That's fine. We'll keep the day free for you.

DZ-12Q and Xaari Deskyl

Let's make it a lunch date to have enough time. 12:30 sound good for you?

Manfred Burges

She agrees, and suggests a restaurant; something suitably upscale.

And when the day arrives, they get to the restaurant a little early; DZ has her laptop, and Deskyl orders a cup of tea and watches the room while they wait. (She's expanded her wardrobe a little, and today she's wearing a shirt with dark and bright greens in a geometric pattern and bright yellow embroidery on the sleeves, with black pants and, of course, her 'saber holster. They questioned her about it at the door, but without the blade lit, it's not recognizable as a weapon.)

And the Senator arrives six minutes late. He's a short man in a brownish-grey suit, balding less than his probable forty-something years would suggest he should, and sporting a jovial grin. "Hello, hello, it's nice to meet you—both of you." He sounds genuinely giddy with excitement.

Deskly seems pleased, at that. They both stand; she bows, to a depth that suggests that she considers him an equal, and DZ offers her hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you, too, sir."

DZ pulls out his chair before settling back into her own and continuing, signing as she does. "Deskyl doesn't speak any English yet, so I'll be translating for her."

He shakes her hand right back, enthusiastically. "That's marvelous, such amazing capabilities—I'm sorry, I shouldn't presume. And nor you, no need to call me sir, just Manfred will do." He sits. "How did you learn English while she didn't, so fast?"

"It's in my programming - I was made to be a servant to Sith, specifically, and they often have unusual needs like this. The capability was originally developed for diplomats' robots, which are a very similar type."

"Incredible. What other types of robots are there?"

"There are five main groups, each with a different focus: math and theoretical science, engineering and applied science, interaction with sapient species, fighting, and manual labor. Particular lines of robots are more specialized, but it's generally easy to reuse programming in robots of the same group; I also have basic first aid programming originally written for childcare robots, for example."

"Do you know how likely it is that we'll see other robots around here?" he asks, with barely-concealed excitement at the prospect.

She consults with Deskyl.

"We'd be willing to work with your scientists and engineers on that, if you'd like. We don't expect to be followed, though; Sith can't usually teleport."

"Usually? Why not? How did you two do it?—sorry, you must answer these questions all the time."

"We're not entirely sure, actually. It's not unheard of for Sith to manifest new powers under extreme stress, which was the case, but neither of us have ever heard of a Sith teleporting before."

"So—possible but not likely that other Sith will come at all," he says, nodding. "Do you know whether you're from this universe or not?"

"It's hard to be sure. We're from a different galaxy at very least, though."

"Strange that there would be humans in other planets, though. Or—are you human?" he asks Deskyl.

    "She is. Humans in our galaxy have had spaceflight for a long time, long enough that we're not even sure what planet the species originated on; it is surprising to find you here, but it doesn't feel remarkable."

"As far as everyone knows, humans evolved on this planet," he muses. "We didn't come from anywhere. And we haven't developed spaceflight like that yet."

Deskyl nods.

    "That suggests that this is another universe. Or that we traveled in time, possibly. It doesn't matter very much, though, she has no intention of going home."

"Didn't like it much?" he asks with sympathy.

    "Something like that, and she likes it here so far. Assuming she can arrange for me to be safe here, at least."

"Right, yes, sorry, I got distracted. So, we haven't gotten the political will for it yet because, well, we've had parahumans for several years and none could create sapient beings, as far as we know. But of course that's just a matter of time! Say, have you heard of Dragon?"

"The tinker? Yes sir."

"She's been pretty interested in this, too. She agrees with the reasoning and has been keeping an eye around for news that might indicate the emergence of parahuman-created sapients and thinks this can be really important for the future of humanity and whoever shares the planet with humanity."