Faira’Hexus; Two days after contactDeciphering the language has been a bit of a fight. Having no point of reference, the Faira assumed that a species worthy of relating to would be capable of learning a foreign method of communication in roughly the same time as they would. That assumption turned out to be grossly generous. So in a jury-rig manner only Astra was capable of, she and Libra finally convinced one of the Narix, in a broken version of their written language, to submit to a more detailed scanning session. Once that was done, the scientist in collaboration with her Narix counterpart created a program and simple mic-cpu-earphone translators for the Narix to use.
And now, Libra could finally do what she longed to do for ever by now, get to know their neighbors in details. The rest of the admiralty was interested in trade and defense treaties, but Libra knew that while practical, a direct approach to that on day three would with probability approaching certainty end in failure. Instead, she sent over a polite invite, asking the Narix to come tell her about their culture, society and customs.
An invitation from a foreign species. Now there was something Runa would never thought will happen in her lifetime. She expected the job to be more practically oriented, but perhaps a change of pace was in order, especially after the introduction, which was, lightly speaking, a little rough around the edges.
When the message landed on her desk, she dropped whatever she was doing at the time and her gaze fell upon the mountain of materials mostly related to their shipyards and language. For a moment, she wondered about how many bugs did the council order in her office aboard the Alchemist and decided such talks should better be held somewhere else. Collecting several items related to Naris and their culture, she set out to meet the Faira commander per her request in a joyous mindset.
“Alchemist, ‘Hexus control. You are clear to dock on airlock 2. The Admiral is waiting for you.” the Sector Control officer radioed over, guiding the Narix pilot into docking with the cruiser sized colony ship turned diplomatic vessel.
Libra has been bouncing on her feet in the hallway leading to the airlock, curious to meet the newly arrived official ambassador rather than the boring military men. Certainly, Primarch Ascari has been instrumental in getting the good relations between their nations going, namely his infinite patience with one socially awkward genius, but the man had little to say that he could or Libra would be interested in.
Hearing the hiss of the airlock, the rear admiral stopped her pacing and turned towards the visitors, greeting them with the Faira fist-on-chest salute. She opted to wear her uniform rather than the almost omnipresent exosuit, seeing as her ship wouldn’t be jumping anywhere in a while. “Greetings, Ambassador. I’m read admiral Libra, pleased to make you an acquaintance.”
Transitioning between the ships was an annoyance due to the Alchemists less-than-ideal docking ring placement, requiring to go to zero G and turn ninety degrees before entering the Faira ship. The reports she’d been given gave an extensive description of the armored suits seemingly all Faira used. Seeing one in soft uniform was quite a surprise, but it made her stick out just a tiny bit less. Runa returned the bouncing aliens greeting with a slight bow of her head. “The pleasure is mine, Admiral.” she said, taking in the view of the ships interior. “I expected more colors, even if warning lights only. Does the almost monochromatic lighting ever lead to problems, or are there wavelengths I cannot recognize involved, outside of the four hundred to eight hundred nanometers range?” she inquired. After all, there was never a bad time for learning.
“You’ll have to forgive us, the Homeworld’s star had a spectrum shifted towards the low frequencies of what you would consider visible spectrum. We can also see a bit into what you call ‘infrared’, or so I’m told.” Libra nodded, “Please, follow me.” she said, leading the two of them to a nearby conference room. The Faira furniture was as spartan as the rest of their ships, metal rods and sheets welded and bolted together, brushed not to give off distracting reflections.
Taking a seat and offering one to the ambassador, Libra went over her mental list of things to talk about. “I summoned you here to establish some degree of familiarity between our peoples. I am sure that like us, your culture has some go-tos and no-gos, I’d like to share a list between us so that others of our kind don’t get on each other’s nerves as soon as they meet, if that is acceptable?”
Following the Admiral, more of the ships simplistic design was revealed to her. “It’s not a problem, Admiral, I just found it interesting. An interesting fact, our eyes adapt to darkness quite rapidly, but bright light, even just a short flash, will blind us and we have to readjust for darkness again. Red light doesn’t do that. To a Narix eye, there is no difference between darkness and your ship.”
Accepting the seat, Runa hung her coat over the backrest and listened to Libras idea. “Of course it is acceptable. Truth be told, it’s something I should’ve thought about myself.” Runa nodded, “But that list might be quite extensive, even counting just the basics. I assume you’ve put some thought into structuring this?”
“Yes, I believe formalities are first in order. As you already know, my kind call ourselves the Faira. Our nation is called the Exiles of Faira, and we govern ourselves as a military state due to certain historical events we might get into later. Our recorded history reaches some 600 years into the past. I noticed a difference between our names, ours use only a single one to your two. However, we usually address each other with our rank, or both rank and name. Addressing one of my species only by name is commonly reserved to family, close friends, or as a sign of affection. I have also prepared a drive for you with information on ships we use as well as how to build and program a device that would pull an IFF signal from our ships on request, so that we may identify each other in space. I would appreciate it if you could share your hailing protocols with us as well.” Libra started on what was undoubtedly going to be a long talk, but one she looked forward to.
“Mere six hundred years?” Runa couldn’t hold her surprise, “Unless your years are much longer than ours, that sounds very strange. Our nation's official name is the United Narix Republic, although that is commonly shortened to just ‘Republic’ for convenience.” she filed a note no her tacpad to make sure the necessary protocols were delivered to the Faira. “Our government consists of a council divided into three branches - general policy, industry and agriculture and military. The inhabitants of each continent elect their representatives every two years. Each councillor also selects a cabinet to aid them in their work.” she accepted the storage device.
“Our names use our given name and our family name in common occurrences, but the full name includes our given name, our corresponding parents name and the family name. If you want to be polite, addressing people by their rank or title and family name will not do any harm, but it’s not uncommon for people to address each other by their given name if they know one another or work together on a similar level. I will see to that you receive the necessary information regarding our ships, IFF beacons and operating procedures for communication as soon as possible.” She raised her finger as she remembered something.
“You mentioned calling yourselves ‘Exiles’. Might I inquire as to the reason for your exile? See, my people separate crime into three categories. The middle one, called greater crime, is punished by exiling the offender to a specific place on our homeworld. That makes us wary around anyone called an exile, and it may even be used as an insult, essentially calling someone untrustworthy or otherwise undesirable.”
“Well, due to that historical event, my people had to reach into space rather quickly. We are a resourceful and very united bunch. Once an entire world focuses on a task, it is not impossible to accomplish feats even as grand as that. Out of those six hundred years, we have fared space for two hundred of them, although we are only just now starting to explore the surrounding systems. I’m sure you understand the feeling of need to be careful.”
The faira looked uncertain, although until she spoke the ambassador would be left guessing as to what exactly she was uncertain about - how to explain, or whether something was not understood. “I’m… afraid I am not capable of elaborating. The translation software is still a work in progress… Could you explain the concept of ‘crime’ to me?”
Runa was, once again, dumbstruck. “Explain the concept of crime? You mean to tell me that at no point in your recorded history has one Faira done something considered distasteful, or even outright prohibited to make life easier for themselves? Never has one of your kind taken the life of another out of hatred, or by accident? At no point in time has one of your brothers or sisters taken something that wasn’t theirs?” Were these people even real? Was Admiral Libra messing with her? “Sometimes, misguided individuals or groups do awful things.” She reached up her left sleeve and, after a bit of fumbling, placed her detached prosthetic onto the table. “Like taking hostages and then attacking the negotiator, as it happened to me. And although the measures that have been put in place after our unification have gone a long way to curb the crime rate, we still have issues, here and there, ranging from minor offences to misdeeds so horrible the perpetrator, if sufficient evidence is presented to the court deciding his fate, will be executed. Those that commit atrocious acts, but evidence is inconclusive, or the act is not considered too awful are sent away to fend for themselves.”
Libra sat, listening carefully and sobering up. What the ambassador was describing was horrible, but… the Faira could not shake the feeling of uncertainty. Were her people capable of being like that too? She didn’t know. In sum, she doubted that all of the ‘criminals’ the Narix ever had in their history killed more people than the supernova of their home star, and yet, she kept thinking, that perhaps it was a blessing. It pushed the Faira to true unity, where something as what ambassador Taranis described was nonexistent.
“I… Distasteful, perhaps, but nothing major to warrant the attention of more than a superior one level above. Taken a life out of hatred? Preposterous. Taken something that isn’t theirs, yes, by mistake, or bypassing the standard requisition procedure to save time when it mattered, but in light of those, we’ve always amended our systems to work better, rather than punish the individual. I’m afraid we just… can’t relate.”
“To ease your mind: We exiled ourselves, so to speak. I am not at liberty to say why without a non aggression pact signed first, but suffice to say, every single Faira alive is an exile, but not in the manner you speak of. I know you can only take my word for it, but we simply wish to find a colony in this cosmos somewhere. We mean you no ill intent.” Libra explained uneasily.
“Perhaps it comes with differences in our development. The Faira have always struggled for survival. I do not know what your native conditions are, but my people evolved on a planet very close to its star. Not much can flourish in 300°C temperature, certainly not organisms with your biology as I’ve been informed by the Primarch.”
As Libra spoke, Runa returned her hand where it belonged. The Faira seemed honestly distraught by what she had to say. The thought of adapting the system instead of punishment for misdeeds struck her as strange. Alien, she might say.
What piqued her curiosity was this self-imposed exile Libra wouldn’t elaborate on. The whole thing seemed nonsensical. She made a mental note to further explore that later on. Why would someone leave their home? Not just someone, but the entire species? Leaving home, looking for colony. Overpopulation? No, then the entire species wouldn’t be in exile.
“Speaking of, what is your homeworld like? With the temperature you’ve given, I would think most creatures would be aquatic or subterranean.”
Libra would have visibly saddened, evn to the alien, the longer the ambassador was speaking about homeworlds. “A dusty old planet.” She said, intentionally leaving any mention of tense form her descriptions. She wouldn’t be caught lying, but she didn’t have to - couldn’t really - tell the truth. “No hydrosphere whatsoever, just grey dirt, but for us, the temperature is good. Our biology is not unlike our computers, whereas your main building block is the atom of carbon, and your neural systems run on electrolytes, ours is silicon, and our bodies are directed by semiconductor related processes, which work better in warmer climate. We can survive in low temperatures, although it dumbs us down, our ships only have this environment to preserve structural integrity of some components.” she explained. “Other than that? Tidally locked ball of silicon, iridium and some other trace elements, one side always dark where nothing could flourish. If you show me some pictures of your world, I could tell you how diverse or barren by it is comparison?”
Libra’s reaction to the mention of their homeworld was a precious clue to Runa. A barren world from which all Faira have exiled themselves. Six hundred years of history, two in space. That requires a fleet. A fleet big enough to support the entire population. Millions? Billions? More? Large fleet needs a lot of resources. Could the Faira have exhausted their homes resources? Later.
For now, Runa detached the tablet from its holster. Placing it on the table before Libra, she opened an image she took as the Alchemist left for the jump node.
“There it is. Our cradle, our home, along with its largest moon.” she slid the tablet closer to the Admiral. “See any similarities?”
“Pathetic little. I assume the white stuff are vapors of some kind? Our sky was clear. Could I see a picture of some of the life on the planet? Here.” Libra said, summoning a hologram of a view of what used to be Faira’Erea, glad for the Narix not yet being familiar with the Faira body language. While she remembered little of it now and generally didn’t mind living in space, Libra was still one of the unburnt.
The image would have been very different form what Runa could possibly show to the admiral. The entire landscape a barren desert of grey and silver, with the occasional low growth of what she could only describe as silvery-brown moss, and the very rare waist-tall tree that was wider than taller.
Runa studied the Faira homeworld with the interest a three-year old stares into a sweets shop. “Right, life.” she snapped from she trance and reached for the tablet, switching it to a
“This is a part of our surface. Never seen this much water in one place, if any all? As for life itself, this, for example, is one of our sources of food.” She opened
in a corner over the volcano, “Also, the cause of many deaths every year. A vicious, quadrupedal forest predator. But it tastes great.”
If Libra had these eyelids the Narix had, her eyes would have been going wide. “Well, our home in its best era has nothing on yours!” the Faira exclaimed, her eyes seemed to glitter in excitement. “I hope I can see it myself one day. It seems like a nice scenery.”
When Runa made a turn into sustenance, Libra nodded. “It seems only natural that my people can digest the basic inorganic material we need for our growth and healing. Not much prey to hunt or fruit to pick on the old rock. As far as just sustaining ourselves goes, our organisms are basically powered by the stars themselves, converting the light photons into an electrical charge.”
“If these talks lead to a long-term peace, I can’t see a reason you couldn’t see it yourself, though my government isn’t likely to be open to permanent immigration for several reasons. See, the reasons your people and mine came to this system are remarkably similar. We are breeding too fast, and our cities are overpopulated. We ventured beyond our own system to establish a new colony, hopefully a planet or a moon that could support our life.”
“I mean no disrespect, ambassador, but I would not seek a permanent residence on a world that cold and damp.” Libra grinned, “Maybe one of the bodies you deem uninhabitable, but if I am to be honest, I like being a spacer. Speaking of which, have you considered just that? My people can lend their expertise in building large ships. You can see our largest military ship is two kliks in length, but that is a dwarf compared to our civilian ships.” Libra hinted.
Runa preserved a neutral expression at the mention of ships two kilometers long. The Faira didn’t have to know about the twelve Warlord-class destroyers just yet. “Large ships are easier targets, require a lot of resources to build and power and many people qualified to maintain and operate them. We’re talking about civilians, children, scientist, old people of all walks of life. Maybe even a brand new penal colony.” Runa added with a chuckle. “We want to spread out to lengthen the time before our resources run out, not stripmine our system building massive ships. But with the likely possibility of Faira ships being built or repaired in our shipyards, I wouldn’t rule out joint construction endeavors just yet.”
“Well, the citizens on a city ship are its maintenance and employees, just like in a regular city. With lower requirements for defenses and technological sophistication, a ten click ship with centrifugal gravity is as resource intensive as a Meteor class destroyer. Manning can also be supplemented by using artificial logic.” Libra shared, “If children would be a problem, those families can be left planetside. How exactly does old age factor into this?” she inquired.
“Ships require propulsion, artificial atmosphere, heat management, more complex waste processing and more. And any research or development of artificial intelligence is strictly forbidden in the Republic, especially machines that can make decisions for themselves. Who would create something that is more precise and potentially more durable than them and give it the ability to say ‘no’? Or worst, give it control over life support or any other critical system?” Then she properly processed Libra’s question about old age.
“What do you mean, ‘’how does old age factor into it’?” she asked, befuddled, “Old people, excuse the lack of a better word, deteriorate. Their memory, fine motor controls, strength, cardiovascular system, that all takes a nosedive past a hundred twenty, hundred thirty at most. Speaking of, what is the average lifespan for a Faira? And, pardon me if this is too personal but I just have to ask, how old are you, Admiral?”
“I would not call our AI any of those per se. Their hardware is based on our own biology, but we are unable to replicate it precisely, or to grow large enough logic nodes to be capable of learning more than one task. A Faira is a star to one of our AI’s table lamps, so to speak. We use them to automate menial task, and while they are capable of learning, it is in no way near enough to ever pose a threat to us.” the admiral said, hoping to ease the ambassador’s worry.
Libra grew stunned as the ambassador described the devastating effect time had on her species. The admiral had to take a moment to compose herself. “I am… so sorry. It would seem that evolving on a nigh lifeless rock is not all bad. Our species does not fatigue like that. I am young in my 254 years of age, and while the oldest Faira on record all died younger of two thousand years, they all died to fatal injuries. I do not think our species even has a theoretical lifespan.”
Now it was Runas time to be stunned. “...Excuse me? You are considered young 92 years older than the oldest recorded Narix?” Runa made a note to subtly request a Faira volunteer for detailed medical study later on. “You’ve been here for a little over four times as long as me.” She wasn’t sure what the republic would do with this information, or if they would even publish it. “Anyway, there’s nothing to be sorry about. We’ve always lived with this knowledge, at least it makes one not waste any time.”
“As for the issue of artificial intelligence, I will pass this higher up, but I doubt it will change anything. But I am glad you brought this up, since AIs are a big taboo to us. But there is one much bigger than that. I’d like to ask you about your species’ religious beliefs, if there are any?”
“I will be sure to relay this to the admiralty. We will respect your wishes and if we travel into your systems, we will build a ship free of the technology to do so.” she assured. “As for religious beliefs, I am afraid I once more need an explanation… Is that good, or a bad sign?”
“I, along with most Narix, will tell you not knowing what religion is is a good thing. Those that would tell you otherwise are likely religious. In the past, our people couldn’t explain a lot of things, like rain, wind, or disease. So our distant ancestors created a belief system centered around a deity, a Great Being that created the entire universe and everything in it. And at that time, that made sense. But as time progressed, the religious leaders started to use it to gain more power and wealth and control the masses. Just another batch of criminals, lying to their brethren to enrich themselves. They gained so much power their words were law. With that came great power, one they misused. For example, there used to be an ethnic group of Narix that hailed from the northernmost lands of Naris. They were declared abominations by the church and eradicated. All that remains of these ‘Dark Ones’ is a rare gene that causes one in possession to develop green-colored eyes. Fortunately, that was one of their last acts before the Great Purge, when our people saw through the lies and did to them what they did to the Dark Ones. Sadly, unlike the Dark Ones, some escaped and continue to hide in the uninhabited wilderness of Naris. To summarise, religion is a collection of beliefs based on unsubstantiated claims of a creator that, at least in our case, ended very badly for our people.
That is why we tried to wipe them out, and that is why we still hunt them wherever we find them to this day.” The ambassador was visibly angered, but calmed down quickly. “Which is why I am glad you harbor no such nonsensical beliefs. That might have been a major obstacle.”
“Well, there will be no trouble in that regard, then. Ours were always deep rooted in science. We’ve had a proof of intelligent life beyond our own before we reached into space though, that might have helped.” Libra shared. “Since we are mentioning uncomfortable topics, I am sure by now it is understandable that we get sensitive where our homeworld is concerned. It would be greatly appreciated if it would not be mentioned unless we do first. Other than that, we are relatively open minded.” Libra said.
“Of course, Admiral. Sadly, as much as I enjoyed this meeting, there are still some things I need to attend to. Perhaps we could continue these meetings at a later date? No doubt there are still many things we can learn from each other both as individuals and as species.”
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