Page 43 of Nixx
Everyone smiles affectionately at my companion at these words. And I must admit that this proposal of this Ferdinand is interesting. Because I don't want her to spend all her time in the kitchen.
”Sarah, 'Chief Medical Officer' aboard the Proud. I, of course, wish to offer my services to your people and with Eva's help, we will determine what works for you and for us. And by connecting us with your healer, we should be able to work quickly. We also have at our disposal the Sarc-11 module that you brought here. As explained to you, it is powered by the energy of the sun. It should be used with care, as it has only seventy-eight regeneration cycles left. The other eleven sarcophagi like this one remained on board the wreck of the Proud. A number of them are likely intact. But alas, we have no idea how deep the water is where we fell, nor how far the debris spread. So, we have to assume that we only have this one and that after using all the cycles, it will be definitively out of service. So only to be used for very serious injuries.”
I note in a corner of my mind that eleven other boxes are buried under the sea. We'll have to discuss this with Amill. Maybe this is just the opening I needed to bring it up? I'll check with Rymm later.
For now, we need to assign roles.
“At first, we will assign you to the teams closest to your skills.
David and Marc, we'll see you first thing in the morning with Lokk, Jaxx, and Kurr on the practice fields. We'll test you and you'll demonstrate your techniques to see what might be useful around here.
Gregory, you will be with Udoo, who will take you to see the men who regularly concoct ingenious tools to improve our daily lives, like the showers in the Complex. Maybe you'll have some ideas to submit.
Eva, you will team up with Sarah for the time being for your understanding of our world. Then we'll see.
Ferdinand, you will assist Rajj in the kitchen.
Sarah, you'll see Holly, our healer, so she can teach you the specifics of our people. But when I leave, you come with me.”
“In the name of my people, I thank you for allowing us to integrate ourselves among your people. I would like to point out that there is a chance, small but real, that those who sent us to survey the different worlds, will send a team to look for us. If this were to be the case, we would of course leave with our own. In the meantime, we commit ourselves to do our best to ensure that the cohabitation goes as well as possible and we hope to be useful to you.”
I listen to Marc's words, troubled. He envisions someone coming to get them.
“Sarah stays here! Whatever happens, she will stay with me!” I answer him with a grunt.
No one flinches and I feel Sarah's small hand slip into mine, as if to soothe me.
“Do you have any questions?” I ask them.
“Yes, I do!” exclaims Eva. “We have a parser, which determines the composition of absolutely anything you want and also keeps the patterns in memory. We also have a replicator. This means that since you have iron ores, we could possibly make tools.”
“Explain yourself.”
“So, the replicator transforms the iron that is in an iron ore, to make a fork for example.”
“But we already have forks. They are made of horns or hardwood. Why damage rock to create something we already have? Moreover, when our fork is damaged, it returns to the earth, as it would have when the animal died. Your iron fork, what will it become?”
“So, the example of the fork was wrong, sorry. But for example, to cook your food, you boil everything in the oven and your pans are often changed because they don't stand the heat well. With an iron pot, you would have more heat-resistant pots.”
“Well, I propose that for each utensil you consider creating, you ask for our approval first, showing us the real benefit of changing our way of doing things. Of course, we like to improve our daily life, but we don't want to despite common sense. And the gains shouldn't overshadow the inconvenience it would cause.”
“It's noted!” replies Eva. “We understand that the innovations we are going to propose to you must be in line with the preservation of a natural and protected environment.”
“One last thing, Gregory, you'll see tomorrow with Udoo, for the making of a unique, but secure, footbridge to connect the high plateau, to the network of suspended houses. Once you reach one house, you can access all the others, or almost all. The goal is that you can get there, but that this area that is safe from predators should remain so. The majority of our families live in these trees instead.”
“I've already got some ideas that I'll submit to Udoo tomorrow. Ladder and trap door systems should solve the problem of access to predators.“
“One last thing, it's not too late yet. Ferdinand, can you go join Rajj now and see what you can offer us for tonight?”
“What a great idea, I'll go with him to the kitchen,” my companion enthuses.
It is completely depressing that I watch her go out with Ferdinand, to make ''farcis.'' This is clearly not what I had planned for the end of the day.
After the humans leave, we discuss the meeting with Lokk, Rymm, and Jaxx. We agree to give them some latitude, but to keep control of their innovations, at first.
We also agree that it might be useful to allow humans to retrieve things they find useful from the Proud, and that this will have to be done with those who are well versed in this area, i.e., Amill and his people in the East.
When the time comes, we go to the last meal room, where I find my Sarah, all smiles. I already know from Rajj that with Ferdinand's help, they stuffed vegetables like squash, with a mixture of tomatoes, squash, peppers, cheese, and other ingredients. And put them directly in the ovens, without water. And according to Rajj, it smells good!
