"I think it's a cultural method of self-defense," he says. "Drixen are huge, insectoid beings. They can be ten feet in height easily, although most of that is legs. Their fine-dexterity is limited to one arm set and their pedipalps, though, and those are super short, so they're just not physically built to fight. But you look at one, and your hindbrain automatically screams aaugh, giant bug!, and apparently that's true of more than one species. They have to be careful meeting new species."

"They're technologists and programmers. I'm not sure what they're working on, but I know they're using the ore for devices, not fuel. The inner workings of my comm pad are probably Drixen-made."

He would probably go on to share further trivia about this species Caspar is unlikely to ever encounter, but now he's getting an answer to his question and that's worth shutting up for. "...oh wow. I never would have guessed," he says. "Does that mean you're an AI? That must be really useful, being able to interact with electronics. I'm pretty mediocre with technology, myself, but the possibilities are fascinating."

"I'm Rondo," he offers a handclasp, more at ease now that he knows he's not dealing with a human--though clearly someone who interacts with humans on a regular basis. "My planet's called Arraka'ar."