DZ waits for her to take a few bites, and then continues. "There are five general kinds of robots, where Deskyl and I are from, each serving a different role. Servant robots are part of the group that's made to work with humans and other people directly, along with childcare and diplomatic robots; it's the kind of work that's most likely to be done by slaves, instead, and we have a fairly similar social standing - though of course humans can be free, and robots can't, and most people don't believe that we could be people at all. There are also fighting and manual labor robots, which are less valued, and engineering and science robots, which are more valued."

To minimize cognitive load, Shreya has internally substituted DZ's use of the word robot for 'metal human who does not need to eat'. She is pretty sure this is still blatantly incorrect, but it causes most of the things that DZ says to make sense.

One statement about 'robots' stands out to her as particularly concerning, though.

"What do you mean you can't be free?"

She has to think about that one for a moment.

"Humans aren't made to be anything in particular. You serve Culamine, and you seem happy doing it, but if something happened and you couldn't - you might be upset, but you'd be able to change, to do something else. I couldn't; I was made to be a servant, and I can learn to be a better servant, but I - wouldn't know what to do, without someone to serve." Her voice has been steady, up to this point; not emotionless, but calm, matter-of-fact. But she sounds genuinely upset at the idea of being on her own.

Oh. She... thinks she kind of understands? She has met people--vassals of more authoritative dragons--who are approximately shaped like what DZ just described. But all of them grew into that way of being over time. None of them were born (or built?) exclusively to be that. The idea of building someone to be an obligate servant is on some level more chilling to her than the mere existence of one.

"Well I... if the way you're been living is fulfilling to you, I hope you continue to have that?"

"Deskyl is an excellent master," she nods.

She smiles. That is a sentiment she can easily empathize with.

"I'm glad."

She sits in silence for a few seconds.

"So, what are things like here, Ma'am? I don't know enough about it to ask many questions yet."

"Culamine is one of twelve dragons who jointly rule these territories. Each dragon has their own vassalage--some larger than others, depending on how many humans are inspired to pledge service to them."

"There's also a significant fraction of our human population living in the Unpledged Holdings. No specific dragon controls that territory, but all twelve jointly protect it from external and internal threats. Almost everyone you meet here was born in the Unpledged Holdings. It's against the rules to raise children in a dragon's vassalage." She takes a quick bite, leans back, and thinks over how best to explain this policy to an outsider. "Vassalage is something you cannot be born in to. You have to choose it, and then work to maintain it, under whatever terms a dragon deems just. If we can't live up to the expectations of our masters, we don't belong in their domains."

"That makes sense," she nods. "Will Deskyl need to agree to be Culamine's vassal if she wants to stay here?"

Shreya chews her lip thoughtfully. This is an unusual case. She doesn't immediately know what bit of precedent to reference. Eventually, though, she settles on something relevant seeming.

"Vassals of other dragons, or even unpledged individuals, can visit these holdings without swearing fealty to Culamine. Granted, they usually don't stay for more than a couple dozen degrees at a time but..." She wants to be reassuring, but she has to be careful not to put words in Culamine's mouth here. "I don't see any reason why my master couldn't extend her hospitality further than that, and it sounded to me as though that was her intention. We'll have to ask when she returns."

"That was my understanding, yes. I'm not sure what Deskyl will want to do when she's recovered, though. I expect her to be very cautious about taking on a master."

Shreya nods.

"We've never had to deal with anyone quite like the two of you before, but we have a lot of experience with welcoming humans from outside the Draco Territories into our fold. It's normal for newcomers to have... apprehensions."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. A lot of humans just don't 'get' the whole vassalage thing unless they've grown up around it? Which is okay. We have the unpledged holdings, and newcomers can spend their whole lives there if they want to."

"Ah. I don't expect Deskyl to have that problem in particular - she might, if you do things differently enough, but Sith are very hierarchical and she wasn't very interested in earning a high rank, so she's used to taking orders. But I expect her to care quite a bit about who she's taking orders from, if she's willing to take orders at all from someone who isn't a Sith."

"I don't think that sort of choosiness would be a problem at all? While I would take orders from any dragon in an emergency, I certainly wouldn't choose to actively serve a Master other than Culamine."

DZ nods. "That's good."

"What are the unpledged holdings like?"

"A nice place to grow up. Safe, clean, plenty of recreational opportunities. Basic amenities are free, but there's a currency available and some people use that to hire each other to do things or purchase luxury items and whatnot. I never really gave that much of a try. Working for another human just felt weird to me, even as a kid?"

She nods. "How easy is it to get resources there? Metal, electronic components, that sort of thing?"

"Huh. There's no metal shortage--I mean, the place is made out of metal--but most of it is already incorporate into public architecture and you can't mess with that without permission?" Shreya feels like there's probably an answer here she's not thinking of. If only DZ had asked about the recreational facilities? She knows all about those. "I guess you could buy metal. Oh, or buy finished electronics. The unpledged holdings do have a macro-fabricator installed and there's this whole market set up around it where technoartisans peddle their wares."

She nods. "It sounds like she'd be all right there, then."

"I hope you will be too, however this ends up playing out."

That's - cute? It's cute. Okay. "Thank you, Ma'am."

Shreya finishes eating, with the same gusto she applies to all her other pursuits.

DZ waits patiently.

"Before you go, Ma'am - Deskyl will need some things, who should I talk to about that?"