoles in the bank behind her. “Pull up the files on all the Cradle specimens we captured.” She turned back to Marae. “Yank the program for me, please. I want to see what data we have.”

---

“There’s hundreds more of them.” Freyr murmured in wonderment. Her overlay glasses were pulling out dozens of iterations of the same coordinates from the wreckage of the probe they’d yanked. She was very impressed that they’d collected this much, which she supposed was mostly down to the advanced Rothian tech. But what did it all mean?

Freyr took a deep breath through her nose, massaging her bottom lip with two fingers. Her back was starting to hurt, so she stood up straight again.

“Freyr, you need to look at this.” Dr Wetherall pushed in next to her at the conference table and splayed a mess of holo-pads out. “I tried to match up some of the information connected to the coords we pulled from the probe with the sample we took from Mr Sori. There are lots of slight changes, but i can see correlation too.” Freyr held two holopads up, one in each hand.

To her trained eye, one hand contained an atomic portrait of a Rothian. The other contained a fuzzy, indistinct, sinister looking cousin. “Do you think…?” Dr Wetherall asked, blinking at her. “Fuck, has it been staring us in the face this whole time?” Freyr asked back, staring off into the distance for a moment, lost in thought.

Then, she slid the two holo pads across the table to Marae. “We know that the Cradle captures and recreates things from outside the simulation. We also know it’s highly likely that this object had something to do with the patterns in Rothian DNA. But how did those patterns get there? We don’t know of any power these objects have to change genetics on the outside, but inside their domain? It’s plausible. And I think my astute deputy may have found the origin stock.”

Marae was silent for a while as she carefully went over, line-by-line, the documents Freyr had passed to her. Nirann sat alongside her as well, though it seemed more like he was looking at Marae than the documents. Despite that, he was still the first of the two to speak up. “I can’t deny the similarities. The genetic match is close…very close. Some differences, but consistent differences. Not just random noise or errors. I don’t think this is an echo of my program, I can say with ninety-two percent certainty.”

Marae looked up at him and tilted her head. “Ninety-two percent?”

Nirann shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, ninety-one point nine nine repeating, but that is literally just ninety-two. Point is, this isn’t likely an error. There may well be Rothian minds in there, or your close cousins, at least. Very, very…old cousins.”

Rareth, naturally, listened on to every conversation that took place in the lab, and while she was mostly silent unless needed, she did have input on this matter. Many of the scientists had fallen to silence as they silently contemplated the implications of this discovery and the many possibilities of what it could mean, but Rareth was nothing if not decisive in her judgement. “Then we try to make contact. The Cradle’s denizens may have become hostile on Outremer, but that does not mean the same must happen here. If there are ancient Rothian minds in there, our common-ground may help us. Can we send them a message? Perhaps use the oldest dialects of the oldest Rothian languages we know of?”

“Even those may be too new, depending on how old these minds are.” The xenoarcheologist, Artek, commented. “Dr. Lang, your reports mention that one of the Cradle’s creature spoke to you, and you could understand it. Do you know how it learned your language?”

“That’s correct. We...um…We think it learned our language from kidnapped Humans. For the centuries before that we’ve never had direct communication from the device.” Freyr answered.

She took another deep breath, not quite believing she was volunteering for this. “I think we should get in there and find out exactly what is going on. Nirann, your analysis has already proved the simulation is livable, at least around our entry point. If we go in, we might be able to establish a two-way connection which will give us more reliable information to work with. Is that agreeable?” Freyr directed this to Rareth.

Freyr glanced over at the other side of the lab, where the Sacred Band were waiting patiently. 595 was over there too, deep in conversation with Thebes and gesticulating expansively. It looked like they might be discussing strategy, or at least one of them was. Freyr was surprised to see the agent had smudged some dark red battle clay over her face in a T-shape over her eyes, nose and mouth. “If you’re worried about putting Rothian lives in danger, I know at least seven Human desperadoes who’ll be willing to do the heavy lifting.” Freyr added to her question with a smile.

“Meanwhile, If we can figure out the language this thing uses, that could be the single biggest advance in this space for a century. I believe my team has sent over samples from Cradle creatures we've captured. There may be clues there if they do actually communicate through organic matter. However, even with all the computing power in the world, we’ll need some time to be confident we’re not going to piss this thing off with whatever message we try and send. Better to try a two-pronged approach.” Freyr finished her pitch by looking between Artek, Marae and Nirann.

Although the Rothian scientists did have plenty to consider, Rareth was still the one to most readily respond. “Dr. Lang, I have been tasked to ensure the success of this expedition, and the safety of its members. For the purposes of this expedition, I will be treating all of your lives the same. I will be risking none of you unnecessarily. Are there any potential dangers you have identified in the environment itself?”

Given a more focused question, Nirann responded quickly. “Keep in mind this is all just in the immediate area of the program’s arrival location. The program was not designed to move and explore. But, I can say that the simulated atmosphere, as I am seeing it in these readings, is breathable. I also do not have any evidence of airborne toxins. The temperature is safe, and there were no roaming murder insects in the program’s sight. I can’t guarantee safety, but there also isn’t evidence of danger yet.”

“Understood, and these harnesses, are we safe to use them to scan our technology.” Rareth asked without skipping a beat.

Again, Nirann was the one to give the answer. “Yes, that I can guarantee. I’ve explored every nook and cranny of its code base. I have guaranteed there will be no data collection from the scans, and if somehow there was, I can make sure it would not be translated. The ones I prepared for Rothian use will be safe.”

Rareth gave a nod, though she still was not quite done. “Good, and can you guarantee that anyone who goes in will be able to return?”

This time, it was Marae who answered. She had expected she would inevitably end up in the simulation at some point, so she had made sure to understand the process before they even arrived. “We can always be pulled, though that does carry risks. It can be a shock to the brain. It is better to set up a transit station inside to stabilize the synaptic impressions during the transition. We do have the capability to do that, though.”

“Very well, then my last question is for you, Dr. Lang.” Rareth said, staring her down rather intently. “Is this a necessary course of action? Even if we can be sure that the simulation itself will not kill us, we have no such guarantees about its inhabitants. What do we stand to lose if we act more slowly, and is it worth the risk that accompanies it? If so, if this is necessary, then I will approve it. You may send any team of your choosing, but I will be going myself as well to help establish this transit station, and to prepare its defenses.”

Freyr didn’t answer immediately. She took a moment to organise her thoughts, arms crossed, head slightly tilted down, perfectly aware most eyes in the lab were now on her. A flicker of blue light shone in her periphery; glancing over Freyr saw two half-body holograms of Captain Andersen and the Outremer Security Council delegate had appeared on a pedestal nearby. It looked like they were in a conference room up on the Barb.

“I am an academic, like many of you here today. I’m happiest with a careful, methodical, inexorable march toward the truth. I want nothing more for us to set up a robust programme of research from the safety of the FOB. But i’m afraid, we all know that this kind of work takes months, years even, to fully unlock results. This is time we simply don’t have. I fear lives are at stake on Outremer right now, many more than we’ll be risking with our journey inside this object. Two of those lives are my husband and daughter, who were kidnapped right at the start. So yes, i believe this is a necessary risk.”

Freyr paused temporarily, to avoid her voice breaking. She took a second to compose herself before looking straight at Rareth. “I can’t force anyone to enter the simulation, as i won’t be able to guarantee their safety. But, i am going in there myself, regardless. If we go in as a cohesive unit, we stand more chance of learning something and coming out alive.”

Everyone was silent for a millisecond, until 595 called “Ooo ra!” across the room. Her rallying cry made Freyr smile with emotion she wiped her eye. The Sacred Band all stamped their feet in unison, creating a hollow boom that rolled across the lab. “We’re with you, Dr Lang!” Dr Wetherall gaver her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Captain Andersen nodded opaqely and shared a muted word with the delegate on screen.

Rareth did not show any of the signs of inspiration that the Sacred Band demonstrated. As many of the other Rothians might have expected, her response was measured and rational. “I do understand and agree with the need for haste in regards to your planet. Even if no Human entered the Cradle again, its influence on your world could lead to a great deal of suffering and death if you were to lose control of it..” She said. However, as expected, there was a caveat to how much she agreed with Freyr.

“But, it is also true that times such as these are where you must avoid allowing emotion to rule your decisions.” Rareth said, still maintaining her firm stare towards Freyr. “The willingness to sacrifice and take risks for your people is noble, but to do so unnecessarily will cause more harm than good. Given that we have, gathered here, the most prominent experts from our respective species, that means this research team is not easily replaceable. If you die unnecessarily, your replacements will be less capable. They will work more slowly, if they can find a solution at all, and your world will suffer more than if we had just approached with due cation. For this first entry into the simulation, what we need is this: effective combat personnel, the resources to quickly establish a defensive position, and the individual, or individuals, who can most quickly establish a temporary transit station. Anyone else is not necessary for this first task and should stay behind.”