working out complications

[coffee_elf]

People who have met and are familiar with Rondo are relatively few and far between in the Nexus. He appears here and there, and occasionally introduces himself, but for the most part he’s been an observer. It helps that he’s small and quiet; his ability to be overlooked is almost supernatural. Those who have met him, though, may notice that he looks slightly different today. He’s colored his hair, for one thing. The soft brown is full of streaks of plum-purple and there are a couple tiny braids decorating the back of his neck, each with a pair of little jewels stuck in the end, like the eyes of a dangling snake.

His clothing is mostly black, too, where he normally wears earthtones and green. Otherwise he seems the same, though, seated on a bench outside the library, surrounded by books but scrolling through his tablet screen. Rondo is obviously not human, significantly under five feet tall, with an elongated face and pointed ears dotted with chains and earrings. He looks young, though. A student, maybe? The large cup of coffee at his knee makes that idea plausible.

“Um…” he’s hesitant to speak publicly in this place. There are so many humans, and other species he doesn’t even know anything about. But he does have a couple questions. “So, uh, for people who come and go from this place, assuming you can’t just openly announce to your neighbors and friends that you have a gateway to a multidimensional realm—how do you keep it a secret? How strictly do you separate Nexus stuff from home stuff? Are you worried about cross-contamination?”

“And—I’m kind of thinking about renting a room here. Because I keep finding books I want, and things I’d like to have access to, but can’t take home. Tech, instruments, even food and clothes. I’d only need, like, a studio, I guess? Anyone looking for a very part-time tenant? Or roommate?”

Comments

[coffee_elf]

Even among elves, there are magic people and there are tech people. Rondo is the former, but he smiles at Caspar's shift in tone, recognizing the latter when he sees one. "We do! We actually have a couple colonies on two of our moons. We do some trading with other systems, as well, though. Mostly with the Drixen; they're studying some of the unique qualities of the ores we produce on our planet, and they're total pacifists so we have good diplomatic relations."

The way Caspar refers to himself catches Rondo's notice. Humans, in his experience, don't talk about 'my kind' like that. "Um, what kind is your kind?" he asks awkwardly. "I know there's no way to ask that politely, but I promise I'm just curious."

"I have a PINpoint," he nods. "It's the only thing I carry home from the Nexus."

[fiveofnone]

That's a lot of interesting information that Rondo provides, although Caspar gets briefly fixated on the last portion of it. "Total pacifists?" he says with a level of skepticism reserved for Flat Earthers and people who think that pineapple belongs on pizza. In his experience, only individuals are pacifists, never an entire group of people. "What's their interest in your ore? Do you use any of it as fuel?"

The question doesn't cause any offense. On the contrary, Caspar actually smiles a little. "Nah, it's fine. So long as I can ask you the same thing. I'm a Cylon -- an organic robot. I say 'my kind' because we can interact with certain electronic devices directly, so any one of us would notice something more advanced than our current level of technology right away."

As far as PINpoints go, Caspar just nods in approval. This alien isn't an idiot; he likes him already. "My name's Caspar, by the way. My home's on Earth, but I'm not a native."

[coffee_elf]

"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."

[fiveofnone]

Though he doesn't react much, Caspar is clearly paying attention, frowning slightly as he tries to imagine these giant bug creatures. "I guess that's one way to stop people from getting out the torches and pitchforks. Sounds like they use their technology to keep from being taken advantage of, if they're that skilled." He shrugs a little and adds, "I was just curious about the ore. We power our spaceships and some of our tech with Tylium, but it's pretty rare. We have to mine it off asteroids."

He smirks a little at Rondo's surprise, but he's not immune to compliments, either. "Yeah, it comes in handy," he replies in amusement. "And I guess I am, if you mean a sentient AI. Why, do you have that on your world?"

Caspar accepts the handclasp, although he keeps it brief. "Nice to meet you, Rondo." He even takes a seat on the bench next to him. "Arraka'ar," he repeats, making sure he's got the pronunciation right. "What do you call your people?"

[coffee_elf]

"If you want something engineered, you ask the Drixen," Rondo smiles wryly. "If you want it repaired, you hire the Fenri. And then, if you want its distribution carefully regulated and controlled, you bring it to Arraka'ar. But I haven't heard of it having any practical power-generating applications, myself. Mostly it's just unusually light and strong, and it can be made into very fine, flexible forms."

Rondo's expression remains bright and curious. He does seem to be taking a closer look at Caspar's eyes as if he's hoping for some kind of visible physical tell there, but after a moment he gives up with a shrug. "No, we have AI, but none of them have passed the Turing test or any of our magical cross-checks. Which is probably for the best right now. Culturally, we're not ready for it. If other planets are any closer, I'm not aware, but it's possible."

"It's nice to meet you, too! Um, but please correct me if I say anything dumb, okay? I'm not looking to make a bad impression or offend you." He has no trouble accepting Caspar's personhood, but that seems like the bare minimum to get along with a different species.

"Technically, we're just Arraka'arans," he answers. "But we also go by elves, colloquially. We had a...strong human influence on our planet. They named us after their folklore, and it's stuck even though they've mostly left."

[fiveofnone]

It's a lot of foreign names and information being tossed out, but Caspar pays attention. One never knows when a tech problem on Atlantis could be solved with a little ingenuity from another universe. "Hell, that's pretty useful, too. Not a lot of materials are well-suited for electronics."

Caspar doesn't miss the second-too-long stare into his eyes. What is it with people thinking robots are supposed to have weird eyes? Okay, he supposes that the Centurions fit the mold, but hello, he's organic, his eyes are just as squishy and biological as any other creature made of flesh and blood. But he can't work up any real irritation, not with Rondo preemptively trying to do right by him.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty vocal when it comes to people saying dumb things," he replies with a half-smile. "Sounds like your society is at least keeping the possibility in mind. Humans initially denied our claim of sentience... it ended about as well as you'd expect. And there are still people on my world who think we're automatons with delusions of grandeur. You're ahead of the game, so far as I'm concerned."

Elves?! That's the last word Caspar expected Rondo to use, even though he had initially mistaken the petite alien for one. "Uh... yeah, sounds like it... and your people are all right with that? Being called something that you're not?"

[coffee_elf]

He nods his agreement. "That's why human corporations found their way to Arraka'ar, as well. We still have their legacy mines all over the place."

He grimaces sympathetically. "Well...humans aren't the only species with trouble identifying with beings other than themselves. Like I said, our society really isn't ready to cope with self-aware AI, at least not among us, but I think we've already accepted it as something we may eventually encounter, one way or another. I was actually talking with someone earlier about some articles I've read about integrating AI and magic work."

And if Caspar hadn't asked that other question, he'd be happy to expound upon the premise at length. As it is, he pauses and looks a little awkward. "Well, there's...a lot of discussion about it. Some younger activists especially are in favor of just throwing out the term 'elves' altogether, but it's so widely used, it's even in our legislation all the way back to the immediate post-revolutionary period. Personally, I think we've effectively reclaimed it. It seems to take some extra explaining around the Nexus, but I don't mind that. It's kind of a conversation starter."

[fiveofnone]

Well, that answers a question Caspar didn't really need to ask in the first place. In short, he's unsurprised that humans sought out an alien planet for their own gain. "Are they still around on your planet? The humans?"

What starts as an amused sort of smirk over Rondo's commentary on AI rapidly changes to a grimace of his own. "Magical AI?" he says, like someone suggested that he dump a bucket of salt into his coffee. "I'd say that depends on the kind of magic you have. I'm not going to speak for all AI, but I personally can't stand any sort of magic that lacks rules or a system of some sort. It rubs right up against an AI's need for order." Then again, his brothers, the Twos, would eat up any of that mystical shit with a spoon, so who knows.

As vocal as he is about magic, Caspar also knows when not to stick his own opinions into something that has nothing to do with him. "Fair enough. I can't imagine ever reclaiming 'toaster', but you do you. Just know that there are actual elves in the Nexus, so that could cause a little confusion if you refer to yourself as one."